A Win is Just a Win

A win is just a win. I know I’m getting stuck in tautology here, but put the emphasis on “a.”

Don’t get caught early in your season thinking any win is bigger than it is. It’s just one win.

There is obvious value in getting the result, especially in terms of confidence and rankings, but as a coach the ability to clearly evaluate performance is much more important.

If you win but played poorly or just OK

Best case, the team’s confidence grow, but you as the coach are analytical and clinical about the level of play. Without undoing the benefits that naturally accrue from winning you hone in on the teaching that will correct the deficiencies. 

As a staff no delusion sets in. 

The outcome only allows you a cushion in the standings; there is no cushion in the approach or standards.

In my second season with the Carolina Courage we won our first two games without playing particularly well. At all. But after enduring a hard first season simply getting results improved the team’s confidence and morale. As a staff we were clear-eyed about where we really were with performance. We spent more time on film, on teaching, on preparation. We increased demand on the team in very specific ways.

By the third game we beat Atlanta with a Tiffany Roberts goal in legitimate fashion at home. It felt great. We were just starting, but we were now on the right track.

Be humble enough to always beware the potential for reversion to the mean. The first two wins of the season may have just been this law of averages, but by the third we knew we could get this done if we recognized, a win is just a win. Stay focused on the quality of performance.

If you win and played well

If you win and played at a level consistent with where you should be at this point, now as a coach you have an opportunity to ratchet up demand. The team’s confidence should be high. Players know when they have performed well. 

They can handle it as you show them the positives and the areas that need to get better.

This is the opportunity to show them there is another level to get to in their performance. 

In other words, this is just the start.

If you win, play well and get too caught in the moment then you might find your next result is not as positive. Even if it’s a victory. You’ll be stuck on a false peak  thinking you’ve achieved something only to see there are higher summits ahead. 

Better to know that you are only part way up the mountain with each win then to get wrapped up in any one.

Complacency:

A great coach, Marsha Way, used to tell her team, “If you think you’re there you ain’t.”

Watch for complacency setting in after a strong win or series of wins. Athletes or teams can think they’ve got things handled. One of the worst things is if a team thinks they have things handled. Complacency is an under-feared phenomenon. 

All of your opponents are working to get better. If you are having some success you have become a target. They want to beat you. 

The competition, the challenge, it naturally gets harder.  This is no time to become complacent.

My college coach, Anson Dorrance, framed his successful program around the concept that we are on an ever ascending path higher.

So keep in mind coach, a win is just a win.

(Guest post by Marcia McDermott.  This was originally posted at TheCoachingConversation.com and is part of an ongoing series focusing on a college preseason and season.  You can follow Marcia @soccerchicago or @thecoachconvo)