How To Play As Well As You Practice
Dre Baldwin had a 9-year professional basketball career that took him through 8 countries in all, including Lithuania, Montenegro, Germany, Mexico, Croatia and Slovakia.
He is now a full-time entrepreneur who has authored 29 books and performed 4 TEDxTalks on Discipline, Confidence, Mental Toughness & Personal Initiative.
Some of his books include: The Third Day, The Overseas Basketball Blueprint, How To Play As Well As You Practice
In episode 88 of Demystifying Mental Toughness I had the pleasure of talking to a former professional basketball player, serial author and entrepreneur Dre Baldwin. Dre has written 27 books, one of which is called ‘Playing As Well As You Practice’. Today we dig into this topic as it’s a common challenge many highly driven and motivated athletes, young and old, amateur and professional can struggle with from time to time. Being able to compete “fearlessly” in a tournament or match, to have an aggressive mindset, when things aren’t going quite right or when you’re out of form is a skill that can be learned as you’ll discover. Enjoy tuning in!
Key Takeaways include:
- It’s important to know what it feels like to be able to use your skills in a live uncontrolled situation.
- Getting yourself mentally ready so that you go into tough situations and are able to respond instinctively is vital.
- It’s important to get your butt kicked every now and then so that you know what it feels like and you know that you can survive it.
- To get over performance anxiety, preparation is key.
- Look to make your practice and training very difficult, as Michael Jordan said ‘he was always trying to make his practice harder than the game.’
- Any thinking is overthinking when you are performing.
Connect with Dre Baldwin:
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Helpful Podcast Episodes
Podcast Ep 009: Andy Paisley – Play Better Golf Under Pressure
Podcast Ep 039: John Fletcher – How to Develop Fearless Athletes
Podcast Ep 064: Edu Rubio – How to Support Young Footballers
Other Useful Resources
Blog – Make Better Decisions to Help Your Sport Performance
Blog – 3 Tips for Playing with Confidence under Pressure
Blog – Supporting Children to Transfer their Skills from Training to Competition
Click the button below to join The Sports Psychology Hub a Facebook group that David hosts to help ambitious athletes, serious sport coaches, sporting parents, sports psychologists and mental game coaches to support each other.
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David Charlton
Global Sports Psychologist located near Durham and willing to travel Internationally. Managing Director – Inspiring Sporting Excellence. With over 10 years experience supporting athletes, coaches, parents and teams to achieve their goals, quickly.
T: +44 7734 697769
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