In an election year, there is no better option for President than Doug Beal! He’s not a Democrat, not a Republican, nor Independent. He’s just Doug. I’m sure he has the wit and capacity to do a better job than most politicians, but the world is better off to keep him in volleyball. Doug Beal, CEO of USA Volleyball, is running for President of the FIVB.
Doug’s launched a website for his race to FIVB President: DougBeal.org The only problem I see with his campaign is a wicked good campaign slogan, so I’ve decided to come up with a few of my own: Continue Reading
The volleyball world lost a great coach and leader, Yasutaka Matsudaira. Mr. Matsudaira, Men’s Head Coach of Japan’s 1972 Olympic Gold Medal winning team, was a master strategist and pioneer of the fast style (Asian-style) offense prevalent in the game today. His offense proved that ball control and a fast offense can dominate over power and height. Mr. Matsudaira went on to be the President of Japan Volleyball Association, the first Vice President of the FIVB was the first international coach inducted into the Volleyball Hall of Fame. Yasutaka Matsudaira put Japan on the map in the volleyball world. Continue Reading
If you haven’t already checked out John Dunning, Russ Rose, and Terry Liskevych’s new website, The Art of Coaching Volleyball, it is a great resource for all levels of volleyball coaches. I appreciate the insight of Terry’s defensive strategy, I spent time picking up great tips from John Dunning through an hour long setting video tutorial, and listening to Russ Rose always provides interesting perspective and candor.
I hope the website continues it’s approach to providing great volleyball content to better our sport.
It’s that time of year again, when new seasons start, new coaches are looking for advice on coaching. I typically get a flood of emails in August and hope this blog post will help provide some guidance.
I’ve been coaching for 8 years now. 5 years collegiality and 3 years on the high school and juniors club scene. There was a two year stint at East Valley Juniors in Arizona while I was at Arizona State, which could be considered coaching, as I learned a bit from that experience. I was the head coach of a team there and assisted with Jeff Nelson’s team (now University of New Mexico’s Head Coach) where Jenn Snyder (beach professional) was just a young pup. Oh how the times have change or maybe they’re all the same. I would though like to reacquaint myself with the great little players from my East Valley Juniors 14 – 2s Team. I’d love to know what they are doing, where they are, what they are doing in their lives…etc. I digress Continue Reading
Winthrop’s new Head Coach, Julie Torbett, played at Penn State under Russ Rose and the open communication leads to great opportunities like New Year’s in Italy with Russ Rose. Unfortunately, the opportunity does not include a free trip to Italy with Russ Rose (and please keep in mind, I am not get paid for any advertisements or promotions on this website), but a pipeline to insight and knowledge of the 5 time NCAA Champion Coach. I am hoping to catch some of the spillage when the statistics pot boils over, but you can learn from Coach Rose, firsthand in Italy this coming New Year’s. Sounds like an opportunity of a lifetime. Continue Reading
Four-star general Stanley McChrystal shares what he learned about leadership over his decades in the military. How can you build a sense of shared purpose among people of many ages and skill sets? By listening and learning — and addressing the possibility of failure.
1. You stink.
Literally. If your antiperspirant isn’t getting the job done (maybe you forgot to use some that day) or you splashed on a bit too much aftershave or perfume, your players are more worried about getting away from you than listening to you.
2. Your breath stinks.
Seriously, if your breath stinks, your players are figuring out the best way to dodge the stench secreted by every word. They probably are also holding their breath. If they turn red, it’s likely not from what you are saying, but they can’t breathe. Chew some gum. Continue Reading
The USAV Palmetto Region is where I started coaching many years ago (although I did have a year stint in Cactus Region, but I wasn’t ready to coach way way back then). I appreciate the opportunity to give back to a region that has helped me to get to where I am today. John Kessel and Palmetto Region Commissioner, Jimmy Peden, invited me to be a panelist on the most recent Impact Clinic for the Palmetto Region. It was a fun opportunity to join two creative thinkers of the game as well as a great opportunity to refresh my mind on the fundamentals of the game. Here are some notes I took throughout the clinic: Continue Reading
Pat Summitt is the all-time winningest coach in basketball, in the men’s and women’s game with over 1,000 victories. Jeff Janssen is one of the world’s top experts on sports leadership.
At the AVCA Convention, I listened to a presentation by Russ Rose and Terry Liskevych titled: What We have Learned in 75+ Years of Coaching. Besides it being quite comical, Russ and Terry provided some great insight into how the sport has changed from Continue Reading
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
Based on the title of this post, you may assume it is about the effect or influence parents have on coaching in junior club volleyball or even college volleyball, but that could be a blog all to itself. Instead, “The Parent Effect” is an interesting phenomena about the learning curve of athletes.
I enter each club season armed with an arsenal of tools to help better volleyball players as a whole. The tools include a nutrition guide, workout regimen, academic advice, discipline for their daily Continue Reading
At the last AVCA Convention, I listened to Hall of Fame Coach Terry Pettit’s seminar on Program Building: The Part They Didn’t Tell You About. Terry’s message in the seminar was about telling a story. I also read an article written by Kathy DeBoer AVCA Executive Director on USA Men’s Olympic Team Gold Medal Head Coach Hugh McCutcheon in the AVCA Coaching Volleyball Magazine, June – July 2009 issue, Building a Sustainable Model of Success (click here to read the article). Hugh’s message, “Coaches are sales people first, then change agents. We define principles as absolute truths, and work from there to as oppose to coerce thoughtful dialogue is the key”. Continue Reading
If you couldn’t tell, I have a techie side to me I subscribe to the TechCrunch feed and this article came across the line. Great article on leadership.
Editor’s note: When venture capitalists invest in early stage startups, more than anything else they are investing in the founders of the company and their ability to lead their employees through the most improbable set of circumstances to take an idea from a germ to a real and profitable business. In this guest post, Ben Horowitz of VC firm Andreessen Horowitz explains the leadership traits he and his co-founder Marc Andreessen look for before they invest in a startup. SOme of their investments include Skype, Zynga, Factual, and RockMelt. Before becoming investing partners, Horowitz and Andreessen co-founded Opsware, which they sold to HP for $1.6 billion, and prior to that Horowitz was an executive at Netscape. Continue Reading
During a match, volleyball coaches call time out for a variety of reasons. One of the most common reasons is to stop the other team’s “momentum.” This is commonly understood to be that the other team is scoring a run of points. It is thought that by causing a break in the action, the coach can change the “momentum” in his team’s favor. Although most coaches think that calling time out is successful in stopping the other team’s “momentum”, has the validity of this concept ever been evaluated critically? Continue Reading
Two December’s ago, I had the privilege to listen to Dr. Greg Dale speak at the AVCA Convention on the topic presented in this article. Gregory A. Dale, Ph.D. is a Professor of Sport Psychology and Sport Ethics at Duke University. He is also the Director of Mental Training and Co-Director of the Leadership Program for Duke Athletics. In addition to his work with Duke athletes and coaches, Greg consults with numerous college and professional athletes and teams as well as corporate groups. Greg has written three books related to leadership and performance. He is also a member of the Sport Psychology Staff for USA Track and Field and is a dynamic speaker who provides a variety of interactive and innovative workshops around the country and the world. Continue Reading
A piece about great coaching written by Former Nebraska Volleyball Head Coach Terry Pettit that was posted in the Lincoln Star Journal. Coach Pettit will be inducted into the AVCA Hall of Fame December 17, 2009.
I have a friend who tells me that in 1953 he could fix about anything on a Chevy with a combination wrench. Those days are gone. Continue Reading
The other night I was watching ESPN and they were showing the greatest NCAA sports teams of all times. I was amazed at the success of Kenyon College’s swimming program.
Kenyon College Ladies’ NCAA Championship History
The National Collegiate Athletic Association has never had a women’s program, in any of its divisions, reach the same levels of success that the Kenyon College Ladies swimming and diving teams have reached. Continue Reading
Marv Dunphy wrote a great article in the January 2009 Coaching Volleyball Magazine on how the U.S. Men’s Olympic Team won the Gold Medal. Much overall praise goes Head Coach Hugh McCutcheon’s vision and system.
Following are coaching points of interest by Marv Dunphy: Continue Reading
By: Charles Cardinal
Canadian National Team Head Coach
Excerpts from the FIVB Coaches Manual
From an athlete’s point of view, the reward and motivation comes from the fact that through training and coaching they are able to do today what was impossible yesterday.
Teaching the Mechanics of a Movement (Level 1)
At the start of technical training, no matter the method, an athlete must imitate a model as closely as possible. This model is usually a coach or a successful athlete who demonstrates the proper execution of a technique. To reproduce the model exactly, an athlete must have an accurate mental image of the movement. Continue Reading
Yuan had one of the most dominant teams in the history of our sport during the late 1970s and 1980s when the Chinese women won every major event for a span of three years. He put together a team that was one of the smoothest, most error-free, remarkable ball control teams that has ever played the game. It was identified mostly in the personality and performance of Lang Ping, but it was one of those teams where you could have identified any player as an all-world performer. ~ Volleyball Hall of FameContinue Reading
By: Yuri Tchesnokov
Russian Gold Medal Men’s Head Coach and Player
Excerpts from the FIVB Coaches Manual
A volleyball coach is a teacher and an educator, especially for a coach who is working with children and junior teams.
A volleyball coach is a person with a great knowledge of life. Players need advice and support in many different life situations. This is why one can say that a coach is a senior comrade and a life assistant. Continue Reading
I was looking at your resume and trying to figure out how you made the jump to college coaching. I would love to coach at that level, but am not sure when and how is the best way. Obviously the competition is steep. Continue Reading
In an election year, there is no better option for President than Doug Beal! He’s not a Democrat, not a Republican, nor Independent. He’s just Doug. I’m sure he has the wit and capacity to do a better job than most politicians, but the world is better off to keep him in volleyball. Doug Beal, CEO of USA Volleyball, is running for President of the FIVB.
of VC firm Andreessen Horowitz
