John Kessel Archives - On One Hand Business... On the Other Hand Sports

Engage the Athlete – Kessel Style

November 8, 2016July 17, 2017 horvath Leave a comment

The most effective theories for business, education, and management are centered on the concept of engagement. In business, Theory Y leadership has been proven more effective at engaging employees than Theory X leadership in most situations. In education and coaching the following Teddy Roosevelt quote is often cited, “Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.” Engage the student! Engage the athlete!

John Kessel, member of the American Volleyball Coaches (AVCA) Hall of Fame, writes a blog Growing the Game Together for USA Volleyball. In it, he discusses the process of engaging athletes – Kessel Style. His posts have catchy titles, but more importantly, they are thought provoking. John is a master at coaching technique and tactics, but the focus of his blog is to get coaches to engage the athlete. For example:

He suggests that coaches should encourage kids to make mistakes. How many of your kid’s coaches do that? Do they yell at them instead when they make a mistake?
He talks about the illusion of knowledge, false confidence, and false fundamentals. What are these concepts and why are these concepts important?
He suggests that coaches need to learn to be quiet, watch, and listen. Do you believe the coaches in youth sports programs should be always talking to the athletes to help them improve?
He says that coaches should not punish their athletes as a way of trying to improve their performance. How many push-ups have your kids had to do because something went wrong in practice?

Read on! The following links are just a sample of posts about how to engage the athlete at a higher level.

Promoting False Confidence (November 7, 2016)
I Want You To Make Mistakes (November 1, 2016)
Be Consistent(October 20, 2016)
Suffering From the Illusion of Knowledge (September 16, 2016)
What is it with Physical Punishment in So Few Sports (May 7, 2016)
Fearing Free Lessons from Washington D.C. (May 20, 2016)
How Much Can Athletes Teach Themselves (April 15, 2016)
A Major Change in My Feedback (January 15, 2016)
It’s all about the Reps, ’bout the Reps, and Game-like… (September 22, 2015)
False Fundamentals (August 24, 2015)
Stay Quiet and Let Them Play (July 29, 2015)
STOP Teaching Robots (June 6, 2015)
You are Paying for Practice Not Playing (March 30, 2015)
Coach Taught or Player Learned? (January 23, 2015)
Standing in Line (January 16, 2015)
Irrelevant Training (October 20, 2014)
STOP Teaching Technique… (April 25, 2014)

Kessel’s blog presents the concept of engagement as it relates to the sport of volleyball. These concepts apply to tennis and other sports.

Read the above posts (and others) and give it some thought. If necessary, go back and read them again in a couple of days or weeks. Without a doubt, you will develop a different perspective about coaching.

The bottom line is “ENGAGE the athlete!”

Improve Your Game This Summer – Try Grilling!

April 22, 2015May 19, 2015 horvath Leave a comment

With the summer season on the horizon it is time to focus on sports such as tennis, golf, beach volleyball, or summer platform tennis. Before we get into those sports we’ll digress briefly to talk a little “volleyball”.

Volleyball, Bicycle Riding, and Grilling

Last fall the USA women’s national volleyball team did what no other women’s team has done before. They won the World Championships with the coaching and practice philosophy, “the game teaches the game.”

John Kessel, Director of USA Volleyball Grassroots program, describes how the women’s team implemented this philosophy by talking about the process of learning to ride a bicycle.

Think about when you learned to ride a bike. You were put on the bike, given a push (and a prayer), and off you went.

Did you have private or group bicycle riding lessons?
Did your parents buy you special shoes, shorts, or other paraphernalia for riding your bicycle?
Did you go to bicycle riding camp for two weeks in the summer?
Did you do drills where you pedaled down the street with your left foot, then your right foot, then you alternated between feet on the way back?
Did you do play in a bicycle league?
Did you do team bonding exercises so you and your teammates could bicycle in a cooperative and friendly manner?
Did you have a bicycling nutritionist?
Did you have someone teach you about mental toughness when riding your bicycle to school?

NO! You got on the bike and you rode it. And when you fell, you got up, got back on the bike, you kept riding, and you got better.

The game teaches the game! The same holds true whether you are Women’s National Volleyball Team or local enthusiasts playing volleyball, riding your bike, playing golf, tennis beach volleyball, or summer platform tennis.

The Essentials of Grilling

This brings us to the topic of summer grilling.

If John Kessel was your (fill in the sport) coach, he wouldn’t have you drill and he wouldn’t have you play games that often – you would GRILL.

Games + Drills = Grills.

Grilling is the process of incorporating technique, tactics, mental toughness, and even nutrition into match-like practice activities. Components of successful grilling are listed below:
• When there is relevant or game-like training, there will be a greater transfer of skills from practice to competitive situations.
• Numerous research studies have shown that athletes have greater retention when grilling is purposeful, and favors “random practice” as opposed to “blocked practice”.
• Effective grills allow all players to be involved in meaningful ways, i.e. there is no standing around. By setting different expectations for each player it is possible to include different abilities in many grills.
• Players can develop short positive cues that will serve as technical or tactical reminders. For example, backcourt players may use the cue “lobs go in” as a reminder to hit every lob in the court.
• Keeping score provides players with an incentive to play their hardest on every point.
• Good grills are easy to understand and explain. They should be given a name so they don’t have to be explained every time.
• Grills may be constructed so that players will be pushed out of their comfort zone. Failing in a grill should be viewed as an opportunity to improve.
• Develop grills that end with a natural conclusion, such as when a player hits a shot out of bounds.

There are hundreds of drills. With a little creativity you can convert them to 12 to 15 grills to cover all aspects of your favorite sport. With a little ingenuity players can vary the scoring and rules for their grills to include everything from technique to mental toughness – all in a game-like situation.

Want to improve this summer – try grilling!

Don’t Be Misled by Randomness

February 9, 2015February 20, 2015 horvath Leave a comment

Have you ever been frustrated because you have good and bad days on the tennis or volleyball court, golf course, or softball field? One of the reasons for the ups and downs is regression to the mean. Don’t be fooled by it!

Here’s the way it works.

Suppose your daughter has a volleyball serving percentage of 90%. Over the course of the season her daily serving percentage will vary, but her long-term average will be 90%.

In theory this means she will serve better than 90% half the time and the other half she will serve at or below that level. She will feel like a rock star on the days she serves 98%. On the days she serves 82% she will feel throwing her volleyball shoes in the trash and taking tuba lessons.

Regression to the mean is prevalent in team sports and most coaches are confused by the randomness associated with the concept.

Consider a basketball player who is a 70% free throw shooter.

He has a hot streak and makes 9 out of 10 free throws. The coach pats him on the back and gives him more playing time.

As should be expected, the player hits a cold streak and makes 5 of the next 10 free throws. The coach notices the decline from 90% to 50%. He yells at the player, benches him, and makes him run wind sprints at the next practice as a way of “motivating” him to do better.

Eventually the player will be allowed to play again and he will make 7 of the next 10 free throws. The coach notices the improvement from 50% to 70% and immediately associates yelling at the player, benching him and making him run wind sprints as the motivation that caused the improvement.

WRONG! The coach should be benched, made to run wind sprints, and yelled at for failing to understand the randomness of regression to the mean.

Out of the last 30 free throws, the player made 21 – his season average of 70%. The player had streaks where he was above the mean, below the mean, and right on the mean.

Don’t be fooled like the basketball coach!

Suppose you are a tennis player and want to improve your serve.
1. Work with a coach or teaching professional who understands the concept of regression to the mean.
2. Develop a practice routine that includes match-like play and relevant training.
3. As you practice your serve will become more consistent, thus reducing the range of the fluctuations in your daily serving percentage.
4. Stay calm, don’t be fooled by randomness. Enjoy the days when you serve above your seasonal average and don’t sell your racquets and take-up the tuba on the days you drop below it. Accepting the daily fluctuations is one of the challenges of competitive sports that can be minimized, but not eliminated.
5. Over time, with quality instruction and a match-like practice sessions you should be able to raise your season serving average. Remember, this is a long term proposition.

For additional information about regression to the mean and other subtleties of playing and coaching sports, visit the blog, Growing the Game Together by John Kessel, Director of USAV Grassroots Volleyball, http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Volleyball/Grassroots/Grow-The-Game-Blog.

Thoughts from an Olympian about Athletic Excellence

August 10, 2012November 13, 2016 horvath Leave a comment

As the Olympics wind down and the U.S. had mixed results in the volleyball, it seems timely to reflect on a webinar hosted by USA Volleyball several months ago featuring Tom Hoff and John Kessel. Hoff was a 6′ 8″ middle blocker for the 2008 USA Olympic team and Kessel oversees grassroots development and disabled volleyball for USAV.

Key points from the 1 1/2 hour discussion follow:

Coaches
• A good coach does more than call balls in and out.
• Good coaches set their players up to be successful over a long period of time.
• A good coach will empower players on the court. Good players will take the coach’s lead and own what they do on the court.

Playing
• Many people want to be the best player on the court. I always wanted to be the worst player. When I first started playing that was often the case. I always liked being challenged to improve.
• I was only 6’8″ and could touch 11’9″. At the top level that meant I had average talent. To counter that, I studied the statistics of rotations. It helped me be successful as a player and develop my IQ as a player.

Skills
• At the top level the best players are those who eliminate errors. They are the players who passed the ball the best. They are very selective in choosing when to take chances.
• Watch what the ball is doing on the other side of the net – track the ball.
• Great players have great court awareness.

Goal Setting
• The way to accomplish goals is to successfully execute simple actions more often than the opponent.
• The pursuit of goals may seem maniacal. Players who remain focused and determined in the pursuit of a goal will find the journey of pursuit rewarding enough.

Mental toughness
• The toughest hitters are the ones who want the ball on big points and take tactful swings on tough balls.
• Great players will showcase the areas where they can eliminate errors. They will walk the walk.
• Great players play in the moment. They don’t get flustered. They focus on the task at hand and aren’t worried about what has happened in the past or what might happen in the future.

Practice
• Never say “No” to a setter who wants to practice. Hitting will get to practice hitting and timing and improve their ball-handling skills.
• During season we practice 20-32 hours a week, volleyball specific. We spent 6-10 hours a week in strength and conditioning. We spent several hours a week watching video. The most underrated aspect of a training schedule is rest and recovery.
• It is imperative to train at full speed.

Stretching
• The Center for Disease Control has done over 300 studies on stretching. Not one of them shows that stretching prevents injuries.

Cross Training
• If younger players are going to play other sports, soccer is a good complementary sport. Soccer players must be good at tracking the ball. That is a skill essential to volleyball.

Sports Career
• Time works against you as an athlete. Use your time efficiently.
• Everyone wants to be successful, but many people are not willing to do what is necessary to achieve the desired results.
• Focus on the journey, not the end results.

Blocking
• Blocking is the toughest skill.
• In theory a middle blocker has to be at the opponents’ point of attack on every ball.
• The purpose of blocking is to lower the kill efficiency/percentage of the other team.

Time Spent Hitting the Ball
• In 2008 the Olympic team spent about three weeks in China practicing and playing matches. Even though they hit thousands of balls during this period, on average, the players actually spent a total of about 27.4 seconds hitting (contacting) the ball for that entire period.

It’s Time for Kids to Learn to Play the Game

March 19, 2012November 13, 2016 horvath Leave a comment

Kids today have so many great opportunities to participate in sports. There is an endless supply of structured opportunities for our youth to learn to play sports – leagues, clinics, camps, private lessons, and tournaments.

But is this a good thing?

What happened to the pickup games? Do kids play anymore without adult supervision? What about playing sports for the fun of it?

Have sports become too structured?

Think back to when you were young and you got your first bike.
• Did your dad buy a set of training wheels so you wouldn’t crash?
• Did you attend a summer camp to learn to ride your new bike?
• Did your father hire a bicycle professional to teach you to ride?
• Did he make you run laps or do 10 pushups when you crashed into the neighbor’s flower bed?
• Did he hire a sports psychologist to help you learn how to ride past your neighbor’s flower bed without crashing into it?
• Did your dad have a sports doctor on retainer to teach you how to stretch before riding your bike or help you recover from your injuries when you crashed in your neighbor’s flower bed?
• Did he have you practice riding up and down the street doing a progression of drills on your bike? First, pedaling down the street using only your left foot and pedaling back using only your right foot?
• Did your father sign you up for a bicycle league so you could compete against your friends to see who was best?
• Did your dad purchase the Dartfish video system so he could compare your bicycle skills to the nation’s best?
• Did he hire a dietician so that you could perform at maximum efficiency while you learned to ride your bike better?

Most likely your dad took you out, put you on your bike, ran along beside you, gave you big a push, said a prayer, and looked for the box of band aids.

America’s youth are fortunate to have so many great opportunities to learn to play sports more efficiently and safely. At the same time, American youth are missing out on the best part of sports – learning to play the game.

Bicycle analogy compliments of John Kessel, USA Volleyball.