“In every field, a champion
team always beats a team of
champions.”
And something that has been shown
to help us lift our game even further is
physical contact. We already know that
touch builds trust, communication and
greater cooperation, in a corporate
environment but we didn’t necessarily
equate this with athletic performance until
recently.
In one particular study, the researchers
looked at the performance of basketball
teams based on the number of times they
touched one another during the game.
What they found was the teams who
made more frequent contact (especially
associated with celebrating positive
events) showed not only a higher win rate
throughout the season but also had higher
rates of successful rebounds, blocks, steals
and assists1.
That’s a pretty significant series
of outcomes for the simple
increase of touch within the
team environment – and to give
you an example of what was
included in this touch, it ranged
from fist bumps, high fives and
chest bumps to head grabs,
low fives, full hugs, half hugs, and team
huddles.
Team touch gives us the best of building
stronger connections with our peers at the
same time as helping us achieve better
outcomes.
There are so many ways we can lead
with touch. Whether you’re in a sporting
environment or not, creating more
opportunities to make physical contact
with your team members is going to have
a huge impact on your performance
individually and as a team.
Fist bumps and team huddles, all round.
Drew.
“Tactile Communication, Cooperation, and
Performance: An Ethological Study of the NBA”
and was published by Michael W. Kraus, Cassy
Huang, and Dacher Keltner in a well-respected
peer revie wed journal calledEmotion earlier this
year (Volume 10, pages 745-749)
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