Basketball is a popular sport across the world and is a mainstay for the USA. A good basketball game is the subject of much speculation as to who’s going to win, how much a person stands to win or lose, and just how many wings everyone’s going to end up ordering! This pastime has resulted in books, multi-million dollar contracts, and life-long fans, but what about being assigned to do an essay about basketball? This might seem like a real challenge, but there have been thousands of essays on basketball done, and everybody can find an example anytime online, free. One great essay topic is the psychological aspect of basketball. Let’s get known why.
Strategy and Psychology
A good basketball essay on the psychological component of the game starts with how each coach and basketball player approaches a basketball game and also how it influences their behavior. A good coach knows that their strategy is essential to winning the game. Their approach to it involves their own behaviors of being able to accept losses and victories and what they can do to adapt their strategy to those outcomes.
Good Coach, Bad Coach (Emphasis on the Bad)
For instance, a coach who exhibits stubborn behavior takes his good old, trusted strategy to a game. The game ends up terribly for him, resulting in a major loss for the team. Rather than attempt to learn from his mistakes and improve his strategy for the future, he instead blames his players for the loss. After a lengthy, and stormy, lecture on how the players have to do better, he leaves in a huff. This is a great example of how psychology in basketball has far-reaching effects, and it all starts with one coach’s strategy. One can explore the psychological effects it has on the team, some of whom are blaming themselves and others who are starting to believe that their coach might not be all that he’s cracked up to be. There are also the fans who, reeling from the loss, may blame the players as well. Some other fans might spot the repetitive strategy and realize that other teams are taking advantage of this fatal flaw. They may soon start calling for the coach’s removal, only infuriating him or her further.
Good Coach, Good Coach
Taking an example from the opposite side of things is the coach who exhibits a more open mind to his strategy and invites criticism from his players and colleagues. This man, or woman, listens to what their players have to say and doesn’t take things too personally. This coach also takes what he considers to be a reliable strategy to the game, and, they too, suffer a loss. The coach goes into the locker room afterward and discusses what went wrong, what he can do better, and takes input on developing a better strategy for the next game. He then gives constructive criticism on where the players can improve, as well. A student can explore the long-ranging psychological effects here, as well. The players go away feeling like they’re better prepared for the next game, are happy with their coach, and have the tools they need to do better next time. The fans, dismayed by the loss, may still try to place the blame on the players, the coach, or both, but a future win is more likely now. That future win will buoy the fans who will then be happy with the team.
Compare and Contrast
This is an excellent way of comparing and contrasting behavior by example and its effects on the coach, players, and fans that are involved in a whole process that begins with a strategy. Most importantly, it shows that a strategy in basketball has a psychological component to it that begins with the coach’s own behaviors and trickles down to affect his players and the fans as a layered and complex part of basketball.
Visualizing Victory and Being Positive
Another psychological component to basketball is how the basketball players, themselves, use it to attain victory. This is not an innate behavior, so much as a learned one. Good coaches want their players to be good, and they will impart as many tricks as they can to ensure they succeed. One of the main aspects of this is to instill basic psychological tricks they can use to get a basket. First, is to think positively about the game. Basketball players who go into a game thinking they’re going to lose will probably find a way to make it happen. Players who have a positive attitude about the outcome of a game are more likely to get a win. They accomplish this, in no small part, due to visualizing themselves making that basket and imagining their team winning, which is all part of psychological conditioning.
Avoiding and Causing Distractions
A good subject of a basketball essay is the psychological mind games that players engage in with each other. Players who “guard” other players are frequently in positions where they have a few seconds, or minutes, between plays where delays occur. Many take advantage of these lulls to prod another player on their looks, playing ability, and other personal aspects to throw them off-balance. These taunts can result in a longer psychological fallout for a player than most might suspect and make the player launching the verbal assault into a bully. Players are taught to do their best to ignore these distractions, but it can be seen as a form of sports-oriented bullying with a definite psychological aspect.
Taking Direction and Taking Criticism
Players also have to realize that a games psychology also involves their own behaviors which impacts their teammates, the outcome of the game, and the fans’ opinion of them. Arrogant players become reviled, whereas the ones who smile more often are often liked. All of this comes down to a player’s ability to both give and take criticism. Having an open mind towards improvement creates a better basketball player, whereas having a bad reaction to criticism leaves a player stagnant and eventually unemployed. The same is true for being able to take direction. Like any actor on a stage, a player who can’t take direction from their couch will find themselves taken off the stage.
