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Volleyball resolutions for the new year
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any of you are just beginning a new season, so I thought this would be a good time to recom-
mend some New Year’s volleyball resolu- tions aimed at improving your game. Let’s start with one on teamwork. As many of you know, the U.S. Women recently earned our country’s fi rst-ever gold medal at a major grand slam tourna- ment for women. It came in October when we defeated China in four sets to take fi rst place at the FIVB World Championship in Milan, Italy, an event featuring the world’s top teams.
In the fourth set of the championship match, we let a 19-16 lead slip away and found ourselves down 23-20. At that point, many people probably fi gured the match was headed to a fi fth set. But if you watch a replay of those fi nal points, you’ll notice something interest- ing. As the points ticked away against us, our players stayed together. Their huddles became tighter and tighter. Nobody went their separate ways. Instead, they wrapped their arms around their teammates, looked each other in the eye and gave the kind of positive vibe that we emphasize day in and day out in the USA gym. That’s not easy to do when things are choppy, but they did it — they fought through it together — and they turned it around, win- ning six of the fi nal seven points and a historic gold medal. So let this be our resolutions for 2015:
• Resolution No. 1: No matter how things are going on the court, good or bad, be posi- tive and stick with your teammates.
• Resolution No. 2: Keep the ball in play and make your opponents beat you. This is a philosophy I embraced both as an indoor player and a beach player, and I continue to emphasize it as coach of the national team. Players often try to do too much with a not-so- great set or when facing a block-defense that is well positioned to stop them. Great players recognize the low probability for a kill in these situations and hit smart shots that stay in the court. This gives their team a chance to make a play later in the rally that has a better chance for success. In 2015, make a point of being one of your team’s smart attackers rather than swinging recklessly for kills that aren’t likely to happen.
• Resolution No. 3: Let sleeping dogs alone. Don’t provoke your opponents with smack talk. Rather than giving them even more incentive to beat you, focus your energy on celebrating great plays with your teammates or encouraging them on the tough plays. Like I mentioned in the fi rst resolution, positive energy is a powerful force of good for a volleyball team. (And if your opponent chooses to talk trash, your best answer is quiet, resolute, strong play.)
• Resolution No. 4: Practice every day like you’re playing in a gold-medal match at the most important tournament of the season. The more you get used to performing at the high- est level of your ability, the better you’re likely to do when there really is a lot on the line.
• Resolution No. 5: Spend some time playing just for fun, away from organized prac- tices, away from coaches. Enjoying a little volleyball in an unstructured environment will help you develop a deeper love of the game. The more you love it, the better you’ll play. And you’ll have a great time!
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20 | VOLLEYBALLUSA • Digital Issue at
usavolleyball.org/mag
PHOTO: PETER BROUILLET
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