RonSenBasketball: Basketball – The Science of Connection*

*Information adapted from Amir Levine’s MasterClass on connection. Although designed for “relationships,” there’s obvious overlap with coaching.  

“Never be a child’s last coach.” 

Everyone wants safety and security in life. 

Coping strategies impact our physical and mental performance. And it’s not a plea for equal playing time, but attention to psychology. 

Some readers will just say, “BS, I’m out.” Others seeking higher performance teams, read on. 

Connection Strategies

Connection begins before we’re verbal…as studies have shown parent-child interactions vary greatly during early life.  

Major strategies are:

• Security (about half of people)
• Avoidance (a quarter)
• Anxiety (another quarter) 

Science: Brain volume versus energy

The brain comprises about two percent of our mass but consumes 20 percent of our energy. The brain isn’t good at shifting from “vigilance” (safety) energy use to “creativity and performance” in the prefrontal cortex. 

Scientists learned that test subjects perform better (consume less energy) when performing hard tasks with trusted contacts than with strangers. 

Sports application: Teamwork saves energy.

Exclusion – The Cyberball Experiment

Serious adverse effects also occur with social exclusion. 

Screenshot from MasterClass (highly recommended)

When one player becomes excluded, brain imaging shows enhanced areas related to pain, distress, and self-scrutiny light up. People sense loss of control and reduced self-esteem. “Why aren’t they passing to me?” You’re not sensitive, you’re human. 

Examples

It shows up with relationship changes with a new pet, a new baby, or in sports, with new teammates and role changes. Being consistent, available, and responsive reduce those feelings.

Sports: minutes or role reduction can result in players acting out.  

Still Face Experiment

You can have exclusion with only two people. If a mother and baby are filmed and interacting normal, there’s attention and smiling. When the mother is asked to turn around and turn back with a still face…there is a dramatic change. Distress occurs, agitation, and then crying. When the mother repeats the sequence and re-engages, distress resolves.  

When coaches stop coaching a player, “putting her in the doghouse,” taking away reps or playing time, the same psychological response occurs. This is the coaching version of “ghosting.” The “relationship homeostasis” gets disrupted.

Sports application: Secure people do not usually “ghost.” Coaches with big doghouses usually have their own issues. 

The Need for Closure

This is a form of the brain trying to maintain connection. The “Need for Closure” is in a sense, a trick of our brain trying to keep a relationship alive. T. Swift sang about this: 

Maintaining and Improving Connection

Author Amir Levine advises ‘hyperinclusion’. Small interactions, availability, and “coaching” re-establish safety. He advises CAARP – 

Levine advises forming a “Secure Village,” because it’s unreasonable to expect one person to meet all our emotional needs. Within a team, assistants, captains, and teammates all fill valuable roles.