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What happens when a well crafted team strategy goes waste simply because the lessons learned in theory were not applied in practice? There will be a lot of heart burn amongst team members and there may even be a few squabbles about who is to blame for the mishap.

However, when tempers calm down, the athletes will realize that they made the mistake of presuming that lessons learned in theory could be implemented in practice without any significant effort. One would be surprised how even the best athletes often take their efforts and skills for granted. A slightly relaxed training session before the match invariably results in a less than perfect performance on the ground.

Of course, taking too much stress about performance is not good either. However, there is a huge difference in having a relaxed approach and having a casual approach to the game. The former is good for performance but the latter is bad.

What happens after the game? The athlete has the option of either quitting stating that the game is far too tough or has the option of pushing his or her limits further. This is where the individual gains from participating in team sporting activities. The positive attitude of one individual passes on to the others and the team finds itself regrouping and trying to recover.

Some teams succeed while others fail because individuals attach too much importance to their egos. Either way, a discerning individual can easily understand how to overcome his or her limitations and improve. A single person is good performance is no guarantee for team success.