Two interesting articles came out this week related to sport.
The first is this one that comes from the NYTimes, which covers all aspects of touch but focuses in this week's news that a couple of researchers at Berkeley were studying basketball teams and concluded that the ones that touched the most were the Boston Celtics and LA Lakers. Two teams at the top of their game right now.
More research needs to take place but you can pretty much guarantee that there's going to be a lot more touching going on in all team sports based on this analysis.
Here's an extract from the NYTimes for those who don't have the time to read the whole article:
"To see whether a rich vocabulary of supportive touch is in fact related to performance, scientists at Berkeley recently analyzed interactions in one of the most physically expressive arenas on earth: professional basketball. Michael W. Kraus led a research team that coded every bump, hug and high five in a single game played by each team in the National Basketball Association early last season.
"In a paper due out this year in the journal Emotion, Mr. Kraus and his co-authors, Cassy Huang and Dr. Keltner, report that with a few exceptions, good teams tended to be touchier than bad ones. The most touch-bonded teams were the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers, currently two of the league’s top teams; at the bottom were the mediocre Sacramento Kings and Charlotte Bobcats.
"The same was true, more or less, for players. The touchiest player was Kevin Garnett, the Celtics’ star big man, followed by star forwards Chris Bosh of the Toronto Raptors and Carlos Boozer of the Utah Jazz. “Within 600 milliseconds of shooting a free throw, Garnett has reached out and touched four guys,” Dr. Keltner said."
When I first came to the States, I was shocked at how touch was non-existent in the work place. Political correctness or a cultural aspect of the US has created a non-touch environment in work. This is not the same in other places I've worked like the obvious ones - Spain and France - and the less obvious one I'm sure to many - the UK. Britain was big on touch in the office environment when I left over 10 years ago. I hope it hasn't lost that surprising side of its character. I strongly believe in what the research has shown.
Bottom line is that touch is what we all seek and need unless of course if you are Glenn Gould. There are of course limits but let's experiment this side of the limits rather than at the other extreme.
