Adapt or die

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

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?

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

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

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

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!

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!

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

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!