TEACHING THE GAME
Tyler Hildebrand
Former U.S. Men’s National Team player, pro beach coach, setting consultant for U.S. Men.
Beach: Non-thinking players think hand setting is something you are born with. Thinking players do not. So use your hands. The more you hand set, the better you’ll get — and the better your game will get.
Indoor: Non-thinking players dogmatically believe that swinging high and hard is the only way — or the best way — to score points. But with the trajectory of sets and the speed of today’s game, blockers are no longer able to identify the point where the attacker has to hit the ball from. They are being forced into making earlier choices and moves outside their body, which is opening up more options for the attacker. Thinking players use their arms at different speeds and hit with a wide variety of range that’s highly dependent on information they’re processing on any given attack.
Kayla Banwarth U.S. Women’s National Team libero
Indoor: When it comes to defense, thinking players don’t think too much when it comes to matches. You’ve trained so much and you’re very mindful in practice, but when it gets to the match, you know you’ve done a million reps so you don’t have to think about it. You just do it. You just let go.
Marv Dunphy
Head coach, Pepperdine men’s team, coach of the 1988 U.S. Olympic Men’s gold medal team
Holly McPeak
3-time beach Olympian, 2004 Olympic bronze medal, USA beach coach
Beach: Non-thinking beach players
don’t understand that it’s a small game and you have to position yourself in relation to your partner, especially on passes and digs. When a thinking player sprays a pass, he/she moves to within about eight feet of where his/her partner is playing the ball so they can connect for a good set-hit. Thinking beach players also understand that sets off a bad pass or off digs that don’t pop up straight need to be a little higher (but still pushed toward the net) to give the hitter time for a approach.
Indoor: The non-thinking blocker tends to stay on the ball too long. The thinking blocker has the ability to leave the ball and get onto the player who is about to play the ball (either the setter or the hitter). While inexperienced blockers are enamored with the ball, experienced blockers are really good at identifying the direction, speed and location of the set and then catching what they can of the approach angle and the upper third of the attacker’s body. Blocking is eye work, footwork, arm- and hand-work. First things first. Get that eye work in place!
David Fischer
Head coach, University of Louisiana Monroe sand volleyball
Beach: Sometimes non-thinking can be a good thing. The thinking defender knows when an attacker has hit the same shot three times in a row, and might decide to definitely take away that shot the next time. The non- thinker just reacts to every shot and goes after the ball. Which one digs the next ball? An- swer: It depends on how smart the attacker is. The best players think and recognize trends, but they still allow themselves to react to the play at hand – they don’t over-think.
44 | VOLLEYBALLUSA • Digital Issue at
usavolleyball.org/mag
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