Creating a high performance team

Creating a high performance team is really simple. Look at what other successful organizations do and emulate them. Here a short list off the top of my head.

-Use the best personal equipment possible. This means uniforms, balls, shorts, cleats, and pads. This applies to game and practices. You can't practice or play if you are wearing crap.

-Use the best practice equipment possible. Rucking bags, cones, whistles, scrum machines, agility ladders, tees, and balls. Good practice equipment makes practice meaningful, constructive and enjoyable. Good practice equipment teaches proper form and reduces injuries.

-Practice and play on the best field possible. A good level field is essential.

-Have plenty of water and sports fuel available. You simply cannot learn, exert, and excel if you do not rehydrate and refuel throughout practice. Every practice should have water, Gatorade, Accelerade, Endurox for recovery plus sports gels. Its not weakness to hydrate and fuel, its essential.

-Have structured, efficient practices that build skills, patterns and athletic abilities to a game plan.

Other broader high performance ingredients include:
-Have a set pre-season, in-season, and recovery training plan.

-Practice 4-5 days a week, goal is 10 to 1 practice to game ratio.

-Play meaningful games.

High performance teams prepare for games in the following ways:
-Organization-everything is taken care of so that players and coaches can focus 100% on performance.
-Nutrition-players prepare for competition with balanced, nutritious meals.
-Hydration-players begin hydration days before the match, and ensure they are hydrated before, during and after.
-Sleep-often overlooked, sleep patterns affect performance more than realized. This is related to travel strategies to game and the hotels the players stay in.
-Mental preparation-players use mental imagery, goal setting, relaxation, and focused pre-game arousal to prepare for competition.
-Physical preparation-teams use dynamic stretching to prevent injuries and prepare the body for explosions, contact and exertion.
-Strategy-each player knows the entire team strategy in each important game situation and their role in the strategy.

In watching high performance teams dominate outsiders might observe that they have better coaches, more money, better players or some other advantage. This is not true coaches coach better, players play better, and money is spent more efficiently if teams follow high performance strategies. Successful team cultures are build one high performance characteristic at a time. Stronger team cultures attract, develop and keep better coaches and players. Nothing is as attractive as success.