Why Mental Skills?
It is important to remember why we at Hoops Mind stress the importance of mental skills.
The staff at Hoops Mind has repurposed age-old techniques that work.
While this path gets less attention than complex workout videos or complicated X’s and O’s sets, for centuries, a breathing practice has proven effective.
This is what we have learned.
A Mindful Approach Pays Off
Hoops Mind stresses a mindful approach that aims to raise the focus and heighten the engagement of people who love sports.
During games, players are constantly making decisions, managing their emotions, and focusing to varying degrees of intensity.
Therefore, mental preparation should become a staple of your practice.
This is the way you can develop your game and your mind at the same time.
This is the way to build skills that last.
These practice methods rely on the kind of improvements that will benefit you beyond just the court.
Change Can Spur Growth
As we have seen over the last year, nothing is guaranteed. Sometimes, you have to be creative to put in quality work. That is what co-founder Joe Boylan did when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
“When this past season got interrupted and I couldn't get in the gym with my guys...I needed to find new ways to help the players I worked with. So I created basketball-specific imagery to help my guys breathe while listening to basketball visualizations, like so many great athletes have done before.”
The same mental skills NBA players and coaches use can be repurposed for any level to improve mindfulness, awareness, and focus and help them build skills that last.
If you are unable to get in the gym as much as you want, you can still put in extra work.
We Are Not the First
As featured in our How the Greats Use Mental Skills blog post, we didn’t invent this process.
It has been practiced for centuries from Marcus Aurelius to Jim Thorpe to Katie Ledecky.
The physical aspect of hard work is a critical component of success, but high functioning mental skills go hand in hand. With a little guidance, you can be on your way.
Instead of getting better at practicing, start preparing yourself for the game.
Mental skill-building is a great step in this direction.
Take some guidance, and start improving your mind.