Posts by Jim Stone
Assisting the Inexperienced Club Coach
The phrase “heavy is the head that wears the crown” was used by Shakespeare in the play King Henry IV. The gist of the phrase was the King acknowledging the hardships of implementing his never-ending responsibilities. The inexperienced club coach feels a similar weight of being responsible for teaching, planning, and organizing all the activities…
Read MoreBe Creative With Training Activities
There are an array of methods to foster player development. The most obvious is to play the game a lot. However, as the saying goes, “there are a lot of roads leading to Chicago.” A creative coach, or player, can create activities that will allow a transfer of physical, technical, or tactical components to the…
Read MoreVolleyball Contemplations
After watching a lot of collegiate volleyball during the fall, both with the team I’m helping (University of Denver), or whatever I’m watching on television, I find myself evaluating various aspects of the collegiate game. I’m not 100% sure of my opinions and do not have extensive data to back up my thoughts. These are…
Read MoreFactors Influencing USA Women’s National Team Success
It was the best of times; it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom; it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief; it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it…
Read MoreRethinking Timeouts
I loved the timeout format for international matches. You have thirty seconds for the players to get a drink, for the coach to make a quick comment, then the troops return to the competitive fray. In this country, the length of timeouts will vary, but certainly more than 30 seconds. In some televised matches, the…
Read MoreAvailability Bias, Avoid The Trap
If coaches had their salary tied to the number of decisions made daily, everyone could retire early. Some decisions are easy (or easier), and others are painfully difficult. The sheer number of decisions is, at times, staggering to the point that we tend to make decisions quickly so we can press on to the next…
Read MoreCan Volleyball Coaches Learn from the NBA?
I don’t consider myself a fan of the NBA, but I enjoyed watching the recently completed playoffs. The NBA is moving in a different and more exciting direction with how the game is played. The offensive systems of basketball are evolving at the highest level and are already impacting the younger players and teams. For…
Read MoreIf Gold is Our Destiny
In 1981, the USA Men’s National Team was the 19th-ranked team in the world. In three short years, this team would represent the USA in the Los Angeles Olympics. In his book, “If Gold is Our Destiny,” author Sean Murray chronicles how the USA Men’s Volleyball team went from international “also-rans” to Olympic Gold Medal…
Read MoreClayton Kershaw, Tunneling and Developing an Effective Serve Strategy
I am developing an affinity for baseball. Other than the normal Little League play growing up, I’ve never followed the game too closely. This newfound interest is the direct result of listening to the baseball announcers analyze the strategies, offer insights, and make predictions about the events on the field. Their expertise allows a novice…
Read MoreFive Coaching Assumptions That Might Not Be Accurate
I don’t believe any coach intentionally coaches with full knowledge that their methods might be inefficient or may not lead to quality learning and consistent improvement on the part of the athletes. Although their heart may be in the right place, it is not unusual for coaches to operate under false assumptions that will negatively…
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