Campfires

In the last couple of months, I have had conversations with coaches about their team’s lack of intensity and desire when it comes to the backcourt in volleyball.  Whether it is on serve reception and/or defense players are letting the ball drop.

I believe that the athletes want to learn to improve and they are not lazy.  In addition, it usually is not a technical issue as they can perform the skill in a one on one situations. This is usually a read and react situation.  Today on a blog post on "At Home Court" the author, discuss that a questioning of the decision they make slows the player down a tenth of a second.  At the lower levels, it is probably longer. 

A good defense example is the ball is tipped to the center of the court (pot).  All of the players react to it but eventually all stand and see the ball fall between them.(The Campfire, because it looks like a group of people standing around a campfire watching it) 

All the players read the same situation they were just unclear whose responsibility it was to dig the ball.  A typical reaction is for the coach to yell “ call the ball”  but this doesn’t really solve the problem.  If all of the other players were removed from the situation, each one of the defenders probably could play that ball.  In a one-player drill, they can execute this coverage flawlessly. 

The team needs to decide who is responsible.  Is it the player behind the block who is held high just for tips? The rest of the team is worried about hard driven balls.  Is it the responsibility of the off blocker, who has to react and move to the middle of the court? Is it your middle back player who rushes up to dig this ball as they are moving in the direction of the net? All of these scenarios are correct if it is what is agreed upon by the team ahead of time.

Once these are agreed upon, it will be easier to train this scenario.  This is why I feel it is important to have multiple players in the drills.  We have to learn to read and react together.  This is the same for serve reception.  The players need to agree ahead of time who is taking which seam, who is getting the short serve…etc.  We rarely to serve reception drills with just one player. We try hard to include the decision making into each situation.  Then the coaches will find that the intensity and desire will magically improve as players are moving and reacting to the different situations together.

Pet Peeve

I have had the opportunity to work with some young middle years athletes the last few years.  I find that they are very keen and want to learn.  With YouTube and the FIVB website the young athletes have so many more opportunities to watch high level volleyball than before.

This summer I saw at Jasper volleyball camp a young guys court really play volleyball at a high level for their age.  The coaches of that group ran many game style drills that challenged them to grow.  Taught them to run a faster middle and backrow attacks.  Most of the guys on that court were attempting jump spin or jump floats serves.  It was a lot of fun to watch that court.   Of course, the drill was sloppy at times as players made errors.  However, the error was brushed off and another ball was put into play. 

It reminded me of a link John Kessel had on his blog of a U12 championship. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJmpZSNoIzY  That video is a great example of what can happen if we enter into a gym with no expectations or stereotypes of what the level of volleyball should be.

On another court the coaches of a young girls group had them trying to jump float.  There was a young 11 year old who couldn’t get the serve over the net with a standing over hand serve. Her camp coach suggested she try a jump float. The athlete was walking with the ball anyways trying to generate momentum.   By the end of the lesson, she was getting the ball over the net a few times. It was fun to see her excitement in this achievement.

Well I met this young athlete again and asked her how the jump float was working.  She said that her school coach won’t allow her to use it.  She needed to get 10 serve in a row in practice before they can use it in a match.  I was shocked.  The creativity and excitement this athlete had was being held back.  Seriously, I do not know if many university level players can make 10 game serves in a row. 

As coaches sometimes, we need to get out of the way and let the athlete experience and explore their skill level.  That is what is happening at the skate parks. The young athlete watch and try to emulate what they see.  We should be encouraging athletes to watch high level matches.  Then let them experiment with what they see.  

First Week Of School

First week of school

I find it hard to believe that it will be 35 years since I first walked into Camrose Lutheran College to start my university.  I was lucky because I had a great friend from high school going there with me and we became roommates. It was two very important years in my development

Before I left a friend of mine gave me some advice I pass on to my players every year. 

• Try to meet someone new the first day.  Then try to meet someone new in every one of your classes.  They probably don’t know anyone else in the class either.  Just start by saying Hi and asking where they are from.This advice was awesome for me.  I made some of my closest friends that first week.  I was able to catch up to some of them this past summer and had a great time reminiscing.
•   Make friends outside of your sport.  This is very important because we seem to be trapped in our little bubble.  When you are in university and playing sports it encompasses your whole life.  Your friends outside of the sport do not see it that way.  If you have a bad practice and feel down.  They appreciate you for who you are not what you did on the court. They still will watch a movie with you.  When you are with teammates all the time small sets backs feel larger than they are.
• 3.       Do not forget to eat.  If you have met me in the past few years, you will see I mastered this one.  However, my first year was so crazy we needed to schedule food.  I was on a meal plan so we all ate at the same time and it was very much a social event.  Nevertheless, I have been in some study sessions where time flew by. 
•   Try new things.  University is a time to explore what you want.  Night golf is fun if you have not tried it.  Glow bowling is great, just to name a few adventures.
• Everything is going to come up fast.  Midterms are not in the middle of the term.  They might be the third week.  Papers are due quickly; use the student services. If there is a writing center, go see them.  Every instructor wants a little different citing.  Remember every first year is in the same situation.  Second semester is so much simpler.  Ask for directions if you are lost.
• This first year will test you and will reward you.  Just live it day by day and stay positive.  Remember everyone else there is in the same situation as you.  It only feels like you’re the crazy first year who is lost and behind.

Three Most Common Recruiting Questions.

Recruiting is the lifeblood of every program.  There are many different styles of recruiters and recruits.  With Brandon University, being a smaller university in Usport recruiting also is the head coach’s responsibility. During my time recruiting, some common questions arise.  

1. How much will I play?

More and more young women can step in and help a line up right away. However, for most of the players they will have to work hard in practice for a few years to get much court time.

For most first years, eighty percent of their volleyball time is practicing.  This is where they develop skill and tactics. This allows them to try new skills, to fail and struggle without the fate of the team on their shoulders. Sport is tough that way, thousands of people get to watch a player succeed and fail over the course of their career.  That also means twenty percent of volleyball is actual game play.  In the case of most first years, it is more like five percent game play.  Therefore, eighty five percent of the year you are playing with people as talented as you or better than you are.  You will be challenged and improving daily.

2. How many classes should I take?

Most of our athletes take a reduced course load to handle the demands of being part of the program.  Thirty credits is a full course load. Most athletes will take 24 credits or less. Which means that they are taking one less course a semester.  Add that missed course a semester up over 4 years and you have a full eight courses left in your fifth year. That is a big reason why Usport has 5 years of eligibility rather than four.

3. What is a typical week like?

A student athlete’s demand on their time changes whether we are in season or out of season. Our season last from mid-October to end of February then playoffs start. Teams that make it to the finals then go to nationals will play until mid-March.

In season, our athletes will do weights for maintenance twice a week and a physical circuit once a week. This extra physical commitment is usually Monday to Wed. We find this helps prevent injuries as well as allows the athletes to perform at their best late in matches.

Next, we add extra academic demands for first year students or students who need academic help.  These students have study hall on Mondays.  We use study hall to help organize the student athletes.  We need to make sure they are aware of when assignments are due and test are scheduled.  We also will teach them some study skills.  With missing quite a few days for travel, athletes need to organize their time. They need to keep their instructors aware of days they are missing. They need to arrange to write tests on the road or before we leave. The student athlete often will hand in papers before due dates to accommodate travel schedules. 

Then we have two video sessions a week.  The video occurs before practice on Monday and Weds for 30 minutes. Here we review the past matches and what we need to focus on.  We also will go over game plan.  Monday we will show how other teams have had success against our upcoming opponent. This allows setters and hitters to work on shots that they might need for the upcoming matches.

We also have extra on court sessions; the athletes attend one small group training session over and above practices.  Our practices last for two hours a day Monday through Thursday.  This is where we have an opportunity to break things down a little more.  Have the athlete get a feel for a new skill.  During our regular practice time, it is all pass set hit drills.  There will be a major focus on a tactical or transitional part of the game.

We practice for two hours a day as a team.  This is a very quick tempo; we try to keep the flow going as much as possible.  We will start on two courts working on specific things.  A good example would be outside attackers covering a tip and transitioning outside for attack. Then middles liberoes and setters would be working on a push 41.  The end of practice is always 6 on 6,

Our travel is often by air; we usually fly out for our road trips Thursday around noon and return home Sunday around noon.  .

On match days will we will have an hour serve and pass practice in the morning. Then we will play our match that night. In Canada West, we have a schedule where you play the same team back-to-back nights. This makes the weekend very interesting. Always is fun to see the adjustments teams make.   We often practice at 9am and then return to hotel to watch video in smaller groups on Saturday. This allows the athletes a chance to schedule their day.  When to study when to sleep.  We will do a team meal together 2.5hrs before we play.

In our preseason, we will require more strength sessions. We go to three weight sessions a week and two dryland circuit sessions. We will have more court time as well.  We will practice 6 days a week and will begin the small group sessions.  We will begin our video and study sessions.  We try to emulate the amount of time they will be using the rest of the year.

Who Coaches the Coach?

A few years ago, I heard the phrase "You are the sum of the five people you spend the most time with". I use that phrase a lot with our athletes. Are the people who surround yourself with helping to make you a better player and person?

I have a great group of friends involved in coaching. Not all of them are volleyball coaches. These people allow me to discuss situations and help make my decisions. I have great colleagues that also love to improve their sport and enjoy talking coaching and science of coaching.  This is my main source of professional development.

However, over the years I have not taken many opportunities to pursue other professional development. I tend to just stay in my own gym and rely on books I read about coaching and leadership. I am a voracious reader. I love finding books. I tend to have 3 or 4 books on the go at one time. But specific volleyball professional development has been hard to come by. I discovered my love of learning later in my coaching career.

  When I lived in Alberta at the end of the season I would evaluate the year and write down some recommendations fo myself.  Then I would move on to the next team.  I was coaching year round. I loved coaching and wanted to be involved in everything.  College would finish then club practices would start. When Club finished Team Alberta would start.  Every experience with those teams  made me a better coach but I didn't have time to go back to those recomedations.  I was stuck in a perpetual cycle of what I knew as best practices.

When I decided to start my Masters in Coaching at University of Victoria I found my best practices challenged by what science was saying.  Dr. Van Jean taught our motor learning class and her class literally blew my mind.  It allowed me to rethink all the drills we used. Was this the best use of their time? Did it transfer from practice to matches? Was my feedback being a help or was I hindering learning with my constant chatter? It changed the way I coached and small success followed.

After I finished my Masters I was able to work in small chunks with our Canadian National Women's Team.  Here Arndt Ludwig ( Lupo) was putting the science we learned into practice. It was refreshing and I wanted to see more. A lot of my time with the national team my role was to stay behind and train the athletes who didn't travel. Again, I was in my own gym.

When I was selected to travel with the team I saw volleyball played at an incredibly high level.  The speed and power of the game again was a catalyst for change. It allowed me to change the way I looked at the game. I realized we can ask our athletes to do more. Our Canada West is a very good league and filled with incredible athletes but we can play faster and stronger.

I believe every coach and athlete need to watch the level above them.  Know what that is like and try to mimic it when possible.

Finally, after 20 years of being in my own gym and running my own program I felt stagnant. I longed again for that catalyst to help me improve as a coach. I applied to the University for a Sabbatical. I wanted to travel and discuss with different coaches’ about how they run their programs.  I  also want to see how they make game plan decisions and how they practice for these.  I want to ask them what they personally do to stay current. How do they find ways to challenge their ideas?

Luckily, Ken Murphy at Northern Arizona (NCAA Div 1) has offered to open his gym for me. He agreed to let me sit in on coaching meetings. Be around the team at practice and watch how his coaching interact.  He has been incredibly accommodating.  

I have also reached out to a few professional coaches in Europe who have agreed to meet with me.  I have found that most volleyball coaches are very accommodating and love to talk volleyball.  I know I enjoy it when I can sit around with coaches and banter ideas back and forth.

I love coaching and my career at Brandon University and hope to return a new and improved version of myself.

My goal is to share some of my thoughts and discoveries on this blog as I travel around in search of coaching best practices.

Assistant Coaches-Guest Blog Shane Smith

Guest Blogger – Shane Smith – 2015-16 BU Bobcats Women’s Assistant Coach

                                                     2016 Cats Club Head/ Assistant Coach

                                                     Canada Womens Senior Team Scout/ Assistant Coach

            It’s a couple of days after Lee Carter and I finished our U18 girl’s club season with the Cats Club from Brandon. We competed in the top division of the National Championship in Edmonton and finished respectably in the third tier, 21^st in the Nation to be exact. It is possible that I led the Nation in DQ Blizzards consumed this weekend at the Saville Center but that stat can’t be confirmed. What was interesting about this season was our coaching situation and that is what sparked me to write this blog post for Lee. The other reason being that his last blog was 7 months ago, so I thought I could help him out and appease his loyal followers until he gets around to writing another one. 

            The story of our coaching situation starts in September 2015. I was asked to come to Brandon and assist Lee with the women’s team at BU. This was a great opportunity for me as Lee is highly respected in Manitoba and across Canada as a volleyball coach. I have had many conversations with Lee over the years at various volleyball and social events and I knew I could learn a lot from being in his gym everyday.  I certainly did learn a lot. More on that in a bit.

            Back in September Lee also asked me to head coach the U18 Cats Club starting in January. I told him I wasn’t sure it would work because I had planned to be away for about a month in March and April, which is a critical time towards the end of the club season. He told me we could make it work. He also told me he had  already announced I would be coaching the team on his Twitter account so I didn’t have a choice. I guess what Lee Carter’s Twitter account says goes. We decided he would assist me for the first part of the season until I went away, then take over while I was gone, then assist me again when I got back for the last few weeks leading up to the National Championship. So for 2015-16 it went like this - I assisted Lee at BU, who then assisted me with the Cats, who then became the head coach of the Cats, who then assisted me who was again the head coach of the Cats. Got all that?  Who’s on first?

            Our change of roles throughout the year gave me some perspective from both sides and got me thinking about the role of an assistant coach. I thought about what I as a head coach want in an assistant coach that makes him or her great. Great assistant coaches are invaluable assets to sports programs. Assistant coaches can have a huge impact on everything from team culture to team communication, to the head coach’s decision making to athlete development. The list goes on and on. I reflected on our season at BU and I hope I was able to provide some of that for Lee and the Bobcats this past CIS season.  Here are five habits I learned along the way I think make a great assistant coach. I hope to be one someday.

THE 5 HABITS OF REALLY EFFECTIVE ASSISTANT COACHES.

1. Challenge the Head Coach

            A great assistant coach challenges the head coach to think critically about his or her decisions. If you, as an assistant coach have an opinion on something it is important that you speak up. It’s even more important that you speak up if your opinion differs from that of the head coach. The worst thing you can do is agree with everything. “Yes men” do not make great assistant coaches. With Lee we had the type of relationship where I could say to him “That’s a terrible idea”, or on a few occasions “Are you crazy?” (with the utmost respect of course). I wouldn’t recommend that unless you know your head coach really well. In most cases challenging the head coach may sound more like “What do you think about this…?”, or “I would like to see us try that…?”. A good head coach will appreciate your honesty and your effort to leave no stone unturned and explore all options. Your team will be much better for it.

2. Have the Coach’s Back

Challenging the coach is something that gets done in an office, or maybe over a pint at the pub, but not in public or in front of players.  As soon as you walk out of that office, or pay the bill at that pub the final decision by the head coach now must become your decision as well, even if you disagree with it. You have to give your complete support to the head coach and make that known. The coaching staff has to be united. If the head coach’s decision should end up going horribly wrong then the worst thing you can do is say “I told you so”, or tell others you didn’t agree with it. This type of behavior tears at the fabric of your team culture. To loosely quote George Costanza “A (coaching staff) divided amongst itself cannot stand!”. The head coach makes the final, often tough decisions and a great assistant coach supports the head coach through thick and thin, right and wrong. Continue to always tell players and others outside the team that you trust the head coach’s decisions and believe in the process of getting better.  Your loyalty to the head coach will not go unnoticed.

3. Bench Your Ego

A great assistant coach can have a huge impact on the enthusiasm and work ethic of a team on a day-to-day basis. Bench your ego, get your hands dirty, go out of your way and do the extra little things. Shag a ball, help to take out or setup equipment, fill in a spot in a drill, greet your team at the door at a 7AM workout. Whatever it takes. I don’t believe an assistant coach, or head coach for that matter is above any team duty. Taking initiative and going the extra mile goes a long way to nurturing that culture of hard work. If you work for a team that insists on a strong work ethic, as most do, then live it yourself everyday. I certainly don’t think you should let your players off the hook by doing the job for them but your extra effort can have a resounding effect.

4. Listen

The number 1 thing I listed that great assistant coaches do is challenge the head coach. I think it’s important that they also know when it’s time to just sit back and listen.  Sometimes head coaches have this need to spit everything out that’s swirling around inside their crazy heads. If the head coach starts talking and doesn’t ask for your opinion then it may be time to just listen. Listening and understanding exactly what a person is trying to say is another great way to build trust in a relationship. Don’t push your point of view on the head coach if the time is not right. I learned a little trick recently that works well. Instead of immediately giving your opinion after someone says something, just repeat the last few words back to him or her, like a parrot would. They’ll continue talking on the subject and it frees you up to keep listening. Try it. Your head coach will really appreciate your newfound listening abilities.

5. Tell Good Jokes

Being a head coach can be a stressful job, especially in high performance sport where every result is scrutinized in the media and by fans. In many cases poor results can cost coaches their jobs. Tensions run high sometimes. The assistant coach is in a great position to know the head coach well and know when his or her stress levels are through the roof. Your team will feel that stress and tension, even if you as coaches don’t realize it’s there. It can have a real negative effect. Know when to tell a joke or poke some fun at each other, after all we are working in a sport we love and it should be fun. It’s good for our health to laugh and smile. Sometimes it helps to be reminded of that.   

There it is! I know there’s always more that can be done but if I could find someone who demonstrates these five habits on a daily basis I would hire them as my assistant coach in a second. Being a Winnipeg Jets fan also helps. The only consolation for that this year was that Carter’s Oilers were worse.

Happy Coaching!

Multisport Discussion Again

Multisport Argument Again.

On our last bus trip we were discussing multisport athletes compared to ones that specialize at a younger age.  The comment that was made on the bus that resonated with me is resiliency.  An athlete that is a star player of a sport at a young age and plays only that sport is always treated different.  They really don’t have to learn to adjust to coming off the bench or struggling because they are not the best yet.  Then when the athlete hits a certain level and they are required to play in a backup role to learn more they don’t have the skills to cope with this new set of circumstances.

 In the book “The Art of Learning” by Josh Waitzkin he says “Successful people shoot for the stars, put their hearts on the line in every battle and ultimately discover that the lessons learned from the pursuit of excellence means much more than the immediate trophies and glory. In the long run painful losses may prove much more valuable than wins-those who are armed with a healthy attitude and are able to draw wisdom from every experience, “good” or “bad” are the ones who make it down the road”. 

Athletes that pick up new sports struggle for a while and really have to focus on improvement. It teaches them to be resilient and to continue to try to improve.  I was talking with a bunch of retired Canadian men’s volleyball players that live in Calgary.  After they retired a bunch took up playing hockey and basketball.  They had a basic understanding of the sports but really enjoy the challenge of the new sport and get a thrill out of learning again.

To only choose to do things we are already strong at really hide our ability to cope when we get to different situation.