Locked In · by Paul Alexandre
Basketball is 90% mental. Most players under-train that part.
Locked In is the young hooper's guide to the game between the ears — confidence, focus, bouncing back. Start free right here: read the companion guides, test your Hoop IQ, and work through the lessons.
- Stop one bad play from becoming a bad game
- Build real confidence that holds up under pressure
- Turn nerves, bench time, and tough losses into fuel
- Know exactly what to say on the car ride home (for parents)
Free companion guides
The two guides the book points you to
Full value, free — no email required to read them. They go deeper than the book's chapters on riding the bench and handling pressure at home.
The Long-Term Benchwarmer
When it's not one game — it's a whole season on the pine
The book covered how to treat a single game on the bench as an audition. This is the harder one: what to do when the bench is your whole season — and how to come out of it a better player who still loves the game.
Read it freeWhen the Pressure Comes From Home
Two versions: one for the player, one for the parent
The book's Chapter 14 is the one almost nobody writes. This is the deeper version — because pressure at home never looks the same twice. There's a page for the player and a page for the parent.
Read it freeThe Situations Series
A bigger world. Same mindset.
Short, real basketball moments — a kid who's too small, the role player who only scored two, the star everyone leans on — each with one practical mental-game tool. Different characters, same mission. Free to read, start anywhere.
Theo · playing undersized
When You're the Smallest Player on the Court
The scouting report on Theo was simple: he's the small one, go at him. The matchup wasn't the problem — agreeing with it was. How the .5 mentality puts your own game back on the floor.
Read it free
Jaylen · value beyond scoring
I Only Scored Two Points
Jaylen checked the box score after a win and felt his stomach drop. Two points. The box score catches a sliver of what you do on a floor — here's how to count the plays that actually win games.
Read it free
Jordan Vance · the pressure of being counted on
When Everyone Needs You
From the outside, Jordan Vance looks like the coldest player in the gym. Here's what the outside doesn't see — and the one-job micro-goal that shrinks a whole game down to the next possession.
Read it freeGet the printable guides & the 30-Day Plan
Drop your email and we'll send the printable “Car Ride Home” checklist, the benchwarmer week-by-week plan, and the 30-Day Mental Toughness tracker. The guides above stay free either way.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. The free training and lessons work on their own. The book, Locked In, goes deeper on the full mental-game framework — think of it as the map that helps you decide what to work on — but nothing on the site is locked behind it.
It's written for young hoopers — roughly middle school through high school — and the parents and coaches behind them. The language is simple enough for a motivated player to read on their own, and the parent and coach notes are there for the adults. Younger players may also benefit when a parent, guardian, or coach reads and practices alongside them.
Players of any gender — girls and boys — plus the parents and coaches who support them. The Situations stories feature a mixed cast of girls' and boys' players, and the mental-game tools work the same for everyone.
A lot of basketball training focuses on the physical side — the dribbling, shooting, and footwork. We also train confidence, composure, bouncing back, and the mindset that shows up in close games — the part that often receives less attention. The physical drills are here too; they're just not the whole story.