Education
Build Routines, Then Build Habits
Habits are automatic behaviors initiated with little thought. Good habits can serve a player well by facilitating a rapid response without using mental energy to analyze a situation methodically.
Read MoreThree Ideas Newsletter – 12.3.25
How many times have your players said something like, “Let’s just have fun when we play”? Or maybe a parent says, “The team just isn’t having fun.” The tricky part is, “having fun” means different things to different players, let alone the definition that the coach might possess. For some, it’s “hit and giggle” volleyball—goofing around, not really focused on getting better or competing. For other players, on the same team, fun comes from pushing themselves, working hard, and chasing challenging goals. It’s a balancing act for coaches to have a positive atmosphere on the court while still challenging the players to improve.
Read MoreThree Ideas Newsletter – 11/27/25
Most people probably don’t recognize the name Kirk Hammett. If you do, you’re either into heavy metal music or you’ve got pretty wide-ranging music tastes. Kirk Hammett is the lead guitarist for Metallica, but he wasn’t always in the band. He joined in 1983, after they’d already blown up internationally. So what did he do once he landed a spot in a supergroup? He kept taking guitar lessons at Joe Satriani’s shop in the San Francisco Bay Area—and he was getting his butt kicked in the process!
Read MoreThree Ideas Newsletter – 10/7/25
Hello, everyone! Steve Martin has long been one of my favorite comedians and actors. The range of characters he’s portrayed throughout his career is truly remarkable. In his autobiography, Born Standing Up, Martin shares his journey to success—a path marked by failures, missteps, and rejections. He embodies the idea of “working your way to the top.” This…
Read MoreThree Ideas Newsletter – 8-12-25
I received a suggestion from a reader to dig into how the professional leagues, along with the changes in the collegiate environment (NIL and Transfer Portal), will impact high school and club volleyball athletes. Great suggestion! I’m going to go to work and generate a blog on this in the upcoming weeks. It will require some thought. Suffice to say, there will be changes in recruiting. No longer will high school athletes ask college coaches if they will start their freshman year. Every year, someone might transfer in to take your spot. There will be no guarantees for any player in this environment of player movement.
Read MoreThree Ideas Newsletter 7.29.25
To improve attack efficiency, players often don’t need to make more good attack choices; they need to make fewer bad ones. I tend to script a priority list of decisions that good attackers employ to increase their effectiveness. I constantly encourage players to make quality attacking choices based on the situation.
Read More“Three Ideas” Newsletter
Hello, everyone! I’m changing the newsletter’s format, hopefully streamlining your reading. Each newsletter will have three thoughts for you to consider in your coaching. They will be brief, but hopefully, you will find them interesting and worth trying in your practices. A spoiler alert: I avoid preaching about the “right” way to do things. I prefer to present ideas that you can experiment with in your practices. Lastly, I will be uploading videos that you will be able to access for free. Each newsletter will have a link for the latest upload(s).
Read MoreFostering Player Creativity
Before a player can receive a serve and run a quick set like Ngapeth, there is the ability to have good reception and spiking mechanics. Before Carlini could make a great set while going to the floor, she had developed the floor skills that would expand her range on defense or, in this case, setting. Before the Italian libero executes a bump set to their quick hitter, forearm ball control has been developed.
Read MoreThinking About Feedback
Coaches tend to rely solely on verbal feedback, but one could argue that verbal communication is not the most reliable form of feedback. Words can be easily misconstrued. Experimenting with new feedback methods merely requires the coach to possess an adventurous spirit and a willingness to try new things.
Read MoreHow Journaling Made Me a Better Coach
Much to my detriment, I never kept a journal while coaching collegiately. I mistakenly thought journaling was for nerds or teenagers with loads of angst. Besides, who has the time? The thought of scribbling in a notebook positively impacting my coaching skills was nowhere on my radar. I began to keep a daily journal during my work with the USA U-18 team.
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