A commitment to a team towards a common goal takes an impressive amout of belief from each and every player, coach, and support staff. I bet that most coaches, captains, or teammates would believe that their players or comrades are committed. My question is how do you define commitment? Are your players, teammates, coaches, and support staff interested in the outcome of each practice, game, and the success of the season? Or are they invested in each and every moment that exists to help us improve at people, players, and coaches?

Coaches take this team test at practice today please:

#1 – Show up 15 minutes early to practice and count how many players are laced up, breaking a sweat, and working on at least one aspect of their game for nine of the 15 minutes. Give your team a point for each player that is investing their time in their own game with the goal of benefiting the team at practice that day. For every player that is not at the facility, turf, or pool 15 minutes before the scheduled start time, you should do 10 push-ups per player missing. This is a reflection of leadership. You should NOT have to tell players “Early is on time, on time is late, and late is unacceptable.” Create an environment that the players and parents look forward to contributing to. You can control this. It is a choice.

Related Articles:
Know Your Player’s Name
You Wanted To Be A NFL Quarterback

#2 – At the beginning of practice when you huddle up your players to talk about the agenda/itinerary for the day, have an assistant count the number of players who break eye contact with you, how many athletes demonstrate poor body language, and how many players are outside of arm’s length from the coach and a teammate. For each player that is not making eye, has their arms or legs crossed, leaning on their back foot, or is outside of the “focused team zone”, the coaching staff owes the team a push-up. Yes, one per “foul”.

#3 – Count high fives at the beginning and end of each “water break”, between drills, and before and after practice. Yes, simply have your players count their high fives. The goal is to multiply the number of your players and coaches by 100. If your team does not achieve this number in total, then you owe your players one push-up per point after practice. You have not created an environment that is supportive, encouraging, rewarding, and motivating.

If your score is 70% or below on #1, WOW you have some work to do. If you score 80% or above you are on to something. The most successful teams and players I have been around consistently score 90% or better on a regular basis. Being consistent is committed.

If your coaching staff has to do more than 50 push-ups for #2, you are in bad shape. 30 and above would be a good starting point. And realize you are making an incredible impact when you get to 15 or less. Be sure to thank your team and coaches when you are under 10. Rarely does anyone every get a score of zero. But it is a goal that all of us can work towards.

The third area to assess commitment to excellence has to be a non-negotiable if you want to develop championship people, players, coaches, and teams. The power of touch can to so much for people as a whole. The teams that have more positive touches throughout the year will be ultimately more successful. Averaging 100 touches per player per hour should be a legitimate goal for teams who want to hoist the trophy, cut the net, or take all the medals home.

Watch this quick video from Matthew Nein, the NCAA Division III Men’s Lacrosse National Champion’s strength coach. We all can answer “Yes!” to “Are you committed”, but it is our daily actions that show our investment in ourselves, our teammates, and our season’s outcome.

Learning what has worked for others is always invaluable. Seeing it first hand is priceless. Learn from incredible professionals from around the country at the professional development clinics and our annual conference on STTEvents.com.

Be sure to take advantage of the offer from NutraBio.com. Use code STTSUPZ when you check out today!

Please remember to order your STT shirts now from TheLoyalist.com/stt. Proceeds from the Fight Strong and Sara Strong shirts will be anonymously donated to cancer research and a Lyme Disease Center respectively.

Thank you to all of our sponsors! Rogers Athletic, Iron Grip, Pit Shark, VersaClimber, Recovery Pump, Elite Form, Eleiko, Rumble Roller, Human Kinetics, Fat Gripz, Lock Jaw Collars, Hand Armor Liquid Chalk, and the many others that have all been supportive throughout our journey. Please connect with them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.