Monthly Archives: August 2010

Aug 30

Partner drillz rock!

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Check out this duo! One’s working on digging up every volleyball in the tri-state area and the other is trying to get a kill (within a reasonable amount of space). Once the tipper finally gets a kill (or a ball she can’t get her fingers behind to make a good tip) they switch jobs.

This is a great ball control, warmup drill. Keeps the digger moving and focused. Gives the tipper perspective on where and how to tip to be successful.

I LOVE partner drills. When you can’t always get a full team to practice or when it’s just you and your homey with a volleyball in your garage, partner drills give players the repetition they need to improve.

So, go grab a volleyball and your best homey (if she’s got any skillz) and play this tip drill in your backyard. Or… for a little more of a challenge, 8 ball.

Have fun!

Aug 24

Volleyball Officiating: what to expect

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Ahh. To be a volleyball official.

Donnie and I reffed the Corporate Challenge volleyball tournaments for 3 divisions Sunday. Whew! What a long day. First let me say how awesome the Corporate Challenge is. There are so many activities. It seems like such a great company-bonding experience.

Anyway, the types of volleyball players were all over the charts. Of course, we had ringers in all divisions who swept the competition with their knee pads and ankle braces. And then we  had the “Oh my gosh that was not a lift!” guy who then followed up with “Wait, what’s a lift anyway?” And of course, the girl who gets hit in the face a lot. Oh and the big buff dude who swims in the net and then plays it cool, “What? The net? I touched it? You’re sooo strict.”

One Competitor commented: “I thought they were supposed to get certified refs for this tournament.”

I responded: “Don’t be fooled by our t-shirts. We are certified.”
Competitor: “Oh.”
Me: “Now get back there and serve and stop foot faulting.”

If you are a club player or coach, you will eventually officiate a volleyball match. A bit of advice to you, educate yourself! Know the rules and regulations.

And what’s not in the rule books: stand firm on your calls, don’t take crap from nobody. ;) On subjective calls, which is much of volleyball these days, if you don’t stand your ground, your credibility goes out the window.

Good luck (and try not throw anyone out of the game your first time).

Have anymore officiating tips? Post them below!

Aug 21

My week in Milwaukee: learnin, lovin and livin volleyball

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So, I just got back from Milwaukee where I spent a week watching Bond Shymansky coach the Marquette University volleyball team through their first week of practice.

Before I go much further, let me give you some background on Bond. He is the man! Seriously… I have more respect for this volleyball coach than any coach I’ve ever been around and I’ve been coaching for 9 years. He’s funny, witty, a great motivator and most of all… he knows his stuff. He doesn’t teach conventional volleyball. He teaches a unique, efficient style of play which he describes as “no wasted movement.” When I first watched his players, I thought, “What in the world are they doing (passing, hitting, etc.)?” and then when he breaks down strategy behind the movements, it makes sense. Now, sometimes I wonder how people succeed not using his techniques. I love it (don’t worry, you can see plenty of Bond’s drills demonstrated on our site).

Anyway. I had a great week in Milwaukee. What a cool town. So much character and history, not to mention a sweet beach where I played sand volleyball any chance I had! It’s hard to believe Lake Michigan is a… lake. Looks very ocean-y to me.

Well, I could almost write a book on my experience watching Bond coach.

The first thing that grabbed my attention was the level of expectation the coaches had for the players. You rarely saw a volleyball hit the floor without a girl chasing it.

Plus, passing is definitely a focus for them. They spent countless hours passing this week. I’ll confess, I get bored as a coach during passing drills for extended periods of time. But now I really have an appreciation for the time it takes to develop good passing habits.

Finally, the biggest lesson for me was that a team needs to learn how to win and it that learning happens in practice. Bond always put his team into drills where they had to reach a certain score. They were always competing against each other or competing with a disadvantage. He challenged them to win in all circumstances. This is a good way to build a mentally tough team, who learn to win even when things may not be going right.

Look for Marquette to be a force this year! They are legit and have the tools to make some noise. Good luck Coach!

Ahhh, I’m back home. And I brought Bond’s expectations and Division I coaching techniques back to my team. It’s going to be a challenging year as defending state champs. My volleyball team knows that hard work pays off and I know that this trip will pay off in the end when my team has the edge to win a tight match down the road.

Aug 19

1 vs. 3 advanced blocking drill

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The other night on my women’s team I was asked to play middle (I’m usually an outside). I like playing middle because it’s better workout and a big challenge and because I love both of those things, I accepted.

As a middle blocker, you have to be quick and attentive. MBs are not only responsible for blocking in the middle, they have to quickly run back and forth on the net to assist blocks on the pins. A good skill for a middle blocker is the ability to “read” the setter. Reading the setter gives the MB a head start to make it out to the block. Watch the setter’s legs, her back, her arms, the overall angle of her body… is she “pointing” where she’s going to set? I could go on for a while but basically reading takes practice just like any other skill in volleyball.

In the video below, you see one young MB trying to read the setter and keep up with the hitters. Which is why it’s called 1 vs. 3. One blocker vs. three hitters.