Train Ugly

About a decade ago my kids and I went up to Lander, Wyoming to run a high school volleyball camp at the base of the Wind River Range, and home of the famous “cheesewheel” (a batter fried cheeseburger) and NOLS, the National Outdoor Leadership School.

Standing on Others Shoulders

I love to read. Enter my USA Volleyball office, or my little home built back in 1899 and you might be taken aback by how many books are sitting on so many shelves.

Irrelevant Training

This short blog is a response to a coach who felt that worrying that all drills are gamelike was irrelevant. It is not irrelevant, nor anal. It is principle driven.

Limit Your Wall Drills

“Where is volleyball played?” is a question to ask your players or other coaches if you want to start an interesting discussion. “What is the most important skill in volleyball?” is the second question I ask to prompt some serious conversation.

Top 10 Reasons for a Club to do Sitting Volleyball Training

I am not an expert at the sport of sitting volleyball. The experts are Bill Hamiter, Mike Hulett and Elliot Blake, and the Paralympians who compete in it. However, I have spent over 20 years in growing the disabled game together.

Mikey Makes the Serve

I often talk about variance and bell curves in coaching and player courses, as being aware of this fact of life, including in sports, is important.

3000 Years of Life and Games

I returned this week to a special place of ancestors, a village I first was lucky to visit a decade ago, the Makah Nation.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

In advance know that this is a two topic blog, woven together by my favorite songs. This first part is for those coaches who need to know more about developing creative players with VB IQ, then I will close with things I have learned from my recent losses of those dear to me.

Need a Coach?

As we grow the game together, there are three places we need to create for kids to get a chance to make volleyball their lifetime sport…

Change

I have written more than once about focusing on what you can control. This choice is important not only in sport, but in life itself.