Jim Stone Consulting-New Stuff 12.23.22
Quote for the Week- “Champions behave like champions before they’re champions” — Bill Walsh
Blog Post This Week– The post this week is somewhat personal. I list twelve “pillars” I use as a template for my practices. These twelve items are the core of my beliefs about how young players best learn the game. Too often, coaches arrive at practice without a plan for content, feedback, practice objectives, and evaluation. Whenever my team would practice poorly, I felt a significant degree of responsibility for their performance. Either the drills were poorly organized, the objectives for that practice were not well thought out, and I didn’t provide a good learning atmosphere. Here are the twelve items that I value in every training session. READ MORE
A Progression for Teaching Players Correct Throwing Mechanics
One of the challenges facing coaches of younger players is teaching correct throwing mechanics. In this short video, I go through four drills to encourage proper arm mechanics and upper-body rotation. One of the points of emphasis is the “T-Position.” Too many players incorrectly focus on a high elbow position when spiking. The elbow should be in a position that I term the T-position. The critical aspects of this are the left shoulder is above the right shoulder, the elbow is back with the hand below the ear, and there is a lot of upper body rotation as the arm is pulled back. The hips will lead the throwing action with the elbow rotated to an elevated position. When working on throwing mechanics, I avoid throwing to a teammate. I prefer throwing to a wall, so accuracy isn’t the priority; throwing correctly and with velocity is the focus. WATCH VIDEO
Observations from Omaha– As you know, Texas won the Division 1 Volleyball title over the weekend. The Longhorns possessed experience and physicality in every position. I was hoping for Louisville to pull the upset in the final. I just like the way that Louisville plays. They compete and play good backcourt defense without subbing in backrow specialists; the left-side attackers are a little under-sized but make up for the lack of stature with excellent shot selection and competitiveness. Texas deserves to be the champs, but Louisville, Pitt, and San Diego can take great pride in their seasons.
An Olympic Trainer Shares His Top Secrets for Pushing Through Discomfort– A prerequisite for accomplishing world-class goals is pushing through moments of discomfort. Olympic Trainer Steve Magness describes four keys to help the athlete push through the pain of excellence. READ MORE
NIL and Recruiting– The NIL legislation allows collegiate athletes to market themselves for profit. You are making some serious cash if you are a highly recruited football player. This article details how Ohio State Football (not a place devoid of loose change to throw around) is losing top recruits to other programs because they are getting outbid by hundreds of thousands of dollars. The lines between professional and collegiate sports continue to be blurred. READ MORE
Hostile Pre-Game Speeches Will Impact Your Player, But Not in a Good Way– this may seem obvious, but this article points out data that underscores the importance of being careful with your pre and post-game comments. READ MORE
I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and Holiday season. See you in ’23!
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Regards,
