Posts Tagged ‘Practice Management’
Could the Suzuki Method of Violin Instruction Work in Club Volleyball?
“This method is not education of the violin. It is education by the violin.” — Shinichi Suzuki The late Shinichi Suzuki developed the Suzuki Method of violin instruction that over 400,000 children use worldwide. The goal of Suzuki was not to teach children to be elite violinists. The ultimate goal was to use the learning…
Read MoreA Dozen Pillars for a Productive Practice
As the club season starts, coaches spend significant time in practice sessions. The time spent in practice is the most precious aspect of a season. Every coach should operate their training sessions in a fashion that mirrors their teaching and coaching philosophy, knowledge of the game, how players best learn, the personality of the coach,…
Read MoreAssisting the Inexperienced Club Coach
The phrase “heavy is the head that wears the crown” was used by Shakespeare in the play King Henry IV. The gist of the phrase was the King acknowledging the hardships of implementing his never-ending responsibilities. The inexperienced club coach feels a similar weight of being responsible for teaching, planning, and organizing all the activities…
Read MoreFive Coaching Assumptions That Might Not Be Accurate
I don’t believe any coach intentionally coaches with full knowledge that their methods might be inefficient or may not lead to quality learning and consistent improvement on the part of the athletes. Although their heart may be in the right place, it is not unusual for coaches to operate under false assumptions that will negatively…
Read MoreSome Skills Are More Important Than Others!
In my earlier coaching days, I would spend hours on a box in practice, hitting balls at players to work on their defensive skills. In retrospect, I was spending time in the wrong area of the game. Investing time in defense is not without value. A good defensive team demands the desired qualities of heart,…
Read MoreBetter Teaching Skills=Better Coaching
In recent blogs, the focus has been on time management in practice. In this piece, the focus is on the ingredients of effective teaching. Although my undergraduate and graduate degrees are in Education, most of what I learned as a teacher came from being in the educational cauldron with students. To run beneficial training sessions,…
Read MoreLogistics Will Dictate a Quality Practice
“Novices argue tactics, and experts argue logistics” ~Erwin Rommel, WWII German General Former Los Angeles Laker head coach Pat Riley once said that he would spend three hours planning a three-hour practice. I have no doubt that a significant portion of this planning time was spent detailing practice activities. I am equally confident that substantial…
Read MoreGet Rid of “Time Sucks” in Practice
“Never mistake activity with achievement”. ~John Wooden The most valuable commodity for volleyball coaches at all levels is time. For collegiate coaches, practice is worked into a day that includes recruiting duties, administrative paperwork, public relations, marketing, budgeting, etc. Club teams must juggle the facility schedule, player and parent schedules, and the academic obligations of…
Read MoreJoe Rogan, Spotify and Coaching Volleyball?
I guess that Joe Rogan offering opinions or listening to others offer their opinions does not sit well with some contributors to Spotify. Rogan hosts an opinion-based and a pretty popular podcast on Spotify (12 million listeners to each show). Rogan’s opinions, or those of his guests, did not sit well with singer Neil Young.…
Read MoreChange is Good….You Go First!
I was driving past a local business, and the sign out front said, “Change is good….you go first.” I wonder if numbers, data, and studies restrict our approach to the game at the expense of creativity and the ability to change from the script of accepted methods? There are a lot of game or practice…
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