Dr. David Schary: You win some, learn some

Fall is rapidly approaching, which means that thousands of children and adults are strapping on pads and helmets to play football.

Just like any football fan, I enjoy seeing game-changing moments and spectacular plays. But I also like to watch individual players after these critical moments. I look for reactions – how players handle themselves after a good or bad play, how they run – or walk –off the field, and how they interact with each other. These little things can tell you a lot about what a player is learning from the game.

To truly be successful, it is not enough to rely on individual athlete’s haphazardly learning from random plays during the game. A three-step method can improve a team’s or an individual’s successes.

Evaluate. At the end of the game, everyone should evaluate the positives and negatives. Good coaches understand this, which is why they watch film after a game.

Evaluation should not be limited to games. Athletes and coaches should evaluate after every practice, play, or even the warm-up. This does not mean to track an athlete’s every mistake and award every success, because this may affect team chemistry. Instead, foster an environment that embraces learning from everything: the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Reflect. We know that regardless of a good or bad game, everyone can learn something. But it takes intentional reflection to repeat success or avoid future failure. It is easy to replay the great plays, the one-handed catch or game-winning field goal, but it is harder to think about what made the play great. Was it communication between the quarterback and wide receiver? Was it a direct result of the disciplined, methodical practice of the play? Or was both mixed with a little luck?

Reflecting on the “why” is more important than remembering the “what” because the ultimate goal is to consistently perform at the highest possible level. The best athletes know that they must figure out why certain things work or they will never be able to consistently repeat them. Do not be at the mercy of luck; study and reflect on what happens.

Apply. Evaluation and reflection are meaningless without application. If there is no intention to change behavior, than athletes and coaches are wasting their time evaluating and reflecting on the past. Shifting from reflection to application is a natural progression – evaluation reveals the what, reflection reveals the why, and application reveals the how. Applicationinvolves coming up with a plan to fix any errors, or continue what is successful. This process is easy if both the athletes and coaches thoroughly completed the previous two steps.

To put all three steps together, here is an example of a football team that lost a close game on the final drive due to an interception. First, the coaches and players need to evaluate what exactly happened. After figuring out that the receiver missed timed his route, then the offense can figure out why that happened. Reflection led to the understanding that communication broke down between the coaches, quarterback, and wide receiver. The coaches used this knowledge to develop a clear communication system that the athletes practicefor the next game.

If put into the place, this simple three-step system will help any team or athlete, from any sport learn from the past to improve future performances.

This story was originally published September 12, 2015 at 5:10 PM with the headline "Dr. David Schary: You win some, learn some."