Setting Goals

I am just back from visiting my 30 year old son in Santa Barbara, California. He participated in the first Santa Barbara marathon and I wanted to be there to cheer him on. He came back from a broken ankle and started to train just a few short months ago. He is not a "runner", but he set a goal for himself to finish the 26.2 mile race. He not only accomplished this goal, but he broke 4 hours in the process. I am very proud of him on so many levels, and he feels proud that he stuck with it through lots of pain. He wrote a wonderful article about his experience on Noozhawk.com, an online newspaper in Santa Barbara. Check it out. Whatever goals we set for ourselves, there is a satisfaction in knowing we gave it our best effort. In dealing with volleyball teams, the goals will vary according to the age and skill level of the players. Give them small goals to work toward, and have them think of goals they would like to reach during the season. Long term goals are great. Don't discourage them from wanting to become a professional beach player or an Olympian, but have them also set some immediate goals they can accomplish this week and this season. Something like getting their serve over the net or learning the overhand serve might be great accomplishments for a beginning player. Assess where each player is starting and give them little improvements to strive for. You want short term goals to be attainable. With club season starting up, please write with any comments, suggestions or questions you want to share. Bye for now.

What to Look for in a Player

When selecting a team or forming a unit once you have already chosen your team, what elements of skill and personality are important? Over the years I have put together teams I thought would do very well based on their skills. That always turns out to be just a part of the whole picture. Great attitude and leadership are the key. A player who comes to practice everyday ready to give you and her teammates her all, is the player I want every time. I have made some bad picks, not knowing what lurks inside that player's soul. I have also made some excellent picks based on that special ingredient. For a young player to be a great leader without coming across "bossy"; that is a very positive attribute to have. Of course, we all want that great athlete who is also the strong, positive leader. I think it is more difficult to find the leader who is respected by her peers, than it is to find good athletes. Those great leaders lead by example. They practice hard and respect the coach's wishes without complaint. They don't get down on themselves or their teammates for mistakes made. They encourage other players when they make an error and they move on from their own errors. Players should definitely be taught these positive teammate skills, but it helps when they start out being receptive to your physical and mental coaching. Start hunting for those great leaders!

Preparing Muscles for Playing Volleyball

How many of you are tired of having your players run laps to warm up for practice or a game of volleyball? There are some new, exciting ways to warm up your muscles and work on agility skills that are fun for the players. According to Jesse McFarland, athletic trainer at the Sisters, Oregon Athletic Club, dynamic stretching and agility drills are the best way to prepare for the explosive game of volleyball. Jesse was selected to train the US Olympic team prior to the 2008 Bejing Olympic Games. Jesse came back with the latest information about the most efficient ways to prepare for your sport. In my upcoming book I will share the dynamic stretches and agility drills that I have used with my teams. The agility ladder, which many of the top collegiate teams are using, is a fun way to teach the players quickness and direction changes. There are many drills and patterns you can teach, and it is surprising how fast the players pick it up. Jesse did suggest that you switch up patterns of the drill to challenge the coordination of your players. There will be more to come on this subject. Lots of fun things to try!

Setting Your Expectations

Setting y0ur expectations for your team is critical for your sanity as well as for the understanding of your players and parents. Be clear about what you expect of your players in practice; their work ethic, their attitude, their treatment of their teammates and the respect shown you, their coach. I hear people say that kids are different these days and you're just going to get players that are not up to the standards you want. I don't agree. I think if you set your standards high and you have a good program, the type of player you want will be happy with strong guidelines. The key parts here are "a good program" and the "type of player you want". If you offer a solid volleyball program, you can be choosey about the players you will accept to coach. We've all been burned by that player who is a good athlete, but creates a poisonous atmosphere on the team because of a negative attitude or by talking about other players behind backs. Those types of players need to be stopped immediately. If they can come around and become a positive teammate, they get to stay. If they continue their negative ways after talking with them as well as their parents, they need to be released. I kick myself for the times I have stuck with a player, when looking back, I should have dealt with the problem sooner and made a decision. It's always better to have a bunch of kids with good attitudes, even if they are not the top athletes, than it is to keep a bad apple just because they're a good player. Any stories from you coaches?

Communication with team and parents

Before beginning any season with your team, you need to plan a parent meeting with players also in attendance. Players and parents need to hear the same thing from the coach, and all three parties need to start the season on the same page. Coaches, you need to explain your philosophy to the players and parents. Let them know what to expect during practices and games. Any questions about playing time and what a player can do to improve should come from the player, not the parent. Have the player learn to communicate with the coach and her fellow teammates. Speaking respectfully to each other is important at all times, and will be crucial when the team is in a tension filled moment during a match. Role play on the court between your players so that can feel how a comment (good and bad) would affect them. Telling a teammate who has just missed the ball, "You should have gotten that ball!" instead of saying, "Nice try. You'll get it next time", is a lesson to be learned by all players (and coaches). So communication between coaches, parents, and players is so important when trying to get through a sports season. Keep the parents up to date on the progress of the team by sending e-mails or flyers. If a problem arises with a player that you feel the parents need to know about, such as a persistent negative attitude, don't let it wait. Have a family meeting right away and nip it in the bud immediately. Poison attitudes can ruin a team. Let them know what you expect and hold firm. Hopefully both of you can work together to mold a new, positive attitude. So this just touches on the importance of communication between all parties involved with a team. Push and positive and squash the negative.

Coachability, what is it?

Coaches,wouldn't you love finding that player who hangs on every word you say and then performs that skill you have described without on error? In a perfect world, or should I say an "unrealistic" world, this would be great. But then, who would need a coach? Throw in the human factors of various physical abilities, maturity, feelings of persecution, emotions teetering on the edge, etc., and you have what we coaches are paid the big bucks for! Getting the most out of a player, having them accept your coaching wisdom and corrections without feeling attacked personally, is the ultimate goal of our original coaching lesson. Then, the ultimate coaching goal is to have them perform efficiently the skill you're teaching . The PCA (Positive Coaching Alliance) says a coach should say 5 positive things for every 1 criticism. Others I have heard like to "sandwich" their corrections between two compliments. Either way of thinking is good food for thought. The players need to hear positive comments along with the corrections. I know I have done this in a practice, only to hear the players say I was too negative. Check what you're saying and make sure your players are hearing what you say to them. They tend to hear only the corrections. We can all learn from our mistakes. Keep the lines of communication open with your players. You are in charge, but it is good to ask their opinions. It is a great way to explain why you're doing something, and to stop and get their views about how it is working for them. They may not understand the point of the drill you have them doing. So, coaches, it is a must to know why we are choosing to do the drills we are asking them to do. They might work harder knowing that the shuffling drill is going to make them a better passer by getting them to the ball in the correct position. That's it for now. We'll definitely come back to this subject, because this is the crux of coaching. Happy Halloween!

Looking for lessons learned in a disappointing loss? As a coach you have just been a part of a close match which your team loses. You feel the frustration and kick in the gut that your team is also feeling, but you are the adult and teacher, so you have to have words of wisdom for your sad team. Separating your emotions and putting them on the back burner to grab this teaching and learning moment is crucial. I know for my young team, who is trying to do what we are teaching, it is tough to see their efforts not rewarded. They can now pass, set and hit, but they can't always put it together without an error somewhere along the line. Meanwhile, the
opponent is just hitting the ball back over the net allowing us to make the error. Coaches, we need to see the bigger picture at this stage of their development. Work hard on serving so they can score points that way. Keep working on the skills of the game. Passing, of course, is number one. Then, teach them to set to a spot, not to a person. Next, teach your hitters to get ready to hit. In the long run, teaching the skills and the sequence they are trying for will help them in their future. Praise them for trying to play correctly. In practice do competive drills that reward effort for 3 hits on a side. Then, coaches, after you have given them all the support they need after a disappointing loss, you can go to your car and scream and yell to let out all the pent up emotions you have suppressed. Have a great day!

Hey, all you volleyball fans. This is a fun way to share information so don't be shy. Volleyball is a game you can play throughout your life, so I believe it is important to learn the correct techniques when you first begin learning the game, whether it is at 9 years old or into adulthood. It's great to learn when your young, because it is like riding a bike. If you learn it right, you will retain those skills. A teammate asked my daughter if she thought she would ever quit volleyball. My daughter replied, "Why would I ever quit the greatest game in the whole world?" I think she has the bug! Coaches; teach the skills correctly, and make the practices fun and not too long. "Passing and serving" is the mantra to instill in your players, but it is also good to introduce other skills; footwork for spiking and blocking, setting and how to go down on the floor for a ball. I will be publishing an E- book in the near future showing my way of teaching the skills. My focus is on the young player, with modifications for those who aren't big or strong enough to perform all the skills successfully. There will be more to come. If you have any ideas, please write and I will be happy to write back to you. Have a great day and remember, you can have your players set and pass to themselves in the house to work on control. Sorry parents!

While coaching my 7th grade daughter's volleyball team, I needed to address the question of playing time. 7th grade seems to be a pivotal year between everyone playing equal amounts of time and the better players starting to play a larger percentage of the time. Each player does get playing time, but it is not equal. It is a transition year, and the players should understand why. By high school, the teams will be streamlined to included only those players who will play and help the team win as many games as they can. That is the nature of competitive sports. In the earlier years of youth sports, players all get fairly equal time in the game. As they get older and games get increasingly competitive the stronger players spend more time in the game to help the team win. There are many lessons to be learned and decisions to be made during this transition phase. You can work really hard and be good enough to make the team, or you may work really hard and still not be good enough to make the team. You can also have a great attitude and be a positive, supportive teammate and be a player cheering for your team from the bench most of time. Coaches love those selfless players who put team before themselves. That takes a mature attidude, and usually that player will earn more playing time because of it. A positive team player will get more out of her teammates and be more valuable to have in the game. Through good team meetings where coaches share their reasons for making the decisions they make throughout the game, players at this pivotal age can learn why they play or don't play. They can understand how to accept coaching, not criticism, and know what they have to do to improve to be more valuable to their team. I believe the players need encouragement and also honesty about their skill level and what they can do to work on their game and improve. They need to know that they are playing a competitive team sport. They are competing for a spot on the team and at the same time they need to be positive and encouraging to their teammates for the good of the team. I think group and individual meetings with players is necessary to maintain open lines of communication. You don't want any talking behind the back to start on your team. Please write back with any comments or observations.

Teaching Youth Volleyball

In my 40 years of coaching and teaching volleyball I have learned a lot from many different coaches and teachers. From playing my first volleyball game on the courts of the Outrigger Canoe Club in Hawaii, to playing at Punahou School in Hawaii: then moving on to USC and the USA National team, I have come in contact with top players and coaches. What I have learned throughout the years is that everyone has something to offer. I feel like I have picked up tips and a variety of ways to teach and coach. Some ideas I have loved and still use today to coach my youth teams, and some techniques I have changed because of rule changes or changes in my own personality. A competitive nature never really leaves your soul, but how you handle it and deal with young players probably needs to be revisited depending on your intensity level. Playing at the top level of competition indoors and on the beach circuit requires huge intensity and drive. How do you pass this on to a beginning player without scaring them away from you and the great game of volleyball? Little bits at a time! This is my first post on my blog. Please respond with questions and comments.