-Tony Lanzillo is the founder of Mental Peak and is a mental skills coach. As a mental health professional for over 20 years, Anthony “Tone” Lanzillo has often used the theme of sports to engage and educate his clients about the importance of mental skills in everyday life. It was when his younger son was in the 6th grade, and playing three different sports, that he began exploring how athletes could use mental skills in their practices and games. Since then, Lanzillo has been writing about the mental game of sports for such websites as FirstDown Playbook, Coaches Training Room, Ultimate Hockey Source, Lax Playbook, Online Soccer Coaching, World of Basketball, Athletic Management, Lacrosse All-Stars, Coaches Clipboard and Coach Book. Also, he has shared his ideas and worked with athletes in such sports as softball, boxing, field hockey, football, soccer, basketball and lacrosse.
Mental Conditioning Monday: Take 5
Every time that you train on your own, go to a team practice or play in a game, carry these 5 affirmations with you. Affirmations are a very easy and simple approach to putting yourself into a very positive and productive state of mind. They are like your “calling cards” that you mentally take with you and refer to whenever you are playing basketball – whether you are stretching and doing exercises, running sprints, scrimmaging with your team or trying to make the best split-second decision in the game.
“I am _________________________.”
Identify one of your personal strengths – resilient, focused, patient, learning, calm, grateful, intense, supportive, here, all in.
“I expect to__________________________.”
Identify something that you expect of or from yourself – keep the faith, give my best effort, listen to the coaches, help any teammate who is having a bad day, be patient with myself and others, keep learning, never give up.
“I can___________________________
Identify what you are willing to do today to become a better basketball player – eat healthier, shoot 40 more foul shots after the team practice, keep my grades up so I can stay on the team, work on my dribbling skills on my own time, help the coaches clean up after practice, thank my parents for driving me to practice.
“I believe in____________________________
Identify one thing that you truly believe in – myself, my teammates, my coaches,
learning something new every day, giving my best effort, a higher power, practicing on my own to raise my game, putting others before myself.
“I love__________________________
Identify one thing that you love about sports and playing the game – the feel of the basketball, being part of a team, the competition, doing something that you didn’t think you could do, mentoring other players, running up and down the court.
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