The consistency question

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