Getting the most out of your practice is something that you should always strive for. A perfect practice can be daunting to attain but with these 11 keys, you will begin to see improvement in your game like never before.
1.) Warm-up. Warming up is vital to performing at your highest level during a game; it prepares the muscles and joints for the stress they are about to endure. The warm-up also serves as an opportunity to mentally prepare yourself for what's ahead. Here are some great forms of warm-ups: jumping jacks, high knees, tuck jumps, butt kickers, shuffle drills, push-ups
2.) Breath Like Many Of Us, when the time comes for you to do your best, I can almost guarantee that you will hold your breath without even realizing it. You must remember to take in a deep breath before running for a pass or taking a jump shot. Remembering to breathe is one of the easiest ways to keep yourself calm and focused on creating solid results.
3.) Stay Focused Thinking about all of the what-ifs that are going to be self-destructive mostly because they are out of your control. What-ifs serve no purpose but derail you from focusing on your immediate task at hand. With this being said, it's important that during practice sessions that you are not let outside influences get in the way of what needs to be done. If you can focus on the present moment and what's directly in front of you, it will help your performance tremendously.
4.) Set The Pace Pace yourself during practice sessions to ensure that everything is executed with perfection. The last thing that you want to happen is for you to perform at a pace that's just about as fast as your competition or even slower than them which surely won't bode well for you during the actual game itself. Start strong and gradually increase your speed as necessary until everything is moving along smoothly and without flaw.
5.) You Gotta Believe To Achieve Success, You Have To Believe In Yourself And What You Can Do Without Hesitation; if this was not true then things like this wouldn't be possible. It's a well-known fact that the mind is a very powerful tool and what you believe in strongly will become a reality for you. You've got to make sure that your head is in the right place by believing in yourself.
6.) Absorb Everything The Game Is About To Throw At You By Watching And Listening Before It Gets Started Sure, it may seem silly but new things are only made known through observation of what has already happened so why not see if there's anything you can pick up on beforehand? Observing before the game begins also gives you time to choose whether or not you want to communicate with some of your teammates about certain strategies that might be advantageous during the game itself.
7.) Cut Out The Distractions If the game is about to start and you're still on your phone texting away then it doesn't say too much about your level of preparedness for what's ahead. It's vital that you put all forms of distractions, whether they be electronic or not, to the side so that you can focus completely on developing amazing results during the game itself.
8.) Keep It Light By Having Fun This may seem like an odd point but stopping to laugh at yourself now and again will make things go much smoother for you. Laughter also has a very powerful healing quality to it which might help with injuries if necessary (just don't hurt yourself).
9.) Refuel & Rehydrate These are both critical aspects of being successful at sports. I can't tell you how many times that I've seen kids practice for hours on end with no water breaks or anything to eat. You have got to fuel your body with energy-rich foods and liquids to ensure that you are performing at your best.
10.) Make The Best Of Your Time This is where creativity comes into play which is great because allowing yourself the freedom to do this will help immensely during sports. It may even help you come up with some new ways of doing things that might improve performance if nothing else works out as planned.
11.) Have to Fun If you are not having fun, then it'll be difficult to accomplish anything worthwhile. When you are having fun, though, it will drive you forward and help you finish strong no matter what. As long as you follow these tips, your sports career should be a successful one.
