Coach’s Blog
This is a place for thoughts, advice, wisdom and helpful hints for volleyball athletes, parents and coaches.
Coach’s Blog #71 — Taking Stats
Do you use stats? Do you take stats live?
Building a successful volleyball team takes hard work, strategy, and a keen eye for player development. But in the heat of practice and competition, it can be nearly impossible to track everything that's happening on the court, even for the best coaches. I find myself often saying I'm using my "professional judgement" way more than I'm using actual analytics. Not that one or the other is better, but using both resources seems better than one.
I've been blessed to have great assistant coaches taking stats for me. I actually recommend SoloStats as the ultimate tool for youth volleyball coaches (not an ad). This innovative app empowers you to make data-driven decisions, improve player development, and elevate your team's performance.
BENEFITS
Real-time Insights: Track key stats instantly to make informed adjustments during practice and games.
User-Friendly: Easy to learn, even for beginner coaches.
Player Development: Monitor individual performance to tailor training and identify areas for improvement.
Strategic Advantage: Gain a competitive edge with advanced analytics and data-driven strategies.
I personally have found that having the data/insights available prepares me even more in timeout during matches. Since a timeout is so short, it's so important to have efficient and effective conversations during that time.
Ready to take your coaching to the next level? Try SoloStats today and experience the difference it can make for your team.
Coach’s Blog #70— Faded Feedback
Want to get better at giving Feedback? Want to Coach more effectively?
Feedback is the breakfast of champions! It needs to be timely, specific, and actionable, but coaches also don't want to overload their players with information. Using faded feedback can be a useful technique for coaches.
What is Faded Feedback?
Faded feedback is a coaching technique where the coach gradually reduces the amount of specific information they provide to a player as the player learns a new skill. Initially, the coach may provide very detailed instructions, but as the player becomes more proficient, the coach can start to fade out some of those details. This allows the player to take more ownership of their skill development and become more independent learners.
Benefits of Faded Feedback in Volleyball
Improved Learning
Increased Confidence
Enhanced Independence
Here are some tips for using faded feedback well coaching:
USE PROMPTS & QUESTIONS: As you fade out the specific feedback, you can start to use more prompts and questions to help your players think about their skills. For example, you might ask a player, "What do you think you could do to improve your arm swing?"
PROVIDE POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT: Be sure to provide positive reinforcement to your players as they improve their skills. This will help to keep them motivated and engaged in the learning process.
Faded feedback is a powerful tool that can help volleyball coaches improve their players' learning and development. By gradually reducing the amount of specific information they provide, coaches can help players become more independent learners and develop a deeper understanding of the game.
Coach’s Blog #69 — Confrontation and Conflict Resolution
Has your team every had a conflict? Ever had to deal with confrontation?
It's often said that positivity is the key to success in youth volleyball. While a positive team culture is undoubtedly important, it's equally crucial to address the less comfortable aspects of team dynamics: conflict and confrontation.
Many coaches and clubs strive to create a harmonious environment where negativity is avoided at all costs. I am often preaching the gospel when it comes to being positive. It is crucial that as coaches we are not suppressing negative emotions and avoiding conflict. We need to teach that negative emotions are a natural part of the human experience, and learning to navigate them is essential for personal and team growth.
Confrontation, when done appropriately, can be a powerful tool for building stronger teams. To foster a healthy culture of confrontation, coaches and clubs should:
ROLE MODEL: Coaches should demonstrate respectful and constructive communication in their interactions with athletes and each other.
GUIDANCE: Offer athletes specific tools and strategies for expressing their concerns in a productive manner
ENCOURAGE OPEN DIALOGUE: Create a safe and supportive environment where athletes feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and feelings.
FACILITATE CONFLICT RESOLUTION: Help athletes develop problem-solving skills and find mutually beneficial solutions to conflicts.
By embracing the importance of conflict resolution and appropriate confrontation, coaches and clubs can help their athletes develop the skills they need to succeed both on and off the court. A team that is able to navigate challenges and setbacks together will be better equipped to achieve its goals and build lasting relationships.
Coach’s Blog #68— Tryout Season Survival Guide
Tryouts got you stressed? Need help navigating this tryout season?
Volleyball open gym and tryout season can be a nerve-wracking time for everyone involved. Remember that volleyball is supposed to be a fun experience. Here is my survival guide on how to navigate this time of year:
PLAYERS
Prepare Thoroughly: Try to get as many quality reps in during the process prior to the actual tryouts
Be Respectful: Treat everyone with kindness and sportsmanship. Be the best teammate possible
Learn from Feedback: Take constructive criticism as an opportunity to improve
PARENTS
Support: Encourage them to do their best and avoid putting unnecessary pressure
Understand the Process: Learn about the tryout format and expectations. Ask coaches questions.
Manage Expectations: Help your child set realistic goals to help avoid disappointment
COACHES
Provide Clear Expectations: Communicate the tryout process and evaluation criteria
Offer Constructive Feedback: Provide helpful feedback to help players improve
Be Fair and Honest: Evaluate players based on their skills, potential and attitude
GENERAL TIPS
Focus on Improvement: Emphasize personal growth and development over the outcome
Celebrate Success: Acknowledge your achievements, no matter how small
Handle Rejection Gracefully: Learn from the experience and move forward
By following these tips, everyone can approach tryout season with confidence and resilience. Remember, at the end of the day the most important thing is to have fun, control what you can and enjoy the process!
Coach’s Blog #67 — Pre-Season Parent Meeting
Coaches have you ever struggled with athletes parents? Do you have a pre-season team meeting?
The number one complaint I hear from youth coaches is about parents. Yet when I ask most coaches about their communication and meetings with parents, often coaches say they didn't do anything.
As youth coaches I believe we owe the players’ parents a meeting at the beginning of the season. You are asking the parents to trust you with their children. It just makes sense to start building trust by taking the time to meet with them.
The pre-season parent meeting provides a platform for open communication, expectations setting, and building a strong partnership between coaches, players, and parents. Check out my previous blog (#53) for more parent education.
Here are my 5 steps to create a good parent meeting:
Personal & Professional Introduction
Coaching Philosophy
Player/Parent Expectations
Team/Club Information
Open Q & A
By hosting a productive pre-season parent meeting, you can lay the foundation for a successful and enjoyable season for everyone involved. Remember, open communication and collaboration are key to building a strong team culture. Once you are able to establish all this information parents often feel more comfortable, involved and have a better understanding. Take a good look at the picture and remember it takes harmony and unity with the club, coaches, and parents to help support the athlete to the fullest.
Coach’s Blog #66— Breathing
Do you feel anxiety or nerves during volleyball? How is your breathing under pressure?
Chances are that your breath is shallow or rapid. Perhaps you even hold your breath and stop breathing altogether. Our breathing, feelings and behaviors are intricately linked. Not only do stress or relaxation cause certain patterns in our breathing, but when you intentionally do breathwork, you can cause the desired feeling. Breathing techniques are another powerful tool for managing stress and staying focused on the court.
Patricia Bomar (B.S., NASM-CPT, E-RYT 200, FMSC) recommends breathwork for 3 specific reasons:
REGULATE BODY SYSTEMS
Box breathing, is a technique used when taking slow, deep breaths (5 seconds inhale, 5 seconds exhale). Deep, rhythmic breathing like this can slow your heart rate and regulate your autonomic nervous system. The autonomic nervous system regulates bodily functions like digestion, respiratory rate, pupillary response and more, allowing you to perform with more control.
IMPROVE CONCENTRATION
Controlled breathing can also create focus within your mind, giving you the ability to refrain from succumbing to distractions in high pressure situations on the court. Notice that many experienced volleyball athletes apply breathwork as part of their serving routine or during timeouts.
IMPROVED RESPONSE TO STRESS
This type of breathing can help you control your physical and mental response to stress in most any environment. Deep breathing techniques have been shown to significantly reduce the production of hormones associated with stress, such as cortisol. The ability to consciously regulate breath allows the body to leave a state of stress and enter into a state of calm.
I recommend to teach these during practice and matches, so the anxiety of competition doesn't take away their focus. These are great tools for off-the-court situations, so empowering your athletes with these tools will help them in other places, too.
Check out this great video by the McKibben Brothers for some great advice and information on breathwork:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpYeKOQTN50&ab_channel=TheMcKibbinBrothers
Coach’s Blog #65 — Communication #2
Does your team ever bring up the term communication? Do you talk about when and what to communicate?
There are 3 types of communication that should be happening while on the court:
BEFORE THE PLAY- this is going to be proactive communication
What you see on the other side of the net
What seams you are passing
What plays you are running
Who has mismatch in block
Who the opponent is most likely setting
What you are blocking/defending
DURING THE PLAY- this is going to be present communication
Who is going to get the ball
Calling names
Talking about where the ball is
Talking about what you see going on on the other side of the net
Letting your setter know you are available
AFTER THE PLAY- this is going to be reactive communication
What your teammates did well
What could have been done differently
Reassurance
Cheering!
Focus towards next ball
Developing your communication individually and as a team will allow your team to reach it's potential. However, remember talking and listening are both skills of communication. There is never a moment in volleyball that you aren't communicating whether it be verbally, non verbal or simply listening!
Coach’s Blog #64 — Visualization
How well do you perform when the game is on the line? Are you able to focus when under pressure or does your performance take a hit?
The world’s best athletes have highly developed imagery skills and use these skills on a daily basis to help them perform under pressure and in big moments. David Yukelson, Ph.D, says that visualization (often termed imagery) is a mental training technique that involves using all your senses including thoughts, feelings, emotions, and other sensations such as sight, sound, feel, adrenaline to create or recreate an experience in your own mind.
“Visualization is one of the primary technologies used in sports psychology,” writes Matt Neason in a Sports Psychology Today article. “I’m a big believer in the phrase, ‘What happens out there is a result of what happens in here.’ In simple terms, this means your performance is often the result of what’s happening inside your head, or more specifically the movies and soundtracks playing inside your head.”
How to visualize? Mental coach Kalynn Evans recommends, to start you simply can close your eyes and envision the location where you’ll be performing. Visualize who will be in the stands, who your opponents are and where your teammates will be in relation to you. Visualize yourself performing all the technical skills you’ve been practicing tirelessly for years. See yourself ace the serve. See yourself make the kill. Visualize the score board you want. If you can, show up early to the venue and repeat the process while you’re in the arena. Be as accurate and specific as possible. Try to cover all the senses as well to make it even more realistic.
Many athletes use imagery as a mental training skill to build confidence and a feeling of readiness prior to competition, to plan competition strategies, rehearse game plans, affirm what you want to occur, or as a coping skill strategy to stay calm and composed under pressure. Everyone possesses the ability to use imagery, like anything else, it is a skill that must be developed and practiced. Visualization is simply weight lifting for your brain.
Coach’s Blog #63 — Body Language
How's your team's body language? Do you work on it?
A study came out in 2023 about "the effect of body language on team performance in Division 1 Volleyball".
Here is an excerpt from the conclusion of that study:
"From the data, we can conclude that negative body language correlates to a decrease in team performance as positive body language correlates to an increase in performance. This can be an effective tool to help athletes become aware of their body language and how it is affecting not just themselves, but their teammates’ performance as well. This can also be an effective tool for coaches as well to focus on recruiting athletes with positive attitudes and stressing the importance of body language and response to mistakes in the gym (Neelon, 2023)."
Karch Kiraly (USA women's National team coach) gives 3 reasons why positive body language is so important:
If you always look “as if everything is fine,” it sends message to your opponents that “they can’t crack you,” even if they are winning handily.
It creates good energy on your side of the net that will likely rub off on your teammates. If you remain confident, focused, intense and upbeat in the face of adversity, it can have a big impact on the play of those around you.
If you “smile, walk upright and look like a winner,” your own thoughts are likely to be more positive too, and that will lead to a higher level of confidence and, likely, better play.
Mike Krzyzewski (USA Mens Basketball Coach) loves to see his players showing what he calls a “strong face,” which means transmitting maximum intensity and focus and optimism. One day he asked one of his players this question: “When you see him (Kevin Durant) with that kind of face, what do you think?” The answer: “I know we’re going to win.”
You can, with your thoughts and your body language, absolutely infect your teammates, both positively and negatively. The science says it's true, and the top coaches in the world agree. Your body language is in your control and it effects your teams performance whether you like it or not! Focus on being the best version of yourself and your teammates will follow along.
https://cdr.lib.unc.edu/concern/dissertations/n009wc514
Coach’s Blog #62 — Reception Tracking
Want to improve your serve reception? Trouble reading and tracking the ball?
READING
When in reception you should always try to find a place where you can see the ball at all times. You need to start watching the opposing team’s server as soon as he/she has a ball in hand. Practice reading servers. A lot of information can be used from watching the server. Watch the server before they serve. You should pay close attention to server’s eyes, shoulders as well as arm swing.
PLANNING
When in reception ask yourself what are their tendencies. Where did they serve the time before? What do they like to serve? Where don't they like to serve? All these things help make the opponent more predictable and help with team communication and overall team passing.
TRACKING
If you’re in reception, you can’t be interested in anything but the ball. It is important to keep an eye on the ball when it is with you and you are playing it, keep looking at the ball. Even just before the reception. You’ll then see what the ball is doing, if a floating serve has risen higher or if a jump serve is falling quickly to the ground. Afterwards, you should continue watching the ball carefully and see how it comes across the net. Once you have got all that information it’s time for you to predict where the ball is likely to land on the court and take an action. Even when the ball is about to touch your plarform you can adjust at the last moment.
Here is some advice from Nicole Davis, Former USA Olympic Women's Volleyball Team Libero
"My usual focal points for reception revolve around the following cues: 1. Feet; 2. Track; 3. Forward. Before the server contacts the ball, have a plan. Know the server's tendencies, front load the possibilities, and the seam responsibilities. Track the ball, as the line may change depending on the type of trajectory of the serve."
@lipe_fonteles has some great content and advice in regards to watching and tracking the ball in reception.
There are many things to focus on in reception, but making reading, watching and tracking an important part of your process will allow you to prepare to be the best passer you can be!
Coach’s Blog #61 — Offense: Overload/Isolation
How is your team's Offense? Want to score more points?
Offense is to create space and exploit mismatches. The offense must continue exploiting the mismatches until the other team starts to make adjustments, inherently making new mismatches ready to be exploited. On my team's I use the term ABCs. It stands for;
Assess (find the mismatches)
Bombard (go at it)
Control (make them adjust to you)
Using your offense not just as chances to score, but to exploit weaknesses in your opponents defense. Two great strategy's to do this are:
ISOLATION/SEPERATION – offense designed to expose one opposing blocker to defend one of our hitters (ex: run 3/Gap, but set Red).
OVERLOAD – offense designed to force an opposing blocker to defend two of our attackers in their zone (ex: run Gap, set Go into/over it).
Speed is our weapon from pin to pin. Trying to put the opponents blockers in a constant time crisis is part of the offensive system. Once a team is able to do there ABCs, use Overload/Isolation, all well keeping a tempo offense it becomes extremely difficult to stop!
Coach’s Blog #60 — No Negative Complaining
Do you complain? Does anyone on your team complain?
Complaining is normal and so many people see it as a normal habit. However, those that want to achieve things at a higher level have to learn to eliminate complaining as much as possible from their lifestyle. It isn't easy, but here are 3 tools to try and reduce complaining from your day to day:
THE "BUT" POSITIVE TECHNIQUE: A simple strategy to turn complaints to positive thoughts. When you realize you are complaining you simply add the word "but" and then add a positive thought/action. Example; I don't like driving to practice, but I'm thankful I can drive and I'm on this volleyball team.
FOCUS ON "GET TO" INSTEAD OF "HAVE TO": Shift your perspective and realize it's not about having to do anything. You get to do things, focus on what you GET to do. Focus on feeling blessed, instead of stressed. Focus on gratitude!
TURN COMPLAINTS INTO SOLUTIONS: Focus on the difference between mindless complaining and justified complaining. The difference is INTENT. Justified complaining is when you identify a problem, and the complaint moves you toward a solution. Every complaint represents an opportunity to turn a negative into a positive.
Complaining is going to happen for athletes, parents, and coaches. The goal is to reduce the negative complaints and reframe our mind to make more positive opportunities, then negative ones! Try these tactics today!
Coach’s Blog #59 — The Skill of Sleeping
Do you prioritize sleep as recovery? Do you treat sleeping like a skill?
Sleeping is a skill just like passing or setting. It's something athletes need to work on every single day. The benefits of a good night's sleep are countless. Research has shown that inadequate sleep is associated with impaired muscle recovery and gains, reduced focus and concentration, and poor performance.
Here are 7 great sleeping tips from professional volleyball player and health expert Cameron Branch:
Aim for 7-10 hours of sleep per night. When your training load is higher athletes may need more sleep.
When schedules to not allow for adequate sleep, napping can support insufficient night time sleep. Aim for 30mins before 4pm
Avoid stimulants to like caffeine, alcohol, big meals before bedtime
Go to bed and wakeup at the same time everyday
Get sunlight exposure in the morning
Implement a relaxing bedtime routine
Sleep in a cool, dark and quiet room
Sleeping is a skill that you should be treating like any other skill. The benefits are not only short term, but long term. Enjoy your sleep
Coach’s Blog #58 — Resilience and Mental Toughness
Does your team have mental toughness? Did they have resilience under pressure?
As the season is beginning it's important to reevaluate as a coach what environment you want to create and how you can help prepare your athletes. I find many coaches trying to facilitate resilience and discipline through negative reinforcement or punishment. However, this may not be the solution! We know how the nervous system affects our athlete’s performance, we know that the name of the game is to increase our athlete’s tolerance to stress and help them consistently adapt to any given situation, but yet the methods that are being used may not be preparing athletes properly. Below is some great information from Mental Performance Coach Rob Samp, LPC:
"Resilience (mental toughness) is therefore built not through punishing the athlete to decrease the undesired behavior, but by speaking with them and training them to both deactivate themselves within the stress of the competitive environment and maintain a healthy level of nervous system activation throughout competition. Furthermore, discipline, although most often associated with being developed through punishment, can be better developed by taking a positive approach to reinforcement designed to strengthen desired behaviors, naturally discouraging unwanted behaviors in the process."
It's important as coaches to help prepare athletes for being under pressure, and there are many methods. The science seems to support positive solutions. Be there to support athletes in the moments they need you the most!
Coach’s Blog #57 — Mental Recovery for Ego Depletion
Do you prioritize recovery? Do you use recovery for your mind and ego?
Burnout may be a long-term consequence of intense and continuous performance. An equally concerning and lesser-known short-term consequence of intense performance that further necessitates rest is ego depletion. The following is from Dr. Chelsee Shortt in regards to ego-depletion:
What is ego-depletion? It is a state of decreased willpower that results in a lack of mental ability to perform (Englert, 2017). Athletes who experience ego depletion may have the following symptoms:
Poor decision-making
State anxiety
Distractibility
Lower accuracy
Longer reaction time
Poor emotional regulation
Poor executive function
Poor motivation
Ego depletion is caused by periods of prolonged mental activity and focuses in intense, performance-oriented situations. Therefore, athletes that must deploy self-regulatory processes for a prolonged period will experience negative performance impacts as their mental resources diminish (Baumeister et al., 1998). Self-regulatory processes that occur in volleyball include preparing for games through the use of goal setting, self-motivating, considering and employing strategy, selecting appropriate responses quickly and efficiently, and reflecting upon performance to make necessary changes in the future. This means athletes who are asked to compete at their highest potential will need time to mentally recover in order to be able to continue improving, learning, competing, and growing.
The best way to take care of the impacts of high performance on the mind is through active relaxation techniques and good sleep habits. Active relaxation techniques like mindfulness, accessing a positive mood through social support, a break from decisions, or time outside can aid in recovery during short-term rest periods. Then, with rest, athletes can experience positive performance, like higher self-control, lower state anxiety, better performance, heightened attentional control, good decision making, and better emotional regulation and coping.
Remember to take care of yourself, burnout and ego depletion is something you can prevent!
Coach’s Blog #56 — Practice Intensity
Want to increase practice intensity? How do you alter the intensity?
Often practices can suffer from mundane drills and tasks. Coaches demand athletes to be intense and driven, but it isn't always perfect. Here are a few things to adapt in order to increase practice intensity:
Add Competition
I personally like to start every practice with a challenge or competition. Whether it be a ball control challenge or competition via playing a game of volleyball tennis. This creates a competitive start to practice which leads to an intense environment.
Dig or Die Rules
I like to make a set of rules for some parts of practice which reward a teams effort. One simple way is to play a game (any rules you like), but one constant is that if a team let's a ball hit the floor without going for it and calling for it there score goes back to 0. Using the scoreboard as motivation is key as they simply have to try and they keep there points!
Explain the WHY
It's important to inform the athletes why they are doing the drill or game. In practice coaches often just tell athletes what to do. I have found asking the athletes "why you think we are doing this drill?" is so beneficial for me to see there understanding, but also lead them to know why they are doing it. Keeps them motivated as they understand the process more.
Increase the Tempo
One way to increase the tempo is by increasing the pace at which balls are entered in or shortening the time between rallies. Always make sure the court is safe of course!
Intensity is so important for having a good practice. You need the athletes to be engaged and pushing themselves. Another way to get that tournament level intensity is to schedule more scrimmages or intersquad games. Always great to play to compete. Two drills that are great for intensity are El Duce and Pendulum (feel free to message me if you want to learn more).
Coaches create an environment for athletes to be brave and compete, the intensity will follow!
Coach’s Blog #55 — Student Athlete
Finding the student-athlete balance difficult? Struggling with time management?
It isn't easy to be a student-athlete and being successful in both is hard. However, being a student-athlete has so many benefits! Here are a few of my tips to make the struggle easier:
SCHEDULE: Develop a structured schedule (can be on your phone) that includes designated time blocks for studying, practicing, attending classes, and other responsibilities. Don't forget time to relax and have fun! Planning and preparation are key to balanced success
HEALTH: Adequate sleep, balanced nutrition, and staying hydrated are essential for maintaining energy levels and concentration. Might seem simple, but these need to be on point to reach optimal performance.
TIME MANAGEMENT: Using time management correctly can help you stay focused during study sessions and prevent burnout. Use strategies like the Pomodoro Technique, where you work for a set period (e.g., 25 minutes), then take a short break. A great time to manage is during travel time between practices/events.
COMMUNICATION: If you're struggling with a particular subject or skill in sports, seek guidance from teachers, coaches, or mentors. Inform your teachers and coaches about your dual commitments. This allows them to support your efforts and may lead to flexible arrangements.
These are a few strategies and tips to help become a successful student-athlete, it isn't easy, but it's worth it! It's a delicate balance but you are not doing it alone. Best of luck crushing it on and off the court!
Coach’s Blog #54 — Coach Collaboration
Ever disagreed with a coaches style? Don't understand their process and philosophy?
There are so many different styles and types of coaches in sport. Volleyball is no different. Different often leads to disagreement. How do we as coaches bring up conversation about how we differ in order for us to educate, learn and grow?
ASK QUESTIONS. Often we shy away from any confrontation, but it's so important to ask healthy questions in order to learn and grow from both sides. What questions should be asked?
“Why do you use that drill?” or “Why do you like this game?” or “What are your reasons for playing 5-1 vs 6-2?, These are all examples of asking them about their views. You not only see their opinion, but they let you see their perspective on things. You then get a sense of where they’re coming from, which can be an important factor in the conversation. Who knows you might learn something!
“Have you read the positive reinforcement research?” or “Have you thought about initiating the ball this way?” or “Can the middle take 2nd ball when the libero is in 6?”, these questions are when you start to lead with your understanding and thinking. Often these types of questions can naturally be follow ups to the prior point questions. It allows the other coach to come up with reasoning for their understanding which will lead to better dialogue.
Coaches should be asking questions all the time (see Blog #28 for more info). Therefore, why should we stop when it comes to our fellow coaching colleagues. Collaborative coaches make amazing coaches!
Coach’s Blog #53 — Parent Education
Athletes do your parents need some sideline coaching? Parents want to improve your ability to support your athlete?
I want to start by saying I am not a parent and I understand it is one of the toughest things a person can do. This blog post is just to try and support parents to be the best they can be so their athletes can thrive from a coaching perspective. I want to support and here are a few key points that I think can make a parent help their athlete succeed!
MODEL SPORTSMANSHIP: Display good sportsmanship by treating coaches, officials, opponents, and teammates with respect and courtesy. Your behavior sets an example.
UNDERSTAND MOTIVATION : Understand your child's motivations for playing volleyball. Support their personal goals and aspirations, whether they aim for recreation, skill development, or competition
UNCONDITIONAL LOVE: Reiterate that your love and support are unconditional, regardless of their sports performance. This helps alleviate performance-related pressure.
EMPHASIZE EFFORT: Praise their effort and hard work, emphasizing the importance of dedication and improvement over wins and losses.
VOLLEYBALL EDUCATION: Ask the coach questions about the game to learn and understand. This will allow you to better appreciate the athlete's experiences and challenges.
PROMOTE HEALTHY COMPETITION: Understand that competition is about personal growth and challenging themselves, rather than solely beating others.
It's not a perfect recipe for success, but it will allow parent-player relationship to grow and be about areas of the games that are more controllable. Coaches try to build the cultures of teams, but parents play a big role in the team culture as well!
Coach’s Blog #52 — Transition Attacking
Attackers do you transition correctly? Why is transition so important?
In women's volleyball, more than 50% of our offensive opportunities come in transition situations (it's slightly less in men's volleyball). One of the ways we can get better in transition is to integrate repeatable footwork patterns that allow our athletes to turn and run, to get off the net, be dynamic and then be prepared for the set to come.
Now here is some interesting data that shows NCAA women’s teams and the breakdown of how often they are in transition and who is getting set
(Source: Dan Neeley)
ALL ATTACKS (K1 + K2)
First Attempt after Reception aka K1: 47%
Transition or 2nd attempt aka K2: 53%
ALL TRANSITION (K2) ATTACKS
Left Side = 58%
Middle = 14%
Right Side (including slides) = 28%
Two Key Stat Takeaways:
Our pins hitters must be very good in transition, especially in out-of-system situations
If we want our middles to be involved, they must be very good at making themselves available to our setters and establish themselves as an option
For both of these points, good transition footwork is critical. Critical for the outside hitter because she will be getting so many hitting attempts. Good footwork will help prevent fatigue, help her stay on time, and help her consistency. For the middle and opposite, because it will help them be available as an attacker, giving your setter more options and putting additional stress on opposing defenses.
Since majority of the volleyballs go to outside hitters it's vital that they have proper footwork patterns. Below Jim Stone covers the two most important footwork patterns for the outside hitter:
Transition from serve receive passing: Three shuffles to the outside of the pin, then a four step approach to the ball (right-left-right-left). Outside hitters must master this footwork pattern if they're asked to pass in rotation.
Transition from blocking or from digging the sharp angle: Drop step, crossover, hop and a 3-step approach to the ball.
Once they can master this it will allow for better and more consistent attacks. Which inherently will lead to players not complaining about sets as much because the hitters have put themselves in a position to be more prepared.
Coach’s Blog #51 — Improving Volleyball Eyes and Vision
How is your volleyball sight and vision? Do you train your eyes?
Volleyball is a fast-moving game and so must be hyper focused when on the court. Therefore, good vision is an integral part of being a successful volleyball player. Some of the vision skills that are most important in playing volleyball are eye tracking, depth perception, focus flexibility, peripheral awareness, dynamic visual acuity, and hand-eye coordination. Here is some research done by Dr. Tyler Sorensen as a sample to better understand our eyes.
DEPTH PERCEPTION: Depth perception is the ability to see the world in three dimensions. It can let a player understand how quickly a ball is coming their way. One way you can improve depth perception is by performing the following exercise. Take a capped pen and stretch out your arms in front of you. Practice capping and uncapping the pen with your hands as far away from your eyes as possible. This will help strengthen the parts of your eye that control depth perception.
PERIPHERAL AWARENESS: Peripheral awareness is the ability of a player to see the action that is taking place on the side of their focus of vision. Players can improve their peripheral awareness by trying the exercise two ball juggle. Using two balls, juggle them between your hands while keeping your eyes looking forward. The balls will pass in and out of your peripheral vision.
DYNAMIC VISUAL ACUITY: Dynamic visual acuity is the ability of the player to see clearly while moving or while watching the movement of play. For volleyball players, this means seeing the ball while moving into position to hit the ball. Dynamic visual acuity can be improved by jumping on a mini trampoline and reading different eye charts at the same time.
EYE NUTRITION: In order to improve your diet for better eyesight, try incorporating eye-strengthening vitamins, like Vitamins A, C, and E into your meals.
Just like how we train volleyball skills, mental skills and our physical abilities, we can also train our eyes in order to prepare athletes to see the game at another level. For more details and information in volleyball vision check out Mr. Sorensen's research at his website here;
Coach’s Blog #50 — Common Hitting Errors
Ever made a hitting error before? Don't always know why?
Here are 4 common hitting errors and some feedback on how to fix it.
Error #1: Player's approach footwork is backwards (known as "goofy footing")
Feedback: Focus trying to sync the arms and legs at the same time for your approach. It will make it easier to get the right rhythm.
Error #2: Player is too far under the ball and must reach back to hit
Feedback: Focus on getting back off the net and waiting to approach. Transition far off is important in order to make adjustments. Waiting also allows attackers more chance of approaching correctly.
Error #3: Right-handed player gets their left shoulder (opposite for left-handers) beyond the point of attack so that the only shot available is a cross body arm swing
Feedback: Focus on the second to last step of the approach. The second-to-last step must be fast, long and low. The last step must be short and quick, and convert the explosive horizontal approach to a vertical launch.
Error #4: Player constantly hits the net after hitting the ball
Feedback: Remind setters to set more off the net. When the hitter is close to the net, the arm swing should stop after contact instead of completely following through.
General feedback to correct most hitting errors is to focus on Footwork, Timing, Arm Swing, Approach Angle and Mindset. Here is some advice from Coach Bill Neville.
FOOTWORK: Develop each player’s approach footwork so it’s consistent every time. Wait and accelerate through the approach (the last two steps should be the fastest).
TIMING: The first step determines the angle of the approach and is the “locator step.” The second step is a quick, low step. The third and last step is parallel to the second step and helps load for the jump.
ARM SWING: Like with a tennis serve, power is generated with hip and shoulder rotation as the hitter swings. Hip rotation starts the action, then the body follows and pulls the elbow forward. Your hand trails your elbow and you bend at the elbow, causing your forearm to be a whip.
APPROACH ANGLE: Teach attackers to adjust their approach-angle based on the pass and set. Learning how to locate the ball so you can plant at the right spot and contact the ball directly over your hitting shoulder is one of the key skills of attacking.
MINDSET: Don't expect a perfect set, expect to make adjustments to fix it as this will help you wait longer and approach correctly and aggressively. Tell the ball where to go, you are the boss!
For more information on common hitting errors check out this article: https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/7-common-hitting-approach-errors-and-how-to-fix-them
Coach’s Blog #49 — Energy Excuses
Has the topic of energy come up with your volleyball team? Has anyone ever said you lost a match due to lack of energy?
The past few weekends at tournaments I have heard many excuses around the topic of energy. Some due to food, sleep, the tournament schedule, long breaks, short breaks, seeding and so forth. Obviously there are things athletes and coaches can do to prepare (eg. Eat healthy), but when the whistle goes athletes got to play. We don't want to bring up excuses before or after matches.
I want to explain that an excuse is when you give up ownership of a problem or solution. Whereas a reason is when you own a problem or solution to justify your actions. Sound similar, but they are different.
Courtney Thompson, former USA National team setter made a great list of 8 reasons why no one cares you are tired or don’t have energy:
1) It's not about you, so get over it
2) All Champions experience fatigue when pushing their limits. So feel it and embrace it. Fatigue means you're on your way!
3) Your mind is incredibly powerful. Use it to help you
4) Your mission doesn't care if you are tired
5) We won't always feel 100% in a game. Train yourself to be ready for those days
6) Check that your behaviors are in line with your objectives
7) Mood follows action. Start little and keep going
8) Remember the pain of not going all out is much bigger than the pain of holding back
The "energy excuse" can really bother me because there is no point in talking about being tired unless we are reframing it as an exciting challenge. However, athletes need to prioritize rest in order to prepare and increase there energy levels.
Real rest is vital. A focused level of energy on key parts of the game requires a high level of intensity. In order to sustain this intensity, the brain must have moments of pure rest where it can be at peace. According to brain researchers from UCLA, the best way to rest the brain is meditation (prayer), a break and rest every 90 minutes during work or activity, and daydream walks where you let your mind imagine. The best athletes in the world use these moments to prepare, in order to not make any excuses in regards to energy.
Excuses are like a sickness and can spread to your team. Whether you are a parent, coach or athlete, try really hard to reframe your thoughts and conversations to reduce any and all excuses. When energy can be such a mental component, it's important to create an environment and culture that is anti-excuses.
There will never be a perfect match, tournament, or season with the most ideal situation and conditions. Therefore, you must embrace the challenge, bring the energy and remove the excuses!
Courtney Thompson Article: https://www.positiveperformancetraining.com/blog/8-reasons-no-one-cares-you-re-tired-letter-from-an-olympian
Coach’s Blog #48 — Huddles
What are the most neglected 3 seconds in volleyball?
It happens at least 35 times each set, sometimes over 50. It can lead to dozens of missed opportunities to deliver information such as much needed praise, encouragement and strategy. The answer is, the player huddle.
Jon Zlabek wrote a great article about this neglected 3 seconds and how it can be utilized. Here is part of his article (link below for more):
"Volleyball is a game of rapidly changing momentum. Each play provides a new opportunity to start fresh, shake off the past and focus on the next play. Negative momentum, if left unchecked, can spell disaster in a set, despite the coach’s strategically used time outs. And, if a team strings together a series of great plays, momentum builds and the chance of victory grows. The player huddle is THE place to curtail negative momentum and build on positive momentum.
Each of these huddles should accomplish one of 3 objectives:
-When a play goes well: Specific praise
-When an error is made: Encouragement and reassurance
-When the team isn’t doing well: Clarify and/or change strategy"
In my coaching experience the 2nd point Jon makes is so important. Often athletes get down after a mistake and forget that we are all human and make mistakes. Volleyball is full of mistakes, but the player huddle is an opportunity to reset.
I was recently watching some game film with my 12s team and during an NCAA match the athletes noticed something interesting. They stated "the team that loses the point is quicker to huddle", they thought that was so interesting as our team struggled to even huddle after a mistake, yet some of the best players in the country were huddling immediately after some major mistakes.
It might seem like not that important to huddle between points, but it can establish culture, elicit positive energy, and reset athletes after errors to curtail negative momentum. Don't neglect these 3 second learning opportunities!
https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/3-neglected-seconds/
Coach’s Blog #47 — Timeouts
Do you have effective timeouts?
I personally feel like timeouts often are misused or underutilized. Often coaches won't use them due to ego. I use timeouts often as I see them as learning opportunities and my chance to support the athletes. Here are 3 main questions to ask about your teams timeouts:
When do you call timeouts?
What works?
What doesn't work?
When do you call a timeout?
As a standard principle, you should consider stopping play if the opposition is able to score more than 2 points from behind the service line, or when the score difference reaches 3–5 points during a manageable stage of play.
What not to do:
Visible or audible frustration. As a coach, you have an obligation to lead by example.
Ignore the team for the duration of the timeout. A coach needs to be there for the highs and lows of performance play.
Call out an individual's poor performance in front of the entire team. This is very deflating to the player. The entire team is responsible, not just one individual.
Long-winded stories or explanations. In these fast-paced settings, less is more.
Don't give just technical feedback
What to do:
Have relevant information or personal thoughts on-hand to convey. A good idea is to write them down.
Be organized with stats and collaborative with suggestions.
Try to stay on task with 1-2 key points
Allow time for the team to express their own perspective and opinions. Make yourself eye-level with the team. Direct eye contact helps remind them to stay in the moment.
Use the timeout to set the mood, work ethic and tone of the match for the next several points
During a timeout it is the coaches opportunity to paint the picture of the next phase of the match, you will help them visualize it as well, and convey your belief in them. The athletes are often already beating themselves up, so as their coach, try to be a source of positivity. Yes that might be more difficult in the moment, but that will be the most effective use of your short time with them.
Timeouts can be an invaluable opportunity for coaches to effectively communicate with their teams and potentially have a powerful impact on the final result of the set or match. More importantly, it is a credible moment to underscore the importance of program culture and team dynamics. Don't let your timeouts go to waste, or use them when it is too late. Use them to support the team!
Coach’s Blog #46 — Getting Recruited
Want to play volleyball after club? Getting recruited to play in college is competitive, and it’s vital athletes understand how to maneuver the intricacies of recruiting. Here are a few quick tips on how to get recruited:
DO YOUR RESEARCH: Start by looking at the average height, club experience, and approach jump of college volleyball players to better understand where you may fit into a program. It's important to set the bar high, but also be realistic when setting goals. Here is a great resource to help clarify: https://www.ncsasports.org/womens-volleyball/recruiting-guidelines
CREATE A HIGHLIGHT VIDEO: Volleyball recruiting video is a compilation of an athlete’s best plays. Videos should be around 3–5 minutes in length. College coaches use recruiting videos to determine if they will reach out to you or move on, so use your best highlights (quality over quantity).
EMAIL COACHES: Create a clear and professional email to send out to coaches you are interested in joining there programs. This email should be direct with all the important information. Some of that information includes: why you like the school/program, height, spike touch, grades, graduation year, position, link to highlights or game footage, your club coaches contact info, your teams name, any major awards and so forth
ASK COACHES TO COME WATCH: One of the most common for college coaches to recruit and evaluate is at tournaments such as; National Qualifiers and multi-day club tournaments. When communicating with college coaches offer your tournament schedule so they can try to see you compete in person.
Getting recruited can seem overwhelming and stressful, but take a deep breath and enjoy the process. Don't focus on what you can't control, instead focus on what you can control during the process. Remember, you are always a student-athlete meaning program and studies should always be your top priority! However, don't close the door on volleyball, if you love it try to play it as long as you can!
Coach’s Blog #45 — Comparison
Every athlete is a competitor, but that unrelenting will to win can easily become a flaw if you focus too much on what other people are doing. Comparison is not the same as healthy competition, which drives us to be better.
Sometimes the difference between competition and comparison gets confusing. Comparison can lead your mind down a road that focuses more on what someone else is doing, whereas competition is a mindset in which you are already a winner and you do what it takes to see that you win.
Comparison comes from a lack of self-esteem. To stop the comparison habit, try focusing on bettering yourself and boosting your confidence. Try to train your mind to step away from unfavorable comparisons. Seek instead to embrace kindness and a positive attitude. It definitely isn't easy, but it's worth it!
Here is a great quote from the late Kobe Bryant that talks about comparison:
“I don’t want to be the next Michael Jordan, I only want to be Kobe Bryant.”
He was focused on his own goals. He wasn’t worried about trying to live up to what someone else had already done, and he was making his legacy. Use other athletes to inspire you, not to bring you down. Inspiration is very different then comparison!
Too much time is spent comparing yourself to others. There will only be one champion or six starters. What needs to happen is that you work to become the best you can be. If you compare yourself there is always someone taller, smarter, faster, etc. than you. Keep your goals in mind, work hard and don’t let other people’s achievements intimidate you! The only person you should be comparing yourself to is yourself.
Remember "Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is you-er than you." - Dr. Seuss.
Resource for Coaches to help fight the Culture of Comparison:
https://truesport.org/a-good-sport/athletes-culture-of-comparison/
Coach’s Blog #44 — Coaches It’s Not About You
Coaches, it's not about you!
The Head Coach for the Stanford Women's team Kevin Hambly was asked "what advice would you give yourself as a starting coach?". His answer was so selfless, but so powerful! Check it out below:
"This is never about you. This coaching profession is never about you. I think when I was young, my identity as a coach was wrapped up in the performance of the players. If the team was not doing well, that meant I was not doing well. And the problem with that is then: my response to them not performing well was about fight or flight... I was trying to control them instead of guiding them. Instead of inspiring them. Instead of creating a level of collaboration."
Often as coaches we don't check our ego at the door. Meaning we are being selfish and doing it for us. Living vicariously through the athletes which is egocentric. I love what Kevin says about how he early on was trying to 'control' his athletes instead of guiding and inspiring. So many coaches fall into this trap of controlling as they were taught like this, but the best coaches in the world don't work like that. Even the top coaches struggle with this as it is hard to check your ego, but it's vital for your athletes long term development and success. I know I have struggled with it as well, especially the transition from full time athlete to full time coach.
As coaches we have to remember our job is to support, guide, inspire and collaborate with the athletes to help them become the best version of themselves!
Coach’s Blog #43 — Tooling the Block
How do you tool the block?
There are more ways then one to tool a block. Tooling can be such a useful weapon in volleyball players repertoire. The first method is wiping. Here is a quote about keys to fixing tight sets:
"We spend a lot of time training tooling and, more specifically, wiping the ball off the block. As a hitter, it’s most important to get your feet to the ball, wherever it’s set. When you’ve closed your feet to the ball, you’ll have the opportunity to take a tight set and wipe it off the block, thus tooling the block into the antenna for a point. To practice this skill, we cut the court in half and play doubles in front of the 10-foot line. The small court forces players to tool the block to score." -- Jennifer Petrie
You can also hit/attack the ball off the blockers outside hand to create a scoring opportunity by tooling them. Here are a few steps to achieve just that:
How to Tool the Block
PRE-CONTACT PHASE
The approach is the same as a normal attack. The critical element is for the attacker to keep the ball in front of them as to see the ball and the blockers at the moment of contact.
CONTACT PHASE
For the outside tool, contact made on the inside of the ball with the thumb pointing up (when hitting from position 4). The attacker is aiming at the outside hand of the outside blocker.
POST-CONTACT PHASE
The hand, wrist and arm follow through in the direction of the hit. Generally, the shoulders will rotate in the direction of the tool after the contact.
Now here are some more tips:
Hit high into the block. If the ball is brought down, it is likely to be blocked.
Identify the weakest blocker. Hitting off the biggest blocker often results in a block.
Use the tip. You can tool the block on a tight set by pushing the ball into the block and then towards the outside of the court.
Adjust the timing of your attack. By waiting a fraction of a second before hitting the ball, the blockers will be on their way down. The blockers arms will be pulling back and the tool becomes more successful.
(Source: Volleyball Canada)
Often the block will reach or be not disciplined, therefore creating a great opportunity to use it to your advantage. When the block is reaching, then the attacker is teaching!
Coach’s Blog #42 — Physical Punishment
Is physical punishment good for volleyball training, learning and development?
The following post is parts of an article from John O'Sullivan, with parts from John Kessel. The link is at the bottom, I highly recommend it!
Why is physical punishment so prevalent for some activities, and yet seems silly for others? Would you do sit-ups for misspelling a word in class? Would an archer or golfer do push-ups for missing the target? Would a baseball player run laps for swinging and missing?”
Surgeons, for example, as they learn an incredibly intricate skill with huge consequences for a mistake, are never sent to do burpees if they mess up. They fix the problem, and then the senior surgeon sits down with them, breaks down the errors, they practice more, and they improve.
Now I realize that some people want to stop reading right here, and start typing an angry reply, saying “I have used running and burpees and push ups for years and it works and our kids are getting soft and I hate snowflakes and on and on and on.” I get it. Anecdotally it seems to work great. Sometimes you threaten kids with physical punishment. They focus a bit more. There is some slight improvement. And we say “look, it works.” but does it really?
Here are a few key reasons why punishment is not the best method for learning:
Motor skills are improved by repetition
Threatening physical punishment induces stress and fear, two elements that diminish physical performance
Physical punishment causes fatigue, and fatigue inhibits learning
Practice time on court is limited
Physical punishment only serves the coach
Physical punishment is only used because of tradition
Excessive physical punishment will likely lead to many kids not returning next season
Now I have used punishment methods, I'm not a perfect coach and I'm still learning. I know punishment may seem it helps focus, but here are a few better options:
Improve focus by running shorter duration, higher intensity activities
Play last score wins
Play winner stays on
Change the activity
Give your athletes more ownership
Coach the child, not the sport
Ask ourselves “just because I taught it, have they actually learned it?”
Check for understanding in practice
Be patient
“Punishment may get you compliance, but not inspired behavior.” Not to mention that such fear may be a motivator, but it is a very poor compass.” -- Unknown
Be the coach your players need, instead of the coach many of us wish we never had.
https://www.sportsengine.com/article/why-do-we-think-physical-punishment-good-teaching-tool-sports
Coach’s Blog #41 — Hydration
Are you properly hydrated during volleyball? The fast-paced and intense nature of volleyball requires bursts of maximal activity for up to several hours per match, practice or tournament. Proper hydration is critical for optimal performance.
A Sport Doctor told me when I was younger that optimal performance cannot be attained without proper hydration. Prior to that conversation with that doctor I was one of the athletes that was "too cool" for water breaks. I also got tired at the end of tournaments and even cramped up. Needless to say it was like a switch went off in my head that day to prioritize hydration.
The doctor also clarified other reasons why hydration helps:
Muscle and Cells: A hydrated cell is happy and recovers more quickly after training
Body Temperature Regulation: The body regulates its temperature and cools efficiently when hydrated
Brain Function: When optimally hydrated, the brain makes quick decisions on the court
Dehydration in athletes can lead to cramps, heat stroke and heat exhaustion, so proper water intake is crucial in replacing the fluids lost to sweating. Dehydration is so easy to avoid. Yet athletes often aren't properly hydrated.
I have seen it too many times athletes (and even coaches and parents) making water breaks or getting water seem like a "weakness". This stigma is hurting athletes and has no scientific evidence to back it up. Therefore every team I coach I clarify that "cool kids" drink water!
It's important to know how to measure hydration levels using the urine test. Athletes, to monitor and recognize your urine color prior to exercising. The questions every athlete should ask themselves are;
Is urine a light, lemonade color or lighter? Hydrated
Is urine a darker color in lower volume with strong odor? Dehydrated; more water
Remember that drinking water is not just for on game day during a match, or just at practice. It starts long before that! Being properly hydrated for a game or practice begins in the hours and even days before the opening whistle. In addition to just carrying a water bottle around, you should drink water with your meals, as many foods tend to dehydrate more than hydrate. Foods and beverages like soups, smoothies, fruits, and vegetables are also a great way to help get fluids into the body.
Now you may be asking "so how much should an athlete drink?" The answer is there’s no calculation that’s going to be perfect: people sweat at different levels, temperatures impact how much you sweat, how hard you work impacts how much you need to drink to replenish and be hydrated. Every athlete is unique and different, but making sure athletes are staying properly hydrated will not only help them perform at their best, but it will also ensure the safety of each athlete.
Coach’s Blog #40 — Overcoming Performance Anxiety
Ever felt nervous or anxious prior to a game?
Felt those butterflies in your stomach?
Overcoming Performance Anxiety
If you said yes to the above questions it's okay! These feelings are normal. That doesn’t make them any less painful though. Anxiety can be crippling. However, there are many steps you can take to help reduce the negative side effects it may have.
Volleyball anxiety’s kryptonite is preparation. Athletes should arrive early and go through the same warm-up routines they do in practice. During warm-ups, they should try and visualize themselves playing well while taking some deep, slow breaths. Doing this will help create a great mental space for them to compete in.
During the match, focusing on the next play, rather than the result, will help keep athletes in the moment (eg. 0-0, game to 1 or best point is the next point). Another simple trick to stay relaxed, even in high-pressure moments, is to smile. If you go through the physical motions of having fun, your mental game will follow along!
By understanding sports anxiety, you can take a new approach when you perceive the sensation coming on. Further, by learning techniques to utilize before and after games, you can effectively control the emotion.
Here are 8 Tips to overcome performance anxiety:
DEVELOP A GAME DAY ROUTINE
PREPARATION/PRACTICE
FUEL BODY WITH HEALTHY FOOD
ENGAGE IN POSITIVE VISUALIZATION
CALM DOWN WITH DEEP BREATHING
LISTEN TO MUSIC PREGAME
REFRAME ANXIETY
POSITIVE SELF TALK
Now those may be for the athlete, but parents and coaches can play a big role. They can help reduce sport performance anxiety with the language they use before, during and after matches. Be wary of only praising athletes when things go right – a good rule of thumb to avoid adding stress is to praise EFFORT instead of the results.
It's not easy to overcome performance anxiety, but remember anxiety doesn't come from thinking about the future, but from wanting to control it. Control what you can control!
Coach’s Blog #39 — Video Delay
Do you use video delay feedback in your practices? This tool is something I wish I used earlier in my personal playing career. It wasn't till I was in university I started breaking down my own film. However, using a delay feedback loop on practice is so beneficial!
Obviously you can't just use a delay app without teaching your athletes what to look for, but once they know what is proper form and techniques, they can use the video delay as self-reliant athletes.
Two key parts for video delay to work in your practices are;
First, they need to get into the habit of looking.
Then, they must do it immediately after the action.
Once the feedback loop is established you want them to focus on:
Having a sense of what happened
Watch the video analytically
Come away with a plan of action for the next time
There is a risk of players coming to watch video with a “What happened?” thought process. With proper coaching and teaching of skills, technical training, and increased volleyball IQs the players will reframe that mindset. It instead will lead them to approach the video with an “I think I did this” that is then confirmed or rejected by what they see. It is a lot quicker, and more productive.
Obviously from time to time you will have to help the athletes diagnose what happened or what could be improved. However, this helps establish trust with the athletes as you believe they can self-diagnose during the video delay feedback loop.
One area I notice athletes with video delay is them being self conscious and it possibly affecting their self esteem. As coaches we need to create an environment that teaches the video delay to be educational and for learning, not judging and criticizing.
Coach’s Blog #38 — Overhand/Overhead Passing
Overhand Passing is a skill that may not be used a lot, but is still important to learn. When it comes to this skill hand strength is a key component. This is particularly important when the ball is outside of the perfect hand placement. Therefore, it is critical that players are able to move and re-position themselves so that they are in a better position to execute the overhand pass.
It is also important to inform athletes that setting and overhand passing are two different skills. Comparing these two skills is actually a good way to teach it as you can emphasize the key differences. Here is a step by step process of how to breakdown overhand passing:
Pre-contact phase
The passer is in ready position with weight on the toes, ready to move, and is looking at the server to read their shoulders.
The passer identifies the direction and trajectory of the ball quickly and starts moving the body to the anticipated point of contact.
As the passer gets to the point of contact with the ball and stops their feet, the hands come together above and in front of the head. At this point, the knees are bent and the weight of the body is forward in a stable position. The eyes are still on the ball and the shoulders are squared to the ball.
Contact phase
The hands are wide open and closer together than when setting. The wrists are stiff to counter the velocity of the ball and the elbows are bent to allow for good extension.
The shoulders and head pivot slightly in direction of the target. The arms extend in direction of the target as the legs push on the ground to stabilize the pass. The wrists stay strong not allowing the hands to rotate externally.
Post-contact phase
The hands follow through towards the target. The passer finds their balance and gets ready to cover or hit the ball.
Source: Volleyball Canada
Coach’s Blog #37 — Coaching Robots
We are not training volleyball players as robots. It's key to make that distinction. USA Director of Sport Development John Kessel makes some great points about this separation:
"Technique is important, but not at the expense of kids not wanting to play our game. It’s not about being a perfect volleyball machine, it is about getting better at the game with the core techniques that are understood to be the goal. Show them and let them do it. Check for understanding, then guide their discovery AS THEY PLAY, as they WANT to get better. They are going to be in the wrong place at the wrong time A LOT when young. This is why we play doubles on smaller courts; so the reading demands are limited and expanded as they learn to read better. If they can show you they can demonstrate the core technique WITHOUT the ball, they KNOW the technique. They just need to learn when and where to do it in an imperfect game. I want players, not robots, who can read and get to the best possible place at the right time, time to deliver the right next ball flight, even if technically they are out of form. In the end, it is not what you know as a coach, but what your athlete thinks. Your job in not making robots. It is to guide their discovery of when and where to jump, and why. Do not tell the player, but get each athlete to better coach their unique self and understand what that feels like."
Often as coaches we like control and the chaos on our court can feel unbearable. We as coaches are there to guide and instill confidence, not command them. One area I have tried to improve is the amount of "mini games" I have at practice. Often playing 3 vs 3 half court, or doubles. Allowing the theme or focus of the practice be worked out in game like situations with more reps.
I always tell my athletes at the end of the day you get to play and I am coaching. I can't think for you on the court, but I will help guide you to learn to think the game the best you can! These words instill confidence in the athletes as they know they have the power to do it because you treat them as more than a robot!
Coach’s Blog #36 — Setting Distribution
Should the offense be evenly distributed? I hear a lot of setters say they want it to be "balanced" and they want everyone to get some or even the same attempts.
I don't think this thought process makes total sense, but I understand it to a degree. I happened to stumble upon some wonderful dissecting and reframing of this notion about even distribution by former Canadian National team setter TJ Sanders!
Here are just some of his thoughts:
"...We want to exploit and expose our opponent. That will naturally require us to unevenly distribute the ball since our offensive advantages will not be equal. Distribution evens out once your opponent has adapted to their weaknesses and exposes new ones (aka they begin hedging to those weaknesses/disadvantages). This is the beginning of layering your offense. We don't want to let blockers off the hook by distributing the ball evenly without intention..." -- TJ Sanders
It's so important to understand these concepts not only as a setter, but for the entire team and coaching staff. This will allow for teams to understand the process, game plan and goals. Making the distribution about efficiency, instead of making it personal.
Coach’s Blog #35 — Communication
Have you ever heard a coach yell “TALK”? My guess is yes! Maybe this isn't the most effective way to encourage communication. We know that athletes know how to speak, so maybe the players aren’t communicating because they don’t know WHAT to say and the WHY behind it! As coaches we need to spend time teaching players HOW to communicate? Communication is a skill just as much as serving and passing. However, WHAT exactly is communication?
Communication is the act of exchanging information. Athletes sometimes think that when they talk they are effectively communicating with their team, but when you ask the other teammates if they heard what the athlete said they will say “no” or they will say they did not understand what they were saying or they didn't process it in time.
Teaching communication won't happen over night. Like other skills it will take time and patience. Coaches often teach the physical skills of the game of volleyball without teaching the kids the game of volleyball. Volleyball is a visual sport that requires athletes to see what is going on and be able to read and anticipate what is to come. When we teach the athletes to communicate what they see with each other, it will raise the overall ability of a team to compete at a higher level without requiring a change in their physical skill level.
Here are 3 keys to have effective communication on the court:
Know WHAT you are communicating about.
Speak in a language that is UNDERSTOOD by the people communicating
Keep the words quick, short and SPECIFIC
Communication is debatably one of the most important skills in volleyball. It raises the intensity level, it helps players think the game, it makes teams harder to defend and exhausting to play against. It helps teams be one step ahead of the next play; anticipating what is about to happen. It can create synergy on offense and defense. It can boost morale and create a professional environment. It leads to having more energy and FUN!
A simple example of this is in serve reception when some one calls the type of serve and placement (eg. Float, short, mine) it allows the other players to release and begin preparing for the next task (eg. Setter to set, hitters to hit). This creates a synergy and great team dynamic to put players in position for success.
As coach's we need to make sure during the season to cover the fundamentals, and remember that communication is a fundamental!
Coach’s Blog #34 — Catastrophizing
Understanding the psychology of athletes to me is one of my favourite parts to learn more about. When I was researching to understand athletes better, I stumbled upon the term Catastrophizing.
Catastrophizing is a cognitive distortion that prompts people to jump to the worst possible conclusion.
An example in volleyball is when an athlete makes a mistake and begins engaging in catastrophic thinking by exaggerating how poorly the error will reflect on them and that people (teammates, coaches, parents) will think less of them as a person.
An athletes belief in what can happen during volleyball can have major impact on their behaviour. An optimistic person or even realistic person can often see more positives that happened in a situation. Where as someone who catastrophizes will see the negative, what has gone wrong and will be less likely to try new things.
Catastrophizing can lead to undue stress and anxiety, which will hold athletes back in their future development.
A great coach I know, Paul Oneid, has 3 key techniques to help deal with Catastrophizing:
Teach your inner critic compassion
Make up a better story
Be kind to yourself
It's important to always ask yourself when you start thinking negatively "if it happens is it really that bad? So what if it does?". This will help move athletes past the negative thought and replace it with a more realistic or positive thought.
Coach’s Blog #33 — Split Step
What is a split step?
The split step is a little hop that helps to get a quick first step on receiving an incoming serve.
How do you do a split step?
The split step is done by taking a little hop in the air, as the reception player is anticipating the service coming towards them.
In order to have the correct timing for the split step you need to land exactly when you realize where your opponent’s ball is going, off their hand. At that moment of landing, your legs should be bent and loaded and help you push off in the direction of the ball much quicker than if you are flat footed.
Why do a split step?
One of the reasons I love the split step is the way it prevents you from being flat footed when moving towards the serve, allowing you to make a quick decision in whether you’re going to end up moving in any direction. Therefore it sort of creates an extra level of preparation to your ready position as now you are ready to react quicker.
When you are able to time the split step well, it can help you move quicker from your ready position because your legs will already be bent and loaded at the moment you recognize and read the direction and trajectory of the ball.
Conclusion
At the end of the day the main goal of the split step is to speed up our first action towards the ball. It's an advanced skill, but can be taught at younger ages!
I highly recommend you go watch some film on Erik Shoji, simply watch his feet in serve reception.
Coach’s Blog #32 — Control Chaos
Learning to control chaos in volleyball, what does this mean?
Often as coaches we try to hard to make our practice 'look good' by tossing volleyballs perfectly to the hitter or setter and we love the technical results, but then wonder why the athlete's can't make that translate to the actual game. Volleyball is not often perfect, it's actually the opposite. We know most teams at most levels spend the vast majority of their time in imperfect situations (eg. Being out of system).
Now what changes can we do to start preparing for that "chaos"?
Here is part of what John Kessel does to prepare his teams,
"It starts with warm-up where most opponents are pair peppering or doing coach-controlled actions while my kids are in groups of three doing weave pepper, or loser becomes the net. It then goes to hitting, where our opponents slam ball after ball off a coach’s toss, until the setter sets off, yet again, a coaches toss. Meanwhile, my team is doing front-back form of receive, set hit in 2-3 lines, starting by the players throwing over the net."
Now I know what some people are thinking, what about all those parents that are commenting about the other teams with coach-controlled warm-up and they say “Doesnt it just look so pretty?", how do you respond to that?
You explain that volleyball is more often in chaos in being out of system and it's about learning to deal with the variety and randomness. The volleyball brain needs the trials and errors to grow and develop. It actually needs failure in order to learn, grow and succeed under stress. Your brain needs to read in advance to know when/where to be at contact, creating more contact points allows for more "chaos" to read (eg. Toss ball to a passer for hitting lines instead of coach tossing to hitters). All of this prepares the athletes for the actual game, which we know is not always that "pretty".
I've found it a struggle as a coach sometimes to let go of the control part and accept that the drill may look like chaos, but the learning and development has increased. Often coaches have those control or perfection issues that we feel we need to always be. However, it's important to have a bit of chaos at practice to learn how to control the chaos. It's not always easy, but it's worth it.
Coach’s Blog #31 — Increasing Fitness Levels
Want to prepare during the summer for the upcoming indoor volleyball season? Want to prepare your body?
One area I encourage for athletes is increasing fitness levels. It's proven that elevated strength and cardiovascular endurance can help mitigate performance declines and lead to long term success.
How should athletes increase their fitness level?
There are many ways to increase fitness levels. One way that I recommend for volleyball athletes is to consider playing a season of beach volleyball to help improve their indoor performance.
"Research shows that beach volleyball training significantly increases cardiovascular fitness and running economy (Balasas et al., 2013). Increasing fitness levels leads to improved performance, enhancing running economy leads to faster sprint speeds. Additionally, beach volleyball training increases lower body muscle endurance, power, and vertical jump height (Balasas et al., 2018). These performance benefits are likely due to the increased demands of beach volleyball, requiring 20-60% more energy than indoor volleyball (Lejeune et al., 1998)."
So if you are wondering what to do this summer to get ready for the upcoming indoor season, why not give beach a try?
Coach’s Blog #30 — Practice Planning: Scoring System
Often as coaches we spend a lot of time with isolated drills to focus on a specific skill. I'm not saying there is no place for that, but I prefer to have as many game-like drills as possible in my practice plans.
John Kessel, former director of player development for USA Volleyball, believes that drills need to be game like in nature, so he calls them "grills". I think this is a great way to think as a coach for volleyball.
One area I love to adapt is the scoring system of my gameplay portions of practice. What I mean by scoring system is to play a “normal” game, but use the the adapted scoring system to place emphasis on different aspects of the game.
Some examples of this could be:
Points off of a time variable eg. Each point scored off the first attempt at a sideout (K1) and first swing is worth 3 points
Add bonus points for a particular skill: e.g., a backrow kill counts as two points
Start games at a designated score, e.g., 22-22 or 22 – 20 etc to simulate late game situations
Make compounding points eg. Each additional steal (point while serving) is doubled in point value
Only a certain position or type of play can score points. Eg. only the opposite may score a point to emphasis right side attacking (if anyone else scores that team receives the next ball but does not score a point)
Any of these can help create a competitive practice while still keeping the focus that the coach wants. When you can keep engagement high and allow the athletes to be creative to find winning solutions you then develop self-reliant athletes. But let's be honest is there a better way to motivate athletes then points? Winning is a great motivator.
Coach’s Blog #29 — OPINION: Negative Coaching is NOT Okay
I overheard a conversation between parents at a tournament as they were commenting on a coach who was yelling, punishing, demeaning and verbally abusing athletes. I wanted to share this post to advocate my opinion on these coaching behaviours.
Here is how their conversation went:
The one parent asked if they thought a coach verbally abusing an athlete was okay. The other parent explained how the coach ruled by fear and demeaned the children, but they won a lot of games and the kids were getting exposure to great opportunities. The parents then continued to say that this is how you get scholarships and how high level coaches do it. Neither seemed alarmed by the coaches behavior and agreed that winning is the most important thing, so it's okay to have that "style" of coaching.
I want to note that these are parents of 10-11 year old girls playing volleyball. I couldn't believe what I had just heard.
I am not a parent, and understand I don't have that view, but I wanted to help parents and athletes understand it's not okay to think this way. The "short term" results are not worth your child's long term mental health!
Here are some suggestions by John O'Sullivan on what a parent can do:
We must focus on the development of the future human and not the current athlete and results.
We must be our child’s advocate.
We must find a coach that keeps them loving the game.
We must evaluate coaches and clubs on how they positively impact the future human and not whether they get these short-term results.
This toxic culture will never change until we become advocates for the children in the game, whether they are our flesh and blood, or another’s. Zoom out and look at the big picture, mom and dad, and choose to end abusive and negative coaching.
Check out an awesome article about negative coaching by John O'Sullivan, here: https://changingthegameproject.com/no-excuse-for-the-abuse/
Coach’s Blog #28 — Asking Questions
As a coach sometimes I forget that me preaching advice is not the best coaching method. Even the best advice won’t help an athlete if they are not ready to hear it. Coaches are there to empower athletes to move forward by enabling them to discover solutions to their problems.
Questions are one of the best tools for coaches to use to facilitate learning. There are different types of questions that coaches can use:
Thick questions (requiring elaboration)
Thin questions (yes/no)
Convergent questions (you have an answer)
Divergent questions (only they have an answer).
Questions help players reflect in the moment. They allow players to consciously consider their actions and decisions that may ordinarily be unconscious. As a coach you must ready yourself for questions about all components of the game. Help players understand the integrated nature of skills by loading your questions in a way that requires critical appraisal of all performance factors.
A good 4 step approach to using questions effectively at practice is:
Ask an Open Question
Ask ..and what else?
Go Deeper
Inquire
Effective coaching seeks to spur reflection rather than to provide solutions to a particular problem. Often we forget how important that constant reflection is. Through reflective inquiry, you help athletes understand the beliefs and fears that shape their choices. Reflective inquiry also allows athletes to reframe their initial on court issue and place it in a larger context of the game. Therefore reflective inquiry is a coaching approach that focuses on transforming the athlete's behavior, rather than simply solving an isolated problem. Long term the benefits for athletes are massive.
In the end you actually help your athletes develop the confidence to tackle problems on their own in the future. Once you create self-reliant athletes the sky is the limit for them!
Coach’s Blog #27 — Coaching Tool: Whiteboard
Using the whiteboard as a coach is one of the best skills I have learned. Many elite coaches use the whiteboard, yet many still prefer to not use it at practices. I believe it is underutilized and want to explain how and why it should be used:
First up, I want to be clear I try to start every practice at the whiteboard. It creates consistency and has similar benefits to that of a common educational classroom. Some of the implications that an effective whiteboard delivery are; practices run more efficiently, it develops a team cohesion and camaraderie, and helps to solidify the training.
There are many reasons that I believe it’s important to start each class at the whiteboard, including:
It establishes the coach as the clear leader and the type of coach/athlete relationship that is about to take place. I want to be clear that I am not militaristic in my coaching style, but I do expect the athletes to listen to and respect their coaches. By starting at the whiteboard, and stating expectations and goals, this is made very clear.
So what do we cover at the whiteboard?
My main goal at the whiteboard is to communicate any and all information that needs mention to make the practice excellent. That is the theme, focus and expectations. This includes order of drills so the progression of learning is obvious to everyone. This allows the athletes to take more ownership of their development.
The whiteboard can be used at any point in a practice, as it can be a teaching tool. For example I wanted to explain serving zones to my club team, I was able to draw the zones and gave the markers to the athletes to write why these zones could have pros and cons. It took 2 minutes and everyone was clear as to why we chose specific zones. It also allowed athletes to think on their own for a bit, instead of the coach just saying and pointing to a zone. For those learners that need to write to learn or even the visual learners this tactic proved effective.
The whiteboard ensures a key message is crystal clear and provokes curiosity within each player. This curiosity helps create a player centered way of coaching. I’m also still discovering ways of using a whiteboard within a session to enhance development.
Let's be clear though coaches can 'over use' the whiteboard by talking too much and not allowing the athletes to try things. However, I think it still is underutilized generally.
Do you use a whiteboard at practices? Do you have an alternative? Do you agree or disagree?
Coach’s Blog #26 — The Basics of Diving
What is a volleyball dive?
Often called the swan dive, or as I tell my athletes the Penguin dive, this is a technique used in volleyball to keep the ball alive in difficult situations. In defense, when the ball is travelling low to the ground, sometimes it isn’t possible to get our feet there and pass or set. The volleyball dive is a technique used to quickly get part of your body under the ball to continue the rally.
The volleyball dive can be thought of as a technique to control how you fall to the floor, while still playing the ball. While you can always throw yourself at the ball with spirit and desperation, simply hoping not to hurt yourself, it really just takes one awkward fall to ruin the fun for possibly a long time.
When I was 14 I was trying out for the high school team and I didn't know how to dive, but the coaches said we were doing dive lines at tryouts. I was 6'7" and awkward. Once I heard the whistle I threw myself to the ground and cracked open my chin. I was bleeding everywhere and ran to the washroom. Somehow I made the team and learned to dive later on. I tell this story because I am passionate about teaching athletes to properly dive as it can be scary for many athletes like it was for me. There may come a time when learning how to dive properly in volleyball will save you a lot of pain and missed defensive opportunities.
Here are a few of my tips to dive properly:
Start very small and move up in increments. Example; start on knees and going forward on a mat, then one knee down one up onto a mat, then standing onto a mat, then back to knees on floor, one knee on floor, then standing dive to floor. Go slow and build a progression to build your confidence and trust. Don't start from standing!
Once you are standing then you can look to:
Focus on moving quickly to the ball
Stay low to the ground as you approach the ball (low ready position helps)
Feel confident that you arms and chest will break your fall after you’ve played the ball, and made an awesome dig!
Diving in volleyball is often thought of as an advanced skill, but when you break it down into steps, I really believe anyone can do it.
Coach’s Blog #25 — Closing the Block
Struggling to have a big closed block? Middle blockers just can't seem to close the gap?
Here are my 5 keys to help middle blockers close the block:
READY POSITION
Same as in back row defense the first thing to focus on is a good ready position – knees bent, equally balanced on both feet, also known as being loaded. Often middles stand up too straight, which leads to slow closes. By staying in a lower, more athletic position middles will be able to move more explosively and dynamically.
READING
The better a middle is at reading and anticipating, the better they’ll be at reacting as quickly as possible to the set. Reading can only happen in game-like situations, or at least when the hitter gets game-type visual cues. Watching film can help a lot with this as well!
WATCH THE PASS
Watch the pass. The location of the ball after the pass tells you a lot about how the play is likely to unfold. For instance, if the pass is off the net, you can be almost certain that the setter isn’t going to run the middle. Once you see a setter you can also track tendencies (with the flow, against the grain, etc...).
FOOTWORK
Here are two types of footwork patterns to help create great blocks: Traditional- Big first step with the lead leg in the direction of the set, a crossover step and then a hop close. (That big first step should be a driving step, where you push off one foot, glide in the air and land on the other foot. It’s similar to a bounding step, only it’s sideways as opposed to forward.)
Swing Block- First step is a small directional step followed by a larger dynamic step to a close step. All of this is done while turning adjacent to the net. It’s easiest explained as a turn and run and close.
PHYSICAL CAPABILITY
This is the sheer speed of movement. How fast can the player get from point A to point B? Go to the weight room to become more explosive! Lots of great resources to develop this area.
Coach’s Blog #24 — The ‘Why’ of Coaching
Coaching and teaching younger athletes I often here the word 'why?' I also was the type of athlete that needed to know the why for every drill and choice (Yes I'm sure I annoyed many coaches). I have learned both through my experience and 7 years of studying education that as a coach you need to know the why.
Dr. Kirschner is very eloquent in how he describes the key values to successful teaching:
“First is: Don’t just do, but think about and understand what you’re doing. It’s more important to know and understand why and when and in what situations things may work or not work than just being taught what to do. You want teachers to be reflective practitioners; to think about: What and why they’re going to do something. Why does what they’ve done work out in a certain way. How they might do it the next time to be more effective and efficient.
The second is that learning results from processing what you encounter. The goal of good learning and instruction is to optimize this information processing which involves, among other things: Knowing how to prepare learners for learning (e.g., prior knowledge, feed-forward). It is knowing how to facilitate that process (e.g., via dual coding, scaffolding, mathemagenic behaviors, cognitive load theory, employing study strategies such as spaced practice, retrieval practice, and variability of practice). Knowing how to follow-up the learning experience (e.g., feedback, feed-forward, assessment for learning). Creating a proper context for learning (e.g., situated cognition, social learning, cognitive apprenticeship).
A bonus third, related to the second is a quote from Ernst Rothkopf: “You can lead a horse to water, but the only water that reaches his stomach is what he drinks.” Create learning situations that get your students to drink! Many teachers, teachers-in-training, and even psychology and education undergraduates miss the foundation that they need to understand and reflect upon not the ‘how’s,’ but instead the ‘why’s’ of what good teaching is.”
Coaching and teaching is not simply having a new drill or teaching tool and you become a great educator. It's the why and the purpose of your lesson that lead to development and growth.
Trust the Process.
Life Long Learner.
Never Stop Asking Why.
Coach’s Blog #23 — Attacking Contact
Contact to Attack
Attacking a volleyball is one of the most important skills in volleyball. The objective is to score points and attacking is a critical part in scoring. There are many components to a successful attack, but one I'll break down today is the contact. The final part of the attacking sequence.
The reason I bring this up is often in youth athletes at early stages they are hitting with the heel of there hand. This can be for many reasons like it feels safer, the ball goes up and over the net, it's a harder surface and so forth. Yet, it isn't ideal long term, as it has less control, less ability to score and no top spin.
Here are a few of my tips to create a more consistent contact while attacking:
Start by having an athlete along the net and have them toss a ball up in the air (they can be on a box). First piece of advice is to open up to the attack and not just be parallel to the net. Now rotate hips and shoulders toward the opponent’s court. Reach dominant elbow to ball. Extend elbow to throw hand toward the ball.
Now purely focus on the CONTACT:
Reach for ball at full extension
Drive palm through the center of the ball
Wide open to create more surface area
Connect with palm, follow with fingers
Snap wrist naturally over the ball
Hit with pinky or thumb down for variance in attack
Return hand to hip after contact by following through
Common Misstep
You have to reach out, forward, or behind yourself to make good contact with the ball.
Correction
Adjust toss for simple drill. When going for full attack (with approach and jump) adjust the steps of the approach to put yourself in position to get maximal reach, by keep the ball high and in front of your dominant shoulder.
Have athletes grab a ball and just hit it in there hand . Have them feel and hear the difference with a proper contact vs incorrect contact. Many athletes just focus on the result, which for many is over net and not an error is good! However, teaching them proper contact to create attacks with top spin is important for future development. It's important as coaches to encourage it even though the athletes will make more mistakes in the short term.
Coach’s Blog #22 — Stop the Middle Blocker Stigma
There is a stigma that middle blockers have no ball control. For most middle blockers, from the moment they started to play volleyball almost every coach they have come into contact with has made fun of them (even if not on purpose). Coaches have shouted at them for their lack of skill and developed complex game systems so that middle blockers don’t have to touch the ball unless absolutely necessary.
The reality is that middles can be all perfectly skilled at the basics of the game. Just like there teammates, middles can receive a free ball and set a high ball. Their not bad because they have a title of middle blocker. Their crisis of confidence comes from people telling them they can’t. For middles it simply becomes easier for them to be quiet. This leads to middles that are untrained and out of practice with simple concepts, if there is an emergency and they have to do it, they are not ready. Coaches know that readiness is of utmost importance in skill execution. So coaches’ perception bias ends up allowing the self fulfilling prophecy to become reality. A fixed cycle with no room for growth.
So middle blockers, it is time to stand up and ask your coach a simple question; how does it make the team better to marginalize a third of the team and if they ever considered how much better you might play if they started to believe in you more?
Reminder that there are great coaches out there that fight the stigma and try to instill confidence in all of there athletes to be skilled volleyball players! I was blessed to have coaches and work with coaches that breakdown this barrier, however I have also sadly heard coaches speak poorly to and about middles too often.
Stop Judging, Start Believing
Coach’s Blog #21 — New Year, SMART Goals
Happy New Year and welcome to 2022! With it comes hope and a chance to do things better than the year before. It's important to take this time to reflect on your future, make some New Year’s Resolutions as a way to set goals and monitor your achievement. Unfortunately, often times these goals are too vague or too lofty and are quickly broken.
Here’s a “SMART” way to achieve greater success:
SPECIFIC
MEASURABLE
ATTAINABLE
RELEVANT
TIMELY
Below are 5 examples of how to change a "common" goal to a SMART goal:
Common Goal: Lose weight
SMART Goal: Lose 10 pounds by January 31.
Common Goal: Save money
SMART Goal: Save $1,200 by January 31 by saving $50 a month from my paycheck every two weeks.
Common Goal: Spend more time with my family.
SMART Goal: Once a month plan a family day.
Common Goal: Eat healthier
SMART Goal: Eat healthier by preparing home cooked, portion-controlled meals at least 3 days a week.
Common Goal: Manage stress
SMART Goal: Manage stress by waking up every morning and meditating for 20 minutes and taking a yoga class once a week.
A New Year's resolution doesn't have to be just words, it can be an actual goal. Using the SMART method just makes it realistic! Believe in yourself! You can do it!
Coach’s Blog #20 — Consistent Toss = Consistent Serve
The Key to a Consistent Jump Float Serve.
Once the standing jump float serve has some type of consistency it's important to try adding the jump float to your arsenal. The mechanics are similar to the standing float, but regardless for all types of serves the toss is the most important part. A consistent toss makes for a great base to allow an athlete to grow and improve while serving. FIVB World Championship MVP, Kim Hill has a similar approach.
“For me, the toss is really critical in mastering a jump float. I try to focus on tossing the ball high enough and far enough in front of me. Then I am able to put myself into a good position to contact the ball, which is probably the most important part of the jump float. It doesn’t matter if you’re 6-11 or 4-11; if you have a good contact and get the ball to move, you can get your opponents into some serious trouble.”
Obviously the technical aspects such as elbow back, bow and arrow form, high contact, open hand, firm wrist, and so forth are important. However, these can't be consistently refined till the toss is consistent.
I have many athletes start with the ball in non dominant hand (or two hand toss). I have them toss it just high enough to be above full extension and have it drop in a hula hoop (or target) two feet in the court. Over and over again making sure it lands in front of there right shoulder. Then when they try they are reaching and jumping to get to the ball. All the other techniques we can slowly correct once they consistently get the toss just outside there comfort zone. Often athletes toss above or even behind them and not in front of the hitting shoulder. Which leads to a lot of possible corrections that a simple tossing practice could fix.
Consistent tosses lead to consistent serves!
Listen up.
Want to hear Coach Scheerhoorn talk about volleyball on a podcast? Click the link to listen to the Passin Dimes Podcast episode where Coach Scheerhoorn was interviewed! Enjoy!
Coach’s Blog #19 — Setting with your Feet
When I am teaching setting I often ask the athletes a simple question. What is (debatably) the most important part of your body for setting? Athletes usually say, fingers, hands, arms, etc... While this is not wrong in any manner, I have always preferred to start with what I think is the most important part of the skill– the feet.
I have heard many analogies for teaching the concept of moving our feet to get under the ball, but my favourite is drinking a 2L Coke Cola. You have to get under or else you will spill.
The main question is how do we get to the ball to set it? How do we move? It's critical to get to the ball as quickly as possible.
Here is some advice from Marco Meoni | 2-time Olympian and Setting Coach:
When do you move?
Do not guess. Observe, evaluate and move! Sometimes setters will anticipate and move early – but in the wrong direction. When they correct, they are usually late to the ball. Simply going faster is not always the solution.
How do you move?
To cover small distances, smaller, quicker steps are perfect. For longer distances, use longer steps to get there, but be sure to take the smaller, more precise steps to finish. There may need to be some adjustment for miscalculations once the setter arrives at the ball, and smaller steps are easier to control.
Run with your arms, only raising them to initiate the setting contact. Younger players sometimes run with their hands already raised. This leads to a variety of problems, including slowing them down, making it hard for them to stabilize themselves and limiting peripheral vision. It can also lead to shoulder fatigue due to unnecessary use.
I love how Marco Meoni breaks it down and answers the questions when and how to move. Setting is a complicated skill, but by learning to move properly it allows setters to thrive.
A simple drill to help athletes improve at setting movement is to have them get in partners one tosser and one 'setter'. Tosser tosses the ball so the setter has to move to get under it, the setter puts hands up and let's the ball go through there hands onto there forehead. The ball will bounce high and slightly forward if done correctly providing immediate feedback. Athletes also tend to find it funny as it's strange to see someone let the ball go through there hands and head it.
Coach’s Blog #18 — Disciplined Blocking
Blocking is one of my favourite aspects of volleyball. It truly is one of the reasons volleyball is fun to watch and play. You do not need to be tall in order to get a block. You simply need to be disciplined.
One habit I see in a lot of blockers, especially tall athletes is reaching. In basketball there is a term "you reach, I teach" made famous by Michael Jordan. That concept is also true in volleyball from the attackers point of view. Being disciplined with your block and avoiding reaching out for the ball or drifting are some of the pillars of good blocking. It will be strange to train this as it will fight your natural instincts.
Here are a couple reasons we shouldn't reach while blocking:
By reaching out instead of penetrating, you create an easy target for an attacker to use or tool.
Reaching creates a split or gap in the block, making it tougher for the defense to read and easier for the attacker to score.
Reaching is a habit that doesn't create any synergy with your back row defenders. Therefore, focus on a disciplined block that presses over and toward the center of the court. Even though you might get a highlight on a reach occasionally, it doesn't help your teams defensive system. So let's listen to MJ and not reach.
Coach’s Blog #17 — Always Be Ready
Coaching youth teams you hear people always talk about the older or elite teams, sometimes in comparison to their "lesser team". Parents say things like, "There team just is always moving, so in sync, they all seem to know where to go" or "there team looks like a well-oiled machine, everything is working together". It's important as coaches we also teach athletes how to move and their role when they don't have the ball. Helping athletes understand that they're always involved in the play. Simply standing and watching the ball is not good enough when an athlete doesn't have the ball. It can be a hard skill to teach, but it is so important.
Here is a great quote about moving without the ball from one of the top coach's in the world;
"When the ball gets set to the other pin hitter, I bet you that 90 percent of athletes stop and watch their teammate hit the ball. Invariably, the hitter coverage that is most needed is that person (other pin hitter), because the ball has a funny way of finding that side of the court. And that person isn’t in an athletic enough position to react. That’s a mistake you should never make. I tell people, ‘If you want to stand around, go stand around on the bench.’" – John Speraw, UCLA; U.S. Men's National Team Head Coach
As coaches we have a responsibility to help educate athletes so they know and understand what is their role when they are without the ball. Once that is clear, the athlete will have more drive and purpose, which leads to team success.
This is another great reason to not specialize athletes too early. Having athletes play multiple positions allows them to learn more about roles of there teammates making them understand the game more. This leads to athletes with higher volleyball IQs.
As Coaches we are all guilty of focusing on the ball, therefore we have to deliberately focus on athletes movement and roles without the ball to find true success.
Coach’s Blog #16 — How do you react when you make a mistake?
How do you react when you make a mistake in volleyball?
In volleyball our sport is made around errors and mistakes. Coaches are always harping on reducing unforced errors, they also say to make mistakes in order to learn, it can be confusing. Regardless mistakes are going to happen, we can't stop that entirely, but we can control how we react to them.
First we have to remind ourselves that it's normal and important to feel uncomfortable if you're learning something new. For example imagine trying to learn a new language, uncomfortable eh? It's comforting to know that professional athletes still struggle while learning, but they have figured out how to embrace that discomfort. They know how to deal with it well. It's common for younger athletes to struggle with this, as some athletes say negative things to themselves, get small and even act embarrassed when they make mistakes.
Mistakes are just opportunities to improve and that can't happen unless you're patient with yourself. A coach once told me "it's not losing if your learning, it's not a bad mistake if you grow". That's how you have to see mistakes, they don't keep you down if you are able to change that perception.
Here are a few tips on how to practice dealing with mistakes:
BUDDY SYSTEM: Choose a teammate and tell them something you're going to work on this week during training. Check in next time you meet.
CLARIFY: Have a discussion with your coach about mistakes and what are good ones vs bad ones, and how they would deal with it.
CUES: Come up with a quick phrase to say after mistakes that reminds you of learning, say this internally or out loud after each one.
REFLECTION: Try to catch yourself the next time you make a mistake. Are you reacting the way that you want to react?
We must view every mistake as an opportunity rather than a weakness. Simply changing your perception and outlook will stimulate personal growth, develop self esteem, and enhance efficiency and effectiveness. When it comes down to it the truth is there shouldn’t be any shame in making a mistake. The only negative should be when you are failing to admit, correct, and learn from it!
Coach’s Blog #15 — Serving Pet Peeve; “Don’t Miss”
The past few tournaments I have gone to I have heard one of my biggest pet peeves in the sport of volleyball way too many times. What is that pet peeve? When a coach (or anyone) yells "Don't miss" or "Just put it in" to the server. Coaches are there to instill belief and build confidence in their athletes. Whether they are an 11 year old girl or a professional volleyball player. Therefore coaching guidance should never be framed in don’ts – as in “Don’t do this!” As humans we should be trying to verbalize teaching points in a positive way.
I could rant about this all day, but here is some amazing wisdom from one of the best coach's in the world;
“There’s an old adage that says, ‘Don’t ever tell a kid not to put beans up his nose because the first thing the kid will do is put beans up his nose,’” said U.S. Women's National Team head coach Karch Kiraly. “So, if I’m a coach, and I’m about to send in a serving sub, the last thing I want to say is, ‘Whatever you do, don’t miss.’ What’s going to stick in her mind? The words ‘miss’ and don’t.’ And I’m going to stress her out. I know there are coaches who have told players not to miss before going in to serve, but I’ve never had a player tell me, ‘You know what, that was a huge help. That made me a lot better server.’”
Saying don't miss, or just put it in to a server is so counter intuitive. The athlete already knows this. The athlete doesn't want to miss. The service line is the loneliest place in the world, why would you pile on more negative pressure? This post might seem like common sense, however, these phrases are common place at tournaments and games, they come from teammates, coaches and even parents. You might as well be saying "I don't believe in you and I don't have much faith in you". Hopefully you can see how hurtful that is to an athlete.
Here are some good alternatives:
Remind the athlete of a previous great serve
Remind them of the serving tactic
Instill confidence by encouraging an ace
Simply tell them you believe in them
Encourage them to complete their regular serving routine
Develop multiple serves (70%, 100%, etc..) and ask them to do the one you think is best for the moment
These are all better than yelling "Don't miss". Let's just take that right out of our vocabularies, whether you are a teammate, parent or coach let's try to eradicate this pet peeve of mine. Would be greatly appreciated
Listen up.
Want to hear Coach Scheerhoorn talk about volleyball on a podcast? Click the link to listen to the SideOut Stronger Podcast episode where Coach Scheerhoorn was interviewed! Enjoy!
Coach’s Blog #14 — How do elite athletes stay motivated at practice?
As a volleyball player, especially if you’re a youth player, you go to practice and rely a good amount on a coach to bring good vibes, positive energy, and to work with you on your game. Sadly that utopian atmosphere is not every athletes reality.
As an athlete, sometimes you have to look to yourself for those good vibes, positive energy, and skill work during practice. As humans we crave and desire to feed off of others energy, but the reality is that it isn't always there for you. This can lead to major frustration in athletes.
The good news is that athletes can strengthen their own game when they commit to bringing their own atmosphere. As a player, you might wonder how to get through a practice with challenges like a negative coach, or a coach that has favourites. Obviously these challenges aren't ideal, but athletes can use this opportunity to develop. We know that when your perception changes, that is when your thoughts and actions about the situation changes as well.
3 Tips for Athletes are:
Set personal practice objectives or goals
Commit to your practice plan
Use positive self-talk for inspiration
When I was playing and felt like I needed to bring my own atmosphere I would become hyper focused on my technique with each ball and rep. I planned and committed to keeping my energy high even when discouraged and would tell myself “I got next ball” to keep me moving. In the end it was me focusing only about what I could control; things like my preparation and my energy. This led to me having more motivation through a practice and a season. Was I perfect? Heck no. It's important to understand we are human and we all have bad days, even elite players do. Don't beat yourself up, just try your best to be prepared and bring great energy to the next session! Control the controlables!
Coach’s Blog #13 —
What is Ball Control?
Ball control is one of the most popular buzz words in the sport of volleyball. It's said to be the most important skill, but often people have different idea's of what true ball control is, and what is truly important in volleyball.
“I skate to where the puck is going to be.” — Wayne Gretzky
I love this quote when it comes to coaching volleyball because I think it is the essence of true ball control. Ball control is the ability to see, read and then perform the task. Simply put, what we see determines how we move and how good our ball control is.
In volleyball we have probably heard the terms, reading and reacting. In other words reading and reacting is basically the skill of learning to be at the right place at the right time. This skill is an open motor program in volleyball, and is debatably the most important skill in our sport. Given the 0.01 second contact times on a player’s body while in a game that is basically controlled by your opponent about 50% of the time. In order to find success in our game it's vital to be able to read and react effectively. It's important to use and create drills that combine the science of motor learning and the principle of perception action coupling. Once these concepts are at the forefront of a practice plan it is then that ball control will continually improve and develop.
Here are some tips to truly train great ball control:
When you pass you want to stay very focused and concentrated on the ball starting when it's in the opposing team's server's hands and ending when it's bounced off of your platform and is heading to your setter's hands
Coaching to read the opposing players eyes, arms, shoulder and so forth is the start of reading. Along with reading the balls path after contact via spin, speed, and trajectory.
While in the ready position you want to stay light on your feet so that you can run, shuffle or side step to get to where you anticipate the ball is about to land.
Teach athletes they need to want to get to the spot quickly, beat the ball there, get stopped, form their platform, angle platform to target, and then make the pass.
When creating drills try to have balls initiated from the opposing side of the net and passed to a realistic target. This will create more game like repetitions then when comparing it to a regular pepper.
Coach’s Blog #12 — Are Coaches Supposed to be Funny?
Common stereotypes for old-school coaches include; serious, old, work, all business, punishments, yelling and no fun attitudes. Are all these bad or negative? No. Are some prehistoric? Yes.
Anyone that knows me understands I take volleyball development and coaching very seriously, however it got me thinking about how does humour and fun fit into coaching? Fun is debatably the most important word in sport, yet as coaches we don't always mirror this term.
I stumbled upon this article by Sarah McQuade that I thought was quite eloquent.
"...In a 2014 George Washington University study, 9 of 10 kids said “fun” is the main reason they participate in sports. Among the big “fun” factors, being a good sport, trying hard, and positive coaching were most important when it comes to having fun, while winning and other mental bonuses ranked near the bottom.
The coach is critical to masterminding some of the “fun” elements for players. The ability to use a well-placed sense of humor can add significantly to the fun factor.
There are huge rewards to be had by having a sense of humor as a coach. Playfulness is infectious and, when exercised at the correct moments, can help build rapport with your group.
Sharing a joke and laughing can unite individuals and give them a greater sense of belonging. A humorous interlude can break the monotony of a particularly technical session or repetitive sequence of drills. Humor can be particularly useful for relieving stress, tension and pressure – three things elite athletes must overcome to reach optimum performance.
However, knowing when to establish a playful mood and when to maintain a serious approach is a constant balancing act.
Also, there can be a fine line between “laughing with” and “laughing at", which, if crossed, can easily lead to those being laughed at feeling excluded from a group. Using humor to display superiority in this way can quickly lead to friction and unrest.
Following a few simple guidelines will ensure the laughter doesn't turn into tears:
Using humor productively is a direct reflection of your ability to read the person rather than the player. How well do you know your players?
Consider the timing, tone and tenor of your use of humor. Think about what you say, how you say it, who you say it to and anticipate how it will land. If you think it will not be well-received, don’t share it.
Understand the subtleties of humor. When the joke is over, move on and refocus. Failure to do so, especially with younger children, will mean things quickly get out of hand as they struggle to contain their enthusiasm.
Think about the environment and how appropriate the use of humor is. The practice environment is one thing but what about game day?
You don’t need to be a stand-up comedian to use your sense of humor to add to the fun factor. Well-considered, well-placed and well-delivered humor can add real value to your sessions and the players’ sense of enjoyment. It can also help them see you as a person—not just a coach. Notice how you use your sense of humor and consider what you can do to use it even more effectively."
The important take away for me is that there is a balance that every coach must find, but that at the heart of sport is our desire to have fun. Along with one of her final points being "help them see you as a person -- not just a coach". Powerful statement! Humour is just another coaching tool in the ever growing toolbox!
#lifelonglearner
Coach’s Blog #11 —
Music
Can music make you a better athlete?
In the book "Applying Music in Exercise and Sport" by Costas Karageorghis, his studies show that music can enhance mood, improve muscle control and help the brain build key muscle memories.
How? Let me explain:
MUSIC USES THE ENTIRE BRAIN
"When the brain is listening to music, it lights up like a Christmas tree," Karageorghis says. "It's an ideal stimuli because it reaches [parts of the brain] that can't easily be reached." Research shows that listening to music activates several major areas in the brain at once.These brain areas are critical to athletic performance. It is in the temporal lobe that cortisol — a stress hormone — is released. Music helps regulate stress by reducing cortisol levels. The motor cortex, which is located in the parietal lobe, regulates our body's motor function, which helps determine how well we hit a volleyball or how well we coordinate our limbs when jumping, and allows us to fall into our own "rhythm" as we work.
REGULATES EMOTIONS
Karageorghis' research has focused on how music regulates mood and helps us filter out distractions. The key, he found, is to use music to tap into the brain's secretion of dopamine and natural opioids — two naturally occurring chemicals that help block our perception of fatigue and pain. Music can also enhance mood and increase confidence. It's important to use it in multiple ways as an athlete, meaning to get hyped or to calm down. Using music to help enhance our ability to regulate our emotions is key for any volleyball players competition and workout routine.
STOPS NEGATIVE THOUGHTS
Listening to music improves an athlete’s performance by distracting them from the negative thoughts that can consume the mind and hinder performance. Recent research proved this, showing that basketball players who were prone to performing poorly under pressure converted more free-throw shots when they had listened to an upbeat piece of music beforehand, as this distracted them from the pressure of performing in front of a crowd.
ENCOURAGES MOVEMENT
Karageorghis' findings show that syncing the tempo of the music to an athlete's heart rate can have powerful outcomes, such as improved stamina, speed and athletic performance . "You want to try to match your music tempo to your desire to work," Karageorghis said. "That doesn't mean just increasing the tempo, however, because there is a ceiling effect. Anything over 140 beats per minute won't make you go any faster." Jessica Grahn, a cognitive neuroscientist at Western University in London, Ontario, said the body responds best to steady rhythms. She found that among patients with Parkinson's Disease, for example, having a steady beat that matches their movements seemed to improve muscle control.
INCREASES MUSCLE MEMORY
Listening to songs with lyrics that mimic physical movement can help an athlete's brain form muscle memories. The brain forms pathways more effectively when it has a song to back up the physical goal. For example a volleyball player can listen to a song with a good beat to jump or hit it which helps them sync with there personal goals.
Do Olympians use Music?
"Music can help get me out of my own head and in my zone. It can make me relax, or pump me up. Music plays a huge role in my competition routine." –Carli Lloyd, setter for Women's National team
Final Thoughts
So, the next time you are watching a pregame warm-up or see an athlete dancing with headphones in, you can know surmise that the music being played is all part of a greater plan for an athlete to get their mind in the right emotional state to perform well. Reminder though that whether or not music enhances performance is dependent on the abilities of the athletes, the type of music they listen to, and their pre-existing levels of motivation. Simply putting a song on won't make you be an Olympian, however music can be a tool in the toolbox to reach your goals.
Coach’s Blog #10 — Failure
"I've failed over and over and over again in my life, and that is why I succeed." -- Michael Jordan
The 3 Types of Failures That Lead to Development
1) INESCAPABLE FAILURES: COMPETING HIGHER THAN YOUR SKILL LEVEL
Why do you have to play the best in order to become the best? Because you can learn from the team across the net from you, not just who the best players are and their strongest rotations but also how they win. Unavoidable failure is one of the toughest ways to learn. This type of failure will hurt because it will probably end in a loss on your record.
Tips for effective unavoidable failures
Talk through successes of the other team and how it affected yourself and your team
Take notes about what you learned from this match
Focus on things that will make your team better, while it might be tempting to mirror the better team. You shouldn’t, each group of players is different and the most important thing is to find what works for you and your team.
2) UNEXPECTED FAILURES: ADAPT OR LOSE
You enter the gym ready to battle and are met by another team that is just as battle-ready. Trading blows back and forth until it seems like it will take luck for either team to get ahead, out of nowhere they run a play you haven’t seen before to take a slight lead which they don’t give up. Failing unexpectedly is the best chance to learn to adapt. Among the many great things about competing in sports, is the use of mental along with physical aspects to win. This type of failure is a signal to change your game.
Tips for effective unexpected failures
Determine if they beat you or if you beat you, if you made too many errors that game then clean up your game first
Make small changes first, unless your team is used to practicing crazy things, it will not end well if you make big changes and expect everyone to still play their best
Avoid snowballing, look at each play as an individual chance to succeed, but be aware that if someone made an error before you, it is part of your role to try to do better
3) INTELLIGENT FAILURES: TRIAL AND ERROR
As the corner stone of any volleyball skill, intelligent failures are how we learn to hit a volleyball over the net our first day on the court or dive for the impossible dig and make the play. We don’t know if we are going to succeed, we may even think we won’t, but we try anyway because we have nothing to lose. This type of failure is very effective for improvement. Errors happen quickly and we are able to learn from each and every miss. The lesson is clear: if something works, do more of it. If it does not work, try something else.
Tips for effective intelligent failures
Start every play with a blank slate, do not assume failure before the play happens
Remember what your goal is and if you forget ask the coach
If someone is having trouble blaming themselves for their mistakes, remind them to keep learning
Resource: http://www.thevolleyblog.net/news/failing-better 
Coach’s Blog #9 —
Tryouts
Want to crush it at tryouts?
Tryout season can be a stressful time for athletes. It's good to feel nervous because that feeling is you wanting to find success. However, tryouts start way before the whistle blows. Preparing for tryouts is key to crushing it on the actually day. Here are 5 tips of mine to help prepare for a successful tryout!
BE EARLY: Arriving early allows you to relax and begin focusing. Arriving at the last minute will leave you tense and flustered. Plan to warm up once you arrive early. Getting your blood flowing and your muscles ready reduces the chance of an injury during the tryout and allows your to perform your best. It also shows the coaches that you’re mature enough to understand the correct way to prepare.
HUSTLE: Coaches love aggressive players that will not let a ball drop. If you’re shagging balls, run to get them. After taking your turn at a drill, run back to the line for your next turn. When you take a water break, run to your water bottle. Never let a ball hit the ground without showing effort and a pursuit. Easy way to be able to hustle is physically preparing by conditioning prior to tryouts. Coaches will notice who was working out vs who wasn't.
GOLD FISH MEMORY: Don't let the last error stay with you. Learn to process the point, learn from it and forget it. Lingering errors can ruin your tryout. Avoid negative talk about yourself, the tryout and your former teams/teammates. If you start getting down on yourself for making a mistake, you’re likely to make even more.
BE COACHABLE: No matter how good you are, every coach you ever play for wants to know that you’ll improve under their tutelage. For this to happen, the coach has to believe that you’re capable of being coached. Behaviours you display during a tryout can convince the coach that you’re open to guidance. When the coach tells you how to improve some facet of your game, take the suggestion as a major compliment, because this means they think you can get even better!
BE OPEN: Coaches want players who can adjust and are willing to be versatile if that’s what’s needed to make a drill work or help the team find success. Have CONFIDENCE in yourself! You need to believe in yourself and your abilities. A player with a great deal of confidence isn’t as likely to crack under pressure during a match. After all, if you don’t believe that you can make the team, why should the Coach believe it?
Bonus Tip: No Cellphones during the Tryout
At the end of the day my biggest advice is be the best teammate possible. Cheer often, encourage others, stay positive and have fun. Be the person every athlete wants to play with, because that athlete is the same one every Coach wants to coach.
Tryouts aren't for a while? Start putting in the work now! Good luck!
Coach’s Blog #8 — Winning Culture
Want to build a Winning Team Culture?
As a coach you have a lot of control of how your team culture will start and grow. Understanding that there are good cultures and toxic cultures. Here is a bit of information to support the growth of a winning culture.
Over time we have learned that psychologically social recognition is a foundational piece in creating a winning culture. What exactly is social recognition? Social recognition is recognizing and rewarding the people you work with; it reinforces the things that are important and valued, and it gives everybody purpose and meaning through gratitude.
To put it simply when we just show gratitude it reinforces positive behaviours that lead to optimal performance, while leading to healthier and deeper relationship connections. It is important to understand that peer-to-peer interaction helps build a good culture within a team.
Coaches should, initiate and lead cultural change by teaching and modeling important principles such as unity and inclusion, but real winning cultures are built and reinforced in the thousands of little interactions made EVERDAY by EVERYBODY on the team.
Teams with the best cultures are teams that TALK, THANK and CELEBRATE each other on a regular basis. Talking, thanking and celebrating build TRUST. Trust is fundamental in creating and maintaining a winning culture. Studies show that teammate interactions are where culture really exists; not words in a vision or mission statement, even though these can be important as well, but rather in the thoughts and interactions we have with each other that we have each and every day.
At the end of the day the coach needs to hold these standards, but more importantly they need to model these behaviours. Understand the position of power you are in as a coach and teach athletes how to use social recognition in order to create a winning culture. These skills won't only be for on the court, but life beyond the court as well.
Don't know exactly what to implement? Here are 3 ideas to help create a winning culture!
IMMEDIATE FEEDBACK: Immediate feedback is memorable. Say "Thank you" and "Good job" regularly. We are wired to need frequent reminders of our value to our team, it's human nature to desire this.
SELF-REFLECTION: Always ask yourself, "Am I building or hurting our culture by my words and actions." We learn best through self-reflection.
EMPOWER YOUR TEAM: Ask you team this question, "Great teams recognize and celebrate each other for doing great things. It can help connect us. What are some easy, meaningful, and impactful ways that we can recognize and celebrate each other?"
Coach’s Blog #7 —
Physical Testing and Assessments
Athletes, do you have your physical testing results?
Assessment and testing is most often thought of as the portion of the training program that occurs after an athlete has been trained. Sometimes athletes even feel like they need to be a certain level before they get assessments consistently. If you want to know where you're going, you first need to determine where you're coming from. If you want to achieve your goals it's important to assess and test.
Need more reasons why to test and assess? Here are a few key reasons for athletes to assess and test consistently:
🔹Setting Goals: Test scores can be used for creating and setting goals. Creating a baseline through testing and assessments is important when setting initial goals.
🔹Identifying Talent: Coaches use this information to make important decisions. Having this to show a coach is vital in the recruiting process.
🔹Identify Overtraining: If the assessments show a decline this can be a red flag for burnout and over trained athletes, therefore using key tests to identify this before chronic injuries happen is important.
🔹Motivational Cues: Using your assessment marks can not only create goals, but can lead to more motivated workout and training sessions as you feel more in control of you volleyball journey.
🔹Identify Effective Training Programs: not all training programs are amazing and effective, being able to see tangible results is an easy way for an athlete to monitor the fitness program.
*In the photo is a vertical testing device to record maximum jump height (eg. Block touch and Spike touch). This fitness test is for maximum muscular power by testing anaerobic muscular power. The vertical jump test is very short in duration, produces high power output and uses fast movements. This is one of the most common measurable assessments in volleyball.
Coach’s Blog #6 — Private Coaching
Why should volleyball athletes get private coaching?
When I was starting in the sport of volleyball I thought private coaching was sort of silly because volleyball is a team sport. Over my years I have realized that it actually is severely under utilized in our sport.
Private volleyball coaching has been shown to improve an athlete’s ability to reach their full potential, minimize injuries, and increase their ability and fitness. Private coaching allows coaches to target specific areas that hold the athlete back from possibly reaching their full potential. This allows the coach to target needs and learning techniques of the specific player to a greater extent than they would in a group session. We know that no two players have the exact same specific needs when trying to develop their skills. With private lessons, players are able to maximize their coach’s instruction and work directly on their personal areas that need improvement. This focused approach gives privately coached athletes a competitive advantage over athletes who exclusively work in a group setting.
However, private coaching might not be for all athletes. An athlete must be willing to change habits in order to improve, which means they may become temporarily worse before they become better. If they are willing to listen, try, work hard, focus on the small things, and endure the mistakes that come with making progress, then they are ready to be privately coached. With more attention from the coach comes even more responsibility to maximize the feedback and opportunity.
Coach’s Blog #5 —
After Post-Secondary?
Want to play indoor volleyball after post-secondary? 🏐🤷
North American Volleyball seems to have a shelf life. It seems that for many athletes after a few years of playing in college or university your career is over at the higher level. However, that doesn’t have to be the case. There are many opportunities for you to keep playing the sport you love. There are professional leagues internationally (Europe, Asia, South America, etc…), along with options in North America (One Volleyball, VLA, AU Volleyball, etc…). If any of the questions below resonate with you feel free to message me or go to my website and email me. I would love to support your volleyball journey!
🔹Do you feel like you have more left in the tank?
🔹Has playing pro been a goal of yours for a while now?
🔹Do you just want to gather more information about possible options?
🔹How do you want to look back on your volleyball career?
🔹Do you just want to experience what it is like?
🔹How can you reach your potential if you feel you are not there after graduating?
🔹Do you want to travel and have more life experiences?
Coach’s Blog #4 — Indoor to Beach Transition
Don’t Worry, Beach Happy! ☀️⛱️ It’s that time of year when many volleyball athletes' minds transition from indoor to beach.
Here are 5 of my indoor-to-beach volleyball transition tips:
🔹 CONDITIONING: Cardiovascular fitness is a high priority in Beach when compared to Indoor. The two main reasons when comparing are number of athletes and environment; 2 people cover the court in the sand. This increases the required level of cardiovascular fitness significantly. That being said it is important to work on quick reactions and the skill to change directions with a minimum amount of energy. A great drill for this is the “star drill” (message me for details).
🔹COURT SIZE: Often a forgotten difference between the two sports is that the court dimensions change. Indoor is 18m x 9m, while beach is 16m x 8m. This might not seem like a lot, but you will be happy for the small difference when you realize it’s 2 vs 2.
🔹SERVING: On the beach, wind is an important factor and you need to adjust your serve accordingly in order to serve effectively. Often the float serve is even more effective on the beach. A simple rule of thumb is to serve harder (with more velocity) into the wind. You can check if the wind is changing after every point by simply picking up some sand, dropping it and seeing which way it falls.
🔹SCORING SYSTEM: Indoor scoring goes to 25 points (win by 2), and can be a best of 3 or 5. Beach scoring is up to 21 (win by 2). Tie breaking sets for both are still 15. However, Beach throws in another wrinkle by switching sides every 7 total points. In other words brush up on your simple math before hitting the beach.
🔹JUMPING: Hitting and Blocking on the beach both are slightly different than indoor and a main component of this is due to jumping in the sand. For hitting, indoor players often jump with forward momentum, beach volleyball players rather need to go into an upward movement to gain height in their jump. To do so, beach volleyball players need to adjust their approach and increase upward power. Similarly in blocking, jumping can be an issue, indoor players often are jumping too early. Beach blockers need to delay.
Coach’s Blog #3 — Post-Secondary Coach Questions
Want to play post-secondary volleyball? Are you asking coaches the right questions?
Athletes, I have put together 6 great questions for you to ask the coach during the recruiting process to learn more about them, their programs and if it is a good fit for you:
🔹Do you have meetings with your players during the season?
Communication is often stressed on the court, but it’s important to find out how the coach is with off court communication with their athletes. Ask what type of meetings (1 on 1, group, small groups, etc…)
🔹What is a typical practice like?
If you are able to go watch a practice before that would be ideal, but asking this question also allows you to find out the structure of the practices and the thought the coach puts into them.
🔹What is the team culture like?
Most coaches will answer this question generically, so a great follow up is to ask for examples within the team. Culture is so important for program success and you want to make sure you know what you are getting into. Just because a program is winning a lot does not mean it’s sustainable or their culture is healthy.
🔹What resources are available to me as a student athlete, on and off the court?
Important to make sure you put yourself in the best situation to succeed, whether it is your mental health, academic success or excellence on the court.
🔹What do you see my role on the team being?
Roles are huge for team success. Know what the coach has initially planned for you helps start off on the right foot. You want a coach that is honest, yet believes in you. Having them map out your possible roles is a great way to start.
🔹What is your 4-5 year plan?
This question can seem strange and like a lot, but it’s important you know the coach has a plan. Great coaches have visions, those take plans to achieve. You might not get all the details, but understanding a little bit will help you make a decision.
🚨Reminder🚨
You can reach out to coaches, don't wait for them to reach out to you!
Coach’s Blog #2 — Athlete ➡️ Coach Transition
Athlete ➡️ Coach Transition
I was a former professional volleyball athlete, but just because I knew how to play doesn’t mean I’ve earned the right to tell other people how to do it. Learning to coach goes well beyond being a former athlete. Coaches today actually need skills more aligned to those required by elite school teachers. It might seem weird to think about at first, but once you add those common principles teachers have with skills expanding into psychology, physiology, tactical knowledge and the ability to handle pressure, it makes a lot of sense. Transitioning from athlete to coach is something that should be approached with humility and intelligence. I am lucky and fortunate to have played this beautiful sport at a high level, however, it is not this alone that helps me thrive as a coach. It works in harmony with my 7 years of post-secondary in the field of Education, my 11 years of coaching concurrently with my playing career and my belief in being a lifelong learner by having a growth mindset.
I say all of this to show understanding that the athlete to coach transition isn’t easy, but it's worth it!
Coach’s Blog #1 — Training Emotions
How are your emotions? Are you training them?
Has the past year been an emotional rollercoaster?
Negativity is all around us, both in sport and outside of sport. However, Ontario now being in an Emergency Brake doesn’t have to be all negative. Athletes have an opportunity to focus on their emotions!
Part of coaching is teaching athletes how to control these emotions. Below are my 7 coaching tips to help control your emotions:
🔹Self Talk: You get to take control of how you talk to yourself, make it positive and real.
🔹Relax Your Body: Try clenching and releasing your muscles, you will begin to feel calmer.
🔹Music: Make yourself a personalized playlist that gets you in the right frame of mind
🔹Improve Your Self-Awareness: Journaling is one of the simplest, yet most effective tools for developing self-awareness.
🔹Take Deep Breaths: This technique will help lower your heart rate, which leads to you relaxing.
🔹Positive Perception: Change the negative thought or threat to a challenge and opportunity that you can overcome.
🔹Imagery: Discover things you can visualize that make you relax, reduce stress, and feel positive.