“If Kerri Walsh Jennings can qualify for her fourth Olympics using an underhand serve (due to an injured shoulder), any
10- or 11-year-old should be allowed to use an underhand serve as well.”
underhand serving from their players, even though they are unable to be successful with an overhand serve. Much like that team of 7-year- olds thatI tried to force to learn how to pass, these players struggle. I once had a player serve 25 in a row, all underhand, to win a set 25-0. Our opponent was more skilled at serve receive than you would expect, but they struggled with the high, deep serves. Two years later, that same player served an ace (overhand) on champion- ship point at a national tournament. Let your players advance as they are ready. It is more fun to serve an underhand ace than it is to miss an overhand serve. If Kerri Walsh Jennings can qualify for her
fourth Olympics using an underhand serve (due to an injured shoulder), any 10- or 11-year-old should be allowed to use an underhand serve as well. As another example, I know of coaches who teach their teams to run quick sets almost exclusively, even if they rarely connect. If your team is not ready for those skills, it is OK to introduce them, but keep the simpler, higher percentage options available. Talk less: Give input in small pieces, one or
two concepts at a time. If you talk for five min- utes about how to perform a skill, they simply won’t retain it all. If you need to give specific feedback to just
one player, take that player aside and speak to them one-on-one. If the feedback can benefit other players, stop the drill and speak to all of the players. Do not stop the whole practice to give individual feedback to one player while the other players do nothing. Practice time is too valuable to have nine or more players doing nothing while one player gets coached. Teach setting and hitting from off the net: The most common hitting error I see from beginner players is hitting the ball into the net. This is frequently caused by a set that is too tight. Young players watch NCAA Division I matches on TV where the 6-4 outside hitter hits the ball straight down from a set right on top of the net, and they want to do the same. The problem is that they are simply not tall enough to get above the net, so hitting the ball down just doesn’t work. Train setters and hitters to hit from off the net – way off the net, even behind the attack line,
and their success rate will improve. Players can understand that they need to learn to hit over the net first, before they can learn to hit the ball down, and will have more fun.
Conclusion
As I gain experience and strive to improve as a coach, I know I need to continue keeping an open mind. There are still some concepts that I have heard from several sources, but which I am not quite ready to embrace. A two-person serve receive? Maybe I’ll try it, but I’m not quite there yet. A 6-6 rotation where all players set, like they do for the Brazilian national teams until age 16? Ahhh, that’s still hard for me to believe. Young players can understand more than we
give them credit for. They can understand that they need to adjust their game to their current ability, and that when they get stronger and taller they will be able to do different things. I hope I can open my mind enough to give these new concepts a try, as I hope you can try some techniques that may not fit your current perception of good coaching tactics for coaching beginners.
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