"The Map" Part 6 - How to Learn from Every Game You Play

Cricket is a great game in that you can learn from every game you play. The trick is organizing so that lessons learned can be identified and stored for future use.

Evaluating your game should be an ongoing feature of your map. By regularly assessing how your game is developing, you give yourself a better chance of picking up small flaws in your game before they develop into major problems. When developing evaluation routines try these techniques:

• Don’t evaluate your performance immediately after the game. It is always best to allow any emotional haze to clear before you evaluate your game. This highlights the importance of routines. Set aside a time the day after you have finished the game to calmly, even cold-bloodedly, to look back at your performance. This gives you the time to celebrate the win or deal with the loss as well as complete your physical post-game recovery routines. Once this is done, you can really focus clearly on what you did and didn’t do during the game.
• Work from a list. As with all these routines, a major reason for creating the routine is so that nothing ‘falls through the cracks’ in your preparation. When reflecting on your performance, working from a list is crucial. Some of the headings you may want to include in your list are:

How did I prepare this week? Details?
What was my plan?
Did I stick to my plan? Yes/no Details?
What should I do differently in the future?
What did I learn from the game?
How will I prepare for next game?

• Record your reflections. The human memory is quite selective and imperfect. If you really want to remember the lessons you have learned from game to game, write it down. Athletes often go through form cycles and going back to a plan that worked for you in the past can often help you get back on track.
• Review your records regularly. A great way to stay on track! Don’t waste time learning the same lesson again and again. If you regularly go back through your records, you memory will be jogged and you stand less chance of making the same mistake in the future. It also provides you with a reference point when developing a plan and helps you write good plans when the time comes.
• Be honest with yourself. This is the only way to develop your game. Identify and acknowledge your strengths and weaknesses and above all be honest about your efforts. If you have a session that is less than intense or you skip a session during the week, acknowledge the fact that you have been ill-disciplined and uncommitted and then get straight back into the training. As the cliché says: It's a marathon, not a sprint.

All these routines provide you with the framework, or map, from which you can develop your game to its maximum.