Keeping her off the floor
Question
I coach a 16 year old girls select team. My problem is I have a girl who will only play the back row and for some reason she won't move her feet she will only play the balls that come directly to her and to make it look good she will fall to the ground. The other teams will go right to her she is suppose to be my libero how do I keep her off the ground and I've tried alot of drills which make her move her feet but in the games she goes right back to just standing. After the tournament yesterday I have to bench her because she has cost us to many games. Let me know what you think will improve her.
Answer
Wow! This is a tough situation. Unfortunately, too many of us coaches face it. It sounds like she knows the skill and is demonstrating it in practice but when it comes to game time, she's reverting back to her old self. Unfortunately this is also the time, you can't mentor and discuss things with her, because you have a game to manage.
Have you tried video taping just her during the game. Show her on TV how she is standing up and failing to do what she knows to do. If you are lucky, capture some moments on the tape that shows her doing the right thing. You want to show her the tape one-to-two days after the match so that the memories of the game are fresh. This might do the trick.
Let me know how it goes!
Spike Approach
learning correct technique