All Blacks Mentality

What are the five life lessons of the All Blacks? They are considered commandments, and no one fails to honor them.

"Sweeping the sheds"

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? ? ?They call it sweeping the shed. Before leaving the locker rooms and anywhere else they've been, the different players on the team stop and tidy up everything themselves. They literally and figuratively "sweep the sheds".

? ? ?This is described as personal humility, a key value within the All Blacks.

? ? ?Although it may seem strange that a team with such power and competitiveness would have humility as the core of its culture. No one has imposed it on them, they impose it on themselves.?

Follow the "spearhead"

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? ? ?The word Whanau means "extended family" and is symbolized by a spearhead. It is their Game Model.

? ? ?Although it has 3 forwards, in order to be effective, its entire force must move in one direction only. Therefore, this is a term drawn from the ancestral culture of the Maori. All together, one goal.

? ? ?Character and talent are the virtues that bring players closer to being part of the All Blacks family.

? ? ?Players with greater chances of reaching the national team have been ruled out, since their inclusion would have been detrimental to the team, that is, for this Whanau (extended family) this is where its spearhead lives.

Champions always do something extra

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• Champions are permanently in search of growth, hence the reference "do something more". This is the idea when you want to achieve things. It is ambition well-understood, as they understand it. Continuously optimize, creating environments where learning processes are permanent, i.e. a willingness to do extra things, brings you closer to optimization as an athlete and as a person.
• In the words of Vilá (2017), an experience I had in Santiago, Chile when we went with the youth many years ago, in the locker room of Colo-Colo there was a saying about the "second wind". I liked it very much and I have always kept it in mind to comment on whenever I can. Throughout the game, there comes a time when the players or a certain player is just physically worn out. There are many times when my body can't go any further; I can't, I can't take it anymore. If you are able to overcome that critical moment, this depends on your own effort, your own work, your own commitment and will, in a given moment, you get a second wind that will allow you to reach the end, even better than you were before that moment. The people who have experienced these situations can corroborate it. This second wind is only for those who want to achieve something, those who face this dramatic moment. If you are able to overcome that second wind, then you can challenge yourself with something else. So, this second wind is what we have to pursue if we really want to achieve something.(Joan Vilà exhibition at Barcelona Coach Academy, unpublished).

Keep a cool head

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In expressing that phrase, the point is to understand how the brain works under pressure. The All Blacks worked with a psychiatrist to understand how the brain worked under pressure.

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• "Hot Head" is a state of mind in which the player is not focused on the exercise, going through a panic scenario and acting ineffectively; i.e. in a stressful situation.?

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• "A cool head" is an optimal state in which every player is active and concentrated, which is how we should be every day on the field, right? This feeling of participation, whether close to or far from the ball. I'm always participating, I'm always part of the team, aren't I?

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This is the feeling they want to establish in all players. They each use their own active technique to keep an optimal state or a "cool head", avoiding moving to a "hot head" state. In short, it's about not watching the game, but living it; being focused on everything, and keeping a cool head rather than being a hot head.

Leaving the shirt in better conditions

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• They are governed by the motto: "You must leave the shirt in a better place than it was when you took it". Something that is imposed by all of the All Blacks. I can't put on a shirt and leave it the same or worse after wearing it.

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• Therefore, being an All Black means being a role model for all New Zealand children. This creates a sense of higher purpose: if we play a bigger game, it will be more effective.

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• Better people make better All Blacks, and under this rationale, the selection becomes a culture, because for them it does not end with being better coaches, but also managers, doctors, physicists. The All Blacks are an example for New Zealand society.

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• Much of this society is infused with these All Blacks values, without a doubt. According to Kerr (2013), it was a great experience, in which it was possible to observe the responsibility and challenge taken on by all in New Zealand. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11158017.