Campfires

In the last couple of months, I have had conversations with coaches about their team’s lack of intensity and desire when it comes to the backcourt in volleyball.  Whether it is on serve reception and/or defense players are letting the ball drop.

I believe that the athletes want to learn to improve and they are not lazy.  In addition, it usually is not a technical issue as they can perform the skill in a one on one situations. This is usually a read and react situation.  Today on a blog post on "At Home Court" the author, discuss that a questioning of the decision they make slows the player down a tenth of a second.  At the lower levels, it is probably longer. 

A good defense example is the ball is tipped to the center of the court (pot).  All of the players react to it but eventually all stand and see the ball fall between them.(The Campfire, because it looks like a group of people standing around a campfire watching it) 

All the players read the same situation they were just unclear whose responsibility it was to dig the ball.  A typical reaction is for the coach to yell “ call the ball”  but this doesn’t really solve the problem.  If all of the other players were removed from the situation, each one of the defenders probably could play that ball.  In a one-player drill, they can execute this coverage flawlessly. 

The team needs to decide who is responsible.  Is it the player behind the block who is held high just for tips? The rest of the team is worried about hard driven balls.  Is it the responsibility of the off blocker, who has to react and move to the middle of the court? Is it your middle back player who rushes up to dig this ball as they are moving in the direction of the net? All of these scenarios are correct if it is what is agreed upon by the team ahead of time.

Once these are agreed upon, it will be easier to train this scenario.  This is why I feel it is important to have multiple players in the drills.  We have to learn to read and react together.  This is the same for serve reception.  The players need to agree ahead of time who is taking which seam, who is getting the short serve…etc.  We rarely to serve reception drills with just one player. We try hard to include the decision making into each situation.  Then the coaches will find that the intensity and desire will magically improve as players are moving and reacting to the different situations together.

Pet Peeve

I have had the opportunity to work with some young middle years athletes the last few years.  I find that they are very keen and want to learn.  With YouTube and the FIVB website the young athletes have so many more opportunities to watch high level volleyball than before.

This summer I saw at Jasper volleyball camp a young guys court really play volleyball at a high level for their age.  The coaches of that group ran many game style drills that challenged them to grow.  Taught them to run a faster middle and backrow attacks.  Most of the guys on that court were attempting jump spin or jump floats serves.  It was a lot of fun to watch that court.   Of course, the drill was sloppy at times as players made errors.  However, the error was brushed off and another ball was put into play. 

It reminded me of a link John Kessel had on his blog of a U12 championship. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJmpZSNoIzY  That video is a great example of what can happen if we enter into a gym with no expectations or stereotypes of what the level of volleyball should be.

On another court the coaches of a young girls group had them trying to jump float.  There was a young 11 year old who couldn’t get the serve over the net with a standing over hand serve. Her camp coach suggested she try a jump float. The athlete was walking with the ball anyways trying to generate momentum.   By the end of the lesson, she was getting the ball over the net a few times. It was fun to see her excitement in this achievement.

Well I met this young athlete again and asked her how the jump float was working.  She said that her school coach won’t allow her to use it.  She needed to get 10 serve in a row in practice before they can use it in a match.  I was shocked.  The creativity and excitement this athlete had was being held back.  Seriously, I do not know if many university level players can make 10 game serves in a row. 

As coaches sometimes, we need to get out of the way and let the athlete experience and explore their skill level.  That is what is happening at the skate parks. The young athlete watch and try to emulate what they see.  We should be encouraging athletes to watch high level matches.  Then let them experiment with what they see.  

First Week Of School

First week of school

I find it hard to believe that it will be 35 years since I first walked into Camrose Lutheran College to start my university.  I was lucky because I had a great friend from high school going there with me and we became roommates. It was two very important years in my development

Before I left a friend of mine gave me some advice I pass on to my players every year. 

• Try to meet someone new the first day.  Then try to meet someone new in every one of your classes.  They probably don’t know anyone else in the class either.  Just start by saying Hi and asking where they are from.This advice was awesome for me.  I made some of my closest friends that first week.  I was able to catch up to some of them this past summer and had a great time reminiscing.
•   Make friends outside of your sport.  This is very important because we seem to be trapped in our little bubble.  When you are in university and playing sports it encompasses your whole life.  Your friends outside of the sport do not see it that way.  If you have a bad practice and feel down.  They appreciate you for who you are not what you did on the court. They still will watch a movie with you.  When you are with teammates all the time small sets backs feel larger than they are.
• 3.       Do not forget to eat.  If you have met me in the past few years, you will see I mastered this one.  However, my first year was so crazy we needed to schedule food.  I was on a meal plan so we all ate at the same time and it was very much a social event.  Nevertheless, I have been in some study sessions where time flew by. 
•   Try new things.  University is a time to explore what you want.  Night golf is fun if you have not tried it.  Glow bowling is great, just to name a few adventures.
• Everything is going to come up fast.  Midterms are not in the middle of the term.  They might be the third week.  Papers are due quickly; use the student services. If there is a writing center, go see them.  Every instructor wants a little different citing.  Remember every first year is in the same situation.  Second semester is so much simpler.  Ask for directions if you are lost.
• This first year will test you and will reward you.  Just live it day by day and stay positive.  Remember everyone else there is in the same situation as you.  It only feels like you’re the crazy first year who is lost and behind.

Three Most Common Recruiting Questions.

Recruiting is the lifeblood of every program.  There are many different styles of recruiters and recruits.  With Brandon University, being a smaller university in Usport recruiting also is the head coach’s responsibility. During my time recruiting, some common questions arise.  

1. How much will I play?

More and more young women can step in and help a line up right away. However, for most of the players they will have to work hard in practice for a few years to get much court time.

For most first years, eighty percent of their volleyball time is practicing.  This is where they develop skill and tactics. This allows them to try new skills, to fail and struggle without the fate of the team on their shoulders. Sport is tough that way, thousands of people get to watch a player succeed and fail over the course of their career.  That also means twenty percent of volleyball is actual game play.  In the case of most first years, it is more like five percent game play.  Therefore, eighty five percent of the year you are playing with people as talented as you or better than you are.  You will be challenged and improving daily.

2. How many classes should I take?

Most of our athletes take a reduced course load to handle the demands of being part of the program.  Thirty credits is a full course load. Most athletes will take 24 credits or less. Which means that they are taking one less course a semester.  Add that missed course a semester up over 4 years and you have a full eight courses left in your fifth year. That is a big reason why Usport has 5 years of eligibility rather than four.

3. What is a typical week like?

A student athlete’s demand on their time changes whether we are in season or out of season. Our season last from mid-October to end of February then playoffs start. Teams that make it to the finals then go to nationals will play until mid-March.

In season, our athletes will do weights for maintenance twice a week and a physical circuit once a week. This extra physical commitment is usually Monday to Wed. We find this helps prevent injuries as well as allows the athletes to perform at their best late in matches.

Next, we add extra academic demands for first year students or students who need academic help.  These students have study hall on Mondays.  We use study hall to help organize the student athletes.  We need to make sure they are aware of when assignments are due and test are scheduled.  We also will teach them some study skills.  With missing quite a few days for travel, athletes need to organize their time. They need to keep their instructors aware of days they are missing. They need to arrange to write tests on the road or before we leave. The student athlete often will hand in papers before due dates to accommodate travel schedules. 

Then we have two video sessions a week.  The video occurs before practice on Monday and Weds for 30 minutes. Here we review the past matches and what we need to focus on.  We also will go over game plan.  Monday we will show how other teams have had success against our upcoming opponent. This allows setters and hitters to work on shots that they might need for the upcoming matches.

We also have extra on court sessions; the athletes attend one small group training session over and above practices.  Our practices last for two hours a day Monday through Thursday.  This is where we have an opportunity to break things down a little more.  Have the athlete get a feel for a new skill.  During our regular practice time, it is all pass set hit drills.  There will be a major focus on a tactical or transitional part of the game.

We practice for two hours a day as a team.  This is a very quick tempo; we try to keep the flow going as much as possible.  We will start on two courts working on specific things.  A good example would be outside attackers covering a tip and transitioning outside for attack. Then middles liberoes and setters would be working on a push 41.  The end of practice is always 6 on 6,

Our travel is often by air; we usually fly out for our road trips Thursday around noon and return home Sunday around noon.  .

On match days will we will have an hour serve and pass practice in the morning. Then we will play our match that night. In Canada West, we have a schedule where you play the same team back-to-back nights. This makes the weekend very interesting. Always is fun to see the adjustments teams make.   We often practice at 9am and then return to hotel to watch video in smaller groups on Saturday. This allows the athletes a chance to schedule their day.  When to study when to sleep.  We will do a team meal together 2.5hrs before we play.

In our preseason, we will require more strength sessions. We go to three weight sessions a week and two dryland circuit sessions. We will have more court time as well.  We will practice 6 days a week and will begin the small group sessions.  We will begin our video and study sessions.  We try to emulate the amount of time they will be using the rest of the year.

Who Coaches the Coach?

A few years ago, I heard the phrase "You are the sum of the five people you spend the most time with". I use that phrase a lot with our athletes. Are the people who surround yourself with helping to make you a better player and person?

I have a great group of friends involved in coaching. Not all of them are volleyball coaches. These people allow me to discuss situations and help make my decisions. I have great colleagues that also love to improve their sport and enjoy talking coaching and science of coaching.  This is my main source of professional development.

However, over the years I have not taken many opportunities to pursue other professional development. I tend to just stay in my own gym and rely on books I read about coaching and leadership. I am a voracious reader. I love finding books. I tend to have 3 or 4 books on the go at one time. But specific volleyball professional development has been hard to come by. I discovered my love of learning later in my coaching career.

  When I lived in Alberta at the end of the season I would evaluate the year and write down some recommendations fo myself.  Then I would move on to the next team.  I was coaching year round. I loved coaching and wanted to be involved in everything.  College would finish then club practices would start. When Club finished Team Alberta would start.  Every experience with those teams  made me a better coach but I didn't have time to go back to those recomedations.  I was stuck in a perpetual cycle of what I knew as best practices.

When I decided to start my Masters in Coaching at University of Victoria I found my best practices challenged by what science was saying.  Dr. Van Jean taught our motor learning class and her class literally blew my mind.  It allowed me to rethink all the drills we used. Was this the best use of their time? Did it transfer from practice to matches? Was my feedback being a help or was I hindering learning with my constant chatter? It changed the way I coached and small success followed.

After I finished my Masters I was able to work in small chunks with our Canadian National Women's Team.  Here Arndt Ludwig ( Lupo) was putting the science we learned into practice. It was refreshing and I wanted to see more. A lot of my time with the national team my role was to stay behind and train the athletes who didn't travel. Again, I was in my own gym.

When I was selected to travel with the team I saw volleyball played at an incredibly high level.  The speed and power of the game again was a catalyst for change. It allowed me to change the way I looked at the game. I realized we can ask our athletes to do more. Our Canada West is a very good league and filled with incredible athletes but we can play faster and stronger.

I believe every coach and athlete need to watch the level above them.  Know what that is like and try to mimic it when possible.

Finally, after 20 years of being in my own gym and running my own program I felt stagnant. I longed again for that catalyst to help me improve as a coach. I applied to the University for a Sabbatical. I wanted to travel and discuss with different coaches’ about how they run their programs.  I  also want to see how they make game plan decisions and how they practice for these.  I want to ask them what they personally do to stay current. How do they find ways to challenge their ideas?

Luckily, Ken Murphy at Northern Arizona (NCAA Div 1) has offered to open his gym for me. He agreed to let me sit in on coaching meetings. Be around the team at practice and watch how his coaching interact.  He has been incredibly accommodating.  

I have also reached out to a few professional coaches in Europe who have agreed to meet with me.  I have found that most volleyball coaches are very accommodating and love to talk volleyball.  I know I enjoy it when I can sit around with coaches and banter ideas back and forth.

I love coaching and my career at Brandon University and hope to return a new and improved version of myself.

My goal is to share some of my thoughts and discoveries on this blog as I travel around in search of coaching best practices.