Transcription
Growing up, I was always interested in the mental game. After years of study, I developed the Basketball Brain program. My life is devoted to helping others achieve their greatness. I hope you'll like, subscribe, and if you take a chance with the Basketball Brain program, I promise you, your game is going to reach levels that you never thought possible.
What, what's up, Basketball Brain fans and members? So I have a technique for you today. You might want to call it a technique, a tactic, a strategy that I want you to start using. I just did another video about this on my personal channel, but I'm going to do it specifically for you, a basketball player, or any athlete, really. And it's this: What I want you to do is when you're working out, and let's say you're running wind sprints, your coach has you running, okay? And it's really hard, and you're feeling tired, and you know what you do? You put your hands on your shorts, you bend over, you put your hands on your head, head, and you turn and you spin and you look at the ceiling, and you have these faces of anguish. And in your mind, you're starting to think about, "Oh my God, we still have more running to do," and you're overthinking the whole thing.
Here's what I want you to do. I want you to stand as if you have perfect energy. I want you to stand like you're totally calm. I want your face totally calm. I want you excited. I don't want you to be dramatic because I was watching some guys run wind sprints the other day, and they were being incredibly dramatic. After every wind sprint, they were leaning against the wall, they were rolling around, they, they were looking at the ceiling, saying "Hail Marys" or something. At any rate, I thought, "I remember when I used to do this." And one of the tricks I had was when everybody else was doing that, I would just stand there, calm. My face would be calm, my breathing would be calm.
Well, here's the thing. When you start to calm your face and you stand, maybe have just have your hand on your hips, you're like, "Yeah, I'm ready for another one. What? No big deal. I'm not going to think about it." Your breathing slows faster, you catch your breath faster, your heartbeat, uh, returns to normal faster. And you're not going, you're actually wasting energy by being dramatic. You're, you're thinking, you're, you're not only physically feeling it, you're starting to anticipate the next run, and that's part of the drama.
So just like I talked about in a previous video, getting stupid, it relates here. Stop thinking. Say, "I can always do more if I'm in the present moment." Moment. If you're in the present moment, you're not thinking about the past, you're not thinking about the future. You can run forever. Okay, well, maybe not forever, but if you stop thinking as you're running and you're just with every stride, you're going to be able to do more. Whenever I would lift weights, I would be like, at rep eight, and that voice kicks in and says, "I can't do another one." If you literally just say, "Not going to," just "Not thinking," that I'm not going to think about it, and just go into like a dumb state and don't even, and just keep going, you'll be able to do a lot more than you think.
So try this. When you're when things are really tough, try to get a calm face. Try to stand like you're fine, like it didn't affect you. I guess that's what I'm trying to say. Act like it did not affect you. You just stand there and you feel good. You feel good. I do that now. I'm not perfect at this stuff. Not perfect because the mind always forgets the lesson. So if you listen to to this, you're going to do it the first time, you're going to remember, "Oh yeah, when I'm tired, let me just be calm, make my face calm, and I'll be able to do more." And then you're going to forget, and you're going to act dramatic. Don't try to be perfect. Don't try to be perfect. You're going to mess up. Think about people who are trying to improve themselves. If you just accept the fact that you don't have to take a technique and be perfect every time, you're going to start performing better, and you'll actually be more consistent as you engage in these various activities.
So I obviously, I have a lot of tools. Do I use them all perfectly every time? Of course not. Do I have bad games when I play? Of course I do. Do I beat myself up because I'm not perfect? I used to, but I don't anymore because I know that's just kind of, you have to ride it a little bit. You have to ride the ups and downs and not get too emotional if you make a mistake. So if you go out there and you run wind sprints and you're calm, and you notice the benefits because you're going to notice the benefits, and then the next practice, all of a sudden you're back to, you know, being dramatic because you forgot. You need to be calm. Don't beat yourself up. Just go, "Oh, I need to go back to that." So every time you catch yourself slipping up, gently push, pull, push or pull yourself back to the right practice. It's all it is. It's, it's not a straight line. It's a lot of zigzagging. Like, you know where you're going, but you're kind of like a fish. And a fish is never really on target as it goes through the water.
I did another talk about this with an arrow. If you actually watch a bow and arrow, or not a bow and arrow, but an arrow as it's released from the bow and it's going through the air, the tip is never actually at the target. Overall, it's going towards the target, but it waves back and forth. It goes back and forth, back and forth. So it's going to the right, off target, and then it whips back to the left, and then back and forth. So it's kind of swimming through the air. And remember this as you do these drills, as you, if you're doing the program, and you make a mistake and you're off target, gently come back. And then maybe you miss again. You got to keep coming back, back and forth, back and forth. The people who don't stick with things, as soon as they start to go off course, they go, "Oh, I'm going to miss the target. Screw it. Whatever. I give up. I wasn't perfect." They don't realize that that's just par for the course. If you're on a diet, especially when you first start, you go good for three days, you're off it, and then people, "Ah, screw it. I'm not going to do it anymore." Smart people, wise people go, "I'm off it. Back on it. I'm off it. Back on it. I'm off." Then pretty soon, you do hit the target. You kind of just end up going straight, like once you get into it. If you, any of you have ever dropped a food from your diet, you, I don't eat gluten. I don't eat a lot. I don't eat much dairy. And once it's gone, it's no longer hard, but at first, it's a little weaving back and forth until you actually get it.
So at any rate, try this. When you're running sprints, to be calm. Try to be calm. Try to keep your face calm. When you're lifting weights and it's hard, try to stay calm. If you're doing a really intense defensive drill and your body starts going, "Uh," just get your face calm. Get in the present moment and act like you're not tired. If you just act like you're not tired, you're going to find that you recover faster. And maybe you're actually not tired, and it's more mental than it is physical. I'm excited to hear what you guys think, uh, what you guys experience when you do this. Thanks so much. Please like, subscribe.