Preparing Yourself for the Big Game
#51- Preparing Yourself for the Big Game
Proper Preparation Leads to Relaxation, Confidence and Success
Proper Preparation Leads to Relaxation, Confidence and Success
by Alan Lambert
Introduction
Every player will eventually be faced with a game of importance a lot on the line whether it's an NBA Finals like the Lakers vs. the Piston or just your local youth league championship. Learning to prepare for the big game is a skill in itself and can be learned from an early age. It is not very difficult to get yourself ready to play when a game has little significance. It is entirely a different animal when the game has so much importance you can't sleep the night before, have difficulty eating, and it obsessively can't escape your mind.
How you mentally and physically prepare for this game in the days leading up to it will determine, to a great extent, how you will perform when your "big opportunity comes". Today we'll give you some tips for helping you to prepare yourself so that you can get into the game relaxed, confidence and primed for success. Knowing how to prepare yourself for the big game is the primary goal of today's Playground Pointer. While we'll talk about both physical and mental preparation, we'll also provide some specific thoughts how to handle the night before and day of the game. Sit back, pull up a bench, and let's get that makes the plays, and get that win.
Physical Preparation
Your physical preparation for the big game begins long before the day of the game. It goes back even further than the week of the game. It starts with your daily preparation from the very first day of practice. When you practice every day, at every moment like its big game time, you'll become best prepared to execute your skills with the speed, strength and accuracy required at crunch time. This sounds a bit of a simplification, but over the many years I have coached I have seen countless players who didn't bring their best to practice every day than later wondered why they were unable to perform under pressure in the crunch of a big game. Practice like you want to play. Our Tip: Bring the big game mentality to practice every day.
In addition to practicing like you want to play, you must practice the skills that will be required of your position and according to your role on your team in the week prior to the game. It amazes me how often I have seen players practicing skills during practice leading up to a big game that won't be required for them in the game. For example, big men shooting three point shots, when they haven't taken more than a half dozen three point shots all year, or point guards spending no time working on their ball handling when they know they are going to be getting tough full court pressure against the big game opponent. Our Tip: Practice the skills that you will need to be most successful required of your position and by the role you play on your team.
Part of your physical preparation for the big game will be to push yourself in the days prior to the big game but conserve some energy the day before the big game. A good coach will set up practices the day before a game that require high intensity and concentration levels but are of shorter. Players who do not let the coach regulate the practice duration and attempt to "save themselves" will only cut into their skill tuning and big day performance sharpness. What is important is that you get enough scrimmage and skill time to not lose your competitive or skill edge and to maintain the intensity required in the big game. Our Tip: Regardless of the practice duration (controlled by your coach) carry your big game intensity level into your last practice.
Players avoid making any significant changes to their "go to" skills prior to a big game. Forget trying your new moves in big game situations. If you haven't spent a significant amount of time practicing a skill and having used it in game settings, put it on the bench for another time. Our Tip: Go with the moves that got you there. If you don't have the moves, than you are starting a bit late at this point to try to automate and add a critical tool to your chest of armor at the last minute. Don't do it.
You can enhance your confidence prior to a big game by spending some additional practice time on an area that has been a consistent weakness in your game. "You should be practicing to eliminate your weaknesses every day through the whole season but if one of your skills areas has experienced a performance drop in recent weeks, give a few more repetitions to improve your confidence to use those skills as required in the big game. Our Tip: Don't dwell on what you are unable to do well, and instead focus on what you can do well, then execute it to perfection.
Practice what works for you and keep it simple. Pro athletes don't go back into practice trying to develop multiple skills in the week prior to a big game. They stay to the basics and polish the best skills they have as if they were diamonds. Our Tip: Big game performers go to their "bread and butter" and with an attitude you can give me your best defense or offense, I'm still going to beat you to the punch.
There is no better way to build big game confidence from a physical standpoint than by focusing on defense first. Invariably in big games the pressure is on both teams to perform. It is not uncommon to see both teams miss several of their first shot attempts. Keep your focus on defending tenaciously both to help rid your body of that extra nervous energy but also to increase the likelihood you will create a turnover and some easy scores to get your team going. Our Tip: Defense, Defense, focus on your defense.
Finally, one player can go up against five in an effort to put the ball in the goal. However that doesn't ring very efficient in terms of energy. If fact every one of you at one time or another while growing up playing ball has played a friendly pickup game where there is an odd man out. Think of the extra energy it takes to play against more numbers, strength and position. It therefore makes perfect sense to get your teammates involved in big games. Sharing the ball reduces everyone's anxiety, keeps everyone alert and saves you precious energy that you'll undoubtedly need late in close big games. Our Tip: Sharing the ball and responsibility is a wise thing to do physically to conserve your best for when it's needed at crunch time.
Finally, one player can go up against five in an effort to put the ball in the goal. However that doesn't ring very efficient in terms of energy. If fact every one of you at one time or another while growing up playing ball has played a friendly pickup game where there is an odd man out. Think of the extra energy it takes to play against more numbers, strength and position. It therefore makes perfect sense to get your teammates involved in big games. Sharing the ball reduces everyone's anxiety, keeps everyone alert and saves you precious energy that you'll undoubtedly need late in close big games. Our Tip: Sharing the ball and responsibility is a wise thing to do physically to conserve your best for when it's needed at crunch time.
Mental Preparation
There are a number of things you can do mentally to prepare for big games. These are often a big more abstract to younger players but none-the-less important to understand. Here are some areas you will want to digest to help yourself become better prepared from a mental standpoint to play your best in the big game.
Proper and realistic goal setting is a critical part being mentally prepared to perform your best in big games. If you are getting two or three minutes a game as a quick substitute for a key player and you are thinking your 25 points and 10 rebounds are going to make a difference you going to place a huge amount of pressure on yourself. If you are a "gamer" and generally statistically produce, focus more on each opportunity to execute rather than on counting numbers in the game. Performance produces numbers. Striving for numbers can cripple your performance in a big game. Our tip: Be realistic about what you can contribute to your team and focus on step by step execution to most help your team.
Remember to relax. It's often easier said than done but realizing that your family and friends will still love you no matter how badly you might play should help you to keep it all in perspective. Tensing up doesn't allow your mind and muscles to operate to their most efficient levels. Remember it's a game and you'll live tomorrow. Our Tip: Your performance will not affect how others who love and care about you treat you. Enjoy the experience in the moment.
Equally important to relaxing is to reduce the number of distractions filling your mind. Often for big games people want tickets, access to you and time with you. Our Tip: If you find that you cannot get some quiet time in the days before a big game, politely request other to give you some room, and turn off that cell phone.
When you do get some quiet time, picture yourself at the place of competition and try to think how you will solve problems at every possible situation in the game. If you are a guard getting pressure, think about how you will be able to successfully handle and release the pressure. If you are going to get trapped, where will your teammates be as release points. If you are denied how will you handle your cuts to get open? Slowing down your mind, envisioning the proper execution of the skill and making proper decisions will help you relax in the actual game situations. Our Tip: Take time in quiet to problem solve prior to the game.
Finally, confidence is extremely important tool to great performance. However over-confidence can be a fly in the ointment. Know your offensive and defensive assignments so thoroughly you don't have to think much when your number is called. Be aware of the difficulty of the challenges of a great opponent and big game, but step up to the challenge, and understand the challenge is the same for your opponent. Our Tip: Be confident but avoid overconfidence. Overconfidence diffuses your performance and the concentration necessary to perform your best.
The Night Before the Game
Most athletes start to show concern for the big game preparation the night before the big game. In reality two nights prior to the game should be the start of your preparation. While there isn't a lot of scientific documentation to support my view, having been a coach and player for more than 40 years, I cannot count the number of times I saw players stay out late 2 nights before a big game, sleep well the night before, and perform like a dog because they were tired. There is something to be said for getting your best night of rest two nights before the game. It doesn't mean to stay up all night the night before, but it won't matter what sleep you get the night before, if two nights before you are a night owl. Our Tip: Get your best nights rest two nights before the big game.
Think about taking a big exam in school where you have to memorize a lot of information to succeed on a test. If you don't study until the last night then stay up all night, it is highly doubtful you'll do your best come test day. The same is true for basketball. If your concentration level and mental preparation for the game doesn't begin until the practice or night before the game, you can forget bringing your best performance come big game day. Our Tip: Don't cram the night before a big game; start down that road days before.
Taking care of your body isn't just about getting enough sleep. The food you eat can significantly impact your performance. In general it is a good ideas to carbohydrate load (spaghetti, noodles, potatoes, etc.) the night or two before the big game. Pasta loading the day of the game won't give you much of a lift. Instead look to eat a balanced meat with foods that are relatively easy to digest about 4 hours prior to the big game. Eating too close to the game will cause your stomach to rob your other physical resources of vital energy including both your muscles and your brain. Our Tip: Eat wisely in the week leading up to the game, and on game day eat with enough time to allow your body to best use the foods to be converted to useable energy.
Hydration, the amount of fluids you take in, is also a critical factor to playing well in the big game. Your body uses water to help convert valuable foods into energy. Lack of water in your body causes problems. Our Tip: Trying to drink several gallons of water just prior to the game won't help your body hydrate the same way as drinking several glasses or bottles of water throughout the day prior to the big game. Our tip: Keep in mind that soda's, teas and coffee's contain caffeine's which dehydrate rather than hydrate your body and muscles. Avoid these drinks the day of a game.
Remember to take it easy mentally the night before a big game when at all possible. There will be times when as a student-athlete you have to prepare for a big test or event the night before, but try to allow enough preparation time that you aren't cramming for two events the night before the big showdown. If you can relax and try to do something fun that doesn't take too much brain power. Remember that mental processing by the brain takes energy too. It might not be useful to sleep for two days prior to the game, but on the opposite end of the spectrum challenging your brain to a spelling-bee or mentally challenging video game probably also isn't the wisest choice of activities the night before. Our tip: When in doubt rest is best.
Game Day
On game day, when possible, visit the site of competition, observe your opponents (via film if not live), and find a comfortable quiet place to relax prior to leaving for the gym or entering the court. If you remember in the famous movie Hoosier's about the little team from Milan, Indiana in 1954 that beat all the big schools on the way to the state championship, the Coach took them all to Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis and had his players measure the height of the basket. He then asked if it was the same height and dimensions as the gym they played in. The point is the court and dimensions are uniform for everyone. Our tip: Visually walking through a court or via a shoot-around can help you relax and realize the game is the same no matter where it's played.
Eat properly the day of the game. While this was mentioned above, it is critical that you eat and hydrate yourself properly to give your body the best chance to use its fuel efficiently come game time. No body runs the Indy 500 on half a tank of gas. Trying to hydrate yourself during the game will help a bit, but not as much as if you do it well the full day of the game. Our trip: Eat foods which can be converted to energy quickly, and keep your body watered!
When you have other responsibilities on game day, school, work, class, studies, live in the present. Concentrate on the task at hand. When it's done then don't carry emotional baggage from previous tasks to the game event. If you are worrying about the game later in the day when you are taking your test, you'll perform poorly on the test. If you're worrying about your test performance when the big game is underway, you'll most likely end up on the bench. Our tip: Live in the present, perform in the present.
Reduce distractions when possible. Distractions can range from events not associated with the game to concentrating on the wrong things during the game. This is why many players like to listen to relaxing music on the way to the game. Block out the distractions and give yourself the best change to perform big. Learn from other championship teams. One of the least obvious traits visible to the public is how great the concentration level is from NBA or collegiate players in big games. No where are the distractions more intrusive than at these levels. Yet these players are able, for the most part, to block out these external things and concentrate on the task at hand. Our tip: Nothing that distracts you contributes to the successful execution of your best skills. Focus on those things that contribute.
Control your arousal level. There is a curve which describes how your arousal level affects your performance and it is an inverted U. This is called Activation Theory. If you are under aroused you perform poorly, just as if you are over aroused you do the same. What you what to learn is how much arousal is good for you personally and what is too much. For me personally as a young player I was very active with a lot of energy. It was not until almost my senior level in college that I learned I could actually almost sleep or sit quietly in the locker room until about an hour before the game to help keep my arousal level down to where I gave the best on court performances. You can't always control the external factors which affect your arousal level but you can determine if you are over or under-doing it. If you find it difficult to "get up" for big games, you may need to start your "workup" a bit earlier in warm-ups to get to your best arousal level at game time. Our tip: Too much or too little arousal will work against good performance.
During the Game
Play for the team, it's a team game. Too many players tend to think they alone must do something to win the game. Basketball is a team game that requires timing, understanding and execution between many related parts. Our tip: When you are in the game do your best to perform your role and execute the skills required to make the team game work.
Be prepared...step up when your number is called. It is easy to be a starter and prepare yourself to play but coming off the bench is a bit more challenging in big games. Our tip: Stay alert, picture situations in which you'll likely be substituted in and be ready to step up when your performance is required.
Focus your performance on the best technique and not on the outcome of the event. Focusing allows your mind to slow down and retain control of skill details. Some call this "playing in the zone." I'm sure everyone of you has at one time or another stood at the foul line to make a big free throw and rather than concentrate on what you have to do to make the shot (e.g., relaxed, legs, high and straight follow-through direct to the target) think about "boy I need to make this free throw to give us a chance to win." Focusing on the wrong things causes poor performance especially when those things are not related to good execution of techniques or patterns. Our tip: Take your game performance step by step. Think about what you need to do to execute for success and not about whether or not you succeed.
Use proper self-talk in the game, never negative self-talk. Most players talk to themselves during the course of a game. Negative self-talk has the effect of eroding concentration and confidence. Avoid this kind of self-talk no matter what happens during a game. Our tip: Use self-talk to refocus you on the crucial element of the game. For example, you might say on each shot, "crash the boards", "get back", or beat my man to the spot". These are examples of positive self-talk with constructive results.
Imagine yourself succeeding. From the week of the event through the actual game you have to envision yourself succeeding. It doesn't always happen but if your imagination takes you to places of failure, you will.
Summary
Many factors influence your big game day performance. In most cases preparing from the first day of the season through the last is the best method for getting ready for big games. The tougher your practices, the more challenges you face on a daily basis, the more likely you will handle the pressure and expectations of the big game. Physical preparation includes off season workouts that help you build a foundation of strength and endurance that will hold throughout a full season. Late game fatigue late in the season is the result of poor off season preparation. Without this foundation, you'll never be able to run enough sprints during the season to maintain your stamina late in the year.
Early or off-season realistic goal setting also helps you keep your practice efforts focused and your performances in proper perspective. We have talked a lot about game day distractions but too many distractions throughout the course of the season will rob you of proper preparation time thus lowering your chances of becoming big day game ready. Someone once said, the "players play (practice) and the talkers talk" to which there is a lot of truth. Being ready for the big game takes a day to day commitment along proper fueling of the body, relaxation of the mind, and focus on the task at hand. The more you heed today's advice the more likely you will bring your "A" game to the big game.
Check back next month for another Playground Pointers courtesy of The Basketball Highway®.