STOP Teaching Hitting
Ah yes, we are back with another request – in this case to train gamelike and create hitters with volleyball IQ, and not create one dimensional players who are good at spiking into the net
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Ah yes, we are back with another request – in this case to train gamelike and create hitters with volleyball IQ, and not create one dimensional players who are good at spiking into the net
There is a famous segment in one of my favorite movies of all time – Monty Python and the Holy Grail – where the “team” of knights, led by Coach, I mean, King Arthur encounter a little white rabbit. They had been expecting a horrible beast by all accounts, and yet all they saw was this cute bunny. They gained confidence for a moment, only to be ravaged in seconds by a vicious, throat tearing flying terror – the rabbit – and then the team responded…RUN AWAY!……
No matter where a parent looks, every club program will state something to the effect of “We have the BEST coaches…” They then usually add next a list how a coach “played at college” – D1/2/3/NAIA/JC …it does not matter, they were a COLLEGE player for gosh sakes. The list then mentions that the coach coached at school levels – mostly junior high or high school – and sometimes even college, and, in time, they also, or only coached club.. My question is – what certifies that they are “the best?” In this ever expanding world of marketing and hype, do you think any program would proclaim “We have just average coaches!” …or “Our coaches are learning how to coach by trial and error on your child, please come join us!” …or “We hire whoever will apply even if we really don’t know them”…. or the title of this blog, “we hire the worst coaches!” Do you think that the fact that the program has a winning record, means that the coaches are skilled? More likely in club volleyball, the record is due to the recruiting work of the club, taking the best players from the smaller clubs, with promises of superior training, and even the magic word…”scholarships.”
I was looking back as my previous blog posts and comments, as our website is soon to be moving to a new provider and taking on a new look, while wondering if the comments would be lost. One comment caught my eye, that brought this blog to life – related to the Olympic motto of Citius, Altius, Fortius. Here is part of the exchange, found under the blog about changing from club to beach/high school volleyball seasons “A Change of Seasons.”
The YMCA of the USA updated this skills contest with USA Volleyball staff help for use during their volleyball centennial celebrations.
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.
A long talk last week with a writer from Volleyball Magazine, got me contemplating some principles that are important on the topic of “specialization.”
Been thinking about one of the drills that most volleyball coaches and players, with a little bit of experience, known around the world – “Butterfly.”
his week my son Cody is playing in his first ever college matches for Princeton.
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.