Coach Ed Science
  • Home
  • Intro
  • PS (1-4)
  • PS (5-9)
  • PS (10-14)
  • PS (15-18)
  • PS (19-21)
  • Space Exploration
  • Warriors Hoops
  • Summer Basketball Camps
  • Flying Pumpkins, 2020
  • Literacy
  • #getBETTER Hoops at Home
  • Coach's Corner
  • NOVA Nation
  • Villa Drills
  • Improving Your Shooting
  • Footwork Drills
  • Bball Skills & Drills
  • USA Basketball Tips
  • Things to Ponder
  • Motivation
  • Sportsmanship
  • Thoughts from Paul Harvey
  • Cool Links & Games

Coach's Corner

“It never ceases to surprise me at the infinite capacity of the human mind to resist the introduction of useful knowledge.”
- Thomas Raynesford Lounsbury

Nervous - Worry = Improved Performance (Roy Williams, Part VII)

8/20/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
​If you feel "nervous" when faced with the prospect of an important event it does not mean you lack confidence. Excitement and anxiety involve the same chemical process in the brain. Your body can’t tell the difference. How our mind interprets that automatic stress response determines whether we are excited or anxious.
 
When you feel "nervous" say to yourself "Nervous is good. I have butterflies because I am going to do something, I am excited about and this "nervousness" is adrenaline which gives me more energy to improve my performance."
 
If you worry about feeling nervous, worry about the outcome and then think that you lack confidence so something bad is going to happen your nervousness becomes anxiety and your performance will suffer.
 
Nervous – Worry = Excitement = Improved Performance.
Nervous + Worry = Anxiety = Poor Performance
 
Fear and worry destroy performance capability. Conditions at home, finances or studies are all factors which may create worry and affect a team member's ability. It is possible that an alert coach can help.
 
It is up to the Coach to eliminate "worry about an unfavorable outcome" in competitive situations. Hall of Fame North Carolina Coach Roy Williams, in his book with Tim Crothers, Hard Work, described how he learned this from his mentor, Hall of Fame Coach Dean Smith:
 
In 1982 we were playing Georgetown for the National Championship and it was a close game throughout. We were down by one point with 32 seconds to play. Coach Smith called timeout and the guys came over to the bench. The negative look on all their faces scared me to death. It was the first time that night I ever had the thought, "My gosh, we could lose this game." The players sat down in chairs and the coaches knelt in front of them, and I can remember it like it was last night. Coach Smith said, "Okay, we’re in great shape. We’re exactly where we want to be because we’re going to determine the outcome of this game." I pretended to cough so I could look up at the scoreboard just to make sure I had the score right, because he was making me feel like we were ahead. Then he said, "I’m serious. We’re exactly where we want to be. This basketball game is ours. When the team left the huddle, I felt so much better. The look on everybody’s face had changed 180 degrees. I saw Coach Smith pat Michael Jordan on the back and say, "Michael, if you get it, knock it in."
 
Dean Smith had eliminated the "worry". Michael Jordan made a jump shot with 15 seconds to go and North Carolina won the National Championship 63-62.
 
The pregame talk Coach Wooden gave before a National Championship Game was the same as any other game: "I've done my job, now it's time for you to do yours. I don't want to know by the expression on your face after the game which team scored more points. Now let's go."
 
Roy Williams, John Wooden and Dean Smith all eliminated worry from their teams to create improved performance.
 
Do you know what your team members are worried about? How can you help them not worry?
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Dave Edinger has been coaching basketball for 37 years at the high school, middle school. and international levels. As a head coach, his teams have won 572 games.

    Archives

    January 2022
    December 2021
    September 2021
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    June 2016
    May 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    September 2015

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed