Ethan Khoza argues that passive basketball players hurt their team and themselves by avoiding consequences. Coaches prefer players who take risks and commit fully. He outlines three steps to build confidence: detach from outcomes, focus on process, and trust the law of averages.
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Every time I ask players what the worst thing that they could possibly be on the court is, they almost always get the answer wrong. They say, well, I don't want to be a selfish player, I don't want to be a ball hog. I don't want to be a player who takes bad shots. In reality, the absolute worst thing that you can be on the court is a passive player. In this video, I'm going to explain exactly why that is. And I'm also going to give you a couple things you can do to make sure that you stop being passive. That you go out there with confidence and aggression so that you finally play to the level that you're actually capable of playing to. So first, let's talk about why players struggle with being passive. And usually the main reason is that they claim they don't want to be selfish, they don't want to take bad shots, they don't want to be a ball hog. In reality, when you actually look at what is happening here, the most selfish thing that you can do is be a passive player. Let me explain why. When you really dive into what the mindset is behind a player who's being passive, even if they're capable of contributing, it's because they don't want to face any of the consequences that come with missing a shot, turning the ball over. They don't want any of those negative things. So instead of going out and trying to make something positive happen, they prioritize avoiding something bad happen so that the coach doesn't yell at them, their teammates don't get upset, they don't lose a game. And then when you take it a step further, what they're actually doing is they're saying, well, I'm going to have my teammates take those shots, I'm going to have my teammates drive the basketball and my teammates be aggressive. So that way if they miss the shot, if they lose the ball, if they make a bad decision, then the coach is going to yell at them, or the rest of the team is going to be mad at them, or they're going to look bad in front of the crowd instead of me. So that idea of being passive is actually just a way of self preservation and making sure that you don't have to experience any of those negative things that could come along with taking a risk, framing it that way. Being passive is actually an incredibly selfish move. And it's the age old term that sometimes being unselfish is actually the most selfish thing that you can do. Now let's flip that. Sometimes being selfish is the most unselfish thing you can do. When you have a great opportunity to make a shot that is going to help you team. When you have a great opportunity to drive to the basket and that's going to help your team, you, you owe it to your teammates to do that, and you owe it to your teammates to take the risk of saying, I might miss the shot, I might lose the ball, I might look bad, I might have to hear it from my coach, or I might look bad in front of the crowd, or I might cost as a possession. And if I go out and I take those open shots that I'm capable of making and I miss a bunch of them, we might lose the game. And I have to be able to live with that. That right there is actually being an unselfish player. That right there is being a great team player. And then the other reason why being a passive player is like the worst thing you can be in basketball is because you're not going to get anywhere. A lot of players think that by avoiding doing bad, it's going to help them to be able to get a certain role. It's going to help them to be able to progress up, make it to the next level, be able to have the accolades and all the things that they put in work to be able to get. But you actually need to make it your goal to be a much more polarizing player. When a coach looks at you, they should think something immediately, they should feel something immediately, because you have to give a coach hope in terms of what you're going to be able to do for them both in the team setting you're in right now. If you want to be a starter, you want to have a bigger role, then there has to be a certain level of hope that says, okay, if I put this player in, if I put them in that position, there's a chance, there's a good chance that they're going to be able to make something happen. They might make a mistake, they might miss a shot, but they also might make that shot. They might make a great play. But if you're passive and you don't take advantage of any of the opportunities that you get, there's no hope. They know if I put that, if I put that guy in like he's, he's, nothing's going to happen. But then if you have any aspirations of making it to the next level, no coach is recruiting a player who doesn't move the needle either way. Obviously, the best thing you can be is somebody who goes, who goes out and makes a positive impact every single play. But the next best thing behind that would be somebody who goes out and tries to make something happen and doesn't. You miss shots, you lose the ball, because at least you're out there giving yourself a chance. You're giving your team hope, you're giving your coach hope by actually trying to make something happen. When you avoid the bad, you don't take enough risk for any of the good to be able to happen. So let's talk a little bit about how you can get past being a passive player and become confident, become more aggressive. The first thing is to do is really detach yourself from the outcomes, from the results. And you have to look at the things that you're doing. Are they good or are they bad? If you're working on a specific type of shot, you're working on a specific type of finish or on your driving ability, whatever. You go into practice and you consistently do those things so people know that you're capable of it, then you owe it to them to go out and try to do those things. You don't necessarily owe them the results. You don't owe them the success because you don't control all of that. What you do control is actually the effort of doing those things. So if you look after a game, you, you went over 20, but all 20 of those shots you took were shots that you can make, were good shots. They were open shots in the flow of the game. They all made sense. Then you can't look at that as like a terrible game and think yourself, well, now I need to shoot way less. You have to be able to accept the fact that the outcome doesn't always mirror the good decision that you make. But going with that, the really positive part of it is that something called the law of average is going to work in your favor. You are not a zero percent shooter. Like, you've made a shot before in your life. So when you know, I've missed a bunch of shots, I've turned the ball over a couple of times, things have not gone my way. Your mindset needs to go from, oh, well, I guess I'm doing too much, you know, I'm overdoing it, I got to take a step back and do less. Your mindset's got to be, well, I'm not a zero percent shooter, so I'm owed a make here. I'm owed something positive happening. Because the reality of it, the fact of it is that you are. And every miss, every mistake that you make gets you closer to that positive play happening. When you really internalize those things, you focus on the process of the outcome and then you also go out there with a confidence and the belief that, hey, the law of averages are going to work out in your favor and you are at some point going to make shots, going to make good things happen. Then it gives you the confidence to be aggressive consistently. Your teammates, your coaches, everyone's going to respect you more and trust you more and want to give you more opportunities because you're proving that you're willing to take the risk of those negative things happening. We dive into even more of the mindsets that you need to be a high level player inside of. My free basketball IQ masterclass is linked down below the stuff that we talk about mindset wise is towards the end of it. So you can skip ahead to that if you want to just see that. But highly recommend you watch the whole thing because all that's going to really help you to perform better on the court, understand the game at a higher level and go out and play with more confidence consistently. Like I said, that's linked down below, completely free. Go ahead and check that out. Appreciate you for watching. Talk soon. Peace.
