coaches handbook

Table of Contents

Daily Handouts

• #1 Suggestions to Lead










• #11Suggestions to Lead

• Important Principles

• Coaching Methods

• Leadership Techniques

• Selling Your Team on Your Vision and Plan

• Conditioning During Practice

• Suggestions Versus Rules

• How to Avoid Grievances

• Planning Meetings

• Advertise Your Identity

• Coach-Player Relationship

• Private and Public Praise

• Everyone Contributes to Success

• Good Clock Management

• My Favorite Coach

• Consequences

• How to Avoid Ruining Players

• The Competitive Cauldron: The Goal is Improvement

• Dear Vocal Coach

• 10 Steps to Improve Your High School Program

• Drills

Forms

• Statistices Sheet

• Scouting Template

Suggestions to lead by 1

Remember That a Great Game in Volleyball Starts with a Great Point.

A well-organized leader has finished his fourth cup of coffee before a poorly organized leader has located the

coffeepot. Your first minutes working with a team can determine your ultimate success. Lead with the certain

knowledge that you don’t have a moment to lose.

Set the Proper Tone with Meticulous Time Management Technique.

A leader who is careless about time sanctions the same attitude throughout the program. Time is about more

than the clock; it is about creating an environment in which discipline and hustle rule over carelessness and a

casual attitude about time.

Document Minutes, Days, Weeks, Months and So On.

In documenting the details of Chaminade practices we can see what worked at precise intervals throughout the

season. Doing this will help us to keep the team moving forward; we learn from incorporating past lessons.

These records are most helpful in showing us how not to waste time. Keep good, meaningful records. Use

them to help find ways to improve.


It All Start with the Little Things.Success begins from the ground up. It never bothered me when people chide me for asking a player to make a 5percent correction in the angle of approach. Make sure your players do the little things correct and understandwhy those things will lead to success.

The Right Rivets Are Essential.There are no big things, just the accumulation of many little things. Remove enough rivets and the wing fallsoff. However, it is up to you, the leader, to identify the correct rivets and determine how much attention eachwill be given. Do this correctly and your team will survive flying through even the most turbulent competitivestorm.

Nourish Talent in an Environment of Perfected Details.Only then will your team achieve consistent success. Remember that talent alone will not suffice. Each year insports we see talented teams – and individuals – fail because of neglected details.

Sloppiness, Breeds Sloppiness.From the first moment or the first day of the Chaminade volleyball season I insist we do things right – notalmost right, but completely right. It’s and attitude, a way of conducting business. A casual approach toexecuting the details of a job ensures the job will be done poorly. And then another job will be done poorly. Itgrows.


The Star of the Team Is the Team

As a leader, you must be consistent and persistent in delivering your “Team First” message. Top performers and

producers must fully comprehend that others in the organization “assist” – make possible—their success.

Individual awards and accolades are fine, but they must never overshadow the program and its primacy. Think

about the stars of every great program and how they put the team’s welfare first.

Insist that Members of Your Team Share Success, Information, Ideas, and More.

The most effective leaders understand the importance of making sure that no member of the team hoards data,

information, ideas, and the like. It is the sharing of ideas and putting them to work that leads to the “best

practice” mindset.

Go Out of Your Way to Praise Those “Quite” Performers Who Make Things Happen.

In every organization there are those vital individuals who seem to get things done with little effort and less

notice. In more cases than not, however, these key players work very hard to achieve what they do. Often their

efforts are not visible to the group. These are the people that make things happen, and they deserve your

attention.


Control Emotion or Emotion Will Control You

Intensity, correctly applied and directed, produces consistent and positive improvement and results.

Uncontrolled emotion or mercurial displays of temperament erode a leader’s stature, lessen respect from others,

and will undermine your team’s efforts. The leader who does not know the difference between intensity and

emotionalism may succeed on occasion, but the success will usually not be repeatable, reliable or ongoing.

Avoid Excess. Shoot for Moderation.

In my opinion, effective leaders understand that moderation and balance are linked to long-term success. Excess

in just about anything has the potential to create erratic performance. Communicate this fact throughout the

ranks, and, of course, don’t forget that your own example is frequently the very best method of communication.

Instill Emotional Discipline.

Much of the overwrought behavior we see in sports today is the result of insufficient discipline. For example, a

football player putting on a big show of celebration after making a tackle when his team is losing 27 to 3 late in

the fourth quarter is demonstrating poor judgment, bad perspective, and lack of emotional

discipline—characteristics I do not associate with success. It is up to you, the leader, to insist that those in the

organization demonstrate the same great emotional control that you have. Do you have it?


Control Emotion or Emotion Will Control You

Intensity, correctly applied and directed, produces consistent and positive improvement and results.

Uncontrolled emotion or mercurial displays of temperament erode a leader’s stature, lessen respect from others,

and will undermine your team’s efforts. The leader who does not know the difference between intensity and

emotionalism may succeed on occasion, but the success will usually not be repeatable, reliable or ongoing.

Avoid Excess. Shoot for Moderation.

In my opinion, effective leaders understand that moderation and balance are linked to long-term success. Excess

in just about anything has the potential to create erratic performance. Communicate this fact throughout the

ranks, and, of course, don’t forget that your own example is frequently the very best method of communication.

Instill Emotional Discipline.

Much of the overwrought behavior we see in sports today is the result of insufficient discipline. For example, a

football player putting on a big show of celebration after making a tackle when his team is losing 34 to 3 late in

the fourth quarter is demonstrating poor judgment, bad perspective, and lack of emotional

discipline—characteristics I do not associate with success. It is up to you, the leader, to insist that those in the

organization demonstrate the same great emotional control that you have. Do you have it?


Pride is easier to instill with the carrot.

The best leaders perhaps understand this fact intuitively. Members of an organization always fearful of penalty

and punishment are at a great disadvantage when competing against a team filled with pride. This become

especially evident over the long haul.

Make sure all praise is genuine and appropriate.

Just as damaging as biting personal criticism is the compliment given but not meant. Your praise will have

impact only to the extent that it is given honestly and in good faith. Anything else is usually perceived as such

and becomes counterproductive.

Do not tolerate internal carping and criticism.

Leaders should be solely responsible for critiquing and criticism members of the team. The purpose of

criticism is to correct, improve and change. It is not to humiliate, demean, or punish. It is a task that requires

great skill and judgment and is best left in the hands of the coaches.

Don’t lock yourself into rigid penalties.

Successful leaders understand that it is important to have options. This allows you to tailor the response to each

situation. Still, when it comes to the most important rules, it is wise to have clearly understood penalties

attached. Common sense, however, must always have a place in your decisions. What is fair is more

important than what is right.


Lead with Love.

Great organizations are marked by extraordinary bonds within, For us, that means exhibiting genuine love for

those in the organization likened to that of a parent and child and/or brother and sister. I put my heart into my

work because that is what I have found the girls respond to best. A good family—whether in sports, life or

business—involves love. (A reminder: It also involves good structure, sensible discipline, and personal

sacrifice).

You Don’t Have to Treat Everyone Alike or Like Everyone the Same.

You may have favorites within your organization, but never replace favoritism with fairness. To be impartial,

give each individual the treatment he or she earns and deserves. Make sure each player knows this philosophy.

Seek Our Opportunities to Show You Care.

The small considerations often mean the most—a genuine expression of interest or concern, a helpful hand,

individual recognition. Girls especially appreciate a thoughtful comment that shows concern for the person

rather than the player. Know about the challenges facing players off the court in their families and in the

classroom.

Know What Time It Is.

With regard to policy, effective leadership recognizes that there is a time to be flexible and a time to be firm.

Recognize the difference between rules that can be waived occasionally and those that go to the core of our

philosophy.


It’s Tough to Coach Character

When parents ask, “Coach, will you be able to teach my child character?” I tell them no. If their child didn’t

have it, I couldn’t give it to them. While you the leader can teach many things, character is not taught easily to

those arriving in our program lacking it. Be cautious about taking on “reclamation projects” regardless of the

talents they may possess. Have the courage to make character count among the qualities you seek in others.

Character Starts with Little Things.

Remember our lists. Chaminade Volleyball is guided by many character related principles. They range from

being punctual to picking up trash before we leave the gym. It can also be something subtler such as how a

coach should talk to a player and how players should communicate with their teammates and the coaching staff.

The important thing is to make it clear to your players what you expect of them and to inform them when you

are disappointed in their behavior when they violate the team’s code, values or standards.

Character Is More Important Than Honesty

An individual can be honest as the day is long and still be short on character. How? He or she can be honest but

selfish, honest but undisciplined, honest but unfair, honest but disrespectful, or honest but lazy. Honesty is a

good place to start, but it doesn’t go to the core of what it means to be a team player. True character is about

selflessness with respect to the team—this goes for both leaders and those on the team.

Beware Those Who’ll Do Whatever It Takes to Win.

Winning at any cost can be very costly—fatal, in fact. A good set of values is part of successful leadership and

great organizations. Be wary of those who will do anything to win. This is not the attitude of a great

competitor, but rather of a competitor who is greatly flawed. Find those who love the battle and play by the

rules.


Condition Your Team to Love the Struggle

The teams that compete at the highest level love the thrill of the contest. They may have winning in their heads,

but they have a love for the effort and struggle in their hearts. A strong leader inspires teams to relish the

competition itself and view the outcome as a by-product—an important by-product, yes, but still a by-product.

Remember That Success Can Take Months—Or Years—to Achieve but Can Be Undone in Minutes

This is why conditioning—physical, mental, and moral—is so important. A leader must impress upon his or her

team the paramount importance of ownership and personal accountability.

Never Allow Anyone Else to Define Your Success.

Only you, the leader can and should define the finish line—Success. Others will attempt to force their

definitions upon you. Don’t allow them to do it. Define it properly, and Success along with Competitive

Greatness will belong to you and your team.

Organizations Succeed When They Become More Than the Sum of Their Players.

That’s one of the real tests of any leader, making the whole more than the sum of the parts. No team will

consistently succeed unless the leader is able to achieve this critical goal.


Leadership Success Begins with a Solid Foundation.

The Pyramid of Success starts with the powerful cornerstone of industriousness. Success requires hard work.

Take away the quality of industriousness and you will fail as a leader. Commit to work hard and stay committed

to working hard until you are able to identify a single great leader who achieved success without it. (You will

not find one.)

There Is No Substitute for Enthusiasm.

A leader needs a fire-in-the-belly drive in order to ignite the team. Few will follow someone who seems to lack

fervor for a challenging job. To spark others to extraordinary performance levels, you need authentic

enthusiasm. It cannot be forced or faked. You must truly welcome—embrace—the trials and tribulations of

competition.

Friendship, Loyalty, and Cooperation Complete the Foundation for leadership.

The best leaders are more interested in finding what’s right than in always being right. They understand

how much more can be accomplished if no one cares who gets credit. The interpersonal characteristics

of Friendship (camaraderie and respect), Loyalty, and Cooperation create the sincere and solid bond

necessary between you and those you lead. These are qualities that must be nurtured in your

organization. Put them in place, and you will have built a foundation that will eventually bring forth

success.


Before You Can Lead Others, You Must Be Able to Lead Yourself.

Define Success for those under your leadership as total commitment and effort to the team’s welfare. Then

show it to yourself with your own effort and performance. Most of those you lead will do the same. Those who

don’t should be encouraged to look for a new team.

Don’t Replace the Old Fashioned with the New Fangled.

There is no progress without change, but not all change is progress. Those ideas that have stood the test of time

should not be carelessly discarded just for the sake of change. Over the years I have made many changes with

regards to how I communicate, but the basic fundamentals of volleyball have not changed much.

Lear to Master the Four P’s.

The Four P’s are planning, preparation, practice, and performance. These are the keys to successful execution.

Learn to live the Four P’s yourself, always giving them the highest priority, above even winning. It is the

responsibility of the leader to make sure the team puts the Four P’s first.

Write Down the Tasks, Initiatives, and Actions That Each Member of your team Needs to Do to Perform at His

or Her Peak Level.

Get as specific as possible for each of your direct reports. Don’t make the mistake of overemphasizing results

(for example, hit the ball harder).

That will eventually bring forth success.

Important Principles

Coaching – Important principles to keep in mind

1. Volleyball is a game of habits.

2. Never become satisfied.

3. Don’t give them too much, but teach them well. Don’t tie them down so rigidly that they lose theirinitiative.

4. Don’t overlook little details. It’s the little things that add up to make championship teams.

5. Convince your players of the importance of condition – mental, moral, and physical.

6. Nothing is as important as proper execution of the fundamentals.

7. Confidence comes from being prepared and properly conditioned.

8. Development of team spirit is a must and selfishness, envy and egotism must be eliminated.

9. Both coach and player must exhibit industriousness and enthusiasm if success is to be achieved.

10. Teach respect for all and fear for none.

11. Use the positive approach and develop a pride for excellence in your players.

12. Have one team, not regulars and substitutes.

13. Give public credit to playmakers and hustle players at every opportunity.

Coaching Methods

1. Be a teacher. Follow the laws of learning—explanation and demonstration, imitation,

feedback on imitation, repetition until habit is formed.

2. Use lectures, photographs, movies, diagrams, written materials, etc., to supplement daily

practices.

3. Insist on punctuality and proper dress for practices.

4. Insist on strict attention.

5. Permit no “fooling around” or gossip. Practice is preparation.

6. Show patience.

7. Give new things early in practice period (season) and then repeat daily until learned.

8. Avoid criticism, especially publicly. Use “If, Then” method of correcting. If you do “x”

then “y” will happen. The problem usually does not need to be addressed.

9. Encourage teamwork and unselfishness.

10. Spend as much time possible, coaching individuals apart from the group.

11. Use small, carefully organized groups.

12. Have a definite practice plan—follow it.

Leadership Techniques

A coach’s job often includes changing your player’s attitudes and behaviors. Some suggestions to accomplishthis:

Principle 1Begin with praise and honest appreciation.

Principle 2Call attention to the player's mistakes indirectly.

Principle 3Talk about your own mistakes before criticizing the player.

Principle 4Ask questions instead of giving direct orders.

Principle 5Let the player save face.

Principle 6Praise the slightest improvement and praise every improvement. Be “hearty in your approbation and lavish inyour praise.”

Principle 7Give the player a fine reputation to live up to.

Principle 8Use encouragement. Make the fault seem easy to correct.

Principle 9Make the other person happy about doing the thing you suggest.

Selling Your Team on YourVision and Plan

Principle 1It is impossible to antagonize and teach at the same time.

Principle 2Show respect for your player’s opinions. Never say, “your wrong.”

Principle 3If you are wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically.

Principle 4Begin in a friendly way.

Principle 5Get your players saying, “yes, yes” immediately.

Principle 6When appropriate let them do a great deal of talking.

Principle 7Let them feel that the idea is his or hers.

Principle 8Try honestly to see things from their point of view.

Principle 9Be sympathetic with the player's ideas and desires.

Principle 10Appeal to the nobler motives.

Principle 11Dramatize your ideas.

Principle 12Throw down a challenge.

Suggestions Versus Rules

FAVOR FIRM SUGGESTIONS OVER STRICT RULES

Leaders need leeway in dealing with different individuals and situations. Those who use suggestions and

teachings rather than a long list of rigid rules can develop far more productive relationships with members of the

team.

How To Avoid Grievences

1. Get all the facts. What went wrong, not who is to blame.

2. Stay calm. Find the solution together. Do not permit emotions to take over. Use reason.

3. Criticize in private.

4. Listen if you want to be heard. Disagree without being disagreeable.

5. Commend before and perhaps after you criticize. Help player save face.

6. Keep your criticism constructive. Criticism is to correct, help, improve, prevent – not to punish.

7. Treat all people with dignity and respect.

8. You cannot antagonize and positively influence at the same time.

Planning Meetings

PLAN EVERY MEETING AS IF YOUR FUTURE DEPENDS ON IT, BECAUSE IT DOES.

Each meeting with your players, parents and fellow coaches offers a unique opportunity: a chance for you and

your team to get better at something, share vital information, boost team spirit, and the like. Don’t waste a

moment of it; carefully plan every minute.

Advertise your identity

In order to make sure that your values are on full display, you may need to do some

“advertising” of various kinds. Deeds count more than words, but words count too. You may

have to take steps to ensure that people know what you stand for. Distributing the player

handouts at each practice will go a long way towards communication the team’s vision to all the

players but it is just a start. Find other means and methods that work for you.

Coach-Player Relationship

1. Keep a close personal player relationship, but keep their respect. Be sincerely interested

in their personal problems and easy to approach.

2. Maintain discipline without being dictatorial. Be fair and lead rather than drive.

3. Study and respect the individuality of each player and work with her accordingly.

4. Treat each player, as she deserves to be treated.

5. Try to develop the same sense of responsibility in all.

6. Analyze yourself as well as your players and be governed accordingly.

7. Approval is a great motivator. Use the “pat on the back,” especially after criticism.

8. If we teach loyalty, honesty and respect for the rights of others, we will be taking a big

step toward a cooperative team with proper team spirit. Jealousy, egotism, envy,

criticism and razzing of each other can ruin this.

9. Consider the team first, but don’t sacrifice a player just to prove a point.

10. Never be alone with a player, ever. If need be, invite another player along so there are

three of you.

Private and Public Praise

Acknowledging top performers does not always have to be done publicly. It is often more effective for a leader

to praise their outstanding performance when others are not around. It gives the “superstar” deserved

recognition without creating envy or resentment. Conversely, praise for those in lesser roles is often maximized

when done in a more public manner.

Everyone Contributes toSuccess

Explain to each player how her contribution has an impact on the success of the program.

Many take for granted that people who work with them know how their efforts help the program or

organization. Often those in lesser roles don’t see how they contribute to the success of a program. Go out of

your way to make these individuals feel included rather than excluded from the productivity you seek. Thank

them for their efforts – if deserved – and explain why their work matters and how it contributes to the welfare of

the group. You will be surprised by how quickly this raises morale and performance and creates a team

sensibility.

Good Clock Management

Time is finite; its potential, infinite. The quality of our allocation and execution of time will determine the level

of our success. America’s great poet Carl Sandburg understood this well: “Time is the coin of your life. It is

the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent.” Effective leaders spend it most

wisely.

John Wooden Quotes:“Failure to prepare is preparing to fail.”

“Don’t Mistake activity for achievement.”

My Favorite Coach

- John Kessel, USA Volleyball

He knows that kids don't care how much he knows about this sport, until they know how much he cares aboutthem.

She understands that it is even when a paycheck is included, that it is more than just winning games that she isdoing with her players, and focuses on team building through off court activities.

He builds players who look inside themselves for the answers, not to him for the answers, always teaching ushow to best teach ourselves.

She knows how to balance fun - smiles and humor abound in training, competition and team travel - withfocused competitive fury.

He stays calm through every storm of competition, so the players can play through every challenge.

She is consistent, so the players can rely on who she is, never having to worry about "which coach" they mightbe talking to.

He understands the science of the game, - the laws of teaching and motor skill learning included - takingadvantage of what other research and teachers have learned and shared.

She uses substitutes as tools for the team, not punishment of a player.

She knows my favorite candy bar, uniform number, food, color, music, book and of course, my birthday.

He only gives us powerful nicknames, never demeaning us.

She is a great role model, not a critic.

He teaches life’s lessons more often than sport techniques.

She lets us play A LOT, and teaches us technique awareness and fundamentals within the fun of the game.

He empathizes and listens better and sees more and talks less, even though he could talk a lot as he is soknowledgeable. She catches me doing things right, rather than nagging me about the inevitable errors.

He surprises us with wacky games and scoring variations, and off the wall ways of saying or training things thatotherwise might be boring.

Consequences

Adding Emphasis to games goes hand in hand with consequences. Try to have natural consequences (twoapproach jumps for a missed spike). Some keys to good consequences include the following.

-Keep them short (one to two minutes), but not exhausting.

-They should be immediate, the quicker the better.

-They should not be humiliating.

-They should not be painful or dangerous.

-Keep teams balanced (give handicaps to better teams), don’t allow the same players always to lose.

-Try to set consequences before a game begins so players know what they are working towards (which may alsoserve to decrease complaints).

-Use variety.

-Encourage winners to cheer on losers (this helps develop team unity).

Examples:

1. Implement ball rubs. Winners lie on the floor on their stomachs while losers roll a ball over the backsides oftheir bodies. This is a great massage technique and can be performed for one, two, or more minutes. Use it atthe end of practice to warm down.

2. Subtract a set amount of points, such as one, two or five. Or eliminate all of a team’s points and go back tozero.

3. Give points, such as double for aces.

4. Make players do two sit-ups, push-ups, rolls, high-knee jumps or approach jumps,

5. Allow winners to take first water break while other team members finish playing.

6. Have losers gather the balls (shag).

7. Have losers set up for the match the next day.

8. Have losers sweep the floor before practice.

9. Have losers be responsible for the equipment (balls, first aid kit, camera) on the next match day.

10. Give winners first choice of popsicles (everyone gets one).

11. Have players perform the good job routine: Losers lie on their stomachs at the endline, winners stand at theother endline with their hands outstretched. The coach calls “GO”: losers jump up and run around the court tothe winner’s side while the coach counts out loud to 10. Losers must slap winner’s hands, saying “good job” toeach one, and be back where they started by the time the coach reaches 10. If not, they perform the routineagain.

12. Lines (last one in does five push ups). Players line up at one end of the gym. When the coach yells, “Go!”the players sprint to touch the next line, then return to the starting line, after which they run to the second lineand so on. It should be explained that this drill will increase quickness and endurance and will help losing teambe in better shape next time which will help them win. This drill can be performed with a dive, roll, pancake,superman, sprawl, etc at every line instead of just touching the line.

13. Give the winning team one minute to come up with a consequence that will take only one minute. (Remindthem it should be reasonable, because there are always paybacks).

14. Send losers home early.

15. Coach-on-one: If a ball is dropped with no touches, the coach might hit the dame type of ball to the personresponsible until she has 10 playable ups.

16. Correction: If one side makes errors, the coach might toss a ball similar to the missed ball at the person whomade the mistake until she successfully corrects her error.

17. Allow winners to move up and losers to move down in ladders.

How to Avoid Ruining Players

The guidelines herein are possibly known to the experienced coach. The much need zeal and passion of newcoaches can many times manifest in detrimental ways. These guidelines and suggestions will ensure individualand team development will take precedence over you, your ego and the desire to win.

Practice

1. Design some drills to be run by the players. Players can even be asked to design a drill. Have players breakup into groups and see who can come up with the best drill.

2. The sooner we can get players handling balls in a game-like manner during warm-ups the better.

3. A well-organized practice will create a high intensity environment where conditioning is integrated into everydrill as a result of the speed at which things are run.

4. Know your players limits and how to push them to their limit without them getting hurt.

5. Encourage players to think for themselves. Ask them questions and let them find the answer.

6. Never tell players what they did wrong. Instead praise and reinforce what they are doing correctly so thatthey will have the confidence and self esteem to take risks and try new things. Sell them on new techniques andtactics by saying, “If you do this, Then you will see these results.”

7. Have a player demonstrate exactly what you want and use as few words as possible during explanation. If noone knows how to do what you want, pull a player aside during warm-ups and teach her the skill so she will beready to demo later in practice.

8. The shorter the line in drills the more repetitions a player gets, giving her more chances to try to implementthe desired results through self coaching.

9. Make your feedback as specific as possible: “That’s it, way to keep your elbows locked out,” etc, so that theyknow exactly what you want.

10. If they fail to do what you want in a skill, never punish them with conditioning. Conditioning is not apunishment, it is a way we get in better shape to be a better team. Encourage each player to be in charge of herown development and be self-motivated and self-coached.

11. Judge the action not the player.

12. Be as consistent as possible.

Competitive Cauldron

Explaining the Cauldron

There is no improvement without intensity. This is what draws us to the cauldron. If we want our players toimprove, they have to play hard. If we want them to play hard, we have to get them to compete. If we want tocreate a competitive culture, then we need to measure things, record them, praise successes, and hold ourselvesaccountable for results. The cauldron, as created by University of North Carolina’s soccer coach, AnsonDorrance, gives us a foundation.

The cauldron records statistics for skills and competitive play, weighs each score, and assigns a subsequentranking to each player. Would it be effective? I believed it would be. My assistant coach, Tom Haight, andmyself would spend the next four years experimenting.

Early Failures, One Success

I had implemented the cauldron for about two years before becoming the Head Women’s Coach at UCSD.Before then, as an assistant at USC, I had instituted the cauldron into our men’s program. I was intrigued by itfor two related reasons. First, was my exposure to it in a Gold Medal Squared Clinic, and Carl McGown’s claimthat the competitiveness created in practice, via the cauldron, was largely responsible for their two nationalchampionship runs. The second was the statement made by the cauldron’s inventor, UNC Women’s SoccerCoach Anson Dorrance, who claimed that a naturally competitive player would be instinctively motivated tofind ways to ensure they rise to the top of the list. This made sense to me on a fundamental level, I pitched it toour head coach, and we instituted it.

I consider the two years we had it at SC to be a lackluster success to moderate failure. The success was in theaccountability it created. The guys were well aware stats were being kept, and they eagerly checked the doorevery 11 days to see the rankings. I considered this to be a tangible improvement. There was something pushingthem to work hard in practice, to realize every day mattered.

But, there were several aspects that left me disappointed. The first was, the coaching staff wasn’t using it tomake any decisions, nor as a teaching tool. We were never acknowledging when people excelled or surgedahead, and we were never calling people in when their numbers dropped. I was aware Dorrance said he nevertalked about the cauldron or addressed it specifically, but this didn’t sit well with me. We were taking veryspecific statistics that directly impacted the outcome of our matches. To not acknowledge improvement, or toseek to fix dips, seemed a ridiculous waste of information to me.

There was one instance that stuck with me. We had an Opposite complain about his lack of playing time to oneof our assistant coaches. The coach asked if he had seen the cauldron lately, his hitting efficiency was welltowards the bottom. The player replied he didn’t see how this was possible since his errors were relatively low.The coach, in turn, pointed out how he had nearly double the amount of neutral swings as any other outsidehitter.

His kills skyrocketed. There was no other coaching involved. He was just more focused every time he attacked,and intent on scoring. There was accountability, and he was responding positively to it. This lonely examplestayed with me. Here, the cauldron had been successful. The player was unhappy with his situation. Headdressed the coach. The coach provided an objective, non-personal statement, along with information theplayer could see and understand. The player responded.

But there were negatives. The guys were obsessed on personal statistics, to the point of making sure their blockwas recorded, while their team was losing in the drill. The losing carried greater weight, and the whining and

complaining escalated as a result. The best player on our team would have been the best, and played just as hardwithout it. The cauldron was doing nothing for him. The worst players also received little from the cauldronaside from the validation they were, in fact, the worst on the team. I didn’t consider any of these things positive,and I wasn’t surprised in the least to hear off-hand the players were relieved when a new assistant coach camein, and the cauldron was gone. I left SC, still feeling I needed a cauldron with me for the women’s program atUCSD, but that it would not work unless the coaching staff actively made it a part of the training environment,and closely monitored its behavioral effects on the team.

Re-Tooling the Cauldron

Ron Larsen, the current men’s national team assistant, pointed me in the direction of a book he had read byAubrey Daniels entitled “Bringing out the Best in People.” He said it had deeply challenged many of thenotions he previously held true regarding the cauldron. This made me excited to read it, as I was wondering afew things myself. The book was all about measuring performance, determining what rewards truly work tomotivate people, what type of performance charts are actually effective towards improving productivity, andabove all, how that is tied in to actually bringing the best effort out in those around you. I coupled this bookwith “Moneyball” the famed book about the success of the Oakland Athletics and their innovative, if notsavagely Darwinist, method of statistic evaluation to achieve wins.

The central point of “Moneyball” resonated. Dr.McGown hits on it all the time. The naked eye simply cannot betrusted as an impartial observer. Numbers have to be used to see the truth of things. There are patterns we needto be made aware of, and we simply cannot tell the difference between a .250 and .275 hitter, though we knowthere is a significant difference between the two, especially over time. How many times have we put in a lessefficient, but more physical, player in the line-up, only to realize after a few matches the player with the less-impressive package was helping us more, (sometimes just by hurting us less)? If we were able to measure this inpractice, we might be able to play the right person sooner, and thereby help the team faster.

The points of Mr. Daniels’ book were more profound. He took exception to the statement “what gets measured,gets improved.” Not so, he comments. “What gets measured, recorded, and rewarded, gets improved.” Thismade sense. Obviously, a high cauldron ranking should reflect in playing time, if the cauldron is trulymeasuring things the way we want them to be measured. However, there is a more important point here.Daniels, as well as a number of leadership authors, goes on to explain that the negative compels people to dojust enough to avoid punishment. The positive, however, propels people to look ahead and achieve more. This iswhat the cauldron was for, and was by far the most important “reward” it provided. If we were measuringperformance, and did not go absolutely crazy every time a player improved in a key category, we weren’t usingit correctly. We weren’t making sure the improvement stuck. We had this great tool in front of us that couldreally make an impact on a player. Instead of telling Sarah “Hey, Sarah, you’ve done a nice job making thatchange in your hitting, keep it up.” We can tell her, “Hey Sarah, you made that change we were discussing, andlook, you’re hitting efficiency has improved 20 points! That’s a great job, keep it up!” We have measured whatwas important to us, we have recorded it, and most importantly, we have rewarded it in a meaningful way thatwill stay with the athlete. This was a profound change for me as a coach.

Can we do the same thing through matches and game stats? Yes, we can, and game stats of course matter more.But, consider holding players accountable for their improvement with the cauldron and then without it. There isa tangible effect occurring by having this objective statistical feedback everyday in our practice gym. Considerhow much better our reserves can be now that we have something to show and talk to them about. We can showthem, just by taking time to sit down with them, that their improvement and performance matters to us. As Dr.Marv Dunphy explains, every player has the desire to be addressed as an individual. If we measure, record, andreward their improvement, they will get better, and thus our overall quality of play improves, and everyone isbeing pushed a little harder.

A second point by Mr. Daniels created a dilemma. He stressed that productivity charts must not be competitive.That the point of these charts was to solidify the group to compete against outside organizations, not to createstrife within your own. He goes on to explain that every individual within the organization must have a realchance to achieve a top-ranking, provided they do everything expected of them.

My assistant coach, Tom Haight, and myself took to grappling with these issues. Tom had created our cauldronfor us at SC, and we held in common our interest of the statistics, and the ability to use them effectively. Wehad a few central questions:

“What was the ultimate point of the cauldron?”“How do you reward properly?”“Will playing time be based solely on the cauldron?”“How do we post, or present, results?”

Answering the Questions

Of course, finding the answers to the questions is a continual process. There is always a better way out there,somewhere. But after a summer of wrestling with what we wanted the cauldron to do and say, we entered ourfirst season at UCSD with a format we were proud of.

What is the ultimate purpose of the cauldron? Once we answered this fundamental question, the rest becameeasier. The effect of the cauldron is indeed to stimulate competition, but for us, this is not its purpose. Thepurpose of our cauldron is to stimulate constant improvement. An intense, competitive, environment is thenecessary impetus for this improvement. Players cannot get better unless they are mindful and invested.Accountability promotes mindfulness, and competition spurs investment.

How do we reward properly? For awhile, I toyed with the ideas of making t-shirts and passing them out everyeleventh day, but I believe this was missing the point. The principle comes down to the statement Mr. Danielsrepeatedly hit home, that if we want something done, we need to positively acknowledge it every time ithappens. Too often as coaches, we criticize often, say “good job” when a player finally gets it right, and thenleave it alone, expecting it to be fixed forever. This is not the case. We need to reward good behavior, goodtechnique, constantly in order to reinforce it, and hopefully, have it become ingrained. The objectivity of thecauldron can provide a player with real information they are improving. If bad techniques are being practiced,the cauldron should be reflecting that as well, and we can work to fix them. But when we do so, it’s critical wesit down with the player and objectively show him/her the numbers, with a solution as to how to improve. Wenever threaten a player with statistics or hang it over their head. We want them to be as enthusiastic as possibleto receive this information.

Will our playing time solely be based upon the cauldron? No. It is a very valuable tool in the decision-makingprocess, however, and if a player is ranking top in her position, and I’m not starting her, I better have clearreasons why, and I better communicate them to her. This happened a couple of times. Generally, it was becausea particular skill was so low, that our line-up wouldn’t allow us to be that deficient and still be successful (i.e.an outside hitter ranked in the top-6 overall, but was in the lower half in hitting. We already had an L2 whoranked higher than her overall, and the L1 playing ahead of her ranked lower overall, but much higher in hitting.We needed a point-scorer in this position, and the lower-ranked player reflected this, even though her overallscore was lower. The cauldron reflected what we knew, that the starter was a worse all-around player, but betterhitter. There were clear reasons, therefore, for starting the lower-ranked player and we communicated that to thehigher-ranked one. If she wanted to start, she needed to become a better attacker.)

Do we post everybody’s score publicly? This is the one aspect of our cauldron at UCSD, which I believe to beslightly unique. Tom Haight created individual folders for each player that “grab” data from the master sheet,and present each player with only their own information. On their sheets, they will see the following:

1. Statistics in each category: Competition, hitting, serve-receive, serving, blocking, setting, defense2. Overall team ranking for each category (Provided they are in the top-8, otherwise, this category will appearblank.)3. Overall position ranking for this category (Provided they are in the top-8, otherwise, this category will appearblank.)

We believe in this format for a few reasons:

1. “Become, don’t compare.” This is a saying of Marv Dunphy’s that we believe in. These sheets are a way toprovide a player with their information and ranking, without them seeing anyone else’s. This keeps the player’sfocus on themselves and what they need to do. Not on whether or not they are hitting 5 points higher than Sally.2. Building on #1, we felt this is the best way to prevent the internal “competition” Mr. Daniel’s discussed inregards to productivity charts. We knew the goal was to indeed get our team as strong as possible to competeagainst the outside competition. However, there is a dilemma here, because we need this internal competition inour daily practice gym to get to the level we want to be. We need our players to get after each other. 6 of our 19players are going to start, which is a major difference between a sports team and a business, where everyone isperforming. The answer, we feel, is to keep each player’s focus on being as good as they possibly can be, andnot whether or not they are better than their teammate. Again, the presentation of the folders with personalinformation only makes this possible.3. The printouts are much easier to read than the master sheet. The player’s feel like they are getting somethingout of them.4. The printouts present me with an opportunity to write notes in the margins, and meet with players in apositive arena to discuss objectively what’s happening with them on the court. This time is invaluable.

The Cauldron in Action

Our first season at UCSD, we inherited a team with no returning starters, and finished with a 19-8 record, tyingfor the final play-off position before being voted out by committee. This was a successful year in the eyes of ourstaff and players, and all involved stated there was an intensity in the gym that had never previously been therebefore.

There were still some of the negative effects I had witnessed at USC, though to a much lesser extent. There wasstill some obsession over stats at the wrong time. Many of the girls complained at the end of the year meetingsthat they were so worried about theirown position, they never felt able to come together during matches.

While I was very concerned over these two complaints, Tom Haight was much more confidant. He pointed outthroughout the season that what the team was experiencing was simply growing pains. Anson Dorrance cites hisown freshmen’s unease with the cauldron, every year. He stated how these young players are looking foracceptance, and instead, are being told they will have their brains beat in unless they compete and play to win.In effect, our entire team was a group of freshmen learning how to manage their emotions for the first time in anintense competitive environment, and we would most likely only be hearing these complaints from theincoming freshmen class from now on.

Tom’s words proved true. Entering our second season, we built upon the previous year, and finished with arecord of 26-3 as well as a national ranking of 5th. Every member of our team reported in their end of the yearmeetings they felt the team bonded, and functioned, very well on the court. Most players said they liked thecauldron, every player, including the freshmen who were uncomfortable with it, said they would rather have itthan not. Nearly every returnee thought the team handled the competitive aspects of it better than the previousyear. They felt they were able to negotiate the balance between competing like crazy and being a greatteammate.

Final Thoughts

I spoke with one coach in our athletic department who felt the cauldron was used as a crutch to “do yourcoaching for you.” This would be a valid point if it were true, and in some cases it might be. For us, thecauldron doesn’t provide us with answers, it provides us with information to make better decisions and to givebetter feedback. It allows us to get better faster. Faster than we would without it. It doesn’t save us any time,and in many ways, creates more work for us. When I ask the question, though, will this make us better? Ianswer with an emphatic yes, so we do it.

The final important question might be, do I think the cauldron was the reason we were able to have success? Ithink it was a reason. I think the character and commitment of our young ladies was the biggest reason. I thinkthe work ethic of our players and coaches was a very big reason. The importance of our cauldron, in my eyes,was we were able to reflect the values and cultures of our training gym in an objective manner that would spurcontinual improvement. Better than we could have done without it, and that made it worth it.

**The advent of the folders, and answers to the questions above****The result of the past two years. The feedback given, and conclusions**

Tom Black – Women’s Head Coach, UCSD Tritons

Dear Vocal Coach

Please read the following actual email from a dear friend, whose daughter plays volleyball. The names havebeen changed, and some sentences deleted, but none added/created by me, to make it be more of a genericversion of what I see at USA Volleyball on a weekly basis:

My daughter is still into VB. She leaves on Saturday for our national season ending event. This week she'sspending mornings at a VB class. A summer favorite she's learned so much this Club season from coach, but itwasn't always an easy time. He tends to yell and scowl when the girls make mistakes, and frankly the girls hadnever had a coach like that. He's used to coaching the older teams, and his way did not work with 13 year olds,hormonal, insecure girls. His yelling made them "shut down" and they were so scared to make mistakes thatthey stopped being aggressive, didn't want to go to practice, played "scared". He eventually toned it down, andthe girls learned (with parent encouragement) to speak up when they felt uncomfortable or didn't understandsomething. I wanted my daughter to learn that she didn't have to be passive about things. The team eventuallygot stronger by banding together and encouraging each other, and the girls learned to be a little more thickskinned about his comments. They don't like him, but they know he taught them a lot, as is evidenced by theiramazing wins at the end of the season.

My daughter still sets, but is more comfortable at outside hitter. She says there's less pressure on her when shedoesn't set... and thus less chance for coach to yell at her. She has the talent to be setter, but I don't know if shehas the mental toughness, or maybe she'll develop the mental toughness with another coach. She is alsoplanning to go to Classic College VB camp at Classic College.

So, I am reading that we have:A coach the kids do not like; Kids who have to be thick skinned to be able to learn from a teacher; Athletesafraid to make mistakes; A talented athlete who does not want to take the key role of setting due to a coachyelling.

How does this happen in sport? How does such passion and time commitment on behalf of the kids, result insuch negativity? Coaches who yell must be thinking that by doing such to help it will HELP the team succeed.That old school mentality results in what was read above, athletes who do not like the coach and who are afraidto push the envelope for fear of an error. Anson Dorrance, in Training Soccer Champions, subtitles one chapterwith this statement. "If you have to yell at them from the sidelines, you haven't coached them...coaching isabout effect."

The MOST important task of every coach, is to empower his or her athletes, giving them a better and betterunderstanding of the game, while teaching them to enthusiastically move along past every mistake. Yelling doesnot empower athletes.

Remember, the kids play the game, not the coach. Learning from you, becoming your assistant coaches inpractice, coaching themselves when you are not looking - for you are only one person helping in a field of playof a dozen kids usually. They then can better coach themselves during the match, as they should. One of the“technique movements” we need to eliminate from each skill is that head twisting (and heart wrenching) look tothe bench/coach after an error. That shows kids who are not empowered to problem solve themselves, thinkinginstead that the answers do not come from within, but from the outside, from someone else. Consider thesewords from Ghandi back in 1931.

Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err. It passes my comprehension how humanbeings, be they ever so experienced and able, can delight in depriving other human beings of that precious right.

You see, the best learning comes when there is no fear of mistakes. Each player will be asked to do things theyhave never done before, and thus, there will be lots of mistakes. Ignore them and focus on what is important –when they do it correctly or much closer to the intended goal. To quote Stephen Glenn – Mistakes arewonderful way to learn, or as he writes it “Mistakes are a wonderful way to learn.”

When the greats in other disciplines have problems, what is done is support is brought in. Have you ever seenmusicians in a symphony making errors get out of their seat to drop and do 20 pushups? When Pavarotti hasproblems singing what do they do? They bring in more help with vocal coaches, but they do not yell at him ormake him do situps – as his waistline shows. Production grows on an assembly line through cooperation andempowerment of the workers, including profit sharing plans. Gone are the screaming tyrant managers, and noneof the workers are pulled off task to do physical exercises “so they learn.” The National Federation of StateHigh School’s (NFSHS) Cynthia Doyle states “ Although rare, coaches, for example, have been known todisrespectfully address their own players, and offense that now can be penalized.” For 12.2.7f has been changedto state that unsportsmanlike conduct includes disrespectfully addressing, baiting, or taunting anyone involvedin the contest, not only the opponent. Kudos to the Federation for that, and for changing to rally scoring.

No matter if you are training Jr. Olympians or not, all your players can follow the Olympic motto of Swifter,Higher, Stronger. Please note that this is a personal motto, one pushing each athlete to be their personal best.The motto is not Swiftest, Highest, Strongest.Looking at it from another perspective, I have to say I was torn between the Yankees winning, based on theimpact of the Eleventh, and the Diamondbacks, who are in the Colorado Rockies division, in the 2001 WorldSeries. Both managers are humanistic, caring, and not the wacko bad role models oft seen in pro baseball as a"professional" In the end, I chose to cheer for Arizona when Brenly, their manager, kept the closer Kim in solong, and then put him in again in game 5 after Kim had been homered on in the bottom of the ninth in thefourth game loss. That is believing in your players, and letting them err. I must admit I loved the fact thatBrenly took the previous manager's team rules/handbook, over an inch thick, and dropped it on the floor at thefirst spring training meeting of the team. He then pulled out a cocktail napkin with his rules scrawled on it: "Beon time. Play hard." That is good coaching.I know I am also impacted by working with Lang Ping, coach of the 1996 Chinese Olympic Silver medalwomen’s team….the first woman to coach in our sport at the Olympic level. She is a demanding, but fair andcaring coach, who I have never seen yell at a player in practice. China beat Russia to move to the gold medalmatch. Many of your have seen Karpol, a coach who on the court is the poster boy for screaming coaches, andseen the look on the faces of the players “listening” to him. Such “coaching” is not what kids will thrive under.

Another point about using fear/yelling is that you need to keep escalating to make it work over time. How muchlouder can you yell in a season? It would be better to take a tip from Joop Alberda, the 1996 Olympic Goldmedal winning volleyball coach of the Dutch men’s team, who, like Lang Ping, is humanistic, and empoweringof his players. He told his team he would only get angry with them once a year…and left it at that. Thoseplayers knew he would be pushing them and guiding them without berating them or going off on tirades. Healso did not have to get angry at all in some years.

Sure it is frustrating to see your kids learning, through mistakes. However, ask yourself a simplequestion…”Are they making these mistakes on purpose?” If a player is, that means you have other issues todeal with well beyond the error. If not, why would you get upset with them? If you can, get a copy of JohnCleese’s great article – “ No More Mistakes and You're Through" from Forbes, Magazine (U.S.) " p. 126+, May16, 1988, highlighting excerpts from John Cleese's "The Importance of Mistakes" speech. From other of hiswritings, these thoughts are appropriate.

“I want to suggest to you today, that unless we have a tolerant attitude toward mistakes - I might almost say ‘apositive attitude toward them’ - we shall be behaving irrationally, unscientifically, and unsuccessfully. Now, ofcourse, if you now say to me, ‘Look here, you weird Limey, are you seriously advocating relaunching theEdsel?’ I will reply, ‘No.’ There are mistakes - and mistakes. There are true, copper-bottom mistakes likespelling the word ‘rabbit’ with three Ms; wearing a black bra under a white shirt; or, to take a more masculineexample, starting a land war in Asia. These are the kind of mistakes described by Mr. David Letterman asBrushes With Stupidity, because they have no reasonable chance of success.”

It might be helpful to see the three stages of coaching from a different perspective.

1. The coach's practice time – CAP Courses, clinics, summer camp talks late into the night with other coachessharing ideas and being innovative, mulling around new thoughts and ideas.

2. The coach's matches that must be won – The players’ practices and training.

3. The coach’s “vacation” time – The actual match as the players must show what they have learned/can do. Acoach gets to play with rotations/tactics, call 2 time outs, and a few subs...a comparative vacation...so relax,have fun, and enjoy the PLAYING of the game – not the anger, frustration, yelling of the game.

Here are some observations by others about making mistakes. I hope these shared thoughts will help you be abetter coach, maximizing your strengths and minimizing your weaknesses, both on and off the court. Thank youfor your time and energy in giving back to our sport through coaching.

QuotesSuccess is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm. --Winston Churchill

Error is discipline through which we advance. --William E. Channing

Failure is only opportunity to more intelligently begin again. --Henry Ford

You always pass failure on the way to success. --Mickey Rooney

It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation. --Herman Melville

Best men are often moulded out of faults. –Shakespeare

Failure is an event, never a person. --William D. Brown

I have learned throughout my life as a composer chiefly through my mistakes and pursuits of false assumptions,not by my exposure to founts of wisdom and knowledge. ---Igor Stravinsky

While one person hesitates because he feels inferior, another is busy making mistakes and becoming superior. --Henry C. Link

Don't be afraid to fail. Don't waste energy trying to cover up failure. Learn from your failures and go on to thenext challenge. It is

OK to fail. If you are not failing, you are not growing. --H. Stanley Judd

Mistakes are the portals of discovery. --James Joyce

Results! Why, man, I have gotten a lot of results. I know several thousand things that won't work. --ThomasEdison

An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes, which can be made, in a very narrow field. --Niels HenrikDavid Bohr, (1885-1962)Sometimes we may learn more from a man's errors, than from his virtues. --Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has plenty; not on your past misfortunes, of which allmen have some. --Charles Dickens

History has demonstrated that the most notable winners usually encountered heartbreaking obstacles before theytriumphed. They finally won by their defeats. --B. C. Forbes

You win only if you aren't afraid to lose. --Rocky Aoki

Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes. --Mahatma Gandhi

A child becomes an adult when she realizes that she has a right not only to be right but also to be wrong. --Thomas Szasz

There can be no real freedom without the freedom to fail. --Erich Fromm

-John Kessel, USA Volleyball

10 Steps to Improve your HighSchool ProgramBy Tommy Chaffin

This article isn't about volleyball theory or tactics. I am not writing about, for example, whether to play arotating defense or perimeter; to swing block or not to swing, run a 5-1 or 6-2. Rather, these are some ideas Ihave learned in my 13 years as the boys coach at Redondo Union High (Redondo Beach CA) and my six as thegirls coach. When I took over the boys program in 1995, the program had won two playoff matches in 20years; since 1997 we have won 20 playoff matches. For the girls, our school won one playoff match in the 90s.In the past four years, we have won 20 playoff matches.

1. DON’T BORE YOUR BEST PLAYERS

I make a point of constantly challenging my best players every day in practice. For example, every day we startevery practice off with an individual serving game: first to 5 inside the 3-meter line. If your best playerconsistently wins, make her have get to 6 or 7 to win.

We do a deep court back-row hitting game almost every day in practice and will always start or close with agame with just our best players (sometimes including our coaches, depends on our depth for a particular year).Have your best attackers see if they can get three kills in a row even if the defense knows they are the only oneattacking. Be creative. You win and lose with your best players, so keep challenging them and keep themengaged!

2. BE POSITIVE

There is a time and place to point out the negatives, but I always try to point out the positive of any situationfirst. I like to catch my players doing the “little” things right, like covering or making the correct decision ondefensive positioning. Spot and make a big deal about it even when the ball doesn’t come their way. Anotherarea I enjoy praising is when a player does a selfless act which helps a teammate or the team. I have stoppedpractice (briefly) many times to acknowledge a player who was hustling excessively to shag balls orencouraging a teammate verbally with a “you can do it” when they were struggling in a drill. I have found mostof the time the other players are looking for praise and will want to do the right thing as well. I really try to bepositive during the matches. If I have done my job well, the players will be in the right spots most of the time,know the weaknesses of the opposing teams, and I will be able to simply congratulate them for doing it in thematch. If someone is in the right spot and makes a crazy play, I REALLY get animated with positivecomments/expressions and my players seem to feed off it and will want to do it again if possible!

3. ALWAYS GIVE HOPE TO YOUR SUBS/ ACKNOWLEDGE THEIR EFFORTS

I want the subs to know, while it is difficult, that the “subs” have a shot to beat out the “starters” every day. Forexample, if a reserve defensive specialist has a terrific practice, I will acknowledge her efforts and give her achance to compete with our starting libero in a one on one pass off. If she were to beat out the starting libero inthe pass off, I would reward her with either starting her, or playing time in a match she might not normally playin, or she may move up the ladder on being subbed in.

The subs must take great pride in pushing your starters. I tell the subs (the “B Squad”) it is their job to disruptour starting 6 (“A squad”) when we are doing team drills. If the B squad is stopping the A squad in a wash drillor scrimmage, I will flip flop the player or players who are most responsible and give them a shot at being onthe “A” squad. This keeps motivation high on both sides of the net. If you have more than 12 players, develop

a competition on who gets to play on the “B squad”. Rotate players at left back, middle back etc. and rewardthose who are “getting it done” with more reps (“you get a 2-1 or 3-1 ratio now”).

4. BUY THE BEST UNIFORMS/PRACTICE GEAR YOU CAN AFFORD

I ask for a high level of work ethic from my athletes every day. I want them to take great pride every time theystep out on the court for a practice or match. So I want my players feeling like they have the best threads. Iallow the captains to pick the uniforms every year (while retaining final approval). I recently asked an artistfriend to design a unique warm-up shirt aside from the standard block print most schools have. He came upwith a our Sea Hawk mascot wearing shades with a unique way of saying Redondo Volleyball. It is the mostpopular athletic t-shirt in the school. Football players and basketball players ask me all the time how they canget one of those shirts.

5. COMPETE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE AND RECORD

I like pitting players against each other in 1-on-1 competition. I will record who wins our competitive drills inpractice. I have found that if my players know I am recording a competition, their focus and energy level ismuch higher. The players also must chant “for the win” if they can win on the next ball in play in any drill orcompetition. If they don’t say “for the win” and they win the point, it is only a replay. This brings a higherlevel of energy/focus. It also creates a “match point” type of environment which is hard to duplicate in practice.

6. PARENT MEETING

In all my years at Redondo, I have had one request for a parent meeting (a player I cut from the team in themiddle of the season for missing three straight practices after the player had two strikes in my three strikesystem for various offenses). Here is your opportunity to state your coaching philosophy (we play the seniors,best players play, I play everyone, whatever yours is).

I tell my parents that my goal is making playing high school volleyball be the best part of their child’s highschool experience. I quickly add that it impossible for me to do that for each of the approximately 45 girls inthe program (this year I had 54 players in the program). I tell them this is not AYSO (everyone plays). I tellthem I will play the best team, and if it is close between a senior and a freshman/sophomore, I will play theunderclassman. Some older players/parents may not like that, but I tell the older players it is their job to makeme think they are clearly better than the younger players. I also make a point of it to tell the players on myfrosh-soph team about my philosophy. Usually at the last week of the season, I speak to the frosh-soph teamand ask them to name our varsity starting team. So as the kids rattle off my starters, my response is usually(“varsity as a freshman, or varsity starter as a sophomore”). I tell them with a smile, that when they are seniors,in order to start, they must make me feel like they are going to help the team win tournaments/league/CIF.

I also have a three strike system for discipline (unexcused absence, behavior, etc.). First strike - one day off.Second strike- 1 week off. Third strike- removed from the program (NOTE- STRIKES CARRY OVER FORENTIRE HIGH SCHOOL CAREER). I tell them the proper procedure if you are not happy with your playingtime is for the player to go to the coach and ask what they need to do to earn more time. The player is then toldSPECIFIC tasks (ex.- pass a 2.3, hit 350%, be more verbal on the court, etc.). I have found that being directabout my philosophy allows the players and parents to know what to expect (I also tell them I am not a big“sub” guy).

7. STAT AS MUCH AS YOU CAN (ESPECIALLY PASSING AND HITTING)

For those of you who have read Michael Lewis’ book Moneyball, I believe we as volleyball coaches may havepersonal biases based on each of our individual backgrounds. For example, a coach who was a setter might beextra focused on the setter’s set selection, but not evaluate the individual passers or outside hitters attack lineswith the same scrutiny.

If I’m not sure about who start at O1/O2 or M1/M2, I don’t want to guess who might do better. I want to lookat the stats. Early in the season I will flip flop the middles or outsides and see who is hitting a higherpercentage. Whoever is hitting the higher percentage will get the first opportunity at the O1 or M1 spot. Mosthigh school teams have lots of players trying out for libero/ds, so I believe the best way to determine who getsthe first and second shot at that position should be based on passing stats in practice, not just my generalobservation. I will have all the players who would like to play libero serve and pass against each other whilekeeping stats. It is a pressure situation and your better competitors will rise up with this pressure. Also,everyone feels they were given a fair chance.

8. MOVE YOUR PLAYERS

A well-known and highly successful baseball coach at my school told me how he would move players from J.V.to Varsity for certain games, and how that would help them and your program down the road. If we have anopportunity to play an overmatched opponent, I will move up some of my younger players with big potential(i.e. strong freshman who are on your J.V. team) for the varsity match. While I don’t start them and like to playmy varsity reserve players first, I will sometimes start the newer players in game 3 and see how they react. Iremember my first varsity tennis match as a sophomore with no crowd -- none whatsoever -- and I was reallynervous. This way the future leaders of the program get rid of those “varsity jitters” while young and in a matchyou are going to win. When it is their turn to lead your program, they are not working out these jitters in nextyear’s home opener on the road against an even or superior opponent. I have personally done this many timesand know what a difference this makes.

9. TEAM LEADERS

I will sometimes hear coaches say they have no leaders. I feel while sometimes we are lucky and we can havekids who have natural leadership qualities, leadership is like any other skill and it must be trained. One way totry to insure you have good leaders in your program is to make sure that you have a leader or two (no more than2 per class) for every class. I try to communicate with the team leaders once a week for about 10-15 minutes,with the focus of our discussion on leadership. I give them specific instances where there was great leadershipfrom the past week, what I would like to see from them this week, and we discuss if there was a missedopportunity for leadership and what could have been done. I try to work on our leadership everyday, not justour weekly If you have a great group of senior leaders, but no juniors or sophomores who have been trained,you will undoubtedly have a vacuum of leadership for possibly two years(not good!!).

10. MAKE GAMES “EVENTS”

We have a D.J. for our bigger matches, always have an announcer to introduce the starters and call the action,have someone sing the national anthem, broadcast your matches with an announcer on local cable if you can(include having a player/s of the match who are then interviewed by the announcer), night matches if yourmatches are scheduled for the afternoon), Saturday night matches (you’re now not competing with Friday nightfootball). I will also email our parents, alumni, and former players and parents about upcoming matches.

Good luck with your seasons, I hope this can help someone and

Drills

14 versus 12 (Tenacity): 6 on 6. Score starts at 14-12, teams play to 15, win by 2. After each game you canreview the teams choices and ask them what they would do next time. Best 3 of 4 wins with sudden death 14 allgame for tie breaker.

120 Serves (Working on new serve receive lineups and plays):One server serves 10 in a row rally scoring. Go through all 6 rotations. Emphasize serve receive by doublingpoints for aces. Great way to track rotation efficiency in the pre-season.

***Around the world serving (Serving placement and fun) : Two teams competing against each other.Teams try to serve ball to all 6 zones. If players can do this quickly have them serve 1-6, then backwards 6-1.Each team has one player on the other side of the net sitting on the floor trying to catch the serves. When theycatch a serve they go to the other side of the net to serve and the server who served the ball to them goes to sitdown in the next area.

Asteroids (Team bonding and fun): One team on either side of the net. One team tries to serve and hit othergirls to get as many of them out as possible. Other team has their backs to the net, arms interlocked and areshuffling from one sideline to the other. When the reach a sideline they take one step back and keep doing thisuntil they reach the net.

Ball and Partner (Arm-swings and timing): high two hand tosses, left shoulder facing partner, bow-and-arrow, elbow above the shoulder, follow through with arm along right side of body. Emphasize fast, not hard.

Ball, Setter, Ball, Hitter (Blocking eye sequence and reaction): 3 hitting lines vs 6 defenders. Ball is set offpass to any of the hitters. Blockers focus on transitioning eyes quickly to next focus. Points accumulated byforcing hitting errors or digging up playable ball. After 15 points wave through and 3 new.

Baseball (Intensity): 6 on 6. Each server is allowed 3 outs. If team B wins rally that counts as one out. If teamA wins rally coach tosses free balls to team A until Team B sides out. Goal is to score as many points aspossible (serves and free balls) before getting 3 outs. Alternate sides for serving. Rotate and repeat the drilluntil 6 outs are achieved.

Blocking on Boxes (Blocking extension, hand placement and eyes up): Have girls stand on boxes to feelwhat it’s like to get a roof block.

***Bounce (transitioning and conditioning): Alternating serves, serving team gets continuous bounce balls(bounce is considered first contact) until either team gets 3 in a row. Play to six points with team rotating orgoing front back each point. Losing team will run a set of lines for every point shy of the winners’ score. Playrotation 1, 4, 2, 5, 3, 6 in that order.

Breakdown: Budget in time for taking nets down and stretching.

***Butterfly Passing (All facets of game and conditioning): Tossers use bow-and-arrow with left shoulderfacing passer. Toss, pass, catch. Tosser becomes setter. Setter becomes passer. Passer becomes catcher.2 groups passing, tossing and catching on either side of the net.

Challenge (Working on team plays): 6 on 6, Coach writes a series of plays on the board. Each team tries tocomplete their sets before the other. When a play is completed coach crosses it out on the board. Alternatingfreeballs. Front to back and repeat drill (if enough skilled players are present).

Circle Through: 6 on 6 drill. Permanent setters, 3 back row defenders and one front row outside hitter. Settersets OH every time. Every time the ball is hit over players rotate from right to left. A new right back comes inand the OH goes out and gets back in line on the right side of the court.

Cooldown: Wall Sits 2x2min, Pillars 3x45sec, Bear Crawls, Crab Walks, Inch Worms, prayer stretch, Assistedhip lift, Down in middle, cats and dogs, Hip Flexors, Upper spinal floor twist,, Partner Hami and quad stretches,shoulders against the wall, Full or partial shoulder bridge.

Continuous Passing: One or two groups, two lines passing back and forth bumping with elbows locked outwhole time.

***Deep Court: (Defense and transitioning to attack): w/ correction, queen, or double side entry with coachinitiating to winner Make sure players play using same defensive positions that they would in a game (middleback stays deep and wings get the short stuff).

Defend 2 box offense (Transitioning, offense to defense and defense to offense): 2 players/coaches on boxeson right and left attacking the ball. Coach initiates free-ball, team plays it out then immediately defends left sideattack, then gets free ball, then defends right side attack and so on. Shagging must be emphasized.

Defensive Lines (Defensive technique and speed): Start with sprawl at end line, then pop and roll at 10 footline, then sliding stomach dive under the net, then pancake at other 10 foot line, then 2 separate sidestep digmoves either ending in sprawl or falling on butt.

***Dig and Set (keeping digs off net, setting and hitting out of system ball): Coach/player is on box hittingballs. Players dig ball to themselves and set high ball to outside. Players should switch lines after they di/set orhit. After a certain amount of time or number of hits switch sides (players dig/setting from left hitting on right).Setters should dig then set to the middle when coming from the right side.

Dig and touch: Players dig ball then touch the ground with both their hands. This is a good drill for gettingplayers to get low on defense.

Dos triangle setting drill(Out of system setting): 7 or 8 people to a court. Person on each corner. The rest inthe middle back position. Middle back people alternate from setting high balls to the left and right side.Front row setters set down the line. Back corner girls set the ball to middle back position. High inside sets.

Dynamic Warmup: Toe curls, lunges, leg swings, toe touches, straight high leg skips, quad grab and swings,butt kicks, knee grab skips, backwards hip open skips, shoulder circle skips, side to side, squats and side shuffle,open windows, heal walks down to the bathrooms and back, four walls sprints.

Float Serving: left shoulder facing net, left foot aiming in direction of serve. Look over arms to where youwant to serve. Draw then Toss then Pop the ball. Leave hand up after pop for float effect. Toss ball in front ofserving shoulder.

Four-step approaches: Slow to fast. Small first two steps. Left shoulder facing net end in bow-and-arrowposition.

Four Corners Defense w/ no setter (defense, setting high balls): One person in each corner of the court.Players at the net spiking cross-court back at the defenders, off defender sets high ball cross court to one of thespikers. Can add hitters and have player/coach on box.

Game Day Hitting lines (first half, tossing go’s, quicks and reds), second half tossing to libero, setter setshitters)

Game Day Serve Receive: Players line up in single file line and coach serves a deep floater at them. Beginwith target right of center, players take pass off left side and drop right shoulder. Target in the middle, Playershould drop their shoulder closest to the target depending on which side the serve comes to. Target is left ofcenter and players pass off the right side of their body and drop left shoulder. Players should be encouraged toleave their arms outside their midline after the pass (sticking it).

***Hitting lines: Two setters on one side of the net. Two lines. Hitters toss own ball and setters set 2-ball.Hitters shag own ball. Middles 3 step, outsides 4 step. Be on left step when ball touches setter’s hand.Add blockers and ds/L to make it more realistic. Left side twice, middle, right side twice, middle then left sidetwice and so on. 3 to 4 times through then switch blockers.

Jambalaya (pinpoints defensive skills needing improvement): 6 vs. 6. Team must serve and earn a point toearn the chance for a jambalaya ball series. Use any combination of the following balls; down-ball, free-ball,joust, bounced ball (must be played over on two), out of the net ball, tipped ball played up with pop and roll orpancake, etc. Competitive scoring with 6 balls, 3 points for wash, 4 points other team runs 1 sets of lines, 5points three sets of lines, 6 points three sets of lines.

Jump Serving: Take right step, toss ball, take last 3 steps. Right, left, right-left. Left shoulder facing the net,just like spiking. Bow-and arrow. Toss ball in front of hitting shoulder. Nice high toss. Players may alsotry hybrid (right, left then toss, then right left) and jump-float (same as the hybrid but with a much lower tossand no armswing(keep package high) and no follow-through.

King David (limited number of players, defense and competitiveness): 6 vs. 3 or 2. 6 on one side, a setterand one or two hitters on the other. Coach initiates ball to hitter, hitter passes ball to setter and then attacks theball. Defense focuses on ball, setter, ball, hitter eye sequence, rotation, blocking transition. Play set number ofballs and keep score. If only one defender player can dig set and spike ball back over herself.

Ladder: 3 times through on each one. Hopping through, one leg hops, side hops, one leg side hops, from theside in-in, out-out, hop over and back 3 sets 30 reps.

***Last Ball (Maintaining focus and intensity siding-out): Alternating serves. Losing team gets last ball(gotta go). The other team must convert the last ball and 2 addition free-balls to score a big point. When a bigpoint is scored both teams rotate. Start in rotation, 2, 4, 3, 6, 1, 2 in that order.

Marcio (Defense, passing and hitting): Coach/player on box hitting balls. Player digs ball to herself, thenunderhand passes or overhand passes to setter and prepares to hit. There can be a separate line of hitters ordigger/passes can swing hit.

***Mini Court (all around skill development): Antennae dividing court. I formation.

***NADE Drill (High intensity, competitiveness and communication): Players must score three points in arow to have the opportunity to serve for an E. Let players know that they will not receive another ball, even ifthey will the point unless they yell N, A, or D, depending on which letter they are on.

No Blockers: 3 defenders defend against hitting lines. No tipping in front of 10 foot line. If player gets dugshe switchers with the player who dug her. No tipping in front of the 10 foot line.

Out of System Dig, Set, Hit: 3 or 4 diggers, 3 at a time digger becomes MB, MB becomes wing, setter stays.Off wing digger sets A or D ball. 3 blockers, one or two hitters at a time, 3 diggers, one hitter on each antennaefor high ball. Maybe try to get 3 blockers up. Have MB Setter and Wing cover.

Partner skill drills:-Throw from high angle at medium to fast tempo. To partner (only move is to put hands together and stickpass until partner catches ball).-In front (same as “To Partner” but bumper takes one big lunge step forward)-To right (Bumper takes step to right, brings left arm to meet right arm and drops left shoulder to angle platformtowards partner)-To left (opposite as last one)-At chest(drop step back to get arms away from body, drop shoulder to angle platform to partner, stick pass untilball reaches partner)-At Chest (shuffle back belly button sucked in arm out taking ball midline).-At face (start with elbows locked out in base position, arms in peripheral. Bring hands up, stiff fingers handsflat against invisible glass panel.-2 digs with perfect technique pancake, pop and roll, sprawl, dig and dive, to left, to right, at chest (drop stepand shuffle back)

***Defensive (3 contact) and Serve Recieive (1 contact) Pepper: Bump-set-spike. Encourage players to getback into base position right after they contact the ball. The should know that they are expected to give their allin pepper and use correct technique, especially when hitting (bow and arrow and left shoulder facing partner).Defensive pepper (elbows at 90 degree angle and in front of body), Serve receive pepper (elbows locked out,shoulders relaxed and arms outside knees.

Perimeter and Rotation Defense: Against Outside, middle, right side, and pipe. CUES-Base, Bunch, Release,help, Switch, commit, Bad Pass, release. Good warm-up is to do this at beginning of practice with playerstipping balls back. Offensive side should have 3 blockers blocking.

Plus-Minus Five: One hitter attempts to get to plus or minus five points by attacking the ball versus 6defenders. Coach plays ball into attackers court and setter sets designated attacker every time. Keep track ofhow many balls it takes for player to get to 5.

Plus 3 (Changing Momentum): For 4 minutes teams alternate serves. Goal is to get 3 points in a row, eitherone serve point and 2 receive points or 2 receive points and one serve point.

Plus 5 Serving: Players try to accumulate five points from let servers. Missed serves count as negative points.Can’t go below zero. Purpose is to develop deep flat floater. Might want to start at a lower number earlier inthe year and for jv, frosh/soph.

Scramble (Reacton time, defensive skills): Alternating serves, serving team gets a series of down/free balls hitby a member of the opposing team for two minutes. Team trys to accumulate as many points as possible, everytime a ball hits the floor without someone touching it team goes back to 0 points.

Self-Toss and Attack: With a partner, attacking ball behind 3 meter line. Can be done individually into thenet. Same techniques as traditional jump serve.

Serve-Toss (Side-out): one way or two way 6 on 6. Team on offense must win serve to get free-ball for theopportunity to score big point. Team on defense can score a big point by siding out. If teams split it is a wash.

***Serve-Toss-Toss (Side-out): 6 on 6. Serve and rally. Winner gets 2 free-balls. Winner must score all 3 toget big point. Loser must score 2 to get big point.

***Shuffle Drill: Player starts in the center of the court and shuffles in one of for directions (left, right, forwardand back) to play the ball. Encourage players to take the all out side mid-line and hold platform outside midlineafter the pass. Player starting from left back should drop left shoulder to get ball to go to target and vice versusfrom the right. We would like players to keep feet parallel when shuffling forward, so as to be in an athleticposition to play the ball as apposed to walking forward. When shuffling back players may take the ball outsidemidline, but they should avoid doing the Frankenstein (rather have them keep their shoulders in front of theirarms and their belly button away from their platform). All shuffle movements should be performed in anathletic manner with feet outside of shoulders at all times and parallel at all times. Break team into two groupsand have them perform ten with perfect form in each direction.

Swing Blocking with Approaches: Make sure players use correct footwork on both spike and transition blockapproach.

Three lines blocking and defensive moves:

Tipping/roll shot drill with Rotation Defense: Right back rotates up for tip, middle back rotates right for lineshot, left back rotates right to the majority of the angle hits, and left front rotates back about two feet behind theten foot line to get sharp angle, leaving open the extreme angle hit (which is rarely hit). Hitters shouldapproach ball as if they were going to hit.

Two coaches running defensive positions 6 on 6 drill: Coaches alternate a hard driven spike to the opposingside on the net. Coaches should slap the ball to let the defense get in the correct position before hitting the ball.If players are in the wrong positions feel free to stop the drill and explain why we play defense in the positionswe do. Let players block some of the balls and have offense practice covering.

Virus: Designate a libero on each side of the net to be virus. Coach alternates free-balls to either side of the netto the viruses. The virus then passes the ball over the net setting up the opposing players with a chance for anoverpass kill. Every once in a while libero should pass the ball perfectly to keep offensive honest.

Wash: Teams alternating Serve. If serving team gets point they receive a freeball. If they get both they get abig point. If they split then it is a wash.

***Work Over: Work your way over to the other side of the net to have the opportunity to pass and spike byacing, blocking or digging the Passer/Hitter. Goal is to go to the pasing/hitting side and stay there. 2 setterscompete in the same way to earn the right to set on the hitting side. Players may keep track of the number oftimes they successfully pass and get a kill.

X in a row: 10 serve receive balls in a row. Coach can track sideout percentage in each rotation.

*** Recommended drills for everyday practice.

Service

Ace Nuetral Error

Attacks

Kills Nuetral Error

Reception

Good Nuetral Error Blocks

Setting

Assist Nuetral Error Digs # Name

#

Scouting Template Opponent:

SERVING SHANKSPLAYER # OF SHANKS #____ _________________________________ _________________________________ _________________________________ _____________________________

DEFENSIVE WEAKNESSES____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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