Tom's Think Tank

New Site

2011-04-01T14:40:00.001+02:00

Hi all.

All my new articles are being posted to www.headstartsport.co.za. Please visit the site to read the latest on what's been happening with the Stormers, WP,UCT, and other teams I'm working with.

Thanks
Tom

The Lion, the spirit and the plan

2010-11-02T21:57:00.002+02:00

The Currie Cup comes to end, and the Sharks really showed themselves to be true champions with a superb, measured and unified performance on Saturday. Those of you who have been following this column for the last few weeks will know that having been involved with the WP u21 side this season, I have been focusing my thoughts on that, but no doubt the thoughts are relevant across the board. A great season was capped off for the boys with a resounding win over the Bulls. Although not a complete 80 minute performance, the guys did well for large parts and really showed some true spirit and skill to take the spoils. I wouldn’t say that the win was purely mental, as I believe the side possess immense skill, but I’ll give some insight into why I think they came out on top.

Firstly, in a final belief is key, you need to possess confidence in your ability not only as an individual, but also in your team mates. This is built up through the way you prepare, the way you play and your attitude towards your game. That confidence and pride of a lion really shows up in those guys who perform at their best in these big games. It was fascinating to see some of the players in the side who showed that they belonged at a higher level when it really counted. I always believe true greats show their class when it matters most, and will back themselves on the big stage. How do get that belief is another long story, but an interesting one at that.

The spirit of a team has almost become a clichéd reason for success. How often do you hear people waxing lyrical about their superb team spirit. Stefan Terblanche in his post-match interview on Saturday pointed to his team’s spirit as a reason for their success. It seems something that almost gets taken for granted though, and I believe that team spirit is something that takes real effort from all concerned to forge, and that without leadership that recognises the need for team spirit, this spirit will not occur. I have seen the mastery of John Dobson at work first hand this season – a man who has built a dynasty at UCT with modest resources and who was able to create a spirit within the WP boys second to none. I have no doubt that although talented, without that spirit the trophy may be somewhere else. Spirit creates added motivation, enjoyment and trust in teammates, all of which lead to victories!

Lastly, is the plan. The only surety in a big game, is the occurrence of mistakes. What is key is how you react to them. The WP boys were made to plan for this mentally in the week, and to go through numerous scenarios in their minds so that when they did occur they had prepared and knew how best to react. They had also created some pointers for themselves before the game, earlier in the week so that when the emotion of the big game kicked in during the warm up, they had their own, self-constructed calm advice to fall back on. This may not work for everyone, but to see guys referring to their notes just before kick off showed without doubt that they believed in their own preparation, which served to help with their confidence before the game.

A truly great win for the boys, and I have no doubt a learning experience for all of them. There are some future greats in the side that will be well worth watching out for. What a privilege it was to work with them.

Mental notes for the Currie Cup Final

2010-10-25T22:12:00.000+02:00

It’s Currie Cup final week and along with a huge amount of excitement for all involved, comes the inevitable nerves and pressure that come with having the large prize at your grasp. What often happens in these games is that the style adopted by both sides change as the fear of making mistakes begins to overwhelm and therefore more conservative approaches are often adopted. Essentially in these games two kinds of player exists – the one who alters his style of play due to the occasion causing fear, and the one that realises that a certain style of play got him to the final in the first place and therefore tries to replicate that style with freedom. This is indeed a simplistic view of looking at things, but surely if you have been good enough in the build up to the final, you should be good enough to succeed in the final as well. A few key points are mentioned below that mentally are crucial for any side in the big game.

1. It has become a cliché that the team who wants it more wins. This is only partially true. Passion is a must and striving for the physical dominance is crucial, however, passion without accuracy is worthless. There needs to be a strong desire within the team not only to win the game, but to actually be as accurate and ‘perfect’ as they can. The process of doing the things that lead to a win are far more important than thinking about winning itself.
2. Each side will make mistakes, some worse than others, but you can be guaranteed that things will not always go according to plan – the winning side will probably be the one that reacts better to the mistakes. They will have accepted that mistakes are inevitable, and will have a plan in their minds as to how to react to errors.
3. Players need to go about their preparation in as similar a fashion to any other week. The pressure is high in these games and creating some comfort in an uncomfortable situation is vital. Players will need to visualise their best moments and follow as similar a routine as possible. This is where the home side is often at an advantage, as they have increased familiarity and comfort by virtue of them being in their own surroundings.
4. Teams need to have crucial honest conversations to ensure that all players are on the same page and have mental plans for their game. By talking through situations players can prepare themselves mentally for any eventuality and thus be more prepared in the big moments. They can also plan their own preparation in these conversations to ensure that their intensity levels are where they want them to be at training and in the immediate build-up to the match. Managing the balance here between psyching up and staying calm is imperative.
5. Lastly and it may seem a touch idealistic, but players need to enjoy and embrace the moment. They all want to play in the big games and thus need to give themselves permission to enjoy the game and get into the best mental state for them to excel. Pressure games are opportunities to be a hero, and they need to be framed as such, not as games where players should worry more about not making mistakes.
The weekend’s final should be a cracker. All the best!

Can it get more tense?

2010-10-18T12:15:00.000+02:00

Semi finals by nature are tense affairs as the realisation that this could be the last game is right at the forefront of all involved’s minds. The WP u21s this week were adamant that this was not going to be their final week, and that they were keen to take part in the final in 2 weeks time. Trailing for most of the game, the boys were behind by 5 points as the hooter went for full time. With a ruck formed on the 22 metre line, the ball came out to the backline, only for the talented Johan Sadie to break the line, dummy one man and score. With the scores even up stepped their prolific flyhalf to go for the win with the conversion – he missed it! Extra time it was, and with a gusty Free State down to 13 men at one stage, WP managed to go ahead. However with 2 minutes to go Free State equalised taking the score to 49 a piece, which is where it ended, meaning WP went through by virtue of scoring more tries in the game. Hectic!

This is one of those games, where the mind begins to work in overdrive as first of all the nerves are prevalent, and then secondly, fatigue begins to kick in as you approach the 100 minute mark of rugby played. I suppose WP can be both criticised and lauded for their mental approach in this game. Early on it appeared that they were hesitant, un-focused and even perhaps slightly complacent. This is hard to gauge, but they certainly were not in the top gear. What could have happened here is that mistakes could have been made, in trying to be over-relaxed at risk of compounding the nerves people experience in big games, in the build-up to the game. It could also have been a case of fear of failure or a case of having one eye on the final already and forgetting about the task at hand. Then lastly there may have been a slight element of complacency as this team had beaten the Bulls and Sharks in consecutive weeks and were expected to comfortably beat the Cheetahs. I have obviously written this from a WP perspective due to my involvement with them, but it would be narrow-minded not to heap praise on a gallant, passionate Cheetahs side who could easily have walked away with the spoils. They played like true underdogs without the pressure of expectation, and showed hunger to cause an upset. Unfortunately for them, they perhaps did not have the true belief and confidence to close out the game when they could have and were perhaps unlucky.

In games like these however, one has to examine what various individuals are thinking and how they are acting. Thought processes in sportsmen are what we try to alter as mental coaches, as these are what influence the feelings of the players and thus their actions as well. Having chatted briefly to a few of the players after the game, I certainly gained some valuable insight going into the final on the players psyche, and as to how we should prepare. Firstly, in big games the ability to come back from an error is crucial. One certainty in a big game is that something will go wrong, so your ability to react in the best possible way is key if you are to be successful. The WP flyhalf (Gary Van Aswegen) after missing the conversion at the death was able to come back and hit two more tough kicks in extra time, which showed exceptional mental toughness. I also found it fascinating to see the WP outside centre, who managed to score the equalising try, with a huge grin on his face with 2 minutes left to go in extra time whilst on defence. When I asked him about it, he just said to me, “Ag I just try to enjoy it hey Tom”. This attitude clearly works for him as he won man of the match, but is one that not everyone can adopt, or even subscribe to themselves. What is apparent in these big games is that each individual has a very different way of approaching things and thus needs to do his own mental preparation work to ensure he is in the best possible mind space for the game. A lot is done as a team, but with an individual bit of brilliance or failure sometimes being the difference in the result, the individual needs a lot more focus.

A great game, and one that a team can only learn from, whether they won or lost. Well done to both sides and good luck to WP in the final.

The WP boys turn it around!

2010-10-11T15:05:00.000+02:00

A 41- 14 defeat, and a bruised ego was what WP u21s took away from Kings Park 8 weeks ago. Needless to say with a home-semi final at stake for both sides, the WP boys managed to turn it around, winning 36 – 9, without conceding a try. This should give the boys some good momentum going into what is going to be a brutally tough semi-final. There is no doubt that both the Sharks and WP are massively talented sides with great resources and opportunities for them to excel. I would like to offer some brief thoughts on why mentally I thought WP were on song, notably the confidence that they had, and the existence of the CTP (Critical Turning Point) in the game.

Firstly, I believe confidence comes in two different ways. Either it comes from previous successes or it comes from putting in the best preparation you can and taking confidence from the fact that you know you are optimally prepared. The WP boys in this case had come off a great win last week which enhanced their belief. However they had lost badly to the Sharks boys before and therefore needed something more than just relying on past successes to gain this win. Their confidence had to come mostly from the work they put in over the previous few weeks. Altering a state of mind is not an easy thing to do and therefore they needed to put in the work both physically and mentally to ensure that they believed strongly enough that they could win. The WP boys certainly have worked incredibly hard physically, and have also been working at their thought processes and energy levels – all of which I believe put them in good stead for the Sharks game. One cannot discount desire and passion from a defeat, but that is never enough without clear thought patterns, a common goal and a focus on process.

Secondly, in many games there are what people term turning points. Often this is a knock on, or a big tackle etc. I also believe there can be mental CTP’s as I call them. I am sure all rugby players, coaches and followers will know of some of these. This is when a team does something in the game, that either ignites more effort or more belief within them. The WP team pride themselves on their effort on defence but were wary of the enormous ability the Sharks had with ball in hand. It was without doubt in the forefront of their minds. In the first 20 minutes of play, WP had to soak up an enormous amount of pressure within their own 22 from the Sharks, during which all the Sharks managed were 3 points. Wave after wave of attack was repelled. And in my mind this was a CTP. Firstly, a strength of WP (their defence) was reinforced in their own minds, secondly they were then able to see that they COULD snuff out the Sharks’ dangerous attack, and thirdly I believe the Sharks may have been disheartened by the fact that their traditional strength was not good enough on the day and lost some crucial energy and belief themselves. Their own self-belief would have been dented.

These are just two of the many points that could be taken from this game. There is still a long way to go in the competition but the WP coaches and players really must take some credit for turning this one around. The Sharks will be back though- of that I am certain. I look forward to any comment!

Beating the Bulls at Loftus

2010-10-04T13:41:00.000+02:00

The apparent everest of rugby seemed to rear its head again on Saturday as WP let go of a lead to lose to the Bulls at Loftus. Without doubt what the Bulls have built is admirable and exciting for their loyal supporters, as it seems that their aura at Loftus is worth at least 10 points (could be even more?). I have worked over the last two weeks with the WP u21 side in preparation for their game at the self-same ground against the Bulls. It has been fascinating being involved in the set-up and listening to the thoughts of the WP boys. Therefore it was fantastic to see them coming out on top 42-38 on Saturday in an entertaining and tough game! I thought therefore that I’d give some brief insight into what we focused on, and where I feel teams err in their preparation for the battle up north.

First and foremost, what any team needs to do, is identify the areas that they need to focus on rather than focus entirely on the opponents. It is very tempting to build the game up to your players, by mentioning the enormity of the task and how tough it is going to be. The problem with this, although it may motivate some, is that it can create a monster out of the opponents in the sense that mentally they are perceived as being better than they actually are. Analysis of the opposition is fantastic, but it needs to be done in such a way that it creates more tangible and helpful focus areas for your own team, rather than creating a fear of the opponents. There is no doubt that the Bulls are a top side and that they are tough to beat, but by constantly telling yourself that, you are unlikely to have the belief that they can be beaten. The process here was to identify what it is that makes WP good, and to analyse why it will work- from that base you can then identify what it is YOU can best do, to gain that win.

Secondly, it does not help to try to ignore the ‘Bulls factor’. Some people feel that we should not speak of it at all, and if ignored, there is more likelihood of success coming about. The reality is, that a fear and attitude of doubt does exist amongst players about going and playing at Loftus so there is no way this can be ignored. Think of it this way, if I said to you, all I want you to do is not think about a dancing monkey in a pink tutu outside your window right now, and just to think about work. At no time must you think about that monkey! What are you likely to think about? It’s obvious. Human minds often respond better to the word DO rather than the word, DON’T, and therefore to try to not think about something can often be fruitless, it is better to find out what you must focus on. Therefore the key is to identify what it is that scares us about the Bulls, or what gets in the way of us winning, and then to challenge those beliefs, and see whether they are really of substance and base, or whether they are in fact myths created in the mind? This takes skill, but it something that needs to be done in time. It was fascinating to hear the u21s talk about the BIG Bulls team that they had to encounter and how this could be a problem. The fact was though, that WP were actually 45kg heavier as a side! It is also important to accept the strengths of another side, place them aside mentally, and focus on your own ‘winning way’.
Of course there is no full proof way to beating the Bulls at Loftus, as they are a top outfit, but my question is, are other teams giving themselves a chance, mentally, to actually win the game?

Well done again to the WP boys, it was great to see!

Who is accountable?

2010-09-28T09:32:00.000+02:00

In the wake of the ‘performance review’ undertaken by SARU of the incumbent Bok coach, it brought to mind some thoughts as to who exactly is accountable for poor results. The natural inclination is always to blame the coach when things go awry, and that may often be justified, but sometimes I feel we are too quick to jump to conclusions.

I have just seen a headline on a rugby site, stating that players need to control the controllables, and the main controllable is their fitness. As a mental coach I always preach the need to control what you can and accept the things you cannot. However at what stage does a player’s fitness become his job, and at what stage does the responsibility rest with the conditioning coach, or the physio or the biokineticist or his Pilates instructor or personal trainer or indeed the Head coach? At what stage does a player’s skill levels become his responsibility, and when does it rest with the skills coach, the head coach, the coach he had at school etc? Surely, as professional or semi-professional players trying to make it to the top of their game, the accountability of peaking in their performance should rest with them? When players may be battling mentally, I find it is very rare for them to seek out help from a mental coach or psychologist without being prompted by their union, club or school. My underlying point is that although the head coach is indeed in charge of his team and accountable for his results, at some stage accountability needs to rest on the players themselves, and to examine whether they, in line with their job descriptions and performance areas, are meeting their requirements and more importantly doing all they can themselves to meet them.

The second area of accountability, and one that I believe is extremely relevant now, is that of the administrators. In my opinion, sport administration is simply political and removed from true performance evaluation. In the corporate world, recruitment is seen as massively importance, with the hunt for scarce skills and top talent being a vital ingredient of organisational performance. Should the recruitment be poor, the performance will suffer, and major questions will be asked of the recruiters. Now we sit with an obvious skills gap within the Bok coaching structures, and all the blame is pointed at the coaches themselves, whilst the administrators sit ‘giving their full support’ and ‘conducting the due processes’. How often do we see coaches being selected at all levels that are just not up to the job, then when they fail, as they inevitably were going to do, the fingers are all pointed at them, and not the recruiters. When selecting coaches, all sorts of areas need to be examined within their skills range. I have written an article before highlighting what a complete coach should look like in fact. My belief is that often administrators either recruit poorly or support poorly (WP officials complaining about young talent at a time when WP are finally doing well) and thus the coach ends up looking worse than he should do due to poor administration.

I fully agree with performance reviews, and people needing to be accountable when things go wrong, but I would like to challenge who truly is accountable for what in the world of sport. And therefore when things become cut-throat as they often do, the correct people’s reputation suffers, and the correct people carry the can.

Discipline is a must

2010-09-14T10:47:00.000+02:00

Increasing talk of empowerment and a movement from autocratic to participative leadership in sport as well as in the working world is very apparent in modern times. Supposedly gone are the days of the ‘Hitleresque’ sports coach or MD, and in have come the relationship-former, the caring-communicator and the facilitator. I use the word supposedly though as I know that some coaches and MD’s still lead by fear or in fact feel that personal issues have no place on the sports field or in the office, and that respect is not an option but rather an obligation. I would stop short of describing a particular style that works for everyone as I’d be way off the mark. With each team having its own characteristics and each leader of a team also possessing his/her own strengths and weaknesses, it is important to create a particular style of environment that suits each team. This comes with one caveat however, without discipline nothing will work.

It has been intriguing to observe sporting teams of late and to see who is succeeding and who isn’t. I believe it is hard to judge a sports team or organisation on a few weeks, so I would hesitate to make definite judgements based on a bad run of form or a purple patch, however there are certain trends that do show up. It has been a breath of fresh air watching the Lions rugby side of late, which seem to be playing with enthusiasm, flair and instinct – all the things Dick Muir has sought from his troops. What is interesting is that it seems John Mitchell has been the one who has extracted this from his group players. This he has done without big-name players. Corrie Van Zyl for many years led the Free State cricket side to trophies and finals also without big-name players and massive budgets. So why has this been the case? Without doubt, these two guys have implemented an immense amount of discipline and structure to their set-ups. One could look at many other teams who have a disciplined set up, and have also shown success in both amateur and professional sport.

Discipline does not necessarily mean fear or autocracy but rather a set way of doing things that is mutually decided upon and stuck to at all costs. Discipline, like excellence, is an all-round thing, it applies to everything that a team does from the way they treat each other, to the way they practice to the way they dress and to the way they stick to their game-plans. You cannot have a team that sticks superbly to their game-plan but has no discipline when it comes to practice attendance or sticking to the team’s values. It is also difficult to have well-disciplined side with a number or ill-disciplined individuals within it. Some people will say, that sweating the small stuff is waste of time, and that what is important is whether the team win or not, and they may have a point. But there is no doubt that a happy, disciplined environment is more than likely going to be a winning one. This may be something that is difficult for players and coaches to accept, as hard-discipline and ‘sweating the small stuff’ may be unnatural for them, but there is no doubt the results will begin to speak for themselves.

The implementation of this discipline is probably best left for another article, but I would be interested to hear of people who have perhaps not focused on this area and failed as a result, or of people who indeed subscribe to a disciplined set-up and it has worked for them. Jim Collins, in his book Good to Great spoke about the need to find what your unique strength is as a team, what you are absolutely passionate about, and what you use to measure success. Once this is found you will know where to focus your energies. He then goes on to mention, that this is all well and good knowing, but if you do not have the discipline to stick 100% to these focus areas, you will not succeed. This discipline may be more on a broader scale, but also shows the necessity for a holistically disciplined approach. Sportsmen thrive in environments where unknowns are kept to a minimum where fairness is a core value. The only way to ensure this is to keep strong discipline.

With this in mind, it is interesting to observe the Boks’ recent plight, the Protea’s inability to win the big trophies, and also the likes of Jose Mourinho and Alex Ferguson who lead their football sides without compromise in disciplineand values.
All the best and I welcome comment!

The curse of the opponent

2010-09-02T13:52:00.002+02:00

In my recent conversations and work with some sports teams, a realisation has become even more apparent – focus too much on the opposition at your peril. In chatting to a professional coach recently, he showed me the amount of analysis they do on their opponents, and I was blown away. Of course this is vital, could well be the difference between winning and losing and should be done. But it really was amazing to see how much information the players need to digest before a game. I also worked recently with a Waterpolo team who has to play in a 3 day tournament involving at least 8 different matches against varying opposition. The difficulty in this format is getting information on your opponents, and knowing when the ‘big’ games are. The team involved seemed to attach a lot of meaning to who their opponents were in terms of how ‘up’ for the game they would be.

Both of these situations affirmed my thinking that although one should always look to be as prepared as possible in analysing and respecting your opponents, your primary focus must always be on yourself. So often teams and players attach a huge amount of meaning to their opponents, play poorly, only for them to look back at the game afterwards and realise that they could easily have had a better result. This is as a result of forming beliefs on opponents that dominate the mind. How often do we see sides perform at a lower level when playing a lower- strength opponent? How often do we see teams underperform in games where the opponents are perceived to be stronger? I can think of many occasions where this has taken place. This often lies in a large focus on result and not the process of obtaining the result. When this takes place, teams will alter their playing intensity or style based on whether they think they have a chance of winning, or whether they think they should win the game or not. I believe that at amateur level, this is extremely prevalent.

So what is the solution you may ask? The solution lies within the team itself. A team with a strong vision and purpose is an absolute must. Without this, you will always be vulnerable to over-emphasising the opposition and weakening your own focus. What is even more important though is having a team that is wholly process-focused. A team that aims to play a certain way and attaches meaning to their way of playing and the values they keep as a team is far more likely to be internally focused and mentally ‘on-the-ball’ for every game. One needs to remember that a team’s own play is far easier to control than that of the opposition, and as we have all heard, teams need to place an emphasis on controlling the controllables. In the pressured environment of sport we should always be looking at ways to stay calm and comfortable and it is for this reason that our primary focus as sportsmen and women needs to be on self and our own standards.

Have a great sporting week and let’s hope the Boks and WP are completely internally-focused and ready to produce their best!

Mind Games

2010-08-27T12:01:00.000+02:00

Having watched last week’s match between Rondebosch and Bishops, and reading the subsequent reports my thoughts turned to what changed from last term’s encounter to this. As someone who does mental coaching for teams and individuals and has worked a lot at schools level I often look at alternative reasons, rather than that of poor scrums, handling errors or incorrect tactics, for the reason behind results. Whether rightly or wrongly I offer some opinions, but I hope to give some thought on issues of the mind in sport on this site going forward.

A 28 point turnaround is certainly a significant one, and although the weather was far different this time around, had some other things changed that perhaps influenced the big derby game? Firstly, did complacency have a part to play in Bishops not winning the game? Statistically Bishops were the stronger side this year and there is always a danger that too much importance is placed on these stats. Perhaps this could have led to Bishops not totally ‘turning up’ mentally on the day. Secondly, when preparing sides for derbies I always emphasise the importance of sticking to what works for you. Sportsmen can learn a lot from past successes and failures, to work out how best to approach games in the future, and one of the powerful things of mental coaching is to unlock what exactly works best for teams and individuals alike. Bishops’ change of approach (yes, conditions may have decided this) was uncharacteristic to say the least and in a pressure situation, it is always best for teams to stick to what they know and to where they feel comfortable. Sport is an uncomfortable space in that it creates pressure and hard-work and thus finding comfort in areas such as preparation, tried and tested game plan, the warm up etc is always advisable. The pressure created by change in an environment like that can be big.

From a Rondebosch point of view, I think a few things worked in their favour mentally too. For starters a good run of form, and the return of their kingpin player made a huge difference and would have injected confidence into them. A settled build up to a big match can have a huge impact, as the things that work for a team are fresh in their minds. Most people gain their confidence from their results in the recent past and thus RBHS’ confidence was higher than usual. However due to recent form, Bishops do seem to have a mental upper-hand on the Bosch lads, which is difficult to overcome. My sense is, had Bishops started down-wind, the result would have been largely different – in fact more like the 1st term result. Often teams like to start into the wind and then have the wind at their backs as players get tired, however I thought it was a blessing for Bosch to have the wind in the 1st half, as it gave them confidence and belief that they could win the game after having that dream start. I often talk about an attitude of ‘owning the field’ in a big game. This is difficult to describe, but it is a sense of one team having a cocky sense about them where they expect things to go their way and back that up with maximum effort, physicality and swagger. I have always felt that Bishops have been one of the best exponents of this, but this seemed to be missing for large parts of the game for some reason.

As I said, without interviewing the players and coaches one cannot decide on exactly what happened in the players’ minds last Saturday, but I have offered some thoughts as to what may well have occurred. The intrigue of big sporting battles keeps many a Saturday evening round the braai going, and will continue to do so. From a mental point of view it will also be interesting to see the Springbok story unfold and to see if they can return to their dominant ways as well, as not all appears 100% well there. I look forward to writing again soon.

Getting a Head Start

2010-08-26T11:33:00.001+02:00

Over the past few years in my dealings with sportsmen and teams as well as the greater sporting fraternity I have seen the massive influence that emotion, the mind and thoughts have on sporting performance. Just this last weekend I witnessed a few huge games of rugby that stirred up large amounts of game-changing emotion in both men and boys alike. The psychology of sport is a fascinating field, and for those of you who have followed my Think Tank you will have seen that I like to question methods of coaching, approaches to games, and what the best ways to go about creating happy, winning atmospheres are in sporting teams.

A top mental coach in Australia, Wayne Goldsmith talks about mental coaching by saying,

“The ability to perform under pressure, the capacity to remain confident and resilient when competition conditions get tough, the skill to be able to relax and stay focused when feeling pain and fatigue in competition, concentration, visualization are just some areas of focus. Coaches and athletes are unanimous that spending time developing mental skills is time well spent. However, figuring out the best way to develop mental skills – particularly mental skills which can directly enhance the competition performance of athletes is another matter.”

What is also interesting is to hear coaches and mental coaches alike talk about the need for the two to work hand-in-hand and not as separate entities. The maximum benefit comes in forming partnerships with coaches and players and seeking the best possible route to excellence. Mental coaching is also is not necessarily done ‘on the couch’ nor is it done exclusively with ‘problem teams/individuals’. Everyone has capacity to improve in some way, and often what is needed is the key to unlock that potential.

Here are some key statements that could indicate a need for some mental work to be done.
After an injury, you are physically 100% recovered but cannot perform the same way as you did.
You feel anxious when performing in competition
You perform far better in practice than in competition
Your team has so much potential but doesn’t quite reach it in games
Your team lacks confidence and belief
You maintain doubt about your sport before and during games
You lose focus at crucial times

Having worked at a number of top schools, with some senior sportsmen and coaches and across a number of sporting codes I have decided to formalise my offerings through my company, Head Start Sport. We will aim to work with aspirant teams, individuals and organisations to enhance their performance, through superior preparation from a mental point of view.

Please visit our website at www.headstartsport.co.za for more information or contact tom@headstartsport.co.za. You can continue to follow my articles here on tomsthinktanklive.blogspot.com. I look forward to hearing from you.

“The mind is the athlete; the body is simply the means it uses to run faster or longer, jump higher, shoot straighter, kick better, swim harder, hit further, or box better”. Bryce Courtenay

Roger the Legend!

2010-08-19T14:13:00.001+02:00

Make them feel Special and reap the rewards

2010-08-06T12:49:00.000+02:00

Over the last two weeks I have worked with 5 different school boy sides from two different sports and some interesting things have occurred to me. In fact numerous things have, but the most marked thing for me therefore, is that if you treat people like they are special, they will often produce special things. Simplistic as it may sound; it rings incredibly true in my mind. Although these guys are at a youthful stage in their life, and you may feel that it is not relevant in the stressful adult environment I feel some common traits can be identified. Pushing new limits, and making it appear that people are gaining extra insight, or are just plain made to feel like superstars, can often have a massive effect.

Psychological studies have been done indicating that just by giving special attention to people, the results that they produce are often of a greater quality. The Hawthorne effect is a known piece of research that shows that people will often perform to greater heights in an experiment situation, as they know that they are being studied, and not for any reason of ability. This has similarities, in my mind, to the notion that increased attention, more specifically positive attention, can produce better performance. As mentioned in a previous article, the more work you put in, the more you are likely to get out, but now I’m also saying that the more positive attention given to players, the more they are likely to put out.

The teams I have recently worked with have done fairly well in the short term. As much as I’d love to attribute this solely to my influence, I’d be a fool to do this. In fact, just by the fact of the team getting someone new in who has a field of expertise that they believe helps their play, their play will improve. On a conscious or subconscious level they feel that they may indeed be better prepared than their opponents thus increasing their confidence. Obviously the information they have learnt about themselves and the added motivation such sessions often bring will also play a part in the improved performance, but I believe the idea of increased attention and making them feel special may be the key factor.

Having seen these teams being pampered and given everything they can possibly want, has shown me that although some people battle to give out too much praise, or don’ t like to have to put in too much ‘extra’ work, this can often be the difference between success and failure. Yes, technical expertise is crucial, but in a competitive world you often find that the more special you can make people feel and the extra mile that you go for your players and colleagues, is far more likely to produce the desired results. Therefore I say - do things differently and make people feel more special with new ideas, harder work or just plain praise and you will be amazed at what comes out.
T

The intrigue of a Derby

2010-07-26T10:20:00.002+02:00

This Saturday sees one of the most famed schoolboy derbies in the country take place in the country town of Paarl. Last year I made my first trip to the Faure Street stadium to take it all in and was absolutely blown away by the occasion. The match itself being the climax of an entire week’s worth of celebrations. Special assemblies, old boys’ gatherings and numerous other rituals add to a week of camaraderie, emotion and much more. For 30 boys however, there is a job to be done, and that is to take home the most prized spoils (for their school) of an Interschools win. Where the intrigue comes I believe, is in what does it really take to win these big games?

In a conversation with a respected rugby coach on Saturday, he claimed that the form side always wins these games, and perhaps statistically this is the case, but I’m not 100% convinced. The nature of the game is that it creates a lot of talk and hype, which in turn puts extra pressure on the players and coaches. One of the best ways to offset pressure is belief in your ability as a team, and therefore when a team is doing well, it is likely that their self-belief is high and thus best set to cope with the pressure of the big game, enabling more wins. What I’m saying then is that belief is perhaps more important than form. It really all depends which way you look at it. A team who may not be in top form, may still find ways still to have a high level of self belief and thus the form issue becomes less important.
Another generally accepted theory is that the team who wants it more will win. Now this may be the case in some ways, but I have yet to find many teams who cannot motivate themselves for the big game. I believe however, the team who has attached more meaning to the win, or to their season as a whole will be the team who may show the better mindset for the game. They will have discussed the importance of the game, what it means to them personally to win, and all members will have a similar idea of why they want to win and how they will do so. A purpose for a sports team, and attaching meaning to that purpose is one of the first things I would do with any team, as if this base is set clearly, motivation problems rarely exist.
So it will be interesting to see which team shows the greater belief and desire but also which team is able to play for the full game at their optimal levels. Will one of the team’s have tired themselves out in all the build-up, will they find the pressure a little too great to handle or will they put more focus onto the opponents and forget about their own game? We as spectators are just not sure in a big derby which team will be able to hit their straps the best, as the variables are always greater, as mentioned above, but that’s what makes these fixtures so intriguing.
Good luck to both sides, but I’ll be in Blue on Saturday.

The TEAMS won!

2010-07-12T12:34:00.000+02:00

The World Cup really showed to be a great spectacle. Great fun, and superb to see some of the best athletes in the world in our back garden.

What fascinated me was to see that the teams who really did well, were the ones who truly were teams. The Uruguayans, for all their failings looked a spirited and united bunch. Both finalists showed throughout that they played together and for each other, having loads of fun whilst doing so. And then the Germans, who were so well-drilled, asked to play out of position sometimes, positive yet humble in the press, and exceptionally enthusiastic, showing us all that the German pragmatism does not interfere with entertainment.

The teams with the coach-blasters, France, Portugal and England all perished early, whilst others did not just have the will-power or skill to crack it at the top. All in all a great lesson was learnt in that the teams who over-achieved were those that were a team, whilst the under-achievers in relation to their talent, went home early to think about next time!

Backs to the Wall is Best?

2010-07-12T12:25:00.000+02:00

An extremely disappointing Bok test match started my weekend off with a whimper and left me pondering just what went wrong? Fatigue, jet-lag, lack of preparation time etc all crossed through my mind. The very first thing most people point to when looking for reasons for defeat is lack of motivation or a poor coach. Now I do not subscribe to those as a first resort as I often think there are far more pertinent reasons for defeat in many cases. What interested me, however is that in at least 4 player interviews in the aftermath of the game, the players cited that they had not turned up mentally for the game. None more so than John Smit, who looked and sounded disgusted with Saturday’s loss. This led me to think, what could have been these mental issues on Saturday.

During the week I worked with a top local school’s rugby sides, in what I thought were some excellent sessions, in getting them to think a little about what they had to do in the weeks ahead to achieve their success, by thinking about what they had done in the past to find success. Something that sprung to me is that often when teams are the underdog, or feel they have a point to prove, they possess the greater motivation and perhaps give more. This underdog status is one that is sought by many teams as it takes pressure to perform off, as there is always an excuse that the better side won should they lose, and it creates a strong external motivator of “let’s show others how good we can be”. This is not a bad thing at all and coaches can use this as something to really fire up his troops. With the pressure off and the goal of showing people to be wrong, teams can develop a strong bond and will to succeed.

However, what happens when you are not the underdog, or have little to prove, but rather just the prize of remaining favourites and the ‘top’ side status to gain? Suddenly the pressure mounts as you are now EXPECTED to do well rather than have people hope that you do well. You have also proved all that you needed to prove, and now instead of having to prove to others (external motivation), you rely on proving to yourselves how good you are (an internal motivator) or chasing an even greater success as your primary motivation. This can sometimes be quite tough for teams, as the challenge is not as easily evident, and perhaps it doesn’t sit as easily with them due to their cultural upbringing. I believe if trained properly this can become an even stronger and deep-seated motivator. In the book, the Art of Possibilty, author Ben Zander believes very much in ‘giving people an A’ first and facilitating the path from good to even better, rather than creating undue pressure by working off a zero-base of achievement. Doing this for teams and players could be so valuable.

I believe the key here is to get teams and individuals to truly find out what motivates them, and to acknowledge that both internal and external motivation comes into play in different situations for different teams and individuals. People need to be aware of how they are motivated, as do teams. I would not want to make a definite statement as to why the Boks lost on Saturday, but I truly believe that we as a country sometimes get trapped into thriving on the underdog status, and will to retreat into our laager and “let’s ‘show them” mentality as a first port of call. This leaves the favourites and ‘little to prove’ perch as foreign, scary and not nearly as exciting. I’d be interested to hear any thoughts?

All the best to all schools and club coaches and players with the 2nd half of the season, long may the game where feigning injury and screaming at referees is frowned upon, continue!!

This clown is back!

2010-06-30T07:48:00.000+02:00

I don't like to focus on sporting non-excellence. But the man who butchered our national anthem in France last year is back with his new reggae version of Nkosi Sikele. Please give this horror a listen for a laugh!

You Gotta put in the hours!!

2010-06-24T11:10:00.002+02:00

I went to a press conference yesterday with the coach, captain and chairman of Ajax Cape Town football club. They were asked what it would take to get more local players into the big European leagues. Straight away they said that all of their players were keen to make the step up, but that this was going to require far more hard work to be put in to get up to the required level. They felt that perhaps the work ethic was not quite there to match their ‘desire’. This got me thinking about how often we hear people in sport, as well as in business talking about how hard work eventually pays off. Now don’t get me wrong, not everyone who works hard will be successful, but very few people who don’t work hard ARE successful. Interview after interview, and biography after biography talk about how hard people have worked for their success, yet it seems that not everyone takes that advice and does the same themselves.

Jonny and Becks

My view on hard work is that it gives you two vital attributes. Firstly, it gives you the increased skill, fitness, strength levels that are required in your specific field. Muscle memory improves and bodies become more susceptible to the demands of the game. Secondly, and I believe even more importantly, through increased practice, comes increased confidence. I have spoken before about how confidence stems from past positive results, as well as from preparation (which if perceived well results in feeling of readiness). There is the view that attitude determines how you prepare, and how you prepare then determines how confident you are, which then determines how well you play. Through this increased hard work that is put in, self-perception and inner dialogue becomes better and more positive. This internal dialogue reinforcing how much work you have put in and how much it will help you will begin to result in confidence. This dialogue will often only take place once you have put in those hard yards! I don’t even need to say how much confidence plays a role in performance, as everyone knows that feeling relaxed, free of fear and ready for the task at hand will improve performance.

I look at people like Morne Steyn and Jonny Wilkinson in rugby, they have been known to be the first at practice and the last to leave. Vijay Singh, a top golfer has still managed to stay at the top of his game for a long period of time due to his propensity for hours on the practice range. Tiger Woods too has been known to spend hours in the gym to get an extra edge. Even Ronaldo and Beckham, people whom you may perceive as being super-talented have been known to be some of the hardest workers on their games. They have honed their skills as best possible, but have also built up a resilience and confidence in their own games due to the knowledge that the hours put in will pay off for them when it counts. In rugby, I always say it is important to be the fittest side, but what is more important is that you know that you are the fittest side so when the game gets tight, you have a confidence in your fitness as a result of the hard work you have put in, which could result in the excellent results you desire.

Hard work therefore cannot be shirked as it is plain to see how important it is in both the skills and attributes gained physically, but also in its immense value mentally. The confidence from hard work will also only transpire if the individual is comfortable with the work they have put in and backs that up with positive dialogue. What must exist for this though- is self-motivation to put the work in. But that’s another story for another day!!

A tired lesson from the World Cup

2010-06-20T16:43:00.002+02:00

An issue that I would like to talk about, is player’s mental fatigue. We, in rugby, often talk about player fatigue, and I personally subscribe to Tim Noakes’ views on resting top players. Now in soccer, these guys play even more games in a year. Let’s take your top premiership player at a club like Chelsea – 38 league games, 10 European games, 6 FA cup games, 5 league cup games, 10 internationals and a few pre-season friendlies, that is a huge amount of soccer played. Physically elite athletes are pushed to their limits and this is where most of the focus lies from the general public.

With conditioning being as good as it is, I believe these guys’ bodies can handle the strain for quite some time. However, where I think they can battle is with mental fatigue. Steven Pienaar was complaining about it and it showed in his performances. I believe there is no hard and fast rule as to when a player will tire mentally. This will have a lot to do with his physical fitness, his internal motivation, his team’s performances and many more factors. For this reason, each case needs to be taken individually. But what is true is that although these guys earn the top dollar they are very likely to experience mental fatigue at some stage. This World Cup has shown up some teams to be very fatigued, and the effects of this fatigue are more evident within the teams that perhaps are having other problems in team morale (France and England are great examples). What we see is the glamour and glory of sport, but often we do not see the endless monotony of hotel rooms, airports and training grounds that can all be very draining. Mental fatigue is an issue that needs to be addressed and not dismissed. To raise oneself for big game after big game is a major challenge, and I truly believe that mental fatigue is something that is not properly addressed at all levels of sport. A coach, captain and staff need to ensure that proper stimulation is kept up and the needs of the players seen to. Bafana Bafana even are beginning to show signs of disharmony and this may have just as much to do with fatigue as it does to the pressure they are under. Fatigue is not a bad thing or something unacceptable, but something that is real and will often be the greatest enemy of success.

In this World Cup we have seen upsets a plenty, as it appears that the big sides, all with players that have been pushed to the max throughout the season, are tiring not only in the legs but in the mind. The pressure that is created through sport can begin to drain a player and if proper management of a player’s psyche is not done, mental fatigue can set in. Players also need to be schooled in being able to manage their thought processes so that they can switch on and off at the appropriate times and allow themselves ‘rest’ time. I think we are going to see more and more reference to tiredness in the World Cup, but we will also hear all sorts of other excuses thrown around about reasons for losses in the coming weeks. We will hear lots of people bemoan the fact that these players are citing fatigue and see it at as ridiculous, but the truth is, fatigue is out and open and plain for all to see.

Soccer Passion

2010-06-20T15:28:00.000+02:00

For starters, I would like to say that I am just loving this atmosphere. It has become fashionable to be patriotic, and although as a country we still perhaps (and sometimes rightly so) belittle our national football side these past two weeks have shown patriotism at its best. I watched the Bafana game on Wednesday in the company of 2000 people, probably 90% of them white, and witnessed scenes that are rarely seen in this country, with respect to the rugby fraternity. Huge amounts of patriotism, a sea of yellow, face paint, vuvuzelas, flags and anything else people could manufacture in our rainbow flag colours. Then on Friday, a sea of white and red as the passionate English descended onto the fair Cape, with gusto. Soccer has many failings, I know of a few schools in England that don’t allow soccer because their boys begin to act differently when they play it and their values go out the window so to speak, but what it really does do, is bring out huge passion and support. So all in all, how great it has been to have the World in South Africa. Let’s hope this tournament acts as a catalyst for soccer excellence in South Africa.

What do the Stats say?

2010-05-20T16:02:00.003+02:00

Last night I watched an interesting game of rugby last night between Villagers and UCT. UCT went down by a single point, having missed two shots at goal to win it in the last 5 minutes, on top of another 4 kicks were missed prior to that. Now I am not going to criticize either of UCT’s two kickers, as they are both mates of mine and pressure is not an easy thing, but what’s more, they are both fine young rugby players. But it got me thinking about who in fact is best placed to take a last minute kick to win the game- the regular kicker, or the back up?

Just to paint the picture, the 1st choice kicker missed a few kicks at goal and then the back-up (who does kick some longer shots occasionally) took over, with marginal success. Then when the crunch kick came he was still entrusted with the duties and unfortunately missed both attempts, which would have won them the game. But should he have taken them? Would it not have been better for the 1st choice kicker, who practices more, has been in that situation before and is a known to kicker to have attempted those, despite him being off-colour on the night?

I read a great story about a top basketball player who was the star in his team, but in the final of their championship, he was massively off-form and missed free throws continuously. Eventually it got to the end of the game, and the team needed to score to win it. The coach called a time-out , and began to explain a play that would get someone else to attempt a shot on goal to win them the game. Before he could finish, the star player intervened and stated that he himself wanted to be set up to take the shot. He got his way, and eventually scored the crucial score. In the aftermath he was asked why he was so confident to take the throw. His retort was merely that in practice he was successful 50% of the time, and seeing as though that night he was way below that, the odds told him that he would be successful with that particular throw! An interesting theory indeed, but one that worked for him.
The message here is a simple one- the player obviously had a superb sense of self-confidence, but more than that he was able to create a positive perception of himself in that situation. He believed what he wanted to believe, and in doing so was able to feel confident when it counted. He had also visualized the successful kicks over and over which too gave him that confidence. Now this leads me back to the point about the UCT kickers- surely the stats pointed to the 1st choice kicker being the best bet, and having been in similar scenarios before, would it not have been better for him to create in his mind a positive perception of self and therefore an increased confidence and taken the kick. Despite him having missed a few, I may have gone back to him, depending on his mind-frame of course, and supported him- as the statistically best kicker to take it.

Some may say, you need to go with form on the night, and this may be valid, however sometimes I believe the stats cannot be ignored, and more so how able is the player in creating those positive thoughts and messages internally when the big moment comes? Often what happens is the internal demons take over, and the thoughts are more counter-productive than helpful.

The final thought- back the best in a big moment! No doubt though an argument that may be met with opposition?

Give yourself permission, or welcome to the awesome world of ordinary

2010-05-11T15:52:00.001+02:00

In working recently with a schoolboy rugby side, I came across some interesting findings which actually got me thinking about human nature per se. How often do we give ourselves true permission to be brilliant? In a recent book, Tribes, by Seth Godin he talks about the world needing leaders and people who challenge the status quo, not just people who follow and do as always has been done. In another of his books, The Purple Cow (a favourite of Paul Treu), he talks about success coming from being remarkable, not ordinary, but remarkable - something or someone who causes people to talk by being different and exceptional.

So when we play/watch sport, do we ever think of doing the remarkable, do we think of challenging the norm, do we think of achieving things that are against what your ‘potential’, or perceived potential, should allow you to do. As the superb poem goes ,“ What is your deepest fear, our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate; our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond all measure”. So often the inability to picture greatness or achieving above the norm hampers the ability to do so. What also hampers greatness is the comfort of being good, or good enough to not attract attention. Sometimes being an exceptional team/individual can bring with it unwanted pressure- ask Tiger Woods or any team at the top of the ICC cricket rankings (G Smith!). The Stormers for example had far more pressure on them recently against the Sharks, than say the Stormers of last year would have had at this stage. They have created that pressure by giving themselves permission to be excellent this year, but with that it has forced them out of any comfort zone.

So my question goes to all individuals and teams, as to whether they are willing to go beyond being good, and attempting to be great. Are teams ready to bracket themselves outside of the underdog category and become favourites? Are sportsmen and women happy to become someone who is expected to do well rather than someone who surprises with their success? These seem like easy questions, but actually I would love to know deep down, whether true permission has been given to take that step from good to excellent.

Some scintilating tries from Bishops

2010-05-04T15:33:00.001+02:00

Great to see the Schoolboys playing with such flair on their tour. Check it out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTuDFnrWe7U

Incredible Excellence- Check out the link!!

2010-05-03T15:51:00.002+02:00

http://www.sportsillustrated.co.za/uncategorized/20100503/the-best-breakdancer-in-the-world/

Some schools thoughts

2010-04-29T12:26:00.002+02:00

Over the last few weeks, I’ve followed the schools rugby scene with interest, taking in festivals at KES and St Stithians, and then at Wynberg Boys this weekend. I have also followed results at other festivals. It is always great to see the boys going hammer and tongs at each other to collect the spoils, and is very refreshing to see that in schoolboy rugby, there is no such thing as a ‘dead rubber’, and every result matters! What got me thinking however, is how often is the result determined before the game has even kicked off? How much of a stranglehold do some schools have on others psychologically?

Being more up to speed with the Western Cape schools scene, there is no doubt in my mind that a slightly different rugby culture and psyche exists between the big rugby schools down here. At risk of offending the schools I’ll keep my opinions down to a minimum, but I have no doubt that, and I have witnessed it, some teams are scared off by the thought of playing another team before they’ve even run on the field, just through sheer weight of the school’s reputation. The Southern Suburbs schools often talk about the ‘N1 syndrome’, referring to playing the schools from the Northern Suburbs, and recent results, where the Southern suburbs schools have won 1 or 2 games across the school on a Saturday suggests that this ‘syndrome’ is alive and well.

I recently coached a side at UCT, where I had 9 Rondebosch Old Boys, 8 from Bishops, and a few others from other boys schools, and I could definitely see a marked difference in the approaches and psyche of the guys based on the way they brought up from a rugby perspective. Now this culture at a school is built up over the years, but often is one that is very entrenched. In fact to change a rugby culture at a school, for better or worse, takes a major shift in behaviours and communication over a protracted period of time. This is identical to the reputation that a school builds up- a school will maintain a certain reputation until, for a protracted period of time, their results begin to change and the ‘talk’ around the school begins to turn.

I have no doubt, and I believe we will see it unfold this season, that certain schools have pre-conceived ideas of how other teams play and how good they are, based often only on reputation and perception. With very few games being televised this is fuelled, as information on opponents is hard to come by. I found myself guilty of this myself, having watched St Stithians up in Jo’burg, and thinking they really were a formidable outfit based on what I had seen and their school name, but obviously I had not taken into account other factors, as they were both soundly beaten by Cape schools over the weekend. This pre-conception of a school’s ability can be very harmful for sides, as they miss out on potential wins due to being fearful of a team due to their reputation, or on the flip side are complacent due to a negative perception of their opponents.

What needs to be guarded against, is the fact that the perceptions created in the mind of a school/team based on reputation can harm motivation, game-plan adherence, enjoyment and intensity. What needs to be emphasized is the fact that reputation is often not based on facts, and that what is most important is to focus on your specific game and not the reputation of others.

I will talk more about the actual culture that schools have built up for themselves internally in my next article, but remember that often what exists internally at a school is different to what you may perceive from the outside.

Some pearlers for your leisure!!

2010-04-20T12:14:00.003+02:00

some of the more interesting team talks I've seen. Not for sensitive ears though.

Exploring the Dark side

2010-04-19T11:30:00.002+02:00

A superb article written by Rowan Belchers, a consultant to organisations on a number of topics around optimizing performance, and a fellow sports nut. I think there is some great insight here, so enjoy the read!

Gary Kirsten couldn’t play the short ball until he admitted to himself that he was scared of it. As soon as he acknowledged his own fear he was able to develop a technique that helped him get on top if it. Or under it, more appropriately…

That’s not the kind of admission you hear from professional sportsmen a lot, is it? Broadly generalizing a bit here, but the dialogue around pro sports is more likely to offer up self-praise, bravado, and threats. And quite possibly rightly so – the heat of the battle has rarely rewarded the humble or faint of heart, so this self-confidence is both understandable and necessary on some level.

But what else might there be to this? In the “system” of sports performance and the dynamics that take place in the human mind, is there anything else that might be worth exploring around other outlooks or attitudes? For starters, might there be something to learn from Gary in taking a look at fallibility and weakness?

A question of that nature would probably make the Blue Bulls coaches from the mid-80’s spin in their graves. Watching the old Currie Cup games from the early 90’s on ESPN Classic (the greatest sports channel in the history of mankind, I might add …) I was amazed to see these guys sitting on the sidelines, short collared shirt, club tie, one cigarette after another being sucked in – it struck me how things had changed so completely in a pretty short space of time and how things have come along from a professional standpoint so fast. But, getting back to my original question: would the coaches of today have found it any easier to acknowledge (let along work with) the concept of fear than the chain-smoking amateur coaches of 15 years ago? I think not.

Rather than judge, let’s explore. There is a term that is used in psychology called the ‘shadow’. In clinical terms it means what we ‘hide, repress or deny’. In real terms, shadow refers to the parts of ourselves that we’d rather not look at or face up to. It’s easier not to because looking at our shadow might mean acknowledging something about ourselves that we’d rather not. The good parts of ourselves sit more easily with our ego than the bad parts – so affirmation comes a lot easier than criticism.

But what might be the impact of not looking at our shadow? In diagrammatic terms, think of the shadow as a force that is out of view and thus beyond our control. We are then affected by it, rather than being able to control it. So, the theory is to bring shadow out in front of you where it can be controlled, rather than have it behind you where it controls you.

Getting away from the theory for a moment, let’s consider an example. It took 6 visits from Jos Vantsiphout to Ernie Els (and quite a bit of confrontation and upset too, apparently) before Ernie admitted that there were things he was doing that weren’t helping him. I don’t know this for sure, but the story is that Ernie’s shadow is around enjoying a few too many cold beers and glasses of red wine, and too little dedication to physical fitness. As soon as he started working with Jos (and I’m completing my own picture here, so forgive the armchair psychology) he admitted this, dedicated himself to a different approach and promptly won two majors. Retief Gooden apparently had a similar experience before winning his two majors.

There are other examples to consider who might have benfitted from working with their shadow: Jean Alesi, one of the most talented drivers of all time but with an inability to make sensible driving decisions in favour of out-and-out speed; Marat Safin, a preposterously talented tennis player but unable to control his moods swings; John Daly, in mental terms, a little boy who’s never been challenged about his lack of maturity and inability to hold himself accountable.

In local terms – and I’m possibly sticking my neck out too far here as I have close friends on the coaching staff who I don’t want to offend – but I’ve wondered if there aren’t some shadowy dynamics around UCT rugby and their inability to win at Stellenbosch? Just a thought and no judgment here, but it’s an area I’d love to explore.

Anyway, hope that makes sense. Summary thought: from a psychology point of view, if people (myself included) were more able to work with their weakness, fears and destructive tendencies, they might unlock latent potential in the form of better performance and better results.

The Challenge Culture

2010-04-12T14:31:00.001+02:00

If you read my earlier article about ‘vibe’, you would have seen that I believe a good team spirit and ‘mate-ship’ in the team is important. This mate-ship is something the Australian cricket side speak about when asked about the bond that exists within their team. This spirit, as indicated before, is very important. But another factor, which can be somewhat contradictory, is ensuring that the team members create a culture of challenge within the team. A culture where the people within the team are pushing each other to the limits of their potential, a culture where good is accepted but great is truly sought after. Like the great saying goes, “ A loser says,’ I’m better than a lot of other people’, whilst a winner says, ‘ I’m not as good as I ought to be”. This could display a true culture of challenge.

I have just read a fascinating study on people who climbed Mount Everest. They looked to identify the key things that these people did to conquer this mammoth task. Key things came up, such as visual preparation, small goals, confidence and belief, but one that was of interest to me was their need to challenge themselves in training to a)toughen themselves mentally for future tasks, an b)to give them the belief that they can conquer what’s put in front of them. I feel this can translate to many team sports as well. Without a culture of challenge your teams will not develop their mental capabilities well enough.

Support of team mates and making friends is a vital ingredient of team work, but this should never be at the expense of achieving what you want to/can do. One of the Everest climbers spoke of how there was one person in his group that he really disliked, however there came a stage when he had had enough and wanted to turn around, and this particular guy with whom has did not get on, was the one who actually managed to lift him and re-direct him on the path upwards. This is an example where conflict was translated into success later on. Conflict is often not always the worst thing to have in a team, as it can often do short-term damage but then lead to long-term betterment of the team make-up. Just like a muscle that gets broken down in the gym and then re-strengthened, a team when challenged with issues or conflict that are then resolved can grow enormously. The key is not however to try and create conflict, but rather to let it be known that challenging each other within an environment is the norm and not the exception. It should not be seen as rocking the boat, or being disruptive if a team member begins to challenge ineffective behaviours, or the status quo, in fact sometimes this is exactly what a team needs as its internal method to ensure that the correct intensity is kept up.

As a coach, or captain, or even just as a player, you should be examining all your processes, practice techniques and methods to see whether you in fact are creating a challenge culture, and pushing people to their limits. I once heard it said, that sports teams should get ‘comfortable being uncomfortable’ as essentially the pressure of sport is not a comfortable situation. Building this philosophy into your team, is more than likely (if and I mean only if, proper evaluation is done after a specific challenge) to build up a mental toughness within the set up. Obviously competition for places is always a great way of keeping a challenge culture in place, but there are plenty of other, less obvious ways of doing things as well to ensure that all are continually being challenged, pushed and subsequently strengthened. Vibe is important but not at the expense of excellence!
Enjoy and Good luck

A quick recommendation

2010-04-12T14:30:00.001+02:00

RugbyIq.com is a fantastic rugby website for coaches and players alike. It shows tips on all aspects of the game, including mental toughness. Tim Goodenough, author of the book, In the Zone, is the writer and his recent article about what to do when your coach tells you that you are not good enough, is well worth a read. Check it out!

The importance of Vibe

2010-03-29T14:11:00.003+02:00

On the sidelines of sports fields, in the columns of newspapers and out of the mouths of coaches all over, you hear talk of how the ‘spirit in the camp’ is so great, and ‘it’s so much fun to be playing in this team’. In the days of professionalism and as results of sports matches become ever more important in terms of financial impact, it can be easy to lose sight of the importance of team spirit. But there is no doubt that it has a huge influence on the way teams play.

This last weekend I went away with a rugby team that I’ll be working with this year, on a team-building weekend. This was an opportunity for the guys to bond, relax together, and be put through their paces on the rugby field. I also conducted a few sessions on mental preparation as well as facilitating their goal setting session. It was massively encouraging to hear them talk about their ‘vibe’ in the team and the respect that they have for each other being important, rather than putting figures of desired wins and uncontrollable aspects up on the list of important things. Reading an interview with Bafana Bafana Midfielder, Steven Pienaar, he spoke of the great team spirit at Everton FC and how that encourages him to stay there and seek success. So many teams seem to place an importance on this team spirit, but one wonders how much effort they put into creating that spirit, and deciding on desired team behaviours- and then sticking to them! There is no doubt that sport can create some of the greatest bonds people will ever have, but these like any relationship need to be worked on, and a team as a whole need to place extra effort into creating this special team spirit.

Why, you may ask? Surely if everyone just plays to the best of their ability the team will succeed? I believe firstly, that team spirit alone is not enough to make a team successful. It must co-exist with effective and efficient processes within the team as run by the management staff and of course the players themselves, as well as specific inspirational goals and outputs that all are aware of and can attain. The mixture, of spirit, processes and outputs all bound together by solid and strong leadership is what leads to success.

The true impact of that team spirit, I believe comes on a more subconscious level. Without doubt, it is different at a professional level where money can be a motivator for some, but I choose to look at the purest form of sport, where people undertake sacrifices, driven by their specific internal motivators to play their particular sport for no monetary gain. Some people’s driver to play and work hard in their sport is stronger than others’ but this is another subject for another day. When it comes to putting in just that slight bit of extra effort at a practice session, or sacrificing another desirable activity because of your sporting commitments - these are often determined by your perception of team spirit and togetherness. If one looks at getting more out of people than they ‘need’ to give this is often determined by their feeling of belonging to a team and this feeling is often borne out of a strong team spirit. In my opinion, so many teams train the same, think the same and have access to a similar standard of facilities, that the true variable apart from the obvious, the players ability, is the team spirit that you are able to foster causing people to push themselves that extra mile, without complaint or fear of being ridiculed. The spirit that enables people to feel so comfortable with their team mates that they are able to perform to a level that is above what they thought they were capable of, the spirit that creates an atmosphere in the team where outside criticism is not as important as internal criticism and where players take joy out of each others’ success and not just their own.

For me it is never easy to put a generic method together on how to forge this spirit, due to the variability of people, but there are some common traits that I believe can forge a good team spirit in chronological order.

1. The acknowledgement by the team, that a team spirit is important and that they’ll work hard to put in place desirable behaviours to lead to a good spirit.
2. The discussion around what is necessary to create a good spirit, and the setting of values and behaviours.
3. Strong leadership from coach and captain that keeps everyone focused and happy within the team environment. This leadership also needs to allow for people to have their say and should be caring of people’s needs.
4. An environment that encourages people to push themselves hard, but also rewards success well.
5. An environment where people are honest with each other.
6. The determination of everyone to pursue their goals, with fun being a key part of the process.

Good luck!
T

What to do now, to help later

2010-03-15T08:48:00.005+02:00

I came up with a few ideas as to what I think school and club coaches should be doing now in preparation for the winter season ahead. Take a look!

The rugby season is all but upon us now and no doubt huge preparation has been taking place across the schools and clubs. Everyone trying to prepare their teams as best possible so as to have that dream season. I believe that there are a few things that should be done now, if they have not already been done, to make sure that the season goes as well as possible. Have a read below and feel free to give feedback.
The Target
Most coaches will try and set some goals with their teams, but whether they do this correctly or not is debatable. A lot of goals are based on results and not on the process of attaining a greater goal. I have spoken in earlier articles about the need to try and focus attention on the processes required for success and not success itself. Also, coaches should allow the team to set their own goals and to dream big dreams. These dreams are what motivates them, and they should be encouraged. Remember, something to aim at is crucial in all aspects of life and sport is no different. Also remember that if you don’t reach your target it is fine, perhaps you just need to change the process of how to reach it rather than the target itself.
Expectations
‘The Greatest problem with communication is the illusion that it has taken place’. Even if you think, as a coach that your players know what you expect from them in terms of play, and in terms of behaviours, clarify it again, and do this early so that the problems that could occur later, never do occur. Boundaries need to be established early, as do targets for each player so that they know exactly what to work towards. Proper evaluation cannot be done unless a sound expectation/job description is given at the start.
Team Building- Properly
Raft-building and drumming sessions are great ways for teams to relax, get to know each other and have some fun, but they are not team-building in its entirety. They need to be done in conjunction with quality conversations where teammates open up to each other on various issues surrounding the team. Try to engage your players on how they would react if they lose 3 games in a row, what will happen if a few guys start slacking, or as to how they will prepare for a big game. All these things start to create an honesty in the side that is crucial for true team spirit to be formed. In amateur sport, team spirit can often be attributed to the success of a team and is so crucial. Team-building should therefore not be taken lightly at all, and lots of work should be done on forming and shaping your team.
Leadership
I am convinced that this is a make-or-break area of a team. A team without solid leadership is very seldom a successful one. Ensure that you find the best captain but also that you identify other leaders in the team and give them meaningful roles. They must be seen to have an influence and you must evaluate them on their work as a leader and on their role as a player. Be careful of letting people vote for captain, as you as a coach need to be able to work with them, but also be careful of being to autocratic in selecting him and alienating your players. Think of the 5E’s of leadership when selecting your captains. Enthusiasm is a must, energy is important as a the extra work load of being captain will require extra emotional and physical energy. Empathy is crucial if you want your captain to be able to get the best out of the players. Excellent communication is also important as the messages that the captain wants to get across must actually get across and be acknowledged by all. Then lastly, excellence, the captain does not have to be the best player but he must have some outstanding quality that earns him the respect of his team.
Make up your mind
It is important that you as a coach come up with a way of playing and sell it to the players well. I believe that sometimes even if a game plan is not the best, but all the players truly believe in it, and in you, it is likely to succeed. Try to make up your mind early as to what you want as a coach and stick to that. Of course, it is necessary to be adaptable as the season goes by, but there is nothing worse than a coach who seemingly panics when things go wrong, and they probably went wrong because he had failed to plan and come up with a quality game plan early on. I have mentioned in earlier articles that to be truly great, according to Jim Collins in the book, Good to Great, you need to do things that you can be the absolute best at, and things that you are 100% passionate about. Therefore if you feel that you can be the best side in terms of fitness and skill in your league, then you must build your game around that, and not around a physical, defence-oriented game or another that looks great on paper, but is not your strength. You also need to gauge what it is that makes your team tick. Are they a side that gets really excited about new innovations and methods of attack, or are they passionate about over-powering opponents and defending like Trojans. Yes, we are all passionate about winning, but there will be an aspect of the game or sport that your side is really passionate about. Find out that passion, and your key unique strength and work your game around those, not the other way round.

The Crowd

2010-03-08T15:07:00.002+02:00

Sport has always had the knack of drawing people to watch it. Some sports more so than others, but often a crowd (or smattering of people if it's a small provincial game of cricket or a Sunday game of Netball) will go and attend a sporting fixture. This all adds to the atmosphere, and creates an ' added importance' to the game. But does it really? Do players raise their games when people are watching? Do crowds not distract players, or create added pressure that hinders them from getting 'into the zone'? These are questions that I would just love to be able to answer, but one feels that perhaps it is different for different individuals and teams and thus not that answerable.

Just last week I worked with a cricket side, who had to play a game of huge significance, for their school, in front of a crowd, for the first time. From usually playing in front of 20 to 30 enthsiastic parents, they now had to play in front of 1000 enthusiatic school mates as well. Despite them being clear favourites on paper and having beaten the same opponents easily just a week previously, they were feeling pressure and nerves. Why? Because a big crowd would be there to see them fail should they do so!! Professional sportsmen these days, are entertainers, in fact they probably have become blase about crowds and instead should there be a very small turn out, they may battle to raise their game to the desired level. But one feels that at amateur level the players have not yet gotten used to these crowds, and thus are affected differently. This very evening, I will be venturing off to watch two amateur rugby sides take part in a crunch match in front of 15 000 people. What impact is this likely to have on the match itself, and on the players as individuals?

I have often believed at amateur level, that crowds can be a burden, and a distraction that is too hard to handle. Yes, there is no doubt that a crowd can serve as a motivator, but I believe that often sides are motivated by just playing for each other and by having fun. The presence of the crowd only serves to tip the balance towards the players becoming over-hyped. The fear of failure is one of the biggest fears faced by all sportsmen, and even if thousands/millions or billions of people are watching on television, there is something about having a live crowd in that can enhance that fear even more.

I look forward to watching this intervarsity clash this evening, and seeing which side is able to harness the positives of the big occasion by being motivated and focused, but can shut out the exciteable crowd well enough to stay focused on the task at hand. I have always maintained that the best sides are those that can play to the same level in front of 1 or 1000 people, as they are truly motivated by bettering their own standards, and playing just for each other, rather than just trying to entertain crowds. I welcome feedback from those who have witnessed crowd influence first hand.

Cheers
T

The consistency question

2010-02-25T12:18:00.002+02:00

How many sports teams have we seen that do well one week, or play the game of their lives, and then the very next week look like a shadow of their former selves. In reading an interview with a top schoolboy coach the other day, he spoke about how this was one of his biggest battles from a coaching point of view. Some teams get it right, whilst others don't. The Australian cricket side is probably one of the most consistent sports teams in recent history.

I think I would be foolish to think I had the cure to inconsistency, but obviously there are things that I believe can assist in guarding against it.

1. The Dream
Often one game in isolation can serve up little motivation to a team, and this is where you often see inconsistency in the quality of play. I believe that any team needs a dream, a bigger picture or vision that serves as motivation and direction for them to perform to the best of their ability. Every person has it within them to want to achieve something, and this is the same with a team. If they can paint their own picture or dream their own dream of what they want to achieve, that game in isolation becomes more important, as they are aware that it is part of a bigger 'dream'. This dream then needs to be reinforced before every game, and the context of the game then becomes more important. This can guard against inconsistency.

2. A Value set
Just as a dream is set for the team, so should a set of values and behaviours be set that are desired throughout. These could include humility ( to guard against complacency) as well as belief (to guard against the fear of strong opponents). If these values are entrenched in everything the team does, you may find that those slip ups become less. The more ingrained values are, the more likely the desired behaviours are to occur.

3. The Brutal Facts
I believe too often we gloss over those 'easy' games, with the comments like ' every game is a tough one' or 'they are a wounded animal'. Tough games are often met with, 'We believe we can compete well', 'We have improved a lot this week in practice'. All of these cliches do not serve to address the true feelings that the players have. Many players have been in siutations before where they were fearful or complacent and the outcomes were poor. They should have learned from this, and the team should be encouraged to talk through these and find a solution before it happens. I would encourage teams to admit openly that the side they are playing against is weak for example, but then I would ask them to come up with goals for the game and how they propose to achieve them. Be brutally honest about a game, and you will see results.

4. Remember the game
Tim Goodenough in "In the Zone" , speaks about 3 things that create significance to a game. Opponent, Occasion and Venue. These three things need to be weighed up when thinking about how to get your team into the best state of mind for any game. If the occasion and opponent is one that brings pressure, for example, then it is best to make sure that the players are as relaxed as possible, and aware of the goals for the game. If for example, you are at home, and you are playing an easy fixture, it is crucial to emphasise the importance of the dream, to re-emphasise the values set, and to set challenging goals for the players. The key is to identify the significance of each of the three factors, then to weigh up how you can go about creating the best environment for that game taking those factors into account.

There are definitely more solutions to inconsistency and I'd be keen to hear comment, but these are just a few that may indeed help in keeping the team at a desired level for as long as possible.

Cheers
T

Research on Mental readiness

2010-02-12T15:18:00.004+02:00

I came across a great web site called, 'The Zone Of excellence', written by an experienced man in the field of sports performance, called Tim Orlick. There are some fascinating articles there on the field, but I thought I'd include his summarised thoughts on the mental links to excellence. The article is well worth a read and I've posted the link, but here are the summarised thoughts based on his interviews with numerous elite olympian athletes. http://www.zoneofexcellence.ca/free/excellence/mental%20links%20to%20excellence.pdf

1. Mental readiness is an extremely important factor influencing an athlete's
performance. In fact, of the three major readiness factors rated by the
athletes-mental, physical, technical-mental readiness provided the only
statistically significant link with final Olympic ranking.
2. A large percentage of Olympic athletes did not perform to potential at the
Olympic Games because they were not prepared well enough for the distractions
they faced.
3. Mental readying is derived from a number of learned mental skills that must
be continually practiced and refined for an athlete to perform to potential and on
a consistent basis.
4. Attentional focus and the quality and control of performance imagery were
the most important statistically significant athlete skills directly related to high
level performance at the Olympic Games.
5. The following common elements of success were operational for the
best athletes (i.e., Olympic medalists and world champions) in virtually all sports: (a)
total commitment to pursuing excellence, (b) quality training that included
setting daily goals and engaging in regular competition simulation and imagery
training, and (c) quality mental preparation for competition, which included a
refined competition plan, a competition focus plan, an ongoing postcompetition
evaluation procedure, and a plan for dealing with distractions.
6. The three major performance blocks that interfered with high level
performance at the Olympic Games were (a) changing patterns that work, (b) late
selection, and (c) an inability to refocus in the face of distractions.
7. Coaches could play a more meaningful role in helping athletes with their
mental readiness for major events.
This study gives a clear indication of the mental components of excellence that are
necessary for performing to potential at high profile events such as the Olympic
Games. It pinpoints the mental skills that need to be developed and refined for
consistent high level performance.

Which comes first?

2010-02-12T11:15:00.003+02:00

I have just completed a leadership course at SACS high school where I took a group of leaders through the basics of leadership for 3 weeks. I attempted to open their minds to what is possible and to get them to see how best to lead people. An interesting debate cropped up and it reminded me of a few things that I had learnt from Professor Tim Noakes as well as from various other readings. What comes first, Confidence or success?

The debate in my opinion offers two distinct paths. 1. Positive perceptions in your mind = good attitude = productive preparation = confidence = success. This for me, would seem the best method or approach as it is completely reliant on self and the discipline of your own thoughts. You control your perceptions and thoughts which in turn leads to a positive attitude to practice and play, which then instills confidence in your play which should then in turn, according to anecdotal evidence lead to increased success. The thought that confidence comes through great preparation is widely thought to be true, but this only works if the preparation is all-encompassing (covers physical and mental prep), and the player actively applies positive thought to the work that he/she has put in. This model should also work in the case of early season, where no 'prior success' has taken place, or in the case of a lean spell of form, where you attempt to get yourself back into successful times through your mental processes and approach. A top rugby player for example may be sturggling but through sheer mental effort continue to see himself in a good light, to put in the hours on the practice field, knowing that this will pay off eventually.

The second way of thinking, which some of the leaders agreed with is 2) success= confidence = good practice due to being happy = positive attitude = good perceptions of self. This could also be said to be true, and I believe is the way it works for most sportsmen. We rely on success to create an increased confidence and then added motivation to practice effectively which will keep us having a positive attitude and great self-perceptions. An example would be the cricketer who scores runs and then feels confident to score in the next innings, and enjoys his training and feels good about himself all due to his previous innings and not due to his mental efforts to prepare himself well.

The ideal way in my mind, is a mixture of the two, whereby we apply option 1 and create a positive attitude ourselves which leads to quality practice and increased confidence. Then we success does come about, we ensure that that success then leads back to increased confidence, positive attitudes and practicing etc. Sportsmen need to guard against success leading to arrogance or complacency and then decreased quality if practice as so often can be the case. Success therefore will lead to increased perceptions of self, according to the model, but it should not serve as the only leader to good perceptions of self, as that becomes dangerous and extremely reactive.

Confidence comes through quality preparation and past successes, but it is up to the sportsman to decide how much emphasis he places on each one and how he manages to balance between the two. A lovely true story goes that a top college basketball player in the States was playing in the state final. He was by far their top points-scorer, and the plays had been deisgned around him by the coach. In the final, he missed 4 shots in a row and the team was on the verge of losing the game. The coach called a time-out and said that he would re-design the next play (the final one) to ensure someone else took the shot. The player would have none of this, he said give me the ball and I'll score. He did. When asked afterwards why he was so sure that he'd score, he said, "I have a 80 % success rate at goal and I've practiced all week at that rate. Now I have missed 4 in a row which means I was bound to make the next shot!". He went on to say that he made up his mind that he should make the next shot and therefore creating his own perception, which then in turn led to the confidence, which then created that success.

I have just put some thoughts out there and welcome thoughts or feedback and this is a debate that I think is difficult to conclude.

The need to coach!

2010-02-09T15:55:00.001+02:00

In the present world of sport, it seems that just as much gets written about sports men and women’s private lives as it does on their sporting activities. John Terry, Tiger Woods, Ricky Januarie are just a few to mention, but there have been many in the past as well as many more to come in the future. This brings me to two different points that I would like to make, one concerning the coaching that takes place for these players and the second is the role models that exist for our up-and-coming players. Executive and Life coaching has become a multi-million rand business worldwide, and although some see it as a fad, there is no doubt that there is tremendous value in the service they provide. Top business men and women are using them to try and optimize their own performance, to bounce ideas off, to help them keep a work-life balance etc. This all happens in the fast-paced corporate world. Which leads me to ask the question as to how much of this should be taking place with elite sportsmen? Mental coaches are being used, but are they being used enough to help sportsmen cope with 1) the tremendous amount of pressure they are put under to perform and 2) all the things that can act as temptations such as money, sex, drugs etc. Is there not a need for life coaches to work with sportsmen and women to help them work through these pressures, to advise them on how to keep a balance and therefore to help them focus entirely in their own sporting performance, which is essentially what the world wants. Morne Du Plessis was used to work with a care-free Herschelle Gibbs some time ago. A happy and focused employee is often a performing one, and this is exactly the same in sport. More attention to the ‘person’ is needed and not just 100% on the skills and physical attributes needed to create top performers.

As someone who has been involved with sport at youth level I often think to myself, do we have great role models out there for the youth to look up to, and also, are we doing enough to prepare and assist them with the pressures they experience as young sportsmen and women? When a youngster sees a golfer’s sex scandal sprawled all over the back pages what goes through his/her mind? Of course there are plenty of top role models out there but unfortunately when something negative happens it gets huge airtime as opposed to all the good many of them do. And for this reason, young up-and-coming sportsmen who are put under pressure from their folks, their peers, themselves or even their schools also need to be given the support structures to help them cope and reach their own potential. Coaching needs to go further than just showing someone how to pass and kick and progress to true life coaching and mentoring. This will not only help the players but will also lead to better performances.

The sportsmen and women of today therefore need to be nurtured and supported, for us to truly get the best out of them, as a happy focused player is a good and performing one. Let’s also try prevent the sporting scandals from happening before they do.

A little perspective

2010-02-03T09:08:00.002+02:00

This article has been written by John-Joe Dawson-Squibb. He is a clinical Psychologist who has worked, whilst doing his thesis with a professional soccer academy. He has a huge interest in sport and the psychology surrounding it, and I trust that his article will be of major interest to you.

- Changing the focus

‘Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing’
Vince Lombardi
Sir Clive Woodward, rugby guru and general know-it-all, is not a man whose thoughts can be quickly dismissed. Apart from his World Cup medal and thoughtful autobiography he has, despite a dismal foray into football and a (chaotic) Lion’s tour, much respect from the majority of rugby’s elite – no easy feat in itself. Having read a recent entry on this blog outlining some of his points on excellence I began to think the former England coach might be brilliant, but perhaps his vaunted focus on perfection is a red herring for the large majority of players not involved in professional sport. Rather than disagree with him I am taking a different route to see where an alternative focus of thought might lead.
I’m keenly aware that readers of this website are likely to have more than a passing interest in the world of sport. I wonder though how many are actually professional sportsman? To go further, how many realistically (and not after a few drinks or a well-timed square cut in the nets) have aspirations of being paid to play? Few I would suggest over the age of sixteen could admit to having such thoughts. The cold facts are that the Ronaldo’s are on a different planet, and more soberingly it is a tiny percentage of sports men and women who are able to make a living from playing sport.
In contrast then is the amount of coverage professional sport garners from the media (broadly the more elite the competition the more coverage dedicated to it). There is very little interest or focus in the media on your average sportsman, on the majority of participants. I am not suggesting it should be anything other. But what does interest me is the impact of such a myopic focus on those watching.

Myths and Middle school
It’s possible that this excessive interest in professional sport has led to an equally excessive focus on winning. This has fuelled the myth that you can’t have fun or enjoy the game if you have lost. An equally destructive and related idea is that everyone’s dream, if not goal, should be to play professional sport. What rubbish! These myths, it could be argued, are used by key players for cynical purposes. Encouraging unrealistic expectations and goals is the business of sport brands (to sell products), administrators (to increase a games popularity and swell numbers) and the media (to create hype and sell stories). Children are particularly vulnerable. A recent survey in America revealed that 2.7% of Middle school athletes (ages 12-15) had used anabolic steroids (2007, Steroid Nation). That tells of a severely misguided attempt to win at all cost. Of a culture that has become fixated on winning at the expense of health, life and enjoyment. What will happen to those many children whose self-esteem, confidence and dreams are shattered as they, inevitably, don’t reach these impossible goals?
More prosaically I would add that such a focus on professional sport is a hindrance to our enjoyment of the game. I can understand that professional sportsmen and women need to take the game seriously as their income is at stake, but the same surely cannot apply to the majority of participants. Yet too often that seems to be forgotten. By concentrating on the end result, with the increasing emphasis on excellence and perfection, is there not a danger that we miss out on being ‘in the moment’, enjoying the game, just having fun. As Al Pacino’s character, coach Tony D’Amato, said in Any Given Sunday – ‘There’s got to be more to this game than winning and losing’. It is one thing to learn from professional players how to play the game but are they the best people to remind us why we play the game?

Learning from the right people
There is often learning to be had from those who have had things taken away. Those who have recovered from serious illness or life threatening injury are often the best at reminding us of the brevity of our time here. Remembering what it is to play tennis at all, to ride a bike, be on a field with ten buddies on a Saturday afternoon. Perspective is everything. I wonder that too often our focus is in the wrong place and we forget to appreciate, or even remember, how great it is to play sport.
To pre-empt those unimpressed with such a shift let me add that this change in focus doesn’t mean you don’t take sport seriously. There are any number of reasons why we participate and multiple documented benefits of playing have been reported under the headings of ‘social’, ‘physical’, ‘psychological’ and ‘emotional’. All of these remain. A change in perspective does not mean you can’t be competitive, have goals or do the best you can. But it does mean you take stock every now and again and have sport in it’s right place. It’s not about winning and losing - living and dying.

Adapt or die

2010-01-27T08:46:00.003+02:00

It came as quite a shock to many seeing the demise of yet another South African sports coach yesterday. The successful Mickey Arthur is now a thing of the past, and who knows what the future will bring for the Prtoeas cricket side. The reasons for his demise are unclear as yet, but it appears the administrators have grown impatient with a number of things, most notably the lack of continual success in various series and tournaments, as well as lack of players of colour in the starting XI.

This all however shows to me the importance of adapting to change in sport, in fact in any aspect of life for that matter. Most things in life operate along what is called a growth curve. Using a coach coming in with a team as an example this is what happens. Initially, results gained from the effort put in are minimal as a group finds its feet and forms together. Then as the team begins to form and find out the specific strengths and weaknesses it begins to perform. Then as it reaches the peak of its powers, with the environment changing and opponents wising up to the teams strengths and weaknesses, the performances begin to plateau and then eventually decline. Many things operate along a similar path, be they a new product on the shelves of a supermarket, or an individual who takes up gymming to get stronger, there is always a need to go through the tough times, then enjoy the performing times, but then be aware of the need for change. Mickey Arthur in his 4 and a half year reign certainly did take some time to get going, then seemingly peaked in England and Australia in 08/09. However, it then appears that the top of the curve was hit and perhaps the real problem came in that he failed to adapt and begin on a new curve with the Proteas team. Sometimes if you continually do the same things, even if they worked in the past, they become less effective.

I personally believe the mantra, 'If it's not broken, don't fix it', is incorrect in many cases, as so often we rest on what worked before only for the external environment to change (opponents, venues, rules etc) and the team gets left behind. The England rugby team is a perfect example of a side that peaked in 2003 and then were slow to adapt and have never really reached any great heights since.

So perhaps, despite the timing being odd, Mickey Arthur had reached his peak and was just unable to find a way of reinventing the curve or adapting to the necessary changes. Perhaps the players now need new challenges, new methods of motivation and new apporaches to training. This may begin a new curve and may mean an initial period of sub-par performance but it could well spell a new beginning and be just the tonic that the side needs to take them to even greater heights. But a lesson is surely learned - we need to adapt in sport, seek new challenges and change constantly as it is a dynamic environment that requires this if continued success is to occur. You need to constantly be searching for innovation, evaluating your performance, and exploring new challenges to remain at the forefront of the harsh sporting world!

Practice is Practice and Play is Play

2010-01-21T15:26:00.002+02:00

How many times have you seen an amateur sportsman, or even a professional one for that matter, try and rectify technical errors on the field/course/court? How many times have you hit a splendid drive thinking about your swing the entire way through, or kicked that pearler of a drop goal whilst feeling every movement of your foot going back to your hips swinging through at just the right time and angle? The answer to the two questions above are, Plenty and never. Plain and simple, sport is a game where instinct and habit takes over to create an optimum performance.

The purpose of practice is for the muscles and brain to learn a set of movements and actions that are best for you to perform at your maximum potential. This practice then brings confidence to sportsmen as they perceive/allow themselves to think, that they are improving. Confidence comes through preparation and past performance. Therefore during practice it is crucial that you work at an intense level and iron out any technical flaws that you may have. You need to take heart from any small improvement whilst working towards a larger goal that you have set for yourself. At the end of every session you should evaluate your progress and assess how prepared you are for your game. You should also practice the discipline of controlling your thoughts and visualising the perfect scenarios. Finished and Klaar!
The game situation is different, this is where you allow your instinct to take over, where you trust that all the work put in will pay off and where you continue to ensure that your thoughts are what they need to be for optimum performance. No thoughts of technical issues, or failure, or why you are not performing as you did in practice need take place. The less thought you give to your game, whatever it may be, the better. The truly instinctive players are able to do that because they have practiced both physically and mentally but then let themselves go and play freely. During a match, a round, or a game, you are best served just concentrating on your goal or more specifically your target of where you want to bowl/hit/kick the ball and then just do it. Sometimes there is just very little you can do to rectify technical errors during a game situation and the best thing to do is to just trust your instincts. A great example of this is Roger Federer who of late has really had to battle some poor form during games and also some improved opponents, yet his results have still been impressive and he has been able to win matches even when he played below par. He has been able to trust himself on the court and let his instincts flow. Yes, he may be talented, and practice a lot more than you and I, but the fact is, it is highly rare for someone to perform well when laboured with the thoughts of technical flaws and fears of failure. If you are struggling, just play on and do what you can do well, well. Stick to your instincts and enjoy the game, and keep practice for practice time- trust me!!

Are you thinking right?

2010-01-21T14:42:00.005+02:00

You may ask, what does it mean to think right? But my teacher always told me there is no right or worng answer as long as I'm thinking! Well from a sporting perspective perhaps there are ways of thinking that are right, and ways that are wrong.

I have just finished a fascinating and inspiring book called, The Monk who sold his Ferrari. This book I truly feel has changed my perspective, but more so has shown me the power of thought and how important it is to control your thoughts. The discipline to be able to control what you are thinking is what true mental toughness really is. In the book, Golf is not a game of perfect by Bob Rotella, a world renowned sports psychologist, he too echoes the fact that too many sportsmen allow their thoughts to drift into counter-productive ones, and then subsequently blame outside elements for those thoughts. Let's take some examples: How often have you played a poor hole in golf and then thought about it on the next tee only to fluff your next tee shot. How often have you seen a goal kicker in rugby begin to fight demons on the field when he misses his first two kicks, or seen a bowler in cricket send down poor delivery after poor delivery after her gets hit for six. Often what is happening here is the player is letting counter-productive thoughts take over, or, even worse, trying to rectify technical errors during a game. The mind can often take over to thoughts of, 'what if this happens','I'm not in form', 'I should never have been asked to do this' etc. These sorts of thoughts which countless of us have week in and week out, are often the cause of poor or sub-standard performance.

The real trick here is to practice thinking the way you'd like to think. To create a discipline within yourself whereby you control your thought processes. It is not easy at all, and that is why practicing it and finding out exactly what the best ways to think for you are, is so important. Try it even for one day, go out and make sure that every time you feel your thoughts drifting to something undesirable you correct them and steer them to positive, productive things!

Your thoughts are you, and are the key to sporting and personal success. Train them, steer them and watch them work for you!

Reaching Optimum Levels

2010-01-19T10:34:00.002+02:00

Much is made in rugby of pre-match hype ups before games, and of the potential of passion to win teams games. Coaches often go to great lengths to deliver inspirational speeches, and captains will do their best to get much chest-thumping before the game to ensure all are ready for the battle that is the rugby match. All of this mental preparation and hype can be useful provided it’s channelled and kept in perspective. You hear tales of players being so over-hyped, that they forgot what they actually had to do on the field.
In fact, best is to get a balance in pre-match preparation between the ‘pressure/ anxiety’, and the confident/relaxed levels. In the book, In the Zone, by Tim Goodenough, they talk about the see-saw axis between Anxiety and Confidence, and ensuring that the see-saw remains in a flat line rather than leaning up or down in either direction. Too much anxiety and pressure can lead to players not performing at the desired levels, as can too much confidence and relaxation, which may also lead to weak performance. Therefore the challenge for a coach or captain lies in keeping both the team and the individual in their balanced state. In order to do this it is important to identify where and how each individual reaches this balance, and where the team as a whole reaches its balance. For example, when your team plays its big derby fixture, it’s often best to lessen the hype because the pressure surrounding the occasion is already enough to raise anxiety levels, whilst in the smaller games you may choose to fire up your players with threats or big incentives to create more anxiety for them. Unfortunately what often happens is that coaches and teams often choose to increase the anxiety levels for big games, by changing routines, implementing extra practices, getting in more guest-speakers and talking up the opposition. Identifying where the balance lies comes through talking to the team as a whole, and the players individually, and getting them to identify how this balance can be achieved and thereby finding out for yourself as well.
On the subject of motivational speeches; I see them as important but not the be all and end all of motivation, but it’s evident that coaches and captains do spend a lot of time talking in order to fire-up their players. I use an analogy of a two-layer cake when describing the “any Given Sunday” style speeches on a Saturday afternoon. Your motivational speeches are the icing sugar on the top of the cake. Nice, tasty, important and the finishing touches to a masterpiece, also the stuff that people remember. The icing sugar would be useless however without the substance of the cake. The bottom layer being the goals and direction that your team should have. A general sense of purpose that you as a team possess. The second layer, is the environment that exists within the team. This incorporates the spirit, the values, the energy and enthusiasm. If you can create a positive productive environment with a clear sense of plan and direction, you will have won most of the motivation battle and this is when your motivating speeches will be most effective. They CANNOT however make up for a lack of substance in the base of the cake.
Some tips for keeping the guys motivated:
• Be as positive as possible and use positive motivators i.e achievements, rewards etc more than using fear, pressure etc as motivators.
• Pick out individuals for special praise in a group environment, ensuring that this praise is spread across the team throughout the season.
• Prepare your talks. An ad lib speech may miss getting a good, clear message across. One or two important points are far more effective than long-winded multi-message speeches.
All the best and enjoy it!!

Phelps' Diet

2010-01-12T13:36:00.002+02:00

Check this out, with the article below too. 12 000 calories per day, and the average person consumes 2000 per day.
Here’s Phelps’s typical menu. (No, he doesn’t choose among these options. He eats them all, according to the Post.)

Breakfast: Three fried-egg sandwiches loaded with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, fried onions and mayonnaise. Two cups of coffee. One five-egg omelet. One bowl of grits. Three slices of French toast topped with powdered sugar. Three chocolate-chip pancakes.

Lunch: One pound of enriched pasta. Two large ham and cheese sandwiches with mayo on white bread. Energy drinks packing 1,000 calories.

Dinner: One pound of pasta. An entire pizza. More energy drinks.

Eat, eat and eat more

2010-01-12T13:22:00.005+02:00

I was surfing around looking at the diets of some elite athletes and came across two incredible articles indicating the diets of a Tour de France cyclist as well as Michael Phelps the olympic swimmer. It really is incredible to see how much they eat, and gives some indication of the sacrifices these guys make to get where they are. This is an article by a journalist, Joel Stein, who attempted to consume the 9000 calorie diet of a cyclist whilst sitting on his couch. It's brilliant!!

As much as I'd like to experience the Tour de France, I don't enjoy being on a bike for more than 90 minutes or going uphill. So after years of longing as an obsessive fan, I came up with another, more American way to experience the thrill of the Tour.I would eat everything the riders do.

After all, as impressive as riding 125 miles up the Pyrenees in five hours is, eating 9,000 calories in a day is far better. And it's a goal that, through training, determination and possibly vomiting, I figured I could attain.

So I called Team Columbia and asked for its menu from one of the hardest days of the 2008 Tour, which included the insane climbs up Col du Tourmalet and Hautacam. Looking at the six meals -- the caloric equivalent of nearly five days of food for a normal adult male -- was the gastronomical equivalent of staring up at a cloud-covered mountain as you approached it (or what I assume it would feel like to stare up at a cloud-covered mountain as you approached it). Apparently these guys needed so many calories that day that Team Columbia's professional nutritionist required them to drink two Coca-Colas. I kept rechecking the list to make sure there were no Twinkies on it.

I soon decided that if I were to be true to myself and my American heritage, I'd have to attempt this feat while sitting on my couch, watching live cycling coverage. It would be all calories in and no calories out -- at least not through sweating. (Unless I was sweating over a toilet bowl.)

Also, in camaraderie with the Tour, which is trying to eliminate performance-enhancing drugs, I vowed not to smoke any marijuana.Before any record-shattering athletic feat is attempted, it's always best to check with a medical professional. My longtime doctor, Robert Samuelson, gave it some thought and concluded, "It would not hurt you at all" and "You'll gain weight." He also said it wouldn't be much different than eating a couple of Big Macs in a day. Let me just say that while Dr. Samuelson is a great doctor and a smart guy, he clearly knows very little about the McDonald's menu. I would have to eat 17 Big Macs to equal the Team Columbia daily caloric intake.

On the morning of my attempt, I woke up extra early just to start eating, which felt rather weird. Unfortunately, it took me almost an hour to prepare breakfast, so I didn't actually start consuming food until about 9 a.m., putting me behind schedule from the start. In front of me, I saw what looked like one of those expensive hotel Sunday brunch buffets that includes breakfast, lunch, dessert and a meal not yet invented.

I enjoyed the fruit, and a half-pound of pasta with olive oil is never a bad thing. But I do not know what the Swiss do all day that requires muesli to be the densest food ever made in non-bar form. The only way I could get through my bowl of it was to revive myself occasionally with little bites of the chocolate croissant.

I felt so full afterward, I broke my own rule and went out for a walk, which turned into a hike. Even Tour riders don't cheat during breakfast.

Before the race starts, there is another meal -- for which I was not yet hungry at all, having eaten an hour ealier. I plowed through the other half of the box of pasta and downed it all with two pitchers of bright pink PowerBar carbo drink, which made me imagine a summer camp for kids who are too skinny. But halfway through I broke down, sweating, with stomach pains. I have no idea how you can eat this much and then feel like getting on a bike. Or how you can eat this much when you're nervous about racing. Or how you can eat this much if you're an adult elephant.

As I watched the race on TV, I alternated between two turkey sandwiches, four peanut butter PowerBars, four PowerBar energy gels and two Cokes. I looked at the riders' grimacing faces and knew I was suffering more. As I sipped my second Coke, my eyes started watering and I desperately wanted to barf. But then, thankfully, the race ended. I was a whole lot of carbo drink, one PowerBar, three gels and a piece of fruit cake behind schedule. Cadel Evans, who'd won the day's race, was smiling and talking on TV, not enduring anything close to what I was. I kept wondering what would happen if those two women on the podium with him tried to kiss me. It could be ugly.An hour later, as I sat down for my postrace meal, I'd recovered impressively -- I downed another turkey sandwich, my fourth PowerBar of the day and another Coke. The PowerBar made my jaw ache, but mostly, I was just dealing with the clichéd self-recriminations of an athlete after a loss. I could have dealt with the jaw fatigue and had another PowerBar, but I held off. I vowed to make up for it later that night.

I had to head out to a movie screening in the early evening, but I took my predinner snacks with me. I was gnawing on a giant piece of fruit cake 30 minutes into the film when, suddenly, my face turned red and I felt feverish, as if that last little bit of food had activated all the other food still inside me. I made it about 10 feet out of the theater before I saw that I was following none other than Larry King into the men's room. And I immediately felt very, very bad for him.

I'll spare you the gory details on that portion of the evening. Suffice it to say I went to the bathroom six times that day. I'm not a scientist, and this was not a real experiment, but I learned at least one thing from all of this: You give the human body enough calories in a short enough period of time, and it doesn't have time to turn it all into fat. One way or another, those calories get turned to waste.

I also learned I'm an idiot who does idiotic things.

At 11 p.m., with just an hour to go, I stared at the uncooked chicken breast, vegetables, fruit, yogurt, chocolate and (unbelievably) more pasta I had left to tackle -- and I dropped out. I fell short by more than 2,000 calories. And I marveled, more than ever, about how different I am from professional athletes.

I guess I will never know what it's like, on any level, to be a Tour de France rider. Which fills me with the kind of shame only known by people who fail in an attempt to do something stupid that no one cares about.

The shame of Robbie Knievel.

Harden up, mate!

2010-01-11T11:48:00.004+02:00

Having chatted at length to Jonathan Trott during the 3rd cricket test recently it was massively interesting to hear his thoughts on professional sport and how he himself prepares. Having known him at school, it was fascinating to see how he'd matured into a professional sportsman that seems very comfortable with himself and within the cauldron of professional sport. This, I believe, is one of the biggest challenges for aspiring sportsmen. Can they be comfortable with who they are, and take criticism in their stride?

So many young men and women possess talent, will and perseverance, but yet not all of them make it to the big time. Having chatted to Jonathan, it is clear that the trait of resilience, as well as an ability to take criticism well is one of the key elements to success. When I speak of resilience, I mean the ability to bounce back from countless disappointments, and still not lose enthusiasm and confidence. The discipline of batting in cricket is one of the biggest tests of character in that you are more likely to fail than succeed in an innings, according to statistics. This is a hard pill to swallow! Yet so many people continue to try to carve a living out of a game with such uncertainty. With this then comes the impending criticism and doubt both from within about whether you are good enough etc. Many sportsmen will cave in at the thought of another poor game, or will start to play with a fear for their spot, or even lose their motivation when things start to go against them. This is where I believe a relaxed and measured attitude to sport is necessary in professional environment, where players can stay as much in the present as possible and not reflect too much on the negatives.

This is really something that players need to work on, whether it be on their own, or through the help of trusted coaches and mentors, but the ability to shrug off criticism and failure and stay as much in the present as possible is what will often be the difference between true success and an average sportsman. Phil Mickelson took 10 odd years to win a major, Matt Hayden took 7 years to regain his test spot, and Bob Skinstad managed to win back a World cup spot after many years in the wilderness. There are no doubt many more, as well, but resilience is no doubt the key!

Welcome back!

2010-01-11T07:32:00.002+02:00

Good Day readers

I trust everyone had a superb festive season. I certainly did, but am happy to be back at the PC again to continue to update the blog. There has been some fantastic sport to talk about over the last few weeks, and I'll be analysing some of it in the coming days. The Pakistani collapse, The Proteas inability to beat the English, the shocking shootings in Angola, and the constant inability for one of the 'Big 4' in the Premiership to run away with it are all talking points. Please continue to tell your friends about this site and feel free to comment. In the next few weeks I'll be including some pieces from other sports people that will be of massive interest.

Cheers
T

Relationships are the key

2010-01-11T07:29:00.001+02:00

In observing many teams, both in the sporting and corporate world, it becomes more and more obvious how important effective relationships are in successful teams. One only needs look at teams that are successful and compare them to ones that do not live up to their potential. I know relationships are the buzz word around, and some may think that they sound a bit too warm and fuzzy to have a real role in the tough world of sport, but let me explain further.
Rassie Erasmus, the Stormers coach, indicated in his ten crucial aspects of forming a team, that forming an effective management staff was the very first and most important thing, any coach should do at the start of his tenure. Jake White too often spoke about the value of not only his relationship with John Smit, but also with his assistants. In fact there are three major areas where positive relationships are necessary for a fully functional and performing team to be created.
1. Management staff
It is very important here that not only is there a good degree of trust, but also a respect for each other’s roles within the management staff. All should be assigned roles and left to perform those without threat and subversive behaviour from anyone else on the team. Out in public and in front of the team a united front should always be shown; even if behind closed doors there are disagreements. Another key, and perhaps problematic area at schools and clubs level, is the complementary nature of the staff. Often it is tempting for friends to coach together, or for a head coach to ensure that the people around him will not challenge his way of thinking. This can, despite the morale being high, lead to under-performance, as there may be crucial skills and character-traits missing from the management team. An obvious area are, forwards and backs coaches, but do we look at softer traits, such as ways of dealing with players complementing each other, rugby backgrounds, previous learning etc. Diversity in a management staff can often be extremely productive, provided there is a culture of respect and a trust that each person is competent to fulfil their role.

2. Management/Players
Not all coaches need to be liked. This is 100 % true, but their needs to be a positive, productive relationship in place. A balance needs to be found between being a player’s mate, and being so hard on your players that they hate you. Each coach will need to use his particular personality traits to ensure that a productive relationship is in place. This means that you are able to be hard when called upon, but still be able to chat to each player, know how to get the best out of them, and give praise where it is due. Try from time to time to evaluate how productive your relationship is with your team. Get the blend between positive respect and performance and results right.

3. Players/Players
The biggest cliché in rugby, is to hear people talk about how great/poor their team spirit is. There is no doubt that a good ‘gees’ within a team can lead to good results. It is therefore crucial that coaches and players place emphasis on creating that spirit. This is not only done through team-building exercises, but also through the environment coaches create for the players, and how well the coach leads the team. Some teams are easier work with than others, but team spirit must not be ignored, or cast aside as something that ‘just happens or not’. What is important however is noting whether the spirit is leading to performance. It’s no use having a team who get on well, braai every weekend, but joke around at practice or are more focused on the after-party than the game. Ensure that you channel the spirit into wins.

Always remember that for a team to be successful you need a perfect balance between
Spirit, Processes followed, and outputs delivered. E.g Your team gees being the spirit, the way you practice, select your team etc being your processes, and your goals and results being your outputs. This combination and balance is bound together by the leadership of the team and through effective relationships. Good luck and search for that balance to see true results!

How many is best?

2009-12-18T14:10:00.002+02:00

I have been watching the current England vs SA test series with interest, as I believe these two sides possess true entertainers - people you really want to sit and watch play. But one particular thing I have noticed is the size of the management staff on both sides. This is obviously not unique to cricket either if one looks at other professional outfits. I'm not sure of the exact number but if you include consultants, physios, masseurs, analysts, managers etc, the total almost exceeds the number of the playing squad. Gone are the days of the coach, a manager and a physio. Now I personally would never stand in the way of innovation, and I am a firm believer in controlling all that you can control. If that requires more staff then so be it. But where do you draw the line? When do you become over-analytical, risk losing that family atmosphere that sports teams yearn for so greatly, due to such an enlarged squad.

Personally, with the increasing size in management staff, I believe it brings with it a number of issues that need to be addressed. Firstly, the head coach needs to play even more of a leadership/MD sort of role, addressing HR issues such as employee satisfaction, motivation, performance management and the like. This then means the head coach has to have different skills to perhaps what the old type of coach would've needed to have. The second issue I believe revolves around having everyone on the same page. How well do these staff all combine to create a 1 + 1 = 3 result, and work as a team. It's all very well getting all the best experts in to help a team, but if they do not combine well, it will be a waste of time. A great example of this is looking at which management teams work the best in the IPL, where teams have very little time to work together and optimize performance, but are all trying to get the best in their particular fields in their franchise. In reading Bill Walsh's( 5-time superbowl winner and renowned super-coach) book, The score takes care of itself, he mentioned how important it was to have his staff all believe in what he was trying to achieve and to work as hard as he did in their specific roles. In fact he told of how he fired one of the best coaches around from his team as he was not fitting into his way of doing things. Now with the increasing numbers in management staff it is important to make sure that you maintain alignment in the roles of the management staff and that all staff back each other up in public, even if there are disagreements behind closed doors. It is also absolutely vital that everyone fulfills his role and does not meddle in things that they should not. I know Rassie Erasmus at the Stormers had a responsibility matrix where everybody's role was outlined down to the last specific detail and they then were accountable for that role.

My answer to the question of how many is best then, really is that it is not possible to say, but that you will only get the best out of all these experts if they are led properly, as per a small company, and if they are all working in an aligned fashion and creating serious added value as a team. Be wary of a hundred experts, but no alignment because then, I believe, less will always be more.

SA rugby 7s - a matter of time?

2009-12-14T09:56:00.002+02:00

It has interested me greatly to see the SA 7s rugby side playing recently. From a sport that used to get a small corner article in the daily papers, it's now getting a huge amount of attention, and for the first time there is real expectation that we should succeed rather than a pleasant surprise every time we win a tournament. This expectation is clearly based on the past successes and the appreciation that Paul Treu and his management really know what they are doing.

I have always been an advocate of the fact that having the right people involved in any team is the first and most important thing, but then also in having them complement each other well. The whole then equalling more than the sum of its parts. Now looking at this team this year, it shows huge difference from last year, with (on my rough count) at least 6 regulars missing. Now take that many people out of any team and there is sure to be a rebuilding phase, especially out of a team that only consists of 12 players. The team is in a phase where they are all having to re-form and discover what roles they all have to play to get the team to the stage where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Already there has been an incident with Ryno Benjamin, but this in my opinion just shows teething problems of a forming team and one where people are trying to work out who needs to do what.

Whether the new players picked are the 'right' people only time will tell, and this will be very important to the success of the team. But I firmly believe this team is now in a forming stage and should not be expected to perform at nearly as high a level as last year. And that's not even taking into account that a number of the other teams in the competition are starting to improve and take the game more seriously!

Cheers

Tom's role with a team

2009-12-14T09:50:00.002+02:00

I had the pleasure this year of working with the RBHS first rugby side in a 'mental and motivational' role. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and although there were some frustrations, there was some great learning that took place too. I asked one of the senior players to write an account of my role from his perspective which is below, to give readers an idea of what my role entailed. Thanks to Darryn for this!

Tom’s impact on our rugby side this year has been unbelievable. Sport is the toughest environment to operate in, and it is often your mental strength that decides the outcome of a sporting fixture. Tom provided our team with the belief in each other and ourselves, and instilled in our minds a positive approach to the game. He created an environment where we played for a common cause, and where the love of the game was able to flourish. As any team does, we hit some serious speed bumps during the year. It became a time where the coaches could no longer be turned to for guidance. It was Tom that we found. He helped us to become the team that we so desired to be. He provided individual positivity that would spill over into the team. Tom brought a winning state-of-mind, that relied on enjoyment, to each player and to the team. A marked improvement in our game could be seen when intricate and efficient time had been spent with Tom.

Darryn Berry

Cheers

Good to Great!!

2009-12-10T09:51:00.002+02:00

I have just finished reading a book called Good to Great, by Jim Collins. Paul Treu cites this book as one of the main reasons for the turnaround in his 7s outfit. Essentially it is a business book looking at how some companies transformed from good to exceptional. It is thoroughly researched, and gives great comparisons and clear ideas.

This book in my opinion gives so many lessons on the sporting front as well that can be used. I won't go into too much detail now, but I'll write further articles in terms of Getting the right people on the bus which looks at the importance of getting the best people involved in your team, and creating your hedgehog concept, a concept where you find out and focus only on your unique strength, your ultimate passion and find what the best measure of success is. He also looks at maintaining a culture of discipline in thought and in sticking to your hedgehog concept, as well as confronting the brutal facts, which looks at being honest with yourselves about what you have and don't have but not losing faith. If you do get your hands on a copy, be sure to check out those chapters.

Cheers

Giving them an A

2009-12-10T09:00:00.002+02:00

I recently read the book the Art of Possibility, by Benjamin Zander. It serves as an inspirational read, as you learn life, business and leadership lessons from an orchestra conductor. I would strongly recommend it.
The most interesting point he made, in my mind, was the concept of 'giving them all A's'. His theory was that he would give his entire music class an A at the start of the term with the proviso that they wrote a letter dated to the end of that term explaining what they had learnt and experienced throughout that year. Now he does not deny that standards are important, as he demands excellence, but he sees giving an A as a way for the coach to create possibility for the player, rather than the player constantly trying to fulfil the often vague standards set by the coach. They benefit from having the pressure of beating the team-mate, or trying so hard to impress the coach taken away from them. This now allows the possibility of the coach and player working together to produce greatness rather than creating a player vs coach situation in reaching the coach's standards (which are often vague or based on the emotion of a game and not fact, or dictated by personal agendas).
We all love to see players thrive and do the extraordinary, but so often we create an environment of judgement and intense competition, that we forget to encourage freedom and greatness. The concept of giving everyone full marks before the season starts may seem very foreign, and I can hear people thinking that internal competition is good, and players must be 'kept on their toes'. This is true, but the message really is, try to co-create a feeling of possibility in players by seeing them as great, marking them as great and then encouraging them to maintain those standards. Try to move away from creating pressure by constant judging and comparisons being made.
In my dealings with a University rugby side this year, it was interesting to note that they hardly ever dropped players, the sense of coach and player standing together to achieve goals was very much prevalent, and players were rarely made to play off against each other or made to feel under pressure. The team won the league! How many great, successful sides were ones where consistency in selection was prevalent and players were seen as great rather than pressured by constant comparison and coach vs player standoffs that serve to detract energy from doing great to impressing or reaching someone else's standards.

The final point of interest, was the proviso that he stipulated right at the start. The students were told to forward-date a letter to the end of the year stating why they felt they received the 'A', what they had learnt and felt and how they did it. What I like about this, is it creates a sense of creativity, it encourages visualisation and helps players think a bit about what leads to success. Why not get your players to forward date a similar letter to the end of the season.

Cheers

So much to do, so little time- any thoughts?

2009-12-09T15:24:00.003+02:00

I am a lucky man! I will be coaching the Tornadoes rugby side, an internal league outfit at UCT into the Varisty Cup internal league competition in February 2010. It is a short sharp competition, and the opposition will be fairly strong. Now the question is, what are the most important things to focus on, when you have only 1 month to prepare the guys for it?

I obviously have my own thoughts as to what to do aside from the obvious - get some quality players to play in your team! But I'd be really keen to hear from people what they believe the most important thing to get right/ focus on are.

Cheers

The Complete Coach

2009-12-09T09:03:00.001+02:00

The complete coach
Coaching is by no means an exact science. Completely different styles of coaching can work at different times and with different teams, whilst sometimes the world’s best coaches can fail with a certain team as a successful coach-team fit just did not exist. However in studying various trends and asking top coaches it appears that certain commonalties do exist in being a complete coach. Ten aspects have been listed here. It is always important for coaches to play to their strengths, but work on their weaknesses.

1. Sound Technical Ability
• A deep enough knowledge of your field so that you can add value and understand the bigger picture of what your team needs to achieve
• A knowledge of your strengths and weaknesses so that you can bring in outside help in needed areas and be comfortable to do so.
• An ability to lead in your area even if you do have technical shortfalls.

2. Talent identification
• An ability to identify top talent from a vast pool
• The ability to select the best possible team combinations for team success

3. A Values-based individual
• A coach aims to be the character that he wishes to develop in his players
• Shows honesty and integrity in all his dealings with players
• Shows ability to work with other members of management staff as well as with players, displaying similar team ethic in both his dealings with staff and players

4. Commitment
• Displays a passion for the game, and the team
• Shows 100% commitment to current team despite any other interests or aspirations
• Shows high levels of enthusiasm and energy
• A competitive nature
• A resilience and commitment to take on board setbacks and criticism, to learn from them and to stay enthused

5. Care
• Shows an interest in player’s well-being and outside interests
• Takes account of external factors that may affect players performance and seeks to rectify them
• Shows a general empathy to players
• Has ability to take pressure of the players to allow them to play freely.

6. Confidence-Builders
• Ability to make players feel good about themselves and their play
• Creates environment where players feel confident about themselves and their team mates.
• Helps players set goals for themselves and identifies tools and processes to achieve them
• Has ability to balance challenging players and supporting players to get them in best frame of mind
• Has ability to correctly mentally prepare players

7. Motivational
• Ability to fire players up to optimal motivational levels, and push players to be best they can be
• Knows what best methods to use with each player to motivate them
• Knows the difference between motivating through fear and pressure and getting people to want to succeed for themselves and team
• Can motivate teams and players whilst maintaining a focus on processes and tasks

8. Communication
• Has ability to communicate clearly and is listened to by all
• Allows for open two-way communication at all times
• Has a knack for knowing when to say what to players
• Can re-focus a team very quickly when required
• Has a way of listening to people so always aware of what is going on in the team

9. Consistency
• Display a consistency with players in their behaviours and treatment of them
• Have a courage in their convictions and stay true to themselves when in doubt
• They take setbacks and successes in their stride and maintain calm and collected throughout
• Show consistency in moods with players and bear no grudges so as players and staff alike know where they stand at all times

10. Adaptability
• Are able to move with current trends
• Show a continuous propensity to learn and improve as coaches
• Show a desire for change and leading innovation
• Have an ability to read opponents and situations and adapt style accordingly
• Can read a team dynamic and use whatever style is necessary for that situation
These guidelines will be very useful for coaches who wish to use proper introspection and evaluation of their styles and methods. The more honest they are , the more useful they will find it to be. Remember that everything can be worked on and improved, and that it is still necessary to use your areas of strength to your advantage.

Sweat the small stuff- Part 2

2009-12-08T16:15:00.002+02:00

I spoke earlier about the importance of detail in the world of sport, and another huge advocate of detail was 2003 World Cup winning coach, Sir Clive Woodward. He had been accused of being over-meticulous and also spending huge amounts of money on 'peripheral' things, but he was adamant that every little detail counted in creating an excellent environment. He learnt about the "Critical Non-Essentails" from an Australian dentist, Paddy Lund. Paddy is another whole story, but essentially Sir Clive learnt from him, that all the little things that surrounded the team i.e. the jerseys, the hotel, the warm up clothing, the way they interacted etc needed to be of excellent standard if his team were to be excellent and to be perceived as excellent from outside as well as, more impotantly, from within.

He left no stone unturned in making sure that his team felt like the best in the world. He believed that these little details needed to be taken care of, and everything that was associated with his English side needed to be the best in order to ensure that they felt like the best and therefore acted accordingly. There are numerous examples of this, but two spring to mind for me. Firstly, Clive, out of his own pocket ensured that the England 'team bible'( a book with all plays, what to do and when to do it, ways to treat hotel staff, diets etc) was given to each player in a leather bound casing and using the best paper at a cost of $40 000, as the photocopied handouts, as suggested by the union, were not deemed worthy of a world class team by Sir Clive. A second example was when he moved his entire team out of the Holiday Inn in Newlands prior to the test match in Cape Town and moved them to the Mount Nelson. He decided the shoddy treatment at the Holiday Inn was not good enough, and that this little detail would help create a better environment for his team.

He did not proclaim that these little things on their own would ensure wins. Not at all! But he did believe that all these little 'non-essentials' were critical in forming an environment where excellence was habitual and high standards were non-negotiable in all facets.

Certainly interested me, and makes you think about the environment you create for your team. Please feel free to comment.

Be sure to sweat the small stuff: part 1

2009-12-07T16:47:00.002+02:00

Yes, we've all heard it, "don't sweat the small stuff", "don't bother me with minor details". A few of recent readings and experiences have shown that in sport this is not the way to go. How many games are won and lost by the tiniest of margins? Surely that means details count?

Last week I observed a session conducted by Tim Goodenough, mental coach and author of In the Zone, for the students at the international rugby academy. The topic was visualisation. Now we have all heard about visualisation being important, but how many sportsman actually do it, or more specifically how many do it properly.

The main essence is, that not only should you use your visual sense, but also your other senses - hearing, feel, taste and smell. In doing this you should play out the picture of what you envisage taking place in an extremely detailed way. You should go into every little detail of how you plan to kick that conversion, or bowl that ball, or swing that club. Starting with how it feels, to what the situation sounds like, to what you need to do or see etc. Tim encouraged the students to describe every little detail, for the simple reason that the more you have rehearsed a situation beforehand and taken care of every little detail, the more you can instinctly play the situation when it takes place in real time. So in fact, by "over-complicating' things initially, you simplify them later, when it counts!!

I'll put some more thoughts regarding the importance of detail soon.

Tom

Schools vs Club Rugby- which is tougher?

2009-12-01T22:04:00.002+02:00

As the rugby season has now closed and I reflect on my workings with numerous sides, I pose a question as to whether schools rugby is in fact the closest you will get to professionalism in some ways. On numerous rugby sites, recent articles on schools rugby have drawn far more comment than those on club or lower professional outfits. Obviously this alone does not make the game tougher, but it is an indicator as to how much pressure these youngsters are put under when representing their schools.

Having witnessed and been involved in both the Paarl ‘interschools’ clash as well as the Bosch/Bishops derbies, it leaves me in no doubt that for some 90% of those players, this is the biggest game they’ll ever play, in terms of people interested and sheer numbers at the ground. A brief look at any FNB classic clash program will show you that many such derbies exist all across the country, and taking a school like Glenwood, they even went to a world schools championships in Japan. The following of schools rugby is without doubt on the rise, and with the advent of improved media, interest is being fuelled. Taking the Varsity Cup out of the equation there is no doubt that the incentive to play club rugby on a cold Wednesday evening in front of 30 people is hardly comparable to a Saturday morning between SACS and Paul Roos for example. In fact the decreasing numbers in club rugby points to this.

But the question I pose, is from a mental and pressure point of view, I believe that schools rugby places far more of a test on the players than club rugby or even low league professional standards. The schools themselves thrive on results as a marketing tool, the coaches are often ultra-competitive and will thus sacrifice a lot to ensure good results, including educational principles and values. At club level, many games are one-sided, the physical intensity may be big but often the mental preparation is minimal and declining membership means the results are less important.

I was reading just the other day of the KES boys getting up twice a week at 5 am for gym sessions. Admirable it may be, but increased pressure it is too. The issue of scholarships was also raised. How does a 14 year old feel, knowing that three different schools are bidding/have bid for his services, and how much pressure does that boy feel at age 16 when he has not quite grown as much as the other boys and the school and his peers become less keen on him due to his decreased rugby impact. Then at u19 level when boys are being approached by all and sundry for a contract/bursary post-school- who is really advising the boy then? In all likelihood his parents will, and I’m not always sure this is the best thing. Many parents will be keen for the boy to take the offer which is most financially attractive, either for them or for the boy, this is just a reality of economic times.

Do we not need to start looking at the mentoring of these future stars, and ways of helping boys cope with the pressures of representing their school sides, as well as looking at ways and means of excelling as a school. You may be thrown in the deep end and asked to swim at club and provincial level, but by that stage you are an adult. At school, you are still young, very impressionable and perhaps not equipped to make the best decisions, and deal with all that is expected of you.

Strive for excellence, offer scholarships, celebrate your wins, but always remember that the pressure these guys are under is huge, and thus we must support and prepare them for what lies ahead for their own benefit and not just the school’s.

A must Read!! Sir Clive and his details

2009-11-30T15:43:00.002+02:00

I have just finished reading Clive Woodward's biography and cannot rave about it enough. Clive seems a seriously difficult person to work with, but there is just so much to learn from him in terms of leadership, coaching and running a serious sports side. He is a stickler for detail and his obsession with the "critical non-essentials" learnt from an Australian Dentist, make for fsciniating reading. Check it out, or watch this space for some more insight into what I found the most interesting from the book.

Tips for winning your big derbies

2009-11-30T15:12:00.002+02:00

I personally have been lucky this year to be involved directly with 4 different rugby sides, all of which have managed to win their derby games. This obviously has been exceptionally rewarding, but there have been clear lessons that one can learn from these that every coach and player should think about when approaching their big one. It is always special playing in the big games but it’s important that we do not get too carried away with the sentiment and excitement and thus forget to focus on what is important and that is getting the win. I have included below a 7 step plan for preparation, one which I used with the winning Paarl Boys side last week, to give you some thoughts. Remember that motivating your team is probably not going to be difficult for a big game, yet it is the area we tend to focus all of our energies on. Often it’s the calmer, more clear-minded side that wins, and not the more motivated.
Stick to what works
It is very tempting to change things and add extra ‘special’ rituals into your own preparation for the big day, but often these do not help, as they take you out of your comfort zone, and thus enhance pressure. This applies to all things, including the way each individual, the team and the coaches prepare for the game. Keep the same routines, and make yourself comfortable and relaxed.
Visualise and prepare
By visualising and playing the game through in your mind you can help yourself cope with nerves. Preparing yourself for everything that could happen will allow you to feel more relaxed and ready for any occurrence in the game. You don’t only have to visualise, you can feel the feelings you will feel, hear the crowd etc. Go into a lot of detail, so that you are prepared for every thing that could happen. Do this on your own and as a team. Chat through the game with your mates on the field before hand, and during the game you will all know what each other is thinking. Also know, that there is a 50% chance you will be behind in the game at some stage. In fact many things could go wrong in the game. Know that, and prepare for them, knowing how you’ll react to them.
Process not goal
In everything you do, there is something you want to achieve, the goal. What is crucial though is that you focus ONLY on how you will achieve it, the process, and not what you need to achieve. Set clear goals and plans beforehand so that you know what you want to achieve but then put all your focus into the process of achieving it. Focus on the next backline move, or the next lineout, but not on the end result, as this has a negative effect on your concentration on the task at hand.

Be perfect and free
If you try to produce that ‘perfect game’ and allow yourself to be free in achieving it, you are more likely to win the game. If you are ‘winning-verskrik’, you will forget to play with freedom and enjoyment which will end up working against you. Why let over-hyping yourself and fearful thoughts mess up what is a great occasion. The more free you feel and more you just want to be perfect the less likely you are to let pressure affect you. As coaches you need to implement a feeling and culture of freedom to truly see results.
Believe, believe and believe more
There is a direct correlation between people who believe in themselves, teams who believe in themselves, and winning. There is no doubt that you can win this game, but you need to know that. You need to keep talking to each other positively until we all truly believe that winning is a definite. Back each other and back yourselves so much, that by the time the game comes, you have no doubt at all that you’ll achieve what you want to. Belief will enhance your performance!! It will also add to your motivation, and will give you those extra 5 minutes of energy you’ll need, or that extra tackle, or last kick over the posts. It is a fact!!
Prepare yourself for pressure
Accept that there will be pressure, and you will feel nervous, but create a plan for dealing with it. Whatever works for you must be used. Do not feel that you need to get caught up in the hype, you can stay relaxed. You must use physical actions to change your state of mind. Often an act like smiling, or laughing can change your state of mind. You always want the balance between confidence and anxiety in check. Remember too that thinking, can often be harmful to performance. The more you think ahead and behind the less you are focused on the present.
Dominate the field- Own it
This could be the difference between winning and losing! Both sides are motivated, both are prepared, but mentally on the day, whichever side dominates, whichever side can be calm at the right times, will be the winning side. From the time you run onto the field, that field becomes yours. The opposition are just trespassing on your land. You have the right to win on ‘your’ field, you take charge of everything that happens on the field, as you make the game completely about you. Face up to the opposition knowing that this is your day, and that they are going to be dominated in all aspects by you and your team. Put your shoulders back, hold your heads up high and calmly but aggressively ‘own’ the whole game.
Good luck with your preparation.