Poise under Pressure (PART 2) – A True Test of Mental Toughness
In Part 1 of Poise under Pressure we introduced the importance of this
critical skill by discussing a hypothetical season where championship
tournament games and all of the regular season conference games were
decided by at least a 40 point margin each and every night. In such an
unrealistic hypothetical season we all know that very little ‘pressure’
would exist in the game of basketball. We discussed how dominant teams
would roll into arenas full of confidence and perhaps even arrogance,
expecting another blowout and the poor opposing much weaker team would
play with a hope of just trying to keep it as close as possible and a
hope to ‘look good’ losing. But we all know that there is no such thing
as 100% certainty in sports or guaranteed blowouts. Games are more
often decided by single digit deficits, and at times by just a point or
two. A cursory glance at this year’s NCAA tournament brackets and the
deciding score line will quickly reveal what every coach in America and
every sports fan already knows; games often go down to the wire.
Part
2 of this series on pressure is more than just understanding how
pressure is a common denominator in sports, it is about understanding
how pressure can affect an athlete’s ability to relax, destroying good
shot selection, negatively impacting assist to turnover ratios,
lowering shooting percentages, and negatively affecting overall clutch
performance. This discussion will also focus on a highly practical
first step to excelling in pressure situations, namely a team’s ability
to manage their mistakes.
One of the greatest examples of the
importance of this skill in pressure situations has been demonstrated
by the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers and their leader, MVP candidate Lebron
James. Before the 07 playoffs, Steve Kerr, certainly no stranger to
playoff toughness and great clutch playoff performances, penned a Yahoo
internet article that highlighted some important observations.
“In
losses to the Lakers, Portland and Denver, James either missed or
passed up several game-winning shot opportunities, and he misfired on
several key free throws. What was disconcerting to Cavaliers fans was
not missing big shots – even Kobe Bryant does that – but his reaction.
James looked distraught over the thought of letting his teammates down,
hanging his head and flailing his arms in disgust each time…Kobe,
Reggie and Michael…when they did miss, they never showed any negative
body language that could be perceived as weakness. They held their
heads high and defiantly walked off the floor.”
Mentally Tough Body Language
Why
did Steve Kerr pay particular attention to Lebron’s body language and
behavior in these situations? This question is best answered by posing
an additional question. How would most players feel if just before the
end of a game on the deciding play, their coach met with the opposing
coach and said “here you go coach, here is the last play of the game
….we will take the ball out on the baseline and we’ll be running a
double screen from the elbow for our best shooter, and she will take a
nice comfortable 12-15ft shot to seal the victory.” The players would
probably ‘pitch a fit,’ and understandably so! In a similar way, it is
important for athletes to understand that their facial expressions and
body language are responsible for letting their opponents know exactly
what is on their mind. Opponents have an advantage whenever they know
we are frustrated, fatigued, or experiencing any other negative thought
or feeling.
An even more important reason for maintaining
great body language is the positive or negative affect body language
can have on the athlete who is exhibiting the body language. As an
example, try to answer the following question. What do all great actors
have in common? Well, one of the things they have in common is the
ability to convince us that they have become the people they are
pretending to be. But even more remarkable than that, they have the
ability to often convince themselves that they are playing a role. The
great actors often immerse themselves in their roles to the extent that
they are able to physically experience intense emotion such as courage,
fear, and confidence, even to the point that they can produce tears of
joy or sadness. How are they able to achieve this type of control?
Great actors achieve this type of physical response through tremendous
imagery and word suggestions in their mind and they also assume the
body language of the emotions that they are experiencing to add to
these emotions. Think about the last movie scene you saw where an actor
laughed or cried and think about the body language that contributed to
these different emotions.
The important lesson here begins
with the understanding that even great performances will often contain
some mistakes. How we physically react to these mistakes will help
determine our ability to ‘bounce back,’ stay ‘tough’ and continue to
maintain the 4 C’s of Peak Performance – Composure, Concentration,
Confidence and Commitment. We should never allow a mistake to cause our
eyes, chin or chest to drop after the mistake. We may not be able to
play a totally mistake free game, every game, but we can always control
our body language. The Lebron James from the 2006 season is a VERY
different Lebron from the 2007 playoffs and this year’s 2008 playoffs.
The transformation has not been physical, it has been all mental.
Great
coaches establish a great culture of exceptional body language both on
and off the court, and they do not tolerate negative body language.
Watch a selection of games from this year’s Women’s NCAA tournament
again and put duct tape on the bottom of the TV so that you cannot see
the score. Then turn the volume off on the TV set, and you will quickly
see the difference between the toughest teams in the country and
everyone else. You will often know who is winning and who is losing in
the space of just a couple of minutes of action, all without knowing
the score or listening to the play by play. When the tough teams are
down a few points, or even double digits, they NEVER show that
frustration. This year, Tennessee was as good as I have seen in recent
years in their ability to handle their mistakes. And for teams of this
caliber, their ability to control a physical, emotional and/or verbal
response to mistakes will also extend to other forms of adversity that
may shake a mentally weaker team, including:
1. On-court negative response to opponent intimidation
2. On-court negative attitude when substituted
3. On-court response to questionable officiating
4. On-court negative response to a mistake
5. On-court response to an opposing team making ‘a run’
