The classic five levels are:

1. Physiological needs – food, water, sleep, and other bodily needs required to stay alive.

2. Safety needs – physical security, financial stability, health, and a predictable environment.

3. Love and belonging – close relationships, friendships, family, and feeling part of groups

4. Esteem – respect from others, status, recognition, and self-respect or confidence.

5. Self-actualization – realizing one’s potential, pursuing personal growth, creativity, and meaningful goals.

​In 2021, I was working on publishing my book The Confidence Puzzle (free download here), and was in need of a model to explain where confidence actually showed up, and how it was built, to parents that were seeing the lack of confidence, but what they really wanted was... aggressiveness.

After hundreds of phone calls with parents and coaches, hearing descriptions of the issues their players were facing, I finally got it.

They wanted aggressiveness.

They could recognize the lack of confidence.

But they were skipping over the need for plain, simple certainty (See Blog Part 2 in this series)
​
​Since we already discussed the contrast of Certainty and the need for that before Confidence in part 2, here we will explore the difference and importance of the progression from Confidence to Aggressiveness.

A review of my definitions (from part 3 of this series)

Confidence - trust that you will act in an effective way

Aggressiveness - Bold determination in pursuing goals with intensity

When parents and coaches ask players to be more aggressive, they are really looking for the translation of the beautiful skill their player shows in practice into the game with "bold determination and intensity."

But the truth is, most players aren't ready to make that jump.

There is a very wide chasm between the ends of the "Practice Spectrum" that consists of

A) Isolated skills (pound the ball and stare at the wall)
and
B) 5v5 Scrimmage or 5on0 pattern plays

​Never the two shall meet in the player's mind! (But the middle is where most of the game is played)

First, they need a bridge.

They need certainty in their decisions - they must practice WHEN to use a skill appropriately based on game situation to solve a problem, before technique becomes relevant.

They need certainty of technique - they need to know HOW to do a skill to execute on their decision (most coaches and programs approach this backwards - isolated skill reps dominate, with 0 decisions)

If they can do both of those in a practice setting, they have their first layer of confidence.

Note:

- Many players need that process to happen in a 1:1 setting, a windowless gym, with no peers watching.

- Some players can accomplish that in a group setting, attempting and failing until success, despite peers observing in practice (culture of the gym/ coaching staff and perspective on mistakes is key here!)

- Few players can accomplish the translation of an isolated practice skill into a game under the bright lights (why many players get stuck at a skill level once they play games year-round)


From Confidence to Aggressiveness

If they have confidence in practice (Proof that they can do it - "trust that you will act in an effective way"), they can attempt that skill in a game.

If they can attempt it in a game - with an appropriate level of challenge, "Calibrated Competition" - the compound effect of

- repetition,
- enough success to reward more repetition,
- and the immediate feedback on what works and does not work

will solidify their Concrete Confidence in games.

From there, it's really a matter of time and compound interest to reach a level most coaches and parents would be satisfied with as appropriately aggressive play (Many parents are never satisfied - don't be that parent!)

The issue most players run into is that they get confident "enough" in 5-10 skills to have success in games, and they stop growing, never quite reaching aggressiveness across their game.

Let's say there are, in theory, 100 skills that could go through the certain-to-confident-to-aggressive progression.

In my experience, players rarely get past 50% before they settle into being "too cool for school" - achieving enough success that risking their reputation by failing at a new skill long enough to go through the learning process is just not worth it to them.

So, what does Aggressiveness look like?

Your player would consistently apply their entire athletic, mental, and emotional capacity to the possession right in front of them. They would:

- Run at full speed

- Seek out the ball on offense

- Make quick decisions

- Attack without the ball

- Shoot without hesitation

- Drive and finish through contact

- Wreak havoc on defense

- Relentlessly pursue the ball on rebounds

- Screen and create for teammates


Metrics that would show up for the aggressive player:

- 2+ fast break layups per game

- 2+ And-1 finishes through contact

- 2+ 3-point shots made

- 6+ rebounds - regardless of position

- 2+ steals per game

- 2+ assists per game

- Average 13 points per game


So, where on the Confidence Pyramid is your player? Are they:

A) Working toward Certainty

B) Working toward Confidence

C) Working toward Aggressiveness

Send me your answer via email at bj@playpracticebasketball.com. I'd like to know!

See you on the court,

​Coach BJ
​
​Read on: Part 6 - Aggressiveness vs Assertiveness
​
​P.S. If your player is ready to score 13 points per game next season, get started with our discovery process at https://confidenceindex.scoreapp.com