Basketball: Measure Something to Stay Connected

Our minds and body interact. Positive psychology can result in higher performance and negative mood can diminish performance. 

Some performance experts measure handgrip strength with a dynamometer to assess an athlete's status regarding fatigue or overtraining. But there's more. 

A majority of the studies, including longitudinal and cross-sectional designs, found an inverse relationship between grip strength and depression, with greater grip strength associated with lower depression risk or severity(Ashdown-Franks et al.May 6, 2023

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov › pmc

Depression and Hand-Grip: Unraveling the Association 

A few points worth contemplating:

1) With young players, don't expect consistency. It's often impossible to untangle effects of variable skill, experience, and psychology. 

2) When there is no apparent explanation, find non-basketball factors (academic or personal) that could contribute. 

3) No substitute for trust exists to engage with team members to understand what impacts changing performance. 

Strong communication skills offers a means to monitor the 'vital signs' of our organizations.

Lagniappe. Stay focused. 

"The more concerned we become over the things we can't control, the less we will do with the things we can control"

– John Wooden

— Coach Mac 🏀 (@BballCoachMac) February 10, 2024

Lagniappe 2. Making a difference. 

What is the “Art” of Coaching?

Knowing when…

- To speak up or to listen
- To take a stand or to give in
- To push harder or step back
- To take a break or do one more
- To think of a play or think of a player
- To give a consequence or give a hug

What would you add?

— Greg Berge (@gb1121) February 8, 2024

 Do everything possible to make players feel seen and heard.