The Art Of Preparation: A skill never really mastered on these shores

Other / Paul Moon / 18 September 2008 / 2 Comments

Paul Moon is shooting from the hip again - here he tackles the many facets of creating a succesful team.

Despite these days of multi-million pound sport where clubs employ a taskforce of specialist experts such as psychologists, sports scientists and dieticians, there is still evidence of a lack of planning, preparation and detail to British teams and individuals. You would have thought that every last percentage point of edge has been eked out, but it has not!

Preparation involves fitness, physically and mentally. It means knowing specific actions to take in specific circumstances. It is taking charge of a potentially negative situation and turn it into a positive, gaining mental toughness along the way. These attributes include being focussed, having self-belief, desire and motivation, dealing with real pressure and anxiety.

In some quarters the approach to psychology and sports science is more of a token gesture, something that is done on the cheap. Things have changed dramatically in some British sports, but not in others. Some wealthy sports still have no structure, no real long-term planning and no development strategy. This makes matters worse.

Our English cricket masters have been a rotten failure. They seem to think that sponsorship, a laptop and a little gym work brings us into the 21st century but we continue to lag behind in all facets. For example, our county game is putrid and past its sell by date but remains on the shelf for sale.

As we prepare and build for the Ashes Series next year we pleasure a past captain who has 'gone' and a fast bowler who has shown scant regard to his country while we treat a player like Ravi Bopara with utter disdain! Betfair prices on the 2009 Ashes Series: England [3.05] Australia [1.69] Draw [6.2].

The English RFU will pour a record £10million into Martin Johnson's salvage operation in order to tackle root causes of decay, after being underpinned by a successful Guinness Premiership and a fertile pool of players!

England dismissed two head coaches in less than 18 months, gone through eight captains and 81 players, losing two-thirds of their 54 games since winning the World Cup in Sydney. Shamefully, the worst case of planning and preparation in living memory!

The principled and pragmatic Warren Gatland bravely announced that he had to deal with a Welsh mentality that demanded throwing the ball around indiscriminately when he took over. The silence in Wales was deafening as he changed that mindset proving that it can be done!

Meanwhile the Springboks went from champs to chumps in the shortest space of time in sport history. Further evidence that you can have the best set of players on the planet but if you cannot organise, plan and prepare, there is only one direction you'll go!

As I write European golf appears in reasonable order with mental training and sport psychology somewhere near the Americans. I see little difference on the skill quotient and look forward to the Europeans beating the USA again in the Ryder Cup, especially with our superior team attitude. No one understands preparation and attention to detail more than Nick Faldo, but can he convey team spirit? Betfair prices on the 2008 Ryder Cup: USA [2.34] Europeans [2.0] Draw [13].

One success story is our £2 billion English Premier League. It has embraced foreign involvement and their expertise and this has lifted standards but psychology is a subject still frowned upon by many ex-footballers, especially in the lower leagues. It barely exists at all in Scottish football.

Though Sir Alex Ferguson has under-achieved with all the resources at his disposal I understood why he got rid of Beckham, Ince and Ruud van Nistelrooy when he did. They undermined him, his preparation, planning and the stability of the team. I am particularly interested to see how he deals with a valuable but insolent Ronaldo once fully fit.

Preparation and planning is not always sexy. Building structures take commitment and time. Administrators, managers and coaches must have a template of realistic achievement. They must look at progress, stability and evolution in the same blink of an eye.

The only fluke or short cut that I can remember in recent times was Blackburn winning the Premiership in 1995. Millionaire Jack Walker (not Kenny Dalglish) facilitated this. I would remind Manchester City fans that it cannot happen again.

When Tiger Woods was questioned on why he wins games at such a high percentage he claimed winning is about preparation and that sets him apart from the rest of the field. Now I think he is modest but after reading his book 'How I Play Golf' it confirms this prerequisite is second only to skill.

Remember the saying: "fail to prepare or prepare to fail".

Comments (2)

1. A.C | 25 September 2008

   I was intrigued to read pablo's article and would like to ask him how he would go about creating a successful National team. Does he think we prepare correctly and does he think that managers who are not english I.E. ferguson dont allow certain players to join the squad if he has a big game coming up.
   I agree we have the best league now in the world which is made up of Foreign players .How do we turn our ugly ducklings into swans.
   We can get the fitness right the physical and mental attitude but why is it that we dont in my view produce world class players anymore.
   I feel that some players think they are bigger than the game itself who earn ridiculously high wages and couldn't give a hoot when they put on that England shirt .
   

2. J. STAMP | 26 September 2008

   Agree with most. I think clubs that make the most of preparation time are the successful ones. Organistion from corners, long throws, and other set pieces is vital. Defenders knowing distances of each other and playing as a unit all comes from the training ground.

   Bit harsh on Scotland, again.