Imagine this.
A hot and raucous gym filled with hundreds of shouting students and boisterous fans. Some are dressed in red, some in green, and all of them have their eyes on you as you stand at the free throw line, waiting to take your shot.
While you square up you can feel nerves, adrenaline, and exhaustion, and you know that your coach, your teammates, and opposing players all have expectations for you.
For basketball players, this is a common occurrence and the way that they can find success in the noise is by having a strong and steady mental game.
“I try to block out the crowd and focus on our game plan and what I can see in front of me,” said Tosa West Senior Jake Hansen.
Hansen is captain of the team. He is a senior who is in his 4th year of starting and has over 1000 career points. He also has scored the most single season three pointers in Tosa West history with 73 his junior year.
Because he is captain, he is looked to for motivation and to bring the team together during adversity like after a tough loss.
“You have to figure out why you’re losing or why you play badly and then just move on and stay consistent. Whether we won last night or lost last night, we still gotta show up at practice tomorrow and we’re still gonna do the same things day in and day out to keep up that consistency,” said Hansen.
Players have different strategies for dealing with external stressors allowing them to stay mentally aligned in high pressure scenarios.
“In order to block out the crowd or opposing teams, you always have to focus on your breathing. It’s the most important thing,” said Junior Jaylen Brown.
Several players employ this strategy of breathing.
“You always have to stay poised and take deep breaths,” said Junior Steve Wright. “It’s a little weird but I also talk to myself which helps me block out distractions.”
Even with consistent practice and training, players still make mistakes, however they also have to come back from those mistakes and continue to contribute to the team.
“You have to always have a next play mentality. Don’t let the last play hinder the next. You can’t go back in the past and you won’t be able to fix a mistake so you have to focus on the game in front of you,” said Wright
This mindset of disregarding the game that has already been played is common among players.
“I try to make up for a mistake by doing better in the next play. I try to focus on our game plan and what I can see in front of me and forget about the past,” said Hansen
Certain games hold more weight than others, like rivalries and playoff games. These important games create more tense environments for athletes.
“When we’re playing a team like Tosa East you have to not let the crowd get into your head and you just have to try and stay positive,” said Wright.
Coaches also play a very large role in players mentality and being able to maintain a positivity and focus in a game.
“You have to remember that the coaches have the same goal as the team. They all want to see me and my teammates succeed so you have to understand that when they give advice there’s a reason for it and not think that they’re coming at you personally,” said Hansen.
Fellow members of the team agree that the coaches have their best interests at heart.
“I don’t think a coach would ever try to tell me wrong, so I just take it and try to do what they tell me in the next play,” said Wright
There are also opportunities to get back at other teams, and similarly to many sports or competitions there is a very real aspect of taunting and getting on opponents heads.
Before the start of one game, Sophomore Jalen Brown recalled some direct taunting from an opposing team mate.
“This guy on the other team was talking before a game saying, ‘I’m going to take your [Grambling State] offer. He was a Wisconsin commit, and after we won the game I was like, ‘Yo, that little Wisconsin shit, fake as hell.’ I’m sorry for the cussing, but you know, that was so fake. I wanted to make him lose his offer.” said Brown
Players agree that getting in the heads of other players can be an attractive but dangerous tool.
“I don’t usually try to mess with people, but it’s really easy. If your team is going on a run to, like, kind of kick them when they’re down and, like, get in their head and force them to try too hard and make a mistake.” said Hansen
Basketball is a mentally challenging game requiring focus, determination and consistency at practice and during a game.
“The way you do one thing is how you do everything. So even when I’m tired, I try to be disciplined and push myself.” said Hansen
Wright also sees consistency as key.
“It’s working hard every day, and we’re capable. We’re capable to do a lot of things. Working hard every day, doing what we know we can do, doing the stuff we work on and we can keep winning.”
