Lately I’ve been tuning in to threat signals in basketball.

Like, often times before someone makes a shot, I get a ‘threat signal’ (fight or flight – amygdala activation) vibe from them.

I suspect two possibilities:

• I’m anticipating the shot as a threat
• Their body language and thought loops generate an (honest?) threat signal to me, increasing their relative self esteem in the moment, making a successful shot more likely

Edit, June 29 @ 9:34pm PST:

Pablo Chandler chimes in via Facebook:

Both possibilities at work? Adrenaline, focus, aggression helps clear the mind of insecurity, helps a shot go in. Let’s say you and the guy you guard are totally level and blank, emotionally. Then he bluffs swagger/”threat signals”, then you react in a subtle nervous way, which then actually generates real swagger and aggression in him. Disrupt his swagger by defending him super-aggressively at random intervals, defending in a very relaxed state otherwise. It’ll disturb his senses, and it’ll free you to play defense according to your energy and spirit, not his, not always immediately reacting to him. Offense always has the initiative and the advantage, right? D up equally hard on 100 of 100 plays, he’ll still score in about half of them, with few misses due to you, and you’ll get fatigued, and he’ll figure out your tendencies quick. Relax half the time and with a last-second faceguard he’ll still miss about half of those — the others you can challenge decisively, all while undercutting his overall flow.

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