January 03, 2018 | Tagged Coaching
Improve Your Vision on the Basketball Court
Key ways to improve your basketball vision
“A vision is not just a picture of what could be; it is an appeal to our better selves, a call to become something more.” Rosabeth Moss Kanter
Becoming better at basketball requires your ability to have vision on and off the court.
Vision is the bridge between the present and the future. Great athletes can clearly see what steps they must take to get where they want to be. Average athletes are like hikers in a thick forest heading to a mountain. They can see the mountain but can’t find a straight path to get there. They wander one way and need to backtrack. Their progress is slow. A great athlete can not only see the mountain but also the clear path to get to the mountain. Some people can see the path instinctively while most great athletes are relentless at finding and learning from people who have forged the path and gone ahead.
Here are three keys to improving your basketball vision:
Solid Fundamentals
Picture fundamentals as your gateway to freedom. Great athletes have the fundamentals so flawlessly ingrained their minds are free to focus on other areas of the game. When researchers measured the brain activity of great athletes versus average athletes, they found a much quieter brain in the region of skill execution for great athletes. Their brain was quieter on shots they made than shots they missed. That means the brain could be more focused and spend more energy on what matters most. Average athletes have busy brain activity troubleshooting mechanics, techniques and so forth. Drill and practice your fundamentals so that your brain can be used more efficiently.
Practice Develops Prediction
Great athletes can anticipate a play and have the vision to see outcomes before they take place. Research has discovered the same area of the brain that is engaged in prediction is the same area of the brain engaged in practice. Intentional practice increases your brain's ability to make predictions and increases your vision.
“I think that the greatest gift God ever gave a (person) is not the gift of sight but the gift of vision. Sight is a function of the eyes, but vision is a function of the heart. When a person doesn’t have a vision, they live by their eyes. That means we live by what we see. That’s one of the reasons why people are so depressed, and that’s why the future never becomes a reality. Vision is a source of hope; it’s the source of courage; it’s the source of perseverance in the midst of difficulty.” Dr. Myles Monroe
Improve your eyes during shooting- basketball's most important skill
Perfect form would be worthless without concentration on a target
1. Seeing the target is vital. One study shows at least 75% of all errors in sports are related to visual inaccuracy.
2. Never watch the flight of the ball. Lifting the eyes causes the head to raise which throws the shooter off balance. Use your eyes to lock in on your target.
3. Learn the bull’s eye concept of shooting—a target within a target. The target is not the rim. Shoot to a specific point on the rim. Select one of the rings that hold the net. Burn the target with your intensity.
About NBC Basketball Camps
If you love basketball enough to work hard, you need to experience NBC Basketball Camps. NBC stands for Nothing Beats Commitment and these programs are dedicated to helping you become a stronger player and a better person. NBC Camps focus on leadership, grit, mental toughness, skill mastery, gratitude and inner faith. NBC Basketball has training programs for College players, travel teams, rookie camps for young kids, and everything in-between. If you love basketball, NBC Basketball has a program for you. Find out more at www.nbccamps.com/basketball