QuestionI am starting my first season as a coach for a 15s club team. I have some coaching experience at a lower level, and my playing experience, which only goes up through high school, was quite a few years ago and I'm finding I don't remember a lot about what high school practices looked like. I went to a coaching clinic, and have done some reading, which were both very informative about general philosophies, but when it comes down to what I should do tomorrow, I'm finding myself overwhelmed and unsure.
My main question is about planning practices. I'm not sure how to build an effective and logical progression within the season as a whole and even within each individual practice. Despite spending quite a bit of time planning my practices, the first couple have felt haphazard and disjoined to me. I also feel like I'm starting at square one every time I plan a practice. I I have no point of reference for what I will cover in each practice and in what order, or how much time to spend on different aspects. I find myself scouring books, websites, and videos before every practice looking for ideas, but having trouble deciding what to use, when, and for how long.
In summary, I have these two questions:
1. Is there a basic template or pattern you would recommend for planning a practice?
2. When you approach a new season with a new team, how do you begin, and how do you progress from there?
I realize these are two big questions and that answers likely vary depending on the skill level of one's team, but if there are any basic principles or starting points you would recommend, I'd appreciate it a lot. I went to a coaching clinic, and have done some reading, which were both very informative about general philosophies, but when it comes down to what I should do tomorrow, I'm finding myself overwhelmed and unsure. Thanks for whatever you can offer.
AnswerHello Melissa:
It's great to hear from you. You have a lot of courage to send an email like this. Many coaches will just do the best they can, budgeting very little time, and then say, "I'm doing the best I can." You're not that kind of coach....and I'm proud of you.
To answer some of your questions directly:
* We KNOW what will win/lose most vball matches: Serve receive. I spend 30% of practice on this skill, presenting a different kind of drill each night.
* The next things that win matches (in this order): Serving, setting, being a bonded team, team defense, hitting, conditioning. For most high school or club teams, the categories of running plays, blocking, etc. don't have any impact on the match.
OK, let's get after it! :) Below is how I plan practice. The article below is one of hundreds that I have written. Some are in my two ebooks. And there's a drill collection full of drills that I created myself. (I'll be sending out 2 more this weekend to the "I Can't Wait" members.)
What else can I do for you? If you have any other questions, please contact me here or at
[email protected].
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The Seven Parts Of A Volleyball Practice
August 2, 2008
Coach Houser:
I have been coaching for about 6 years, but I only coached at a small middle school. Last year I got a job at one of the biggest public school, coaching JV. I have a lot of drills, but I am struggling putting them all together to make an effective and efficient practice. There are only two coaches there most nights. I know we waste a lot of time and don't make the best use of our 2 hour practices.
Any suggestions on how to put together practice plans? I love this sport and I love coaching, but I am really struggling to be effective use our time!
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Dear Coach:
Before I start, here抯 how to judge your practices:
揧ou can judge the poor quality of your practice by how much time each of your players is doing nothing, learning nothing, not involved, chatting, daydreaming, waiting for your next direction, etc.?
Two Critical Practice Rules.
When one of my coaches or I am telling a player something and the rest of the team is waiting, then it should only be a reminder. And the instruction better be finished in like ten seconds. Really! We call it the 揟en Second Rule? If an explanation takes longer than 10 seconds, then we have to assume that no girl who plays that position knows it! Thus we should be fixing that in stations, away from the rest of the team. DON扵 take time away from 10 girls explaining things to one or two.
Another of my staff抯 rules is the 揊ive Percent Rule? We only allow our players 5 minutes out of every 100 (not counting water breaks) to be uninvolved. That抯 only 3 minutes every hour. Only one minute out of every 20. If they抮e standing there bored more than 5% of the time, then our practice plans stink.
揃ut Coach Houser, we only have 2 coaches.? So? I抳e coached alone the majority of my coaching career. (And many days I broke the Five Percent Rule, I抦 sure of it. *sigh*) There has to be a way. You cannot accept girls standing around at volleyball practice picking their zits. Why do girls go home saying their school practices are boring? Because they抮e outfielders standing in the cold wind while the hitters are being blown away by the pitching machine. Or they抮e hitters standing in line for 20 minutes waiting to hit an often rotten set. 揌ow was practice today, darling?? 揗om, it was boring. I don抰 even know why coach wanted us there. All we did was stand there and watch and wait. Well, at least I know what I抦 writing my paper on for Mrs. Smith tomorrow. I got that all thought out.?
OK, if you must break The Ten Second Rule, then let抯 do something useful! Let抯 say one of my assistants at practice or at camp takes too long to explain something to a player. I will do one of two things. I either write what the coach is saying in my hand and say, 揝hannon, come on, we抣l do that in a station,?or I抣l look around and teach a player -- or a group of players -- something until my assistant finishes. I won抰 stand there and watch and wait, watch and wait. I hate it also. Boring, boring.
Now, here are the seven parts of my practices. Yes, I actually label my page in parts, just like I抦 labeling this article.
Before I Even Write The First Drill: I Can抰 Bypass A Critical Step.
I make a place on the page to write my goals. 揥hat do I want to accomplish today?? And as I create my practice plans, and each goal is addressed, I scratch the goal out.
Some days you will be out of ideas. Then look back at previous practices. Were there drills that you deemed very important, but you never got to? Was there a goal that you never wrote a drill for, because you had Drill Creators Block? If that doesn抰 help, look at last year抯 practices. What were you doing at the same time last year? If all else fails, watch some video of your team. That always gives me plenty of ideas.
I also have places on my page where I list any players who will be late -- or were unexpectedly late -- and their reason, any girl who will be absent -- or was unexpectedly absent -- and their reason, and any other notes. I write the day of the week, the date, .the time of practice and length of practice.
Part I. Warmup.
My players warm up by doing something that抯 volleyball related. It抯 low impact, low risk. No, we don抰 run laps (boring!!) and we don抰 play tag (too risky with cold muscles).
Here are some good warm up drills.
* Three-step approach and tip or slam the ball that抯 tossed. (two or three lines!! Jog and shag your ball!)
* Passing 500 free balls to target. The girls rotate so that each girl is a target, a shagger, a hander, and a tosser.
* Doing 500 total correct spike approaches, emphasizing one specific thing. Maybe it抯 the off-arm coming up, maybe it抯 snapping the wrist, maybe it抯 going up with both arms, etc.
* Station warmup. OH抯 do one thing, MB抯 do something, rights and setters do something.
A smartly planned warmup will do two things. Players will break a sweat, and the drill will reinforce a skill that抯 not being done well enough during competition. My warmups can last 5 minutes, 15 minutes or sometimes 30 minutes. Sometimes I do 2 warmup drills. The girls like them! They抣l quickly realize the benefit, and they抣l thank you for not just running laps each day.
In the 揑 Can抰 Wait?Drill Collection, I have written out 22 warm-up drills. But, as I told a coach recently, as soon as you watch 15 minutes of the video of your first scrimmage, you will probably be able to create warm-up drills (and entire practices haha) for the next 2 weeks!
Part II. Stretch and Announcements.
The girls stretch, maybe with the captain leading. Maybe with the Captain Of The Day leading. And I make my announcements. Again, taking care of 2 things at once.
Here are the announcements I made at my club team抯 practice on January 6, 2008.
* Wednesday抯 practice is 6:30 to 8:15. That抯 a little different that what you抮e accustomed to. But, remember, all our practices are on the website! Arrive on time.
* Saturday : Meet me at Macey抯 church gym at 10:15 a.m.. The scrimmage begins at 11am.
* Captain Of The Days: Today, Lauren. Wednesday, Rachel Kennedy. Saturday, Aidan. Next Sunday, Bekah. Next Wednesday, Caroline.
* Macey: I have a one-on-one announcement for you. See me during a water break.
* This is our 18th practice since our opening meeting. Wow. Can you believe that?
* Rachel Thomas: On video I see that you抮e not getting off the net ready to hit the ball! You抮e standing there too long.
* Our first tournament is six practices away. Is that scary? NOPE! We抣l be ready! Don抰 miss practice, or you抣l miss out on something! If you抮e sick, or have a headache, see if you can come and just watch.
* Do you guys have any announcements? Grades? Field trips?
* Lauren, our COD today! They are all yours!
Lauren takes 30 to 60 seconds to speak to her teammates without any coaches around. No one may speak unless Lauren asks the teammate a question or unless she says, 揑抦 done.? If I hear anyone else抯 voice, I clear my throat really loud! Haha
Part III Warm Up Arms, Pepper, Ball Control.
I call out 揚epper Partners? No, my players don抰 choose their own warm-up partner. That reinforces cliques. Not on my team.
a) The girls warm up arms. These are the minutes they can talk a little, they can say, 揥hat are you doing tonight?? There抯 not a lot of concentration necessary to warm up arms! haha
b) Pepper. This usually lasts 5 minutes or less. Sometimes we pepper longer. During those times, we pepper hard! 揧ou抮e already warmed up and stretched. Let抯 GO!!!? Another thing I tell my players: 揧ou can beat a team sometimes with how hard and how well you pepper before the match even starts. They抣l look on the other side of the net and go, ?Oh, oh. We抮e in trouble!? And peppering is FUN!! GO FOR IT!!?
c) Ball Control. On those days when we have a long practice (or if my team has a marked weakness in their ball control), we do ball control drills. Here are a few examples.
揌it/Dig/Catch? One girl in the pair gives her partner a down ball, the partner digs it, and the hitter must catch the ball with 2 hands at her forehead. The hitter may run anywhere to catch the ball. This continues for x successful catches. Then the girls switch responsibilities.
揅ontinual Hit/Dig? One girl in the pair gives her partner a down ball, the partner digs it, and the hitter hits it again! This continues for x successful digs. Then they switch.
In the 揑 Can抰 Wait?Drill Collection, there are 15 ball control drills; but, just like musical notes, there is an endless combination of notes that抣l make a sweet song!
Part IV Stations?
As I coach more, my kids get into stations more and more. If my club team practices 3 times a week, I抣l guarantee we抣l be in stations once. Stations allow my teams to play better in fewer days of practice! It抯 awesome!
Yes, the team does need more coaches. Maybe, however, if you don抰 have enough coaches, one of your older girls can help you with this. But I warn you! She needs to be (a) respected by her teammates (b) immune to getting a big head (c) know pretty much what she抯 doing and (d) be ready to read long emails (or notes delivered to her in class) from you listing what you want her to accomplish.
Here抯 an example of the stations that I do at STAR site camps. The stations below may last for 20 or 30 minutes, too long for a 2-hour practice, but just fine for a 6-hour a day camp.
a) Sam, you take the MB抯. Teach them MB footwork, then they land, they find the ball, get off, stay out of the setter抯 way and take their approach TO the setter -- no, not to the center of the net, they go TO the setter.
b) Devyn, you have the OH抯. Show them how to set the block, why that changes, how to limit being tooled, how to protect against the tip when they抮e the off-blocker, and how to bust their butt preparing for the ball to be set to them.
c) Maggie, you have the DS抯 and liberos. Show them how to play the deep middle position. Show them how to dig with their hands. Then get out the mats and see if they can learn how to over-the-shoulder roll if you have any minutes left.
d) I have the setters! We抮e going to make sure we can set properly with our arms, our sets are high enough, we抮e calling for every ball and we know how to set a back row player.
LET扴 GO!!
You cannot expect yourself to explain each of these skills to your players during practice and still be a disciple of the Five Percent Rule. If you try to do it all, and I come by your practice, I抣l probably christen you 揝ir 40% Coach,?because that抯 how much of players?practice time you抮e wasting.
Part V: A Drill That Concentrates On A Skill Or An Area of Weakness
Most coaches incorrectly believe that this is the most important part. No, it抯 not. It抯 just another part.
And for many coaches, this is the hardest part of practice. 揥hat do we do today? What drill will use the entire team?? Well, if you ever are at a loss, then work on serve receive, serving and setting. Can抰 go wrong there. Here are two drills that we used during the 2nd week of January.
揟oday it抯 Coach Tanis again. But it抯 different! Today, we抮e going to play Coach Tanis Servers vs. Passers! I will split you guys into 2 teams. Servers will serve 5 balls each. Passers: How many of these serves can you pass a ?? Passers will rotate every 5 serves. Servers you may serve 1 ball a piece or each of you can serve your 5 balls in a row. Whatever you think will win the drill. If servers miss a serve, it counts as a ??for the passsers. The team that has the most ?抯?at the end wins and does less conditioning after the drill is over.?br>
揟he next thing we do is the 揜idiculous Digging Drill? Right/setter/middles, you will be team 1. DS抯/liberos/OH抯 you will be team 2. Coaches, get on the boxes. Coach Smith you will his line shots at team 1. Team 2 will shag, hand and be target. Team 1, you get 3 minutes to get 30 into the target抯 hands. After 5 mins, Coach Jones will hit lines shots at team 2. They get 3 minutes to get 30. Coach Jones, then cross to team 1. Three for 30. Then Coach Smith, cross to team 2. Three for 30. Coaches: Challenge them!! Let抯 GO!!?
So many coaches -- in all sports -- each day force their players to walk through the ABC Drill, then the Wildcat Drill, then the UCLA Drill, then they go home. Then those coaches wonder why their players don't play the game well. It's because the players have never been drilled on their weaknesses! They've only run the same drills each day, which don't address their needs.
Part VI: The Final Part. The Culminating Activity!
No, don抰 let your practices end with a 搕hud? And, no, don抰 have practices end with a drill the girls can抰 finish and you抣l all be ticked off at each other. Watch the clock, budget your time, and let抯 end practice with a 揵ang?
* 揥e抮e going to end practice with 揝erver vs. Server,?a 6-on-6 drill where there抯 no rotation until I see 10 total perfect digs or serve receives. These passes must be ?1抋ble? Here are the teams.? I call out the teams. I evenly split the girls unless my starters need time together. 揜emember, we can抰 go any further until I see 10 perfect passes of serve or perfect digs, so you may want to serve lollipops. Play it out until you hear the whistle. Jenny, serve first. Tweeeeeeet.?
* 揘ow we抮e going to play 6抯. It抯 MB vs. MB. After that it抯 OH vs. OH. Then it抯 right/setters vs. rights/setters. First girl to get 3 kills in each competition, her team gets a big point. Then each team will switch back row and front row and do it again. The team that gets the most big points does less conditioning when the drill is over. Oh, if there抯 a tie at three wins each, we抣l randomly select one girl from each team to play it off.?
* 揥e抮e going to play 揅ooperative Jumpset During 6抯? This drill will go on until our setters can jump set 100 balls that end up being attackable by a teammate. The quicker we get through with this the better, because then we can go on to another drill. So if you get a good set, you may not want to pound it, but hit or tip so that it抯 dug! Yeah!! Coach Jones, poke to Jenny抯 team. Go.?
Part VII: Putting Up Equipment.
My practices end a few minutes early or they end on time. Parents won抰 understand me being 5 or 10 minutes late, then having to put up equipment, then having to make announcements, then waiting while the girls change shoes, etc. Neither will my spouse! Haha
Coach Houser抯 Equipment Rule: 揘o one changes shoes, changes shirts, touches water, their phone or their book bag until all equipment is put up. If you抮e done with your chore, you can either help others finish, or you can stand in the middle of the court and wait. No laughing or being loud. We抮e a team and we won抰 leave our teammates behind.?
Part VIII Wrapping It All Up.
揋REAT JOB today! The 2 hours just flew by. Our COD gets the final word.?
Our COD: 揧ou guys were awesome today. Passers, great job! Setters, you make jump setting look easy. I had a lot of fun today. I抳e got brownies for everyone!?
My final announcements: 揕isten. Listen. Wednesday抯 practice time is different, right? Macey, I still need the one-on-one. Rachel, ice that shoulder, OK??
I hold out my hand. Everyone puts a hand in. One, two, three: 揟OGETHER WE CAN.?
Finally. Teenagers don抰 even tell their parents 揟hank you for the money you gave me.? So don抰 you expect any praise for a great practice! Haha But maybe, just maybe, about once a month, a girl will say, 揚ractice is over? Wow, that went by fast!? And that抯 the best compliment my practice plans can receive. GOOD JOB!!!
