Three Ideas Newsletter – 8/5/25
Hello, everyone! As collegiate practices begin, I fondly recall memories of August practices in St. John Arena on the Ohio State campus. As one former player put it, walking into St. John Arena was like walking into a “hallowed monument.” I agree with those sentiments, however, it was also walking into the largest sauna in the world. As beautiful as St. John Arena is with the wooden chairs and vaulted ceiling, there were a few drawbacks (I’ll call it ambiance). First, since it was built in 1956, it was not air-conditioned. If you’ve been in Ohio in August, you know that the humidity is suffocating. On one particularly humid day, I swear there were clouds forming at the top of the building. But I firmly believe that practicing in that environment made our players mentally tough. If they could make it through practice in sauna-like conditions, they could accomplish anything.
A fond recollection of my Ohio State days. As practices began in 1994, the weather was insufferably hot. I was sitting next to the late Mike Bordner, who was the veteran athletic trainer for all the teams that worked out of St. John. Even though the OSU team would make it to the NCAA National Semi-Finals that year, as the team was warming up for practice, I was fussing to Mike about some aspect of our practice progress. Mike looked at me and said, “Coach, teams like this come along once or twice a career. Enjoy every day because it won’t get any better than this.” Mike was so right! So, that’s my message to coaches. Enjoy the players you’re working with. Time goes quickly and you’ll never have the opportunity to coach them again.
Thanks for reading! Suggestions are always welcome! Have a great week!
~Jim
Quote for the Week: The man who grasps principles can successfully select his methods, the man who tries methods, ignoring principles, is sure to have trouble” ~Harrington Emerson
Idea #1 – Keep Your Attacking Drills Game Related – Be careful of spending practice time rehearsing various aspects of the game in a manner that will never be replicated in an actual game. The obvious example is hitting lines. You have ten players standing in one line. When they work their way to the front, they dutifully toss the ball to the setter, receive a set, proceed to attack, then chase their ball into the next zip code to repeat the process. In most scenarios, hitters will go from pass to attack, block to attack, or dig to attack. Rehearse those situations as often as possible. VIDEO
Idea #2 – The First Week(s) of Practice Is Important – In the first few days of practice, you lay the foundation for the season. Skill acquisition is part of it, but that component of the game will come with time and repetition. More important in the early practices is implementing your philosophy. Here are a couple of items to provide an example.
- Establish your expectation for discipline and attention to detail. Discipline starts with small steps. Start by having all players dress the same to underscore that we’re all on the same team. Ensure that we start and finish practice on time. Also, have expectations for court demeanor and positive body language. Focus on listening skills and eye contact when speaking. If your team can master the foundational components of discipline, it will have the discipline to win close matches.
- Assign teams, partners, and groups to all your activities. Put the best players with the less talented, the seniors with the freshmen, etc. By doing so, you break down the potential for cliques to form on your team.
- Lots of high-fives among players and staff. Reward positive effort. At this point of the season, the effort is more important than flawless execution.
- Make the effort to frequently communicate the goals of the season, week or day. Emphasize how the daily practice activities promote these goals.
- Create scenarios where leadership or decision-making opportunities are distributed to a variety of players. You might be surprised which player(s) demonstrate leadership abilities.
Idea #3 – Developing Setter Footwork – The best way to move around the court, especially if you’re a setter, is to have a foundation of efficient footwork. In these two videos, we look at footwork options for the setter. I want the setter to be comfortable with all the footwork patterns. Once they are comfortable, I don’t tell them what to use; I want them to use whatever footwork sequence is the most comfortable and efficient. Generally, I select 3-4 footwork patterns to work on for thirty minutes in advance of the start of practice. Video #1 – Left Foot Lead VIDEO #2 Right- Foot Lead
Video of the Week: Blocking With Hands Under the Ball –This week, we focus on how your middle blocker can still be effective blocking with the hands under the ball. When blocking, you can block with your hands over the ball, on the ball, and under the ball. Especially for middles, sometimes you’re late to the outside to block. If the situation prevents the blocker from going straight over the net, coaches should work to emphasize putting the hands into the seam and directing the ball back into the opponent’s court. VIDEO
Archive Blog Posting: As high school practices are about to begin, here is a blog on how to “spice up” your meetings without sacrificing important content. READ MORE
Thanks for reading. Have a great week!
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~Jim
