There are times when an athlete can be in the process of having a terrible performance. How you respond to the failure is incredibly important. Keeping in mind that it is often the losses we learn more from than the wins. The wins are feel great and we leave the competition feeling like something was accomplished. The mistakes that were made during those games are usually glossed over but when a loss happens, especially a really bad performance, it can be daunting to deal with. It can strike a chord and you have to find a way to get through it.
Here are some tactics on how to bounce back from a tough loss or a terrible performance.
During the Game:
Get Other People Involved - If you are having a poor offensive performance or feel a bit out of rhythm sometimes it is a matter of looking to create for other people. Try to draw two defensive players to get someone else open. Set a really great screen or make a hustle play. You could also make an extra pass to see if someone else can get open for a better shot. If your shot isn’t falling from outside try to get something going closer to the basket or the foul line. Doing for others can get you out of the state you might be in.
Take Pride on Defence - If the offensive side of your game isn’t working at all a good strategy is to try to get going on defence first. Coaches often say “good defence creates easy offence”. When your defence is tough it can lead to getting steals or playing in good position can force your opponent to make poor decisions leading to turnovers. When poor decisions are made it can result in easier shots like layups or advantage situations for you and your team.
Stay Engaged on the Bench - This is perhaps the toughest part is when you are on the bench it is easy to start thinking about the mistakes and get into your own head. The danger in doing this is that now you aren’t in the moment. You can psych yourself out or won’t be ready if you are asked to go back in the game again. Staying ready is done best when you mentally stay prepared by cheering on your teammates and getting into the game even when you aren't on the court. Making it more about them and less about you can be incredibly powerful as it takes the pressure off of you and helps your shoulder the load with the team.
Use your Mental Locker - A mental locker is where you can put issues you are dealing with so when you step on the court those things aren’t top of mind instead they are put away. This way you have the capacity to deal with them better at a later time. This practice helps to play in the moment and allows you to be present. Your thoughts will be there when you are finished with the game. So when something happens in the game don’t take the time to think about it in that moment instead promise yourself you will go through it later.
After the Game:
Remember the Positive Things Too - When things go really bad it is easy to recall all of the horrible things that you or the team did. It is still important to keep perspective and see the positives and remember that not everything is lost. The hardest things to overcome are the things that hurt the most. Getting to a point where you see the weaknesses and work on rectifying them is a really powerful position. Take time to recall one or two things that you did in the game that were positive to help keep that perspective. When you see that one of your teammates had a tough game give them some words of encouragement and let them know you are there for them.
Take Time to Clear out your Mental Locker - While in the heat of the moment and a mistake is made or something comes up in your mind it is probably a bad idea to start trying to analyze it it then. Putting it in your mental locker can give you more time to either analyze it later or completely shelf it for good. There are many times when you see a player during the game make a mistake and immediately their expression changes. This is when you know they are no longer in the moment and they sometimes make another mistake just like the first one. Just working on being in the moment can help to erase compounding mistakes. Putting the first mistake in the Mental Locker allows you to either have a short memory and forget about it or think it through further at another time.
Choose a Couple of Lessons - It can be tempting to think everything went wrong. Sometimes identifying one or two issues that can be remedied can help with the process of getting back into the right mentality. Attacking those issues and not hiding from them can be incredibly helpful in getting to the right state of mind again. Adversity is something that all great players and teams go through. The way you choose to respond to it is the most important thing. Do you allow it to rip you apart or do you use it to bond you together? The way you choose to respond is really the difference maker! Trying to fix everything is a mistake because other things can come into alignment naturally once you are on the right track again. Choosing just a couple of lessons can really help to focus instead of getting bogged down in too many negative feelings. Finding the lesson can really make the loss worthwhile because it is the tough situations that seem to carry the best solutions. Remember poor performances aren't the end of the world. As John Wooden once said "Failure is not fatal but failure to change might be."
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