I consider myself the kind of coach who is semi-predictable. Sometimes my personality brings out coaching techniques I never thought would emerge. This spontaneity keeps my job interesting and fun. One thing which helps me stay innovative, creative and ready to take risks is my interest in books. I enjoy browsing through book stores looking for works by Richard Bach, Rollo May, Robert Fulghum, M. Scott Peck, John Syer and Christopher Connolly, James E. Loehr and the lot. I read them to open my mind to new ways of thinking, behaving and ultimately coaching.

With each new season I try new techniques. I savor the thought of working with freshman divers who are eager to start off their college sport careers. I introduce them to new experiences while easing them into the commitment and physical training of division I diving. In pre-season, I go out of my way to recognize even the smallest achievements of each individual through positive encouragement. The greatest personal reward is when I see a positive change in one of my athletes as a result of some previously unknown insight which I may have offered.

I strongly believe that diving, and individual sport by nature, can easily take on some of the dynamics of many team sports such as soccer or football. In the book Sporting Body, Sporting Mind, Christopher Connolly and John Syer suggest that a group will draw its highest strengths from each individual if it is more spiritually attuned. In other words, if a group of athletes is performing for themselves as individuals, as well as participating with the specific intention of supporting each other in and out of competitions, then the team will perform better all the time. Over a period of time together, most teams naturally fall into group processes where the outcome is a feeling of comradeship and enthusiasm for one another. However, I believe that this process can be made more explicit and creatively expedited early in the season by the coach. Coach and team will reap the rewards in performance. I would like to describe one way in which I have seen this occur in my own team.

I have initiated this process by getting our team in the habit of conducting a bi-monthly meeting. Everyone is required to be present or we pick a different time to meet. I plan the agenda, keep it on track and direct the meeting while letting the divers do 90% of the talking and the work. I set up a few rules such as only one person speaking at a time. Every ten minutes we have a check-in to see how everyone is feeling about the direction or issues of the meeting.

Our topic for lst weeks meeting was chosen by me. The task was to come out of the meeting with a clearly defined team identity. My idea was that by identifying the traits and characteristics of our team, the divers would begin to behave in a positive way, to demonstrate behavior that they would like to reflect to other teams. I stood at the chalk board and the divers began stating their free-flowing ideas. Through words and phrases they described our current team identity as they experienced it. I found this to be a tremendous outlet for some of the divers. Many negative things came out, mixed in with some positives. I did not attempt to guide the direction of this exercise at all. I just wrote rapidly on the board as they shouted out descriptions. Words and phrases such as "balk to much," "struggling," "tired," "out of control" and "behind in school" emerged from the outset. Some positive phrases included: "potential," "young guns," "overcoming," " working hard," "dedicated divers," etc.

When the team ran out of ideas I gave them one last minute to think of nay more phrases or wards to describe the current identity of the team. After all imaginable words were out I went back through the list on the bard and repeated the negative phrases. I asked the divers if these traits were our team's identity that they wanted to hold onto for the season. When they responded "no" , I asked them to substitute them with positive words or phrases.

This was easy and fun. The divers had some good solutions to our current problems! And better yet, they were doing the work. Because it wasn't passed down from the "coach" they could own it. It was meaningful. Lastly, we added about twenty new words and phrases to our team's new identity. The new additions were the descriptions and positive traits our team intends to portray for the rest of the season. The divers felt quite good about our final list. I typed it up and handed it out the next day. They wee asked to post it somewhere within daily sight. I also posted the list in both locker rooms. Through this thirty-minute exercise and some daily visual and verbal reminders, we have begun to get into a groove in which we are thinking positively, self-esteem is high, and we are all very supportive. This is the start of a spiritually attuned team that works well together and therefore, makes itself more effective. I urge you to take a risk and try this exercise with your own team.

We need the right amount of quality training and discipline for our athletes if we want to achieve the goals which a serious diving program strives for. I plan carefully just how many hours of weights, board time, trampoline, stretching, plyometrics, calisthenics and video analysis my team receives. I profess, however, that our programs can achieve more success, our divers get better, and stay happier with the addition of this team spirit dimension of training which I believe is often overlooked in many programs, whether at the high school, senior or collegiate level.