Does a team learn more by success or failure? (1 Viewer)

[Bill]

I couldn't help but to think back on the times this season the Saints have played less than stellar football. The term 'winning ugly' has been used a few times this year particularly when there has been some specific areas of weakness (or outright failures). For example, the Saints got rattled pretty good by the Falcons in our first game with them in the Superdome. Drew Brees was on the carpet more than Stanley Steemer in that game. Yet in our second match the roles were completely reversed.

It's hard not to conclude that sometimes the coaches (who are basically teaching the same fundamentals all the time) are not able to get the players' attention to focus on their assignments. Often when the team fails in one area, we see a complete turnaround the next time they are faced with the same situation in a game. Do the players learn their assignments better after having faced some adversity?

I mention this because I tend to get a little more anxious about our team whenever it's nothing but 'smooth sailing' for stretch of the season. Many have brought up in the past about the issue we sometimes have of 'playing down to the competition'. Is it just human nature or do the players really need some setbacks to help them focus in on the job at hand?

The onside kicks debacle last Thursday night seems to be another case in point. There is a part of me that is so glad that we failed so miserably against those desperation attempts by Atlanta. Will the special teams handle that situation better the next time they are faced with an onside kick attempt?

I never had a chance to play organized football and I'm not quite sure how coaches and players respond to the need to make adjustments to the glaring mistakes that happen on the field from time to time. But it does make me wonder if the players actually perform better after such failures than if the mistakes had never happened in the first place. Obviously coaching is teaching. Do the failures create the best situations to help the team learn & play their best?

 

[FGE413]

I think like a lot of things in life, it's a mixture of the two and not an either/or proposition.

 

[SaintRob]

My opinion, based partially on personal (non-football playing) experience is that success builds confidence and failure gives you the opportunity to work on something. Failure hurts and makes you not want to repeat the same mistake. I am curious to hear responses from those who have played organized football.

 

[Infoman]

Failure in Organized Team Activities of any kind is fine as long as there's a system in place to correct the failures, and use them as teaching tools... otherwise failure can become a cultural norm... Success is great for confidence and can also become a cultural norm.... but there has to be a system in place to temper that confidence and keep people focused on being humble for continued success.

IMO... these (as well as being an offensive guru) are the things that Sean Patyon does well, and what makes him a great coach.

 

[abnrgr]

As pointed out by Infoman, the key is having a high performance organization that can temper the highs with humility and weather the lows with determination. If simply losing was the key to learning the Bengals would be the smartest team and organization. Bottom line they are dysfunctional and have a low performance organization. The key is having the right leadership who has a vision, goals and a map of how to achieve and get to the destination. Build the right organization with high character and high IQ talent. Have them buy into the plan or get rid of them. Keep them focused and hungry. See the goal and don’t be distracted by ideas like who is good or who is a bad team but rather stay focused on the goal and respect each opponent. Break each challenge into an attainable step (one game at a time) and do your best. This is the process I learned in the military. It works. Based on my outside observations teams like the Saints and Patriots are built on this foundation.

 

[TribuneUK]

Take advantage of 'teaching moments' when they arise, and yes, adversity is a frequent catalyst for these. But not the only one.

 

[LonghornSaintsFan]

If you remember in our down years those games we lost were by 7 points or fewer and often times they were list minute drives by the opposing offense those 7-9 years could of easily been 10-6, 11-5 type seasons.

 

[Bill]

I do appreciate these thoughts and I also understand that it's not a 'one size fits all' equation for success. But I do like the idea that our team generally has the motivation to make the improvements in the areas where they have demonstrated a glaring weakness in the past.

I suppose also that a coach like Sean Payton is recognized as being one who can keep his players focused on the task at hand better than others, which in turn keeps his name at the top of the wish list for a lot of other franchises. I just hope that our boys apply the hard knocks lessons well and stay motivated to make improvements for as long as they are wearing the Black & Gold!

 

[fahad]

You learn from both of them. Both are opportunity to change and improve. This only happens when you focus and determined to success and moving forward.