Part 1 - Mastering the art of communication
Take it upon yourself to open up the channels of communication with your coaches.
Most of us make this mistake, we either don't believe the responsibility lies with us to raise topics of conversation, or we only believe we should speak when spoken to.
As a player you are responsible for your own actions and processes, and a coach is looking for players to take responsibility of their own roles within the team environment.
Part of this involves communicating with the coach.
Remember the coach is concerning themselves with the relationships with possibly 40 other people, and they might not know there is an issue until you raise it or alert them to it.
This is important for the bigger issues in a team dynamic, perhaps concerning your own personal performances and also the smaller issues.
Being proactive and going out of your way to open up the channels of communication with your coach (at the right time and in the right way) won't upset them.
The majority of coaches will respond positively because they see that you care, are being proactive and taking responsibility of your actions, that you have been thinking about the game and are demonstrating your desire to improve and be a key member of the team.
Remember your coach isn't a mind reader, take the responsibility to open up the channels of communication and develop as a player.
General advice
Part 2 - Remember your role!
A good way to be able to remember your specific role is to make an acronym or mnemonic that you can remember and remind yourself when playing. It serves as a mental reminder to help you stay focused and get back on track to what your role is.
My mnemonic that I made up and used as an openside flanker was:
BOLT-UP
with each letter representing my role and serving as a reminder to me throughout the game:
B - Breakdown
O - Outside half
L - Link
T - Tackle
UP - Carry the ball up as an added bonus.
BREAKDOWN
For me this meant I wanted to be the first to every breakdown/tackle area and dominate that area of the game.
OUTSIDE HALF (this is another name for the fly half or First five-eighth).
This meant that my job for the whole game was to apply pressure to the opposition number 10.
LINK
This meant several things:
1. I had to be a link between the backs and the forwards.
2. Linking player for the back line players in order to maintain momentum and continuity and;
3. To not die with the ball, meaning it was central to my thinking that I didn't want any move to stop flowing if I was involved in it, and didn't want to slow down play by being caught with the ball or tackled.
TACKLE
I wanted to be the team's top tackler, and have the highest tackle count and fewest missed tackles.
UP
As a bonus I would offer myself as a ball carrier and carry the ball whenever needed.
This mnemonic worked well for me, and I would encourage you to come up with your own one, that you can remember and remind yourself during the quiet part of a game to ensure you are still on track. It can work as your own checklist and you can even write it on your strapping at first so it's there to remind you.
It will be great to hear examples of any mnemonics that you devise and use (email or tweet me).
You will find that as you devise your own mnemonic it will make you think about the game and your role in the game, and it will help you focus in on the crucial aspects of the game in relation to you.
