Not Sleeping on the New NCAA Study

The NCAA released a new study on student athlete sleep habits and the results are very revealing. In this episode we go over the results and what we can take away from them.

ryan@successbeyondgameday.com

www.successbeyondgameday.com

Ryan: Welcome to shift happens athlete Mindset hacks, where we talk everything, mindset development, taking lessons from the college and pro athletes, coaches and teams, we get to work alongside. I'm Ryan Schachner. This is Cheney Robinson. And today we're going to talk about sleep and something that I don't know that I get a lot of, you know, a father of three don't get a lot of it. Yeah, we're talking specifically sleep. And the study that the NCAA put out that asked the athletes specifically how their sleep habits impact their day to day and all the way up to their performance on the field, off the fields. I had to go back in the way back machine Cheney and try and remember what my sleep habits were like. And I don't think I had an issue with this one. I was pretty regimented and I went to bed early and got up early and got after what I needed to get after outside of those very few occasions where I went out and celebrated something with friends, uh, a little too hard. But this was, this was really surprising at the issues that a lot of these athletes were having. Just, just getting the right amount of sleep.

Cheney: Well, that's, you know, nutritionists, dietitians, fitness coaches, instructors, they'll tell you you've got to get rest. That's where your body heals, that's where it recovers, that's where it grows. Right. Um, especially as you know, for weightlifters in particular. So we got to assume, you know, similarly here, that it's only going to be a positive if you're getting enough rest. And I. What was the, did it, what did it say? Was the, what was the ideal like? Is it 8 hours? Is that what we're trying to get every night?

Ryan: I think that, you know, that's what they say, but I think everybody's different. You know, some people need a little more. Some people, you know, can operate and function highly unless.

Cheney: Right.

Ryan: But I think it's how that lack of sleep is really impacting them. So let's go. So the study says the percent of athletes reporting four or more days of poor sleep behavior in the last week. Right. So basically half the week they are experiencing for sleep behavior. And they clarify that or classify that in a couple different categories. They felt tired, dragged out, or sleepy during the day. So the men's sports and then women's sports, men said 41%, women 61%. So I mean, that's a huge, then they had to go to bed due to exhaustion. And so that's a level that's not just tired, that's I can't keep my eyes open. I'm about to crash physically, 23% of the men, 32% of the women, hard time falling asleep, 19% of guys, 25% of the ladies woke up too early. Now, you can joke, 100% would say that, but 17% of the guys and the women, 20% and fell asleep at an inappropriate time or place. The guys 10% and the women were 8%. So I'm reading that to mean in class right now. That could be an issue meeting. Yeah, that could be an issue with the, with the presenter, the TA or whatever. But. But these are pretty high numbers. And keep in mind, this is over half the week that they're experiencing.

Cheney: It's alarming, right. Because it's, you know, we're not getting, um, we're not getting the best out of these. Out of these individuals or they're not able to perform at their best. Right. Whether in the classroom or on the respective field. And it's. At the same time, it's. Is there a lack of. I don't know. That is the coach's responsibility to say, hey, make sure you're getting enough rest? Or is it the coaches responsibility to say, hey, need you here. Practice starts at three. You need to be warmed up and ready to go at 245 because I only got 2 hours with you and I'm gonna work you. I'm gonna work you those 2 hours. I'm gonna get everything I can out of you.

Ryan: You know, we think just coming from sports and is that really the cause or is it the cause of. As part of the cause, you know, the academic component and then you throw in the social component and then you throw into, I'm adjusting being away from home component. And so now they're, they're just dealing with more stuff and, and being able to, you know, filter out and, you know, prioritize what's important and when to do what and that sort of thing. But then they broke this out further, how it impacts their physical and mental functioning, right. Did student athlete physical, mental functioning versus days of restful sleep in the past week? So again, this is the past week, right. So zero to three days of restful sleep, 32% of the athletes say they retired from the physical demands of sports, right. Four to five days of restful sleep, 17% were tired from the physical demands of sport, and then six to seven days of restful sleep, 15% said that they were tired from the physical demands of sport. So, I mean, clearly, and I don't think this is earth shattering, right? But the more sleep you get, the less tired you feel from the physical demands of your sport, right?

Cheney: Yeah.

Ryan: And it gets into the tired from the mental demands of sport. Right. So, zero to three days of restful sleep, 29% felt tired from the mental demands of sport. Four to five days, 15% felt tired from the mental demands of sport. And then six to seven days of restful sleep you have. 13% felt tired from the mental demands of the sport. Right. So the. Again, the more sleep you get, the better mentally you can handle stuff. Again, not earth shattering.

Cheney: Right.

Ryan: What I think is, at least to me, is that they're performing up to their ability, and that's what they went and measured, right?

Cheney: Yep.

Ryan: So, zero to three days of restful sleep, 40% thought that they were performing up to their ability. Four to five days you had. 47% thought that they were performing up to their ability, but six to seven days. So, essentially, I'm getting enough sleep all week. Only 57% thought that they were performing up to their ability.

Cheney: Yeah. No, there's. There's a lot of unpacking there, and I don't. I don't know that we're gonna be able to do it today, but I think there's a lot. There's a lot more that goes into that that I want to. I'd like to know.

Ryan: I think there's components of, you know, are you in the right system at the right school? Yeah, a lot of that type of stuff. But as they're relating it to just sleep. Right. I just, you know, obviously, sleep doesn't have that big of an impact. As I look at this on. On performing and how athletes feel that they're performing versus where they could be performing. Right.

Cheney: When it's their perception. Right. It's the perception. This is how they perceive that they are performing at their ability. Right.

Ryan: Yeah. And I'm. If I'm a coach and I'm reading this, I'm thinking, holy cow, like, I'm not getting the best out of my athletes, and so how do I do that? Yeah.

Cheney: Right.

Ryan: Is it. Is it more, you know, physical training, getting stronger, eating better, or, you know, is it mindset and learning how to process information quickly, properly and stay in that peak zone? But 57%. I mean, that's just crazy. Over half your athletes aren't performing to what they view as their. As their best. I'm freaking out if I'm a coach.

Cheney: Yeah. Whereas now it's, well, what do we need to be doing, right? What are we not doing? How do we. How do we help maximize you, help you be the best version of yourself right now. Okay, let's unpack that. Let's figure this out. And it's going to have to be done on an individual basis. This is not going to be one of those that team wide, this is what we're doing. Obviously, there's some foundation stuff. Obviously. But I need to know each individual person to be able to figure out, okay, what's going to be, what's the strategic game plan for you? They have you at peak performance.

Ryan: Exactly.

Cheney: That's going to take a lot of time. And that's why, that's why they don't do it because it takes so much time, I think.

Ryan: Yeah. And they view if they do it on their own. Yes, it takes a lot of time and they don't know how to do it. Right. I mean, if I'm a baseball coach, I know baseball. If I'm a soccer coach, I know soccer. And, and I grew up doing things a certain way, practice and game situations and strategy and all of that type of stuff. But as an athlete growing up in that, I never experienced the mental training that a lot of these athletes need in order to fulfill and perform up to their ability. And because I never experienced that as now as a coach, I don't know how to treat the players or affect the players in a way that is going to get them there. Right. Unless I intentionally went out and learned this, which most coaches we deal with have not. Some have, and we give them credit, but most have not. They know their sports and especially at the collegiate level, if they're not coaching, they're recruiting. And if they're not recruiting, then they're spending some very precious time with family. Because when they're in season, they're in season. Right. They're out of season and it's recruiting time. They're traveling all over the place and not really there for their family. And so how then as a coach, do I not take away from my practice time? Because that's limited to me. Yeah. But then also add this other component, which I don't necessarily know how to do or have the time to do, but I know it's important to do. How do I even get that done?

Cheney: Well, I think that's where what we do is important in this. It helps to be able to identify what needs to be done and how to help do this. I think bigger picture, though, it's a shift in the mindset of what's important for the coach. Like we got to do x's and others. I get it. We got to do strategy and game plan. We got to do that stuff. But if I can focus attention on and be more intentional with this mindset, coaching and training, right, then I'm getting 57% say I get six or seven, 8 hours. You know, I get. I get enough sleep. I'm getting enough sleep and I'm only performing it 57% of performing at max capacity. Right. So maybe there needs to be more intentionality in the mental side of it because if we, if we can get them right on the mental side, then it is. It just. We would like to assume that it's going to have a positive effect in the locker room and on the field.

Ryan: Yeah, yeah. And I think the results that we're seeing in working with the athletes that, that, you know, and teams that we've worked with are once they can control or at least have ways to process and understand themselves and understand how to take in and how to, you know, view information, how the, how, how important certain things are in the grand scheme of things, how to react in different situations. Once they understand that and have a good idea of who they are, how athletics fits into their lives and their, their broader goals.

Cheney: Sure.

Ryan: We're seeing a significantly increased performance.

Cheney: Right.

Ryan: And whether that's on, you know, the volleyball court, basketball court, football field, I mean, we're seeing it. So we know that the more you work on your mind, the better you're going to perform. One day we'll put a study out on everyone that we worked with, but so we know that goes hand in hand. It's just as the coach realizing that, hey, I. There are resources out there that don't. Again, I separate the mindset component from the mental health component in the mindset component, to me is proactive and the mental health component is reactive and both are needed. But if you can be proactive with how you're helping these athletes with their mindset and process information, there's going to be less need for the reactive mental health piece because they understand who they are, why they view things the way they view them, why they react the way they do, and that's going to help them with wins and performance on the field, off the field and all things included.

Cheney: Yeah, no, absolutely. And I wonder, too, if not to not pointing out Alabama, but they had a bad, tough game this past weekend. One of the defensive players didn't handle it very well. And I wonder now they've got to be reactive in how they're dealing with what happened there. If we're dealing, if we've got more mindset and mental health proactivity. Now, that's the correct word. Maybe that what happened didn't, doesn't happen. Well, it ends up being.

Ryan: No, and I think that's true. Right. Because if I'm that athlete and if I have an idea of what I want to do next in life, could be going pro in the NFL, it could be starting my own business or becoming a doctor or whatever.

Cheney: Yeah.

Ryan: If I, if I knew that's what I was going to do, because I knew myself a lot better and, and so I had a purpose, and I was able to identify then how playing football at Alabama fit into that, to help propel me to going pro in whatever they go pro in, how I could leverage that and how I process stress. And when a negative situation happens on the field, I can deal with that. And I have the restraint now because I know the ramification on this larger goal if I react a certain way. Or I could get the right people around me, if I can't process that properly, to put their arms around me and keep me from doing something when they recognize that I'm at that point. Right.

Cheney: So segue into Caitlin Clark, you know, towards the end of the regular season, you know, she's got some technical fouls, and then the team, literally, they basically are surrounding her. Hey, you know, let's close that. Let's lock that down a little bit. Right? Yep. They got the team around her to help. Hey, okay, this, this decompress a little bit, take a breath. And I think that would have been good for, for him. And I think the coach tried to get him off the field. Right, and sent a centered, a replacement player in, and the guy on the field, he sent him back and, you know, he's still on the field. I think there was an attempt there from a coach perspective, anyway. But I like the point that you're making, too. And then Joe Jackson has talked about this, that, you know, coach led team could be a good team, but a player led team can be a great team. And I think that's where maybe some of the players should have done exactly what you said, or, hey, hey, you know, dial it back a little bit. No, nobody likes this, but we're going to be okay.

Ryan: Yep. Well, you know, to the coaches, I think that the moral of the story is you can work on the mindset stuff without eating into your practice time. There's ways to do it, and it helps everybody. It helps the players, really, at the, at the end of the day, but it also helps the coaches win. A little bit more and get you to the next place that you want to be. So, yeah, mindset. You got to train the brain, right? You got to train the brain. And so, hey, thanks for joining us on another episode of Shift happens. I'm Ryan. This is Cheney. Until next time.