Players and coaches that buy in for the good of the team, a willingness to sacrifice, a commitment to hard work, and being mentally and physically engaged on a regular basis are some of the factors that are evident among good and even more so great teams. Conversely, those things are often missing from teams that are not successful. In the last Walkin’ the Sidelines column, we explored those factors in detail. However, they are not the only factors that separate the good, not so good and great teams from one another. There are other important factors that lead to a separation of the good, not so good and great teams. Let’s explore.

Bad teams rarely win and they will never put together a winning streak or win a big game.Average teams will win about half the time and will sometimes pull off an upset. However, only the best of teams will win consistently. The reasons for this are numerous. Yes, it does take talent to win but it takes other intangibles to set the great teams apart. One of the things that puts the great teams above the rest is that they are consistent with their performance. They are not up and down from practice to practice and game to game as the average teams often are. The reasons for their consistency are numerous. Understanding what makes the great teams successful will also help us to understand why those who fail lack success.

Let’s start with the consistency that great teams exhibit. Players on great teams will show up on time to practice, ready to work hard, and will do so with a focus towards being the best. Others will show up, sometimes reluctantly and will work to get through practice. Average teams will sometimes practice well but will lack consistency.

Often times, that is caused by a lack of mental focus. Being mentally and physically focused is key but it’s difficult and thus the reason why only those who are able to achieve it on a regular basis will be highly successful athletes and or teams.

Another important factor for successful teams is that they play together.

There is an understanding and commitment among members of the team that the team’s success supersedes any individual accomplishment. In other words, successful teams have players who check their egos at the door and let them there. Teams where there is an “I” in the team are not usually too successful. Successful teams don’t worry about stats. Rather, their focus is on performance and finding ways to win.

Great teams will consist of players who are coachable. These types of teams with these types of players are not just satisfied to win. Rather, they are driven by a desire to play well and even perfect their individual and team performances.

Yes, the great teams will win the games that they are supposed to. They will also win the games that are toss-ups based on talent and often times even those games where they are talent-inferior. Coachable players and teams are open to correction; they understand that the coach has a job to do and they let him or her do it.

Hmm…letting the coach do their job. Great teams likely have parents who allow the coaches to coach as well without criticism or interference. Yes, parents can play a large role in this regard either from a positive or negative perspective. If a parent criticizes the coach(s), players are going to naturally be more likely to question or criticize the coach as well. The best approach for a parent is to support their child while explaining to them that their coach is just that, their coach and what they say in terms of coaching and the team is final.

Now as stated, great teams must have some talent. However, it can’t be solely the coach’s responsibility to create talented players. Great players will spend many hours outside of organized team functions and activities working to develop themselves into the best players that they can be.

You see, the best players are highly skilled. The best teams are made up of players who are skilled. However, while coaches of successful teams will work in practice sessions to improve their players and team’s overall skill set, it is important to remember that there is only so much team practice time to be had.

Thus, for a team to execute and perform at the highest level, the coach must focus much of that time with the team on execution. Only if players have worked individually to develop those necessary skills to be a great player can the coach set aside the needed time to ensure a high level of team execution. Successful teams also are much more likely to have leaders who get the team together out of season aside from the coach’s supervision to work and play.

As discussed earlier, mental preparation is an important factor. This includes having players that watch film of both their own performances as well as their opponents.

Again, this is something that players on great teams must be willing to do on their own. Doing so helps the players of those teams understand better not only their own strengths and weaknesses but also those of their opponents. Players on bad and even average teams won’t place any importance on film study. If they do watch any film at all, it is likely that they do so for entertainment rather and educational purposes.

There is one intangible that I believe far outweighs all others in determining whether a team is successful or not. That is, hard work and hustle. I’m a firm believer that there is no substitute for those two things in sports or life in general.

Simply put, the best teams out work and out hustle their opponents. They are able to overcome some talent deficiencies with their tenacious play. Honestly, there is no excuse for not playing hard.

Great teams understand that and the players demand it of themselves and their teammates. The not so good teams, there will be slackers. That is unacceptable but sadly it happens all too often because a standard has not been set, accepted and enforced by not only the coach(s) but the players as well.

Great players and teams are not born. It takes time and lots of other factors for the great teams to come together. It does take some talent. However, it takes many other intangibles that only a few teams will be able to gain and use for greatness.

All of the other teams will be lacking in some area or another. Perhaps they have the talent to win but they are missing one or more of the other intangibles that might take them from bad or even good to great. Let’s face it, if greatness was easy to achieve, all players and teams would be great.

However, great teams are not easy to create, which is exactly why the vast majority of teams are either average or even downright bad. It’s likely true that no player or team sets out to be bad yet the absence of numerous intangibles will result in that being the case.

So then, the goal is to take the talent that you have, get better every day as an individual and team, pay attention to the intangibles that help to make great teams and work intentionally to foster them so that perhaps greatness might result from your efforts.

What is unfortunate is that far too many athletes and teams take the easy road and fail to foster the necessary factors to achieve greatness. However, that’s their choice. It’s on them.