10 Takeaways: Game Changer

By /

Here are my top 10 points from Dr. Fergus Connolly’s book “Game Changer: The Art of Sports Science”:

1) Statistics have context.  Numbers, by themselves, could lead us down the wrong path.

  • “So when we try to rate football or soccer players by the number of tackles or passes they’ve made we’re focusing on the wrong thing: we must consider context, timing, and amplification of each tackle or pass.  These have effects far beyond the actual tackle or pass itself.”

2) Bill Belichick on the team.

  • Jim Schwartz once said of the Patriots and Bill BelichickL “Probably the biggest thing I learned from Bill is that there isn’t anything that is not important.  Anything that touches the team is important.  That philosophy of ‘Don’t sweat the small stuff’? Yeah, that was never his philosophy.”

3) Put function above form

  • “The starting point for all performance is function and achievement of goals, not technique or style.”
  • Michael Johnson’s running form was focused on achievement of a goal, not primarily on technique.

4) Team-sport athletes are not assembly line workers, performing standardized, routine tasks.

  • “You can’t find and fix inefficiencies in a team the same way you would on a factory floor, yet all too often, that’s the way organizations have tried to improve, by channeling Henry Ford and trying to break down player performance to the minutest stats-monitored retail.”
  • Athletes are “complex organisms interacting with each other on multiple physical, emotional, and motivational levels.”

5) Environment (culture and practice created by coaches, athletes, and their organizations) affects everything.  It should be positive and low-stress.

  • Wins and losses are impacted by the environment, “but also the learning, adaptation, and health of the individual and the team as a whole.  As such, players must be exposed only to positive and helpfully formative experiences during team preparation.”
  • “The environment needs to be as low-stress as possible so that athletes are not experiencing additional stress on top of the imposed stressors from training and competition, which they’re already having to deal with and adapt to.”

6) Long-term success relies on athlete health.

  • “If there is one central point underpinning sustainable success, it’s that athlete health is the most important factor in achieving maximal and sustained performance, for both the individual and the team.”
  • “There’s no point in trying to assess and develop the four coactives (technical, tactical, physical, and psychological) without first ensuring that there’s a solid foundation of overall health and well-being.”

7) You cannot separate the brain and the body.

  • “If athletes are to perform at their best, they don’t just need the required strength, speed, power, and other physical qualities for their sport and position.  They must also be cognitively engaged, in a good place spiritually, balanced physiologically, and able to handle the pressure that the game brings.”
  • “How athletes feel emotionally when they’re participating in any learning experience will be just as important to their development as any physical adaptations that result from the stimulus.”  They must feel the experience will meaningfully improve their game play.

8) Athletes are not research subjects.  Scientific studies are useful but their application is limited.

  • “Academic studies are conducted in sanitized and controlled environments.  As such, their conditions are the exact opposite of the chaos that exists in the real world of sports.  So even though this or that study conducted by a fancy university yielded certain results that the sports scientists finds interesting and believes might be applicable, the true impact on the team might well be different.”

9) When establishing a culture, everything matters.  When it is established, minor things take care of themselves.

  • “If a few players disrespect assistant coaches, cut corners during team training, and cheat on rep counts in the weight room, these aren’t merely isolated discipline problems but also indicators that the players are not fully committed to the team and its principles.  Eventually, these same players will let you down during a crucial game.”
  • “The single greatest benefit is that in teams with strong cultures, minor things are self-managed by the culture and environment, so coaches need speak only when it’s important.”

10) The end dictates the means.  Focus on getting the win, not the process.

  • “If you spend any length of time working with sports teams, you’ll see how easy it is to get caught up in the means – how the team practices, what exercises the players do in the weight room, and so on.  But this is really a backward approach to preparation.  It is an extension of the same mistake the Philadelphia 76ers, under the misguidance of Sam Hinkie, made with the now debunked phrase “Trust the Process.”  Trusting the process is always secondary to getting the win.  Winning and the ability to make or find a way is very different from following a path for its own sake.”

To learn more about what actually goes in to a team’s success, you can purchase Connolly’s book here.

 

[testimonials style=”2″ margin_top=”” margin_bottom=””][testimonial name=”Zach%20C.%20-%20Hockey%20Player” company=”Purchase%20Hypertrophy%20Cluster%20Protocol” href=”http%3A%2F%2Fjaketuura.com%2Fbigger-stronger-faster%2F” image=”http%3A%2F%2Fjaketuura.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2017%2F04%2F10257056_10154079765000276_2928764083755189385_o.jpg”]%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3E%3Cem%3EMy%20strength%20and%20power%20have%20improved%20significantly.%C2%A0%20My%20shot%20in%20hockey%20has%20improved%20in%20speed%2C%20quick%20release%20and%20over%20all%20responsiveness%20in%20puck%20control.%C2%A0%20Lateral%20movement%20has%20increased%20in%20speed%2C%20and%20overall%20stability%20and%20core%20strength%20have%20improved.%C2%A0%20I%E2%80%99ve%20loved%20it%20so%20far%2C%20I%E2%80%99m%20doing%20round%20two%20as%20of%20next%20week.%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A

[/testimonial][/testimonials]

 

35 thoughts on “10 Takeaways: Game Changer”

  2. Cookdik

    For instance this for BBC Future, Coop crunched some numbers for Edward I. Taking 30 years as a single era, 24 generations separate right now from the medieval king’s reign. As his enterprise grew, Loewy increasingly turned a manager and a tireless self-promoter, taking credit score for initiatives no matter whether or not he himself put pen to paper. James (San Francisco) and Olena linked by means of shared pursuits in sustainable design, now splitting time between California and Ukraine while collaborating on eco-friendly tasks. Welcome to InterDating Agency, a trusted and professional courting and marriage company primarily based in Kiev, Ukraine. It’s a bit extra casual than RussianCupid and Mamba, but it may possibly nonetheless be a superb place to meet ladies who’re looking for a relationship or marriage. Russian girls are romantic and genuinely need long-time period relationships with males who will be there for them it doesn’t matter what. They’re an effective way to search out someone who has related interests and objectives. Each of these instruments has its personal distinctive set of capabilities that you should use to find your perfect match. Having navigated the European online courting scene extensively, I’ve gathered a set of safety tips that can assist guarantee a safe and positive experience.

    As the capital and largest city of Russia, Moscow affords a vibrant courting scene with many opportunities to meet single Russian girls. He was additionally a member of a relationship site known as Single Ukrainian Women. Go to look to make use of an in depth filter device to narrow down an enormous member base of Russian ladies to your specific style. Users are able to make use of the site’s reside chat function, ship stickers, photographs, and voice messages. They use our service for in search of mature connection with a reliable man. Russian online courting is the most effective options for males seeking stunning single girls. Elena’s Models is a Russian dating site that connects single men and women for severe relationships. There are a number of Russian dating sites out there that join international men with Russian ladies. They respect their males lots and can commit charmdate to 1 particular person for a lifetime. He stated this week, exterior he may not “have numerous fights forward”. “They are chilly and reserved.” In reality, they is perhaps slightly reserved if you method them in the road, however Russian brides are usually not like this-they are form, easy to strategy, open-minded, and polite. Then, you may write a self-description and select interests that you simply might share together with your future partner.

    They’re also very family-oriented and genuinely need to share their lives with somebody special. They want to escape the war. Completing the questionnaire allows users to be matched with like-minded people. Success rate. A reliable courting site ought to assist customers achieve their relationship targets, and many constructive reviews from members to prove that. One of many the reason why foreigners search for a Russian wife is that Russian women have traditional views on the household whereas a lot of Western women select a child-free means of life and give attention to pursuing the career success. In fact, a few of them have career ambitions and would like to realize success in their discipline but when they have to choose between family and job, the majority of them will determine in favor of youngsters and husband. The web site is free to join, but you can improve to a premium membership for more features like advanced search standards and cellular notifications.

    The location has a handy search system that filters women by occupation, age, marital standing, and other standards. Precisely what is the most safe European Online Dating Site? The top a hundred Russian and Ukrainian women’s listings change on the each day basis, judging by how standard is the lady on the courting site. This is a good way to place your relationship to the check and see whether or not it will survive the burden of every day chores. Along with a large number of profiles, Teamo additionally offers a character check that’s designed to reveal 17 different traits. Also, the challenges of lengthy-distance logistics, like visas, travel, and time differences, can take a look at a person’s potential to bounce again from difficulties. Like many different best European dating websites, active users want to buy credit to contact one another. Well, it has some commonplace features like search, emails, messaging, and even dwell shows, but it additionally lets users request another member’s contact particulars and even schedule an actual assembly right on the location.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top