[Re-Post from 2021]
This is not a blog post telling people to stop dreaming big or to get their heads out of the clouds. Rather, this post is about how sports are played and life is lived best with our feet on the ground, ready to move and leap into new places. Taking risks and chances are a necessary part of development, but staying grounded keeps us balanced and stable as players and people. We leave our feet when we are ready to commit. An athlete may jump for a rebound or a slide into a base. These movements are intentional. They are effective because they are the exceptions, not the norm. Sports and daily life are important environments to learn the personal benefits of keeping your feet on the ground. Basketball is a sport where a player can learn about the wisdom of staying grounded as a player on and off the court.
Basketball: A Need for Solid Ground
Playing with your feet on the ground is advantageous in basketball. It sounds like a no-brainer but the less space between the ground and your feet, the better. Sometimes players may over commit to a ball fake and leave their feet. Or they might take long, exaggerated steps in an attempt to get by a defender. These situations do not put them in the best positions to move with quickness or force. The more my feet stay grounded on the court, the more they are ready and prepared to push my body in new directions. Basketball is a game of quick reactions and responding to other people’s movements. All of these movements begin with my feet pushing off of the ground. The quicker my feet can contact the ground and generate this force, the quicker I can move.
Floating in No Man’s Land
Another reason to keep your feet on the ground is not to overcommit to a fake on defense. When a player closes out poorly on defense and the other player fakes their shot, they might overreact and jump to block the shot. This puts their body out of position and gives the shooter a clear path to the goal. That defensive player cannot recover until their feet hit the ground again. We cannot move by pushing against air, we need something solid beneath us.
A player on offense might commit to a shot or pass by leaving their feet and put themselves in trouble if it is not the right decision. Once a player leaves their feet, they are locked into a decision. This is troublesome when they discover more to the story once they are in the air. Such as when a player jumps to make a pass then sees the defender anticipating it for a steal. Or when a player jumps up for a shot and the defender is closer than they thought to get a block. Leaving your feet puts you in “no man’s land” where you can find yourself stuck in a state of confusion and helplessness.
These decisions happen fast and basketball is a game of constant reactions to new information. This is why it is smart to keep your feet on the ground if you can, or at least until you are ready to commit to a decision. Staying grounded keeps options open. This athletic position gives you the time and ability to make decisions and create effective movements. This basketball skill acts as a metaphor for our movements and decisions in life as well.
A Friend of Gravity
It is easy to feel lost sometimes in life amidst certain choices and movements. Like a player caught in the air between a turnover and a risky pass. This state of confusion strikes us hard when we are floating in space, unsure of what we are doing. Like the basketball player, we experience this sense of anxiety and helplessness when we have no place to stand. When there is no solid ground under our feet. Our human need for stability, for groundedness, is important because it connects us to life and others. This connection helps ground us in a stronger sense of self-worth and stable identity. When you are constantly leaving your feet with your impulses, you can become vulnerable to the winds that may blow anywhere.
We desire to know where we are going. But, we cannot know where we are going without knowing where we are in the first place. This is why we need to keep our feet on the ground. We need to keep ground beneath our feet, to have a location and know what views, possibilities, and opportunities are before us from that very spot. This sheds light on where we can go. This gravity that we try so hard to fight pulls us down to earth. It limits us but also grounds us. This groundedness keeps us prepared to move and ready to act with intentionality.
Final Thoughts
There are times in sports and life to take leaps and chances, but the majority of the time, the player and person’s feet are on the ground. Staying grounded helps us keep options open, react quicker, and stay connected. This stability gives us a place to understand ourselves and the world around us.
