Team Building Exercises for Sports

The members of any successful sports team must learn to rely on each other, have a sense of unity and work as one unit to accomplish the team's goals. If a team has too many individuals only looking out for themselves, or not willing to trust each other's abilities, the whole team system breaks down. Such ineffective teams are visible in those professional sports teams that have a lot of talented individuals but lack chemistry and are thus unsuccessful. The following team-building activities are a great way to teach members to trust each other and begin to work as a complete unit.

  1. The Human Knot

    • This is an activity where the group stands in a circle facing each other. Everyone then reaches across the group and grabs the hands of two different people. This forms the knot. The object is to get the group to untangle itself without anyone letting go of their hands. The group must communicate how to crawl or twist out of the knot without getting frustrated with each other. Good sports teams must be able to communicate effectively under stressful situations.

    The Trust Fall

    • This is a classic team-building activity that involves learning to trust your teammates. Divide the group into partners. One partner should close his or her eyes, cross hands across the chest and fall backwards. The other partner must catch the falling partner. It is natural to not want to fall back, but members must trust their partners will catch them. The ability to trust each other is a quality of a good team.

    Multi-Way Tug of War

    • This is an activity that takes a unique twist on a traditional game. Traditional tug of war requires merely strength to win. Multi-way tug of war requires communication and good tactics. Split up the group into four teams. Attach four separate ropes of equal length to a center steel ring with four carabiners. The four ropes should be laid out perpendicular so the four teams are positioned in the shape of a cross steel ring in the middle. Each team has a line on the ground underneath their rope the same distance from the center of the ring. The goal is to be the first team to pull the ring across their line.

    Helium Stick

    • This is another deceptively difficult team-building activity. Line up the group in a straight line facing the same direction. Have everyone point their arms out to their side and extend their index fingers. Place a long, lightweight rod on the group's fingers. Instruct the group to lower the rod to the ground. However, the rule of the game is that everyone's fingers must be touching the rod at all times. If in the process of lowering the rod a member's fingers aren't touching the rod, the process starts over again. The members will likely find the harder they try to lower the rod, the more the rod will actually move upwards. The task teaches communication and strategy.