Posts by Jim Stone
Rethinking Serve-Receive Patterns
Former men’s Olympic coach Doug Beal revolutionized serve reception by installing serve-receive patterns using only two passers, Karch Kiraly and Aldis Berzins. Karch and Aldis were exceptional in many ways. They were great athletes, mentally tough, and had exceptional technique. Coach Beal took advantage of those individual abilities and developed a system allowing his best passers to receive the most passing opportunities while simplifying the reception pattern.
Read MoreHow Might Coaches Benefit From Reflexivity?
The word for the day is reflexivity, defined as “someone being able to examine their own feelings, reactions, and motives and how these influence what they do or think in a situation.”
Read MorePutting Rhythm into Your Offense
Incorporating rhythm into each skill increases the chance of positive “repeatability.” Equally, incorporating rhythm into your offensive system is essential for consistent execution.
Read MorePlayers Making Bad Choices? Don’t Be Too Quick to Judge!
The game of volleyball, and sports in general, entails a million choices by coaches and participants. Some work, some don’t. Without question, bad choices exist on the volleyball court, but the criteria for a bad choice should not be whether there was a positive result.
Read MoreOctober Newsletter
Quote for the Week: “You can’t solve a problem from the level of thinking that created the problem in the first place. “ ~Albert Einstein
Read MoreJim Stone Consulting September Newsletter
Quote for the Week: “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing; the last of human freedoms, to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances.” ~Victor Frankl What I’m Watching – I watched the Phillies play recently as the MLB season winds down. They did a great piece on Kyle Schwarber, the…
Read MoreTeaching Your Players to Read and React
From early ages, through national team play, the game is being played with increased serve and attack velocities, accelerated blocker movement, and sophisticated offensive and defensive systems. The ability to “read” events becomes more important as the game’s speed accelerates, underscoring the need for improved recognition and anticipation abilities.
Read MoreThe Value of a Serious, Thoughtful Coaching Philosophy
Looking back, I did not realize how unprepared I was for what lay ahead. Despite this relative unpreparedness, I found myself at the University of Wyoming, coaching players who were only a few years younger than me. I’m thankful I was not asked to articulate my coaching philosophy during the job interview. As I began my career, possessing a well-constructed coaching philosophy wasn’t on my radar.
Read MoreControlling the Uncontrollable
Usually, when discussing the factors that might impact winning, the focus becomes a selected metric of importance, such as the number of kills per set or errors per set. These statistical items are undoubtedly significant and do impact winning. However, neither coaches nor players are in total control of on-court success. Here are a few…
Read MoreDon’t Assume Playing = Learning
Coaches are, by default, teachers. Their players are, by default, learners. How to best transmit the information the coach may possess and impact learning by the student is a constant subject of debate, as it should be. Teachers and coaches should constantly test and experiment with new and better methods of instruction.
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