WHAT CAUSES MISTAKES?

First and foremost is effort.  Any effort will produce some mistakes.

Fatigue is a key factor in making mistakes.  Mental and physical fatigue will cause physical errors.

Expectations of yourself.  Placing unrealistic expectations on yourself creates pressure filled situations of play for which you may not be adequately prepared.

Relaxing when you should be exerting effort also leads to mistakes. Staying relaxed under pressure the key to good performance, but relaxing your effort is not. 

Fear of failure results in mistakes.  To improve and grow as a player you must take risks, but make them risks of effort (calculated risks).  Fear is one of the great motivators in life, however failing to try out of fear is a sure-fire method for committing mistakes.  

Finally, recognize as a player, that there are external factors that will produce mistakes that you have no control over.  These might involve poor timing or positioning, interacting with players that you aren’t used to playing with, a slippery court, etc.

Tips For Overcoming Your Mistakes

• "NEXT PLAY" - Whenever something happens positive or negative, it is more important to concentrate on executing the next task at hand.  Great players do not live on past performances, they compete every day, every play.
  

• Leave the Brick Behind – Mistakes are like bricks.  You can carry them but after a while they get pretty heavy and limit where you go.  Instead let each brick go.  Place it behind you never to trip over it again.  During a game, if you make a mistake.  Think of it as a brick and simply turn around and put it behind you.
  

• Don't Panic - When you make a mistake, never panic.  When you experience that bad start right out of the gate, make a couple of turnovers or miss a couple of shots in a row, focus instead on "winning the next two minutes".  Break your execution down into smaller segments of time.  If the game is down to one or two possessions, then concentrate on winning possession by possession.  
  

• See the Big Picture - Great players never let a mistake, or mistakes define who they are. Do not let a moment in time, one experience define who you are as a player.
  

• Mistakes are Temporary, Local, and Correctable - If you find yourself feeling like your errors are ongoing, unchangeable, and irreversible than you need a change of attitude.  Big time players only see their errors as temporary.  If you have had a poor first half performance that is only temporary.  The second half is still to be played.  Your performance is always correctable no matter how many errors you make -- if you try.
  

• Use Your Mistakes As Challenges - Look at performance errors and adversity as challenges.  When you make a mistake, challenge yourself to perform better the next time down the court.
  

• Concentrate on the Things You Can Control - Many of the mistakes and adversity you will face on the court are due to factors out of your control.  What you can control is your reaction to, concentration, your confidence in yourself, and attitude when facing these circumstances.
  

• Turn Your Wounds Into Wisdom - Great players learn from their mistakes and don't continue to commit them over and over again.  Your errors of the past are the wisdom and success of the future. 
  

• Persist, persist, and persist more - Successful players have recognized and accepted that mistakes are part of the game.  What makes them different is that they persist even during their poorest performances.  Quitting on yourself when you have made a mistake is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. The tougher you get when you have made a mistake, the better your chances of surviving, and growing into a highly successful player over the course of a game and the season.  Believe in yourself, concentrate on the process of playing each play, and leave that brick behind. 

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