Shoot!

The new year has already brought new insights and applied knowledge. And, just like in 2024, some of these have come from being on the tennis court in the middle of a match. A few weeks ago I wrote a blog about lessons learned from a book I had read and recommended for our CWS annual planning meeting participants. It was The Confident Mind. There were some tremendous takeaways from the book but the one that came to life for me on the court when I was playing tennis last week had to do with The Shooter’s Mentality. I wrote about this in the blog about the book but thought I would call attention to it here since it really helped me stay centered and positive in the face of the normal emotional swings that come while playing tennis.

The official title of the subsection of the book is “The Shooter’s Mentality”: How to GAIN confidence when bad things happen.

Before I delve into The Shooter’s Mentality, let me tell you something I do on the court when I do something that frustrates me. I really do my best to avoid cursing so I will often say “Shoot!” when I make a bad shot or poor decision. There is no question that saying this is much better than the more vulgar alternative. It’s more sportsmanlike and it doesn’t trigger any regrets when I reflect upon my performance and behavior. On the other hand, there is still a twinge of negativity associated with it and all in all it’s probably better if I can work towards eliminating such reactions over time. With that being said, it also is a form of release so it’s not all bad.

The ideal outcome, however, would be if I can alchemize “Shoot!” into something more positive. Now, before telling you what my epiphany was and how I did make such a transformation let’s review The Shooter’s Mentality. The best way is to use the example of arguably(?) the best shooter in NBA history, Steph Curry. This is from the book as told by Steve Kerr.

“All Steph knows is ‘I’m gonna shoot’ and if he misses, he’ll be all right because he knows he’ll make the next one” (italics added). In Curry’s highly selective and functionally constructive mind, any missed shot just makes the next shot more likely to go in, rather than bringing on a flurry of worry that he might be in for a frustrating night. That same highly selective and supportive mind also assumes that whenever he’s “on” and making shot after shot, he’ll stay that way all night, rather than wondering when his luck might run out. It’s not necessarily logical to think that way, but it certainly is helpful, and Stephen Curry wouldn’t have it any other way.

Given this mindset the author recommends building up two vitally important habits to adopt The Shooter’s Mentality. As a reminder, First Victory is entering whatever competitive endeavor with the confidence and belief that you will be victorious.

The Shooter’s Mentality consists of two habits of thought that might seem at first to be mutually exclusive, but which can indeed combine to bring about many First Victories. The first of the two habits is the tendency to think that any mistake or setback is actually bringing you closer to success rather than keeping you away from it. The second habit is the tendency to think that once any success is achieved it will continue and will make other successes possible. In the Shooter’s Mentality, misses are indeed interpreted as temporary, limited, and nonrepresentative, but they are also seen as signals that a return to fortune is about to happen. Successes, on the other hand, are interpreted as being permanent (“It’s going to happen again”), and as universal (“Now other good things are going to happen too”). If you are willing to cultivate these habits (and the will to do so is the only thing you need), you will have a thermonuclear psychological weapon on your side. (my bolding)

One of the athletes referenced in the book talked about having gone 1-14 in a basketball game. His team had the ball with one final shot available to them to win the game. The coach called a time out and designed a play for someone else but this player told the coach he wanted to take the last shot.

Naturally, because Anderson was off his normal game that night, the coach diagrammed a play to give another player the final, potentially game-winning shot. As he was doing so, however, Anderson interrupted him, saying, “No, Coach. Give me the ball. I want the shot!” At first the coach refused, but Anderson then said something, with utter seriousness, that changed the coach’s mind, “Give me the ball. I want the shot. I’m due to get one in.” That final sentence convinced the coach that Anderson was certain he could make the crucial shot, so he revised the play accordingly and sent the team out onto the court. With the final seconds ticking down, Anderson was fed the ball and he sunk a perfect shot to win the game. As a result of his two-for-fifteen performance he was carried off the court on the shoulders of his joyous teammates.

When Anderson was speaking in front of graduate students about his experience and mindset most of them were perplexed at how he could have such confidence in the wake of such poor performance. His answer surprised and helped them see the downside of being too logical and calculating in pressure situations.

But then one student raised his hand and asked, “How can you have it both ways? How can you think that your odds are getting better when you’re missing shots but also think that the odds are in your favor when you’re making every shot?” Anderson’s reply was simple: “I don’t know. That’s just how I think.” That’s the Shooter’s Mentality—misses just make hits more likely, while hits just make more hits more likely. No, it isn’t logical at all, but it contributes to that all-important sense of certainty at the moment of truth, and that certainty will always give you the best chance of succeeding. The moral of the story is that your thoughts about yourself and your performance, all of which find their way into your mental bank account, need not be dictated by strict, everyday logic.

The Shooter’s Mentality has some similarities with earthquake modeling. The more time that goes by without a major earthquake, the greater the probability that one will take place as more and more stress builds up within the tectonic plates. Someone with the Shooter’s Mentality feels similarly. The longer he or she goes without making a shot, the greater the chances the next one will go in. I love this story about Tiger Woods cited in the book.

During one tournament in this period, when he was twelve strokes behind the leader after the third of four rounds of play, Woods was asked by a reporter how he planned to prepare for his next tournament coming up the following week. Woods replied that he wasn’t thinking about the next tournament at all, that he was putting all his energy into getting ready to play his final round tomorrow. “But you’re twelve strokes back, you’re out of it.” the reporter pointed out. “That’s not how I look at it,” said Woods. “I know I have a 55 in me somewhere, and if I bring that out, and some of these guys on the leaderboard falter, I can still win this thing.” For Woods, and other performers like him, the idea that a period of substandard play might continue doesn’t find a place in his thinking. Instead, he (and the others like him) is firmly convinced that his very next effort will be a smashing success. Unlike the average individual, each of these great performers refuses to get caught up emotionally in their misses, setbacks, and “failures,” and only sees before him an ever-growing range of opportunities.

Ok, so now how did I put this knowledge into action to change my behavior or thinking to help improve my chances of success and/or avoid sub-optimal outcomes (which, as an aside I think is what true wisdom is)? After starting to think about the Shooter’s Mentality the first time I vocalized “Shoot!” I then spontaneously whispered to myself “Er”. I transformed a mild rebuke and criticism to something more uplifting and defining. I acknowledged the mistake but also reminded myself that I’m still a Shooter so get right back in there, shake off that point, and be prepared to take the next shot and expect it to go in because that’s what Shooters do! I must say it was extremely helpful to do that and gave me the power and fortitude to reset and prepare for the next point much more effectively.

And while in the midst of writing this, I also realized that when I vocalize “Shoot!” in the future, it doesn’t always have to be a criticism. It can be an enthusiastic reminder to take the shot so now I have two positive transformations of what was originally a mildly negative self-criticism. I can turn it into Shoot-er and “Shoot!” with both reminding me that I’m on the court to be aggressive and courageous when that is what the situation calls for. Because, what am I after all? A shooter!