The longer we are involved in an activity, be it sport, career or even marriage, we learn there are fundamental principles we should adhere to increase success and to make it more easily achieved. Yes, it all goes back to that time-tested adage – we should learn from our mistakes. Experience should develop wisdom.
Volleyball may be the exception to that rule. What should have been quite obvious to everyone in the volleyball coaching community seems to have been ignored for years:
The best coaches should be coaching the young players.
Makes perfect sense. These are the proverbial blank canvases. They are the masterpieces yet to be created, the future of our programs and our sport.
If we continue to relegate these kids to the least experienced people – I hesitate to use "coaches" even though it does say COACH on the back of their shirts – we run the risk of doing irreparable harm to some, maybe all of them. (That sounds a bit cable news-ish. You understand we are talking just volleyball here, don't you?) Of course anomalies exist. There is always one kid who is successful regardless of the coaching.
The best coaches should be coaching the young players.
I can't tell you the number of high school players I've coached – many played club ball – who had to learn the basics of the approach, passing, arm swing, etc. Unfortunately, no one took the time to teach or explain how anything should be done when they started. They were taken as they were – many very strong athletes – and just placed on the floor to play. They were left to their own athleticism to be successful.
Play harder!
Snap your wrist!
Talk!
Move your feet!
These motivational cliches were the extent of the help they received while trying to figure out how to compete in matches. After all, working hard, being tough and never giving up were the pillars of every practice. It's unfortunate that the absense of the fourth pillar from these practices, being fundamentally sound, would be the demise of their efforts.
Most of these players could have been so much better. If a coach with knowledge would have just taken these athletes when they first started playing and demanded that the foundational skill be performed properly, these players would have been much more successful and by the way, much happier down the road.
Instead of being a blessing, their athleticism was a curse. The coaches took the strongest, most well coordinated athletes, threw them on a team, showed them where to stand on the court, and basically said "Have at it, girls." And, to no one's surprise,these teams were pretty successful. They won a lot. They were proud, almost a bit cocky. Self-esteem was running high. Oh, the coach, he was also feeling it.
But something unexpected happened on the way to the gym 4 years later. All of the kids who were really athletic playing volleyball a few years ago, beating everyone, were still athletic and playing volleyball, but they were now competing against players who had not only developed into very good athletes themselves but also very skilled volleyball players, not just athletes playing volleyball. These were the players that were now seeing success, building a bit of self-esteem.
The others, not so much. Oh, and that coach who was feeling it 4 years ago, now stands bewildered.
The kids who struggled when they were young but mastered the fundamentals grew into athletes who had mastered volleyball, literal masterpieces of the sport.
You may think Philly is embellishing a bit here. Unfortunately, no. Philly is not.
TAKEAWAY
Let's get the best coaches teaching the basics to the newbies. We might be surprised at the masterpieces that are revealed down the road.
Comments