“Coaching Journal” 3.17.23

Quote of the Week: “Your level of improvement often has much less to do with our innate limits than with what we consider an acceptable level of performance. Put another way, we work at something until we get to “good enough.” This is where the ordinary people simply stop.” ~ Bill Stainton, Leadership Speaker
Blog Post This Week – 90% of the teams, regardless of level, will receive the serve with three passers. There is nothing wrong with this system, but viable options exist. We explore some options that might be especially applicable to younger-age teams. READ MORE
MasterCoaches Video of the Week– Kevin Fite and David Rehr Talk NCAA Name, Image, and Likeness. Watch the video on the Jim Stone Consulting Home Page
YouTube Video Series That I Find Fascinating – Dr. Andrew Huberman is a tenured professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford University School of Medicine. He has created a series of videos that study human performance. When I say study, the videos are about 2 hours in duration and full of documentation on the topic of the day. I highly recommend working your way through the videos, along with listening to his podcast. LEARN MORE
Feedback That I’ve Received– I’ve received some feedback expressing a specific interest in more content on the blog or newsletter for younger players. I will pursue this type of content in the upcoming weeks. Suggestions, thoughts, or comments are always welcome!
For Those Considering New Uprights– Check out Sterling Volleyball uprights. These are well made, light, and cost-effective. Worth a look!
Articles That I’m Finding Interesting
March Madness For Men’s Hoops, Not As Much for Women’s Hoops – My former colleague at Ohio State, Karen Weaver, writes a wonderful article about the discrepancies in spending for the men’s and women’s tournaments. Over 52 million dollars was spent on the NCAA men’s basketball tournament last year. The women’s tournament spent “only” 17 million dollars. One can easily say, “yeah, but look at the revenues on the men’s side.” The point is well taken, but there is a lot of money the NCAA is leaving on the table by not fully supporting women’s championships. READ MORE
FIVB Rule Changes Might Be Coming – John Forman has provided an overview of what the FIVB is considering for rule changes at the international level. Of course, collegiate or club programs are not mandated to follow FIVB legislation; there will undoubtedly be a push to implement potential changes. Many proposals will impact the men’s game more than the women’s (must land behind the endlne of the serve or 3-meter line on the attack). The two proposals that have caught coaches’ attention on the women’s side are 1) eliminating the open hand tip and 2) eliminating the ability for the passer to set the opponent’s serve. I heartily endorse both of these proposals. I’ll go into more detail in an upcoming blog post. READ MORE
Colleges Should be More Like Prisons – This is an excellent article about a college professor that teaches part-time at a maximum security prison. “Never have I been more grateful to teach where I do: at a men’s maximum-security prison. My students there enrolled in a for-credit college program provide a sharp contrast with contemporary undergraduates. These men are highly motivated and hard-working. They tend to read each assignment two or three times before coming to class and take notes as well. Some of them have been incarcerated for 20 or 30 years and have been reading books all that time. They would hold their own in any graduate seminar.” READ MORE
That’s all for this week!
~Jim