Why Total Game?

Because success in sports is about more than just muscle.

To perform at your peak, you need physical, mental and emotional sharpness. If any of those three is missing or weak, your entire effort suffers.

1. Physical: Are you well-conditioned? Rested and fed? Are you skilled?
2. Mental: Are you poised? Confident?
3. Emotional? Are you excited? Do you have a sense of mission?

If you’ve been involved in sports for any length of time, you know about shifts in emotion. Ask just about any high school coach about his or her team, and they’ll answer: “It depends which team shows up.”

Over the weekend, two nationally ranked women’s basketball teams, Tennessee and Rutgers, provided a vivid example. Each team displayed two personalities, one in the first half, one in the second.

Rutgers dominated the first half, leading by 20 points or more. Then in the second half, the energy changed. Tennessee played with more passion, and with each trip down the court, Rutgers grew more tentative, with star players passing up shots. Tennessee wound up winning.

Which brings us back to total game. Don’t make the mistake that I did years ago. I trained my team in physical skills, never concentrating on the mental and emotional game. Then, the night before the season-ending tournament, I brought in a sports psychologist to work with our team. Before long, the energy in the room was incredible. The players were hugging each other. Then the next day we went out and lost.

Why? Did the sports psychologist fail?

No. I failed as a coach. I failed to build mental and emotional training into our daily training sessions.

And so that is why you are now looking at the Total Game Plan blog. Good coaches prepare their teams for all aspects of competition, so that when the game comes, the team is ready physically, mentally and emotionally.

Whether you’re a coach, an athlete, or the parent of an athlete, you can come here daily to find any information related to peak performance: motivation, nutrition, practice habits, etc.

Make sure you’ve got a total game!