If your youth basketball coaching sessions have seen your coach imploring you to be more aggressive out there on the court, there are a great number of drills you can do to gain more toughness and therefore more aggressive in your basketball.
Let’s take a look at some of the drills you can be teaching to improve today and in the future:
Teaching the Aggressive Defensive Basketball Position Drill
Aggressive play starts with defense.
Put your energy into stopping that opposing player from scoring like your life depends on it. Get every rebound and never give up on it. This is a way to play aggressively when playing the fundamentals of basketball.
Your teammates will take notice and consider you a valuable asset on the court – someone who will always have their back.
Your teammates will feed off this energy and you will be considered a huge presence on the court. This, in turn, will give you the confidence you need for aggressive offensive play.
Own the Ball
When the ball is in your hands and you’re on the offense – own it! Cultivate the idea that the ball belongs to you – not the defender!
It is your ball…you are holding it.
It is not theirs…and never will be.
All you have to do is hold on to the ball, keep it from them, and the rest will come to you.
Have a Basketball Match with Unknown Players
If you find your aggression changes based on who you are playing, this can be a guide for taming your passiveness problem. It is common for players to play aggressively with their friends and people they know well as they are comfortable and in their element.
Players know that if they make a mistake with their friends they probably won’t punish them too badly for it. Players also know that if they push aggressively by using their elbows and arms more vigorously, accidentally hurting someone they know will be more quickly forgiven.
When we play against unknown players we are out of our groove and we don’t know exactly how they will react to aggressive play.
This can make us tense, nervous, and timid.
The key to getting out of this psychological rut is to play more with people you do not know – play more games with the people that make you nervous or in settings that push your boundaries. Each time you play with unknown players you are building your mental strength.
You will be gaining the experience and learning the skills needed to deal with any kind of teammate or opponent, as well as proving to yourself that there is nothing to fear.
Develop Your Skills in Basketball
It’s easy to look at the best players on the team that seem to effortlessly scoring basket after basket and think: “Well, I would be confident if I could play that well.”
The fact is they have practiced those shots hundreds or thousands of times.
If you practice the same way you will feel the same confidence – even when there are three seconds left on the clock and the ball is in your hands.
If you’ve got a weak dribble with the ball in your left hand, for example, work on it every day.
Work on your strength, your athleticism, agility, and playing skills. Eat the right food, and get enough sleep every day so you’re always playing at your best and developing your skills as quickly as possible.
Teaching the “Build the Habit Drill”
Consciously start hand-checking and boxing out more often. Much like any habit: aggressive, confident basketball playing comes from forcing yourself to do it time and again…until it becomes second nature.
This builds your toughness!
If you find yourself standing around the perimeter then it’s time to remind yourself to get in there and work – even it if appears your immediate efforts are unimportant. It’s all about building up those aggressive habits until they become second nature as you become a naturally aggressive player.
Try Cross-Training
One suggestion is to cross-train in a different sport…perhaps football?
Football is a highly aggressive contact youth sport…much more so than basketball.
You will be learning how to play aggressively every day and becoming used to the rough and tumble of competitive sports!
Never Fear to Fail
If you’re often benched, you might build a mental block where you fear that any on-court failure will have you back on the bench. You prefer to play it safe – a dangerous thing to do in basketball. Try to remember that fear is just a state of mind.
You have the power to tell yourself “No, I’m not afraid!”
Taking more risks will make you a better player. Your coach will ultimately not want to bench the player that’s always ready to go in for that loose ball.
Aggressiveness and mental toughness comes from confidence. The less confident we are, the more fearful we are of making mistakes. The more fearful we are of making mistakes, the more we fear failure. The more we fear failure, the more we fear our coaches. Ultimately, this is can result in a loss of passion for the game, which again feeds into a lack of aggression on the court.
Love the game first, and you’ll want to get in there and win it all for your cherished teammates.
The Mental Toughness Academy has a program designed specifically to improve your ability on the court. Our Basketball Mental Toughness program can teach you how to overcome negativity and doubt by instilling confidence and mental fortitude.
A mentally tough athlete is an unstoppable athlete!
Welcome to the Winner’s Circle!
Craig Sigl, The Mental Toughness Trainer and Youth Sports Specialist