Basketball Perfectionism, Good or Bad?

Basketball Perfectionism Hurts “The Love Of The Game”

Traits of perfectionism often include being overly critical in self-evaluation, setting excessively high achievement standards and feeling like a failure if certain levels of success are not achieved. What goes along with the belief that you can be perfect is the thought that you can always be doing something “better” or “doing more.”

Perfectionists are great at seeing details, but have an inner critic than tends to find flaws in everything, especially themselves. Perfectionists can use their desire to get things “just right” to set goals and push themselves harder in practice, but it’s got to stop at game time. Most elite basketball players possess perfectionist tendencies, but they have learned to use those traits to their advantage when it comes to practice and training.

But this is the key…they learn to put perfectionism aside on game day and instead focus on the task at hand and their love of the game.

When a player is a slave to perfection, it usually causes them to get angry with themselves.

Why? Because if you set too high expectations and goals for yourself and you don’t reach the mark, then you invariably end up frustrated and upset. Which typically messes up your focus and concentration and leads to a loss of confidence and beating yourself up.

So if this sounds all too familiar I am going to give you some techniques that will help combat perfectionism.

1. Set smaller short-term performance goals.

2. Set mini goals that are a stretch to achieve, but are doable.

For example, “I’m going to have double digit assists.” “I’m going to shoot 50% or better from the floor.” or “No Turnovers!”

3. Love of the game

Your mind and body works best when you allow yourself to play, to move and to think with a mindset dedicated to fun and freedom.

4. Take some time to review and ideally write down what makes playing your sport fun. See if you can create a picture of yourself enjoying all the things you love in your mind.

For example, laughing with your teammates, feeling the great feeling of the crowd cheering and your body feeling strong and loose.

You get the idea. You need to see, feel and hear the fun and build it up in your mind. Make it big, bold and bright and practice it daily in training so it become ingrained in your mind and body.

Thinking this way will keep you feeling light and loose and full of energy.

5. Let no one knock you off your game

You are in charge of keeping your loose, fun, confident attitude – not your teammates, not the coaches, not the opposing team, not the crowds.

Take responsibility for your thinking! Basketball mental toughness is very important.

6. Acceptance

Accept it now. Playing sports is a game of mistakes. Typically, but not always, whoever makes the least mistakes wins. But you can forget perfection, it just doesn’t exist. It is normal to slip-up, make mistakes and even choke.

I bet you can’t name a top athlete, who is perfect. So to let go of perfectionism, you have to accept the fact that you will make mistakes and embrace that as much as you love the game and winning.

Craig Sigl is the Director of Mental Toughness Academy. The Academy’s online Mental Toughness Training helps kids build confidence, focus, determination and the ability to bounce back from adversity – what they call Mental Toughness. Go here to get a free ebook “The 10 Commandments To Being A Great Sports Parent” and a free training for youth athletes “How To Master the Pressure.”