Freshman Vball Player

Question
QUESTION: Hi,
My daughter is a freshman that played on the JV team this year.  She is 5'10.5" and played middle.  She is starting her second year of club vball now possibly changing to OH because coach says it comes more natural to her than middle.  Her measurements are:  Reach 7' 4.5", Block 8' 8", Approach 9' 10".  These were measured by the varisty vball coach last week.  She wants to play college vball.  Any advise?  Thought on her measurements?

ANSWER: Hello PSR and welcome to www.AllExperts.com

My name is Coach Tovar

To make sure that all my readers young and old can understand some of my comments, I have chosen to use simple vocabulary words and interpret the rule for this sole purpose.

I always like to add similar ideas to help other readers learn extra information while they are learning new things. Please have an open positive mind. Thank You Coach Tovar

I will answer the your question in two parts.

Part 1 - MB to OH

Well PSR almost all coaches make moves that will help the "whole team" and not specifically that one player. A lot of parents do not understand this concept because their main focus is their children playing as much time as possible but you have to understand that some parents never get to see their children play. It has always and will always be a sensitive matter when dealing with other children's playing time. As coaches, we normally try to build a team by either having the best players out there or by mixing players to have the best chance of winning as a team.

"Coaches will place players on positions that they are good at first and at the same time will help the whole team second. Players place themselves on the position they like or think they are good at first and then team performance second" Tovar

"If you feel your child should be playing 100% of the time, then another parent and their child will hurt 100% of the time." Tovar

Sometimes parents should step back a little and see how the coaches are thinking. Here is something to think about.

Being changed from one position to another is a normal thing in volleyball, especially when last year was her first year in a high school volleyball team and yet played for a higher level. She was given a chance to advance her experience and she should be thankful to her coaches for taking a chance on her where many other players would like to have. Parents should also be appreciative of this opportunity and not see the move as a bad thing or as a demotion. I would not worry but remember, she is now learning a new position so do not expect her to start every single game. I would worry if your daughter was changed to another position and never started or played in a game.

"The number of weapons on your team will depend on the time you take to know every single one of your players" Tovar

Keep this in mind
Good luck and If I were you I would just focus on helping your daughter become the best OH hitter she could be just like you helped her become the best MB she could be. There's nothing better than to help her team in multiple ways.

Part 2 - Her Measurements

Okay hopefully I won't confuse you. Let me start by giving you the most basic information and the most likely information to be used by many recruiters.

Besides talent and grades, most recruiters will use 4 player measurement types.
1. Weight 2. Height Per Position 3. Block Jump 4. Approach  Jump

These 4 player measurement types will go up based on the school levels.
For example, a DI school will demand taller, better block and approach jump measurements than a DIII school.

DII and DIII schools are easier to get into because to receive a scholarship, your grades are more important than the actual player talent.

There are 4 main types of Division schools.
1. DI 2. DII 3. DIII and 4. NAIA = D1 upper or mid levels

Each of the above has two tiers
Tier 1(upper level - more requirements) and Tier 2(lower level - less requirements).

Tier 1 - if you meet a lot of their requirements you have a better chance of getting in.
Examples: team captain, honor student, years as varsity starter, club experience, All-State, All-Conference, All-Region, National Team appearance, High School All American, Junior Olympics, Girls Volleyball Champions etc.

Tier 2 - years as varsity starter, club experience and about two or three more things.

Education
3.0 GPA, 24 ACT + 1000 SAT

If your daughter was a senior today she would fall under NAIA Tier 2.

DI
Average MB - Height(5'10"-6'4")Block Approach(9'3"-9'5") and Approach Jump(9'9"-10')
Average OH - Height(5'10"-6'2")Block Approach(9'1"-9'4") and Approach Jump(9'7"-9'10")
DII
Average MB - Height(5'9"-6'2")Block Approach(9'2"-9'4") and Approach Jump(9'6"-9'8")
Average OH - Height(5'8"-5'11")Block Approach(9'0"-9'2") and Approach Jump(9'4"-9'6")
DIII
Average MB - Height(5'8"-6'1")Block Approach(8'11"-9'2") and Approach Jump(9'2"-9'6")
Average OH - Height(5'6"-5'10")Block Approach(8'10"-9'0") and Approach Jump(9'0"-9'4")
NAIA
Average MB - Height(5'9"-6'2")Block Approach(9'1"-9'2") and Approach Jump(9'4"-9'7")
Average OH - Height(5'7"-5'11")Block Approach(8'11"-9'1") and Approach Jump(9'3"-9'7")

Your Daughter - Height(5'11")Block Approach(8'8") and Approach Jump(9'10")

Your daughter will be taller, stronger and have better techniques on how to improve on all the measurement types by the time she reaches her senior year so she is doing great and looking good on her measurements.

My advise like I tell a lot of parents
There is no better feeling than having your son or daughter wanting to go to college while doing something that he/he loves to do while at the same time getting a possible free education. I know you are proud of her and be positive through out her whole volleyball experience because the last thing we want is for her to feel pressure or feeling tense knowing that you might be disappointed because she was not given the chance to play at that game or most of the time.

Encourage her that no matter whether she plays or not that you will be happy that she participates in something that she loves doing and loves being part of. This is about what she loves and enjoys doing and not about the parent. Don't worry PSR, your daughter still has a few more inches to grow and still a lot to learn and experience but with your encouragement and support she will do great. I would keep track of all her volleyball accomplishments and experiences for future use.

I hope this answers your question.

For the time is takes me to write all this information and possibly do research to give you the most updated information all I ask in return are two things.

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Thank you for visiting www.AllExperts.com

Coach Tovar


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks Coach!  Just to clarify...she played middle for her high school team this season and club team last season.  This year her club coach wants to possibly move her to OH which is fine with us.  He says she seems much more natural in that position.  We trust him and are grateful that he realizes this so she is willing to try it out.  We were grateful for her being on the JV team this year as a Freshman and were certainly grateful for all of her playing time.  We will press on and encourage her through all of this.  Your info on measurements, etc. is GREAT!  I appreciate you sharing your expertise.

Answer
Hello again

I guess what I would like to know is how does your daughter feel about this move?

I used to play as a defensive specialist in my college club team and I knew that position forward and backward. During a practice I started spiking and was very successful at it. Everybody was surprised but I still felt comfortable as a DS. The coach moved me to an OH hitter, then as a setter, pretty soon I became the team captain and his assistant coach while I started and played in every single game except one because I was late for the game.

It is perfectly natural for a player to spend hours and hours perfecting their skills in a certain position to the point that they are very successful and feel super comfortable in that position. And so they feel that it will take the same amount of time to learn a whole new different position which it might.

"In anything in life, people need to move out of their comfort zones in order to see what else they can be good at" Tovar

"An expert is somebody who knows a lot about very little"

I do not want to be an expert in anything which led me to designing one of the most complicated volleyball offensive systems in the world (over 26 of them), wrote the first ever 100 level Volleyball Serving Competition - Rules,  Guidelines and Procedures and a lot more so I'm glad that I learned a lot.

I would ask your daughter to do her best of course she will and try to be the the best OH so that now she will be great at both a middle blocker and OH. This will be great for her portfolio. As far s moving players around every coach will or at some time do this a lot or simply just switch players as far as substitutions.

He's a coach secret - coaches will change player positions because they believe that that particular player who is already doing a great job in their current position would help the team more in a point making stage. She was  in offense and defense but played more of a defensive role as the MB. She is now in a position where she must make most of the points on her team in order for her team to win. That is a big job.

Again you have two different coaching views and must allow this change to happen. If you believe that this change will diminish her playing time then you really don't have too many positive options. Your daughter can learn multiple positions at the same time so good luck and if you can keep me informed on how she does that would be great.

I do not know if your daughter read my answers but it would be a good idea if she does.

PS If you can rate me that would be great so that I can assess my self also.

Thank You
Coach Tovar