The Confidence Coach Answers Your Sports Psychology Questions
I get the feeling that my teammates are only really interested in how well they have performed, rather than the outcome for the team. How can we change this?
I was asked this question at a Sports Psychology clinic in Manchester recently. This can often happen when there is weak management or poor leadership. Cliques develop, players do their own thing, no one really cares about the team. Only themselves. It makes for a bad atmosphere. Under pressure the team does not have enough collective spirit to turn defeat into victory.
My solution to this is in building a collective cause. Something greater to play for than just individual glory. However it will take strong leadership to create this. Someone discontent with how things are. Someone prepared to make a stand. Someone prepared to say, 'We are underperforming. We are not a real team'.
Can you create a greater cause or mission that aligns everyone?
There was a great example of this in English football in the 1970's, when the legendary manager Bill Shankly, built a phenomenal bond at Liverpool, between the team, the crowd and the city, which meant that no player was ever allowed to think they were bigger than the club.
This bond meant that the team were playing for a greater cause than themselves, and the crowd knew and appreciated this, so that team and crowd almost became as one. It was said that the crowd were worth a goal start to the team. The greater cause was of course, the people. It was their team the players represented. The players knew what it meant to the people and the city. Shankly made sure of that.
Greece demonstrated this in Euro 2004, when you could see that playing for the Greek cause, the Greek people, the Greek nation, focused all the team and added an extra spark, passion and commitment to their game. Once you create a cause it brings everyone in the club together, and then collectively you can move mountains.
Sir Clive Woodward did this when he took the English rugby team to World Cup success in 2003. Sir Clive developed the cause of winning for the people of England. The players knew what they were playing for. To create those scenes in Trafalgar Square. To bring some joy to the people of England. Whose to say that having this cause was not the reason why England won in the dramatic last moments of the match.
One of the reasons for Fabio Capello's success at Real Madrid was that he brought the players together. This was symbolised by the habitual squad aperitivo the manager introduced two days before each game. The idea was that everyone sits together at a big table and shares a glass and a friendly chat. At the start of the season no more than three or four players stuck around. At the end of the season, all 24 seats were booked up and it was standing-room only for the rest.
One way to build a cause is to have a collective process around it. Make sure all the players are involved. Ask the question - Who are we playing for? eg the town, the city, an individual we respect, the local charity. What would motivate us; inspire us; cause us to go deeper?
Once you get clear about your cause, make sure that before every game the cause is reinforced in some way, with stories about any individuals who will benefit from the teams success. Use it in your motivational speeches. Invite these individuals in to speak.
It will take time to build a collective cause. Not everyone will be into it straight away. But be patient. And determined. Eventually the doubters will come to enjoy the sense of spirit that having a collective cause engenders. A spirit they will recall far beyond their playing days.
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Martin Perry - Confidence Coaching & Sports Psychology: 0044 (0) 77897 56425
