Second Edition Now Available in eBook Format!

Forward by "The Coach" RAY MEYER

For athletes to perform at the ultimate peak of their talents, they must be prepared mentally, emotionally, and physically. We, as coaches have long understood the importance of this triad of preparation. Physical talent alone is not the total answer to winning. It is what you do with the talent that is important. And so we have attempted, each in our own way, to train our players in all areas of competition.

However, although our traditional coaching methods and practices have been long on the physical aspects of the game, they have been short on the mental and emotional elements of basketball. There are scores of excellent books and clinics available on the basic techniques and strategies of basketball. But there have been few books, if any, that have treated the mental, moral, and emotional elements of the game in an adequate way--until now.

The 1960s and 1970s revolutionized athletics by popularizing sophisticated strength training programs under the direction of professional instructors. In the last decade, we have witnessed another advance--a mental revolution in sports. We not only have numerous books available on sport psychology, but many major universities and professional franchises in all areas of sport have hired professional sport psychologists to train their athletes in a sophisticated way.

Although it is quite probable that your school or team does not have a full time sport psychologist on hand, there is help available. Basketball FundaMENTALs provides an excellent opportunity for players and coaches to discover ways to gain an extra edge over their opponents. It is a vital tool in the preparation of the total athlete.

First Quarter: Mental Fundamentals

Ch. 1: The Mental Revolution
Ch. 2: The Three Cs of Peak Performance
Ch. 3: Skill and Body Awareness
Ch. 4: Developing the Master Sense

Ch. 5: Shooting Fundamentals
Ch. 6: Shooting Slumps
Ch. 7: Free Throw Fundamentals
Ch. 8: Ball-Handling Fundamentals
Ch. 9: Defensive Fundamentals
Ch. 10: Rebounding Fundamentals
Ch. 11: Intensity
Ch. 12: Quickness

Halftime:

Ch. 13: The Mind in Athletics and Strength Training

Third Quarter: Mental Practice

Ch. 14: Suggestology and Mental Rehearsal
Ch. 15: Mind Games

Fourth Quarter: Game Fundamentals

Ch. 16: Pressure and the Emotional Elements of Sports
Ch. 17: Coping with Competition: The ABCs
Ch. 18: Pregame Programming and Postgame Analysis
Ch. 19: Momentum
Ch. 20: When the Game is on the Line

Overtime:

Ch. 21: Basketballology 101
Ch. 22: The Moral Elements
Ch. 23: Most Valuable Player
Ch. 24: Inner Horizons

A Special Request

In one of the original hard cover copies of my book, I have notes and autographs from Ray Meyer, Jack Ramsey, Jim Valvano, Lenny Wilkens, John Kerr and Willie Little. Below, to the left, is a note from a man I greatly admired, Hall of Fame Coach Ray Meyer. To the right is a note from Jim Valvano scribbled on the page of a program for an event where Coach Valvano was the guest speaker. My sister, Jill Mikes Taylor, was a corporate executive for a relocation company. In 1987, the relocation industry had its annual convention in New Orleans and my sister was in attendance and heard Jim Valvano speak. After his talk, Jill introduced herself to Coach and mentioned my book which he had endorsed. When she asked for his autograph he wrote the following, "To Jay / Loved your Book & your Sister! J Valvano". When he handed the note back to Jill he reportedly smiled and said, "Oops! Maybe I shouldn't have said it that way!" Little did either one know that in the coming years both would raise money for cancer research and that ultimately both would die of cancer. Jill's husband, Paul, and our brother, Jeff, would also die of cancer. In their honor, please consider a donation to the Jimmy V Foundation for cancer research. Thanks.