Basketball Anxiety and Gratitude

Have you ever felt anxiety from playing basketball? Maybe in a game or training? Or even because of an injury? Have you considered that focusing on some of the positives within your current situation can help you? It’s true. This is how gratitude-centered thinking can change your mindset in small ways, and result in big change over time. Yes, even with basketball anxiety.

The Source of Basketball Anxiety

You love basketball. You want to keep playing. So why do you get anxiety when you play? To me, basketball anxiety goes way beyond simply a rush of adrenaline before a performance. In my experience, even as a professional basketball player, anxiety can certainly stem from the pressure of performing, but it can also stem from interactions with teammates, interactions with coaches, or even fear of or an actual incident of injury.

Do any of these sound like a source of anxiety for you? Yea, sometimes it can be difficult to even pinpoint, but pinpointing the source of your anxiety is the first step to resolving it.

Do you put too much pressure and too high of expectations on yourself?

Do you catch yourself speaking negatively about yourself, saying things like you aren’t good enough?

Do any teammates make you feel uncomfortable?

Are you seeking approval from your coach and not getting it?

Or do you have a fear of becoming injured or re-injuring yourself?

If you answered yes to any of these questions and want to hear how a professional handles the anxiety that stems from each, then keep reading.

Basketball Anxiety Symptoms

Basketball anxiety could also look different for different players and different scenarios. Speaking from my own experience here our some of the symptoms of basketball anxiety I’ve had along the way:

Not feeling comfortable being myself
Sweaty palms
Shying away from teammates
Questioning every word that comes out of my mouth in conversation
Binge Eating
Not playing like I normally do / how I know I can
Not even being able to / wanting to play at all

Anxiety can be crippling and extremely impactful on a basketball player’s performance and journey as a whole – yes even a professional’s. The difference for a professional, much like many aspects of the game, is experience. I’ve experienced anxiety over and over along my journey and I have found the strength, willpower and know-how to overcome. And that’s what I want to pass on to you!

Basketball Anxiety Examples

Here are some examples of how I’ve experienced anxiety from each of the sources mentioned above:

Pressure Induced Anxiety

My freshman year of college, playing on a division 1 full ride basketball scholarship, we started official preseason training and I had gone from being one of the top players of my state in high school to suddenly feeling like the bottom player of my team in college. This was unsettling and shook my confidence badly. I’ve always been the best. I have to be better. I pressured myself into believing this so much that I can literally recall multiple practices where I was running down the court with tears running down my face.

Teammate Induced Anxiety

I can’t give away all the details on this one, as I’m sure you can understand, but you can be sure I have experienced some pretty awful teammates along my 20+ year basketball journey. The common theme among these teammates I’m thinking of right now that makes me most uncomfortable was passive-aggressiveness, deliberate degradation as well as bad mouthing behind my back. The emotional turmoil that one player caused literally could make me not want to go to training at times. And then there’s the scars that come from those experiences that would naturally make one insecure in teammate interactions. So there have been times where I have felt anxiety around teammates (some might label this social anxiety) simply from the insecurity within myself and the fear of not being liked by my teammates.

Coach Induced Anxiety

There was one particular season where – it wasn’t even as if my coach was mean (in fact this coach was one of the most loving people you’ve ever met) but I had so much performance anxiety because I put this coach on such a high pedestal in my mind that I had to perform perfectly so as to not disappoint. I was seeking approval and deriving my confidence from my coach and it only made me play tensed up and fearful.

Fear of Injury Induced Anxiety

Okay, this one makes me chuckle- not because injury is anything to laugh about, but because if you asked my husband, he would tell you I am a bit of a hypochondriac. I would like to defend myself however and say that I am simply proactive in ensuring that injury does not ensue! But yes, any little niggle of pain I feel in my body I possibly overreact to. Well, why is that, I wonder…. Fear of injury, maybe? Well, I’ve certainly had my moment or two of fear of injury induced anxiety… I remember just this past season, I had an intense pain shoot through my shooting arm and truthfully, I wasn’t in the best mental space to cope with pain at the time, but I immediately stopped doing the drill I was doing and in a frenzy of tears, ran straight to my physio standing at the baseline. Thankfully we had an amazing physio and he managed to calm me down and gently remind me that pain-related anxiety can increase perceived pain intensity. And yes, the pain eventually just went away, but for a moment there I thought I felt my entire world crashing down.

How To Handle Basketball Anxiety Through Gratitude

When I feel like my entire world is crashing down, how do I actually handle basketball anxiety? This is where gratitude comes in for me…. Whether it’s pressure, teammate, coach or fear of injury induced anxiety, gratitude plays a huge role in coping with any anxiety that might creep in:

Gratitude vs. Pressure Induced Anxiety

My freshman year of college, gratitude helped me replace pressure with patience in the process. I focused on what I could do instead of what I couldn’t and remembered that I was growing and grateful that I was on a team that challenged and made me better.

So if you’re feeling pressure to perform well, take a deep breath, remember pressure is a privilege and think about all the hard work you’ve put in to get you to where you are today. Let your confidence reflect your gratitude.

Gratitude vs. Teammate Induced Anxiety

Anytime I have a bad experience with a teammate, I try to focus on being grateful and pouring all my energy into my great teammates.

If you’re feeling anxious around teammates, take a moment to think about all the great ones and why you’re grateful for them.

Gratitude vs. Coach Induced Anxiety

The season I lost all confidence due to seeking approval from my coach, gratitude helped me be aware of the gift of talent I’ve been given, and have belief in myself because of how far I had already come despite anyone else’s opinion.

If you’re feeling anxious about playing time and the approval of your coach, try to remember you’re on the team for a reason, and again let your confidence from all the hard work you’ve put in reflect your gratitude. And a little side note: be grateful for the feedback you receive, focus on the message, not the tone and remember things turn out best for those who make the best of the way things turn out.

Gratitude vs. Fear of Injury Induced Anxiety

And my fear of injury? Well, you already know it’s an ongoing battle for me if I feel any type of pain, however I’d say gratitude helps me play freely without the fear of injury in the front of my mind because, my mind is actually set on the blessing of basketball- ensuring I love every moment and I don’t take any second for granted.

Unfortunately, many athletes do experience their entire world come crashing down due to an injury. And the comeback game is real… Listen to your doctors and physios; take care of your body; but just as importantly, take care of your mind. Stick with the power of gratitude for healing and confidence. And remember – focus on what you can do, not on what you can’t do and watch what you can do increase.

How Gratitude Leads to Peace

Personally, all my gratitude is aimed toward God- my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And I hope, since you’ve made it this far in the article, you hear me out on this part, because Jesus is pretty cool and I’d love for you to hear a little snippet of why I think so!

I believe God can provide peace through gratitude in every situation. Not only do I believe it because of the verse below, but I believe it because of my own experiences along my basketball journey…

Philippians 4:6-8

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus”. – Philippians 4:6-8

This verse has had a HUGE impact on my attitude of gratitude and positive mindset. And I believe it can for you too. However, it’s not simply a command to be positive – although I used to believe that – it is a PROMISE that God’s peace can transcend all understanding and guard our hearts from anxiety if we only come to Him with GRATITUDE/THANKSGIVING/PRAISE in EVERY situation. Basketball included.

Gratitude & Prayer

I pray about my basketball struggles a lot. I believe prayer provides a bigger perspective on our struggles. But honestly, I used to have a hard time praying because it actually made me feel so heavy – like the weight of the world was on my shoulders as I was listing off all the bad things happening around me…

But how can this be if Jesus says “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30)?

And the verse at hand even says “present your requests to God. And the peace of God…will guard your hearts and your minds…” Well then, how come I was getting the opposite of peace after I prayed?

I was actually pretty open to God about this problem of mine and sure enough He eventually answered my question… I recently discovered that there’s a difference between telling God in prayer and TRUSTING God in prayer.

I would tell God about my basketball anxiety, but I wasn’t actually willing to leave it at His feet and trust Him with the problem that was giving me anxiety.

Think about that for a sec: God doesn’t need us to tell Him – He already knows everything (even all the thoughts about basketball); but He wants us to come to Him anyway- why? So we depend on and trust in Him. Like a child runs to her Father in a scary storm. This simple action says, “Papa, I trust you’ll take care of me.”

Do you trust God will take care of you in basketball, out of basketball, with and without basketball?

Gratitude & Trust

When we trust God, we will always find something to be grateful for – whatever the situation. (Like the comfort of the Father’s arms – just imagine the comfort of a Father whose arms have the power to calm the wind and waves – including the wind and waves of basketball anxiety?! Well, that’s the power of my God!).

And that is where the promise of Phillipians 4:6-7 really came true for me… I stopped focusing solely on asking from God and actually started APPRECIATING WHO HE IS – trusting in and depending on His promises over my life and what He has already done for me all throughout history.

My God is the God Almighty, Wonderful Counselor, Prince of Peace, Lord of Lords and King of Kings who has overcome death itself!

I can have peace in any situation – basketball related or not – because Jesus has already won the war for me and GOD is constantly GUARDING me through the storm.

A storm I recently went through is actually what gave me this game changing realization for my prayer-life and the solution for any basketball anxiety that pops up along the way:

My Most Recent Experience with Basketball Anxiety

On the last Monday of our Bali Holiday, David and I decided to walk up to the nearby town from the hotel we were staying in. It was a decently steep walk, but nothing you’d ever assume would have any impact on a professional basketball player.

Well, after that walk – and it’s the only thing I can think it possibly came from – my knee began to ache like I’ve never felt it ache before. The next day, it even got to the point where I couldn’t bend my knee at all!

So there we were, trying to make the most of our journey to our next destination by visiting temples and water palaces, but that night I was in tears over how bad the pain was.

I’m not exaggerating here, fam – it was quite troubling for me, but even more troubling was the fact that that very next Monday I was meant to be back in Perth starting pre-season training in my very first opportunity with the Perth Lynx WNBL team!

Why God?

“Why God?” I questioned over and over – “Why now?”

Thankfully, the last hotel we stayed in Bali had a pool right on the beach – perfect for rehab! In the following days, I got my knee back to the point of being able to bend it again, but there was still quite a lot of pain!!

“Ok, God – I’m just gonna do it then; I’m just going to show up on Monday and see how I go! Please, please, please help me through this…”

Monday went, then Tuesday went, then our Wednesday off day arrived. Yes, I was extremely sore by then, but wow, I had survived! I could hardly believe it and was just about crying with gratitude! Had I actually just survived two full days of pre-season training without anyone knowing about my knee pain? Just a week prior I thought I would be out for months – talk about basketball anxiety!

A Blessing in Disguise

The craziest part of all of this is that, for some reason, I was just not in the system for the weight training facility to be allowed to do the weight training with the team that week. But, instead of not doing anything during that time-slot, I decided to use that time to do more rehab in the nearby pool!!

I end that in exclamations because you have no idea what a blessing in disguise that exclusion from gym was for me! I was SO grateful each day I went to the pool! And every minute of every possession of every drill of the basketball training I was praying like I’ve never prayed before….

“Thank you, God…. God, I trust You, get me through this… Ouch, that hurt; alright we’re good – thank You, God. Please keep watching over me…”

I was FULLY dependent on Him. Fully present with Him. Fully abiding in His Spirit. I would even go so far as to say fully at PEACE – even whilst training through pain.

Again, Why God?

But let me get to the point – that Wednesday night I had some quiet time with the Lord and I showered Him with praise and gratitude for allowing me to participate in the basketball training at full capacity. But again, I asked…

“Why, God? Why now? I know you work all things together for my good, but if I’m able to train through this pain, what is the point of it?”

And that still small voice whispered, “I want you to depend on me”. And that was exactly what I had been doing all week long, while absolutely bursting with gratitude that had resulted in peace beyond understanding!

Whoa… Now if only you knew my entire basketball journey thus far – which I hope to share more and more of as I continue to blog – believe me, this would have even more significance. But what you need to know is this is when the purpose of prayer dawned on me: God wants us to depend on Him – not just for Him, but for OUR GOOD.

Gratitude - The Difference Maker

I genuinely feel that I grew closer to God during that time because of my utter dependance on Him. His peace was all over me and eventually- the pain subsided and I can type this today with the praise report that I am completely healed.

The difference in my prayers today is truly GRATITUDE – I can see God’s goodness all over my life and all over the world and that allows me to trust that He is working all things out for the good of those who love Him. No. Matter. What.

So, if you are struggling with basketball anxiety – as most of us athletes continually do, run to the Father’s open arms with gratitude today – HE promises you will find peace.

~ Your Pro Ball Buddy

P.S. I wonder if the answer to my question, “Why God?”, could also be for this very moment to encourage someone like you! And if you have any questions let me know in the comments below or a personal message! I’d love to hear from you!