The Evolution of Pepper

This second in a series of sharing the evolution of popular drills – into grills or even games, takes on perhaps the most hallowed of traditions… “pepper.

Jim Coleman Impact & Immediate Feedback Video System

On October 22, 2012, Jim Coleman would be turning 80 years old. His passing a over a decade ago, in August of 2001, meant heaven picked up one of the best volleyball minds in the world to ever walk into a gym. At our USA Volleyball offices, all our historical material is in a large library area

Specialization is for Insects

A long talk last week with a writer from Volleyball Magazine, got me contemplating some principles that are important on the topic of “specialization.”

The Evolution of the Butterfly Drill

Been thinking about one of the drills that most volleyball coaches and players, with a little bit of experience, known around the world – “Butterfly.”

What Can a Player Control?

his week my son Cody is playing in his first ever college matches for Princeton.

The Randomness of the Bigger Game

This guest blog is by Eric Hodgson, chair of the USA Volleyball’s Grassroot’s Commission and full time Director of Outreach for the Arizona Region of USA Volleyball.

Coaching the Human Animal

An advance heads up to start this blog, it is going to cost you the price of buying a movie, which you likely have not seen and which has become one of my favorite movies ever – documentary really – as it teaches huge lessons to all those wanting to be a better coach, teacher, or…

Cameras, Athletes and Role Modeling

Some of you may know that during my time at Colorado College and after, I worked as a summer hiking guide, did winter ascents, and Outward Bound courses, river rafting thru the Gates of the Ladore.

Videos and Principles Worth Many Thousands of Words

If a picture is worth a thousand words, those who have heard me speak know that I love to use video and images to say far more, during the always too short time I find I have to…

The Rare Find

I just finished one of those books that I feel all readers of this Growing the Game Together blog should also take the time to read. Then re-read. Long ago, then US Olympic team coach Terry Liskevych, told me of a study on talent, done with the National Football League general managers at that time. As I recall it now, they were asked what was the one thing an NFL team needed to win the Super Bowl. Since I work to teach socratically, I then ask coaches what they think the NFL GMs said. Answers such as “Communication…” and “Teamwork…” and many others pour in, but what over 25 of the 32 NFL GMs said was “Talent.”