Teams Should Get Touchy???

In a previous blog, I think I mentioned that if I wasn't obsessed with covering sports, my path to a career would most likely be something in the field of psychology. Of course, five years ago, or even one or two years ago, that would have been laughable in my mind.

Around the radio station, many different magazines are scattered amongst the building. Everything from ESPN, Sports Illustrated, People, GQ, Psychology Today, and many others. Psychology Today? That seems like a rag that could cure insomnia, I thought, at first glance.

On Saturday, I picked it up, and read through the first few pages. It was amazing, and I didn't want to put it down. The articles were short and very informative. Several articles really shot out at me, from sports psychology, to the way we interact with people on a daily basis, to the foods we eat.

One such article that I found fascinating was titled, "Full-Contact Sport" by Matthew Hutson. A basic summary to the four-paragraph article was that teams who touch more, have more chemistry, which translates to success.

A study was conducted at UC-Berkeley, that counted celebratory fist bumps, high-fives, and other touching mechanisms of all 30 NBA teams during the 2008-09 season. The article reads, "Teams that touched more cooperated more, which made them play better throughout the season."

When you think about that, it seems slightly odd, but it makes sense. The more touching and one-on-one interaction, and team interaction creates a more fluid team setting, builds chemistry, which can enhance production. Personally, I get more stimulated by outside interaction, i.e. covering games and events on site, rather than just sit behind a microphone by myself in a studio, or at a computer typing all day or all night. The more interaction stimulates my mind, creating better ideas, etc.

Of course, if you implement a "more touch" policy in certain settings, be clear on the parameters. "Kraus recommends making work and family life full-contact sports, too. But use touch appropriately, he warns: 'Chest bumps are not going to carry over to your office.'"