When inheriting a team accustomed to losing, the biggest battle any new coach wages is creating a winning culture.

Invariably, winning teams possess certain habits. So do losing teams. Fortunately for the traditional winners and unfortunately for the traditional losers these habits are hard to break.It takes a strong-willed and patient coach to teach players used to losing, not necessarily better skills and strategies, but the mental approach of winners.That's why I'm not a big believer in New Year resolutions. Along with making them comes a horrendous history of "losing" not keeping the resolution.That's because too many people make them without considering the needed change in their mental approach to produce more than temporary success. As a result, in a few weeks, maybe months, the way of thinking that produced the past losing culture comes out of dormancy, and the problem the resolution was designed to eliminate returns.But this year, I find myself contradicting myself. I will suggest a New Year's resolution because it really doesn't require the aforementioned mental struggles inherent in changing a losing culture.The advice is a simple, one-step process: Drink more tea preferably green, preferably hot, and definitely devoid of table sugar.How helpful can drinking tea be for your health? Six weeks ago, the headline of this column read "More reasons to drink green tea." Since that time, at least 12 other positive-health studies on all teas have been published.And tea's benefits encompass many different elements of health. That drinking green tea seems to improve bone quality and strength in older individuals might be the most surprising.In a study published by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in December, these benefits were first found in studies with laboratory animals given the polyphenols in tea and then established in postmenopausal women through determining bone turnover, muscle strength, and quality of life.But you don't have to be approaching your golden years to find drinking tea golden especially if you're a student who needs a good grade on an upcoming test. In another article in the December issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers found that subjects who drank two or three cups of tea within 90 minutes of testing paid more attention to the task and reported a higher sense of alertness than those given a placebo.Caffeine increases your basal metabolic rate, which is why it's included in so many weight loss supplements. A typical cup of green tea contains 50 milligrams of caffeine enough to affect your metabolism and something else that helps the process: the previously mentioned polyphenols.These natural components increase energy expenditure and fat oxidation enough so that in a study published in the aforementioned issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition the subjects who consumed green tea but altered their diets and lifestyles in no way other lost nearly 3 pounds in 12 weeks. Also established: the drinking of green tea causes about 100 extra calories to be burned in a 24-hour period.Just can't stop yourself from occasionally eating a bacon cheeseburger, fettuccine Alfredo, or something else swimming in fat? Another study found that you can offset the immediate negative effects high fat has on arterial blood flow and blood pressure simply by drinking one cup of black tea after a fat-filled meal.Other studies from the same issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reinforced the dozens of previous studies that showed drinking tea reduced the risk of certain cancers.While all the potential health benefits may spur you to start drinking more tea, you'll only continue to do so if you enjoy the taste. That's more likely to occur if you prepare it properly.Green tea, for example, is supposed to have a lighter, more delicate taste than black tea. Inappropriate preparation, such as placing the bag in a cup of cold water and then heating the cup in the microwave or squeezing the tea bag dry after a long period of steeping can create astringency.To get the best taste from your green tea the type most often studied by researchers bring chilled water just to the point of boiling, wait a few seconds, and then pour the water into the cup containing the bag. Steep for a minimum of two and a maximum of four minutes.If you crave sweetness but not calories, add stevia, an all-natural, non-caloric sweetener. The powdered form works best with green tea and dissolves easier if it is placed in the cup before the water is added.