Expert: David Kenward - 11/16/2007

Question
Hi David, I'm a pretty tall player, fast and can jump high but see when I do a lay up over another person I get sort nervous, like I'm going to get blocked and I go up strong and then totally mess up.
Do know what I can do?

Answer
Hello Alex, and thank you for such a complicated question.  I've had to think a lot about it since this is such a complex issue.  

What you want is BOTH power and restraint at the same time.  At the moment you do the layup, you need the power to flow through you so you have the elevation and inertia to carry you to the basket, while disregarding the fear that you'll be blocked, which results in you overdoing it.

Here is a totally out-of-the-box mental training strategy to help you overcome this.  For this to work, you have to know how to do effective lay-ups in competition, and how to overcome blockers, which I'm assuming you know how to do.  So what we are going to do is help you change how you think about the possibility of being blocked.  If it happens, it happens, and it it does you'll deal with it.

Here's what you can do.  Get relaxed, close your eyes, and take five slow deep breaths.  Then, picture or imagine a time when you did a great layup in practice, where it just flowed.  Make it a multimedia experience - the sights, the sounds, the smells, the physical feelings (whatever was going on physically) and how you felt inside.  When you do a great layup, it's almost as if the ball goes up by itself.  Let that scene fade, and then do it again.  Really focus on it.  Repeat that five times.  Now, do it again, and this time, as you go up for the layup, as you feel the power flow through you, say to yourself the word SMOOTH.  Let that scene fade, and then do it again.  Repeat that five times.  What you are doing is forging an association link between the word SMOOTH and the experience of doing a great layup.

Now, imagine doing a perfect layup in a game, and say SMOOTH as you do it. Let that scene fade, and then do it again.  Repeat that five times.

NOW, imagine doing a perfect layup in a game, and this time, notice that your opponents are sort of faded, like they are ghosts or something.  Notice how you say SMOOTH, your opponents just fade and your layup goes perfectly.

You need to practice this a lot.  When you can make this happen consistently in your mental practice, then you are ready to start doing it in practice, then in games.  It may sound a little strange, but harnessing the power of your imagination to win the mental game is what gives the best basketball players the winning edge.  It works!

Good luck and let me know how it goes.

David

David Kenward, The Mental Coach
Sacramento, California
http://www.thementalcoach.com