I have personally used team building activities with boys and girls and men and women from ages 6 to 65. These types of activities provide a holistic strategy, and action-based learning environment for cultivating specific performance enhancements, including: goal-setting, communication, "in the moment" problem solving, emotional control and intelligence, anxiety management strategies, etc. I try to challenge people's assumption that team chemistry is a noun, a thing, something you have and that simply exists. Rather, I ask them to envision "team chemistry" as a verb, something you Do, something that is fluid, kinetic and action-based. Team chemistry is fundamentally a problem of action, of individuals and groups doing and being active in developing the intricate web of connections that exist among any group composed of diverse people, talents, roles and abilities.

Factors to Consider
If you want to include team building activities into your practices you should consider several key variables and tailor the initiatives to your particular group, level and activity. These variables include:

1. The age and maturity of the group (age, gender, level, goals, etc.)
2. The readiness of the group (safety, conflict tolerance, guidance required, etc.)
3. The length of time available for the program (per session and number of sessions per year and over what period of time)
4. The specific goals of the program for your particular team at a particular point in the season (trust building, communication, cooperation, competition, fun, problem solving, leadership, etc.)

Icebreakers

Games in which inhibitions are lessened, or activities for individuals to get to know one another, have fun, and take some risks would be called ice-breakers. As the saying goes, "you never get a second chance to make a first impression". This is certainly applicable to successful team building. Start with a bang. Make the activity an attention grabber that leads and motivates the group into the rest of the day's activities. Begin with a high-energy initiative that immediately captures the attention of the participants. An exciting beginning can serve as a bridge from the current to the next level of involvement and sets the tone for future challenges. Here is one example for a simple icebreaker. It incorporates competition, problem solving and communication.

Title: Bean Bag Shuffle

Equipment:
One stop watch for each team

Space:
An open field or gym

Teams:
Divide your group into two or three teams of 6-8 individuals

Set up:

1. Provide each team with one small bean bag (you can buy them in a store or make your own).
2. Have the teams stand in a circle, any size they choose.
3. Set the challenge: the goal of this activity is to see how fast you can pass the bean bag from person to person so that everyone in the group has to have completely handled the bean bag and individually passed it on to another team member (in other words, simply "touching" the bean bag does not count as "holding and passing individually").
4. Assign a stop watch coach (make sure it is a trust worthy, competent timekeeper) to each group.
5. On the signal, "ready, set, go," teams begin to pass the bean bag around the circle as fast as they think they can but still following all of the rules

1. Establish a winner based on time. Record that time.
2. Now ask, "Can they do it faster?" Let them try. Continue to record the times for each team.
3. Can you do it faster still?

Debriefing Lessons:
At first, they'll think that winning is the only goal or that winning is when they simply "beat" another team. Ultimately, you want them to come to see, that what they initially thought was good enough, fast enough and successful enough can actually be made better and faster. It is the same principle we learn in sport. With planning, motivation and ingenuity, they can learn skills and strategies to keep lowering their previous best time and therefore improve overall "team" performance.

That debriefing message can have season-long implications no matter what the age, level or sport you play.

Have fun!

This is the second team-building icebreaker that you can consider using with your team. Remember that these initiatives should simply serve as guides or recipes for you to follow. Feel free to adapt, modify, create and improvise both the rules and the difficulty of the challenge in order to accommodate the qualities of your particular team.

As you will recall from last month's article, the activity must be age-appropriate as well as level-appropriate. Games that seem too "silly" for your particular athletes or challenges that are too easy to complete will not be met with enthusiasm or positive motivation. You should know your group well enough to construct challenges that are attractive to them, interesting and compelling.

You may want to start the session with a joke related to the situation, or even share a game-related need that this activity addresses. You may begin with a series of short questions that elicit a series of loud group responses or a meaningful team cheer just to get the activity started.

This next icebreaker can serve as an excellent warm-up activity not only for the team building session but also for the cardiovascular system and musculoskeletal structure depending how active and competitive your athletes are.

Title: Human Dragon

Equipment:
None needed

Space:
An open field or gym, free from obstacles

Teams:
Divide your team into 4 teams of 6-8 individuals. You can have odd numbers or vary the length of the "dragon" depending on the skill, size and ability of your athletes.

Set-Up:

1. Each team designates the "head" person and the "tail " section of the Human Dragon
2. All other team members fill in behind the head of the dragon by holding on to the person in front of them at the waist
3. At this point, your four dragon teams should form one long line with all team members connected by holding onto each other's waist in a single-file, one-in-front-of-the-other line

1. The goal of the activity is to have the head of each dragon attempt to tag the tail of any other dragon team
2. Only heads of the dragon can do the tagging as all other team members must remain connected (with two hands) to their teammates
3. Players attempt to avoid having their team's tail be tagged and skillfully (did I mention, humorously?) attempt to shield their tail from other dragons on the prowl

1. Each time a tag occurs, the tagging team receives one point and the tail of the team that was tagged becomes the new dragon head, therefore creating a new tail
2. If one person is a tail for too long, switch the tail and periodic time intervals
3. The game continues on for a specified time (as competitiveness and interest allows)
4. If the any of the dragon people in the middle release their grip on the person in front of them, teams are asked to "self-report", count a point against themselves and switch the tail of the dragon. In other words, releasing your grip results in a loss of one point for your team
5. Dragons should call out their score every time they gain or lose a point

This game is great for communication, competition, honesty, cooperation and protection of teammates. By moving as a team to "protect" their tail, the team's success is more likely enhanced.

Good luck and have fun!

• Collective effort
• Competition between groups
• Cooperation within groups
• Speed of performance

Title: The Hula Circle

Equipment:

• One hula hoop for each team (if you can't find hula hoops, any building supply store will have plastic tubing that can be shaped into a circle and secured with duct tape)
• A stopwatch

Divide your group into the number of teams you desire with 8-15 individuals per team.

Set-Up:

Each team is asked to stand in a circle by clasping hands with the person on either side of them. That grip cannot be broken.

Place a hula-hoop on the forearm of the "Team Captain" and have him/her re-grasp the hands of his/her teammate to complete the hand-in-hand closed circle.

The Challenge:

On a "ready, set, go" command, teams begin to "pass" the hula-hoop around the circle without breaking the handgrips.

Players bend and twist their bodies through the hoop by climbing through the hoop, ultimately getting it over their head to the other side of their body.

The entire process repeats itself as the hoop travels from teammate to teammate around the circle as fast as possible. Keep in mind the handgrip can never be broken.

If the handgrip is broken the hula-hoop must start back at the beginning again.

Variations:

How fast can you pass the hoop? Who finished first? Can you do it even faster?

Have players stand with their back toward the center circle and try it again.

Learning:

There are so many lessons to be gleaned from this fun and exciting initiative. Players will discover that just because their team may be far in the lead at one point in the contest (or behind), a few small errors (or quick recoveries) on anyone's part can lead to disaster (or can bring them quickly back into the game). The point is that whether you are winning or losing at any given point in the contest, it is no guarantee of final outcome. Truly, anything is possible. Often in sport, teams get the lead and relax. That loss of focus and competitive fire can be costly.

Secondly, players also learn the importance of not only competing against someone else (as in beating the other team) but also learn the real value of competing against their previous best performance (as in "can we lower our team's best time?").

The Importance of Mental Skills
The best pace to start is to outline why mental skills are so important to performance and why they are often neglected by coaches and athletes. Yogi Bera has been quoted as saying, "sport is 90% mental and 50% physical." You can question his mathematical savvy, but if you're an athlete, coach or fan, you can't question his wisdom. Most of us realize that it is often deficits in our psychological game rather than errors in our physical performance that keep us from performing at optimum levels in practice, games or matches. Both research and anecdotal evidence support the notion that it is not the physical talents or abilities that separate athletes and teams, or successful versus less successful performance. Rather, the psychological dimension in sport is the most frequently cited variable explaining a given sport outcome or individual performance. In fact, when over 600 United States Olympic Athletes were interviewed after the 1996 Olympic Games and asked to list the top ten factors essential for success at the higher levels of competition, mental skills were listed in the to five spots. Not surprising, the single most important quality cited was mental toughness. In sixth place, athletes listed physical talent.

What do these elite performers know that the rest of us can utilize to supplement our traditional training methods? They understand and develop the psychological dimension of their game. No matter what sport you play or the level of competition you face, recognizing and developing your mental game plan should be a significant priority.

The Fundamentals
Every sport is comprised of four fundamental components, namely: the technical, tactical, physiological and psychological. Briefly, the technical components represent the actual skill necessary to play a given sport. Examples include dribbling in soccer, shooting in basketball, passing in football, etc. The tactical aspect refers to the strategies and concepts employed to showcase those techniques in competition. Examples include what system to play in soccer, what offense to run in basketball, or what offensive schemes to utilize in football. The physiological components refer to the physical demands of a given sport. Examples include the cardio-respiratory demands, strength, flexibility, anaerobic needs, etc. The fourth component is the focus of "Colleen's Psychological Skills,": the psychological dimension. Examples include: motivation to compete, mental toughness, self-confidence, imagery, goal setting, etc. These are the topics that will be addressed each month.

Mental Skills - Article 1

If you're like most sport enthusiasts, you're convinced that a commitment to the psychological dimension of your game will not only enhance your performance but also bring you closer to reaching your potential no matter what your current level of competition.

If you are also like most people, you may begin a mental skills program highly enthused and motivated for the first couple of weeks but if you don't see dramatic results "immediately" you may be tempted to revert back to practice that only includes three of the four pillars of peak performance. In some ways, mental skills training is like the familiar New Years Resolution to "get in shape." Unfortunately, data indicates that 50% of the people who start an exercise and fitness program drop out within the first six months. Our culture has sold us on the idea of quick fixes and immediate change. Instead of thinking of mental preparation as a "magic pill" think of it as a "steady diet." You will see results only if you commit to it in the same way you do the technical, tactical and physiological aspects, namely consistent and prolonged effort over time.

If so many top level athletes and coaches extol the benefits of mental training for peak performance, then why do a relatively small percentage of teams and individuals commit to practicing and refining this critical part of performance? Listed are the top four reasons for discontinuation. Check to see if any of your reasons are included:

1. I don't have enough time
2. I'd like to do psychological skills training (PST) but I don't know how
3. You're either mentally tough and motivated or you're not. It can't be taught or acquired, so why try
4. People need to "pull themselves up by the bootstraps" and not look for improvements from this new fad. We never did any of that stuff when I was an athlete.

The second concern people have is acquiring the proper knowledge base. Well, if you're reading this article then you are already on your way in developing the requisite knowledge and skill. There are excellent books and journal articles available concerning mental training for sport. Whether you compete in golf, soccer, baseball, basketball or any other, much has been written on how to get the competitive edge and how to use it to your best advantage. Attend clinics, listen to respected athletes and coaches discuss their techniques at conferences or workshops and by all means, keep reading the eteamz site!

The final two excuses could best be explained by reminding yourself that mental skills are just like physical skills, they respond best to practice and repetition. All of us are born with varying levels of a host of qualities from mental toughness, to competitive drive to perseverance after failure. No matter how much or little you possess of any one characteristic, almost all psychological skills respond positively to sustained and appropriately focused efforts at improvement. Years ago, few athletes sought professional advice on personal training and fitness and yet today, that practice is commonplace. Years ago, few people understood the role that diet played in enhancing peak performance in sport. Science, research and technology have made incredible advances in our understanding of what psychological skills are best targeted to enhance performance and what principles to utilize to see those positive results.

Mental Skills - Article 2

Goal Setting

Goal setting is one of the foundational building blocks of a successful psychological skills training program. In fact, coaches and athletes can utilize the goal setting principles that I'll discuss in the next two months of eteamz articles, with each of the four pillars of sport we have previously discussed: namely, the technical, tactical, psychological and physiological areas. To understand goal setting better, and more specifically, how you can utilize its powerful effects to your competitive advantage, it's important to define what goals are.

Definition

Goals are a specific standard of proficiency achieved in a specific area of performance within a specified time. For example, an athlete could set a goal to improve their free throw shooting ability by taking 30 extra shots every day immediately after practice. All of the criteria listed in that definition must be met (along with several other important standards) in order for behavior to be considered a goal. The two key questions to determine if goal setting is successfully being implemented are: Can I measure it? Can I see it? Goals are more than wishes, hopes and dreams. Dreaming is important in sport and in life, but dreams lack an essential ingredient inherent in effective goal setting, and that is the observable, measurable behaviors required for achieving the end result. For example, I might wish that I was an Olympic performer and I might dream about making an Olympic team, but when I goal set, much more is required of me in order to reach my goal standard.

Types of goals

There are three types of goals. Each will be defined and a sport-related example will be provided for clarification.

1. Performance Goals: Performance goals are goals in which participants focus on process-oriented standards relative to ones own best performance capabilities. They emphasize the PROCESS by which a given outcome is achieved. Another key component of process goals is that the participant has much more control on the achievement potential and successful outcome of these types of goals.

Examples of process goals are increasing the number of tennis serves taken in order to improve ones' first service percentage, committing to a consistent pattern of three strength training sessions per week in order to increase the amount of weight lifted for a one-rep max, and engaging in first person imagery training two days per week for the next month of practice.

2. Outcome Goals: Outcome goals are goals in which participants focus on the end result, the outcome, or a PRODUCT-type measurement as the standard of comparison. These are the most often recited and typically utilized types of goals among coaches and athletes. While participants "think" they have control over outcome goals, the facts indicate that athletes and coaches have only partial control (at best), or little to no control over the ultimate successful achievement of outcome goals.

Examples of outcome goals are: to become a starting member of the team this season, to win the league championship, or to achieve the school scoring record before graduating.

3. Do Your Best Goals: Do your best goals are obvious from the title itself. The focus is not on specific standards of proficiency, process or outcome other than asking the participants to "give it their best shot", try hard and "do your best".

Examples of this third type of goal would be saying, "I'll try my best to play well in today's game," "We'll try our best to play good defense," or "I'll try to be a better coach this season." What is clear in these examples, is that do your best goals lack the specificity and detail that are so apparent in the first two types.

While it may be easier and more convenient to set outcome goals in sport, experts recommend and the sport psychology literature clearly indicates, that the most favorable results in performance occur when athletes and coaches set performance goals. In fact, process goals will allow you to achieve greater success, if they are correctly and consistently utilized, than either outcome or do your best goals.