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Edited by: Keith Wills Ontario Volleyball Region 4 RCC

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Table of Contents

1. Practice Essentials ……………………………… 3 i. Dean Lowrie – 2004 ii. Kevin Boyles – 1999 iii. Brenda Willis - 1997

2. Serving ……………………………………….……… 13 i. Julien Boucher – 1999 ii. Frank Enns – 1999 iii. Rod Durrant – 2001

3. Passing ………………………………………………… 25 i. Dustin Ried - 2004

4. Setting ………………………………………………… 28 i. Doug Riemer – 1997 ii. Brenda Willis – 2004

5. Attacking ……………………………………………… 35 i. Dustin Ried – 2004 ii. Doug Anton – 2000 iii. Kevin Boyle – 2000 iv. Doug Riemer – 1999

6. Blocking ………………………………………………… 47 i. Bill Neville – 1997 ii. Keith Wasilyk – 2004

7. Defensive Systems …………………………………… 51 i. Doug Reimer - 1997

8. Philosophical Considerations ……………………… 55 i. Wally Dyba – 1997 ii. Lorne Sawula – 1999 iii. Laurie Eisler – 2000 iv. Lorne Sawula – 2000 v. Larry Mckay – 1998

9. Physical Training ……………………………………… 88

i. Melody Torcolacci – 1997 ii. Jody Hicks – 2001

10. Psychology of Volleyball ……………………………… 90 i. Dr J.P. Pawliw-Fry, 1997 ii. Mental Handbook

11. Appendices ……………………………… 98 12. References ……………………………… 106

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Planning for Success - Dean Lowrie, 2004.

Components of an Effective Practice

A. Link Seasonal Plan to Practice Plan. (Periodization) B. Proper Equipment. C. Factors to Consider in Planning a Practice. D. Training Goals E. Developing a Practice Format.

a. Organization F. Running a productive practice.

a. Feedback and your role as a coach. G. Designing your Practice session.

Linking your Seasonal Plan to your Practice Plan Periodization It is important to link all training cycles together

• Yearly plan – Macrocycle for each individual athlete (Appendix A) o Accounts for individual differences in each athlete

• Seasonal Plan – Macrocycle o Season Plan for your season (appendix B)

• Training Block – Mesocycle o 3-4 week period

• Weekly Plan – Microcycle o 7 Day Period … (appendix C)

• Daily Plan o Single Training Session … PPI (appendix D)

• Individual Drills o Set of Repetitions designed to improve performance. (appendix E)

It is important to keep in mind which phase of the season your team is in before you begin the plan the practice. Proper Equipment It is essential to have the proper equipment when running a practice. Here are some suggestions to increase the productivity of your practice.

• Balls … Ideally you should have 1 ball / player. But as many as you have access to. • Ball Carts … Ideally 1/court. But expensive… Suggestion : Rubber Garbage Can. • Nets, Post, Post Pads. • Score Cards… To keep score and create game like scoring. • Stop Watch • Whistle … Players get used to a whistle on faults. • Chalkboard • Pylons or Cones markers • Broom • Elastic Cord, Extra Antennas , Tape, Medical Kit.

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Factors to Consider When Planning a Practice

• Demographics … Who do you Coach? (National team or Bantam team.) • Experience • Physical Condition … Are they in condition to do the drills effectively? • Stage of the Season … Periodization • Recent Results • Resources Available

Training Goals Each practice should be designed with goals in mind. Goals should be established in the following areas.

• Individual Skills • Team Play • Conditioning • Psychological Skills

When establishing goals they should be SMART. S – Specific M – Measurable A – Achievable R – Real T – Timeline

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Develop a Practice Format

• Develop weekly and daily routines • Develop clear, understood, and respected rules and team philosophies. • Provide formats that have relationships to matches. • Develop a basic outline. (appendix C)

§ You choose your ATTITUDE § Play and FUN § Make Somebody’s Day § Be There … Communication is Key, a coach needs to interrupt.

Running a Productive Practice

• Arrive at practice EARLY. This is the time to develop relationships with your players. • LOOK THE PART … Coaches must be in practice attire. Jeans and a Tie do not cut it. • Start Practice on Time…. Players must know to start at 0-0. • Create a positive Constructive Climate. • Run Effective Drills:

A. Explain the drill. B. Demo the Drill. C. Start the Drill. D. Check to make sure Drill is running Properly. E. Provide Proper Error Detection and Correction.

Adaptations to Team Training – Kevin Boyles, U of C Head Coach 1999

Philosophical Basis for Team Training

Our program utilizes a “games based” training style that highly emphasises team play and attempts to train almost exclusively by placing athletes in competitive situations that they will encounter in actual competition. We still utilize more traditional drills on occasion – primarily to learn a new pattern or skill and to help provide the huge number of repetitions that are necessary to master the intricate skills of the game. In all cases however, these reps are completed at full speed and under as game-like conditions as possible. The vast majority of our time is spent in some form of direct competition and in a number of modified or regular game situations. – Kevin Boyles 1999.

Skills are most effectively learned in context: Motor learning theorists have proved this beyond a doubt- transfer of learning from practice to game is hindered when the practice doesn’t emulate the given situation, as it appears in the game. By utilizing game situations throughout all levels of learning, new concepts will always be integrated with those previously learned and a more global sense of the game will be developed. DO NOT TRAIN SKILLS IN ISOLATION OR OUT OF CONTEXT.

A Games approach will promote creativity I believe the ultimate goal for any coach should be to create a team that no longer needs him/her to be successful. Athletes who are trained in a drill environment are less likely to think for themselves and find creative solutions to beating opponents. In effect they learn to rely on the coach to control their intens ity, motivation and decision making. Dynamic situations in which there are more than one solution will teach your athletes to innovate, create, analyze and think while playing the game.

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Athlete Centered training is superior to Coach Centered training You don’t need the reps, your players do, and you need to teach them to be self - motivated, intense, intelligent players. This can never be accomplished if the coach is always the one to control the pace, tempo, and outcome of all the drills and training. Put things in their hands and you’ll be surprised at how quickly they take responsibility and improve. Quality Training vs. Quantity It would take 1,000 ½ speed, ½ hearted reps to equal the quality of learning that will come from 10 great contacts under intense match conditions. A 1.5 hour training session that is intense, aggressive and game-like is much more valuable that a 3 hour session that takes place at half speed. Competition is Essential to Every Training Session The primary goal in volleyball is to terminate rallies as quickly and forcefully as possible – why do we train ball control more that termination? As often as possible, every rally should be played out to its aggressive and decisive conclusion. A Games Approach will Develop “ game sense”, anticipation and decision making Abilities. Through modified games, it is possible to teach every skill utilized in volleyball, while at the same time allowing players to continually think, react, and respond to the opposition. It is this process that will create outstanding volleyball “PLAYERS” and not just individuals who are capable of executing skills. Practical Application

1. It starts during the Warm – Up There are lots of options for progressively competitive Warm-ups; here are some examples:

• Long Court 2’s – Kings/ Queens court. • ½ Court 3’s • Progressive Rotational – Players rotate every time ball crosses plane of net. • If you have 2 courts : Diagonal ½ court 3’s

Shallow 3’s Deep 3’s

2. When Utilizing more traditional drills

• Build drills from simple to increasingly complex situations. • Always take each rally to its logical conclusion

1. 1 vs 1 Blockers in Attack Drills

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3. Use of Competitive games to isolate specific outcomes.

• Basic variations of Wash drills comprise ~ 60% of our training time, with the remainder going to warm-up and traditional drills or isolated situations. The following games are variations that have specific outcomes, I We have found them to be particularly valuable and effective at the club/ high school level.

1. Ace to Win: To emphasis tough aggressive serving, as well as side-out play.

2. Loaded Wash: To emphasize execution for one team. ie. 15-20

3. Unlimited Free Balls : Emphasizes momentum.

4. Baseball : Emphasizes Individual Attacking Skills

5. =/- Hitting Drills: Same as Above.

4. Use of Good Feedback Techniques

• Directed at changeable behaviour – What is the Source of the Problem? • Informative • Specific • Constructive • Clearly Understood • Given Immediately • Continued in next chapter on Error Detection and Correction

Designing your Practices

• Time • Prepractice drills – visualize how they will run. ** 70% of team at 70% success then move on**

• Be Prepared – planning is the key. • Teach new concepts • Warm – Up…Using the Ball vs. Not using Ball? Discussed in later chapters • Stretch… Stretching before practice is obsolete. See Later chapters • Make drills competitive with consequences – ie. Handshake @ end of Wash • Adhere to rule and regulations… Net touches, foot faults, etc. • Be aware of athletes changing physical and emotional states… Is its test time at school? • Create situations where athletes can succeed. • Play by the rules. • Communicate how you want athletes to shag, hand balls, run drills. • Use Videotape… Feedback, drill success, etc. • BE POSITIVE !!

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Error Detection and Correction - Brenda Willis, 1997.

1. KNOW THE KEY PRINCIPLES THAT MUST BE RESPECTED IN THE EXECUTION

OF THE SPECIFIC SKILL.

a. This includes the mental, tactical, physical and technical aspects of the skill. b. What is the most important thing for the athlete to do correctly in order to be

successful at the execution of the skill.

c. Is it straightening their arms to make a forearm pass, or opening their fingers to get proper contact point on a set or is it judging the ball properly to ensure the correct body/ball relationship.

2. IN IDENTIFYING AN ERROR, TAKE THE TIME TO ANALYZE SEVERAL

REPITITIONS

a. Have a clear vision of what the problem is and also ensure that the problem is a recurring one. This needs to be done prior to establishing whether and what feedback is necessary and appropriate.

b. It is a common instinct in coaches, due to the sincere desire to be helpful, to

provide feedback on a large variety of things on a continuous and regular basis.

c. Is this the best interest of the athlete and is it in the best interest of skill development? Athletes tend to either get frustrated because they are trying to “fix” the skill and incorporate your comments, or they simply stop listening after a while because it isn’t working. If you say less but hit the nail on the head, you are more likely to see positive benefits in several ways. Including improved skill execution, improve credibility of your feedback, as well as allowing the athlete more time and freedom for self analysis and error detection. This athlete – driven correction lightens your burden as a coach and it also teaches problem solving skills to the athlete. In fact, as athletes tend to evolve in their development, they also develop the confidence and tools to help each other.

3. REVIEW THE SKILL FROM SEVERAL ANGLES – DETERMINE THE PRIMARY

SOURCE

a. Patience is key, Now that you have established that there is indeed a problem, move around the athlete as they execute, in order to establish what the most fundamental problem is. Sometimes video can be very useful.

b. Narrowing your vision is an excellent way of analyzing and ultimately correcting

the skill. Try not to watch the whole skill, and be careful not to follow the ball. It only provides outcome information and not skill information. For example, only watch the contact pt. In forearm passing, then only watch rebound angle, or position of the ball relative to their body. Each of these observations may take several repetitions. Once you have identified the “key” principle that is not being respected, it is time to offer feedback.

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4. PICK ONE THING / CORRECTION FOR THE ATHLETE TO FOCUS ON.

a. Prioritize the problems based on your knowledge of basic principles. It may be well worth taking the time to determine a “list” for each skill and then being disciplined enough to follow it.

b. When providing feedback in terms of corrections to the athlete, ensure that you

include information about things that are being done well. A little positive reinforcement goes a long way in creating a receptive atmosphere between the coach and athlete.

c. Make sure that in controlling the environment in the attempt to “fix” the skill you

haven’t artificially eliminated a condition which may be a contributor to the error that has been identified. If you set up an artificial situation to fix the problem, you are likely to create an artificial solution as well.

d. A very important step in this process is in the teaching. Athletes need to

understand what they are doing wrong, but more importantly how to correct the problem. Another critical component of this teaching is sharing information about “why” they should fix it. A good understanding of the limitations of the existing method and the benefits of changing it will provide the athlete with good rationalization for “buying in”.

e. Very often they also need to understand that there may actually be a drop in the

performance level of the skill for the short term. It needs to be reinforced that this in not only ok, but is normal. Try to get them to understand the concept of short term loss for long term gain. It will likely make them more patient and less discouraged as they work to change mechanics.

f. Remember, every athlete does not have to perform the skill the same way. In

fact many elite athletes do things unconventionally. What is important however is that the basic principles are respected and not merely how the athlete looks when performing the skill.

g. The old adage “ Don’t fix what isn’t broken” certainly applies here. There are two

questions coaches need to ask themselves. Has this athlete developed an ‘alternative method or style, but is getting the job done?’ If they have, then it is likely that the basic principles are being respected. In this case I would recommend leaving them alone. The second question is, ‘Has the athlete developed a habit which, while occasionally successful, really neglects a basic principle of execution.’ Of course, in this situation, even with some success, intervention is recommended.

5. ONCE THE NECESSARY CORRECTION HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED FOR THE

ATHLETE, BE SURE TO FOLLOW UP WITH BOTH OBSERVATION AND FEEDBACK.

a. This is necessary for a variety of reasons. Athletes will pay attention to the identified concern for a reasonable amount of time, however it is very easy to slip back into habits that feel most natural.

b. The more regularly you feedback/remind/praise the more likely the correction

will become permanent. This ‘coaching’ should occur in drills that are game oriented, especially if this is the environment in which the error is most

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prevalent. Training corrections just in isolated or repetitive drills leads to false corrections and confidence. In other words, the athlete feels that the problem is fixed and then in competition they become frustrated over lack of execution, as they thought it was fixed.

c. Remember, many skills can be falsely corrected. That is when the athlete is

specifically thinking about the correction they do it right. However, as soon as they get into a game or game like task, the correction seems lost. For correction to have staying power, it must be attended to in these situations.

6. GIVE THE ATHLETE TIME TO “WORK ON IT” AND ALSO GIVE THEM AN

OPPORTUNITY BOTH FOR INPUT AND EVEN FAILURE. a. Try to remember that what works well for one athlete may not work for another.

It can be due to different body types, lack of flexibility, added versatility, or simply a lack of athleticism.

b. If an athlete has the opportunity to ask questions and even challenge the

feedback then they are taking ownership of the problem and potential corrections. This is a GOOD thing. Take care not to discourage it. Too often athletes are told “trust me”, just do it. These challenges can be seen as a lack of respect or trust. Try not to take them that way. Athletes who are thinking and pursuing information are likely to be your greatest asset in competition This inquisitiveness and sense of autonomy must be encouraged, even though it can pose a greater challenge to the coach.

7. CREATE A VARIETY OF FEEDBACK METHODS

a. Sometimes the best way to correct a skill is with video tape. The old adage “ A picture is worth a 1000 words” applies here. Very often athletes will say “ I don’t do that all the time do I” Seeing themselves and seeing footage of the skill being executed properly can have a tremendous impact on athlete understanding. Counselling the athlete on what to look at specifically is important. Don’t assume they have the same critical eye, knowledge or analytical skills that you have.

b. Secondly, statistics can be a good source of feedback. Make sure that they are

measuring the execution that you are trying to correct and not just the outcome of the skill performance. A perfect example is when an athlete is working on correcting a ball/body alignment problem on attack. They make contact way behind their head and only get finger tip contact on the ball. It scores, termination stats would call that a kill, execution stats would call it a failure.

c. Peer correction works well when athletes have some level of maturity. If there

are two athletes with similar problems, work with them together. Then have one do the analysis of the other on several reps, and vice-versa. This exercise will produce several benefits. It gives both athletes a support network for frustration, it increases awareness of how the skill should be performed and it develops observational skills. Again, it can also make your job as a coach a little more manageable. Group work like this also makes athletes take things a little more personally, which can be a concern.

d. Obviously feedback from you self and other members of the coaching staff are

an asset, but be careful to inform all staff as to what you are working on with each individual. It is important to ensure that while focussing on a specific task

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which you have determined the most crucial component of the skill breakdown, that others – with all good intentions- don’t come along and offer up feedback on an entirely different component.

e. Finally, but certainly of no lesser value is the athlete’s self feedback. After several

trials in a game like situation, ask them “ Are you finding you are able to keep the ball in front of you?” Give them the opportunity for self - analysis and self-feedback. Reinforce their efforts to make the correction and perhaps provide a small reminder if necessary. Hopefully this is only necessary in preliminary competitions and that most technical corrections have resolved themselves prior to any critical competitions.

8. MOVE ON TO A SECONDARY COMPONENT – IF NECESSARY- FOLLOWING THE

SAME STEPS

a. Don’t lose site of the first correction. Every now and again, be sure to follow up with spot checks or reminders if necessary. But remember, your feedback and that of others should be on the component of the skill that is being worked on.

9. FOLLOW-UP WITH CREDIT AND RECOGNITION FOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS

ONCE CORRECTION IS STABLE AND COMPLETE

a. This can come through simple verbal feedback. It can come through little team awards( at younger ages) and it can come by recognizing achievement though increased responsibility. This can be I the form of working with another athlete who hasn’t solved the problem or simply asking that they let you know when the problem becomes evident again. This serves two purposes, it expresses faith in the athlete and their ability to recognize and resolve future problems and it adds ownership to their development.

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Skill Error Detection Strategies

Movement • Dynamic but controlled • Minimal Steps but large • Stop prior to contact • C of G critical • Inside – out concept

• Check what moves first – C of G, head,

feet • Horizontal Stability • Visual cue id problems

Overhand Passing • Get there – Vertical Line with Ball • Big round triangle hands • Go OUT with balls • Extend to target

• Body / Ball alignment & judgement • Arms inward absorption prior to out • Hands late in coming up • Thumb / hand position • Sequence of force production

Forearm Passing • Platform – rebound angle – Board • Stable base – hips below ball / Penny • Go Out to the ball • Absorb / Accelerate

• Body / Ball alignment • Platform stability & angle • Contact point • Absorb / acceleration action

Attack • Dynamic Adjusted Approach • High elbow & palm turn • High Extension and Snap • Follow through

• Body / Ball alignment & judgement • Timing = full extension & contact • Efficiency of upper body action • Rotation / over rotation of shoulders

Blocking • Stable Takeoff • Front the hitting shoulder • Penetrate Immediately • Land Stable • Movement Options / benefits

• Reading Cues – What are they looking

at? • Method of jumping • Distance from net • Method of penetrating – arms • Shoulder Press

Defense • Prep Hop – tipping – arms ready • Drive towards ball – C of G • Absorb action

• Reading & aggressiveness • Absorption method(s) • Stability & Platform & Contact Point

Serving • Tossing Consistency • Lever Concept • Big and Tight – no wrist

• Body / Ball Relationship • Stability of toss • Contact point & follow through • Weight transfer

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CONSIDERATIONS ON SERVING - Julien Boucher, 1999

In November of 1998, when the FIVB shocked the volleyball world by announcing the inception of the new rally point scoring system, "experts" around Canada agreed that serving would be the skill affected the most by the rule change. Mostly for psychological (mental) reasons, in the sense that players would have to get used to the fact that a missed serve now results in a point by the opponent. Now that most of us have experienced it for a few months, we can safely say that experts were right. We are witnessing a blatant decrease in overall serving toughness at all levels. Spike servers are "making sure" a lot more than they used to. Interestingly enough though, float serves have followed the opposite direction. As a result, we are seeing a lot more "jump float" serves than we used to. While players feel the need to avoid direct mistakes on serving, they also seem to recognize the importance of placing the opponent under pressure.

At this stage of the season, let's ask ourselves a few questions.

Are we placing too much importance on the fact that the opponent gets a point every time we miss a serve? Keep in mind that an easy serve will probably result in a better chance for the opponent to get a "side-out" (note that this was also true under the old scoring system).

With a lead or a deficit of a few points, are we not better off "going for it" and try to get a direct point? The answer to this question depends on whether or not you have confidence on your "side-out" game (in the event that your server ends up missing) and more importantly if your players can mentally apply such a philosophy when going back to serve.

Are our players getting enough training in the area of serving? In recent years, serving has always been the technical skill which generated the least amount of time in training. Maybe we are paying the price for it now. Serving has become a VERY IMPORTANT skill to work on in practice, maybe to an even greater degree than it ever was.

Are our players getting the right kind of training in the area of serving? Serving for 5 minutes at the beginning of practice when everybody is cold, or at the end of practice when everybody is tired might not be the best way to develop players' abilities to serve.

Speaking of training, the next part of this article will deal with issues coaches are confronted with everyday at practice and will try to address a few training principles pertaining to serving.

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PRINCIPLE #1: Practice makes perfect.

We have all heard that one before. No wonder, it's totally true. Your players can only get better at serving if they work at it at practice. The amount of time spent on training the serve at practice will depend on the importance that you as a coach put on the skill of serving. Regardless of whether you want your players to be very good at getting direct points (aces) or at getting the ball in play 100 times out of 100, the more they work at it the better they will become. Ask yourself this: Do your players work on their hitting every practice? I am pretty sure the answer is yes. So, do your players work on their serve every practice? If not: why not??

PRINCIPLE #2:

Players should always have a goal when serving at practice. If your players just serve ball over the net for the sake of it, they will not improve. They need direction from you as to what they should try to achieve. And it doesn't have to be very advanced. Here are a few options:

1. Serve a certain number of balls over the net. 2. Serve a certain number of balls in a row over the net. 3. Serve a certain percentage of balls (10 out of 10, 48 out of 50, etc…) 4. Serve a certain number of balls over the net with the ball not spinning (for

float servers obviously, asking spike servers to achieve the opposite). 5. Serve a certain number of balls over the net AND to a specific area of the

court.

PRINCIPLE #3:

Servers should spend most of their time working in game like conditions. Although we all recognize that you cannot recreate game conditions to 100%, most drills should TRY to get servers as close to it as possible (unless you are working specifically on technical elements and/or with beginners).

When you serve in a game:

1. You have 8 seconds to serve (Preparation) 2. You always serve with a purpose (Accuracy - Power…) 3. You don't serve with 2 balls in your hands (Preparation - Concentration) 4. You don't talk to your teamates (Preparation - Concentration) 5. You have warmed up before (Physical - Heart rate) 6. You have performed a skill prior to your serve, unless you are the very 1st server of the

game (Transition - Preparation) 7. You will perform a skill after your serve, unless your serve is unsuccessful (Transition) 8. If you serve an ace, your team will get a point and you will serve again (Confidence -

Aggressiveness) 9. If you serve out or in the net your opponent will get a point (Pressure) (Note: The terms in brackets refer to what could eventually become drill objectives.)

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TRAINING CONCEPTS

A) Key questions coaches have to answer:

1. How much time should my players spend on serving at practice? We have already mentioned that this will be based on how important you feel serving is within your team's offense (or defence). It will also be based upon your total training time and the level of your players.

2. When should my players work on serving within practice? If we agree that serving at the beginning and at the end of practice is not what we want, players should serve IN BETWEEN or DURING drills related to other skills.

3. What type of drills can I use? The key to answering this question lies with establishing your goals and objectives (general and specific) and making up drills accordingly. Refer to the next section.

B) Training objectives

1. Technical. Up to a certain level, players will always need to work on technical aspects of the skill of serving. This could include body position, weight transfer, arm action, ball contact, toss, approach and jump (for spike servers). When working specifically on technical aspects, the type of work needed is a high number of repetitions at a low intensity. "Game drills" or "pressure drills" might not be the best way to achieve such goals, especially at a young age.

2. Tactical. The ability to serve to different areas of the opponent's court, the ability to serve from different areas behind their own court and the ability to figure out "weak" areas of the opponent's court are all elements that can be singled out in drills. The better players will get at varying their serve location the better your team will be.

3. Physical. Speed of the ball and strength of the serve are 2 elements related to physical training mainly but can be improved with technical refinement.

4. Mental. Maybe the most important aspect of serving, it refers to the concepts of confidence, aggressiveness and to the ability to serve under "pressure". Again, specific drills can be designed to isolate such "skills".

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C) Type of drills 1. Repetition drills. We mentioned earlier that beginners need to execute a

fair number of repetitions in order to acquire and stabilize the technical elements of the serve. We have to be careful though, that we do not overuse this type of drill (where players just serve ball after ball after ball…) to prevent monotony. If your goal is to have players serve 100 balls in a practice, it is better to have them serve 5 times 20 balls than 100 all at once.

2. Serving at targets. All of us have all used drills where servers have to aim

at targets. Gymnastics mats, lines on the court, chairs, the possibilities are endless. Used mainly to develop regularity and accuracy, target drills can incorporate the notion of scoring and/or penalties. Here are a few questions that arise.

a. Should players serve at targets or in between targets? Keeping in mind that in a match, we will most likely ask our players to serve BETWEEN players, the latter answer might be more appropriate.

b. Is it better to serve at targets or at players? It would make it more game like if your players serve at (or away from) passers, especially if your passers have specific goals to work on. But while they are passing, they are obviously not working on their serve. The right dosage of both types of drill (targets vs passers) is probably the best solution.

3. Scoring drills. In light of the new scoring system, where every rally results

in a point, ALL serving drills (except for the ones aimed at technical acquisitions) should incorporate some sort of scoring system. Point scales can vary and should be adjusted to the ability of your players. The most common ones are:

a. Serving at targets: Serve on target: +1, serve out: -1, everything else: 0 b. Serving at passers: Ace: +1, error: -1, everything else: 0 c. Serving at passers: Ace: +2, not perfect pass: +1, error: -1, everything else: 0 d. Serving at passers: Reverse from the serve receive score: 3 pass: 0, 2 pass: +1, 1

pass: +2, 0 pass: +3, error: -1 (good system to create games: servers vs. passers).

2. Game like drills. An important aspect of developing players' confidence in serving during a match is to create serving games at practice. The object being to put an emphasis on the "result" aspect of the serve. It can be games where servers play against other servers or contests between passers and servers. The bottom line is to associate the notion of winning (or losing) the game to the quality of the serves.

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3. Transition drills. Although the serve is the only volleyball skill not related to an opponent's prior action, it is important to incorporate into your training drills where players have to execute actions after their serve (most frequent in a match situation) or even before their serve. For instance:

a. Having players serve after they have hit a few balls at the net. The emphasis can be placed on scoring points with the serve or/and the hitting phase. Hitting can be done from balls tossed by the coach or set by a setter.

b. Having players serve and play defense afterwards. The emphasis can be placed on scoring points with the serve or/and the defense. Defense can be from hits by the coach or from real hitters.

c. Drills can be done in isolation or can involve other (or all) players. The more players are involved in the drill, the more game-like the drill is. The harder the score to get, the more pressure the players will feel. See below.

4. Pressure drills. Pressure can present itself to players under 2 main forms:

a. Mental pressure (from the score, the crowd, from having missed previous serve(s) b. Physical pressure (when players are tired at the end of a match, after having

performed many jumps in a row,…) In all cases, players will "feel" the pressure for 1 main reason: the fear of missing and the consequence of the error. And they will get better at handling that pressure if they have been placed in pressure situations at practice. Here are common situations that can be included in serving drills:

i. Serving (trying to get to a certain score) while other players are working on defense.

ii. Alternating serving and hitting back row sets until a certain score is reached. Points can be obtained from the serve and / or hitting.

SERVING STRATEGIES

How you want your players to serve in a match will dictate what kind of work will be required at practice (and vice-versa). Here are a few possibilities of match serving strategies your players will have to practice if they are expected to execute them in a match (pressure) situation.

1. Serve from as far back as possible. This will enable your float servers to hit the ball a little harder hoping to make the ball move as much as possible.

2. Serve from just behind the end line. This will take away some of the time passers have to react to the serve.

3. Serve down the line (from left to position 1 or from right to position 5). This will offer the opposing passers the worst angles for playing the ball back to the setter in position 2 ½.

4. Serve short to position 2. Up to a certain level, setters will have difficulty using all their options on offense if they have to look at the pass behind them before they set; therefore the time they have to look at their hitters and the opposing blockers is reduced.

5. Serve short to position 3. Short serve to the middle of the court might create confusion within teams that like to use middle hitters and 2-player combinations.

6. Serve short to the front row passer / hitter. By doing so, you take away some of the time (and area) front row hitters have to prepare for their attack.

7. Serve deep to front row passer / hitter. Opposite purpose as #6. By adding to the distance hitters have to approach the net, you increase the physical demand on particular players, therefore increase chances for errors late in games or matches.

8. Serve in between passers. Used to create confusion and communication problems. Furthermore, some passers are very good when the ball is served right at them and not as good when the ball is served to one side or another.

9. Keep in mind that establishing a "team strategy" on serving might also be a valuable tool.

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Ask yourself the following:

• Do I want all my spike servers in a row or do I want to space them out in the rotation?

• Do I want my best (worst) server to serve first?

• Do I want all my servers to have the same assignments (serve short, serve long, serve at the weakest passer, etc…)?

• Where do I want my servers to serve FROM along our end line? Do I want this player to serve from our left side of the court because of serving considerations or because of defensive considerations?

CONCLUSION

CONFIDENCE is the key to effective serving. And confidence can be developed through adequate training. Granted that over the past year, 2 major rule changes have affected the way we look at serving as an offensive tool and have affected players' (and coaches') confidence.

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Serving

- Frank Enns 1999

1. Developing a Serving Philosophy i. What factors do you use to determine how your team will serve? Is it the

same every year? Is it pre-determined because of how you were coached or by how you’ve seen other successful team serve? Do you adapt your serving ‘style’ to the type of team you have or the opposition you will face? Do you change the philosophy for each match you play?

A coach could use one or more of the following to develop their serving philosophy: 1. ‘ Just Hit it Hard ’ – Many times hard serving can be used as a weapon.Mainly in

international men’s play and the spike serve

2. Get it in for sure – There is a 90% chance of winning the rally. In volleyball the serve recive / side out ratio on the first ball is in favor of the serving team

3. Tactical Strategy –

i. Serving to an area – In between players, in the seam, frees up rest of game.

ii. Serving to a particular player – Particular passers, advanced scouting.

4. Three Stage Serving – Who can serve the most in a row?

i. In for Sure ii. Tougher iii. Toughest

OR

A coach could use the following method to determine their serving philosophy… 1. Assess your teams strengths and weaknesses

a. How efficient is your team at siding out? What is your side – out percentage on your first time opportunities? What is your passing average?

b. How strong of a blocking team do you have? - Serving easy and block everything… or serve tough and no block.

c. Rotation by rotation analysis of your teams: i. Passing averages. ii. Side - out percentage on first ball. iii. Overall side - out percentage. iv. Blocking abilities v. Back court abilities

2. Analyze the opposition in terms of their offensive abilities and tendencies:

• In General • Rotation by rotation.(as above)

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3. Team Serving Style – Float / Spin, Close / Far, etc. 4. Variation of Serves per player – Same player possessing different serves.

5. Setting up rotations - Players with same serve in a row…

Technical Components of the Float Serve

A. Balance. B. Strength comes from the vertical line. C. Use of the chest muscles to create more power. D. Minimize Movements

1. Short Toss : Shorter toss diminishes time for errors. 2. Short Step : Minimizes movement in rest of body.

E. High Elbow – Bow and Arrow preferred … a. Concentrate on technique change when asked to serve short.

F. Firm Hand – Solid Contact Training The Server

1. Time of Season – Planning to train proper elements at proper times. 2. Teaching the Skill vs. Applying the Skills

a. Rapid fire / volume vs. game like conditions / intermittent. b. Minimize the number of consecutive serving contacts if serve is not successful. c. Reward and Penalty System

i. Continue to serve if serve is successful – you decide on criteria. ii. Have repercussions for unsuccessful serves but take care with pure

punishment system … What the players perceive as stress. Serving Drills Target Race

◊ Start @ 3m line and serve to a target. ◊ With each successful serve move 1m back. ◊ With each unsuccessful serve move 1m closer ◊ Race to wall or target. ◊ Does serving to the target change the serving technique ???

Wall to Wall Serving ◊ Serving strength to hit opposite wall. ◊ Relate same force to in court serving.

Serving under an Elastic

◊ Elastic band on antennas to emphasis trajectory. ◊ Serving under elastic, with low trajectory.

Marathon Serving

◊ With everyone watching serve 5 in a row… ◊ Build to team mates doing endurance drills while serving. ◊ Any options are available.

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Serve and Dig ◊ Serving Combined with any Skill.

Zone Serving

◊ Mark out a zone for serving ie. Zone 1 ◊ Award 2 pts for hitting zone. 1 pt for in, and – 1 pt for error. ◊ Timed or race to 25.

Point Serving ◊ Mark out area for each passer. Ie 1/3 of court ◊ 4-6 servers ◊ 1 pt scored for a 0 or 1 pass. ◊ If passer passes 2/3 or missed serve server becomes passer. ◊ Timed or race to 25

Putting Drill ◊ First serve goes to zone 6 ◊ Next to zone 1 then 3 then 5, then 2, then 4… or any order you choose. ◊ If error begin at 6 again.

Psychological Drills ◊ One chance to serve to zone / target before water break. ◊ Everyone watches player A serve to a zone… punishments for missed. ◊ Consecutive float serves.

Crokinole Serve & Receive ◊ 3 servers serving @ 3 passers ◊ Servers score a point if passers pass a 0/1 ◊ Passers score a point if they pass a 3 or back to back missed serves ◊ Passers need 4 pts to win, Servers need 3 pts to win. ◊ Serving Rotation: Player never serves more than 3 consecutive unless 3rd

serve is a 0/1 OR Player only serves one at a time unless passer passes 0/1.

Other Considerations A. Should Girls train to Spike Serve?

YES if the following conditions exist: ◊ Physically strong enough to have an impact or ◊ Exceptional technique so that control is present. ◊ Confident mindset to handle the pressure. ◊ If team ‘needs’ it to gain advantage or reduce disadvantage. ◊ Your Side – Out ability is very good. ◊ Your Blockers are overmatched.

B. What about Standing Spin Serve? ◊ As Above. ◊ Key to Scoring is absence of upward trajectory … any upward trajectory

eases reading for passers. ◊ Speed of ball is most crucial

i. Speed ii. Placement iii. In

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C. When to practice serving during your practice? i. At different stages of the season it might be different ii. Frequent short doses are more desirable than longer sessions unless

technique training is the goal.

D. Should Coaches provide serving targets during matches? i. Dependant upon the maturity of the athlete and game plan.

E. Mental Preparation Procedure i. Broad Inward – Situation, Score ii. Broad Outward – Rotation iii. Narrow Outward – Target iv. Narrow Inward – You & the Ball – good contact/swing/reach.

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‘ Serving Under Pressure in Practice ’ - Rod Durrant, 2000

Serving: The Importance of Training It Serving has always been an important part of the game, and now with the rally point system in use it has become more and more crucial. The key to a successful and consistent serve is good solid technique and confidence in performing the skill. Coaches are always interested in developing their athletes at becoming more consistent while serving. The question is how do we do this in a practice environment? The following are some ideas:

i. Select a realistic serve for the athletes to perform. Ie Float, Jump, Spike.

ii. Implement time in practice to teach the serve and give athlete feedback on serve.

iii. Use of video in practice an assist a great deal for the athlete. iv. As coaches we need to design drills for athletes to be challenged when

serving. v. The idea of pressure or some type of consequence is needed when

training the serve. vi. Athletes need to develop a regular routine when serving.

Examples of some Drills:

Ø Serving Stages in developing confidence and technique. Ø Different ways of allowing athletes to serve in practice…

◊ Warm – Up, Cool Down. ◊ Serve and Chase is a great drill… Can utilize different criteria.

Ø Variations of drills in which focus on serving under pressure and fatigue

◊ Serve and defence is primary drill. Build from basic drill.

Ø Allow time for athletes to work on technique as well as feedback. Ø The use of serving drills as team conditioning, to simulate pressure

and mental fatigue.

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26

Training the Libero

- Dustin Reid, 2004

The concepts in this presentation can be applied to any passing situation.

A good Libero possesses:

◊ Excellent technique and skill in Passing, Setting, Defense ◊ Is a good communicator with Coaches and fellow teammates. ◊ Has a good understanding of the game. Ie ‘ Feel for the Game ’ ◊ Understands that they cannot be the “ star ”. ◊ Must have confidence in ability to perform… Almost overconfident. ◊ Must know and understand each defensive system within team.

Passing 1. Against Float or Jump Float Serves

• Footwork should always end in “ two’s ”… 1 – 2 – pass. • Important to Move … Stop … Pass • Arms are far from Body at Contact. • Make an aggressive move towards ball on contact. • Footwork must allow for good balance during contact. • Always applying a force to the ball.

2. Against Spike and Spin Serves • More defensive action • Footwork may end in “ one ”… 1 – pass • Arms closer to body on contact • Use wrists and elbows to absorb power. • Reassess goals of pass when needed.

Defence 1. Digging

• Is an aggressive skill / movement. • Use of elbows and wrists to absorb force of ball. • To execute proper technique kneepads ARE REQUIRED !! • Open Handed digs and overhead reception need to be trained as

well. 2. Recovery Skills

• Much more poorly taught / trained than digging • Consist of the dive and the strideslide • The key to both is the critical step towards the ball. • Both left and right hand movements must be trained. • The pancake is the “LAST RESORT” only. • Every Libero should master these skills!!

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28

Training the Setter - Doug Reimer, 1997

The training of elite setters is the critical issue in Canadian Volleyball today. The issues of why the need exists will be discussed followed by one coach’s beliefs on how to address the weakness. I. Technical Base The core technical components to be analyzed centre on the observation of four aspects: HANDS… FEET … HIPS … SHOULDERS. The demonstrations will key on one way to develop your setting philosophy. The selected aspects are felt to be critical in building a strong base upon which to develop an offense that is varied and allow the setter to begin to focus on decision making and tactics. Some aspects of the demonstrations may seem basic but evaluation of players at Club, University, and National Team Tryouts indicate that some consistent habit need to be developed. Hands :

• Initial Position and ball contact • Extension Speed • Final Position

Feet :

• Step and Drag • Movement off the net • Jump Through

Hips • Basic Action • Timing and sequencing for

power

Shoulders : • Square to 4 • Rotation for back set

Variation:

1. Need for Speed 2. Jump set Early. 3. Train initial movement and set up position.

Drills

1. Wall Work 2. Floor Work 3. Basic Repetitive situations 4. Movement … Movement … Movement 5. Triangle Training

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II. Tactical Application At the higher levels of play the importance of making correct choices using creativity and making good decisions can not be understated. This fact is well recognized but seldom trained. Basic Tactical Principles

i. Set away from the action.

ii. Set opposite way from your movement.

iii. Perceive Blocking Situation. Can be manipulated in Drills to work both offense and defence. Work for the 1 on 1 or 1 on 0 situations

iv. Setter look for signal drill.

v. Coach calls set.

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Training the Elite Setter - Brenda Willis, 2004.`

A. Job of the Setter

◊ Deliver the most hittable ball possible. ◊ Make it difficult for defence to read ◊ Deceive blockers resulting in 1:1 or 1:0 ◊ Keep everyone engaged and involved ◊ Deceive the opposing coach/scout at key times ◊ Inspire those around them to want to do things well.

B. Choosing the Setter - Leadership & Personality

◊ Commands Respect ◊ Stable ◊ Unselfish ◊ Confident ◊ Able to take and carry responsibility ◊ Internal vs. External ◊ Demand from Hitters ◊ Emotional Control

Distinct Aspects to Train 1. Basic Skills Mechanics

o Body Presentation § Relative to Court –

1. Left foot - 5/6, Right foot - Antennae § Relative to Net adjustments to the Pass

1. Setter Must be at 2 ½ and adjust from there. § Relative to Ball – most crucial for consistency

1. High Contact – ball width between forehead and contact point.

2. Contact point must be in vertical line with body. o Movement and Footwork

§ Absolutely the key to consistency – must always be the same

§ NEVER X OVER… Big step with left foot. § End with right foot forward to the antenna. § Along Net – Forward, Backward § Off Net – Forward Backward § Very Tight – High, Low § Out of Net

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2. Leadership o Hardest to change o Presence and responsibility o Selecting the Setter

◊ Information Processing ◊ High Expectations ◊ “Magic Johnson” quality ◊ Work Ethic ◊ Lead by example… To demand must be demanding of self. ◊ Physical Qualities Ø Speed, agility, reaction time, coordination ,’dancer’, skills Ø physical presence ( height, reach, jumping ability)

3. Decision Making o Each Critical Moment o Under All Conditions – Not just good ones!

4 Critical Moments for Decision Making

I. Moment the Ball is Dead o Who’s Where ( us & them)

§ Hitter Preferences / tendencies § What happened before (this sequence, past) § What’s Working, Who’s Hot, etc.

II. Moment of the Pass o What’s Eliminated o Flow & Resulting outlets o % changes o Block adjustments

III. Moment of Contact o Are they respecting the Dump o Block Pattern – Did they commit / move

§ Decoy effectiveness o Middle on Time ? o Audible Calls

IV. Moment After Release o Evaluation

§ Precision of execution (accuracy, speed) § Tactical (1:1), did they commit ? § Did it score ?

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Implications for Coaches Repetitions Movement Skills Presentation to the ball v Good Passes / Bad Passes v High / Low & Left / Right v Behind / In Front v Fast / Slow v Off Net / Tight to Net

Philosophy of your Offense v Game Plan

o Mapped out, Percentage, Surprise v Instinct – Experience v Ability to Process Information v Outlets v Setter vs. Hitter orientation

o Does the setter ask for help ? v Rhythm you want in offence v How fancy is too fancy ? v What can you count on ?

o Have a distinct reason – play the percentages Ability of your Team v Passing v Attack Strengths / Weaknesses

Ability / Inablility of Opponents v Passing v Attacking v Blocking

Training Variations by Phase v From Service Reception v From Blocking v From Defence

o Dig o Freeball

v From offensive coverage

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Foundations of Strategy (Create the Greatest Chance of Scoring) 1. Mismatches (head to head)

o Physical – Size or Jump o Experience Based – Age or Playing age o Confidence Based – Situational o Tactically Based – Position or Duties

2. Seams o Existing o Creating : player motion / decoys / overloading

3. Series o Establishment of Credibility o Use of Decoys o Variation in rhythms or tempos

4. Flow o Location of the Hitters o Location of the Ball o Movement by Blockers o Setting away from the flow

Setting Drills NO REPLACEMENT FOR REPITITION

◊ Vary the Source ◊ Vary the Trajectory ◊ Vary the location

Provide relevant cues to force decisions ◊ Middle on time ◊ Middle Blocker commit or not ◊ Pass of to much for step around ◊ Dump or not

Drill Examples: Justification Drills – Ask Why they set that. Memory work drills – What happened last time Critical Instant Drills – Vision & Corresponding decisions Competition drills between setter & blocker Defend or penetrate drills Block & set, penetrate & set, cover & set

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Training the Left – Side & Right Side Hitters - Dustin Ried, 2004

Quality Basics and Position Specific Differences

Quality Basics Focus on the following Skills q Arm Swing q Approach Concentrating on Quality 1st q There is no skill where time and contacts are wasted more in our country than hitting q Hitting is a skill not unlike passing, setting, defence, etc. q “Gordie Howe” Story – Practice makes good, perfect practice makes perfect. q Not enough time given for feedback !! What factors are the most important in hitting ? q Height of the contact q Result of the contact How do we emphasize these factors in developing: Approach Purpose of approach is to allow arm swing to do job. q Separates the great hitters from the good q Complete opposite of the middle attack q SEE THE SET FIRST q BE DYNAMIC q Practice approaches from all angles

Arm Swing Reach q High reach has to be emphasized EVERY time an athlete swings. q Height of contact cannot be compromised for power, control, etc. q It is the base that all other aspects of hitting are added to q Athlete needs to feel a stretch in the LATS at release pt. (cookie jar analogy)

Contact A. Responsible for the control, consistency, force, and deception of hit B. Quality repetitive is the best / only way to improve the skill C. Contacts do not have to be at full speed to be beneficial D. Focus on “ sound ” of contact to ensure proper contact Drill Progression:

I. Baseball Toss II. Two Handed overhead toss

III. 2 hand toss – Hit High ** Elbow is above shoulder ** IV. Variations of ‘ Over the Net Pepper ’ V. Addition of the setter / hitter relationship

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Training the Outside Attacker - Doug Anton, 2001

The outside attacker typically comprises about 80% of all attacks in a match. Therefore training successful outside hitters is of paramount important to the success of your team. Although there are many factors which contribute to outside attack success, I feel there are several important philosophies that all successful outside attackers have: 1. Successful attackers approach very fast and attempt to approach with the

same speed all the time. This creates simple timing decision of when to leave. 2. Successful attackers use their approach to take them to the ball not to an

attacking location. 3. Successful attackers have good balance throughout their attack. Control of

their bodies 4. Successful attackers have shot variation Attack Basics Starting Position for the Approach For consistency, outside attackers should always strive to start their approach from the same location. This allows the player to deal with technical issues such as timing, angles, body – ball relationships, etc. from the same frame of reference all the time. As well, a longer approach is usually better since it allows for greater acceleration in the approach which, usually results in a larger and more dynamic jump. However, too long an approach can reduce attack consistency by causing poorer balance, poorer body – ball relationship and more timing errors.. Therefore, caution must be used when extending the length of an athletes approach. In general, for an experienced outside attacker 3-4 steps is sufficient and for a novice 2-3 steps will suffice. Left Side (Power) Starting Position In general, for right handed players the optimal approach on the left side win run at 45º angle (sideline in) to the net. This means that most athletes will be out of court when at their initial starting position. This is the most neutral starting position and will allow the attacker to hit the widest variety of attack variations. It should be noted that with the increase in service reception responsibilities left side players have seen in recent years, many players have been forced to often use an “inside out” approach. This “Swing Hitting” is now quite common so that the athlete can be involved in service reception duties. However, it is still best for these athletes to adopt an “outside ih” approach whenever service reception is not required.

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X O

Right Side Starting Position Right handed players approaching on the right side of the court should approach at approximately 90º angel(perpendicular) to the net. Again this will give the athlete the widest selection of attack variations and for most athletes will allow them to hit both down the line and crosscourt with good power.

Attack (Shot) Options for the Outside Attacker Although there are virtually an unlimited number of attack possibilities available to the outside attacker, 5 shots in my opinion are used most often and should be a part of any outside attacker’s repertoire. 1. The Straight Away Attack (High Seam) This is the most basic of all attacks and is usually the first learned by the athlete. The basic concept is to hit the ball high, hard, and deep. The direction of the attack usually runs parallel to the approach with little attempt to change the attack direction. The athlete counts on their approach speed, vertical jump, high contact point, and attack power to overwhelm the block and defence. Often the goal is to hit the “high seam” between two blockers, which is usually a weak area. If hit with good power, the ball will usually blow through the block into the court, or deflect up and off the block out the back of the court. Pros: 1. High Contact 2. The ball has lots of pace. 3. Consistent 4. If executed properly is difficult to stuff

block

Cons: 1. Angle of attack is predictable 2. Most defences are designed to control

the type of attack

O X

X = typical approach angles for a right handed player

O = typical approach angles

for a left handed players

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2. Sharp Cross Court (Cut) Attack This attack is used when the athlete wishes to cleanly pass the block cross court. It is most often used when there is only one blocker, the ball is set slightly inside, or if the block is located to stop a line or deep cross court attack. With this attack, the athlete attempts to increase the attack angle initially provide by the approach and hit the ball in a sharper direction cross court provided by their approach alone. This is achieved by:

a) Contacting the ball with a straight arm. (Locked elbow) b) Rotating the palm outwards away from the body so that the arm follows

through with the thumb pointing down. Aggressive wrist flexion (follow through) must also occur.

c) Following through so that the attacking hand goes to (or slightly outside) their attacking hip.

Often the athlete will end up with their shoulders facing the net when performing this skill. Pros:

1. One of the most effective attacks to cleanly pass the block cross court.

2. Deceptive; it is difficult for blockers to read

Cons: 1. Attack often crosses net low; thus

when anticipated by the blocker often results in stuff block.

2. Difficult to generate good power. 3. Proper contact can be difficult

and a technically sound arm swing is required.

3. The Line Shot With this attack the athlete directs the ball down the sideline of the opponents court. A high school athlete who is able to execute a high line attack with consistency is very dangerous. This is because young blockers often do not have the technical skill and strength to turn a high line attack back into court, so usually even when block contact occurs, a wipe off is the result. Execution:

a) There should also be a shoulder turn so that the attacker’s shoulders face down the line as well or in the general direction of the attack.

b) The attacker’s arm swing should follow through cross-body towards their opposite hip.

c) At contact; the player will turn their hand so the palm faces down the lin into the opponents court. (Pinky down)

Many athletes have a tendency to want to drop the elbow when attempting a line attack and this common error must not be allowed. When an athlete becomes experienced with performing this attack, they should attempt to hit this shot without turning their shoulders. Utilizing more of a cross body arm swing. This increases the deception of the shot and improves effectiveness. Pros: 1. Difficult to block if hit high. 2. Athlete who can successfully alternate between

cross court and line is very difficult to block.

Cons: 1. The ball’s target zone is quite small. 2. The set needs to be out to the

antennae to be effective.

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4. The Tip / Roll Shot Especially effective after several successful hard attacks, this is a slow and usually short attack which will often catch the defence unaware. Typically the ball is contacted softly to land directly behind the block(in front of the attack line) or into the middle of the court.(the pot) The key to the success of this attack is deception. If the defence is able to predict this attack, then its success rate is extremely low. THE BALL MUST GO UP AND OVER THE BLOCK. This shot takes two forms. The ‘ Tip ’ is executed by extending the arm and using the finger tips to direct the ball into court and the ‘ Roll ’ shot is executed by using the hitting surface of the hand accompanied by an aggressive follow through(to generate top spin) to direct the ball into court. An elbow drop that takes the ball below and under the ball usually occurs prior to contact. It is important that when performing this skills the athlete still jumps as high as possible prior to execution. As well, the player must be sure to play the ball over the block and not attempt to play the ball around it. Since deception is of paramount importance I prefer my players to use the rollshot because it more closely resembles a regular attack Pros: 1. Low error rate 2. Very deflating to the defence 3. keeps defence honest

Cons: 1. No ball speed therefore this shot relies

solely on deception to score.

5. The Wipe – Off A wipe off shot is the action of directing the ball off the opponent’s block in a manner that will propel the ball out of court. This is usually the most effective form of attack since all volleyball systems are designed to defend a ball that will land in court, not one that is going out of bounds. Many attack attempts inadvertently become wipe off shots even though this was not the original intent. This occurs because the attacker typically has a significant physical advantage over the blockers and even when the blockers make contact with the ball is difficult to control. This often leads coaches to assume their players understand the concept of using the block to score when in truth, this may not be the case at all. Most young players do not deliberately attempt to wipe-off because they have an innate fear of the block. This is understandable since the block is one major limiting factors in the success of their attack. After all, why would you intentionally give the block the opportunity to contact the ball? It is only through training and experience that the athlete begins to see the huge benefits of the wipe-off shot. It is only through guidance and experience that a player begins to learn that sometimes, the best place to hit the ball in not in court. The wipe-off shot is considered as much an art form as a skill, so it is difficult to describe all the concepts of this shot. However, the shot takes three basic forms.

a. The Outside Wipe-Off : hitting the ball so it deflects of the outside edge of the block and goes out the sideline

b. Off the Top : hitting the ball high off the block so that it deflects out the back side of the court

c. The Inside Wipe-Off : hitting the ball hard cross court off the inside of the block so that it deflects out the far sideline.

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The wipe-off shot requires two things to be effective: 1. The ball must successfully contact the block and land out of bounds. 2. The ball must be seen by the officials to have hit the block and landed out of

bounds. The athlete must understand that when they attempt a wipe-off, it must be seen to be a wipe-off. If the ball only grazes the block and no significant change in ball direction can be seen, this in my opinion is an attack error. When you wipe-off it must be seen by the officials.

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Training the Middle Attacker - Kevin Boyles, 2000

Basic Guidelines for Training your Middle Attackers 1. Training at fatigue vs. at full capacity

− Be aware of the difference and utilize each appropriately. − Middle training is quite tiresome; once they pass the aerobic threshold no

more learning will occur. 2. Training in isolation vs. in the full team setting

− Train in isolation only during acquisition and for short periods of time for reps.

3. Problem solving for technical issues within the full team setting. − Develop your coaching skills to recognize failure, then identify source.

4. Fight boredom and frustration by gradually introducing new challenges. 5. NEVER GIVE UP ON TEACHING AND USING THE FIRST TEMPO !!!

Training the Middle Attacker 1. Stage A – Becoming a Settable Target ( The Basics)

a. Developing a workable arm swing and approach • Variety is OK, But you must have:

o A dynamic / aggressive approach with accelerating tempo o Good use of both arms to jump and left arm throughout o As much “hang” time as you can muster o A “fast” arm o High elbow at contact with full extension o A quick snap on top of the ball o Start with the 51 and master it before moving on !!

b. Developing a standard approach length and starting location • Three Step Only !!! • Learn to work within the attack line

c. Being on time all the time • Speed Kills (the opposition that is) • Establishing the middle and holding the blockers

d. Learning to go everytime • Commitment and work ethic • Middles are the grinders of volleyball

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2. Stage 2 – Becoming Available on Every Play a. Adjusting to the pass and the setter

• Run to the setter, not the spot • Approach at the same speed as the ball

b. Second Stage set Variations • 31’s and 61’s

c. Audible Calls to change tempo and increase availability • Single Word, single syllable

d. Learning to hit the step – around • Vital to the women’s game and any men’s team without the backrow

option 3. Stage 3 – Becoming a “GO-TO” Hitter and Setters 1st Choice

a. Variations in angle of attack • Thumb Down = power shot • Pinky Down = cut back

b. Variations in angle of approach • From Serve Receive

o Take advantage of regular rotations • From Transition

c. Variations in angle of flight (must be accompanied by advanced setting)

• Long 51’s • Hang 52’s • Long 61’s

d. Disguise approach and add fakes • Fake 31 – Hit 53

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Skill Acquisition Progression

1. Master the 51 i. Basic Technique ii. Be on time iii. Approach and / or jump on every play.

2. Learn to adjust to the setter. 3. Start working on the Step Around 4. Add in the “HUT” (53) to increase availability and to be a greater threat. 5. Attempt the 31

i. Start with the direct approach, still open to the setter.

6. Attempt the 61 i. For women’s teams use the step – 61 as well as straight up 61

7. Attempt the long 51 i. Utilizing momentum and approach angle.

8. Increase the Speed of the Step – Around 9. Tempo changes on good passes ( Fake 31 – 53, hang 52’s) 10. Learn to disguise approach, manipulate angles, and change direction within

the approach.

*** Work On Shots Throughout *** Drill Samples:

S C ?

C ? B M B

S M

S P RS

L P

Conditions

i. C places freeball to L or P ii. L or P passes to S iii. M runs attack patterns iv. Continue

L L

Conditions

1. C places freeball to L 2. L passes to S 3. P / RS run attack 4. B / M Block 5. C tosses to S 6. M runs attack 7. Continue

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Offensive Tactics in Elite Women’s Volleyball Trends in International Play

- Doug Reimer, 1999 Introduction - Why we need to address this at CIS and elite level of development in Canada. - Canada in the World Context - Objectives Team Offense - Philosophy / Principles

§ General Setter training / situational factors o Change direction, against flow o Direction of pass, tempo. ( Pass to 3 rather than 2 ½ ?)

§ Team Consideration o Who we play – Comparison to China, Brazil.

§ We are very similar in athletes !!! § Set Selection Principles

o Their Blockers 1st !!! o Our Hitters 2nd o Combos to create mismatches.

§ Role of Backrow / Front Row Combinations O Use of space and seams rather than varying speed O BACKROW IS AN OPTION !!! O 5 zones of backrow attack.

A B PIPE C D

§ Other factors: o Training overload within block and combos

- Specific Offensive Sequences § 13 – 31 – 93 § 13 – 61/71 – 91(pipe) § 13 – 51 – right X – D

----------------------------------------------------------- § 13 – 51 – C/D § 13 – Step 71/91 – pipe/C § 13 – step71/91 – B & C

*** Don’t Limit Backrow to 1 or 2 zones ***

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Individual Tactics and Strategies

o Improving Offensive Execution in all aspect of attack. o General Needs of all Players

§ Flexibility of attack o All players , all tempos o 1 foot takeoff

§ Variation of Approach o Receive to attack / swing o Block and defence to attack o Vary Angle of attack

§ Technical considerations: see previous presentations… § Preparation for non perfect situations

Training the Offense / Drill Examples

• Attack Warm Up Drills • Over bump with angle / power • 53 / 93 / Toss

§ Attack Rep with Setter • Split Court Reps • Timing Reps

§ Two Ball Training Situations • Coaches develop based upon skill level.

§ 4 vs. 4 Cross Court Hitting Continuous • Emphasize Ball Control (Continuation) • Emphasize Finishing Skills (Power and Creativity)

§ 4 vs. 4 Back row Focus • Utilize all 5 zones of back row • No penalty for one foot on line.

§ Counter Attack Drill with Emphasis • 6 vs. ? with Countering attack and emphasis.

§ Serve Reception Formation to Attack § 6 vs. 6 ‘ First Ball Over’ advantage scoring

• First ball must go to designated hitter and after …

§ Receive Reps with Attack Cool Down • 2nd String Hits

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Blocking - Bill Neville

Introduction Why blocking is important: v Sets defensive tactical tone – all other parts of defence are based upon the block v Skill most directly tied to tactical thinking, adjustment and play v One of four ways to score in volleyball.

Considerations

Blocking is… v The easiest physical skill v The most comples physical skill v The most difficult skill because of variables v The skill with the least positive feedback v NOT A RECREATIONAL ACTIVITY !!

Principles

Technical: v Use the simplest technique v Contact Ball on opponent’s side of net. v Only reach over the head or toward the centre of the court v Ball – Setter – Ball – hitter … Use peripheral vision to get the big picture v Move with balance and jump with stability.

Tactical

• Get the best blocker(s) in front of the hitter most likely to get the set in any given situation.

• Front the hitter’s preferred shot • Know when not to block… Sometimes it is advantageous not to block. • Line up as blocker with inside heal to attackers outside toe

Functions of the Block 1) Stuff – To stuff the attackers hit. 2) Control – To control where the hitter can hit. 3) Zone – Block a zone of the court. 4) Stop – Stop the momentum of the opposing team. 5) Intimidate –Taking Individual hitters out of their zone.

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Tactical Lexicon Systems:

• Match Up – Matching Best Blocker with Best Hitter. • Read and React – Read the Setter and React to the set. • Commit and Stack – Commit to the hitter on opposite side. Putting

more than one blocker in an area. Jargon

• Invite • Dedicate • Bunch

• Spread • Left

• Right • Delay

Technical Cues

? High Hands ? Move with Balance ? Jump Vertically with Stability ? Big, Hard Hands ? Low and Tight over the net ? Head up, Eyes Open

*** DO NOT JUST PRAISE STUFF BLOCKS ***

Drill Examples:

Two Step Drill Joust Drill

B1 1 C ? H1 H2

2 C ?

Conditions Blocker (B1) sets up opposite of C, Coach tosses to hitter (H1), Blocker makes 2 steps to block, then 2 steps back to block hitter (H2)in front of coach Variations Stuff or Control Blocks Game with score Cues: ? Watch for narrow feet ? Avoid Fading ? Square to net ? Avoid Sweep block ? Hard Hands ? See back of hands

Conditions Blockers 1 & 2 Start opposite each other. Coach tosses ball between blockers for joust situation. Two players on each side for coverage can dig ball up. Then play out for point. Establish small court, 3 wins/side then rotate blockers.

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Advanced Blocking Systems - Keith Wasilyk, 2004

Define Purpose 1. Defend an area of the net 2. Defend primary attack 3. Channel attack at defenders – let them hit to it. 4. Touch the ball

** Prepare the backcourt defenders starting positions around blocking scheme ** ** Develop a blocking and defensive strategy based upon probability **

Individual Skills 1. Initial posture and preparation 2. Timing … (‘and now’) 3. “ Penetrate and Seal ” the net – eyes on the back of hands. 4. Closing the block (body vs. hands)

i. LS and RS vs. MB

5. Asses AND Communicate i. Hitters … starting positions ii. Ball … Quality of the pass iii. Hitter… Movements iv. Set … Any setter cues … direction, speed, and trajectory of the set

a. All three blockers need to watch setters hands v. Hitter cues … Set placement, posture, tendencies.

*** Getting the opposition thinking about WHAT YOU KNOW ? ***

6. Advanced Skills i. Movement and Positioning

a. Shuffle vs. step and crossover ii. Vertical Jump vs. Swing Block iii. Adaptations

a. Deflections and 2nd touch skills … train this more. b. Late closings c. “ Give and Take ”

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Team Decisions 1. “ READ ”

a. All blockers read and react to the set b. The goal is to get 2 blockers on every set … sometimes 3 on high sets.

2. “ COMMIT ” a. One blocker commits to the 1st tempo attacker … helps out with other sets b. Other blockers handle 2nd or 3rd tempo sets … either 1 vs. 1 or read c. Bad pass communicate switch to read

3. START POSITIONS a. “Spread”

i. LS & RS are 1m from sidelines ii. MB starts opposite space between opposing setter and MH

b. “ Bunch”

i. LS & RS are 3 – step movement from sidelines ii. MB fronts opposing setter or MH iii. Blockers can “slide” or “shift” attack responsibilities

c. “ STACK”

i. One blocker fronts the 1st tempo attacker ii. Another blocker ‘ stacks’ off shoulder of 2nd tempo attacker iii. Third blocker ‘ bunches’ in to help out.

4. Other Factors

a. Block Leader i. I.D. hitters and locations ii. Call Patterns

b. Signals

i. MB is either ‘ read’ or ‘commit’ ii. Outside blockers signal blocking strategy

c. Adapt defenders movements to cover the court area

i. 6-up vs. 6-back (‘theory of relative probability’)

d. Serve tough to help alleviate blocking difficulties.

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Technical and Tactical Approach to Defence - Doug Reimer, 1997

I. Introduction

This session attempts to provide the key technical and tactical aspects deemed necessary to build an effective team defence. Key concepts will be illustrated by drill situations. The tendency in Canadian women’s volleyball has been to develop individual technical skill at the expense of tactical development especially player flexibility and reading skills. On the men’s side the argument is the reverse with the need to improve individual technical skills. The above generalizations obviously do not hold true with all teams and if there is a trend apparent it would be that some men’s teams are borrowing from the women’s and vice versa. Therefore, the goal of this session is to incorporate the philosophy and practical application necessary to develop technical skill within the context of tactical application.

II. Rules & Concepts a. Time of contact: Balanced on contact, Work is done before the ball is

contacted. b. Movement is opposite of the ball

i. Defence is all six players c. Block Line on Receive and cross court on transition d. Outside players will help middle blocker e. Will not get beat by offside speed early

i. Most teams are taught not to tip late in the game. 1. Movement, movement, movement ……

a. Drills : 1) Down Ball Digging 2) Cover on 1, 2, or 3

2. Base Positions and Initial Read Movements

a. “ Curl” for cross court b. “Drop” to dig

3. Control of 1st Contact a. Digging balls outside the body b. Side to Side digging c. Overhand Digging

4. Second Contact Ability a. 3 person situations: promote the link to transition

5. The Relationship of Block and Back Court a. Limit Training in Isolation b. Promote Reading in Practice c. Combine Attack and Defence

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III. Selecting your System a. Considerations:

i. Your Opponents ii. Your Players

1. Individual Differences: Best Reader plays in #6 iii. Your Offence iv. Your Training v. Your Patience !!

b. Which Systems ?? 3 Alternative

i. Strict Structure 1. 2-2-2 Approach

ii. Partial Freedom 1. Situational Based

iii. Complete Read

c. Other Considerations i. Defence vs. Backrow Attack

1. Don’t block - Block only selected hitters ii. Defence vs. Combinations iii. Defence vs. Team

d. Player Flexibility

i. Read and Movement 1. Work on 5 between 6 2. Work on 6 between 1

e. Game Plan and Match – Ups

IV. Training the System a. Principles

i. Variety – Promote our ability for perception and decision making. ii. Stabilize the actions

1. Curls 2. Drop and Dig

iii. Balancing the # of repetitions

4 3 2 5 1

6

Initial Defensive Position

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V. Drill Examples

Coach can: 1 Bounce 2 Downball 3 Deep 4 Tip * Read & React *

Kajema

• Used to focus on Movement o Curling and Dropping

• Key is to really work #6 laterally • 2nd contact setting - set ball high to be hit • Returning to Initial Defensive position

C

X

C

5 1

6

Conditions 1. C hits ball to 1/5/6 2. 1/5/6 Dig ball 3. 2nd contact set to

coach 4. Continue

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Basic Team Tactics – Simplified - Wally Dyba, 1997

1. Object of the Game Volleyball is a team sport played by two teams on a playing court divided by a net. The object of the game is for each team to send the ball regularly over the net to ground it on the opponent’s court , and to prevent the ball from being grounded on it’s own court. The ball is put in play by the right back row player who serves the ball by hitting it over the net to the opponent’s court. A player is not allowed to hit the ball twice consecutively, except when attempting a block. The rally continues until the ball touches the ground, goes “out” or a team fails to return it to the opponent’s court or commits a fault. In volleyball points are earned on every serve, When the receiving team wins a rally, it gains the right to serve(and also earns a point), and it’s players rotate one position clockwise. Rotation ensures that players play at both the net and the back zone. A team wins a game by scoring 25 points with a two point advantage, and wins the match by winning three out of five games. In the deciding game the winner wins the set at a score of 15. 2. Basic Concepts

a. Offense 1. Attempt to ground the ball on the opponents court. 2. Usually begins after the first ball contact 3. Service can be used as part of an offense, it is the act of

putting the ball into play b. Defence

1. An attempt to prevent the ball from being grounded on one’s own court

2. a team is in defence primarily when the ball is in the opponents court

3. the notable exception is serve reception c. Service Reception

1. the act of receiving the serve 2. the initiation of the offense

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d. Basic Volleyball Play

Many believe that the basic volleyball play is “bump, set, spike”, and in general terms, they are correct. However with the new “ passing” rules and refining what a team is actually trying to accomplish, a better concept of the BVP is:

− Pass to the Net ( High to the Middle) − Pass along the Net ( High to the Outside) − Attack ( Putting the ball over the net with force)

e. Transition - A change from a. Serve to defense b. Serve reception to offense c. Defense to offence d. Offence to defence

3. Practical 1 vs. 1

a. Explore the basic concepts in a one on one situation i. Begin cooperatively (toss/catch if more comfortable)

ii. Emphasize the BVP – “ to net, along net, over” b. Explore elementary offensive tactics

i. Placement of the ball ii. Trajectory

iii. Speed of the Ball

c. Explore the elementary defensive tactics i. Court positioning

ii. “ Reading” the opposition iii. Movement

4. Practical 2 vs. 2 a. Cooperatively refine the BVP

i. “High to the middle, high outside, over” ii. Explore the quality of the pass.

b. Begin Team Play Concepts i. Court positioning

ii. Decision Making iii. Court movement ( penetrating setter)

c. Explore team tactics i. Pass to the right, attack from the left – WHY?

ii. To block or not to block?

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5. Practical 4 vs. 4 This establishes a template to advance to a full 6 vs. 6 team play situation in an environment in which the 5 main concepts can be emphasized in a significantly less confusing manner. The 4 vs. 4 template is based on the following: - Utilizing the BVP (pass high middle, pass high outside, attack) - Service reception (line plus setter) - Initial defence (4 corners – max. of two decisions / player) - Penetrating setter (from right back) - Secondary setter (right front) Basic Team Tactics Simplified – Defence to Transition 1. Begin with 4 vs. 4 Template

a. Review initial defensive alignment b. Review movements from defence right & left.

2. Add fifth player in position #3 – movement responsibility is to follow the ball a. Tactical Responsibility to set – What are the advantages /

disadvantages b. Tactical responsibility to middle block / attack – Adv. / Disadv.

3. Add fifth player in position #6 – movement responsibility is to follow the ball a. 6 up Defence

i. Tactical responsibilities – penetrating setter – Adv. / Disadv. ii. Tip Coverage – Adv. Disadv.

b. 6 Back defence i. adjustments

1. Cover deep line – Adv. / Disadv. 2. Setter penetrating from #1 – Adv. / Disadv.

4. Add sixth player in either 2 or 3 above a. Setter Middle front – 6-up or 6-back b. Setter right front – 6-up or 6-back c. Penetrating setter – 6-up d. Penetrating setter – 6-back

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Basic Team Tactics Simplified – Serve Receive An understanding of the overlap rule is essential !! For the basic “W” service reception a Cook Book formula can be utilized to properly align in serve receive formation. A “W” can be drawn on the court surface to help novice identify vicinity in which to begin. The Cook Book Formula 1. Front Court moves to top of the “W” 2. Hide the setter 3. Hitters in position to attack 4. Fill in the rest of the “W” with minimal movement respecting the overlap rule.

For the “CUP” service reception ( 4 Person reception) (To hide a weak passer or to better position hitters to attack) Note the 4 primary passing positions in the “CUP” formation Decide which athlete shall be hidden in each service reception The Cook Book Formula 1. Front Court moves to top of the “W” 2. Hide the setter / weak passer / appropriate hitter 3. Hitters in position to attack 4. Fill in the rest of the “CUP” with minimal movement respecting the overlap

rule. For “LINE” service reception (3-person reception) (Understand rationale for use) Note : The 3 passing positions and identify who your passers will be. Many elite teams using this system use the power hitters and the middle back/libero. Front court passers may require that they are able to swing attack. For “TWO PERSON” service reception Passers must be mobile enough in order to cover large court area. With spike serve, many teams have gone away from the “2 Person” serve receive. Usually the two power hitters are the primary passers. Practical: Go over the “CUP” receive formations with specialization for all positions in a 5-1 system. In any system how do you arrange your lineup? Should your best power hitter precede or follow the setter? Why?

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New Rules and How They May Affect Training and Your Team's Performance - Dr. Lorne Sawula, 1999

FACTORS TO CONSIDER IN TRAINING YOUR ATHLETES

INTRODUCTION: The questions that come out, + others that will come out of discussion and later after having the "real experience", will decide if training will change dramatically from the style that was used for the side-out system. In some ways the questions pondered below are no different than the ones that we tried to find out solutions for in the old scoring system. Brian Watson, who is coaching in Germany, said "… my first opinion was that once a team got ahead (like 12-8) that the game was over and there were very few close games (boring), basically once the team was that far behind they quit playing and waited for the next game." Later after another tournament he said: "… I have seen my team up 16-9 the other team come back and tie it at 21-21 (luckily we won that one) and I have seen us down 14 -8 and then lead 16-15. Both of these shouldn't happen but it seems that the leading team can also lose its focus/intensity (even in better talented teams)." It seems that he thought that the game wasn't as simple as it seemed to be. In the match during his 2nd round that they won 3-0 in TURKEY, they won the 3rd game 38-36. This was fairly exciting for everyone. What are the new changes and how will they affect our training as coaches? Some of the new rule interpretations or changes do not have an affect on training but they are new rules. I guess we have to see what rules we will adopt for Canada. However, some of the rules may have an effect upon how we train. I don't intend to give you the answers but I hope to cause you to think about what may have to happen. 1. TRAINING OF THE "LIBERO" PLAYER Basic Thinking: If this is used at the younger levels then perhaps we will keep the taller players in the game (one rational for the argument). On the other hand we never will develop the all round skills of the player because they will never play back row, so serve receive and defense will not be stressed. Now we can bring in a "smooth", usually smaller but skilled player back into the game. This player's purpose is to play strong defense and most likely serve receive. Rallies should be extended if this player is doing a good job. All the skills of this player take place in the back row.

Questions: a. Is the training for this player the same as you used to use for a "defensive" specialist? b. Do we need to train specialist players in the future? c. Is there a special "psychological" model that we would like to see in this player?

Brian Watson's thoughts: "For Libero training I do very little different (more digging and S/R) and only in game/wash type drills do I change the libero back and forth from one side to the other as I would in a game. Almost all liberos over here are small power hitters that pass or older players with good skills (most are old +30)".

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Question: a. Does the use of a "libero" player cause a team to NOT use some 3m attack from

server receive or from transition? § When the setter is in the back row and the "libero" is also present, then

there is only one player that can be used in attack. b. Do you only bring a "libero" player into the match when your team is serving or

if you are receiving? § This would allow you to have an extra attacker for one of the situations -

perhaps this will become part of the tactics; i.e. one time a back row attacker and one time a receiver or defensive "libero".

2. USE OF THE STARTER WHEN CHANGED FOR THE "LIBERO" PLAYER This is a new development for the player who has always started. Now we are saying that this player is not as good as another player, in the back row. The player who is substituted by the Libero in the backcourt may feel lost, left out, only a "half-player", etc. How do we get help the player who is being taken out to rationalize what is happening? Solutions:

i. More individual talks, think positive about the role this player has on the offensive result of the team.

ii. More time for offensive development for this player. Better offensive refinement? iii. Must play defense after they serve and until the other team gets the ball back -

make it a challenge to stay as long as possible. iv. What is the number of jumps that we will want this front row player to do during a

training session? v. Will it mean that we should have to have more specialized training for our team? vi. Will there be more than one player that the "libero" will be used for. vii. What is the composition of the team? Should there be two "libero" players, one for

starting six and one for second six?

3. GENERAL TRAINING OF THE TEAM Does training change or are we doing much of the same thing. Mistakes are important now - each mistake costs a point. Questions:

a. How do we handle the mistake aspect? b. Is training any different than before? c. Should training be done with a higher intensity than before? d. Should drills be changed more often?

To me I don't see a lot of training differences. Even under the side-out system we do not want to have mistakes. Maybe it was a luxury and we found that we could make a mistake when we were serving - or is this where we taught the players that this was the time to take chances? What I see is maybe the need for BETTER practices where every ball is important (i.e. no time off from the players). Planning of your training will have to be very precise and exact. To me it is just longer 5th games except that you start at 0-0 in Game 1. The things I have worked on and talked to with my players is the necessity to be mentally pumped to play right away.

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Question: a. How do you teach your players to be ready to start immediately?

Since the points are scored from serve receive (same as before) will the service reception to attack phase of the game be more important than other aspects? Since the serving team will not want to make mistakes then they will give easier serves, therefore, the first chance we have to score will be from serve receive to attack. Should not we try to end it right there? However, before when we were serving, even if we gave an easy serve we new we still had our counter attack (defense to attack) to try and score or we did not dig the ball all we lost was the side-out. We then continue to get the next side-out and then waited until our opponent had a mistake or did not execute properly and we tried to take advantage of this to score our point. Patience was important. Question:

a. Will patience still be important?

Serve Receive to Attack UBC versus Alberta (Feb 26, 1999)

UBC Alberta

Set Win Outright Win Rally Lose Win Outright Win Rally Lose

1 17 (5) 5 12 15 (4) 8 13

2 14 (7) 10 17 19 (7) 6 10

3 13 (1) 4 8 10 (1) 9 15

Total: 44 19 37 44 23 38

44% 19% 37% 42% 22% 36%

Total Win % from SR = 63% Total Win % from SR = 64%

Minus Serve Mistakes by opponents = 50% = 52%

Some of Win Rally were won because of mistakes by opponent's so the realistic figure is probably closer to 40% of the time either team actually won the ball back to serve when they were receiving? Question:

a. Should this statistic be improved? Should it be the focal point. The goal internationally was to score 60-75% of the time from Serve Receive under the old system. At younger levels there is even a lower score. Therefore, if we spend more time on this will our results improve?

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Question:

a. Will teams think that defense to attack will be more important? Brian Watson's thoughts" "On changes in my training I have found very little difference, I have a young team with two vet's and we have been training very hard on skills and defense (doesn't sound any different does it). The Germans have the advantage that they are very tall and on attack very aggressive but they are prone to 2 or 3 errors in a row and that I have been trying to change them out of. I refuse to let them bang away when they have no chance to score and instead I have tried to get them to be tactical, keep it in play, and play block and defense and in the CEV we have been quite successful. 4. LENGTH OF THE MATCH AND THERFORE, THE LENGTH OF TRAINING Before, under the side-out system we were playing matches that lasted 2 hours (for women) and 3 hours (for men). Now we have the match over in one hour to one hour and 30 minutes. Will this help to excite the spectators for our matches? Our training for this was around 2 hours at the University level to 3 hours per session at the International Level. Note: Brian Watson's team in Germany played in a Christmas tournament in Holland and the statistics showed the average match length to be 70 minutes. They also played two technical timeouts and one coach controlled timeout in this tournament. Listed below is an example taken from a match just recently. It brings out the vast changes between the old system and the new system. Just a reminder that this was just 3 sets and the final match was 3-1.

New Scoring System Vs Old Scoring System UBC Vs U of A Women (Feb 26, 1999)

Set Length of Set

New Score Old Score Time Final Score

1 23 min 25-21 9-7 43 min 15-13

2 17 min 25-17 9-5 33 min 15-10

3 21 min 25-19 8-6 30 min 15-7 Score was 2-1 at this point. Total:1 hours 1 min - old system took1hr 43 min You have less time to play and therefore, you have to be ready to play. Question:

1. Does this mean that if you get a bad start that you will forget about this game and save it for the next?

Since the match is shorter you probably will have to remain very focused for the whole game. Question:

a. How do you remain focused all the time even if the matches are shorter? b. Will length of practice/training change? c.

Watson : "As for practice hours I don't see a decrease. We normally practice 25 hours a week and play one match and that hasn't changed. I will sometimes structure very intense practices especially on team things and go for 2 1/2 instead of 3 hours. However since the key is basic skills, balance and movement we spend even more time on it.

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5. RHYTHM OF THE MATCH Are comebacks possible? Watson said that an interesting aspect was that the team that reached 16 points first won 91.5% of the games, in the Dutch tournament. What do you do to prevent the spread of the score? Use of substitutions, and your time-out/s become very important. It seems that if a 4 or 5 point spread occurs then there is a danger of losing contact with the other side and coming back is out of the question. Question:

a. Does this mean in training that we cannot allow two mistakes in a row of any offensive skill?

b. How do we teach players to be aggressive? c. Should drills always have a score being used? d. Should drills stop if one team gets 5 points ahead?

Brian Watson said: "As for how to take chances, they go down as you MUST keep your team rhythm. I have 5 spike servers but the rules are don't miss two serves in a row (teammate to team mate) and also for the individual. If you (+team) have scored two points you cannot miss your serve and after a timeout. Of course we don't do that but we do try and it seems to help focus the team. I think it is better to give the ball to the other team then to make a mistake and let them come to you or make a mistake. However if you can score you must go for it." Question:

1. How do you use time outs during a match?

Watson: "Whether I have one or two timeouts I have found that I use them early as you cannot afford to fall too far behind especially if you are playing a good side out team. Forget about saving a timeout for 22-22 unless it is totally equal all the way throughout. 6. MISCELLANEOUS RULE CHANGES

1. One Attempt Per Serve Rule Watson: "We have already adopted the one attempt per serve rule but since most players play beach it seems to have no effect at all."

2. Time Outs Watson: "In the first round of the CEV we played two technical time-outs and one for the coach and then they changed it back to two time-outs. The technical timeouts will only be used if there is TV and they are one minute long which is strange to have to stand and wait." Note: for international competition the FIVB says they should be 90 sec. long.

3. Officiating Another big problem could be mistakes by the officials. All officials make mistakes even the real good ones and now their mistakes are not just a point or a side out they now cost 2 points if the game is 23-23 and they make a mistake you may not be able to recover. NOTE for sure I am not going to blame an official but I have talked to about 10 FIVB very good international officials and they are very concerned about the increased amount of pressure on them. Question:

1. Do more replays become the norm?(Officials trying to let the players win or lose on their own)

2. How does this affect a new local official in Alberta or Manitoba? 3. Additional Rule Changes or Hybrid Versions of the Rules

This is the danger in where the rules are heading at this time. Different levels, different leagues, different rules for sexes, etc may come about. The other rumor in Europe is that this system will only be used till Sydney and they will change it again. Lots of complaints in Europe. In Greece they give two points for an ace in the new system to make teams go for it. Denmark has come up with and playing with a totally different system but it is rally point in nature.

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CONCLUSION: WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BECOME SUCCESSFUL? With my limited experience in this concept it seems to me that if you want to be successful you HAVE to have very good basic skills that you can do again and again and again. You have to learn to concentrate, focus on the task at hand, use tactics during the match to perfection, etc. During the last quadrennial the Domestic Committee has put forward the concept of learning skills in the game context itself. It seems that the new rules will rely heavily on this type of training. For me there are three important general concepts that should be followed in training. They are :

q The use of balls for warm up q The use of Ball Control Drills q The use of Drills that increase intensity during training i.e. "wash type drills"

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Finding a Balance Between Repetition and Game Like Training - Laurie Eisler, 1999

Introduction Over the past five years or so, we have heard a lot about the need in Canada to do more of our training in game like situations. It has been recognized that while our players may be able to perform their skills reasonably well, they are not able to make sound tactical decisions due to a lack of opportunities to practise in situations that replicate competition. While repetition is recognized as a critical requirement for skill acquisition, with our extremely limited training time, it can become difficult to find the time to develop players technically and tactically. In my opinion, one of the greatest challenges coaches encounter is to find the right mix for their particular coaching context. I have found that many players come to our program with a pretty solid repertoire of technical skills in controlled situations. In other words, if the speed of play is slow or if they know where the ball will travel, they do a decent job of controlling their contact. However, in situations when speed is increased and the unpredictable occurs, we see a significant drop in their ability to control the ball. I think this is due to a number of factors, one of which is experience. Our players simply have not touched the ball enough. Secondly, the game situations they face in training are not at the same tempo or difficulty that they face in competition. The good news is because the players have a good skill base, it doesn’t take terribly long to enhance the ball control; but it does take attention especially at the onset of the season. It isn’t enough to simply play more 6 on 6. There aren’t enough chances for each player to touch the ball. Rather, the challenge we face is to create drills that replicate as much as possible game situations (including the stress / pressure they face) but at the same time maximize individual contacts. In this presentation, I will share with you some of the modifications that we have made to our training over the past few years. These modifications have been driven by a perceived need to:

a. Increase every player’s opportunity to touch the ball therefore improving overall ball control

b. Increase the volume of training in game like situations thereby improving player’s abilities to respond to the demands of competition.

I will present some ideas with regards to Warm-Up, Physical Training, and Ball Control Drills

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Warm Up We used to spend as much as 20 minutes of practice without any contacts of the ball. This may not be a big deal if we have a 3 hour practice, but when we are limited to only 2 hours, there just isn’t enough time left to accomplish what we need to do. So the days of tag and soccer are over! We no go directly into ball handling drills. Obviously the initial pace is quite slow to allow them to warm up. We also gradually increase our demand for technical proficiency until they are adequately warmed up. The first part consists of shuttles wherein each player will touch the ball at least 40 times(20 overhead and 20 forearm). At this point they should have raised their body temperature at least 2 degrees (they’ve broken a sweat) and they spend some time stretching. This is then followed by more drills which still have the primary objective of warm-up but also become more and more game like and rigorous. Now, rather than just starting to touch the ball 20 minutes into practice that may have touched the ball as much as 60-70 times.

i. Shuttle Drills a. Tosses, Overhead Pass, Forearm Pass

X X -----------------à X

ii. Triangle Drills a. Tosses, Overhead Pass, Forearm Pass

X | X X X | - Rotate Counter Clockwise X | |

iii. Dig / Set Drills a. Variations of Pepper – Dig, Set, Hit b. 3 - person, Over the Net, Etc.

X X

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Physical Training Another significant change we have made is to incorporate the ball into our physical training, specifically in anaerobic and circuit training. In the past our physical training was very removed from the demands of the game. We did sprints for anaerobic training and various circuit exercises that could have been designed for an athlete of any sport. By using drills that require the ball, again we are increasing the opportunities to touch the ball as well as making the training more specific to the demands of the sport. ( Smart Muscles) Drills and Exercises:

H. Serve and Run. I. Block and pass. J. Triangle Drill. K. V-sit volley. L. Lateral movement over bench with forearm pass. M. Blocking with tubing.

Ball Control Drills We will demonstrate many of our favourite ball control drills. As I have mentioned, the challenge is to find the balance between maximizing repetitions and creating game like situations. I find while doing these types of drills, many players tend to disregard the technical component of the skill and often become overly concerned with the tactical application. It is then the coach’s role to bring the attention back to the technical where necessary since the goal of these drills is to improve their control of the ball. Drills in 2’s

A. Pass, Set, , Volley/Tip/Hit to partner q Use two balls q Go over net, add jump on 3rd contact q Use two contacts only q Hit line, hit angle q Add block, tip over block

Ø Make sure it is shallow Ø Get low for more time

q One arm / hand contacts Ø To avoid whacking the ball in matches

Drills in 3’s q 3 person pepper variations q Oversets to standing topspin q Pass, Set, Tip/Hit/3m over net; setter goes under net.

Drills in 4’s q Player controlled Kajema q 2 vs 2 pass, set, tip /hit/3m ; add block; rotate etc.

Others: q 3 on 3 full crt., 3m or 2m attack, add setter. q Left side vs left side 5 ball drill; same with right side q 5 person Kajima with live hitters q 4 on 4 rotation drill q 5 on 5 continuous

o Ball into side that made mistake

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The Use of “Control” and “Wash” Drills to Teach Technical Skills in Volleyball - Lorne Sawula, 1999

Introduction Learning skill through playing is a new development that needs further clarification for coaches who are using this new style to develop their players. The style of learning technique has changed to where it is proposed to learn the game of volleyball through the use of “game-like” drills. Theses drills are personified in “wash” drills or drills that overload the athletes and increase the intensity of the drill itself. The difficulty for most coaches is to teach technical skill within the context of the “game-like” drills. It is still hard to leave the comfortable method of teaching skills that we are used to, that of “repetition” and “part-whole” methods of teaching. Research shows that repetition is good at helping learn a skill but is no good at putting the skill into the game. The “part-to-whole” method is still taught and is useful, if not overused. This technique is the breaking down of the skills into progressive parts, thus teaching the whole skill to the athlete. However, if game-like drills are used; the teaching almost becomes whole-‘part-whole’. The part aspect is usually the skill correction done through some kind of repetition drills. Learning technical skills are best taught in a “random” sequence rather than in a “block” manner. However, the mixture of random and block can be the secret ingredient. “Random” drills are those that link more than one skill together at one time, ie. Dig-set-attack, sett-attack-cover, etc. “Block” drills are those that teach one skill at a time and involve repetition, sometimes over and over until perfection occurs. In many cases, the only relief of boredom is the change to learn another skill. The result is that perfection in “that skill” does occur but within that context only, the linking of the skill and its tactical use of the skill in the game suffers in the long run. “Random” drills seem to be the method to bring learning of the skill into the “automated stage” within the game structure and thus allow the movements and potential solutions to be more automatic and progressive. The game of volleyball is “random” in nature and teams seem to improve if they are taught skill through the cyclical actions of the game itself.

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The “cyclic” nature of the game means that the content of the game follows predetermined patterns or routes. As a result players can be taught what to do once the cycles occur in different parts of the game. However, the game is made more complex because volleyball is a game of “situations”. The situations may look very similar yet they are totally different. Yet those situations that are eventually the same occur over and over again on the court. Therefore, the players once taught the skill foundations on how to do the skill could then apply certain principles to try and determine what the opponents may do with the ball. The use of perception skills or the intake and processing of “visual” cues is very important in volleyball. We do much of this naturally on the court but we do not really know how to operationally teach this to younger players on a consistent basis. The foundation needed for volleyball is the elementary technical execution of the skill. This is very important because once the player becomes comfortable in executing the skil he/she can now concentrate on learning the necessary visual cues which are analyzed in an instant on the court. Next they need to know how to apply the elementary skill to the game situation – this becomes the tactical part. The tactics are the “Why” and the techniques are the “How”. The tactics have to be taught very soon after the skill foundation is learned. Tactics go even further and become part of an eventual game plan for the match itself. Yet, the game plan can only provide the structure for a particular match. The reactions learned by a player through skill training have to become assessable in an instant on the court and it is the application of these skill tactics that will adapt to the changes and flows of the match. As already mentioned, volleyball is cyclical in nature there are many situations on the court that occur again and again. The complete volleyball player must be trained to react to these situations by using visual skills that are adaptable for volleyball. These visual skills are also fundamental in nature and once learned for one skill are transferable to the other situations and cyclic patterns that occur before or right after it in the cyclic patterns that happens in the game itself. As a player progresses the skill foundation continues to be refined – what is done at first is eventually simplified. Top level international volleyball skills look totally different from what is taught to younger players, yet each top international player has gone through the beginning process to learn the skill. As they progress they adapt to the speed of the ball, anticipate their movements, react in a certain way and automacize the skills so that in the game they react to the situation with the proper response. This is their experience coming into the game. However, even experience can occur in a smaller time frame if the basic fundamentals have been taught well. The experienced players seem to avoid the syndrome of “Analysis to Paralysis”. This syndrome makes them appear to be thinking very slowly or going through a mental checklist before making the response. Usually the response is too late to react to the stimulus. The experienced players seem to have learned “ Match Automatization”.

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To learn properly it is important for your mind to have a “picture” or a “visual image” of the WHOLE SKILL in action. Then you have a “goal” and know what the outcome is to be. The tool to exploit the “picture” is referred to as “imagery” or “visualization”. Visualization becomes an important tool that we all use from time to time. For example we use it when we daydream during the day , at night when we dream. Practice of visualization will give you an opportunity to learn new skills quicker and change or correct old incorrect skills. Visualization is closing your eyes and seeing yourself do something in slow motion, like on a videotape. However, you always want to see yourself do something with a positive outcome. Eventually all the senses: sight, sound, touch, taste, etc. come into being when you visualize properly. The speed of the skill is like watching it in slow motion. The outcome is also important because it teaches you to have confidence in yourself and to have a feeling of worth and accomplishment. This is what we try to adapt to the teaching of volleyball skills. Once the whole concept is known then it becomes the coach’s job to teach the technical element to the player iso the player is able to do the skill. In order to do this in an efficient manner it is important to use the “ Whole-Part-Whole” approach. This means once there is a mental image of what has to be done, then you want to break the skill down into a progression of parts and then build it up again to create the whole picture:

1. Visualize and See Skill in Action. 2. Practice the Skill 3. Confirm What is Correct and Identify What is Wrong 4. Correct and Repeat

Try to remain fairly positive throughout this whole experience. In volleyball we become easily concerned with the negative parts of the game i.e. skill and tactical correction. Sometimes we dwell too much on this aspect and our teaching is considered negative because we forget what we do well. In essence it is like trying to build a car – you need a lot of small parts that do not look like a car to build a car. Eventually, you put all those parts together, correctly, and it becomes a car. This car is adequate but may not attract attention. If we add nice coloured paint, stripes and a stereo we have more people that would buy the car. Athletes are very similar and usually react to positive reinforcement. This does not mean that we shy away from negative reinforcement but it should be used like cough syrup and utilized at the right time and sparingly. After a while we must break the skill down again, perhaps in a different way this time to teach the same thing. This method is called “ Chaining”. In chaining the athlete learns a part of the skill in the correct sequence in which it is performed in the game. “Chaining” can be taught to the athlete from the beginning or forward part of the action (ie. Starting position, approach, takeoff, etc.), or from the end or backward part of the action (ie. Landing, contact, takeoff, etc). Both work well in teaching volleyball skills. Eventually you have to have a solid base from which to work. When the skill becomes more automatic and looks like the picture you have been shown or have in your mind – you can now ask for the picture to be shown at normal speed, instead of in slow motion. Now we can make the situation more difficult or add more “cyclic phases” to the skill. You no longer worry as much about the foundation of the skill but you worry about “ how the skill is being used in the game. This becomes the tactical usage of the skill through all the “cyclical” situations in that occur in the match. At first the “cyclic”

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situations are those that occur on your side of the net. Then they become the “tactical situation” that you use according to the various cues that are presented by your opponents (i.e. defensive movement for team defence, attack tendencies, etc.) You then want to use the skill correctly according to the situations that occur in the match itself. This is the third element that has to be taught. The secret is to teach this so the technical elements, the situational elements and the tactical elements, eventually, blend themselves together. Throughout, you want to always go from the whole concept of teaching and then break it into parts so you can progress through in order to master the use, correctly in the match itself. One last point is to emphasize is that all drills should be very specific to the game of volleyball and particularly your own team. Each drill should be one of the pieces that fits into your team’s development. The drill should reflect the game situation – i.e. cyclic pattern, your offense, your defence, tactics, intensity, pressure and stress. Finally you will have the match automatization needed by the player. This does not mean that a coach should just throw a ball out and have the players start learning by “playing a game”. It also does not mean “coach oriented skills” are not to be used in teaching. “Player centered” drills are important for the learning of tactical game play. Some “coach oriented” drills have a purpose in building the foundation for development until the players can take over and continue their education. However, in the end getting the drills to be as game like as possible and eventually, player centered is part of the solution to having better player and thus better team. Experience tells a coach when it is time to slow things down and do drills that are of a repetition quality and when to speed things up by linking the skills together. Learning team play is the linking of the individual skills in a game situation. “WASH” drills are used to develop these skills. However, as a preliminary step “ control” drills are very important for the learning the automatic decision making process that is needed in the volleyball game. General the intensity of “wash” drills is more intense than the intensity of “control” drills. However, in the initial stages athletes will find that control drills are very intense and the intensity varies as the learning stage progresses. For now it is best to talk about two stages of development. This first is low intensity drills that involve cooperation and ball control. The second is high intensity drills that involves more than one ball having to be scored before a positive outcome can be recorded. With the new scoring system coming into play, the lack of mistakes, keeping the ball alive but still making it difficult for your opponent are the keys to having success. It is the intention of this paper to give examples of both elements and show how they can reflect in positive experiences for volleyball athletes. The drills used to give examples of control and game like actions are my own but any coach can let their mind give them potential solutions and thus develop their own drills.

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Use of Warm Up to Teach Ball Control Try to think how you can use balls during the warm up. Physical warm up by itself may have some role in the early part of the season but you can still do many activities using the ball, especially if the time is short. This is the beginning use of “control drills” in training. Additionally, it is important to have more than one net set up, at least for the 1st half of practice. This will allow for more touches for each player as they go through skill learning. It is best to think of your training to commence with some kind of warm up activity that uses a ball. The author will suggest a few drills that can begin to show how this concept can be taught to athletes:

1. 3’s – 20 contacts for each person while running and switching position, both overhand and forearm passes. (Shuttles)

2. 20’s again but they throw the ball instead of passing( warming up for attack), bounce the ball after hitting it (working on opening the hand, etc. warming up the shoulder, etc.), spin the ball to the partner; running pepper, pepper with 3’s(one setter and two attackers & receivers), etc.

3. Bring in whole team and use the whole group to have to receive, set and catch a ball. Each time they follow the ball and bring it to the coach / player at either end.

4. Play small games with ball: a. Within 3m zone, two players on a side. Object is to dig set and push or

throw ball down to opponents side. Have 8 players on a court, each using one half the court, inside the 3m zone.(move an antenna, if necessary to mark court boundary)

b. One vs. One, on a small part of the court, within the 3m zone but the whole length of the court, and each player has to dig set and attack ball themselves. Six players can make up the action on the court, each in their own area.

c. Three players; one acts as setter who always gives the ball to the player who digs the ball. The two players who are digging and attacking the ball are around 6m apart. After a certain number of contacts the players switch positions. Variation: Setter can set any of the two players without alternating.

d. 3 Meter Zone One Bounce Volleyball – Use the net and the 3m lines as boundaries. Each person can let the ball bounce once if needed. Game starts with an underhand or tip serve. Usually 1 v 1 but it can be played with more athletes.

e. Touch Top of the Net – players select small part of the court, about 1/3 of previous width court but still using the 3m line. Game to three. Volley the ball back and forth trying to hit the top of the net and fall over to your opponent’s side. If you do not put the ball over the net then you begin play by throwing the ball over the net to your partner who volleys the ball back after the bounce. If you make a mistake you do not drop below zero. If your partners ball hits the top of the net and falls on your side then you must play the ball immediately after it drops.

f. One Bounce Basketball- Use hoop and back board. Similar to a game of 21. Game starts with volley shot from basketball free throw area; points are awarded as follows: 1 pt for volley shot;2 pts if put in during rally;3 pts for back set and 4pts for underhand pass. Player does not have to

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shoot if partner does not touch rim or backboard. Playe4r then shoots a volley shot if they decide not to play the ball. Game to 15 must win by 2. Players alternate volley shot unless the ball does not hit the rim or backboard. The ball does not have to hit the floor although 1 bounce is allowed.

After about 10 minutes, or until there are beads of sweat on the foreheads of the players, allow them to stretch out for about 5 minutes, after that if you may move right into some drill that is part of the objective of the practice. After stretching it is allowable to allow the players to hit a ball against the wall, or to play pepper, or to hold some type of coach - oriented drill against diggers. However, this is not really game like action since the trajectories and distance are probably not the same as in a game. This does not have to be done every day and is better done when you want more intensive loading for your training session.

Low Intensity Cooperative Drills

Principles to Follow: 1. Use two nets for drill work, so that all players are involved. 2. Try to feed ball immediately back into drill if players lose control. Coaches should

walk around carrying balls 3. Allowing the ball to bounce is a way of slowing the game down for new players. 4. Feedback is continual, as the coach walks around, sometimes stopping the drill

to make a correction. If it is a major correction, for all players, then everyone is asked to stop.

5. Each drill has many skills with parts of cyclic nature of the game being emphasized during training.

6. Do not be afraid to have players close to each other, this teaches control and allows players to react to each other.

7. Drills can be done for time, rallies over net, quantity of repetition, etc 8. Winners and losers still can be involved in the outcome, if it is side vs. side.

Whichever side makes error loses a point, etc. 9. Finally, the intensity can also pick up as the drills develop into wash variety drills. 10. Once coach starts action, the coach immediately gets out of the way. Drill Examples: 1. 3 Player Drills One in back court, one at net, one on other side of net, two balls. Player at net and player on other side have balls. The objective of drill is for all players to show control and cooperation.

- Purpose is to ask players to learn control by doing simple repetitions such as: i. Throw ball to other side (line to line), player receives by underhand pass

and gives ball high to person at net. Person at net bounces ball to thrower and proceeds to catch ball passed by the back court receiver.

N.B. It is not unusual to put 3 groups on one court. This teaches control and communication. The middle group should be opposite the two outside groups.

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Variation: Bounce ball to receiver, spin ball to receiver, float ball to receiver, etc.

ii. Variation #1 After player receives ball they must move in and tip the ball over the net, set by the player at the net. The person on other side of net digs ball , then catches and repeats the sequence. #2 – Players switch each time, i.e. after tip, the player who tips the ball goes to other side of net to take the ball dug by the player on other side of the court. The player digging the ball becomes the new setter, the other setter now becomes the receiver; and so on…

N.B. The coach has balls to bounce to players if they cannot keep control. Or sometimes do not give balls and it may cause players to learn to try and keep control. Coach can also give feedback during the drill about skill reminders, etc.

iii. Variation: Player now attacks ball to the defender on the other side of the net who digs the ball. Players switch. #2 After the player who digs the ball tries to attack the ball to the other side. The person who originally attacked the ball sets the ball. The 1st setter has now moved to the back part of the court and is prepared to dig the ball. The attacker moves under to set and the player who had set the ball has moved to the back court to be ready for next attack.

iv. Same drill but one vs one with one setter moving under the net to set for both teams.

v. Variation: Try #4 and #5 going diagonally over net. Even with two groups of players sharing one net.

vi. Same drill but player who is digging the attack moves early to the front of the court or to the back of the court. The player attacking must tip (if defender is deep on the court) or hit deep(if the player is in the 3m zone). Drill can be done with a number of repetitions for each player or with a switch each time.

2. Groups of 3 Working Against / With Each Other i. Same (line to line) as before but with players putting in the ball with

an easy throw or underhand serve. The sequence of dig , set, spike(with control) occurs on both sides who try to get a consecutive number of reps without mistakes. Players in the back row play 5 and 6/1 and 6. After the goal is achieved changed sides and repeat.

ii. Variation: Players change positions on their side of net each time the ball goes over the net.

iii. Same drill but diagonal with one playing 4 and 5 and the other the same

iv. Variation: Players at the net must block.

3. Groups of 3 but with 6 vs. 6 i. Drill can depend upon the number of player you have 9/12/15 N.B. Works best in threes but you can play 2 vs. 2 on a smaller court

ii. King / Queen of the Court Players can only score points when they are in the right hand court. Service can be made on the coaches whistle, either by the team coming on the court or by the team that is next in line to come on the court. If

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the serving team misses then they do not get a chance to enter the court and must go back behind the other players. If you win the rally when you are on the court you either stay on the King’s Side and win a point or change to the Kings side. Points can only be earned when you are on the king’s side. Periodically, stop the game and have each team call out their points. The first team to score 15 points and win by 2 wins the set. When coaching female it may be advantageous to use “ QUEEN’S” Court.

iii. Team Play “ WILD THREE”S” Players are in groups of 3’s, in their specialized positions if needed. Each group competes against the other with points being scored when the selected court wins the rally. If side ‘A’ is the point scorer then points can only be scored on that side of the court. If side ‘A’ loses the ball then the back court team leaves and goes to the other side to get ready to come into the court. The team that was in the front row of side A moves to the back court. The team on the other side , at the net, moves under the net and into the front court. If side B makes mistake then the group in the front zone leaves the court and the group in the back court moves into the front zone.. Set a goal for points and stop every now and then to see where each team is at. N.B. It can start as cooperative but as you move to team drills they should become more competitive and therefore have as the goal to ”KILL” the ball. Sometimes it is a bit of both, i.e. ball must stay alive for two time across the net, then you can try to “kill” the ball. Coach starts the rallies by putting the ball into one side or the other.

iv. Variation of “ ii ” –Two groups of 6 but with only three on court at once. If one group of 3 loses they switch with the other three players on their team. No tipping within the 3m zone. Blocking is optional depending upon the purpose of the drill. Game to 15.Player off the court serve and rotate to ensure that all players serve. Both groups on the same side total points that they score. Game is to 15 pts. Winning side gets to serve.

v. 3 vs. 3 game (similar to the ones above) but there is one setter who crosses under net to set for both sides.

vi. Diggers in #4 and #5 with a setter on each side. Object is to keep the ball alive by continually digging and hitting the ball in cross court direction.

vii. Diggers on one side in #1 and #6 and on the other side diggers are in #5 and #6 Setters on each side. Balls are attacked line to line. NOTE: Coach can put in 2nd ball if rally ends. Objective is to get a certain number of rallies without a mistake.

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Methods to introduce Technical Learning and Repetitions

Coach Oriented Progressions i. Ball goes to one side; players must use a high set to #4 to start off drill,

then other side must either set high ball to #2 or #4 position, continue if cooperation. (Coach can toss directly to player or eventually use setter or passer to start drill).

ii. Change sets . i.e. start to position #2, then other side must set middle, etc.

iii. Add where the ball is to go, and what action should occur i.e. tip, deep line, deep x-court, spin, etc.

iv. As team advance then move to actions like ball goes to #6 when the other side leaves a hole in the block. This teaches person in#6 position what to do.

v. Coach moves in to begin the action with other side in a particular defensive system. Then ball is recovered and brought back into a certain kind of attack, etc.

vi. Coach can attack or tip the ball back on the same side that the hitting is occurring from.

vii. Coach moves through all front row positions i.e. one block, two block, middle and left side, middle and right side, three block situations

viii. Coach starts it out with a defensive action to a player; i.e. low ball to line digger, cross court dig between two players, look to hit but drop ball back to other side who is getting ready for defence, etc.

ix. Same as drill but now players are in teams of 6 vs. 6 and not 3’s. Other Variations Which Include Starting Play by:

i. Tossing the ball to one side, which gives free ball to other side. ii. Tossing the ball out of court, which is the 1st contact, the 2nd contact

results in a set and, most likely a high attack. iii. Toss a ball on the net so players joust.

Player Oriented Progressions:

i. Coach gives second ball to a player on the court to assist in the action( rather than coming from the coach to the action point)

ii. Players start off drill with serve and thus we move into the next segment of this paper, “WASH DRILLS”

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High Intensity Wash Drills General Principles to Follow:

1. Wash drills usually involve the winning of two or more balls (which increases the intensity and goals of the drill) in a manner that is used in a game situation(6v6). Also not that wash drills can also be used in a situations where there are fewer players and one phase of the cyclic pattern of volleyball is emphasized. A “wash” means that no points are scored. Ideally, each side has to score at least two balls in a row to score a “big” point.

2. Usually, in order to be successful, the athletes have to perform more than one task in order to be successful. If they only achieve one part but lose the second then there is a “ wash” or one where no point is given.

3. The drills are usually 3 to 5 points games that involve an outcome. In some cases the score can be at 10-10 or give the second team a lead, etc. If one manipulates the scoring system then one can equalize the teams involved, even if it is 1st six vs. 2nd six.

4. Volume or number of contacts is dramatically increased compared to a traditional game. As the new system comes into place(RALLY POINT GAMES), players have to learn quickly, that a mistake can occur but there cannot be two in a row.

5. Wash drills aid in the emphasis of this concept in the game of volleyball.

6. Athletes should assist in keeping the score, aids in communication and awareness of the importance of the situation in the game.

7. Intensity is greatly increased and number of contacts or repetitions are usually 3 times as great as during the same rally situation in a game.

8. Skill learning and technical training can still occur in the “WASH” scenario

1. See section on “King or Queen of the Court” Drill 2. Emphasize important points to the whole group 3. Stop the drill and have a player try a certain skill(up to 5 reps),

then restart the drill with the final attempt. 4. Design your drills to emphasize certain skills(i.e. defensive,

offensive, serve receive to attack, etc.) 5. Give feedback during rallies to players with short descriptive

phrases. During stoppage in rallies give direct input to individuals or to groups. If there are two coaches then each can be in charge of one group.

6. Most drills start by serving from one side and a second ball coming into the court. Decisions as to which side gets the ball depends upon how difficult you wish to make the drill. The second ball comes, usually in a downball situation to one side or another

7. Although many of the drills can be short point games, it sometimes is necessary to design the drills to last 20-30min.

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Examples of Wash Drills: All drills are 6 v 6 or 6 v whatever, if necessary

i. Toss ball into setter on Team B, who runs a pre-designed play. Team A must play defence and win the rally outright. If they win the rally directly they get two points. They need 8 points to rotate. If they do not win the rally directly but either win or lose the ball, one of the sides gets a second ball(decided in advance – either winning or losing). If they lose then there is a wash or no point scored. Situation repeats itself. This is a good drill if you wish your second team to prepare your first team by running opponent plays.

ii. Same drill but Team B starts out with a serve to Team A. Winning team gets the second ball. Score two in a row and get the big point Drill can be changed to have Team A serve to Team B. Depending upon how good your second team is would determine who gets the second ball. Team A needs a certain number before they rotate Variation: Add a third ball and Team A needs to win all three to rotate.

iii. Start play with a ball tossed outside of court to Team A. Winning team gets a second ball and a big point if they win both rallies.

iv. Team A receives a downball, which they must only score with a certain type of attack. If they score with a different attack they must score with a second ball to gain their point.

There are many more types of Wash drills so it is up to the coach to develop them for the situation that they wish to teach

Conclusion Although this paper illustrated many examples of drills that can be used to develop ball control and other examples that teach team play; the purpose is also to show how skill learning and skill correction can occur during the training itself. Putting players into mini-games, which are part of the cyclic nature of the game, allows for greater technical and tactical learning of the game. Good luck with your use of these concepts. ** Thanks to Dean Lowrie, University of Western Ontario and Laurie Eisler, University of Alberta for their input **

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Team Drills to Teach the New Volleyball Rally Point System

- Dr. Lorne Sawula, 2000 This is a continuation of a paper that I did in 1999 called “The Use of “Control” and “Wash” Drills to Teach Technical Skills in Volleyball”. The new point system is very dynamic, quick and unforgiving. Training has to be more game like than ever before. However, this does not negate the case for training sound fundamentals and tactics as written in the past article. I will concentrate here on drills that work for team play, for increasing intensity and for use during the competitive season – mostly they are 6 vs. 6 drills of some sort. The key here is to use variations depending upon the number of players you have on your team. Personally, I like to have more than 12 – the new “Libero” position dictates that at least 13 is good for training and even 14 is advisable. Whenever, you use team defensive and serve receive drills then the use of your “libero” is very important. You cannot just use the libero during the match itself. The training and use of the libero is another paper in itself. - Have end points in mind: i.e. 3-7 point mini games, break and do it again. Length of

game depends upon the drill. - How are you going to use your libero and substitute players in the drill? If you play 3

sets, then it is possible to try some particular situations that might occur during the match.

HIGH INTENSITY DRILLS General Principle to follow:

1. Multiple ball drills usually involve the use of two or more balls (which increases the intensity and goals of the drill) in a manner that is used in a game situation (6 v 6). Also note that multiple ball drills can also be used in a situation where there are fewer players and only one phase of the cyclical pattern of volleyball is emphasized.

2. Usually, in order to succeed, the athletes have to perform more than one task in order to be successful. If they only achieve one part but loses the second then there is a “Wash” or a situation where no points are given.

- Which side gets the ball? What phase of the game do you want them to work on? Serve receive to attack, etc.

- Which side gets the second ball, losing or winning side? If the losing side gets the ball then they can “keep the score close” by winning the next point. You can use the “wash” concept then they have two chances to succeed before they lose a point. If the winning side gets the ball then they can learn to score “when it counts”, winning two in a row. You can also make this more difficult when they get a chance to score the second point they must win it or the other team gets the point automatically(i.e. the never get a chance to wash out the score)

3. I have also found that I use the wash situation only 2 or 3 times in a row before I give the ball to the other side to start the drill again. This causes the players to take “controlled chances” when they have a chance to win that second ball.

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4. The drills are usually 3 to 9 point games that involve an outcome. In some cases the score can be 20-20 or give the second team a lead, etc. If one manipulates the scoring system then one can equalize the teams involved, even if it is first six vs a second six.

5. Volume or number of contact is dramatically increased compared to a traditional game. As the new system comes into place (Rally Point Games), players have to learn, quickly, that a mistake can occur but THERE CANNOT BE TWO IN A ROW.

6. Intensity is greatly increased and number of contacts or repetitions is usually 3 times as great as during the same rally situation in a game. As a result an overload situation occurs.

7. Give feedback during rallies to players with short descriptive phrases. During stoppage in rallies give direct input to individuals or to groups. If there are two coaches then each can be in charge of one group.

- Most drills start by serving from one side and a second ball coming into the court. Decisions as to which side gets the ball depend upon how difficult you wish to make the drill. The second ball comes, usually in a downball situation to one side or another

- Although many of the drills can be short point games, it sometimes is necessary to design the drills to last 20-30min.

8. Athletes should assist in keeping score, aids in communication and awareness of the importance of the situation in the game.

9. I have found that the libero must go in and out of the game (i.e. get warm and cold) so drills of multi-phase design can be useful in this manner.

Examples of Multiple Ball Drills

1. Team Play – “Wild Three’s”

Start: Either back row player serves or coach serves. If coach wants to bring second ball then player’s serve. Coach can decide if the ball goes to the side that scores or to the side that loses the point. Format: Players are in groups of 3’s, six on a side, in their specialized positions. Each group competes against the other with points being scored when the rally ends. To increase the intensity bring in a second ball to either the winning or losing side.(Give it to the second six side if the first six is statistically stronger than the second six. This makes the first six work harder. If played with 3 vs. 3 then no tipping inside the 3m line. Variations:

- You can allow 3 players on the court at once. If one side loses then they switch with the three other players on their side.

- You can also take the setters out of the 3 vs. 3 teams and put one on each side of the net in the front court. They set for the other players who attack with 3m sets. Blocking for the setter is optional depending upon the purpose of the drill.

- 3 vs. 3 game (similar to the ones above) but there is one setter who crosses under the net to set for both side

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2. Serve Receive Drill

Start: Team A serves to Team B, after rally second ball goes to losing side Format: If either team scores on two balls then they win a point and keep the serve. After each point is scored there is a rotation by that team. When two “washes” occur by one side, then the other side gets the ball but no point. Game continues to 7 for the winning team.(7 pts. Usually allows for one rotation of the six players Variations:

- Give the ball to the winning side but they must score to get a point. If they do not score, then they lose the ball and a point off their score. Teams do not drop below ‘0’ in the score.

Drills like this cause players to realize how important each point is.

3. Challenge Drill (+5 or 7 pts) Start: Drill starts with service to one team. Second ball comes to the winning side with a downball. Format: Power vs. Power, Centre vs. Centre, etc. Each team must get to an agreed upon total. The first ball coming off the serve receive must go to the specified hitter (Power, Middle, Rt. Side). Whichever side wins the rally gets the second ball. To score a point the ball must go to the designated hitter. However, sometimes the dig is not good and the ball has to be set to another hitter who can try to score. If the kills occurs then no point is awarded but the team gets receive another serve and start the process over. If another hitter does attack but the ball is dug by the other side and the rally continued, resulting in the ball coming over the net. Now this time the dig is better and the designated hitter can be brought into the scoring attempt. If that position scores then a point is awarded and they get to receive again. (Remember, that two “washes” result in a turnover of serve. The team to get to 5 wins the match. After each point the team can rotate or stay the same. Variations:

- Change the rules to subtract a point from the designated hitter if they make a mistake and the team does not win the second ball.

- Make one player active and this player must stay until they win the designated amount of points.

- Can do the same but only from defence.

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4. Virus Drill (Also see Section on Virus Drills by Larry Mckay) Start: 6 v 6 in defensive positions. go to +5 to 9 points. Coach puts in first ball by throwing it out of court. Losing team gets second ball. Format: A Coach on either side of court if available. Each team has two chances to score a point. Automatically, after two attempts then the other side moves to the virus stage. Goal is to score points by getting two in a row, either when the virus starts on your side or when the virus starts on your side or when the virus starts on the other side. The virus is anything that is weak, Back row attack, tip coverage, attacker coverage, etc. Variation Can only get points when virus starts on own side If you get to last point and you do not score during your chance you can lose one point and have to score twice more before you finish the drill. Shorter games are usually better because each team gets tired and then at the break you can make player changes.

Conclusion The drills used before illustrate how the principles of “multiple ball drills” are used. Coaches can take the basic principles and develop their own variations of the drills to serve their own needs. Remember to create in your drills:

- Competition - Game Situations - Stress by having outcomes - Intensity - Hope and Despair Situations

All these factors are involved in the new concept of volleyball that we play today. It is more dynamic and unforgiving than ever before. Teach your players to stay positive and know that they always have a chance to win.

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Virus Drills - Larry Mckay, 1998

Marv Dunphy and Carl McGown showed virus drills to our coaching staff. Dunphy is currently the head coach of the Pepperdine University men's volleyball team. He was the coach of the USA Men's National Team which captured the gold medal at the 1988 Olympics.

McGown is the head coach of the Brigham Young University men's volleyball team. He has also served as head and assistant coach for the USA Men's National Team on several occasions since the early 1970's.

Virus drills are a way in which volleyball can be taught in a manner most conducive to motor learning scientific principles. The skills are taught using keys in a real game context ie. exactly as they will occur in a game of volleyball. The "virus" is the coach who controls the pace and direction of the ball in the activity.

We use virus drills to teach our athletes how to "read" in a volleyball game. Here's how.

1. We identify what is the best thing for the players to look at. 2. We identify when it would be best to look at it. 3. We assist the player in deciding what action would be best taken to win in that

situation given what they have seen. 4. We assist the player in the technique of executing the skill(s) which will allow

them to "win".

Why Do We Encourage Our Players To Read?

We want our players to become independent, creative and skilled. We want them to be capable of decision-making independently without a coach. We want them to be creative in how they deal with situations that arise in a game and not to feel there is only one solution. We want them to be skilled in their technique of dealing with situations which arise in addition to their skill of reading. An analogy we use is driving a car. If you have your eyes open when driving, you will avoid many accidents which would otherwise occur. If your eyes are focused on potential accident causes like the road, pedestrians, other drivers, signal light changes, etc. you will avoid even more accidents. In volleyball, no player has their eyes shut. We assist the player with what cues to which they should pay close attention to avoid the ball being scored on their side.

How Do We Teach Our Players To Read?

We begin with three players at the net in blocking positions, three in the back row, on the opposing side is a setter, three attackers and a coach. The setter begins the activity by tossing the ball to the coach who forearm passes it back to the setter. The setter sets to an attacker, the point is played out. Simple.

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The coach controls the initial pass to the setter. We first look at what the defending players should be looking at. They should be looking at the passed ball.

Is it an overbump? Can I hit it? Is there a blocker?

HIT IT.

Is the overbump coming towards me in the back row?

MOVE TO IT AND PASS IT.

Is it a perfect pass?

If so and there is an attacker approaching in front of me for a quick set, my hands should remain high, elbows extended. My legs should be slightly flexed and the weight is on the balls of my feet as I prepare to jump as the ball is being set. If there is no quick attacker then my hands can be lower in a position which will allow me to move quickly laterally. If the pass is not perfect, then any quick set to a quick attacker will not require that I sacrifice the ability to move quicker or jump higher that having my hands raised results in.

After evaluating the pass and determining all of the aforementioned, I next focus on the setter as the person sets the ball. Which part of the setter you observe depends on the setter. The ball being released from the setter's hands must be directly focused on in order to see the speed and direction of the set ball. Now initially, you will be observing and learning the setter ie. What the setter looks like when making a backset, a quick set, a high set, etc. Soon, you will be able to tell just prior to the ball being released where the setter is setting to.

If I am playing in the back row, I go through the same process. If the setter is in the front row and dumps the ball over, the back row is just as responsive to it as the front row, all 6 players.

Once the ball is released by the setter, my eyes and focus shift immediately to the attacker. If I watch the ball for too long following the release, I end up moving more slowly than I do if I move my eyes off the ball immediately. Instead, I now look directly at the player who will next play the ball. The one exception to this is if the set ball is on top of the net where I can reach it. Then my eyes remain on the ball and if I am in the front row and it is set in front of me, I play it.

The attacker is now what I am looking at. The attacker will be scrutinized from the approach, the jump and the arm swing. All of these things will give cues as to where the attacker will hit the ball. As a blocker, I will make adjustments in order to stuff or at least touch the spiked ball. As a digger, I will move into the spot I feel the spiker will hit into. As a digger, however, I must be stopped when the spiker hits the ball.

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In the Virus Drill, the coach controls the first contact. The coach can then evaluate and provide feedback to the players as to how they are going through the reading process. The pass is the first element from which everything else is dictated. Therefore, the coach or virus will control exactly what each defender will have to do. For example, a common problem for defenders is watching the ball for too long or at the wrong times. The coach can then bump the first pass up to the ceiling and watch how many of the defenders look at the ball up to the ceiling. The setter on such a pass will probably be forced to set a very high ball to an attacker. The coach can then observe how many defenders watch the set ball for too long before looking at the most important thing which is the attacker.

The Virus Drill works best when there are coaches assigned to watch each defender. Each defender can then be given feedback each time. If extra players are not involved, they can be assigned a player to observe and provide feedback to.

Side out Virus Drills

In these drills, the objective is for the team to become proficient at siding out from increasingly poor passes. The coach can then become the passer and control the quality of the serve reception and the team can get several repetitions at siding out off of poor passes. The team will have to score so many out of so many attempts.

Transition Virus Drills

In these drills, the coach attacks the first ball and in so doing controls somewhat the transitional pass. The objective could be for the receiving team to work on their transition communication and execution. It can also be for the opposing side to work on their ability to stop these kinds of transition attacks.

In all forms of Virus Drills the coach controls the first contact and can evaluate the action taken to overcome that situation. The ball must be completely played out and a score must be kept. We use mainly rally point scoring with occasional bonus point situations for certain other aspects we want to emphasize. There may or may not be consequences or rewards for winning and losing, that depends on your group.

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Strength Training for Volleyball - Melody Torcolacci, 1997

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Mental Training in Volleyball - Dr J.P. Pawliw-Fry, 1997

Outline

A. Does Mental Training Make a Difference? B. Mindfulness & Mental Training

i. The Thinking Mind ii. The Importance of Quieting the Mind iii. The Importance of Awareness – The Practice of Mindfulness iv. The Importance of the Non-Judgemental Mind v. Practice and Impulse Control vi. Empathy / Team Morale vii. Emotional Intelligence

A. Does Mental Training Make a Difference? In a number of case studies of Olympic athlete, Orlick(1986) found that their mental training was a critical component to success. Most athletes believed that the athletes they were competing against were equally physically talented. The only difference was in their consistency of mental preparation and training. Olympic medallists were also better able to cope with distractions and unforeseen events and adhere to their mental preparation plan than non-medallists. Gould, Eklund, and Jackson(1990) Nonmedalists, on the other hand, abandoned competitive plans when under pressure, lost competitive focus, and did not rigorously adhere to the mental preparation plans. Does this sound familiar? In Summary: The most salient difference between medallists and Nonmedalists was the extent

that their coping strategies were practiced and internalizes. B. Mindfulness & Mental Training

1. The Thinking Mind How can you think and hit at the same time?

- Yogi Berra The mind: noisy, anxious, distracted interferes with the nervous systems silent instructions to the muscles. We can view it almost as static in the communication system. Subtle messages get lost. For instance, studies of our mind processes suggests our “thinking” consists of the following: 40% stories 30% memories 12% self-criticism 10% worries about health

92% - the ‘ thinking mind ’

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2. The Importance of Quieting the Mind

The secret is not thinking. That doesn’t mean being stupid; it means quieting the endless jabbering of thoughts so that your body can do instinctively what it’s been trained to do

without the mind getting in the way.

- Phil Jackson, head coach of the NBA Champion Chicago Bulls / Los Angeles Lakers

The capacity to perform at our highest levels is in direct proportion to the stillness in our minds. Consider the following qualities identified in interviews with elite athletes describing their best performances Mentally Relaxed. This was described most frequently as a sense of inner calm. Some athletes also reported a sense of time being slowed down and having a high degree of concentration. By contrast, loss of concentration was associated with a sense of everything happening too fast and being out of control. Focused on the present. A sense of harmony that comes from the body and mind working as one unit. No thoughts of the past or future. The body performs automatically without conscious or deliberate mental effort. Highly Energized. A high energy state frequently described as a feeling of joy, ecstasy, intensity, and being ‘ charged ’ or ‘ hot ’. Extraordinary awareness. A state of mind in which the athletes are acutely aware of their own bodies and of the surrounding athletes. They report an uncanny ability of know what the other athletes are going to do, and they respond accordingly. In the cocoon The feeling of being in an envelop, being completely detached from the external environment and any potential distractions. Also, a sense of complete access to all of one’s powers and skills. Athletes “ in the cocoon ” are able to avoid loss of concentration and accelerated, tight – muscled, out of control feelings.

3. The Importance of Awareness – The Practice of Mindfulness Awareness allows us to understand the terrain of the mind. Through increased awareness, we “ Wake up” to the fact that 92% of our thoughts are illusions – not necessarily a true picture of the world, and more importantly, beyond our control to effect. When we can see the world in this way, we start to understand why it is the thinking mind that sabotages our efforts for success. Awareness maximizes both learning and performance. This only comes however when the mind is calm, clear, and concentrated. When the mind is filled with fear, mistrust of oneself, a ‘ trying too hard’ awareness is interfered with making it impossible to learn and perform at our peak levels. Awareness is the quality that allows us to experience volleyball with all the senses and make subtle and accurate adjustments.

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4. The Importance of the Non – Judgemental Mind Cultivating the non-judgemental mind is a crucial aspect to our training. If we ‘ get stuck’ on concepts of ‘ good and bad’, we lose awareness of the important details and become enmeshed in the mind’s ‘trying too hard’. As Gallwey describes:

Judging oneself is even more devastating to growth than learning from judging one’s performance. When we learn to let go of notions of good and bad, judging each shot and every shot we are more willing to trust our self and hit more freely

This does not mean we become passive and non – discriminating. On the contrary, when we stop being overcautious and over controlled we become more open to experience and to learning real discrimination. However, letting go of judgments is a gradual process, requiring constant practice and reinforcement. We work extensively on commitment to this practice with our athletes. ‘Seeing’ the judgment repeatedly shows athletes how destructive judging can be. 5. The Practice of Mindfulness - We practice to understand the mind and learn to not let it control us. - We practice to cultivate non-judging towards ourselves (for instance, when we

notice our minds have wandered off, we try not to be to hard on ourselves) - We practice so that we can bring more awareness to moments in the competition

and see sooner when our minds have wandered off. - Through practice we learn to ‘let go’ of past events(bad plays etc.) and focus

only on this moment. 6. Practice and Impulse Control Mental training for athletes should also be about learning to improve our abilities to deal with out of competition difficulties and stress. In this way, athletes learn ways to avoid letting emotions throw them off before a match or any other crucial life event (writing exams, public speaking, etc.) The practice teaches us to understand how things come into our mind and then leave. We see that if we can wait long enough, and not become reactive in the middle of ‘an event in our mind’, we can be more in balance and better able to deal with the challenge at hand. This increases impulse control and creates the vital space between stimulus and response, allowing us to be proactive vs. reactive. In this way, we as coaches / mentor can really have a lifelong impact on our athletes. 7. Empathy / Team morale Cultivating empathy and care between teammates is often an overlooked part of mental training. Can it be improved? Absolutely, in fact, it is my view that only through cultivating these qualities can ‘ success ’ be attained. Again there is obvious relevance to everyday lift with this part of mental training.

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8. The Importance of an ‘ Emotional Intelligence ’. New brain imaging technologies have revealed neurological hard wiring that suggests that emotions, as opposed to intellect, play a crucial role in our decision making and coping abilities. In essence, those individuals ho have good emotional intelligence are better equipped to deal with the stressors encountered in school, athletics, and life. The factors constituting this alternative for of intelligence are a constellation of abilities including: impulse control, empathy, persistence, and the ability to motivate oneself. These qualities combine to create a meta-ability, a determining quality of how well we can use whatever other skills we have, including raw intellect. They are skills that allow us to better deal with the vicissitudes of life. Significantly, it now appears that these abilities are a better predictor of individual success in life or ‘ destiny ’ (job satisfaction, status, salary, personal fulfillment, happiness, and health) than the standard IQ. Further, while many argue that IQ is unchangeable over time, emotional competences can be learned and developed at any age. According to Daniel Goldman, PH.D.,

People with well-developed emotional skills are also more likely to be content and effective in their lives, mastering the habits of mind that foster their own productivity; people who cannot marshal some control over their emotional life fight inner battles that sabotage their ability for focused work and clear thought.

Mastering the habits of the mind with an ‘ intelligence ’takes practice. The first and most important step is the cultivation of the mindfulness or “SELF – AWARENESS”

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Mental Skills Workbook The following pages are a compilation of exercises and activities for you and your athletes to help understand mental training and the implications of being mentally tough. It provides you with a framework in order help your athletes work towards elite levels of mental training. The exercises will allow your athletes to explore their current levels of mental ability and decide upon a plan and framework for continued development.

A. Definite Ten’s of Volleyball B. Attitudes that Build Winners C. Preseason Questionnaire D. Self – Awareness in Volleyball E. Goal Setting in Volleyball F. Self – Talk in Volleyball G. Volleyball Imagery H. Ideal Performance States I. Volleyball Mental Toughness Guide

Many of the following exercises have been derived from Dr. John Hogg’s book: Hogg, John (1995), Mental Skills for Swim Coaches. Sport Excel Publishing Edmonton, AB.

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Pre-Season Questionnaire

1. Why did you come out for the team this year? 2. What do you expect to get out of the team this year?

3. What do you expect to have to put into it?

4. What do you like best about volleyball?

5. What do you like least about volleyball?

6. Do you have any specific things that you would like to accomplish this year? In the Long Term?

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7. Is there anything in particular that you find really excites or motivates you to participate? If so, What?

8. Is there anything in particular that you find really gets you down or makes you feel like quitting?

9. Is there anything that coaches / other athletes / other people do that really bugs you?

10. When you played last year, what would you have changed?

11. When you do something really well, how do you like others to respond?

12. When you do something poorly, how do you like others to respond?

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Appendix A ………… Yearly Planning Instrument Appendix B ………… Seasonal Planning Instrument Appendix C ………… Weekly Planning Instrument Appendix D ………… Practice Planning Instrument Appendix E ………… Drill Planning Instrument Appendix F ………… Serve Receive Planning Instrument Appendix G ………… Mental Toughness Guide Appendix H ………… Team Goals Sheet

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References

Anton, Doug. (2001). Training the Outside Attacker, Alberta Volleyball Coaching Symposium.

Boyles, Kevin, (1999), Dino Adaptations to Team Training,

Alberta Volleyball Coaching Symposium Boucher, Julien (1999), Considerations on Serving, www.volleyball.ca Boyles, Kevin. (2000). Training the Middle Attacker,

Alberta Volleyball Coaching Symposium. Coaching Association of Canada (1991),Coaches Manual Level III.

Coaching Association of Canada;Ottawa. Coaching Association of Canada (1989),Coaches Manual Level II.

Coaching Association of Canada; Ottawa. Dyba, Wally. (1997). Basic Team Tactics – Simplified ,

Ontario Volleyball Coaching Symposium. Enns, Frank. (1999), Serving, CIAU Level IV Volleyball Coaching Conference. Eisler, Laurie. (1999). Finding a Balance Between Repetition and Game Like Training

Alberta Volleyball Coaching Symposium. Hogg, John (1995), Mental Skills for Swim Coaches. Sport Excel Publishing

Edmonton, AB.

Hicks, Jody. (2001). University of Calgary Dinos Strength Program University of Calgary. Calgary AB.

Lowrie, Dean (2004), Planning for Success, Ontario Volleyball Coaching Symposium Mckay, Larry. (1998). Virus Drills, http://islandvolleyball.8m.com/ Neville, Bill. (1997). Blocking, Ontario Volleyball Coaching Symposium Pawliw-Fry, J.P. (1997). Mental Training in Volleyball,

Ontario Volleyball Coaching Symposium. Reimer, Doug. (1999). Offensive Tactics in Elite Women’s Volleyball,

CIAU Level IV Volleyball Coaching Conference Reimer, Doug. (1997). Technical and Tactical Approach to Defence,

Ontario Volleyball Coaching Symposium

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Ried, Dustin. (2004). Training the Left and Right Side Hitters.,

Ontario Volleyball Coaching Symposium Ried, Dustin. (2004), Training the Libero, Ontario Volleyball Coaching Symposium. Reimer, Doug. (1997). Training the Setter, Ontario Volleyball Coaching Symposium Sawula, Lorne. (1999). New Rules and How They May Affect Training and Your Team’s

Performance, Alberta Volleyball Coaching Symposium. Sawula, Lorne. (1999). The Use of ‘Control ’ and ‘ Wash ’ Drills to Teach Technical Skills

in Volleyball. Alberta Volleyball Coaching Symposium Sawula, Lorne. (2000). Team Drills to Teach the New Volleyball Rally Point System,

CIAU Level IV Volleyball Coaching Conference. Torcolacci, Melody. (1997). Strength Training for Volleyball,

Ontario Volleyball Coaching Symposium. Volleyball Canada (1997),Coaches Manual Level II. Volleyball Canada; Ottawa. Volleyball Canada (1988),Coaches Manual Level III. Volleyball Canada; Ottawa. Volleyball Canada (1993),Coaches Manual Level IV. Volleyball Canada; Ottawa. Wasilyk, Keith. (2004). Advanced Blocking Systems,

Ontario Volleyball Coaching Symposium. Willis, Brenda, (1997), Error Detection and Correction,

Ontario Volleyball Coaching Symposium Willis, Brenda. (2004). Training the Elite Setter, Ontario Volleyball Coaching Symposium.