Tag: Relevant Training

Change, Ugh!

horvath Leave a comment

This post is an excerpt from the paper, “Your Mission Should you Choose to Accept it is to be a Coach“. The paper was written to encourage volleyball coaches to incorporate relevant training into their practices. For some this means making changes.

Many people struggle when they are asked to change. Coaches may agree that the concept of relevant training makes sense, but implementing change may be easier said than done. The following two discussions are included to let coaches know they are not alone if they wrestle with change. Endorsing change will allow coaches to further increase learning, improvement, and fulfillment in their practices.

First Discussion
Parent: Did you like the part of the USAV IMPACT course where they talked about how the game teaches the game.
Coach: Yeah, that’s a cool idea. I like it.
Parent: Can you implement it into your practices?
Coach: Oh we can’t do that because we have to teach the girls how to hit the ball and where to stand. We have to teach the girls and don’t have time to play games.

Second Discussion
Parent: Could the coaches in your club be more effective if the players had more meaningful touches in practice?
Coach: Yes, most of our coaches aren’t very good at doing that and don’t get it. Would you watch my practice and give me some feedback?

After practice…

Parent: You have great rapport with your athletes and they have fun. Do you think they will retain what you worked on?
Coach: Yes, we did my favorite blocking drill for 35 minutes, they better get it, or else.
Parent: I noticed several players standing around and others did not appear to be engaged. Did you see the same thing?
Coach: Oh that is normal.
Parent: Would it help to change drills?
Coach: No, one girl doesn’t like to block, the other one was injured and couldn’t go 100%, and the other girl has had a bad attitude since day one. They just need to focus.

Another more light-hearted approach to accepting change is to imagine that David Letterman was a volleyball coach who didn’t like change. The following are 10 reasons he might give for not integrating relevant training into his practices.

If David Letterman was a Volleyball Coach who Didn’t Want to Change…
1. I have a set of great drills that were handed down to me from my coach and his coach.
2. The club has a system that works. Why change?
3. I like single focus drills because I’m in control. They look more organized, That’s important to the parents.
4. I don’t like to have multiple balls in the air because that makes practice look chaotic and unsafe.
5. It is important to demonstrate to the players and parents that I am knowledgeable about the sport by giving detailed descriptions of skills, techniques, and tactics. The kids need to learn to listen and focus. That is how they learn.
6. When I told the parents that the game teaches the game, they said, “That’s why we play tournaments. Get on the court and teach them how to play!”
7. If the club really wanted me to be a better coach they could pay for me to go to coaching clinics – in Hawaii.
8. I like breaking the skill into parts, because I can explain it better to the players that way.
9. It’s just the junior varsity team. The kids aren’t very good, so it doesn’t matter if we hire someone who has never coached before.
10. When the girls miss their serves, they should run 3 laps. It’s good conditioning and it motivates them. That’s how you teach discipline and skills.

If this sounds like your son or daughter’s coach, it is time to start shopping for a new program.

Assess Your Mindset to Increase Relevant Training

horvath Leave a comment

Coaches can increase the level of relevant training in their practices with an honest self-evaluation of their mindset. The following questions can be used in such an evaluation.

  • Do the coaches have a growth mindset as opposed to a fixed mindset?
  • Do they create an environment where athletes are challenged to learn?
  • Do the coaches focus on effort or performance as opposed to outcome?
  • Do the coaches provide constructive feedback or feed-forward comments?
  • Do they use cues that are meaningful to players to help them learn?  In the photo below the setters coach was at court side and used cues to effectively communicate with the setter between points.relevant training
  • Do the practice activities transfer to match play or do they emphasize false fundamentals or skills that make the players look good in practice?
  • Do the coaches understand that players have peaks and valleys and over time their performance regresses to their mean performance?
  • Do coaches focus on raising the mean performance of athletes rather than emphasize the peaks and the valleys?
  • Is the coach committed to relevant training and meeting the needs of the athletes?

Most coaches will find that after they have answered these questions they are excellent in some areas and can improve in other areas. Changes can be made as appropriate.

Assess Your Practices to Increase Relevant Training

horvath Leave a comment

Volleyball coaches can increase the level of relevant training in their practices with an honest self-evaluation or assessment from another coach. The following  questions can be used in such an evaluation.

  • Do you have a practice plan? Do you post it or share it with the athletes?
  • Do the drills in your practice plan address the needs of your athletes?
  • Have you established the time to be allocated for each drill? For example, some coaches will plan for 4 to 5 drills in an hour (12 to 15 minutes per drill). This allows them time for a 20 to 30 minute scrimmage.
  • Do your coaches have the same expectations of the players in practice and matches? For example, are the players told to serve aggressively in practice then told to just get it in when they play matches?
  • Do your drills maximize use of the space in the gym?  For example, in the practice shown in the photo below, the coaches had 18 players. By setting up the gym differently they would have played on two courts and better met the needs of the athletes.relevant training
  • Have you optimized touches while allowing for necessary discussions, drill changes, and water breaks? Coaches can practice conveying a message in 30 to 60 seconds or the length of a time they have to talk during a time out.
  • Do you have names for your drills? This eliminates the need to describe them every practice.
  • Have you incorporated the mindset of kids teaching kids into your practice? Juniors learn good and bad things by watching their peers play. They also learn when they are asked to teach their peers to play.
  • Have you taught the athletes to feed or toss the ball to start drills? Feeding is a physical activity that it better than standing and watching. When athletes are initiating the drill it allows the coaches to be in a position to help the athletes.
  • Do you practice what happens in a match? For example, do you your setter practice setting when the pass is out of system?
  • Have you included scoring systems in your drills to make them competitive or game-like?
  • Do you have a backup plan when drills go really well or horribly?
  • At what point should you make a drill tougher or easier? A general guideline is to make the drill more difficult If the players’ success rate is 65% to 70% or higher and make it easier if the success rate is lower.
  • How many drills include multiple balls in the air at the same time?
  • Do you keep your practice plans and make notes of what worked and how your players performed?

Most coaches will find that after they have answered these questions they are excellent in some areas and can improve in other areas. Changes can be made as appropriate.

Playing Time – Why is My Daughter Sitting on the Bench?

horvath Leave a comment

If you asked parents what they are paying for when they put their children in a volleyball program many would say they are paying for playing time in the tournaments.

Instead of focusing on playing time in matches, parents should have the following discussion with club and school coaches, “Court time is a precious commodity. Use it wisely. When is the team going to have more relevant training so my daughter will get more meaningful touches and game-like learning? What are you doing to make her a gamer, not just a star in practice? ”

It is understandable that parents want to see their daughter compete in match play given their time and financial investment in the sport. At the same time, they need to do the following math problem to understand the relationship between playing time and practice time.

Playing time

Does your daughter spend more time playing or practicing?

Assumptions

A. A club practices 3 times a week for 2 hours each practice for 24 weeks.
B. The club plays 5 matches at 6 tournaments during the season. They also play 5 matches in 2 national qualifier tournaments. Each match lasts 1 hour.

Calculations

A. The total hours spent in practice are 3 X 2 X 24 = 144 hours.
B. The total hours spent playing matches equals 5 X 6 X 1 = 30 hours plus 2X5=10; 30 +10=40.

Answer

Your daughter spends 40 hours in practice and 144 hours playing matches.

Coaches must be fair in allocating playing time. More importantly, they have an obligation to make practices more relevant by increasing the number of meaningful touches and game-like activity.