From Competitive to Competing

From Competitive to Competing: Changing player’s Mindset
by Carrick Patterson (Colorado College assistant volleyball coach/Colorado 15 Nationals Head Coach)

It is day three of a four-day tournament and your team is in a dogfight again with familiar faces across the net. The score is 11-12 game three, emotions are charged and tensions are high. A crowd is starting to gather around your court. Thoughts are flying around in your head, 'Have I prepared them for this? Should I use my last time out? Is the pressure too much for a young team? I should have read the Competitive Cauldron and Gold Medal Squared books.'

Then all of a sudden a light bulb turns on with a flash of preserved genius. You call a time out and gather everyone up in a close huddle with your arms wrapped around each other.

What do you say to your team who’s looking at you with wide eyes and complete attention? Do you start off with the standard play hard and give it your all, or perhaps it’s we have been here before. Maybe you decide to keep it fresh and new by telling a quick joke to relax the team.

The bottom line, this is the turning point where your team has the opportunity to move from being competitive to competing for the championship. I’ve tried all the approaches above and reality is regardless of your flash of genius or knowledgeable advice at this moment, your team will compete how you trained at practice. Changing player mindsets from competitive to being a competitor starts during everyday training sessions. I’m going to discuss three areas to increase opportunity to be a competitor on the volleyball court: training outside comfort zones, development of player’s toolbox and game-like drills.

Every coach has their favorite drills for a variety of reasons. Most likely were comfortable with execution of the drill and had success running it over time. However, this can create a pitfall for training if you’re not careful with development and creation of practice plans.

I would recommend both players and coaches training outside the comfort zone. Developing new training sessions with a variety of drills keeps the staff engaged in concepts and players focused on requirements to successfully complete the drill. Using new techniques and skill training can give your team an advantage over opponents who cover the same material week after week.

As Collin Powers, USA Volleyball Manager of High Performance Program, stated in 2009,

“Our tryout coaches track players’ progress throughout the course of a tryout to determine whether you adapt. This may be your first chance at playing with such a high level of competition; and we want to see how you react. Part of this comes from how open you are to change (the ability to step outside of your comfort zone) and part of this is determined by #4 (Confidence and leadership) and #5 (Aggressiveness) above. The more confident and aggressive you are, the more you will find yourself adapting to the demands of higher levels of play. This definitely is something that athletes can work on whenever they are on the court.”

Imagine a left-handed opposite making a bad read on a set and over approaching finding oneself left of midline. Most players in this situation would hyperextend their backs and arms reaching across the right side of their body simply trying to keep the ball in play. Now think again if you have trained the player to execute a tip, roll or swing with their right arm how effective would they become off a miss-timed approach or occasional bad set. This is one example of players training outside the comfort zone. A few repetitions during a practice session training the non-dominant arm can provide dividends when it counts in a match. The key is the player has to be comfortable with execution of the skill in order to utilize it in game like situations.

As a coach, it is important to train outside your comfort zone in order to effectively manage training sessions and foster creative experiences for players. I can remember initiating a newly learned drill only to find out my communication skills were subject for debate. The drill was a total disaster and the players finished confused and frustrated. Practice moved on and we managed to get through a rough day. Later that evening I evaluated the practice session and took some notes. As it turned out, the notes all pointed to my failure to communicate the proper movement and overall objectives of the drill. After working through the drill on paper with more detail, later that week I ran it again. As it turned out the players were able to work through it, developed new concepts about running a swing offense and my communication skills improved. Organizing and initiating new drills outside your comfort zone will allow opportunity for growth professionally and evaluate weaknesses. Ultimately your knowledge will assist players with development of new skills or concepts giving them the opportunity to succeed.

Development of a player’s toolbox is a simple concept but takes time and repetitions. I consider a player’s toolbox a combination of items and attributes; their volleyball IQ (experience), athletic ability and communication skills. In order to move from competitive to being a competitor, a coach must expand the player’s toolbox. I was amazed when I first started coaching collegiate volleyball that some players struggled hitting the ball over the net in bounds. One quick and effective way to correct this was simply having players initiating the down ball or serve instead of coaches. As repetitions became available, ball contacts increased and errors reduced. When the level of competition elevates, so must your player’s ability to keep pressure on their opponent.

Creation of practice expectations can aid skill development and thought processes for proper execution in match settings. Imagine your setter chasing down a pass to the three-meter line just left of center court. Instead of sending a high ball outside (status quo) a quick set to the back row is executed and the attacker sends a controlled ball over to the opponent for a point. One simple standard or practice expectation made this course of action possible, if the ball is above the net get a swing on it.

Such expectations can start the foundation to transform a team from competitive to competing for a championship. Training this mindset can be difficult as consistency is important. This level of training will encourage creative play and aid in the development of a players volleyball IQ.

Another great way for coaches to develop a competitor is through game-like training. If players can work through game-like situations at practice, the chances for success during a match are greatly increased. As Utah Head Women's Volleyball Coach Beth Launiere’s states in her book Game-Like Training & Skill Development, "to learn the game, you must play the game."

Situational training can still be accomplished through a game-like setting. Take for example the need to improve a quick attack. Traditionally, one or two coaches would take the middles and setters to a court and toss balls to set and attack. The next progression incorporates a passer rebounding a free ball or down ball to the setter for the middle to attack. I have to admit from time to time I still run these drills. However, it’s only for a few minutes. The remainder of the time is spent working on the middle attack in game drills.

This is accomplished through creative scoring or set criteria. Examples would be only the middles can score points or in order to earn a point two out of three kills must be a quick attack. From there you can get more descriptive if needed, saying one of the two middle attacks must be to zone one.

Game-like training will allow players the flexibility to try new skills in a game setting, ultimately giving them confidence to execute correctly in a match. This concept is ideal if you can match two weaknesses against one another. Match up an outside hitter having difficulty attacking line with an opposite who is struggling with blocking. Set up a game where the outside hitter has to execute a variety of shots and the blocker must make 'x' number of positive block touches before a point is scored. The best thing about game-like training is it can be tailored to fit the needs of any program.

Developing a program with training outside comfort zones, expansion of the player’s toolbox and game-like drills will give a team opportunity to reach new limits. Whether you’re a Competitive Cauldron or Gold Medal Squared coach, I would recommend taking the best from both and utilizing the tools to enhance your coaching philosophy. Slight adjustments to your practice plan can pave the road to new adventures and great opportunity.

So what do you say to your team who’s looking at you with wide eyes and complete attention during that time out? Are you still just competing with status quo or have you done everything possible to give them the competitor attitude.