The effect of a technical foul on a coach

[billyu2]

I know coaches who are convinced after they get whacked they start getting more calls going their way.

[so cal lurker]

It must be true—every coach knows that!

There was a study done (I think it was the Israeli Airforce, but not sure) about the effects of screaming at pilots after they had a poor exercise. The trainers pointed to the fact that the pilot yelled at after a poor performance usually did better his next effort—proof that the abuse was effective. Alas, statistical analysis of the performances showed that the supposed performance could be explained by simply regression to the mean—anyone is more likely to have an average performance than a poor performance; the poor performance set a low bar for the next exercise. Add confirmation bias to the mix, and it easy to understand why they trainers believed the yelling was effective.

I think there is something similar with the coaches. Often coaches get unglued when a series of calls go against them. Regression to the mean suggests that will end. When it does, it “confirms” that the yelling worked—even when totally unrelated.

[SC Official]

Originally Posted by billyu2

I know coaches who are convinced after they get whacked they start getting more calls going their way.

I’ve heard someone say that your first foul call after a coach T should be against his team so the other coach doesn’t think he misbehaved his way into getting calls.

I’ve also heard it said that your first foul call after a coach T should be against his opponent so that he doesn’t think he’s getting screwed.

And then there’s the philosophy I use: just call what I see.