Laurence Gonzales' Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why examines success and failure in crisis. Gonzales searches for the keys to the survival kingdom, sharing stories, starting with the 'routine' of aircraft carrier Carl Vinson launches and landings.
Survivors are calm. They maintain clarity amidst chaos, planning and adapting to changing conditions. Gonzales replays the mystical jargon the pilots receive before takeoff , noting "only those who get it, get it."
Sports like basketball have far lower stakes but many don't 'get it'. A mistake might cost you a game, even your job (the Atlanta Falcons relieved their defensive coordinator). But aside from an own-goal in a Latin American soccer hotbed, defeat is seldom fatal.
But we have our own survival language. If I told the girls, expect the spread pick-and-roll, ICE it, don't blitz, force to tape, and no paint, I am speaking Urdu. And without the translation and skills, we may as well practice pick-up-sticks as pick-and-roll.
We embrace our animal instincts when we dive into a snowbank to avoid an onrushing car; we reject them when we take a charge. The Heath Brothers wrote about decision making. Sometimes technology can help us (e.g. map programs); sometimes it will kill us (texting and driving). "The difference between an amateur and a professional is in their habits. A professional has professional habits."
Gonsales writes, "fear in the cockpit is a knife fight in a phone booth." We see it on the court, too. A player 'forgets' his assignment or rotation. He freezes instead of boxing out. He stands instead of cutting to an open spot to overcome pressure. He calls a timeout when none exists. Catecholamines (epinephrine/adrenaline, norepinephrine) our 'fight or flight' chemicals, betray us in an overwhelming moment. Under pressure in many arenas, players get "tunnel vision". They literally cannot see the threats (e.g. help defenders) or opportunity (open teammates).
We train (practice) to attenuate, if not vanquish fear. Players learn better responses - to pass quickly or back-dribble, crossover to avoid the trap instead of becoming enveloped by it. Practice literally expands their field of vision.
Players arrive with a certain physical 'bank' and emotional 'bookmarks', weigh stations their brains rely upon. We can expand or replenish their skills, extinguish bad habits, and create more favorable destinations (survival choices) if we can 'get into their heads'.
The more we understand behavior, the better we can change ours...and others.
