Controlling the controllables #2: Removing barriers to processing speed

I’m reading The Performance Cortex by Zach Schonbrun to get a better understanding of how neuroscience impacts basketball and movement in general. The higher up a player goes, the more his/her PT depends upon his/her ability to make split-second decisions accurately.

If a player’s processing speed is suboptimal, there may just be too much neuromotor noise impeding that player from making the right decisions.

One cause could be due to a low basketball IQ. The player may simply not know the plays well enough or may not have a framework for understanding what potential options exist in a given situation. Decisions at the pro level are made instinctively and coaches who are invested in a player’s development will, but such amnesty is not always given.

Schonbrun compares “noise” in neural circuitry to static in a radio signal. Humans will never have perfect neural circuitry — if we did, we’d be robots! — but with too much static, it can adversely impact what could be an otherwise clear broadcast. The goal for any pro is to reduce this static that came up in the season.

The other, and additional, cause of this static maybe mental. The off-season can help a player recalibrate a player’s self-perception and internal voice on the court. In order to possess the right self-talk and mental scaffold, the player will have to spend significant time getting feedback from coaches and basketball minds, studying film of their own games, and studying the game.

Lastly, there has to be buy-in on why it’s important to do said tasks: if a noisy neural pathway is impeding a player’s on-court performance, a clearer broadcast maybe all it takes to make significant strides in the fall. Taking care of the body is important, but a player investing in his/her brain maybe just as, if not more, important!