Duke and Butler battled it out for the NCAA Men’s Basketball
championship Monday night. Butler’s Gordon Hayward attempted to
secure the game with a last shot at the buzzer, but it hit the
front of the rim and bounced to the floor.

Hayward’s missed shot allowed Duke to edge out Butler 61 to 59.
“It will become an historic game, a benchmark game, not just the
way it was played, but who played in it and what comes about,”
Said coach Mike Krzyzewski after the game.

Duke’s performance Monday night secured their fourth national championship. But, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said he wasn’t thinking about obtaining a fourth national championship.

Acting like a mental coach, he helped his team focus on their roles and how to execute each play. I call this “focusing on the process” instead of obsessing about outcomes.

In today’s world of sports, many athletes underperform because they focus too much the outcome of the competition, which canlead to pressure. Coach K said the goal for his team want tobecome immersed into their preparation and performing well.

“You’re asked more (about) this could be Duke’s fourth national championship, and all that. We just shied away from talking about that at all or try to think about it, and try to immerse ourselves in what these guys were doing. It’s much better. Like for me to think about being with them now is much better than thinking about the fourth national championship,” said Krzyzewski.

I tell all my athletes that outcomes, win/lose, and championships flow from executing one play at a time and
focusing on the process. It’s great to have lofty goals, such as being a national champion, but what’s the plan to reach those goals?

Many teams crumble under the pressure when they think about what might happen if they fail or succeed. You or your team lose focus on the current shot, play, or strategy for the game, which can lead to mental errors and poor decisions, such as turning the ball over.

Of course Duke’s coaches and players wanted to earn the national championship–a dream for any ball player. But they accomplished this by being immersed in the present moment and what they had to do to execute their game plan against a unique Butler team.

You have to handle the pressure from within…Coach K has a different spin on what pressure means to his ball players.
Pressure he said is attempting to do something you’re not capable of doing.

As I’ve contended for years, he thinks pressure comes from *within* the athlete, specifically from expectations that come with thinking you need to succeed or others expect you to succeed.

“I think pressure is when you’re asked to do something you’renot capable of doing. So you should train and be in a positionwhere you’re capable of doing what people ask of you. And ifyou’re continually feeling pressure, you should probably try todo something you can do,” said Mike Krzyzewski.

Pressure is really self-imposed. You don’t feel pressure from coaches, teammates or the media. You put pressure on yourself todo well. You can however, adopt the expectations others have for you. For example, if you think others expect you to succeed, you might take on others’ expectations as your own.

“I think everyone feels pressure, but not the pressure from the outside. It’s the pressure from within, to do as well as you think you can do,” said Mike Krzyzewski.

Put yourself in a position to do what you trained yourself to do–not what others expect–and you won’t feel the pressure to get it done in the big game.

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