Posts Tagged ‘Volleyball Skills’
Three Ideas Newsletter 12.10.25
The year before winning our first Big Ten Championship at Ohio State in 1989, we actually finished in sixth place in the conference. We battled hard that season—took several of the top teams to five sets—, but we didn’t have the intangibles to close out crucial sets needed in tight matches.
What made that team special, though, was their leadership and willingness to grind. They decided they were good enough to win a championship and made a collective choice to pursue a championship. That meant committing to a tough off-season—6 a.m. lifts, running sessions, attendance in “open” gym practices, the whole deal. Standards went up, both on and off the court. And it paid off. They reached their goal and won a Big Ten championship the following season. A few of the younger players maintained that same mindset, won another title two years later, and proceeded to take Ohio State to the Final Four in 1991.
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 – 10/21/25
Hey everyone! State tournaments are around the corner for high school programs. A frequently asked question from many coaches is how to best prepare their teams for the competition. First of all, there isn’t a best single way to prepare your team for the state tournament. Each team has their own personality, along with many variables such as injuries, experience, etc. But, here are a few items that I’ll present as food for thought.
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 MoreTryout Planning and Positional Keys
It’s early June, and high school coaches are scheduling open gyms, organizing summer team camps, and planning the fall tryouts. Early summer is a good time for the coach to evaluate the previous season, assess the strengths and challenges ahead, and decide what they want to implement in the upcoming season. Here are a couple of considerations for the summer activities and fall tryouts.
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 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 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.
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