#Keep your composure free

Leaders don’t scream, crack, or show fear when they’re in high-pressure situations. They assure everyone looking to them for guidance that things will be fine. They remain cool, they remain calm, and they remain collected. What do all of these people have in common?

The captain of a football team in the huddle when the team is losing late in the game.

The CEO of a company addressing shareholders as stock prices plummet.

The chief of police giving a press conference after a horrible crime was committed in the community.

The leader of a country addressing the nation after a natural disaster.

Think about ways that you’ve seen people in leadership roles react to challenging circumstances. This is true on nearly every scale, from small to large. But what happens when things take a turn for the worse? The reaction a leader shows will directly impact the way everyone else handles the situation. Sure-it’s easy to be in charge when things are going well.Īnyone can smile, wave, and take credit when spirits are high and everyone is happy. When times get tough, keeping composure is more important than ever. Find out more at always have so many people looking up to them. If you love basketball enough to work hard, if you have big dreams and the desire to be a transformative leader, you need to be at NBC Basketball Camps this summer. NBC Basketball Camps are training camps for boys and girls who aspire to play basketball well, become strong leaders and live better. The more you practice composure, the more composure you will have. Teams that practice 'decisive moments' scenarios during the season will be much more composed when faced with an actual game situation.

One of the main reasons people can maintain composure during stressful events is because they have rehearsed what to do ahead of time. You can tell if someone is under the spell of the shoulder critic because their eyes are more on your coach than in the game.ĥ. Your coach needs to be able to communicate with you.

When the critic is gone, start widening your center of attention so that you can include the coach again. Narrow your circle of attention away from the coach, the crowd, specific people in the crowd, and keep your focus tight.

#Keep your composure free

The critic pops up when we are shooting a free throw and warns us 'Better not miss, your team will be so disappointed.' You eliminate the shoulder critic when you intensely focus on the task at hand. The critic whispers to us, 'What will the coach think' then our eyes go to the coach instead of to the next play. All of us have a shoulder critic who distracts us from what we are doing. Repeat a mental mantra to yourself such as 'Perfectionism is the enemy of the good.' Focus on your breathing, spotlight a teammate shake it off, and don't think about the mistake again until you are in a space to process and learn.Ĥ. When you make a mistake, protect your mind from any cascading negative thinking. Stay focused on your goals and your game.ģ. Keep the game from getting personal, eliminate any judgmental assessments of motives of the other team or the refs. Comments like, 'She elbowed me on purpose', or 'That ref is intentionally calling the game against us' elevate anger and cause you to lose control. When you start making the game too personal, your mind can begin to flood. Flooding is when your decision-making skills become impaired, and you are in fight or flight reaction mode. When you get in a tough spot, how do you respond? Do you shut down or do you freak out? Do you lose your temper, or do you lose your confidence? Notice your patterns and start to put some practical plans in place to help hold you together when you want to break apart.Ģ. Building a lifestyle of composure requires intentional planning and goals for execution. Composure can become the difference between pulling out an impossible win or getting blown out at the end of a game. Keeping composure, on the other hand, is to hold confidence or self-command in place when the situation becomes very challenging. Composure shares the same root as the word compound which means to hold together. Losing composure is synonymous to losing control, perspective, or confidence. They started to press and we lost our minds.”

We allowed ourselves to lose our composure and not execute. Just look this quote from a Division 1 basketball coach,“It's hard to even talk about. NBC Basketball Camps at Whitworth All-Star Game showing College Prep Camp boys competing.Ĭomposure is defined as calm under pressure, self-command, poise, self-control, imperturbabilityĬomposure on the basketball court is crucial to your success as a player. Here are 5 ways to improve your composure on the basketball court.