Coaching Volleyball
Practice Like Skateboarders
On a recent sunny, warm day in Fort Collins, I sat for an hour watching a crew of skateboarders doing their thing at a local park. They were all stretching their limits, trying new skills, helping one another with tips, and were focused on performing cool stuff. I wondered, “why can’t volleyball players practice like this.”
Read MoreDeveloping Impactful Practice Sessions
Regardless of your coaching philosophy or methods, common factors will facilitate learning. First, all your activities must be organized to provide the quality repetition required to facilitate skill development. Second, feedback is essential for the player to celebrate the small steps that are the building blocks for skill development. Finally, the coach’s enthusiasm is contagious and is essential to a positive learning environment. Of course, there are other components to running a good practice. However, these are the foundation: repetition, feedback, and enthusiasm.
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 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 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.
Read More“Not Everything That Can Be Counted, Counts”
Observing your team in action can be a powerful way to evaluate progress. It is important to incorporate statistics into the process. Critical thinking is needed to use all the observational and statistical information appropriately.
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