Another highlight of my time at the University of Minnesota was the opportunity to not only meet Lindsey Berg, but get to know her. She was able to work with the coaching staff and provide us a different perspective about the team. As with any outside point of view, it is always invaluable, but coming from a two-time Olympian, her Continue Reading

The mental game. Do we coach it enough? Do coaches know how to coach it? In club, it is sprinkled throughout practices. When I coached at Georgia Southern, the team had the benefit of working with a sports psychologist. He provided some great team insight and exercises, but he wasn’t utilized enough. I think many collegiate programs incorporate a sports psychologist with their programs because its what everyone else is doing, to “keep up with the Jones’s”. Mick Haley uses a team psychologist, Mike Voight, throughout the season with, I believe, great benefit. At the University of Minnesota, Dr. Mike Hebert handles the team psychology lessons. He prepares his “Championship Manual” during the off-season and presents it to the team during the pre-season. His season plan also incorporates a day each week for mental learning and preparation. I appreciate the psychological side of sports and didn’t realize how fortunate I was to be a part of Minnesota Volleyball to partake in these player and team building sessions.

I continue to learn by reading books of the mind. I just finished Jonah Lehrer’s How We Decide. The book provides in-depth analysis on two primary functions of the brain that are responsible for emotion and logic. The key is to find a crucial mental balance between emotion and logic. This further confirms my belief that balance, be it with the mind, nutrition, exercise, etc. is the ultimate core of life. The Yin and the Yang. The Id and the Ego.

Here are a few concepts I took from the book that can be incorporated with volleyball:

• The only way for anyone to succeed over the long term is to use both brain systems in their proper contexts. We need to think and feel.
• The brain always learns the same way, accumulating wisdom through error.
• The best decision makers don’t despair. Instead, they become students of error, determined to learn from what went wrong. They think about what they could have done differently so that they next time their neurons will know what to do. This is the most astonishing thing about the human brain; it can always improve itself.
• Strong emotional reaction to gains or losses can be counterproductive. Too little emotional reaction can also be dangerous. There is an ideal range of emotional response.
• The problem with statistics is that they don’t activate our moral emotions. Interpret quantitative data, not just obey it.
• Slight drop in blood-sugar levels can also inhibit self-control, since the frontal lobes require lots of energy in order to function.
• A follow-up study found that instead of thinking about the mechanical details of the swing, experienced golfers should focus on general aspects of their intended movement, what psychologists call a holistic cue word. For example, instead of contemplating something like the precise position of the wrist or elbow, the player should focus on a descriptive adjective, such as smooth or balanced.
• There was absolutely no evidence of the hot hand. (Alan Reifman has an entire blog on this topic: click here)
• The motor cortex and brain stem are the first parts to mature in children. Those areas are fully functional by the time humans hit puberty. In contrast, brain areas that are relatively recent biological inventions – such as the frontal lobes – don’t finish growing until the teenage years are over. The prefrontal cortex is the last brain area to fully mature.
• Study mistakes for logic. Play game by emotion.

It is my interpretation that coaching the mental game should be a routine part of practice, but it has to be balanced with the physical aspect. My mom always told me, everything in life needs to have balance. Mom’s always know best :)

The reason I am a volleyball coach…

LCV Club has been such a blessing for the whole [name withheld] family and we are so grateful to have had this experience. Chuck, I remember when our daughter was a freshman and you invited her to come to Big South with your team. We sat outside of the CNN Center and you talked to the team about your philosophy for that tournament. You told them to work hard, try jump serves, have fun and…you shared your story of life lessons. I knew you were correct about vb and all the lessons the girls would take from this sport to use throughout their lives. I wasn't sure what that would look like for our daughter, but I was excited about the possibilities ahead. I saw you inspire her as you helped her define her goals, she embraced what you said and was so grateful that you believed in her enough to share your thoughts. I have seen her work on this sport all through these years and deep inside was that passion to prove you right for believing in her. You challenged her with the proper effort, diet, commitment and focus, her dreams could become a reality, and now that opportunity awaits her, simple amazing!!!

This player is now going on to play in college. Awesome! :-) Teaching Life Lessons Through Volleyball

Perspective

So I will no longer be shopping at Barnes and Noble. At Christmas, I received a $15 gift card. I went to purchase The Art of Strategy, another John Kessel recommendation, for $20 at BN.com and noticed the opportunity for free shipping if I spend $25 or more. I searched for another book, Mental Toughness Training for Volleyball, by Mike Voight and Mick Haley, this also cost $20. Total purchase of $40. I compared prices for the exact same books at Amazon and found the total was over $10 cheaper at Amazon.  I wrote to service@barnesandnoble.com to inquire if anything can be done about the price difference. Here is their lame response:

Dear Customer,

Barnes & Noble offers very competitive pricing on many items, resulting in the best value for our customers. However, we do not honor requests to match the prices of our competitors for individual products, and we are unable to adjust the price of your order. We regret any inconvenience, and thank you for your understanding.

Sincerely,

Ronak

Customer Service Representative

Barnes and Noble

I probably would have been satisfied with even a $5 credit, but instead I received this canned response. I even followed up by emailing Barnes and Noble’s Director of E-commerce and the Vice President of E-commerce. It would have been nice to get a reply from an intern at least, but I got nothing. So for $10 they lost me as customer.

Shop Amazon for better deals and better customer service.

If Chuck Norris can have the Total Gym, an AVP star should at least get an ab machine!?!? Maybe I am biased, but beach volleyball players are the best conditioned athletes in the world. Try walking around in sand all day and tell me how you feel, nevermind running and jumping in it. I’m surprised an AVP star hasn’t hooked up with a workout video company or new ab machine.

My father was diagnosed with adult onset diabetes (Type II) when he was in his 40s. I believe his father also had Type II Diabetes, but during his generation it wasn’t understood or diagnosed as often. Because of my father’s diagnoses, it forced me to think about my eating habits, which is why I try to live a healthy lifestyle. I hope through my example, I influence the players I coach.

At the University of Minnesota, the team follows the Zone Diet. The Zone Diet is basically about controlling three types of hormones generated by your diet: insulin, glucagon, and eicosanoids. The team had a great husband and wife chef team to provide a post-practice and pre-game Zone meal. While at the University of Minnesota following the Zone Diet, I felt great and became a true believer in the Zone Diet. There are many professional athletes, such as 41 year old Olympic swimmer, Dara Torres, that religiously live by the Zone Diet.

I am a big proponent of the Zone Diet. When I shop, my goals are low sugar content, good carbohydrates (try the high protein, low carb pastas), and low sodium. My grocery shopping certainly is not an exact science like the Zone Diet, but a basic guideline. And I do want to dismiss the rumor that eating healthy is expensive. I disagree. One less Starbucks Capuccino will certainly make-up for any extra you might pay for a higher quality food. Healthy food is medicine.

Here is another angle to look at nutrition. Knowledge is power. This may provide a different insight. At Georgia Southern University, I developed and implemented with the guidance of a nutritionist the following:

This is the Georgia Southern University Volleyball Nutrition Guide. Notice the word GUIDE. A guide only provides you with the basics of proper nutrition and it would not hurt you to do your own research online, in magazines, and from books. The basis of the guide comes from the USA Olympic Volleyball Team and AVP Tour. Additional research has come from nutrition books, magazines, internet, and a few books. We recommend you look into Shape Magazine, Self Magazine, Women’s Fitness, Runners World, ivillage.com, and books for a better understanding of proper nutrition for women.

Athletes

You are ultimately responsible for the food you put into your body. What you eat will directly affect your output at the gym, on the court, and at tournaments. Food choices at school and at restaurants are critical. We recommend you bring your lunch to school and if you “have to” eat fast food, make it a healthy fast food restaurant (Subway, Quiznos, Moe’s). But just eating at these “healthier” fast food places is not enough, be sure to order healthy foods, not loaded down with mayo, bad oils, or fattening dressings. It is your choice to eat right at these places, make the right choice for yourself and your teammates.

Many times the meals consumed one or two days before a tournament can directly affect your performance. So make the right decisions for maximum performance!

Grocery Shopping

You are now the ones that do the food shopping and cooking. It is your responsibility to purchase healthy foods (more discussed below) and cook healthy meals. You will learn how to read the nutrition labels provided on foods and make wise choices accordingly (see nutrition label).

We also highly recommend keeping snack foods and finger foods such as nuts, grapes, bananas, etc. easily accessible. We often make food choices by convenience, so make those ‘convenient’ snacks healthy. You will be surprised how much and how often healthy snacks are eaten! If you ‘must’ buy bad foods, purchase them less frequently and in smaller quantities and make them a once a week treat, not something easily accessible everyday.

It is also your responsibility to be a good role model for teammates and make healthy lifestyle choices. Lead by example. On tournament road-trips, we will stop to eat at healthy fast food restaurants. Restaurants like McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, Taco Bell, etc. have been clinically proven to cause obesity, heart disease, and cancers. Think of it this way: Do you smoke? We are certain you do not because of the negative health issues, so why go to places that cause negative health problems?

What to Eat

The same basic nutrition principles apply to both men and women. The major food groups include Complex Carbohydrates (WHOLE GRAIN breads – not white bread, SWEET Potatoes, not white baked or mashed potatoes, NO SUGARS), Vegetables (or Fibrous Carbohydrates such as leafy lettuce (not ICEBURG!), spinach, broccoli), Fruits (Berries are great!), Protein (Nuts, Fish, Poultry, Eggs, low-fat red meat and dairy), Healthy Fats (Olive Oil, Soy Oil).

Notice what should limited: SUGAR and SALT (we try to avoid as much processed sugar and salt as possible), Soft Drinks or Candy (loaded with SUGAR), Chips (loaded in fat and salt), Fried Foods (terrible…blah!), Butter (just fat), mayonnaise (puke), and we are sure there are TONS of other things we are missing. Just ask!

Smoothies

Another food item we are a big advocate are smoothies. Not store bought smoothies because they are loaded with processed sugars (all fruits contain natural sugar…in moderation is good for you). We make smoothies at home with ice, milk, fruits, and a protein mix (Whey or Soy protein). The protein mixes come in a powder and purchased in the grocery store or a health food store like GNC. A smoothie is a great after workout, after practice, or tournament day (it is also great for long car rides) food that quickly replenishes your muscles with needed nutrition. ALWAYS eat after working out or practice!!! Your body is like a car, if you run out of gas or deplete all your energy, you will not be able to function. Proper nutrition is just as important as working out.

For great smoothie recipe’s, see the Runner’s World article.

When to Eat

We are not done yet! Three large meals a day will make you fat, no matter what you eat OR one meal a day teaches your body to store fat and you will gain weight more easily. Ideally, you should eat 5 or 6 SMALLER meals a day. This keeps your metabolism up and you burn fat much much faster. Here is an idea of the meals:

Meal 1. NEVER SKIP Breakfast! We are a HUGE proponent of Oatmeal (it helps reduce cholesterol and helps shed fat). Have oatmeal with some protein (a couple egg whites or yogurt), and a piece of fruit. I often mix blueberries in with my oatmeal, mmm, mmm good!

Meal 2. Mid-morning snack. A low-sugar, low-fat granola bar or protein bar (read the labels) or a handful of nuts, and a banana. Keep the metabolism burning.

Meal 3. Lunch. A turkey sandwich on 100% WHOLE WHEAT BREAD with vegetables like spinach, tomatoes, onions, and carrots. Drink water with your meal too! Subway is not a bad alternative to homemade…get wheat bread.

Meal 4. Mid-afternoon snack. Maybe a couple tablespoons of natural peanut butter with celery. Or I always make myself a smoothie this time of day.

Meal 5. Dinner. Fish is GREAT!!!! Have a small Salmon or Tuna steak with a sweet potato and steamed broccoli. Eat more fish and limit lean red meat consumption to once, maybe twice a week.

Meal 6. After practice. Have a smaller smoothie. Light on the stomach and filled with good stuff!

Quantity of proteins, carbohydrates, vegetables, fruits, and fats varies, but I try to stick with well balanced proportions, such as a 25% protein, 40% carbs, 25% veggies/fruits, and 10% healthy fat for my main meals.

Also, drink LOTS OF WATER! Carry a water bottle around with you throughout the day. Water is key for hydration, digestion, healthy skin, and many many other benefits.

A Lifestyle Change

This Nutrition Guide should not be a temporary ‘diet’ that you abide by one day and not another. This should be an everyday lifestyle change that you choose to make. It will not be easy at first, but if you want to be the best, this is another piece of the puzzle. This diet will get you in shape (in shape does not mean less pounds on the scale. Scales are meaningless. Muscle weighs more than fat and we want lean muscle on you). In shape means that you will have a much fitter, much leaner, much stronger, much healthier body. We promise, you will feel better and you WILL look better too. We promise!

Ask questions and do your own research. This nutrition program is part of our team goal, to be the best conditioned athletes on the court!

Let me preface this blog: this is not a political blog, this is purely marketing.

Fast Company Magazine, March 2009 issue, ranked The World's 50 Most Innovative Companies. #1 wasn't Google, not Apple, nor Hulu (and if you don't know Hulu, this blog's for you), it was Team Obama. The headline reads, “The year's most successful startup took a skinny kid with a funny name
and turned him into the most powerful new national brand in a
generation.” The headline hits a soft spot; I'm a kinny kid, without the funny name. Maybe I'll be President yet! ;)

Before my coaching career, I spent 10 years in international marketing, selling millions of consumer goods through television, catalog, direct mail, and over the internet. I just might have some insight into effectively marketing your volleyball program. How will you differentiate your program? How will you, as a coach, stand out? In a tough economic time, what is it going to take to fill MORE seats? Are you already succumbing to the spiraling economy and have you already accepted a decrease in booster or fundraising participation for the season? How are you going to INCREASE fundraising dollars? What is it going to take to attract recruits in this “Twitter-ing” technology? Take a look at the Team Obama way…

Team Obama and the power of technology.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt took advantage of radio to win his presidential campaign, JFK demoralized Nixon on television debates, and Barack Obama exploited technology online. Team Obama's campaign, known as the “Triple O” (Obama's Online Operation), raised a record $750 million. Online donations totaled $500 million, a vast bulk in increments of $100 or less. How is your online fundraising?

In the interim between my volunteer position at the University of
Minnesota and my next coaching gig, I lucked into an internet
consulting position for the world's “Guru of Customer Service” (as
called by USA Today and Time Magazine), Mr. John Tschohl (JohnTschohl.com). For 38 years, Mr. Tschohl has been preaching service culture plans to organizations (see Diagram 1 on right). The message is eerily
similar to Team Obama's campaign plan: Create a Culture. See the Team Obama graph below and you'll notice a similar upward rising trend. Both experts utilize a vast array of technologies to systematically remind and rejuvenate people over time. What is your program's culture? I assume your program may come up with a single idea to stimulate fundraising, or a new way to attract fans, or to bring in that top recruit. Albeit might be a great idea, it is just that, a single idea. After that fan visits once or you were able to get that recruit to contact you once, what happens after? Does the fan want to return? Does the recruit even remember the name of your mascot or have they already received the next call from the next school on their way home from visiting your school? Team Obama and John Tschohl are successful because they consistently present new, invigorating ideas through different mediums that your audience uses over time. They create a culture.

Terry Pettit did a masterful marketing job to create the Nebraska volleyball culture. He did not simply reach out and ask people to come watch a match. He understood that volleyball was a complicated game, fans needed to be educated, and going to a match one time might be more confusing than entertaining (Why didn't that spike count and the ref is holding up two fingers? Why is the ref signaling a traveling call?). Instead, Pettit went out and sold season tickets to companies. Companies give away these tickets to customers and employees, who over time, continued to attend matches. Season tickets systematically reminded and rejuvenated these customers and employees to attend matches. These customers and employees eventually became part of the Nebraska volleyball culture that we love today.

Follow along (click on the Team Obama graph below) and compare Team Obama's Triple O marketing plan to your program's marketing plan. (Does your program have a marketing plan? Do you ever wonder why the University of Florida has great attendance? Mary Wise wrote a nice article about marketing your program a couple years ago in the AVCA Coaching Magazine). Team Obama's first operation was to create a social networking website, mybarackobama.com. Through that website, over 2 million profiles were created and these members took the initiative to start over 200,000 offline events. Next, Barack Obama joined over 16 commercial social network websites like MySpace and Facebook. Do your boosters have an online place they can gather, chat, brainstorm, and commiserate? Your boosters love to talk about 'their' volleyball team. VolleyTalk seems to be a popular public forum, but it's hardly linked to your program. How are you connecting with those members? What about for recruiting? Kids these days are the driving force of social networks. Myspace is slowly fading, but Facebook is all the rage with Twitter quickly catching-up. Wouldn't it be great for these kids, potential recruits, to become associated with your program? A social-networking website or at least a MySpace and Facebook group is a good start.

But Chuck, my budget is being slashed! My club dues are too high already! We can't afford to create a social networking website! I say, BOLOGNA! When there is a will there is a way. Have you looked into Ning.com? How about Clubspaces.com? These are free websites to create a social network. MySpace and Facebook are already free. But Chuck, I haven't a clue how to set-up one of these social-networking websites! I don't understand technology, let alone a social-network! I say, BOLOGNA AGAIN! You are around the driving force of technology every day, kids. Believe in their power and you have the world at your fingertips.

When I started my first e-commerce website in 1998 when the technology bubble was just blowing-up, I didn't have much money to hire a fancy, high-tech company to develop a snazzy website. Instead, I went back to college. Not to attend, but to where technology was being created, by the students. I developed a relationship with the Dean of a small university in Ottawa, Kansas called Ottawa University. We created an educational program for college credits where the students experimented, designed and created the functionality and platform of this e-commerce website. The students attained real world knowledge of business and e-commerce. Not only did we develop a website at little expense, but we even hired a few of the graduating students to continue with the project. It was a low cost, highly effective way to implement technology. These resources are widely available within your institution, from high school to any university. Take advantage of your internal network!

Social networking websites are only one piece of the technology puzzle. When creating a culture, we need many ideas to remind and rejuvenate (the attention span of recruits these days lasts as long as a sneeze – they need constant reminding). The reminding needs to come from many types of technology mediums. If you ask a child how his day was when he comes home from school, isn't the answer always, “Fine.” Don't you think they are tired of that question? But if you ask the same question via text or email or video, the question doesn't sound repetitive. The child might not think you are 'bothering' them (as much). You might get a text reply saying, “LOL gr8t day! :-)” Now you just have to translate the message. The point being is to use technology in different formats.

Continue along Team Obama's political campaign path (in the graph above), notice his next technology tool was a YouTube video. By Election Day, 1,800 videos (created by his supporters for free) were posted on YouTube that generated over 110 million views! It is not difficult to upload a video on to YouTube (add a video to Google Video too – be seen – be on as many websites as possible). Upload part of a match or a press conference. Not a big enough program to have a press conference? Create your own and upload it to your school's website. Why not video a practice or demonstrate a particular skill? Club and high school coaches are sponges, they love to learn. It's a great way to make a better relationship with these coaches (continually reminding them too of your program).

Text messaging was next in Team Obama's quest to world domination :-) Today, people prefer text to annoying phone calls (tele-marketing anyone?). Obama had more than one million people signed up for his text message program, each receiving 5 to 20 targeted text messages per month. High School and Club coaches don't have an issue with text messages, but before all my NCAA Coaches tell me they can't use text for recruits, I say correct. But what about those high school and club coaches? Continue to build your affinity with them by an occassional text update. The nice part about building your program's culture is that you do not have to text them but maybe once every three months. Between texts, you will have sent them an invitation to your social network, a link to your video, what about an email newsletter next?

Email newsletters should already be a common occurrence for your program. Each month (obviously with permission) an email update about the program should be sent out. Don't make it a plain, text-only email newsletter! Make it a colorful and eye-catching newsletter, use pictures, graphs, and link it to your program's website. If you have Scoutware, you are at an advantage, but any basic HTML program can easily create an interesting looking newsletter. I recommend after delivery of this email, post the newsletter in a blog. A blog? Yes a blog. Blogs not only offer a great way to deliver information, but its a great place to archive information by topic and date.

Bethany University Head Coach, Reed Duffus, has done a good job with his “Cup of Joe with Coach” Blog. His blog provides great insight into his fun character, “I must share that Dunkin' Donuts ground coffee is very awesome – found
some at the grocery store this past week. Back to volleyballand…”, and he even lets recruits know in his February 20th blog the tournaments he and his assistant coach will be attending. Awesome! Furthermore, players of your team enjoy blogs (like social-networks). Have each player submit one or two articles per season. It could be on pre-season training, a recent tournament, summer break activities, etc. Have them post pictures and maybe even mention something about a fundraiser or particular booster too. Not only will they enjoy it, but the coaching staff certainly gets a kick and some insight into their minds. And the fundraiser or booster who was mentioned, expect a check coming from them shortly!

Tweet, Tweet! This Twitter thing keeps chirping in my ear. Honestly, I haven't figured out the facination of Twitter, but it seems to be the rage. Team Obama posted Joe Biden as his running mate on Twitter before announcing it to the main stream media. Team Obama believes in fans first (heck they are part of the team now and they like thinking they're on the inside). Twitter claims to be the answer to one simple question: What are you doing? It's a real-time social network that allows a user 140 charcters to update their status. They can tell the world what they are doing at that particular moment. Just another technology avenue to keep your program name out there. Instead of a text, why not Twitter?

So how did Barack Obama become the 44th President of the United States? He created a culture through technology. Team Obama utilized a vast array of technologies to systematically remind and rejuvenate people over time. Social networks, video, texts, blogs, newsletters, emails, and Twitter were all essential to his campaign in continually peaking interest. But all these mediums still needed a focal point, a gathering place, a place to put it all together, and that was BarackObama.com. The website was not only the campaign's anchor, but it boasted a clear, poignant, confident message: CHANGE, HOPE, YES WE CAN! These few words changed history. What words resonate throughout your program? What does your website say about your program?Your programs website should shout out its personality and culture!

Unfortunately, my job search has forced me to visit too many dull, boring University websites. For the most part, they are all the same and I have two pet peeves. The first is the URL addresses of these websites are ridiculous. Check out
the University of Minnesota's URL:
http://www.gophersports.com/SportSelect.dbml?SPID=3301&DB_OEM_ID=8400 This will look good on a marketing banner, not. Simply have it as www.gophersports.com/volleyball. Keep it
simple. Recruits have an easier time remembering simple. The second pet peeve is the difficulty to find a coach's email address! “Coaches don't want to be bothered?!?!” That's your job, be bothered! Get a second email address for players and staff if necessary. I'm always impressed with the best coaches that reply to my email almost as soon as I send them out.

It appears, most universities have contracted out their websites to third-party companies that provide a basic template that includes, coaches, roster, schedule, statistics, and archives. This content is necessary, but spice it up! Yes, there are NCAA Rules to follow, but the NCAA, like the government, is always too slow to keep up with technology. The University of Nebraska has a nice, non-template website that offers a large list of easily accessible information. Right at the top reads, “Welcome Recruits”. Click on it and it opens a page that has information like “Why Nebraska?” and “How to Contact a Coach” (although when I click on “How to Contact a Coach”it, it brings me to the 2009 Roster and says “No staff listed for this season”). And then there is the infamous “Recruiting Questionnaire”. They are all the same, so standard, about 30 questions to answer. Yawn. Don't you think kids get tired of filling out these same questionnaires? They might fill out the school's questionnaire they don't have a chance of playing at and forget yours. Why not have a simple three question questionnaire. It asks: name, age, and email address. Maybe a player from Hawaii, that you would have never known about checked out your school's website from a cool YouTube video posted by a fan and filled out your quick questionnaire by chance? Maybe you'll take a look at them at the next tournament?

Along the same lines, have a place for fans to request a newsletter on your program's homepage. Another quick and simple three question form: name, age, email address. This is a great way to build a fan base with a monthly newsletter (or video blog or text), especially as a reminder of your program in the off-season. How about have your program's roster as a video? Each player can introduce themselves around different parts of your campus. A high tech method to show-off your school. Don't forget to include the blog mentioned earlier or create a video blog. These technologies can all be easily implemented under your team's current website or branch out and create a more exciting website. Remember, your school is a wealth of knowledge and resources. The students at your school could develop this website and I am confident they will paint a better picture of your school's culture than any third party company. The University of South Florida has done a nice job with this concept: USFVolleyball.com. I'm not so sure I'd have the coaches as the main focal point of their website, but they do have a nice blog. Props to them for being different! It's this differentiation that will give them a competitive advantage.

Phew, it sounds like a lot of work, and it is, but you will get 10 times more out of marketing then you put into it. The initial leg work is difficult, but over time, you are building a culture that will carry your program. Barack Obama is now President. John Tshohl, the “Guru of Customer Service”, has a service culture that's lasted for over 38 years. When Donald Trump was asked what he would do if he had to do it all over again, his reply: “I would get into network marketing.” Mike Hebert is masterful at the many details of marketing and he's got one of best and longest tenured fan bases going. Through this fan base, he has a great booster club. Through this booster club, he's able to get 'things' for his program that other programs can't afford (the University of Minnesota Team Room is awesome!). These 'things' bring in those top recruits. Those top recruits help make a successful program over the years. It's what helps make the best the best and helps keep the best the best.

I received an email from a coach asking for feedback about players that miss practices and tournaments when part of a small club. In theory, the principle of missing practice and tournaments at a small or large club should be the same, but there are some unique instances that always spring-up. Following is my reply. Your feedback on this subject is appreciated too.

Missing practices and tournaments with a small club will always be
a delicate balancing act. There is no real competition for girls to lose their roster spot, so certain concessions are inevitable. As you know, it spirals into a terrible precedent for the others on the team (what’s good for one, the others follow). Take a look for a moment, outside the small city in which you live, and the small club environment you are accustom to coaching. Check-out Northern Lights Juniors Club, the premiere club in Minneapolis. They own an 8 court training facility, including a state-of-the-art weight room. Each age group (12 – 18) is at least 3 teams deep. The dues can be as high as $3,500 per season. This type of club obviously has other issues, but missing practices and tournaments (which is flights around the country) isn’t considered. When someone is there to take your spot, you make practice, and missing a tournament is never an option. The underlying internal competition is what makes Minnesota volleyball great.

But when kids grow up in their “bubble”, the real world is not relevant. Making two practices a week, should not be an issue and tournaments are scheduled out enough time in advance. It comes down to what these kids really want and how do you motivate these kids that are raised in an unique environment? All kids at these small clubs will tell you they want to play volleyball in college, but they will also tell you that they want to be a professional golfer and celebrity actress too. Their parents are paying for them to take lessons in everything, and the local papers rave about their
accomplishments, so they must be the next in line to be Annika Sorenstam and Jennifer Anniston. All they have to do is show-up…when they want to.

There obviously needs to be a paradigm shift for most of these kids to learn how to struggle and fight for what they want, but that will happen when the beach erodes. Don’t get me wrong, there are exceptions, but you know the overwhelming majority. Am I preaching to the choir?

So what’s the answer? I believe it is difficult to reign in the leash in the middle of the season. The precedent has to be set at the beginning of the season. From purely a coach’s perspective, it is great that kids were cut this past season at tryouts, the competition is good for them. I’m sure the girls that wanted to make a team didn’t miss a tryout? The problem is after tryouts is over, they enter the “safe zone”. Its during the initial organizational meeting, throughout tryouts, and at the first parent meeting announcements about missing practices and tournaments will not be tolerated. It needs to be followed-up with a written letter to the parents outlining the team guidelines, including the part of the Player/Parent Handbook about missing practices which they signed. Following is a letter that was written, in the most part, by Terry Pettit, University of Nebraska Hall of Fame Coach, to parents that was adopted by us at Georgia Southern. Along with this letter was an NCAA packet of rules and GSU Volleyball Team Guidelines.

Dear Eagle Volleyball Parents:

When your daughter comes to Georgia Southern University, I pledge that we will use all our resources to give her the opportunity to develop into an outstanding volleyball player, student, and citizen.

We will treat her the same way that we would like our own child to be treated, which means that there will be times when she will be challenged, encouraged and pushed to do things beyond what she believes she is capable. We will not physically or mentally abuse her. We will not ‘run her off’ to another school when we have the opportunity to recruit someone with more talent. This is our commitment to you.

Here is the commitment we need from you, the parents: There will be times in your daughter’s collegiate career where she may be frustrated, anxious, or angry for any of the following reasons. She may find the expectations more than she anticipated. She may be asked to play a role on the team that is not the one she dreamed. She may not enjoy competing every day against other athletes as skilled and talented as she is. She may not yet have an appreciation for delayed gratification. She may interpret information as judgment. She may long for something else that appears easier or more comfortable. She may be overwhelmed by a combination of these factors.

If she is, then she is having a normal college experience that is typical for someone who is moving through adolescence to adulthood. While this happens, there will come a moment when she calls, emails, or texts you and wants to do one of the following: leave school and come home, transfer to another school, or organize a plot to get us fired.

I need you to make a commitment that when your daughter calls you will listen, you will communicate your love for her, and then you will tell her to get back to the tough business of growing up and becoming accountable for the challenges that she is lucky enough to have before her.

If you cannot make this commitment, then you need to look at other options. If you can, fasten your seatbelt and welcome aboard.

Sincerely,

Of course, with this letter, we still had issues. This at least set a foundation. My second year coaching club at Low Country Volleyball Club in South Carolina (we had three teams in our entire club), I had to let a couple kids go during the season because of practice and tournament absences (among other issues). As a young coach, this was a gut wrenching decision, but a blessing in disguise. Principles must be upheld. So, we ended the season with 6 players. These 6 players and parents were much happier after the removal of the less committed kids. Coaching was much more enjoyable (knowing how many would show up at practice was a pleasure!) and we ended up winning the USAV Palmetto Region Power Division that year. There is a lot to be said for kids that want it versus those playing for other reasons.

In my opinion, a balance between being too demanding and too lenient must be determined. The rules of the club must be public, gone over (sometimes many times) and enforced. Sometimes your team might have specific situations and policies outside the club guidelines. The player and parents of the team must aware of these situations and maybe even allowed to meet together about them. It is also crucial that the the club director is involved and backs your decision.

In a tough economic time, especially for club volleyball, you have great empathy for the parents. I appreciate that, but look outside the bubble, look at a majority of the clubs across the country. These parents are not paying even half of what these other clubs charge. You coach club, just as I always have, on a volunteer basis. These parents don’t know how good they got it.

During the season at the U of MN, Mike Hebert received an email from a club coach of which he passed along to me. The club coach was concerned with devising an offense system for a team with very little height. The club coach was quick to point out that the team had three great liberos. Here is my reply with Mike’s blessing, it also gives some insight of things I learned at the U of MN:

I hope this email will help save some trees and save you some money from all the paper you are using trying to devise an offense. But let’s look at two things first: 1) Defense 2) Height, and then we can discuss offense.

Allow me to offer some perspective, this past weekend the U of MN played a great, yet grueling 5 set match against an aggressive, #17 ranked Illinois team. Their two “giant” middles combined for a total of 3 blocks out of Minnesota’s 177 total hitting attempts. Illinois dug 82 of those 177 total attempts. Let me ask you this question now, would you prefer to have two great middles or 3 great liberos? It sounds as if your team might be in better shape than you think. Its defense that wins championships.

As much as we would like our middles to block every ball or at least touch every ball hit, it is impossible. In your situation especially, the goal of the middle is to channel the ball, with a clear path, to the defense. It is best to design a defense, and your block, based on your backrow strengths.

Now let’s talk a little about height before we design a defense. Minnesota is recruiting a 5′11″ middle blocker. How can she match-up against the giant 6′5″, 6″6″ girls of the Big Ten? Quickness and her ability to read the game. Her quickness and ability to read the game will enable her to get to the pins faster than most “giants”. She will be able to set-up an effective block that will enable our defense to dig more balls than our opponent.

So let’s set-up your defense based on some blocking strategies developed over the years from Paul Arrington and Jim Coleman. Conventional wisdom has been that one blocker is good, two or more must be better. After intense analysis of blocking (a well formed two person block, a poorly formed two person block – hole in block, bad timing, etc., and a one person block) the study found that a well formed two person block is best, but it was proven that a one person block is about two times as effective versus a poorly formed two person block. With this being the case, your three great defense players are now looking even more valuable.

So with this in mind, your middles (who are quick and already read the game well) can now ‘release’ to block an opponents strength, especially in two hitter rotations (when the setter is front row). Release means that the coach (or player) will determine before your serve (based on experience and statistics, if available) that the middle blocker will literally move to the outside or right-side to set up a well formed two person block (after reading/blocking a potential middle attack, or setter dump in two hitter rotations). In this strategy, your middle blocker will only be responsible for defending the middle (or setter in two hitter rotations) and one direction versus having to cover the entire net. You are now able to rely upon your
backrow to make an effective defensive movement against a well formed two person block or a single block (likely against a team’s weaker hitter).

After this block defense is implemented, your backrow will have good, clear looks at the set location and approach of the hitter. Thus the backrow will be able to better read the attack of the hitter resulting in more digs (and frustrating your opponent).

As for offense, let’s look at the statistics of our match against Illinois. Of 191 total attempts by Illinois hitters, only 29 were taken by their two middles resulting in 10 total kills. Did I mention that Illinois took Minnesota to five sets? Illinois uses their middles to attempt to spread the block in order to get the ball to their outside hitters (of which we often released to their outside hitters).

There is nothing harder for a team to defend than the 4 – 1 – 9 (high set to the outside, quick set to the middle, and high set to the rightside). So establish the 1 early in a match then use it as a decoy. I would then have your team run 31s in counter attack (transition). Most middles, especially at the junior level, will not track their middles in transition.

I would experiment with the height of the set to the pins, but as we learned this season, a high outside set, was more effective for our team than a faster tempo set to the outside. I would also experiment with the backrow attack. It is becoming much more prevalent and effective in the Olympic and college game, I assume it will trickle down to the junior level as well. Much of this will be based on the ability of your personnel.

Your offense does not have to be complex. Minnesota’s is not. Vary your sets to the outside (run a 4 and then a Rip or 32 set on occasion). Run the 1 with your middle on occasion to keep the middle blocker honest. Run slides with your middles if they are talented enough. Run a high back to your right side and occasionally bring her in for a back 2. The girls will have fun with the different options (make sure you have an excellent communication system in place) and take stats to learn what is most effective for your team.

The most important element of your offense is keeping the ball in play; for your hitters to make wise hitting decisions (read my earlier “What is IPE” post). It is important for them to go after it and rip the ball when its a great set versus making a smart hit into the court on a poor out of system set. In a 25 point set, USC Head Coach, Mick Haley discovered that a team achieves 16 points on kills. The second leading way for a team to achieve a point is on an opponent error (6 points per set). Thus your team needs to keep the ball in play (don’t give them more points than necessary)…let your three liberos win the match.

It is not the height of the players you have, but the confidence you instill in them as a coach. I highly recommend you never mention anything about their lack of height and push them to be their best. They will respect you for this and in turn, you will learn a lot from them and have great respect for them. Be patient, be positive, and good luck!

P.S. Geoff Carlston, Head Coach of Ohio State University and one time
Volunteer Assistant Coach at the University of Minnesota, under Coach Hebert, has a nice DVD out called “Winning Without Height”: http://www.championshipproductions.com/cgi-bin/champ/p/Volleyball/Intangibles-for-Success-Winning-Without-Height_VD-02677A.html Check it out.

So I offered a little insight into what Mike Hebert is like in an earlier post, so why not continue on with Karch Kiraly? ;) “Working” at the U of MN offered incredible accessibility to the greats of the game. Karch picked up his new hobby of commentating college volleyball for ESPN. Fortunately for me, the U of MN scheduled a match versus Michigan State that was televised by ESPN. So a couple weeks before the match, Karch was doing his homework and contacted Mike for some insight on the teams. Mike put Karch on speaker-phone where the discussion migrated to goofy-footed approaches (and how to correct that approach). To our surprise, we learned that in the last 3 years of Karch’s beach career, he CHANGED his approach when swinging on the left side to goofy-footed. He felt that his feet contacted the ground more simultaneously and quicker, which increased his vertical jump. I just find it amazing that a legend like Karch, in the last years of his career, is willing to change something he’s done for years to find his competitive advantage. Awesome.

So besides commentating, Karch’s other hobby is collecting and archiving historical and vintage volleyball footage. He feels an obligation to preserve the history of the game.

Karch arrived at the gym about 2:30 to meet with the team. He is so gracious. Answering all the questions I’m sure he’s answered thousands of times already. Following the team meet and greet, he sequestered himself to the coach’s room. He spent time preparing for the match, then broke out, on his thumbdrive, a 1960s (I guess) video of an exhibition match of the US Men’s Team versus the Russian Men’s Team and the US Women’s Tean versus the Russian Women’s Team held in an indoor ice hockey arena in Canada (obviously the ice was covered with a 1960s version of sport court). Mike recognized a few of the players which helped Karch’s archive. The video was very good quality, the players serve received five across with the setter coming from the end line, and the blockers could not penetrate the net. It was not only great to see the video, but a surreal time to watch a video with Mike Hebert and Karch Kiraly. Awesome.

Another moment I will forever cherish at the U of MN.