41 | connection before correction

connection before correction

💡 connection before correction

In late May, I attended an event co-sponsored by Positive Deviance NYC and Celebrate 845. The event, called Dribbles n Scribbles, was an informal gathering for kids to shoot some hoops and/or make some art. Bobbito Garcia ran the basketball component and produced a masterclass in how to lead with connection. He instructed the young athletes - and one old one named me - to close our eyes, hold the rock, and breathe. He asked his students to report back on what they noticed from their senses. Then he led us through some creative dribbling and even gathered suggestions for the routine from the students. We finished things up with some shooting competitions, which saw youth defeat age across the board.

It was only toward the end that Bobbito offered anything resembling traditional instruction or correction. He noticed that an athlete was struggling with a combo move during one of the shooting competitions, so he gave him a little feedback. Within a few seconds, the kid was doing the move to perfection. The timing and overall context, however, made that instruction anything but typical. After each shooting competition, we all ran. Not just the losers. Mistakes weren’t reprimanded. The atmosphere was one of encouragement and support. And yet, we still competed. We just did so within an atmosphere of creativity. For someone who prefers an approach to learning that leads with freedom rather than discipline, the experience was beyond refreshing.

So much of sport performance is about feeling. And yet, in practice scenarios, we often resort to being clinical about technique and overly prescriptive in our guidance. But if you get athletes feeling positively and directing focus optimally, a lot of things you think are problems disappear on their own. And those that persist? Well, you have now created an atmosphere where they can be adjusted quickly. And because you have embedded it within a context of connection and support, those adjustments are far more likely to stick. I believed this to be the case before attending the event. I try to operate on it as a principle in my own efforts within youth sport. But it isn’t easy when it feels like everyone around you is operating from a different place. When every action is met with an instruction or correction. When guidance is almost entirely technical in nature. Seeing Bobbito in action reinforced what I believed. He connected before he corrected. It set the mood for the entire event and reminded me that there is a place for the version of sport I believe can exist.

Check out more from Bobbito at his campsite.bio page, website, or his Patreon

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🎶 september album club

The chordinnate album club will meet at 6:40p EST on a TBD Thursday in September to listen to a PRACTICE, an EP from retired-NBA player now house/EDM producer/DJ Rony Seikaly. Listening guide to arrive shortly. To attend, click on the button below to sign up. Then look for an invite in your email. And if you know someone who might be interested, please send them the link!

An album club is just like a book club, but with a lower bar for participation. If you are interested, the chordinnate album club will run every other month throughout 2026 and will typically meet on a Thursday at some time between 6 and 8p EST.

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🖭 playlist / mixtape

I started with songs that have ‘connection’ in the title and then shifted to ones with ‘correction’ in the title. Check it out on YouTube.

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