As many of you know, I had the privilege to spend time with Head Coach Mike Hebert while at Minnesota.  People still ask what I learned most from my experience…and I have a journey full of ideas.  Much of what I learned was through listening, watching, small talk, and brainstorming.   The times I appreciate most were those brainstorming sessions – bouncing ideas around.  I recall a time talking about what makes an ordinary person extraordinary and coming up with a list of things great players do.  This list was ranked and separated into levels.  The levels were used to recognize the number of items on that list an extraordinary player accomplishes during their volleyball career. Continue Reading

How to Fuel for Your Workout

By Nancy Clark, MS RD CSSD

Athletes of all sports and abilities commonly ask what they should eat before, during and after a competitive event:

When should I eat the pre-game meal: 2, 3 or 4 hours beforehand?

How many gels should I take during a tournament? Continue Reading

Ever wonder what volleyball skills to work on in practice or where you should be focusing more of your time?  The Journal of Quantitative Study released an in depth article, “Skill Importance in Volleyball” to determine the most important skills in women’s volleyball.  A research team studied a 2006 Division I Women’s Volleyball program to come to their conclusion based on specific data collection and analysis.  Coincidentally, the research was conducted at Brigham Young University and the University of Utah where Gold Medal Squared is also headquartered.  In pieces I have read by Gold Medal Squared, this data is eerily similar.  Continue Reading

I am mighty proud of the USA Volleyball region I started coaching in, the Palmetto Region.  Jimmy Peden, Commissioner of the Region and Founder of Club South Volleyball Club has teamed up with Kudda Video Library to promote coaching throughout the region.  The Kudda website has lots of volleyball drills on video to best demonstrate skills and implement them into your practice plan.  Pictures speak a thousand words and video exponentially more.  Check out the Kudda Video Library:

http://video.kudda.com/coach/Volleyball%20Association

Although the AVP has shut down, professional beach volleyball is still in swing.  This past weekend, Cincinnati hosted the 2010 Players Championship at Hahana Beach.  Kerri Walsh joined forces with Brooke Hanson to play against the top ex-AVP players.  Although, they did not win a match, I wonder if the restructuring of professional volleyball, without a point system for rank and qualifying purposes, will better volleyball as a whole?  Will players change partner more frequently?  Or will this decrease the top tier overall play.  In either case, it would have been awesome to see Kerri Walsh play against Misty May this past weekend.

Beach volleyball lives on.  It will never die.

I try to eat healthy, choose organic food when possible, but organic can get pricey (in the short term).  So I get the weekly coupons from Earth Fare, our local organic grocery, and found the Free Ground Chuck coupon I received today a bit ironic…as it happens to be my birthday.  If you know me, I really don’t weigh enough to be giving away any pounds.  And if I were to be ground up for sale, I don’t think I’d taste too good.