CAP II CLIPBOARD
The philosophical approach A key to becoming a better coach is to admit you know nothing
by Nancy Filipek
ike many other coaches, I have been working my way through vari- ous levels of volleyball and differing levels of awareness. My inter- est in the sport was re-ignited when my daughters started playing and I found myself coaching their fi fth grade teams. The sport had changed so much since I played that I had to search for videos and books to help me catch up. Now, 20 years later, and a multitude of other people’s kids to gain experience from, I have greatly increased my knowledge base. My youngest daughter recently said she wished I knew then what I know now so she could have been a better player at a younger age. This caused me to think about my continual quest for volleyball knowledge. I remember my most infl uential volleyball mentor presented me, along with the rest of his coaching staff, with the stages of learning: 1) Don’t know that you
L
don’t know = Ignorance 2) Know that you don’t know = Enlightenment 3) Don’t know that you know = Understanding 4) Know that you know =
Mastery
At the time this was new to me and spoke loudly to me on my coaching journey. I had been stuck in the enlighten-
ment phase for what seemed like forever. I wanted so badly to feel the confi dence accompanying mastery. If I could step into the gym with a new group and know that I could make them functional and successful. If I could answer all their parents’ questions and help them understand and enjoy the game. If I could accomplish all this without making any of them want to run me over in the parking lot. Then, I could claim mastery. Yes, that is what I wanted. For years I attended every clinic I could fi nd, ordered every video and read every book about volleyball. I thought I had clawed my way into understanding and just as my fi ngertips started to grasp mastery, questions started to form. How can mastery be established? Every time I think I’ve fi gured it out one of those kids will march in with a new iPhone, iPad or APP for that! We are always discovering new technol- ogy and gaining a new understanding about how our bodies and minds function. How then can mastery ever take place? If we are to feign any level of mastery we must, at some point
concede to: Resigning ourselves to be back in the fi rst phase (don’t know that you don’t know), or
Denying the usefulness of new knowledge and being unable to recognize the value of the new information, or
Being one of the lucky ones that have looped back into enlighten- ment (know that you don’t know) and though not understanding the new knowledge, recognizing the defi cit and value of the new informa- tion.
62 | VOLLEYBALLUSA • Digital Issue at
usavolleyball.org/mag
The classical Greek philosopher, Socrates, was convinced “The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.” In The Apology by Plato, this is said to mean that Socrates was not intending that he does not know anything but instead that a person cannot know anything with absolute certainty. Socrates would readily admit to his own ignorance. In fact, he believed that recognizing his lack of knowledge set him apart from other thinkers. Socrates states, “I know that I am intelligent, because I know nothing.” Socrates was convinced that questioning one’s self allows ideas to be formed logically and to be able to deter- mine the validity of those ideas.
Possibly, Socrates’ most important contribution to western thought is his dialec- tic method of inquiry known as the Socratic Method, fi rst described by en.wikipedia. org/wiki/Plato” Plato in the Socratic Dialogues. The Socratic Method is a nega- tive method of hypothesis elimination. He taught that a better hypothesis could be found by steadily identifying and eliminating statements that lead to contradictions. Socrates once said, “I know you won’t believe me, but the highest form of Human Ex- cellence is to question oneself and others.”
In an effort to be better coaches we duplicate, borrow or steal ideas and drills from a compilation of what other coaches have been doing. If the Socratic Method were applied we would be compelled to look for training methods that make sense. We would then re-examine and try to fi nd an exception to what we think makes sense. If we can fi nd something that is an exception, try to build the exception into what we thought made sense. Continuing the process until we are able to support what we have chosen to do with logical statements. This would form a logical path to our training methods. This practice is one of persistent self-evaluation and the endless fi ltering in of new information. The stages of learning, if presented in a loop, could serve well as an example of the Socratic Method. We would fi nd ourselves working incessantly from ignorance, enlightenment, understanding, mastery, and then questioning our mastery in a Socratic mind set, and begin again. Mastery would be repeatedly broken down and rediscovered. Just as Socrates was not implying that he did not know anything, I am not intending to say you or I do not have a great understanding of how to teach volleyball. I am simply saying that we must be willing not just to coach, but also be willing to learn. Every team is compiled from different ages and differing levels of athleticism and experience. Our game is random, our rules are forever changing, and as coaches we must be willing to question what we do and why we do it. So in our quest for mastery we must be forever evolving, modifying and adapting what we teach and how we teach it. Then, we too can know that we are intelligent because we know nothing.
PHOTO: USA VOLLEYBALL / BILL KAUFFMAN
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