ost ultimate players have had the experience of coming together with individuals who have great skills individually but somehow just can't get it together as a team. Becoming a great team is more complex than simply bringing together a group of people who have succeeded in becoming good athletes. There are several elements to consider when putting a team together. Of course, the skill set a member brings and personality mixes amongst the players are key; but there are team traits that can be crucial in developing the synergy that it takes to make a good team – great.

Cohesion

Can we assert that we have empirical justification supporting the merit of boat races? Absolutely. Team cohesion is one of the most important of all group dynamics. Cohesive teams are able to achieve dramatic results. This is because the way that players interact fundamentally impacts the way that a team performs. Conversely, teams that lack cohesion tend to have difficulty reaching their potential. So, actions that are helpful in promoting the unity of the team should always be encouraged. Boat races also feature the drinking of beer. Enough said.
Cohesion can be defined as the total field of forces that act on members to remain in a particular group (Festinger, Schacter & Back. 1950). Just getting together for practices doesn't ensure that a team will gel successfully. A cohesive group has the following elements: well-defined roles, common goals, a team identity that is positive, good communication, shared respect, pride in membership and synergy. These are occasionally spontaneously achieved for short periods of time but generally, these team qualities must be cultivated over time.

Short-term and long-term team goals

Setting a goal refers to something a little more specific than "okay – let's get this next point." A good team establishes goals each time they get together. Goals should be challenging and they should be stated clearly. Goals should be measurable and achievable. In this way, the team frequently achieves small specific successes.

Both short- and long-term goals need to be set. A short-term goal may be something you want to accomplish in practice today. A longer-term goal may be a particular play that the team is going to learn and execute in the next game. Verbalizing and reiterating individual and group goals will help team members remain focused and united. Goals can be supported by revisiting them frequently and taking account of what has and has not been successfully fulfilled.

Working Toward a Common Goal

On an ultimate team, each person is unique and contributes in a different way

but everyone must come together to pursue a common goal. Whether the team's goal is to win the game or to win the party, the strategy is essentially the same. Individual team members must support one another as they pursue their goal. What is good for the team has to be good for the individual and vice versa.

A winning team has a leader and a clear sense of mission. The total team is involved in setting team goals. The leader and the mission should help keep the team on track toward achieving their goals. A winning team knows where they are headed and have figured out how they will get there. They are focused. Their work is planned and they are working together to win.

Communication

How a team communicates is pivotal. The same information can be communicated in ways that either promote or impede the team goals. The way information is communicated can actually make a person perform better or act negatively as a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Every team member should be working hard to improve his or her own skills and thus improve the overall performance of the team. This is never accomplished through scoffing at errors or criticizing other team members. Biting commentary and heckling is an art for sideline spectators to perfect. Frequent criticism from team members does not enhance a person's performance; rather, it discourages them, makes them self-conscious, less open to suggestions and actually increases the likelihood of poor performance (Orlick & Partington, 2001). On the other hand, positive verbal feedback among team members can make players more aggressive in their play, more confident in their skills and more likely to perform their best.

Captains can decrease negativity on the field by establishing formal mechanisms through which evaluation is given to each player. All players should have a way to provide input. At least two feedback channels are required: 1) a way to provide feedback during a competitive game; and,
2) how feedback will be provided during and after team practices. Setting up feedback mechanisms means considering who will give the feedback and how the information will be communicated. Captains can also set up opportunities for players to give instruction. If one player is good at a particular effort, they can be given the role of coaching or training other players on that skill. Or whole team drills can be set up to focus on a particular topic. Whatever mechanisms are established for feedback should then be the only way that difficult information is provided to team members. To allow a team member to criticize other players, unchecked, can undermine individual and team efforts.

No Excuses

Once a positive mechanism has been put in place for individual and team feedback, players should not rationalize or give excuses in response to feedback. Whining about the feedback is not acceptable either. When feedback is respectfully offered, it is the team member's responsibility to listen, learn and work toward improving the team. Focusing on team goals and personal play is fundamental. Team members are a detriment to their team when they focus on other players or cannot recognize their own need for improvement.

Roles

Sometimes in ultimate, one or two people will define themselves as the "key" players on a team. They believe that it is up to them to pick up the slack of all the other players, especially when the score is close. This is almost always a fatal miscalculation and tends to bring about forced passes, excessive poaching, offensive errors and sloppy defense.

The whole point of having a team is to have seven players offering individual strengths to be capitalized on in achieving a greater synergy. If one or more players are under-utilized, you might as well have five on the line instead of seven. A team that cannot figure out how to use all of its players will never be a great team (Sugarman, 1998). While delusions of grandeur are prominent on the ultimate field, this aspect of 'team' is often overlooked. Talking about roles and developing strategies to discourage errant heroics can alleviate this problem. Otherwise, good players can become careless and marginalize the efforts of their teammates.

Taking Risks

Risk takers are athletes that are always looking for new ways to be better at their sport. They do not become complacent when they achieve a certain level of skill performance. They are risk takers because they are willing to put themselves out there and make mistakes as they try out a more difficult way of executing a particular skill. Risk taking differs from sloppy playing in that it is focused skill development, not just random hucks or hammers to impossible or invisible receivers. Further, the place for risk taking is in practice and training games, not tournament play. But, a risk taker is a player you want on your team. All too often, a team will discourage such efforts because progress towards achieving a new goal usually results in temporary decreases in overall performance. Team members often try to keep a player in a circumscribed role rather than encouraging promising risk taking.

Stress

Stress is caused by the perception that one does not have adequate capability to respond to the situation they are facing. Learning new skills and improving old skills should be a priority in team practices. By focusing on skill development and providing positive feedback channels, performance will be enhanced and stress will decrease. When individuals and teams become stressed, the team dynamics that have been set up to address communication and roles will already be established to alleviate the situation.

Group Synergy

Individual player energy is enhanced exponentially by team characteristics. This is why solid teams can pull it together and prima donnas can cause a teams unraveling. This article has related ways to capitalize on a team's collective energy. Encourage free thinking and open discussion. Taunt gently. Value integrity. Strive for common expectations on what types of behavior the team wants to see. Develop pride and a sense of collective identity by setting and achieving step-wise goals. Strategize to use the whole team. Value personal contributions. Reward exceptional individual performance. Laugh. Play hard. Drink beer.

– Dr. Leigh Jerome
Leigh is a psychologist, writer, and foam-party hostess. She played with Las Yanomami at the WUCC.

References:
Festinger, L., S. Schacter, and K. Back. (1950). Social Pressures in Informal Groups: A Study of Human Factors in Housing. Palo Alto, Calif.: Stanford University Press.

Orlick, T. and J. Partington (2001). PSYCHED: Inner Views of Winning. Zone of Excellence. www.zoneofexcellence.com/Articles.html

Sugarman, Karlene (1998). Winning the Mental Way. Step Up Publishing. www.psywww.com/sports/cohesion.htm