August 4, 2021

During basketball practice, we always work on jump stops and pivots, regardless if it is a practice for second grade or high school players. We remind players to be fully aware of their speed, positioning, and balance as they prepare to jump stop. When they have stopped successfully, then they can focus on the pivot. This means a player has to keep one foot planted while the other foot is free to swivel and land in another spot. The pivot allows a player to view his or her situation from a different position on the court, and thus with a new perspective.   

The jump stop and pivot skills are foundational to being an adept basketball player. To control speed and positioning. To land and stop with solid balance in order to prepare to make the next best move. Good advice to apply to most any situation.  

But what about when we aren’t planning the stop? Our world made a collective stop a year and a half ago, and we did not have great positioning or preparedness. The hard stop hit without a feeling of balance; it instead threw everything off balance. We lost control of our speed. We were in no position to pivot. 

And now? Are we ready to try to find our balance again and look for how we might pivot, or have already had to pivot? (And be honest, how many of you have I lost completely because all you can think about is Ross from Friends barking orders to Rachel and Chandler https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n67RYI_0sc0?)     

I looked up “pivot” on good old dictionary.com and this definition struck me.

Pivot: to modify (a policy, opinion, product, etc.) while retaining some continuity with its previous version. 

To modify. I love that. To change the former qualities of. To alter partially. To amend. And to do this while still honoring the “previous version” of someone or some situation.  

There are still—and will continue to be—struggles. If we have learned anything in the last year and a half, we have learned that. So how do we acknowledge this truth and then think about how things out of our control have pivoted? How we might want to pivot when it comes to things in our control? Take a minute to ponder these questions:

• In what ways have you had to pivot recently? 

• How have you been able to find your balance again?

• If you still feel wobbly, what feels most out of balance?

• When is a time you can reflect on where you had to make a pivot in your life? How did that turn out?

• Who in your circle can you reach out to for support? Who can you support?

Whether we are able to anticipate and control our stops or not, we can at least prepare for and be open to perspective shifts, the pivots. (And if this doesn’t resonate with you, just click on and watch that YouTube clip, and at least you will get a good laugh out of this.)