The Mind Game of Basketball:1 on 1 with yourself

It is a real treat for every basketball lover around the World who will benefit from Coach Blatt's outstanding experience. Not much to add, as his resume speaks for itself... As head coach: FIBA EuroBasket champion (2007) EuroLeague champion (2014) EuroCup champion (2018) FIBA EuroChallenge champion (2005) 5× Israeli Super League champion (2002, 2003, 2011, 2012, 2014) LBA champion (2006) ABA League champion (2012) Italian Cup winner (2007) 6× Israeli Cup winner (2002, 2003, 2011–2014) EuroLeague Coach of the Year (2014) Russian League Coach of the Year (2005) 4× Israeli Super League Coach of the Year (1996, 2002, 2011, 2014) Russian Federation Order of Friendship award recipient (2014) As assistant coach: 4x Israeli Basketball League champion (1993, 1999–2001) 3x Israeli Cup champion (1999–2001) SuproLeague champion (2001) EuroLeague champion (2004)

In the 23rd episode of "The Mind Game of Basketball, 1 on 1 with yourself" podcast, Mental Performance Coach Nico Bourgade welcomes Kostas Chatzichristos, Director of Performance at Fenerbahce, as well as Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Greek National Team. Kostas, also the co-founder and Director of the Euroleague Strength and Conditioning Coaches' Association (ESCCA) shares great insights on what separates top organizations in the Euroleague from others. From his past experience at CSKA Moscow, winning two Euroleague titles and participating in a total of 6 Final Fours to his arrival at Fenerbache Istanbul last season, listen how a positive environment but also struggles are handled by such great teams. You'll hear how performance is being studied, discussed and planned to find a way to achieve great successes both on and off the court. Hope you enjoy... To find out more about Kostas Chatzichristos, visit his website https://kostaschatzichristos.com/ To get in touch with Mental Performance Coach Nico Bourgade, visit https://www.themindgameofbasketball.com/home or send him an e-mail at coachnico@themindgameofbasketball.com.

Nico Bourgade invites Benas Matkevičius in today's episode of "The Mind Game of Basketball, 1 on 1 with yourself podcast". Listen to Benas' in take on mental performance in basketball and how the Lithuanian National Team had a successful World cup, beating Team USA, finishing at the sixth place while playing basketball in a way that gave joy to not only an entire country but that also deserved respect from all around the world. I invite you to follow Benas and learn more in his great podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@TheBenasPodcast If you want to learn more on mental performance services, you can reach out to Nico by visiting his website: https://www.themindgameofbasketball.com/home

In this episode, Nico Bourgade invites one of the greatest shooters in Euroleague's history: Jaycee Carroll. Learn how he built a mindset to become such a consistent and successful player through the years with one of Jaycee's most important tool: vivid imagination. Lots of great insights that cover mental health, mental performance and basketball IQ, all in one. Hope you enjoy. To get in touch with Coach Nico Bourgade, visit www.themindgameofbasketball.com or send him an e-mail to coachnico@themindgameofbasketball.com

In this episode, Nico Bourgade welcomes Dr Jack Lesyk, who is the director of the Ohio Center for Sport Psychology, and former Sport Psychologist for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Learn how Jack gives us insight on what NCAA players might struggle with going into the NBA, his 9 mental skills that have helped him guide athletes from 14 years old to pro level for on the court performance as well as in life. To learn more about Dr Jack Lesyk, visit his website: https://www.sportpsych.org/ Interesting in working with Mental Performance Coach Nico Bourgade, visit https://www.themindgameofbasketball.com/home

Meet Uros Ninić, one of the top individual skills Coaches over in Slovenia. Listen to how Coach Ninić takes the mental game into consideration and his approach while developing players' skillset all over Central Europe. Another great exchange with Coach Nico Bourgade and a great insight from another Basketball lover whose passion for the game only has equals his knowledge. You can find Coach Ninić at https://newerabasketball.com/ Interested in developing your mental game, get in touch with Coach Nico Bourgade at coachnico@themindgameofbasketball.com or visit his website directly here https://www.themindgameofbasketball.com/

Listen to Coach Kostas Flevarakis share his philosophy with Mental Performance Coach Nico Bourgade through an episode where the passion for the game is everything... From the Greek League to Sopron in the Hungarian League, from being an Assistant to a Head Coach, Coach Flevarakis has been spreading his knowledge for decades. Hope you enjoy listening to his core fundamentals that made him a very successful Coach and human being. To know more about Mental Performance Coach Nico Bourgade, check out his website below: https://www.themindgameofbasketball.com/

Dave Hopla is a legendary shooting Coach, known and recognized from all in the world of Basketball. His shooting records are more amazing one from another with one being 1,234 free throws in a row without a miss. Overall, Hopla makes more than 98% of the shots he takes. In 2007, he made 11,093 of 11,183 shots he took--a 99.19 shooting percentage. He always does shooting demonstrations at various camps he works, and oftentimes he goes the whole day without a miss. At a 2007 camp in Los Angeles, for example, he made all 272 shots he took. Listen to his conversation with Mental Performance Coach Nico Bourgade and how he built his confidence, developed his work with the players from NBA superstars to young hoopers around the globe and the secrets to becoming a shooting machine consistently. A very precious moment shared for the love of the game... You can reach Dave and Nico directly by e-mail dhopla99@gmail.com and coachnico@themindgameofbasketball.com www.themindgameofbasketball.com/home

Eddie has been working for decades as a performance psychologist and is telling us all about his first year experience delivering mental health as well as mental performance services to the Grand Rapids Gold, aka Denver Nuggets' G-League team. Eddie and Nico stressed the importance of mental health and its role leading to higher performance. You will find the foundations that Eddie has laid within the Grand Rapids Gold's organization, his objectives working with them in the future and his perspective from the inside of a G-League team. Specific cases like free throw shooting, bringing intensity are also brought in as we hope you enjoy this episode... (Dr. Eddie O’Connor is a professional speaker and both clinical and sport psychologist, specializing in removing barriers to peak performance. He is a Fellow and Certified Mental Performance Consultant through the Association for Applied Sport Psychology, and member of the United States Olympic Committee Sport Psychology Registry. Dr. Eddie has worked with youth, high school, collegiate, national and international, Junior Olympic and professional athletes and coaches, as well as performing artists and musicians.) Find out more about Dr Eddie O'Connor on his website: https://dreddieoconnor.com/ Eddie's resource for online mental training, "Success Stories Membership" at https://successstories.dreddieoconnor.com/register Here is the link to find Nico's mental guide dedicated to hoopers all around the World willing to develop their mental game in an easy to read and understand manner: https://www.amazon.com/yourself-Mind-Game-Basketball-ebook/dp/B0B9T3N9WW/ref=sr_1_1?crid=14TY1F3431ZEP&keywords=nico+bourgade&qid=1680036630&sprefix=nico+bourgad%2Caps%2C152&sr=8-1

Alex reveals his guiding framework that sets apart peak performers: 1. optimizing your environment 2. building a foundation of good habits that keep you healthy 3. building your ability to self regulate 4. execute across the phases of performance: preparation, execution and debrief Alex also develops why organizations should be considering their work with mental health and mental performance.

How cool is it to reach so many parts of the World??? In this episode Nico Bourgade reached out to Hui Tu, director of the Basketball International Youth Basketball League, in charge of the Beijing Falcons. He first explained how he started with the Falcons and went from 10 players to about 5000 players. When you hear about Hui's strong values, you then understand his success. An open-minded Coach, willing to learn from several Basketball cultures around the globe but also with a foundation of being there to help the kids develop their game both on and off the court. Hui also explained the way their coaches were communicating between each other as well as with players, and the importance they gave to understanding each other's roles. Another cool episode with a humble and passionate person who has a lot to give... If you're interested in going to China with your team, you can contact Hui Tu directly at this email address: hui.tu@beijingfalconsbasketball.com Looking to buy a cool and useful mental guide for young ballers? Here is the link to Nico's book, available on Amazon in several languages: https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3ANico+Bourgade&s=relevancerank&text=Nico+Bourgade&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1 You can also reach out to him directly if you want to start working on your mental game individually or as a team. @: mentalperformancecoachnico@gmail.com

Coach Dan Hughes, two times WNBA Champion and two times WNBA Coach of the Year, also Assistant Coach with Ladies' Team USA shares his vision with Mental Performance Coach Nico Bourgade on how to be a successful Coach on the long run. From the importance of being a great communicator to letting his ego aside, from a young coach to a more experienced one, from understanding the roots of motivation to learning from his players, Coach Hughes gives great insights of why he is such a successful Coach. A great reminder for all Coaches who want to build a successful program with the right foundations...

Andrius Liachovicius, sports psychologist who just spent the 2021-2022 season with the Zalgiris Kaunas squad in Euroleague and Lithuanian league, shares his experience of a day to day member of the staff. You will learn the ins and outs of the job, the exact role and approach of a sport psychologist and how it can be useful to both players and organizations.

Nico Bourgade invites Jorge Franco Martin, a passionate Coach who has been sharing his knowledge with the Spanish Youth National Teams, the pro team of Estudiantes Madrid and now within the NBA association in Europe. Jorge shares his approach of the mental game according to his rich experiences. Learn what the mindset is about in NBA schools as well as in the professional world over in Spain. We hope that you manage to get value out of this show and that it helps you keep growing to reach your goals.

Mental Performance Coaches Brian Levenson and Nico Bourgade discuss the thoughts shared by many players and how to get the best out of them to enjoy peak performance. How to be both humble and arrogant, accept fear and be fearless, know when to be selfish and when to be selfless... Listen to what Brian Levenson has to say about the mindset of athletes thanks to his experience dealing with NBA, NHL, and MLS players as well as many top level performers and leaders while explaining his approach of when to ask questions and when to provide tools. Brian is the founder of www.strongskills.co , the author of 'Shift your mind', as well as the host of the podcast "Intentional Performers". Go check out his work where you will find great resources that will help you grow.

Listen to what Coach Erdem Can has to say about the evolution of the Mind Game in Basketball both in NBA and in Euroleague the last ten years. Coach Can and Nico Bourgade discussed the importance as a Coach and a leader to understand and know every single person who is taking part in your staff. How Coach Can works himself on specific techniques to stay on top of his game but to also keep growing as a human on and off the court. Learn his approach on the science of mental training and its effect on the body: lowering blood pressure and heart beat, relaxation, better focus. A few advise: To stay mentally strong, practice practice practice, no matter what you do in life, you'll be more confident, more successful, and learn about yourself by finding the right help from the right people. Coach Can's philosophy goes far beyond Basketball as he also discussed with Nico Bourgade about educating kids at school about the mental game and teaching them life lessons. Enjoy, Take care of your game

Nico Bourgade and Stuart Wade (4 time Taekwondo World Champion, now Clinical Hypnotherapist) discuss the techniques used by hypnotists with athletes to help them increase focus, remove their limits, help the players change their self image, grow confidence and motivation, manage anxiety through reframing, positive reinforcement, breathing techniques, self hypnosis, anchoring, and many more techniques. Hypnosis has been used by top athletes for decades and is now more accessible than ever.

Thank you for listening to this podcast episode with Nico Bourgade and Ganon Baker. Ganon Baker Basketball has been doing camps, clinics, team training, motivational speaking, personal training, and Pro-Training all over the World for the past 20 years. Ganon Baker is a Nike Skill Development Trainer and Workout Director. During these years Ganon has worked with players ranging from the grassroots level to the professional ranks. He has been a Nike Basketball Skills Director in North America and he is the Jordan Brand Classic Director in Europe. Ganon is mentored by some of the best coaches and basketball minds in the World and is always eager to pass this on to everyone he comes in contact with through our events. Ganon trains over 3,000 players per year and always preaches intensity, consistency, persistence, faith, and love. In order to continue growing in your skills, we would like to offer all listeners our newly released Become Unstoppable program, a simple 3-step system to build elite players that become irreplaceable in any high school, college, and pro-level team. In order to gain instant access, please scan the QR code in the bottom left corner, or CLICK HERE https://ganonbakerbasketball.activehosted.com/f/19. Go ahead, create an account and browse. There is a lot of content that will help you get better. Recorded on May 17th, 2020

Founder of Evolution Mental Performance Coaching, Jason Payne has also been coaching Basketball at the high school level both for boys and girls for the last decades. His goal is now to share his experience and knowledge to all players with a growth mindset. Recorded on May 16th, 2020

Nico Bourgade invites Marco Palumbo to discuss how to get the best out of the players when they meet adversity in a different country/league through positive communication, the importance of the words you choose and how mental performance coaches can help players in these situations using techniques like Neuro Linguistic Programming to help players perform better. Recorded on May 16th, 2020