The second season of the NBA is currently in full swing. Every playoff game means so much in a seven game series that coaches are willing to dig deep in their bag of tricks to get their players primed. The latest example of this practice is from the head coach of the Denver Nuggets, George Karl.

Already down 1-0 to the Los Angeles Lakers, Karl knew the team needed a little kick to up the intensity and aggressiveness for game two. Before the second game he showed his team video segments from mixed martial arts. Watching pure, unadulterated fury is not normally expected in preparation for a basketball game. It almost worked. For three quarters the Nuggets kept the game close until the the Lakers proved to be too much in the fourth quarter. And it never hurts to have Kobe Bryant drop 49 points.

The reasons for the loss are numerous: Bryant hit unbelievable shots, the game was played in Los Angeles, etc. However, Karl must be applauded for taking a chance in his communication with the team. The take-away message before the game was aggressiveness. The expected course of action would be just to say it. He, instead, violated expectations by showing a video. This brings up a major point of communication. If you want your message to be completely heard then you must violate the expectations of the audience.

Any time you depart from normal behavior you give your team unexpected actions. People pay more attention to new things than the usual. Karl did not have a history of showing fighting videos before games so the message was clearly communicated and all the players understood what was desired.

Unfortunately, the Nuggets lost game two and now face an almost impossible task in trying to win the series down two games to none. They can overcome and win but the mindset needs to be shifted. It will definitely help playing at home but they must win the third game.

The fighting video resonated with the players. The players knew what was expected of them and Karl showed he could send a message to his team. It is clear the team respected Karl for taking the chance and switching things up but the medium is always the message. Fighting is an individual sport and the Nuggets in game two played a largely individual game. The message of the video was individual aggressiveness and that is exactly what the Denver players showed.

If you want the team to be aggressive then you must plant the seed of a group dynamic being aggressive. Perhaps showing a battle scene from Braveheart would set the tone of unity and overcoming adversity. After all, in game two the Nuggets got 12 assists versus their season average of 24. The result of aggressiveness as individuals.

Everyone knows practice makes perfect. Some may argue only perfect practice makes perfect but I think everyone agrees that repetition builds skill sets. Most coaches operate under the philosophy if you want to get better at something do it more. For example, if you want to run faster then run more, to get stronger lift more, etc. Yet, this does not seem to apply to all facets of competition.

Take for instance the free throw. Other than screaming fans waving whatever they can get their hands on, the shot is totally uncontested. The distance to the basket is always the same, height of the basket is always the same and size of the basket is always the same. Which brings up the conundrum.

One of the greatest active players is Kobe Bryant. Love him or hate him, his skill set is exceptional. He can control his body and the basketball with surgical precision but lets focus on his foul shooting. He has a career average of about 84%. By all accounts this is a great percentage. However, if repetition was the sole reason for improvement than one would expect year after year his free throw numbers to improve. Unfortunately, this is not the case. During the 1998-99 season he shot almost 84% but the following year he shot 82%. Clearly, factors beyond mechanical repetition are at work.

The key to improvement in a controlled situation like a free throw or 3-foot putt is to go beyond the mechanical requirements and simulate the situation. A free throw in an empty gym is no big deal just as a gimme putt on the practice green is automatic. However, what about a free throw with seconds left and your team is down by one. Or a short putt that will force a playoff in a major. Therefore, to maximize the repetition of practice an athlete must visualize the most stressful situation they will encounter. This is what creates perfect practice, the attention to details you will be subjected to during competition.

For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. While this theory was designed around laws of motion it is also very applicable to mindsets in sports. A good play often precedes another good play just as a bad play will create another bad play. This momentum is due to mindsets and the perception of why things happen.

Casual attribution, simply, is the perception of why something happened. Was the result caused by your actions, the actions of someone around you or are you just plain unlucky are the questions casual attribution answer. It is important to know that in the heat of competition the correct answers to the previously listed questions are not nearly as important as the perception. The disgruntled coach may blame all of the team’s misfortunes on horrible officiating, a shallow superstar may take all responsibility for victory and the list goes on.

In most situations casual attribution takes on the form of ego protection. An athlete or coach can blame something else for a lack of success thereby still believing they could be victorious. One of the most famous examples in recent history was the saga of Steve Bartman. He reached for a foul ball, interfered with the player and prevented him from making the play. It would have been nice to get the out but if the ball flew two more feet to the left then it would have landed safely in the stands and the whole thing would have been a non-issue. The Chicago Cubs used this incident as a sign they were not supposed to win, even their fans against them. However, the reality of the situation was not quite as drastic and should not have decided that series or even the game.

When something happens in a game that is controversial or unfortunate the best course of action is to approach the situation keeping the ego away. Take an unbiased look at what happened and leave it there in the past. Too often, competitors take previous actions into the present and things only get worse. The goal, after all, is to do your best, not have the safest ego or best reason for not playing to your potential.

Think physics. Any volumn void of air is considered to be a vacuum. In those environments no noise is made, feathers and bricks fall at the same speed - you lose the variables air provides and things become more uniform. Now apply the vacuum to emotions.

As we know by now, emotions create behaviors. In life if you lose all emotions then there is no reason to do anything. There would be no anxiety, excitement or happiness so there would be no reason to behave in such a manner as to acquire those feelings. However, sports are different.

In sports, the behavior is already spelled out. Everyday at practice participants repeat fundamentals and manuevers. They seek mastery in preparation for competition. When the competition rolls around each participant knows what is expected of them and how to do it.   

In competition the only emotions that really matter are those created by the final outcome. Every emotion preceding the culmination is a reaction based on the current situation in comparison to expectations. The best illustration for this is basketball due to the length of the game and multiple rolls of each player.

The most exciting stretch of basketball is when a team goes on a run. For several minutes it appears one team cannot miss while the other team cannot buy a bucket. One team executes effortlessly while the downtrodden opponent exerts great energy for no results. This is a direct impact of emotions. How it begins is different in each situation but there is always a common point.

One team feels the other pulling away. This creates anxiety, stress and other negative emotions as the immediate results depart from the losing team’s expectations. Each player’s behavior based on negative emotions only exacerbates the situation and a run is born. The thing to point out is that there is no reason teams should go five, ten or even 15 possessions without scoring a point. Statistically it does not make sense for a team averaging 40% from the field to be held scoreless for a prolonged period of time. However, emotions override statistics.

The perfect team plays in an emotional vacuum. They would not be concerned with what the other team does. If a team hit three shots in a row from beyond the arc then the perfect team would realize that the numbers will converge back to the averages and their opponents are due for a couple of misses. On the flip side, if the perfect team missed a couple shots then they would expect, again, the numbers to converge to the averages and they would be due for a couple of makes. The operating principle of the perfect team is confidence in their gameplan and teammates, immediate observed results do not change what they need to do so they will continue with what they prepared.

The human body is very adept at protecting itself from physical harm. That bump on your head will automatically swell up to promote healing. In order to be successful in team sports you have to untrain the flinch when a ball flies at you. Through years of evolution these reactions have been planted into our central nervous system to protect our well being so we can continue our species. However, the mind is far more fickle.

If you have ever had food poisoning you know how thoroughly the body will purge the toxins in an effort to protect itself. Yet the mind seems to work in the exact opposite manner. Ask an athlete to recall an error or instance of choking and they will produce a recollection with amazing clarity. On the other hand, an instance of triumph seems to be a giant blur. There are several theories as to why the mind does this but the important thing to know is you can break the cycle.

Everyday we support habits that largely go unnoticed. From signing your name to putting on your right shoe first we engrain common tasks to the point where they are completely on autopilot. Just for fun try putting on your left shoe first or step into your pants with the opposite leg you normally do. It feels weird. That is the way the mind works. Neurons that fire together wire together. When you depart from that path you are in uncharted territory. It feels weird because it is unknown and the next step needs to be thought through, it’s no longer automatic.

You can apply this from tasks to your overall manner of thinking as well. Most people find it very easy to recall embarrassing moments. This is because most people have not taken the time to train their mind. They just cruise through on autopilot and moments that created the greatest negative emotional reactions plant themselves firmly in the memory. Fortunately, it does not have to be like that.

First, you need to be aware of the thoughts swirling through your head. Just like being aware of which shoe you put on first you need to know exactly what you are thinking. Then you need to identify the thoughts. Are the thoughts in your head helping you? From there you can begin to make changes.

Every Sunday on the PGA Tour you see athletes succumb to their own thoughts. A player will begin the round a few shots back and by the end of the day they have played themselves completely out of contention. They allow their thoughts to run on autopilot and paid the price.  Instead, use your mind to your advantage. Be aware of your thoughts and the resulting actions so you can develop positive thinking habits that will eventually run on autopilot.