Home Court Advantage

[Creepy-theticalanti]

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[Raver]

You forgot about the NHL playoffs. Sorry, Canadian bias. Anyways, I'm sure it has mostly a positive effect, but sometimes the need to validate their fans can backfire and make them perform worse so it could work both ways and there are a variety of factors to consider like you mentioned that can sway the outcome one way or the other imo.

[pureheart]

Right now in the United States, the NBA playoffs are going on. To my fellow psychology-lovers, how would you describe home court advantage?

I know there are countless articles/explanations about this already. But what does it mean to you, in your own words?

Part of me continues to be perplexed by this. Courts both home/away are the same size. Both teams have the same number of players. It's a diametrically equal game. Do cheering fans really make that much of a difference? How important is social approval?

And yet professionals are aware of this. They spend time visualizing their success. And yet despite hours and hours of constant training, they are still at a known disadvantage when on the road.

Is this not a mental advantage, but still simply a physical aspect? Consider that away teams must travel to the opposing stadium. They spend hours riding in an uncomfortable bus, or catching airfare and planning for luggage, travel accommodations, etc. And then they don't get to sleep in their own bed at home, but one at a hotel. If one of these several things gives you a kink in your neck or arm, it could throw your shot off by several inches, and profoundly affect your game.

Thoughts? Comments?

What a nice article about it is! Thanks for sharing with us.

[GuavaDrunk]

Dat link.

(15 pages in) An interesting discussion when read in conjunction with the Japanese value of ganbarimasu ie: doing one's absolute best (in most any task) - and with the stated goal of some martial art training of pushing practitioners to their limits, and then slightly further.