U.S. WOMEN’S NATIONAL TEAM
NUMBER ONE: U.S. Women’s National Team Coach Hugh McCutcheon has the team pointed in the right direction.
A tip from the USA Coach
U.S. Women’s National Team Coach Hugh McCutcheon emphasizes to his players the importance of reading the game, and that is obviously a crucial skill at all levels of volleyball. To him, learning how to “read” involves fewer static drills and more game-like practice. “You want to play the game based on what you’re seeing,” he says. “A lot of coaches want to teach that if A hap- pens, then B happens, but it’s really not that black-and-white. The premier skill for us is seeing things and making the right choices. The game teaches the game, so you should get in as many game-like situ- ations as possible. “I think there’s a general feeling that
confi dence comes from people being able to master a fundamental skill from a lot of static repetition in a controlled environ- ment. But the reality is you never get to execute that skill in an environment like that in a game, so the transfer tends to be fairly low. If I want my athletes to be able to compete and execute the skills of the game in a game-like situation, I want them to be training more in a game-like environ- ment.”
30 | VOLLEYBALLUSA
TRIPLE PLAY: The U.S. Women’s National Team has a formidable block with, from left, Destinee Hooker, Foluke Akinradewo and Jordan Larson.
juggernaut that opponents have a tough time cracking. “There’s nobody that teams can go after,” Kiraly says, and McCutcheon adds, “Their ability to control the serve-receive part of our game is a big part of our success.” At the middle blocker position, Akinradewo and Bown have both worked hard this year to improve their games, McCutcheon says. You’d expect to hear that about Akinradewo, who is only 24, but Bown will be 33 in November and is a veteran of three Olympics. The strides that she’s making at this stage in her career are an inspiration to anyone who may think they’ve reached their ceiling in volleyball.
“No matter what age you are or how many years you’ve been playing, you can always get better and there are always ways to improve your contribution to the team,” McCutcheon says. “Heather has made some very signifi cant strides as a blocker over the past couple of months. Technically, she’s cleaned up a lot of things with her hands and her arms, and her footwork has gotten better. She’s be- coming more bio-mechanically effi cient, and she’s able to pay attention to the setter and the hitter and make some better choices in terms of where she’s going and what she does when she gets there.” The drive to improve is a common theme on this team. Last year, Akin- radewo wowed the world and was chosen
the MVP of the FIVB World Grand Prix. McCutcheon says that teams have stepped up their strategy to stop her this year, and to counter that, she has made changes in her game, including adjusting both her footwork and timing for quick hits so she’s up sooner and is able to get on the ball quicker.
“In terms of creating space for our pin hitters, Foluke is doing a really good job of holding the opponent’s middle now be- cause she’s up so quickly and she’s such a threat,” McCutcheon says. “We expect she’s going to take another signifi cant step forward for us - if not by the World Cup, certainly by the Olympics.” The 6-4 Hooker, a former NCAA high jump champion at University of Texas, has a physical presence and an athletic gene pool that would make any coach drool, but she, too, is putting in the hours to match talent with skill. Her presence on the right side has been a huge part of the U.S.’s offense, and her impact may be even bigger as she continues to improve. In the bigger picture, the U.S. Wom-
en’s collective drive to evolve from great volleyball “athletes” to great volleyball “players” is, in McCutcheon’s view, a crucial part of achieving the ultimate goal. “It’s an important thing for everyone to understand,” he says. “Being an athlete is probably good enough to get you here, but it’s not going to get you to the top of the podium.”
PHOTOS: FIVB
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