In December, Stephen Curry made a conscious effort to smile before he coolly converted two free throws with 12 seconds left that helped seal a 119-116 win against Phoenix.<\/p>\n
He seemed calm. He wasn\u2019t \u2014 saying so afterward. Sometimes, even Curry\u2019s nerves kick in when the game is on the line, even 17 years into his NBA career and now at 38 years old.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s more mental warfare for me to just enjoy the moment,\u201d Curry said at the time. \u201cI don\u2019t care how many free throws you\u2019ve made, when you need two of them, you do get nervous, so the smile is more to kind of embrace the moment and enjoy it instead of overthinking or worrying about mechanics or anything. So I\u2019ve been doing that a lot lately, like last couple years, just playing mind games with myself and enjoying the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other professionals find some comfort in Curry acknowledging his angst and anxieties, being he\u2019s one of the best in basketball and still has to work through things — even in real time. It’s relatively new for athletes to even be talking publicly about nerves, given the more open dialogue in recent years about the importance of mental health and seeking help through various struggles.<\/p>\n
Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, whose club has won the past two World Series titles, happened to be in the stands at Chase Center to see Curry make those free throws on Dec. 20.<\/p>\n
Roberts has witnessed so many of his own players deliver for the Dodgers in crucial moments on the big October playoff stage.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that\u2019s telling that Steph would say that and there is an innate fear in people to fail in big spots or to be nervous. I think it\u2019s just important to admit it at times and then kind of move on from there,\u201d Roberts said this spring. \u201cWe were talking about it a couple days ago, those moments I think you mitigate the fear or the nerves from preparedness. I think Steph has shot so many free throws when he\u2019s tired in big spots, so to admit that he\u2019s nervous, he knows at the end of the day that he\u2019s prepared for that spot. Most of our guys, we talk about that a lot, so I think that\u2019s how they can get past that fear or nerve hurdle.\u201d<\/p>\n
Embracing the big moments <\/p>\n
Chicago Bulls coach Billy Donovan polled his players earlier this season whether they considered a free throw with one second left in a tie game the same as one in the first quarter of a tie game. The answer was a resounding no.<\/p>\n
\u201cI said, \u2018Why is it different?\u2019 and they explained all the consequences of what would happen, but the reality is it\u2019s still the same exact shot it is in the first quarter or the second quarter,\u201d Donovan said. \u201cAnd I find that guys in those moments have the ability to block out the consequences or what the ramifications are and really lock in to what they can control and the routine. The basket\u2019s still 15 feet away, it\u2019s still 10 feet high. And just because the circumstances may be different, the routine should be exactly the same.\u201d<\/p>\n
When it comes to the nerve factor, mental performance coach Graham Betchart suggests one trick in the moment can somehow transform those fears of failure into something positive instead.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe biggest surprise to most people is that great pro athletes have the same feeling that a kid has, they just reframe it,\u201d Betchart said. \u201cI remember one of the first pros I worked with, I said, \u2018What\u2019s pressure like for you?\u2019 He said, \u2018Graham, what you call pressure, I call joy.\u2019 I said, \u2018What does joy feel like?\u2019 He said, \u2018Joy feels like I\u2019m going to pee in my pants, 10,000 butterflies in my stomach, heart is pounding, self doubt everywhere.\u2019 I said, \u2018That\u2019s joy?\u2019 He said, \u2019Yeah, \u2018cause when I feel that I\u2019m about to go do what I love, which is play ball.\u2019 So we call that reframing. I think this is one of the biggest unlocks in the entire world.\u201d <\/p>\n
Hall of Famer Jason Kidd, the Dallas Mavericks coach who played 19 NBA seasons and was a 10-time All-Star and 1994-95 Rookie of the Year, realizes sometimes fans might forget professional athletes are people, too.<\/p>\n
And becoming fearful is a natural response to stress.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is healthy. I think that just lets everyone know you\u2019re human. Steph is human,\u201d Kidd said. \u201cThere are feelings and emotions but I don\u2019t know if he gets nervous. Free throws are like layups for him, like 2-foot putts. But it\u2019s also great that he is open to sharing that about his feelings, that\u2019s pretty cool.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leaning on routine<\/p>\n
Each day, Warriors guard De\u2019Anthony Melton aims to make 10 free throws in a row. That way, when he gets into a game situation he tells himself the same thing: \u201cWhatever happens, happens, you\u2019ve just got to live with the results, but sometimes getting to the free-throw line can help you get into a rhythm and get your shot going, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coaches have their moments, too. Doc Rivers doesn\u2019t always trust himself to make the right call in crunch time.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s nerves with everything. I can draw up a play as a coach and I know it\u2019s a good play, but I\u2019m nervous if we\u2019re going to run it right or is it going to work. As a player, I was an 80-percent free-throw shooter, but it\u2019s still there. That\u2019s why you breathe deep and that\u2019s where routine comes in. The more you do the routine, the more it becomes normal. But there\u2019s nothing normal in life when you\u2019re shooting a free throw and there\u2019s 20,000 people screaming to make you miss, that\u2019s not normal in life. So you have to breathe your way through it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Athletics pitcher Luis Severino spent the first nine years of his major league career in New York between the Yankees and Mets. That brought its own pressure, so the days he felt off on the mound, the nerves were worse.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s more of how you\u2019re feeling that day. If Stephen Curry is feeling like he always feels, there\u2019s nothing to worry about,\u201d Severino said, chuckling. \u201cIf that day I\u2019m feeling good, I have nothing to worry about. If I\u2019m struggling with command and or a pitch, not commanding my breaking balls, I will get a little bit nervous, but if I\u2019m good that day I have nothing to worry about.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nerves are a natural part of sports<\/p>\n
San Francisco Giants shortstop Willy Adames appreciated hearing that Curry, too, fights nerves in crucial moments.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s a great thing, I think it\u2019s something that you have to embrace and know that it\u2019s OK to feel it,\u201d Adames said. \u201cI always try to tell myself, \u2019if you feel a little nervous or a little anxious, just embrace it like it\u2019s OK, it\u2019s OK to feel it. But just know that you\u2019ve got to take a deep breath and try to make sure that you\u2019re under control.\u201d <\/p>\n
Betchart believes that pros speaking of their nerves will help others learn ways to better cope. Working with members of the Army who told him they’re fearless, he learned they do actually experience fear but embrace that as being part of the job. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey’re not fearless, they feel the fear, and then they lean into it,\u201d he said. \u201cSo it’s really a power of vulnerability, it’s a victory of the vulnerable.\u201d<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
AP NBA: https:\/\/apnews.com\/NBA and AP MLB: https:\/\/apnews.com\/mlb<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In December, Stephen Curry made a conscious effort to smile before he coolly converted two free throws with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":579303,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,514,590,85,17205],"class_list":{"0":"post-579302","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-mental-health","11":"tag-nba","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-steph-curry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/579302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=579302"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/579302\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/579303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=579302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=579302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=579302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}