What offense to teach 8th grade boys team?

Question
Hi Mr. Houser,
I am a 20-year USVBA veteran (who hasn't played in seven years!)and I'm about to take on coaching my son's 8th grade vball team.
I'd love your thoughts on what offense I should try to teach them. They played a 4-2 last year as 7th graders. Should I stick with it or try to teach them a 5-1 or 6-2? My fear is that while I will likely remember the 6-2 we ran, I'm not sure I won't just confuse them to start over! Haven't ever coached or tried to teach someone an offense before.
Thanks for your help!
Kristin


Answer
Hey Kristin!

Welcome to www.allexperts.com!  

The offense you run is determined by a question that you must answer:  What offense does the team NEED to run?  In other words, what offense gives your team the best chance of winning?  

I imagine you know how to determine that, but here's a review for the other readers.

You run a:

5-1 when (a) you have one exceptional setter.  The 2nd setter is so much weaker that you feel that your team is better off with fewer front row hitters for 3 rotations, rather than trying to run a 6-2.   You may also choose a 5-1 when (b) you don't need your best setter to hit/pass/dig.  I can imagine a team with a very good setter, yet he/she is by far the team's best hitter.  This team will then considering running a 6-2, thinking the best setters' hitting skills are worth putting in the 2nd setter for about 30% of the match.  Risky.  Really risky.  

6-2 when you have two setters, neither is far superior to the other AND you want a back set option in all rotations.  

4-2 when you have two setters, neither is far superior to the other AND you want them to pass/dig when in the back row OR you want them attacking when they're in the front row, especially if they're left handed.   The 4-2 offense is also used by immature/inexperienced/young teams to avoid the complication of learning how a back row setter gets to the net on frees, on digs, etc., and to allow the setter to dump the bad passes while avoiding illegal back row setter attacks.  

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I'm sure the readers can think of a dozen more reasons to run the offenses above, reasons that would make me say, "Yeah, of course."  

But now you may see why I can't answer your question w/o more info.  Do you have a freak-of-nature setter?  Or do you have ONLY one setter who is even decent?  Then you better hurry up and brush up on how to run a 5-1 offense, and how to teach everything about it:  Serve receive, base, free, double block, single block, etc.  Or do you have two equally good setters, and a bunch of good hitters?  Then it's time to review what you used to know about a 6-2.

One of my staff is directing a clinic tomorrow here in Virginia for a team whose coach has decided that a 5-1 offense is the thing for his team.  In your area there may also be people who can help you with it. You can also find video of a high school team running a 5-1, and make notes of what they're doing.  That's what I used to do when I was in my 20's, and didn't know how to coach things:  I'd watch a team do it on video.  That's how I learned to over-the-shoulder roll and the next year, I began teaching it to my players.

What else can I do for you?
Please contact me again if you have any questions.
Also feel free to contact me by email at [email protected]

Also, do you have a few minutes to visit me at www.coachhouser.com?  There are free downloads for coaches, players and parents.  And there are enough smiling faces for everyone!

Chat anytime!
Coach Houser