There is nothing more satisfying for a coach than to see his players play basketball aggressively. Aside from boys, girls can also play aggressively in games. You cannot count them out because if they want to, they can work hard to develop themselves in order to match up with the boys. However, the question here is how can girls help themselves to become aggressive players in the game of basketball? Aggression here should not be governed by strong or raging emotions deep within the player, but by playing hard and playing smart.

In connection to that, here are some of the ways girls can make use of so that they can be aggressive in their basketball game:

1. Be confident.
Confidence is one of the foundations of being aggressive. When you feel confident about your game, you feel as if you can do almost anything. If you feel confident that you can make the basket, you shoot the ball more relaxed. If you are confident that you can rebound the ball, you’ll go ahead more determined and jump higher to get the ball. This is how confidence helps you to be aggressive in your basketball game.

Confidence starts within you. You must learn to appreciate and acknowledge your basketball skills so that you can learn to value your self-worth as a player and as part of a basketball team. In this way, you are helping yourself to gain a high level of confidence.

2. Continue to exercise and work-out.
People who aren’t involved in professional coaching often disregard girls as not being able to perform equally to men on a physical level. Of course this is nonsense and it should not serve as a hindrance for women to go on playing the sport they love. Instead you should work-out harder and work on your technical skills. Make every second count in the gym. Basketball is a very physical game and if you want to play aggressive, you must develop a strong and healthy body in order to compete with the demands of the sports itself. Keep in mind that aggressive players play their best basketball no matter who they go up against with. They drive to the basket, sometimes risking their health, just to get a shot to the basket.

And so, you must physically prepare yourself when you want to play aggressively in basketball matches.

3. Develop mental toughness.
Aggressiveness does not just settle for a strong built, but also for a strong mind. More than the body, the mind is the one who makes the decision as to whether, or not, you want to play aggressive basketball. The thought, ‘it’s all in the mind’, matters a lot when it comes to mental toughness. Girls should be lucky enough because they have the edge in this skill more than the boys. They have the ability to control their emotions to certain limitations, preventing them from playing too much aggression when a ball game becomes dramatic and emotional. Girls should take this advantage to develop their mental toughness.

When you are mentally tough, you can continue to focus on playing aggressive basketball. Alongside with it, you can also maintain and control your aggression to a manageable level.

4. Always being ready and willing to learn new basketball skills.
Learning new basketball skills gives you more reason to play aggressively in a basketball game. You might ask why, but the reason for this is that I believe that when you know much, you exert much also. Any player would want that learning to come into play. Now, when you continuously develop basketball skills, you show that off by playing aggressive basketball.

5. Think when you play.
It does not mean that by being aggressive, you do not take the time to think at all. This should not be the case. Aggressive players think of ways on how they can drive to the basket, or move to block and deflect a shot.

People have this understanding that girls are better in talking. They tend to talk much. Well, as long as such talks are not trash talks, or insignificant, and that it centered on their communication for either an offense or defense, that would be fine. Otherwise, girls should know that in basketball, you use your mind more than your mouth.

6. Do not underestimate your capabilities.
Girls have this nature of comparing themselves to others. The bad thing here is that when you have a low self-confidence, you might have the tendency to underestimate your basketball skills and succumb to the idea that you are not good enough. This will disable you from playing aggressive basketball game.

As what I have explained, you must acknowledge and appreciate your skills. You start from there, and then you focus to develop those skills which you are good at. You do it step by step until you master such skills.

7. Overcome hesitations.
Hesitation can also cause a fall back from being able to play aggressively in basketball. With girls, they have the tendency to think too much, the predisposition of being so concerned about how they would look in a basketball move, or the fear of not being able to complete a basketball play. These are just some of the reasons why girls might hesitate at times.

Again, the solution to this is to enhance your basketball capabilities. Practice and learn basketball by heart. Acquiring great basketball skills would motivate you to play with aggression.

8. Play under pressure.
Playing aggressive is similar to playing under pressure. You seem to play as if there is no tomorrow. This is the most appreciated nature of playing aggressive basketball. You can see players diving for the ball, and jumping out from nowhere just to grab the ball off the hands of the opponent. Girls should play like this if they want to display aggressiveness in playing basketball.

9. Keep a high level of energy.
Energy can be considered as an equivalent to aggressiveness. Just try to think of this, how can you keep an aggressive basketball play without energy at all? This should make sense. Maintaining a high level of energy can be achieved by eating the right kind of diet, plus vitamins and minerals such as water. Energy drinks can also be a source, but should be taken cautiously due to the effects of its primary content like caffeine. Lastly, do not forget to take ample amount of rest and sleep.

10. Make basketball your passion.
This should be another advantage for girls because they love to be passionate about things that they want to do. This passion for basketball brings fire in their games. It is like their fuel that keeps them going and performing aggressive basketball plays.

As explained above, aggression should be taken positively in the context of basketball. Aggressive basketball players are the ones who never give their offense and defense up. They hustle in every possession. Every player, not just girls, should develop that kind of aggression.

Picture credit: margaretglin • Creative Commons Attribution