PETE CARROLL: PRACTICE IS EVERYTHING

After decades of coaching football at different levels, I was prepared to boldly state that “Practice Is Everything.”  By placing practice on a high level of the pyramid, I was making a statement.  We would never accept having a poor practice or taking a day off. There would be no choices.  For us to do things better than they have ever been done before, I believed that we had to practice at the highest level, the most competitive level.  With consistently competitive practice, players would ultimately reach a point where they could perform in the absence of fear, due to the confidence they had gained by practicing so well.  Ideally, they would then learn to trust the process, themselves, and their teammates.  When a performer has supreme confidence in himself and can trust all the people around him and the schemes they are running, he is finally free to totally focus and become immersed in his performance.  This is where great performers and great teams acquire a most cherished characteristic… they know they are going to win.


From "Win Forever" by Pete Carroll