I recently had a visit from an amazing man, Tii Paulo, with whom I had the pleasure of being in school 10 years ago.
His accomplishments are many, but what I want to talk about today is what he learned that earned him a place to play in the final of the recent Super 14 Rugby final for the winning team from Canterbury.
Rugby you wonder? Well yes, sport and at the highest level!
Here are some lessons Tii passed on to me during our visit and discussion and I am really catching up.
To be a star at anything, play one game at a time and get consistency in the things that matter, the rest, as they say, will take care of itself.
Tii covers Canterbury’s number one hooker and when he got his chance due to injury, he played in the semi-final and final giving a fantastic performance every time.
He said some of the reasons were:
He had tried to do too much when he had a chance on the field. This time he focused on the two key areas of his post and nailed them throughout. Throw to the line-out and scrum as a hooker.
Until now, he had felt a natural nervous tension before acting, but by having the simple approach to his key tasks and having practiced a lot on them, he was ‘in the flow’ and on fire!
What two or three tasks, skills, or activities do you need to master in order to be the most consistent players in your position in your team, club, and competition?
Decide to measure one or two in the next game you play or have someone do it for you. Like how many tackles do you make and win the ball, what happens next? How many shots do you make at the target? Or how many times do you make a successful pass? Over what distance do most of your passes have to be?
Whatever is useful and real, measure it and then you will know if you are improving or not. Watch a match and closely follow the players in your position, how often do they pass? In what area of the field? How many backwards or sideways passes and over what distances?
The key point is, what do they (or you) do that adds value to the team most often?
This is the story of a coach of mine who came in at halftime when we were 0-3 down and said we weren’t doing anything. I felt like I had exhausted myself in the wet conditions, he went on to say that he meant we weren’t pushing ourselves at the right time, sticking to the game plan, focusing on getting the important things done first.
I’ve seen Tii play throughout the season when he’s been on the field, and his last two games in the semi-finals and finals were fantastic. He got there by staying focused on the key tasks his role demanded at the time and only then did he indulge in all the other parts of his game.
He said a coach told him that, “It is not what you do in the minutes that you can have on the field, but the level of impact that you bring with each minute”. My friends are worth thinking about.
Oh and about me another thing he told me. He analyzes each player on his side, plays and practices too! Talk about using each moment to learn your craft.
See you in the field
Your friend, Coach and Fan
Richard Kerr Bell
PS We lost that game 0-6! OBJECTIVE I learned that lesson in the end.