Over the past 3 years we have had the privilege of coaching girls & boys high school lacrosse, middle school girls’ lacrosse, travel baseball teams, travel softball and travel girls soccer in team training. Our team training program is a combination of strength, speed, and agility that runs every week between 2-4 months. The focus of team training is to get the athletes stronger, faster, more mobile and more explosive. We find that team training is important for each and every athlete and sports team for a variety of reasons, and my goal in this article is to explain the reason(s) why team training is important and why you should get your sports team or your athlete's team involved.
PREPAREDNESS
Every team across all sports value preparation. The more prepared a team is the better chance there is to have success. Team training prepares the athletes as a group for the grit and grind of their sport. The better-prepared a team is the more likely that team will come out victorious. It’s just that simple! Preparation is key.
TEAM COHESION
Team cohesion is how well a team works together as a team. The ability for a team to stick together, function seamlessly, and remain as a unite to achieve instrumental objectives given the various challenges they will face throughout a sport season is paramount to success. Team training provides each athlete on the team a better chance to get to know how other teammates work, and when a team is familiar with one another the team can function better. With team training the athletes have the ability to experience the successes and failures as a group which will boost morale, camaraderie, and promote teamwork.
CONFIDENCE
The final aspect of importance is confidence. When a team is familiar with each other the team can play better in having more confidence in each member. Confidence is one of the best ways to build a successful team, but it has to be earned. Much of the feedback we receive from coaches and parents is that after team training at Sports Reality both the individual athlete and the team are more confident. That’s what we value most. A confidence team is a dangerous team. Once a team has confidence the sky is the limit. But what is perhaps most important about confidence is that it is a trait that is carried off the field and into other aspects of an athlete's life. Confidence can be a huge help in school, home life, and also in how each athlete makes his or her own decisions when no one else is around.
We hope that this article helped you understand the important of team training. We here at Sports Reality value what we do with our athletes in this aspect and plan to continuing impacting teams the best way we know how!
