Applying Deliberate Practice

It’s very easy to apply deliberate practice to endeavors that have defined goals or measures of success.  Golf, tennis, chess, and musical instruments are good examples. A participant in an individual sport can practice as long as he or she wants. The player’s desire to achieve greatness is the only variable to achieving this goal. A team sport athlete has the important variable of teammates and coaches to deal with in achieving greatness. His or her own desire for greatness is incredibly important, but the team, teammates, and coaches are almost as important.

                  The application of deliberate practice for team sports is a little more complicated, which is why we need to look at and analyze the research into how team sport athletes become experts.  Applying DP for team sports includes not only individual player training but team practices. Skills for most team sports positions can be perfected by players through deliberate practice without the help of teammates.  For example, a basketball player can become a great shooter and ball handler during individual training sessions.  A baseball player can hit thousands of balls with a private coach.  Also, muscle,speed, and strength training can be done with a personal trainer for all athletes.  In order to reach the highest level of team sports, players must be able to master their own skill sets and be able to incorporate them in with the team dynamic.

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