Training is such an important part of an athlete’s preparation yet it astounds me that many do not have clear goals for practice. About a week ago I asked the team who had set any goals for training, given them-selves a clear focus going into practice. The response from the team was only one player out of thirteen. I was quite amazed as the one player was not a senior player or an experienced but on of the younger team members. Yet I have many members who say they want to play for the Tall Blacks at this year’s World Championships.

Most successful coaches spend considerable time evaluating previous practices, planning and setting goals to be achieved so they can then evaluate in preparation for the next practice. It is a never-ending procedure towards success. Yet many athletes fail to do the same and rely on others to tell them what to do. We have started to give our players clearer directions. I know there are some coaches who write the practice plan on a whiteboard for players to see. This is something I am going to do, I don’t have a whiteboard where we train so I will print off a copy and paste it on the wall for the players to see. Hopefully this will allow them to set goals and enter training with a better mindset.

To me planning and evaluation is the key, yet it is constantly neglected. Especially the evaluation, which is crazy to me, why would you not do this? We are in Gisborne this weekend to play a couple of games against Taranaki. We filmed training last night and had a meeting this morning to discuss it and show the players the areas we did well in and the areas we need improvement. The players were very honest and open about both. The training we had this morning was a huge improvement and tonight we get to play the first game to measure the improvement. It’s a great challenge with only four contracted players fit and four young players to give us eight players in all. This is a great opportunity for the younger players to stack their claim for the team and for us to evaluate exactly where we are.

We will do the same with a meeting to evaluate our performance and watch some film of the first game. I will again ask the players to set goals for them-selves for the second game. Hopefully as we go along the players will start to put more focus into training and have a better understanding of why we have to drill certain things and not just play games. It is a constant argument with players about why you have to drill. I agree you need to play but I also feel you need to have a minimum of 6-8 hours per game played to really show improvement. This is a minimum and I feel you should have more than this to have consistent improvement and success. It is certainly a message I am trying to get through to our younger players. There is plenty of talent just a lack of understanding about training frequency and intensity.
So I implore you to set goals in what you do and then have a robust evaluation system in place. Don’t just turn up with no plan of attack, take time to set a few little goals to achieve and give yourself a focus for each practice. You will be amazed at the how quickly you start to improve and before you know it those major goals you set will be achieved. Be patient and make small improvements at every practice.

With energy

Shawn Dennis