PRESSURE

Tuesday November 02 2004

Our coaching Guru, the wisest man in the whole circumference of the globe, waxes poetic on the topic of pressure.

Ian McCallum, Springbok fullback of the mid-Sixties or thereabouts, once taught me a poem created by Nikos Kazantzakis, the great Greek writer:

I am but a bow in Thy hand, Lord;
Do not leave me for I will rot;
Do not bend me beyond my strength for I will break
But bend me beyond my endurance - and let me break!

I use this poem for myself but also for those I teach and coach, those who have special qualities that mark them as exceptional people.

What does the poem mean? The bow is my potential; if I do not use my potential I am rotting away, useless. I have strengths but I also have limits, real limits beyond which I cannot go. For example I am physically incapable of bench-pressing 400 kgs and if I attempt to do so I could do myself very serious damage. However, if I limit myself by not pushing myself to maximum level then I will never realise (make real) my potential; therefore, I ask that I be pushed beyond what I think my endurance is, and thus come to understand that I can still go on. Every time I am pushed beyond what I believe to be my limits, I become stronger. So, let me break, give me opportunities to become stronger.

All this applies to rugby. The poor old wing who seldom gets the ball is certainly not being allowed or asked to use his potential, he is rotting on the wing. The talented rugby player who is curbed by his coach or by his coach's beliefs, tactics, short-sightedness, fear of losing, is rusting, not shining in use. The player, too, limits himself for many of the same reasons- there certainly is no bigger killer than self-doubt. The team that plays methodically around the edges and back inside- all of them are merely breathing, not living (As though to breathe were life!). Rugby, like life, should be exhilarating; if it is not, answer the question- why not?

I am but a bow in thy hand, Lord. God helps those who help themselves. It is up to you to bend that bow, to send that arrow flying higher, you, the player and you the coach. Recently, I have come across many coaches (important ones, too) who see adventurous rugby as foolish rugby, expansive rugby as suicide, creative rugby as inviting calamity; unfortunately their players begin to believe this too. We are full of self-imposed restrictions that inhibit natural talent. Coaches and players have now pared the game (and themselves) down to absolute essentials so that anything beyond that (I should say above that) is seen as unnecessary embellishment that is very likely to lead to error. If they could make only one pass in the game and win it then that would make them very happy. The fewer passes, the fewer errors- and I have heard that said!

As tho' to breathe were life!

Holy hell, what are we doing to ourselves and to this game of ours? The most wonderful thing about life is exciting people, people with talent and potential, people who are overflowing, dynamic people and we coaches want to change them, making all our players automatons, most predictable. There is nothing more predictable than mediocrity. Don't you dare go beyond your instructions- what is this playing off the cuff business? Who told you to do that? Since when have we run from our own line? Well don't start doing it now! That is all very well at schoolboy level but it doesn't work out of school.

All hail the French, who play with such panache and flair.

Jim Greenwood is one of the world's great coaches; he has written two wonderful books on the game, two books that I continually consult: Think Rugby and Total Rugby. I recommend them to all coaches. I am probably breaking copyrights when I quote from his books but my theme moves me to do so now. In Think Rugby, Jim Greenwood is writing about getting the best out of your players and in a paragraph under the heading of Creating an effective atmosphere, he writes: Yet if we can get beyond this unreal notion that a coach has got to be infallible, the contribution by the players can transform the team. One way of doing this is by holding team meetings in which in turn every player has his say. But this will function better if there's a consistent openness about relationships within the whole group. Some simple ideas will encourage the basic trust that's needed.

And then in the paragraph headed: LEAD THEM, DON'T JUST TELL THEM, he says, The true leader creates an atmosphere in which people want to do what he wants them to do. If the players believe that you respect them and see that you listen to them and that you have realistic plans for making them and the team better, and if you put your heart and head into it, you're well on the way. Stay real. Don't get dogmatic when you're not sure; over-confident when you're scared, aggressive when you've no ideas.

I had better stop quoting him before I am sued but I am sure he will allow me a few more lines. He talks about how best to appeal to players- how the task can be made more desirable in their eyes. The following, he suggests, are powerful inducements: (tell them)

That they are special
That they've a touch of heroism, to fight against the odds
That they can be proud of each other in terms of skill, enterprise and effort
That people expect much of them
That they have special roles in the team
That they have special roles in the game
That they have special abilities.

My point is that Jim Greenwood did not limit the players or the game. He enlarged both, he encouraged the growth and flowering of both; he talks about working for the individual.

Rugby has much to do with philosophy. Fforgive me this time for not coaching in the accepted sense. I want to say again, don't limit the game or the player and I finish with a few lines from one of Dylan Thomas's poems about those who were truly great: (I am sure he was writing about great rugby players):

Near the snow, near the sun, in the highest fields,
See how these names are feted by the waving grass
And by streamers of white cloud
And whispers of wind in the listening sky.
The names of those who in their lives fought for life'
Who wore at their hearts the fire's centre.
Born of the sun, they travelled a short while towards the sun
And left the vivid air signed with their honour.

Who do you think you are when you are presumptuous enough to limit a player?