Volleyball`s Mind and Body Connection

Question
Dear Mr. Crutchfield,
    I am doing a high-school report on the connection between the mind and body in sports.  As a varsity volleyball player, I chose this sport for my report and therefore I also understand the sport well.  However, I need an expert opinion/interview on this area of study.     
    If you could answer some or all of the questions below you would greatly help me.  

What is the mental aspect of volleyball?

How does your understanding of the mental aspect of volleyball influence and improve your play?

Is mental skill as important as physical skill?

How important is the mental aspect of volleyball to being a successful player?

How does one teach the mental aspect of volleyball?

Is volleyball a mentally-demanding sport?

I appreciate your time and effort.
    Thank you.
           Jennifer  

Answer
Jennifer:  I will try to answer your question as succinctly as possible, however please realize this is a relatively subjective area and the answers herein represent my opinion only (albeit after over 30 years of playing and 15 years of coaching).

The mental aspect of volleyball totally permeates the game, perhaps as much or more than any other sport.  I believe it is the most valuable asset in volleyball, more important than even raw physical skill or talent.  The evidence for that conclusion is that I have seen many players of limited talent or size become excellent volleyball players by focusing on and mastering the mental aspects while I have also seen many gifted atheletes unable to make the transition to volleyball because they were unwilling or unable to understand or integrate those mental aspects.

The specific mental aspects of volleyball are far too numerous to delineate here, a fact which is further complicated by the fact that the number and complexity of those aspects increases along with the player's ability and experience.  For example a beginning player focuses primarily on the basic rules of the game (postition, rotations, terminology, etc.) and his own physicality (footwork, body position, armswing, etc.).  As the player matures he must begin to focus on his relationship to the other players (team defenses, combination hitting and coverage, service recieve formations, etc.) and begin to become aware of what the other team is doing on the other side of the net.  At the more advanced level the player is faced with a myriad of mental computations based on numerous variable factors (score, strategies, tendencies, strengths and weaknesses, scouting reports, etc.) that change constantly throughout the game and often within a single rally!  I once compiled a "setter's checklist" for my setters which specifies no fewer than 15 things he must consider before the ball is served and another 10 he must think about between the pass and his set.
Is volleyball a mentally demanding sport? . . . You bet!

Mental knowledge and toughness greatly influences and enhances your abilities as a player.  I myself have had (and continue to have) a succesful playing career even though I stand only 5'10" and am now 46 years old. There are few things more satisfying than wiping the ball out of bounds off the hands of a 6'4" blocker rather than trying to power it through the block (although admittedly much less "macho") I have consistently been succesful on the beach by disguising my back row defensive position and discovering tendencies or weaknesses in my opponent and taking advantage of them with well placed serves or attacks.  Experience and mental knowledge and toughness will best brute force every time (or most of the time anyway).

As for teaching the mental aspects, I'm a big believer in visualization. I constantly stress the importance, even in the seemingly simplest of drills, of visualizing the skill being practiced as taking place in a game situation.  At the lower levels I instruct primarily by modeling and written instructions and playbooks.  I also use video to demonstrate the correct techniques and positioning for the younger player.  At the more advanced levels, scrimmages and "whistle drills" become very important and videos take on increased importance, both of our own team and players to correct technique and court position and of opponents to discover defenses, offensive tendencies and weaknesses.

I hope this has been helpful.  As you can see, I am very passionate about volleyball and would be happy to discuss this or any volleyball related topic with you further and in detail.  Perhaps if you desire a more intricate or lengthy discussion we could do it over the phone?  In any event I wish you the best of luck on your paper and volleyball career.

All my best . . . . Crutch