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You are here: Home / Youth Sports Psychology Articles / Top Confidence-Building Tips from a Former NBA Coach

Top Confidence-Building Tips from a Former NBA Coach

March 2, 2012 By Patrick Cohn 1 Comment

Youth Sports Psychology

What are the biggest confidence challenges for young athletes?

They immediately focus on the negative side of the feedback that coaches are trying to give them.

That’s the word from Hal Wissel, a basketball coach who has worked for numerous NBA teams, is founder of Basketball World, and author of “Basketball: Steps to Success.”

We interviewed Wissel about his tips for building confidence in basketball shooters, and he offered some observations that apply to all young athletes.

“If you try to explain how to shoot, kids will immediately think something is wrong because you’re giving them feedback,” he says. “Many players start with the negative and think they can’t shoot.”

It’s key to begin with the positive, and to build confidence, he says. One way to do that is to teach
young athletes how to look and act like athletes.

For example, he teaches basketball players to leave their hand up  in a follow-up position after they take a shot. “I tell them they look and act like shooters when they do this,” he says. “That’s a mental game advantage.”

He also reminds shooters that they don’t have to be perfect players to make a shot. Players need to avoid paralysis by analysis, he adds.

“If a player is thinking about three or four aspects of the shot, they can’t function. Skills should be free-flowing and rhythmical. If you think about too many things, it becomes mechanical.”

To teach kids to flow more freely, he teaches them rhythm.

“We teach them to bend their knees slightly and use a down-up motion. Do the down and up, start the shot and release the ball.”

“Rhythm gives them the range to make 3-point shots,” he says.

The idea is to get them into a “flow” that allows them to play intuitively and take risks. These are key to helping young athletes grow, as we’ve said many times!

Want to learn many more confidence-boosting tips for young athletes?

At Kids’ Sports Psychology, exclusive members can download our full interview with Wissel, “Top Confidence Tips from a former NBA Coach.”

Top Confidence Tips from a former NBA Coach

But that’s not all. Members have access to loads of videos, articles, e-books, Questions-and-Answers and audio interviews—all designed to ensure you improve your sports parenting skills and your kids make the most of their physical talent.

What are sports parents saying about our resources?

“Kids’ Sports Psychology is a great web site by the way. One of the best web sites I’ve been on. It’s really, really helpful.”
~Gavin Clark, PGA, England

Visit Kids’ Sports Psychology to learn how to ensure your young athletes make the most of their
physical talent!

Kids’ Sports Psychology

P.S. Wissel is a real pro who understands confidence building. Exclusive members of Kids’ Sports Psychology can listen to our full interview with him here:

Top Confidence Tips from a former NBA Coach Full Interview


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~DD Bartley


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What are parents saying?

“My wife and I immediately applied your tips and luckily we got a fast response. Our 16-year-old daughter reads like a case study for lack of confidence. She matches the profile your e-book describes: high technical ability and successful in soccer practice but looks like she forgets how to play in games!”
~Glenn G. New Jersey

“After listening to a couple of your podcasts and reading your “10 tips to confidence in youth sports,” most of the challenges you make note of apply to my 14-year-old son. He’s got all the physical ability, but the more mistakes he makes, the worse it seems to get. So reading and listening to your information has been so helpful and validates what I have observed in him for the past few months. Thank you so much!”
~Brenda Felder, Everett, WA

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Filed Under: Youth Sports Psychology Articles Tagged With: basketball world, kids sports confidence, mental confidence, mental game, sports confidence, youth athlete confidence, youth sports

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Comments

  1. Jodi Murphy

    March 7, 2012 at 6:18 pm

    “The idea is to get them into a “flow” that allows them to play intuitively and take risks.”

    I think that’s a great approach to coaching. You don’t want your players to have to think through every movement of a play because they’ll get hung up on one step. It has to become second nature so they can think on the fly.

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