Professional sports aren't just about being able to make a basket, score a goal, or serve a ball—everyone you're competing against can do that. Especially at the highest level, sports are a mental game. WNBA players—and Skechers ambassadors—Rickea Jackson and Kiki Iriafen agree that being in the right mental space is one of the most important factors when comes to success on the court.
On the latest episode of "Nice Talk," Jackson tells Marie Claire editor-in-chief Nikki Ogunnaike that, for her, basketball is "a larger percentage mental than it is physical."
"I feel like I always want to be the one that no matter what's thrown at me, I'm prepared," Jackson says. "No matter what's thrown at me, I'm here, I'm level headed. Never too high, never too low."
The 25-year-old Chicago Sky player explains that the key is to exist in the moment. For instance, instead of focusing on shots she missed or calls that were made, "I just had to learn to have a short memory in those aspects, because basketball is so quick. You look up, you're in the third quarter. You look up, you're in the fourth quarter. You have to make a game winning shot. You can't be thinking about what happened in the first quarter when the ref called a bad call."
As for Iriafen, she says that having the right mindset has a noticeable affect on how she plays.
"If I tell myself I'm one of the best players on the floor, I'm going to play like it," she says. "If I'm unsure, if I'm like, 'I don't know,' I'm going to play like that. I'm going to play unsure."
Iriafen, who will start her second year in the league with the Washington Mystics this month, made a point to get her "mind in a great spot" prior to joining the WNBA. She knew playing professionally would only increase the pressure she felt as a collegiate player.
"The same amount of time that I put into my craft on the court, I'm putting it into my mind," Iriafen says. "I think that's an area where a lot of athletes can grow in. A lot of athletes are in the gym 24/7, which is amazing, but what about the mind part? I feel like this is always an afterthought, and it's when things get bad that we start working on that—which is okay too, but I wanted to be really proactive about it."
Iriafen works with a mental performance coach, which she describes as a "basketball coach, but just for your mind." Techniques they work on include breathing, journaling, and imaging, the latter of which she says has to be "super vivid and intentional."
"I imagine myself checking in at the scorers table, high-fiving my teammate off the court, hearing the ball dribble," the 22-year-old says. "You make it super, super real, because most of the time, your brain doesn't know the difference between reality, what actually happened, and what you're telling it happened."
Jackson says that one struggle that she had to find a way to stay grounded during was multiple coach changes.
"I've had so many different coaches since my collegiate career. I think I've had about seven coaches in the last eight years, which is kind of unheard of," she explains. Jackson says that she's "proud" that she was able to adapt to so many styles and personalities and credits "talking to therapists, talking to my family, my loved ones, just opening up about that. It's just something that I felt always keeps me relieved of it." She adds, "Also being grateful to even be here is what just makes me just have gratitude for being able to still dribble this basketball."
For more from Iriafen and Jackson—including their thoughts on the growing popularity of women's sports, what the WNBA draft was really life, and tunnel 'fits—check out this week's installment of "Nice Talk." The episode is available everywhere you listen to podcasts.
