Spurs coach Gregg Popovich announced to his team after its final preseason game that he was implementing a new practice schedule. Until further notice, he told his players, practices would begin at 4 o’clock in the afternoon, rather than 10 or 11 in the morning.
The change was based on a recent sleep study by Stanford University.
The study, authored by Cheri Mah, of the Stanford University Sleep Disorders Clinic, revealed that better-rested athletes, including some members of the Stanford men’s basketball team, made significant improvements in observed athletic performance.
For example, the six Stanford basketball players who participated in the study all saw their free throw shooting improve after switching to a sleep pattern that was more consistent and included more sleep than they previously had gotten.
That, in and of itself, may have been enough for Popovich to give the new practice schedule a try. But when the Stanford study was presented at the annual convention of the Association of Professional Sleep Societies, there was empirical evidence.
“This study ... showed that obtaining extra sleep was associated with improvements in indicators of athletic performance and mood among members of the (Stanford) men’s basketball team,” the report read.
Great… now I’ll never hear the end of it from Rebecca and Hannah when they want to sleep-in on Saturday’s! ;)D
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