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.