C A P I I C L I P B O A R D
Creating thinking players by Brock Mitchell| CAP II, Northern California Region
I am a high school math teacher as my full-time profession, and I don’t think there has been a year when a student hasn’t said, “I understood this topic perfectly when we did it in class, but when I went home to try it on my own, I just didn’t know what I was doing.” As a volleyball coach, I sometimes feel athletes think the same thing.
They don’t feel confident if there isn’t a coach in their ear telling them the next step in the approach, which foot should be forward when passing or what zone to serve to. Shouldn’t we be preparing our athletes to think for themselves and understand the game so they can be just as successful if a coach isn’t around? My thought is a resounding YES. Volleyball is a unique sport in that it requires a full understanding of
the flow of the game in order for a team to be completely successful. It is more random than any other sport because there are never two plays that are exactly the same. A coach’s job should be training athletes to under- stand the skills and flow of the game and allowing them to problem-solve for themselves. There is no shortage of ways to accomplish this task. The key is finding a way to connect with those athletes and get them to learn the inner workings of the game. It has been reported that to master a skill, it takes roughly 10,000 hours of practice. Volleyball is no different. Playing the game allows players to get better. A quote that embodies this philosophy is, “Let the ball be the teacher.” Athletes love to play; otherwise, they would choose something else to do. We should let them play more. Why do kids love “Queen of the Court” so much? They are playing, and there are few rules to govern that play. There is no coach breathing
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down their necks, no referees stopping the flow and maximum contacts for the time given. I have heard from some of the best college coaches in the country that during the tryout process, and the first few practice ses- sions, they just allow their teams to scrimmage. They will sit high in the stands and evaluate but will not interrupt the game play. Players have to know the game without the coach standing by their sides. How can we get our athletes to play well without us? In my opinion,
we are not as important as we all might think. Our athletes want to excel, and giving them more freedom to learn is one great way to increase their confidence and knowledge. Every year when I begin working with my varsity teams, I let them
know that I will do everything in my power to help them become the best players they are capable of becoming. I also tell them I cannot do it alone, nor can I give feedback on every contact they have. I begin by teaching them how to gain valuable feedback from their
own experiences. If a pass went a certain direction, what may have been the cause? If a serve had a certain rotation, what can that tell me? If the attack didn’t go where they intended it to go, what can be changed next time?
I present many situations to them, and they are responsible for
providing me with the answers. This scenario begins the thinking process as to why certain things happen and how players can control those situ- ations. Throughout the season, I will find times to walk up to a player and
ask her, “Why did that happen?” She should have an understanding based on the previous result and the feedback she received. If she doesn’t know, we discuss the situation and she continues. I think it is important that the athletes know why plays developed a
certain way or why an error was made rather than me just telling them, “You need to do this to improve that last play.” More progress is made
PHOTO: PETER BROUILLET
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