Craig talking directly to youth basketball players – click to view video
(Video Transcript below)
Hey Craig, Just letting you know I’ve had 43 points in the last three games because of your program! Just got home from the big rivalry game. This was the last ever Fermi Basketball game and we were playing our rival, Enfield High. The bleachers were LOADED. So much pressure to play good. But when I got nervous as usual, I went to the locker room, turned the lights off, and listened to your guided visualizations. I started to focus on the controllables and not the uncontrollables. I had 15 points. Everyone on the other team expected a low confident player out of me. I proved them wrong. I showed them what i was able to do when confidence was on my side. We ended up losing by around 8, but it’s the closest Fermi has EVER gotten to Enfield. I was shaking all day today (literally) and I was about to leave school early because I had so much anxiety for this game. But I stuck with your visualizations and I calmed myself down. Everyone in the gym saw something out of me that they’ve never seen before. Thank you for changing my life on and off the court.
Brandon Lukacs, Enfield, CT
Roland Grodkowski Birmingham, U.K.
Drew Sears, Now playing professionally in Europe
I truly believe this because my mental side of the game affected me way more than any physical barrier. You helped me break through this mental block and focus my effort on trying to master the game and have fun. I no longer evaluated myself based on how many points I scored, but rather on how much I improved and what I could do better. In return, I did start playing more consistent in all areas of the game.”
Caitlyn Rohrbach, Seattle WA
Hi Mr.Craig, I finished the training and I’m more than confident in my own mental ability now. I just want to thank you for giving me this training right when I am at my most depressing point I must say, this is truly the best training I’ve ever had that just focuses solely on getting your mental mindset prepared to go beast mode on anything.
Johntesh Lin, Taiwan
“After mental toughness training, I have played some unbelievable games. I accomplished career bests and was able to take over games at times. The result of this has allowed me to play basketball at the collegiate level earning a scholarship.”
Daniel Garner, Bellevue WA
[Transcript]
If you are a basketball player from about the age of 10 and through high school, boy or girl, this video is for you.
Listen, right off the bat, I’m not going to pretend to know everything you are going through right now. It’s been a long time since I was your age and I’m totally not hip to your age group’s interests and tastes.. However, I have had hundreds of athletic kids, just like you, in my office and in Skype and FaceTime sessions and I’ve heard their stories and about the pressures they face on and off the court.
What this quick video message for you is all about is simply this: if you KNOW you have more talent and skill than is showing up for you when it’s game time, then this message is for you.
If you KNOW you play much better when you are confident than when you are tense or nervous, then I have a solution for you.
First off, I call myself a mental toughness trainer and yeah, that’s what I do. And maybe your parents or coaches talk about your needing “Mental Toughness” or “Mental Toughness Training” or something like that. But here’s the real deal. Those are just words. I specialize in helping youth athletes bring the way they play their best, like they do in practice and pickup games, when there’s no pressure, to the game where there is pressure.
I solve that problem. I get results. Period!
If you play as well in pressured games as you do in practice or scrimmage games, then you don’t need me and I congratulate you.
But if you don’t bring the skills you’ve spent countless hours practicing fully to the game, or you lose them under pressure or you get way too tense, tight or lose your confidence or your coach says you need to be more aggressive….then you’ve got a few options.
You can try to take the 1. advice of parents and coaches who say you need to “believe in yourself” and tell yourself you’re a champion. blah blah blah, right?. See how that works for you. When it doesn’t, come back to me, I’ll be here.
You can 2. work harder and longer at practicing your skills like all the adults tell you to do. Do that. See if it makes you any less nervous before a game when you are going against a tough opponent. See if that keeps your confidence up after you miss a couple shots. When it doesn’t, I’ll be here for you.
You can do the “I’m fine” routine. What does that mean? It means when your mom or dad notices that you don’t play in the game like they know you have the skills and they suggest to you that maybe you should study the mental side of the game or get a sport psychology book or maybe they’ve even suggested my mental toughness training courses. When they do that, you say back: “I’m fine.”
Why do youth basketball players say “I’m fine”? Because they think that if they need some kind of “mental” fix or coaching, or something like that, that it is a sign of weakness or that they are broken…or that they just don’t want their parents to meddle in their stuff and they want to figure it out on their own.
I can totally respect that but it’s just not true. I’ve also helped a number of college and pro players, including a former NBA MVP. Top athletes in all sports do this kind of work for their game. Watch the video below and see if you still think working on becoming mentally tough is a sign of weakness. These guys all have mental coaches:
Can you tell now that I’ve talked to hundreds and hundreds of kids? I know about this part of your life as a teen or pre-teen basketball player and what you’re going through…what works and what doesn’t.
So, back to option 3, “I’m fine” where you hope this problem just magically goes away by itself.
Sorry to say, this won’t go away on it’s own. It usually gets worse.
Or maybe you are “Fine” with scoring 6 less points a game than you are capable of. Or maybe you are “Fine” with not getting more starting time or making that next level team you want to be on. Maybe you are “fine” with your friends on the team moving to the next level without you.
If that’s you, good luck to you and I wish you all the best. I’ve got some free tips on my site that might help you some. Go for it, or don’t, it’s up to you.
But if that’s not you, and you’re really NOT FINE, let me connect the dots for you about reality here. Will you make more shots, play better defense, make better passes and be more aggressive in any game when you feel confident about your game, or when you’re not? It’s that simple. I can give you that confidence if you do what I tell you.
I’ve got it all in a series of 10 minute videos and some audios you can download to your phone. You can go through it a little at a time or go all out. There’s no reading, it’s all video, it’s so easy to watch a video on a car ride or just before you fall asleep at night or whatever. I know you’ve probably watched many many videos for fun on Youtube or whatever, so don’t tell me you don’t have the time….so why wouldn’t you do that to improve your basketball game?
…unless you just don’t care about getting better at basketball.
One last thing. Maybe you don’t believe me. I get that. The best thing I can do for you about that is to just show you kids like you who have used my methods to get results right below this video.
When you’re ready to start playing in the game like you do in pickup games, Basketball Mental Toughness is waiting for you. Click the button below to get started and I’ll see you on the inside.
I’m Craig Sigl