Golf is a mental game. Physical skill is necessary, but in a round which lasts three hours, the actual action takes less than 20 minutes, providing a golfer's mind significant time to influence his play. In basketball, one cannot focus on a missed shot or errant pass, as he has a new task which requires his attention.
If the player focuses on his poor play at one end, he is susceptible to a mistake on the other end. "It is possible to process at most 126 bits of information per second... The limitation of consciousness is demonstrated by the fact that to understand what another person is saying we must process 40 bits of information per second," (Csikszentmihalyi, Flow; The Psychology of Optimal Experience). If a player diverts his attention to his mistake, he lacks the attention necessary to play successfully, as he must process player movement and his relationship to the ball, his teammates and opponents and listen for teammates communicating with him.
The attention deficit is most apparent at the free throw line. During the game's flow, players get lost in the action; they hardly hear the noise in the stands or the coach yelling from the bench or even the whistle. They are completely involved in the action and there is no separation between body and mind; there is no time to think, and players play on instinct, habit and automatic actions. "When all a person's relevant skills are needed to cope with the challenge of a situation, that person's attention is completely absorbed by the activity. There is no excess psychic energy left over to process any information but what the activity offers... people become so involved in what they are doing that the activity becomes spontaneous, almost automatic; they stop being aware of themselves as separate from the actions they are performing," (Csikszentmihalyi). When a player drives the length of the floor, stops short of the defense, jumps into the air and shoots, he does not think about his elbow, or the consequences of a missed shot; he just shoots.
However, the free throw is a unique moment, not unlike a putt in golf. Golfers have time to analyze and overanalyze and allow their minds to play tricks and debilitate their skills. At the free throw line, the game stops; the shooter has time to step outside the action and think about the shot. He catches his breath and feels the fatigue that had been building during the continual action. While the player may be able to catch and shoot going full speed and make the shot with no problem, he steps to the line with trepidation, worrying about his shooting mechanics or the score.
When one steps to the line, he is told to concentrate or focus. However, when you actively think about concentrating, you lose the ability to perform optimally. "The great Zen master D.T. Suzuki described this non-thinking state: 'As soon as we reflect, deliberate, and conceptualize, the original unconscious is lost and thought interferes," (Douilliard, Body, Mind and Sport). During the action, the player is in the flow; however, at the line, he loses the flow and his mind negatively affects his performance. "Tony Gwynn said, 'When you're in it [the Zone], you don't hear the crowd, you don't think about the situation, you don't think about nothin'. It's something way beyond confidence. I mean, I'm usually fairly confident, but this is like-I don't even know what the word would be," (Douilliard).
To enter the zone while at the free throw line, train for these situations using Psychological Skills Training, particularly relaxation breathing and visualization. People mistakenly believe visualization is either unimportant or easy to do; however, "Jerome Singer, the Yale psychologist who has studied daydreaming and mental imagery... has shown that daydreaming is a skill that many children never learn to use. Yet daydreaming not only helps create emotional order... but it also allows children (and adults) to rehearse imaginary situations so that the best strategy for confronting them may be adopted," (Csikszentmihalyi).
Visualization conditions perfect practice and prepares the body to perform. Visualization relaxes the body and mind; the athlete is free to concentrate on the target and shoot without mind interference. "Perhaps a better way to describe the player who is 'unconscious' is by saying that his mind is so concentrated, so focused, that it is still. It becomes one with what the body is doing, and the unconscious or automatic functions are working without interference from thoughts," (Gallwey, The Inner Game of Tennis).
Before receiving the ball, or before one toes the free throw line, visualize the shot from start to finish, ending with a swish. "The reason for doing this is that you have a short-term visual memory, and if you shoot with the image of a missed shot in your mind, then your eyes will naturally tend to focus on where your last shot hit the rim instead of correctly on the center point of the basket," (Mikes, Basketball FundaMENTALS). Visualize success and then make it happen.
Psychological Skills Training must be practiced to be effective. Encourage players to spend time visualizing their shooting technique before each practice; they will improve as they gain comfort using the technique.
To improve one's visualization:
One drill I use to incorporate mental imagery into practice is Mental Shooting, a drill Paul Westhead described in Coaching Basketball (Krause):
While coaching in Europe, we used this drill a couple times per week as our free throw practice. Some veterans struggled with my unorthodox ideas, but it helped those who did. In one player's case, shooting with her eyes closed relieved her of the expectation of making every shot; she shot more freely and with better form. With her eyes opened, and the expectation and pressure to make every shot, she shot the ball flat; however, with her eyes closed, she had a nice, high follow-through and shot about the same percentage. Her internal pressure with her eyes open created tension in her shot; without the tension, she allowed her body to move freely. When she focused on the feeling of the shot with her eyes closed, she felt the difference between the two shots and slowly changed her shot.
In addition to visualization, use relaxation breathing. When standing at the line awaiting the ball, breathe deeply through the nose. "In the lower lobes of the lungs are an abundance of parasympathetic nervous system receptors. When activated with nasal breathing, they calm the mind and rejuvenate the body," (Douilliard). This nasal breathing calms the body and aides optimal performance.
While these Psychological Skills will not help a player with poor shooting mechanics, they may make a significant difference for a player with good mechanics who struggles during games or under pressure. However, like any other skill, players must practice visualization and relaxation breathing in order to derive their benefits.