Volleyball Magazine

Also in this issue: Managing Health Needs Non-verbal Communication Developing Volleyball Athleticism
A Publication of the American Volleyball Coaches Association
April/May 2014
TAKING CONTROL
Maximizing the value of each possession
p. 18
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Contents
April/May 2014 Volume 31 Issue 3
On the Cover
10
Ben Josephsons Trinity Western program has

experienced plenty of success over the years, and its
due in no small part to the attention he devotes to
building a strategy that maximizes each possession.
His teams convert points at high-percentage rates,
and now you can, too.
Features
Departments
10
From the Desk of:

Kevin Hambly, AVCA President
14
18
Growing Pains
Injuries have been a growing concern in not only the volleyball community, but
the global sports world for years and years. John Dunning has been involved in
coaching for approximately four decades and has learned various ways to tweak
his training methods for the benefit of player safety. Check out what he has to say
about the growing concern over safety of our athletes. If we develop our coaching
style with the health of the athlete as a key focus, the program and the players will
benefit long-term.
More Than Words

Coaches often think that if they can just find the right words to motivate their
team, theyll be on the path to success. Too often, however, its what coaches arent
saying that drives the message they give to their team. Maggie Peters and Dave
Weitl took a look at how their posture, tone of voice and more affect how the
players on the court both hear and react to the instruction that coaches are giving.
Youll think about your approach to instructing in a whole new way.
Taking Control: Possession Volleyball

Volleyball is a unique sport in many ways, including the fact that the team with
the ball can largely dictate the action. Ben Josephson of Trinity Western walks you
through the components of possession-driven volleyball. Scoring points is all about
converting your chances into high-percentage shots and winning enough contested
points to take each set. He breaks down different ways to structure your entire
approach around enhancing the value of each possession.
www.avca.org
Our Game
Kathy DeBoer, AVCA Executive Director
On the Court
News of Interest
Performance Development
Stacey Torman
Expecting Greatness
Assistant Coaches Committee
Special Contribution
Sue Gozansky
Media Issues
David Portney
Getting Fit
Ken Kontor
4
6
22
24
25
26
28
COACHING VOLLEYBALL | April/May 2014 | 1
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General Information
Coaching Volleyball (ISSN: 0894-4237) is the official
technical journal of the American Volleyball Coaches
Association and is published six times a year. Coaching
Volleyball is a membership benefit of the AVCA. Copyright
2013 by Associations International, LLC. All articles are
the property of the AVCA.
Article Submissions: Coaching Volleyball welcomes submissions of manuscripts of relevance to volleyball coaches and
professionals from related areas. Articles will be subject to
review by the AVCA Education/Publications Committee. Please
send articles for consideration to Jackson Silvanik (jackson.
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Membership: To become a member of the American

Volleyball Coaches Association, go to www.avca.org and
click on Membership, or call 866-544-2822.
Education/Publication Committee
Cecile Reynaud, Ph.D., Chair Florida State University
Ben Bodipo-Memba University of California, Irvine
Jeff Carroll Billings Senior High School
Chris Catanach University of Tampa
Dennis Janzen Fresno Pacific University
Alan Knipe USA Volleyball
Andr Lennox Los Angeles Volleyball Academy
Bill Neville Nevillizms, Inc.
Carol Russo Ohio High School Volleyball Coaches
Association
Becky Schmidt Hope College
AVCA Staff Directory

Kathy DeBoer
Executive Director
kathy.deboer@avca.org
Jason Jones
Assistant Executive Director
jason.jones@avca.org
Ashley Beil
Director of Membership, Marketing & Board Relations
ashley.beil@avca.org
Toby Bishop
Sr. Sales Manager
toby.bishop@avca.org
Jackson Silvanik
Communications Manager & Editor of Publications
jackson.silvanik@avca.org
Bradley Wilson
Manager of Awards, Membership & Event Support
bradley.wilson@avca.org
Emily Andrews
Events & Education Specialist
emily.andrews@avca.org
David Portney
Manager of Media Relations & E-commerce
david.portney@avca.org
Kate Schuerman
Awards, Events & Research Specialist
kate.schuerman@avca.org
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2 | April/May 2014 | COACHING VOLLEYBALL
www.avca.org
PRESIDENT'S LETTER
Fear
Kevin Hambly
www.avca.org
to get up at four in the morning to watch

more video, write to the recruit, and do
anything to get an advantage.
I see how fear has saved lives, helped people achieve and pushed people to their limits.
Fear is something that has been on my
mind for a while, mostly because I feel like
I am dealing with it more and more every
year as a coach.
ILLINOIS ATHLETICS
was at a practice and I saw this exchange

happen
Coach to player: I cant wait until
one of these other players (pointing around
the gym) is good enough to replace you.
Then I wont have to watch you [expletive
that rhymes with luck] this up.
Player to coach: nod, nod, nod
(1 minute later)
Coach to same player: Why do you constantly play with fear? Let go of the fear. Let
go of it! We cant have it on the floor.
Player to coach: nod, nod, nod
Reaction: Player figured it out; the player
executed what the coach was asking to a
T. They played harder. They moved more
precisely. They received praise for doing the
thing that was asked.
But still something about the interaction
between player and coach does not sit well
with me.
I have read countless articles about the
effect that fear has had on our youth. There
are references to parents working multiple
jobs, so instead of having latchkey kids,
they just over-schedule them because they
are afraid that their kids will miss out, be
abducted or not achieve. The articles suggest that the parents fears are being transferred to their kids, and that they carry fears
with them moving forward in life.
I have watched enough Michael Moore
films to have a good sense of how he believes media has created unnecessary fears
in us; the media is a tool to control us.
There is a lot of good in fear. Fear keeps us
from playing too close to a cliff when we are
young. It protects us from potential harm.
Professionally, it can be a great motivator. Jerry Rice (the greatest receiver ever in
the NFL) was legendary for his workouts.
Numerous times he mentioned in interviews that the reason he worked so hard was
to keep his job, driven by the fear of someone doing more and being better than him.
I know for me that the same fear drives me
I grapple with two things about fear. For

us coaches, what is our responsibility with
regards to helping our players navigate their
fears, and what are the appropriate responses to fear in our profession?
Player fears have been interesting to me.
It seems like more and more players come
in to school with built-in fears. Very few
have failed at anything, or if they have not
realized that they have failed, they have
been shielded from it at some level or another. Many of the athletes I have come in
contact with are afraid of that failure; they
are afraid to put themselves out there to be

judged and see how good they can really be.
How do we help the players deal with
this fear? Do we shelter them? Do we have
them play/live in a state of fear so they get
used to it and overcome it? Do we use it to
get them to work harder? I dont have an
answer, but I have my own ideas and my
own ways that I address it. As everything
else in coaching, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesnt. What I did observe in the
DI NCAA tournament last year was that
the teams that played without fear, or managed the fear appropriately, advanced.
In the professional world for coaches, there
seems to be a few places where fear shows up.
These include the one I mentioned earlier, the
fear of losing our job, the fear of not meeting
expectations and finally, the fear of change.
Fear of losing our job manifests itself in
so many ways. Similar to parents, we can at
times transfer our fears to our players and
create more anxiety. The fear of losing a recruit or not getting a great recruiting class
can sometimes lead to decisions that maybe
are outside who we are. I have seen good
people lose themselves because of the stress
and fear, which manifests itself in unhealthy
ways either in themselves or their players.
This fear is not only in ourselves as coaches,
but from administrators putting more resources into our programs and expecting
results. What is the appropriate response?
Fear of change has been going on for
years. When Jim Coleman passed away,
I was working for USA Volleyball and his
widow sent over twenty boxes filled with everything from coaching books and articles
to match and instructional videos to statistical studies on the game and more. What
I found most interesting were the notes
from Jims meetings with the rules committee with the FIVB. I was given the task of
going through these boxes and cataloging
what was in there. I was fascinated to learn
(continued on p. 8)
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S LETTER
Our Game
Kathy DeBoer
s most of you know, the AVCA

is pretty wedded to surveys and
aggregating feedback. What you
tell us with striking frequency is that the
court sessions at convention and spring
conference are too basic regardless of the
pedigree of the speaker.
To address your critique, we are being
intentional about asking elite coaches to
do court sessions on fundamental skills. To
their credit, almost all are willing to speak,
but their common response to our request
is, I really dont have anything new to say
about that.
I just finished reading Mike Heberts
new book, Thinking Volleyball worth the
time, by the way and in describing the
purpose of his writing, he says: What follows is a firsthand account of how I learned
to coach. It is not a book that will tell you
how to pass, set or hit. There are plenty

of good books and videos that can do this
better than I can. I dont believe Mike is
saying that he doesnt have a comprehensive
grasp of how to teach fundamental skills;
what he is saying, however, is that for him,
volleyball coaching becomes a fascinating
discipline after basic skills are mastered.
I think most experienced coaches agree
with his perspective, yet we all still piled
three-deep around the court to see a successful veteran talk about serve receive. We
cant seem to get over the thinking that
there is some new formula that will make
our teams better faster, a workaround to
practice and repetition, something more
high-level that is the key to the success of
the top teams.
I was with you in this search for a long
time. While at Kentucky as an administrator
in the 1990s I sat on press row at basketball

games as close to the team bench as I could
finagle a seat. I remember feeling as if I had
landed a real coup when I snagged a spot five
feet from the North Carolina coach in the
semis of an NCAA Final Four. In this game
UNC was favored but down by several scores
with time running low. In three consecutive
timeouts, the coach looked at the best player
and said, We need a score. Then he said to
the rest of the team, As soon as we get one,
call a timeout. That was it.
They lost that particular game, but Im
guessing the nature of the feedback in those
timeouts was not atypical. I felt cheated even
though I was the nosey-nancy: no high-level
instruction? No motivational nugget? Just,
you score, and you call timeout?
My silver bullet quest dead-ended again
when listening to Hugh McCutcheon in
www.avca.org
timeouts during the Olympic Games in

London. He was calm, gave a few general
reminders, and sent his team back to the
court with words of encouragement: simple, straightforward, affirming.
Television also believes in the epiphanic
sound bite. Broadcasters are constantly seeking more access to the private places in our
coaching lives locker rooms, intermissions,
team meals, bench conversations with assistants and officials. They too yearn for highlevel stuff when most of what happens in
these situations is numbingly ordinary.
As you know, the best coaching happens well before matches start scouting
opponents, match-up analysis, statistical assessments and many, many, many hours of
practice on fundamental skills, specific situations and possible challenges. Its mundane
stuff repeated with discipline and creativity.
Unfortunately, this knowledge does not
mitigate the fact that we want to hear elite
coaches talk about fundamental skills,
though it helps explain their hesitation. If
you are expected to provide heretofore unconsidered insights but you dont have any
or even believe there are any, you risk disappointing the attendees. Its as intimidating
as ESPN invading your locker room with a
camera seeking an inspirational sound bite
when what actually happens most of the
time is an orderly review of the match plan,
starting rotations and opponent tendencies.
Im not saying we will quit asking accomplished coaches to help us understand fundamental skills, absolving them
of sharing nuances they have learned over
the years, or explaining their favorite drills
and feedback lines. In fact, we have Illinois
Kevin Hambly, Wisconsins Kelly Sheffield,
eighttime DIII Mens National Champion
Charlie Sullivan of Springfield College,
Ball States Joel Walton and numerous
veteran high school and club coaches conducting court sessions at our 2014 Spring
Conference in Chicago on May 13.
Our goal is always to put together programming that stimulates the cant-getenough part of your volleyball soul. I appreciate that its this thirst for knowledge
that spawns the teach me something
new!criticism. It is a good reminder that
convention and spring conference attendees
www.avca.org
are generally not beginner coaches but

certifiable lovers of volleyball who have
carved out concentrated time, without
athletes or matches, to ponder, discuss and
learn more the sport.
Given that, keep pressing us. This years
Spring Conference will focus on behavioral
cues, analysis of championship-level play
and, yes, as always, we will investigate new
and better ways to train fundamental skills.
I close with a quote from a tombstone
in Italy, not to be morose, but because it so

clearly describes the professional journey of
a coach: What you are, we once were; what
we are, you will be. It is this continuum and
your willingness to share your place in it
that makes the AVCA work. Thank you!
On the Court
Northern California Volleyball
Association (NCVA) Sets High Bar
for Combine Partnership
The first 2014 AVCA/NCSA
College Prep Combine was
held in San Jose, California, on
February 14 in conjunction with
the No Dinx Presidents Day
Tournament. Donna and Tom
Donaghy and the whole NCVA
staff were terrific partners in this
venture, said AVCA Executive
Director Kathy DeBoer. Were
building a new model for talent
assessment that aims to give both
the participants and coaches real
value for their investment of
time and money. Having good
partners is critical and NCVA
went above and beyond our
agreement.
Getting information out about the new model to club coaches
and parents is the biggest hurdle to hosting a successful event.
NCVA was doggedly persistent in telling the story; the threecomponent program which assesses volleyball potential (VPI), current skill level (PVC), and behavioral learning style (ABP) is tough
to explain in a sound bite. Other correspondence touted the lasting
record and benchmarking features of the searchable database. In a
post-Combine debrief one dad exclaimed, I get all this for $99?
This is the best value Ive seen in a long time.
NCVA also gave AVCA one-on-one time with parents, participants and coaches at a booth during the weekend tournament.
We could not have done this without them, said Combine manager Kate Schuerman. NCVA was responsive, generous and committed. All are looking forward to a repeat engagement in 2015.
AVCA has completed three College Prep Combines this spring:
San Jose, Nashville (March 14), and Houston (April 3). The last
Combine of 2014 will be held on May 30, at the Michigan Junior
Volleyball Association Championships in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Funded by Volleyball,
Breast Cancer Pilot Study Succeeds
By Michele McDonald, George Mason University
Funded by volleyball teams nationwide, a new study shows success
in pinpointing individualized treatment for women with metastatic
breast cancer, according to George Mason University researchers.
The Side-Out Foundations pilot study is part of a cutting-edge
approach to personalized medicine that looks beyond genomic
analysis alone to combine it with what some say is the next frontier
in targeted therapy: proteomics.
The pilot study is the first of its kind to utilize novel protein activation mapping technology along with the genomic fingerprint of
cancer as a way to find the most effective treatment. The trial was announced at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical
Oncology and is expected to expand into phase two this month.
Standard chemotherapy had failed the 25 women who

participated in the 2.5-year pilot study, says study co-author
Emanuel Chip Petricoin, co-director of George Masons Center
for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine (CAPMM).
Advanced tumors spread to the liver, brain, bone and other areas in
metastatic breast cancer.
In every case, molecular profiling guided oncologists to a
treatment that otherwise would not have been prescribed, says
Nicholas Robert, study co-author and oncologist at Fairfax-based
Virginia Cancer Specialists. The pilot study showed that nearly half
the patients had at least a 30 percent increase in progression-free
survival, which is the time between or during treatment that the
cancer is not growing.
The idea is to turn the tables against cancer by using molecular
profiling, says Robert, adding that some patients had improvements
of four to six months of progression-free survival.
The Side-Out trials goal is simple: Successful treatment meant patients had to show an increase in progression-free survival of at least
30 percent, Petricoin says. Researchers wanted to give the patients
more time, and they did the 30 percent threshold meant 100 days
became at least 130 days without tumor growth.
Novel technology developed by Mason researchers was used to analyze if the protein drug targets were activated in each tumor. Drugs
attack proteins, not the genes, to combat the molecular defect that
leads to cancerous tumors, Petricoin says. In the past, doctors treated
cancer based on their location, not their molecular makeup.
The molecular approach opens up new therapies. For example,
if a breast cancer tumor shares the same protein pathway activation
found in lung cancer, then the drug developed to hit that target for
lung cancer can be used now for breast cancer, Petricoin says. The
pilot study included only FDA-approved drugs currently on the
market. Additional studies are expected to fold in new drugs as they
become available along with experimental drugs, he says.
While Mason researchers unraveled the protein activation maps of
the tumor, researchers at Phoenix, Arizona-based Caris Life Sciences
tackled its genomic profile. The two-pronged approach gave the
treatment selection committee crucial information on which to base
innovative treatments, Robert says.
Speed was essential, Petricoin says. If youre dying of metastatic
disease, you cant wait months for the test results, he says.
The Mason lab tapped a proteomic test that uses technology developed by Petricoin and CAPMM co-founder Lance Liotta to beat
their 10-day turnaround goal, frequently cutting the time by four
days. The test developed by Mason spin-off Theranostics Health is
now available to doctors.
I think Lance and Chip went the distance to make this happen,
Robert says of the study results.
Other firms involved in the study include Spokane, Washingtonbased Evergreen Hematology and Oncology, Virginia G. Piper
Cancer Center Clinical Trials and Translational Drug Development
(TD2), both of Scottsdale, Arizona.
The family of Gloria Dunetz, who died from breast cancer in
2010, started the Side-Out Foundation in 2004 as a way to raise
money for breast cancer research. Dunetzs son, Rick, is a volleyball coach. Side-out is a volleyball term that describes how one team
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On the Court
regains the serve or control of the play by scoring a point while its
opponent is serving.
As fundraising increased, Side-Out wanted to promote new research to make a difference in the lives of patients, says Dunetzs
husband, Bryant. Were treating patients in real time something that hasnt been done before anywhere in the world, he says.
Side-Outs Rock the Pink annual grass doubles tournament is
June 89 at Occoquan Regional Park in Lorton, Virginia. The tournament raises money for the clinical trial.
Using molecular profiling to target cancer could have far-reaching
effects, says Robert, who was Gloria Dunetzs doctor. Its a story
thats being told as we speak, Robert says. We dont know where
its going to take us.
Courtesy of USAV
AVCA Board of Directors Update

The AVCA is led by a board of directors representing each segment of
the volleyball community. Given that several posts have changed hands
in recent months, we thought it would be a good time to make a note of
who is currently serving as representatives for the AVCA membership.
Tammy Swearingen
Division III Rep (through 12/31/2014)
School/Organization: Westminster College (PA)
Jim Giacomazzi
NAIA Rep (through 02/25/2017)
School/Organization: Wayland Baptist University
Rick Reynolds
Two-Year Rep (through 12/31/2014)
School/Organization: Western Wyoming Community College
Peter Hanson
Mens Rep (through 12/31/2016)
School/Organization: Ohio State University Men
Shannon Wells
Asst. Coach Rep (through 12/31/2016)
School/Organization: University of Florida
David Weitl
Club Rep (through 12/31/2015)
School/Organization: Washington Volleyball Academy
Kevin Hambly
President (through 12/31/2015)
School/Organization: University of Illinois
Rob Slavin
High School Rep (through 12/31/2015)
School/Organization: Sacred Heart High School
Anne Kordes
Past President (through 01/07/2015)
School/Organization: University of Louisville
Sharon Clark
Minority (through 12/31/2016)
School/Organization: Butler University
Kirsten Bernthal Booth

Division I Rep (through 12/31/2016)
School/Organization: Creighton University
Cecile Reynaud
Educ. and Pubs Rep
School/Organization: Florida State University
Jim Boos
Division II Rep (through 12/31/2015)
School/Organization: University of Minnesota Duluth
TJ Meagher
Legislative Rep
School/Organization: University of Houston
Patrick Dorywalski
Division III Rep (through 12/31/2014)
School/Organization: Stevens Institute of Technology Men
Sandy Vong
At-Large
School/Organization: Insight Sports
Fear
(continued from p. 3)
that the concept of libero was brought up in

the late 60s and early 70s and continued in
basically every meeting until it was adopted
in the late 90s. In the documentation were
the notes on why they should or should not
adopt that change. The overwhelming reason it wasnt adopted was the fear of change.
I have been in coaching long enough
to have seen some major changes to our
sport: the libero, rally scoring adopted, colored volleyballs, sand volleyball, etc At
coaches meetings, when new ideas have been
suggested, they have been met with fear the

fear of change. I have felt this fear, as I was
afraid of sand volleyball. I was afraid of being at a school where it can snow at the end
of April and trying to compete with schools
from California and Florida in this sport.
I was afraid of how that would change our
recruiting, our lifestyle and the sport itself.
I know I was not alone and many still are
afraid. Were those fears justified? Things will
continue to change and we will figure it out.
The reality is that adding more volleyball
scholarships is a good thing for our game.
More opportunities being created for women
is a great thing for our sport and athletics in
general. After all, the change to rally scoring

has made our sport more accessible to the fans
and maybe a little bit easier to estimate the
length of the match for television purposes
(still not enough though). We will adapt. We
will change.
Coach Krzyzewski from Duke posted
something on Twitter (something I have
feared) the day after they lost in the NCAA
tournament. It resonated with me.
Fear is a thought, it can change.
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Growing Pains
By John Dunning
Head Volleyball Coach, Stanford University
Dealing with the Growing Health Needs

of Your Current Student-Athletes
hen I think back about my time as a coach (40 years),

I remember competitive volleyball with fewer injuries.
Forty years ago, there was little knowledge about womens
sports; therefore, I taught skills differently. At the time,
I listened to the leaders in the sport because they were a great
resource for sharing the innovations other people around the
world had come up with. I remember going to a clinic at the
NCAA championship as a high school coach, listening to another coach discuss transition hitting a middle blocker going
to the right to block, landing on the right leg and taking the first
transition step with the left. About 10 years later, I listened to
the same coach discuss the same topic, but the technique had
gone through a transformation. The coach was teaching the same
topic, but emphasizing having the player land on two feet (not
one) to stay in balance for health reasons. This emphasis came at
the expense of efficient movement and making a quick turn to
transition. That impacted me. I was a math major and am a very
logical person. One thing happens based upon another for me
and my brain doesnt like to work any other way. So when I saw a
coach emphasizing health over what made sense from a volleyball
standpoint, my coaching philosophy began to change; I began to
base it more and more on the health of the athletes.
www.avca.org
Two
Good Reasons Why
After this epiphany, I had a greater aware-
ness of health and thought I was being careful with the student-athletes I coached. Then
I had a freshman player, Addie Hauschild,
hurt her L5-S1 disc and have to have surgery.
She had the surgery, went to rehab, and then
was required by the doctor to have her physical therapists observe how she performed
all the necessary volleyball skills before she
could return to practice. They watched her
perform the basic skills (blocking and landing, passing, etc.) and at each step they said,
No, you cant do that anymore. It soon became clear to her that she had to learn not
only play the game of volleyball with good
posture, but that she had to be in a neutral
posture for life. To her credit, Addie was an
amazing rehab patient and really recreated
her life. She did everything in as neutral a
position as she could. Her posture as a passer,
as a hitter when she landed, what she tried to
do as an attacker, was built around her spine.
That fact changed the way I looked at every
skill I taught.
Elsa Stegemann, another athlete I coached
at UOP, was injured landing after attacking
a ball in a match; she tore the ACL in her
left knee. She was exceptionally strong and
athletic; she could make up for things with
just her physical abilities and her knowledge
of the game. Prior to the injury, she was out
of position a lot on her approach and landed
out of balance constantly. If my focus had
been different, I would have noticed that
very often instead of adjusting the location
of her approach plant she just approached,
jumped and dealt with location in the air.
The result was she landed on one leg over
and over. Elsa became an All-American, and
one of the best players in the country as a
senior, and I believe it was because she had
to learn how to approach to hit and block
differently (no more one-legged landings).
At that time research was beginning to show
that female athletes were susceptible to ACL
injuries; it made sense to take a look at how
we train, how we teach skill and how we
apply strategies in the sport. My coaching
philosophy was forced to continue to evolve
and it still is.
If we look back at any season we will see
the huge impact of health on the path a
team takes and how far a team travels in
www.avca.org
pursuit of their goals, and we also see that

there are different components to health,
including mental health, physical health,
and health as it relates to volleyball skills.
Mental
Health
There are many things that affect the men-
tal health of the people and the group,

too many to quickly discuss but there are
a few that I think need to have some focus:
Love of the Game

Obviously, what happens between our
ears and in our hearts matters a lot. Life is
a roller coaster ride! One thing that I think
is very important is love of the game. When
young athletes start out playing 12 and
under, you can see how the love of playing volleyball emanates from every court.
This love of the game either stays with the
athletes or it doesnt, depending on the experiences they have. I know it has a little
bit to do with wins and losses and how you
might define fun, but it also has to do with
the formal and informal activities we do. I
think it would be safe to say that 95% of
the time a female athlete plays volleyball
she is with her team and her coaches. If she
is lucky, those people will help her love of
the game grow. But if we can help her find
time to play the game in informal settings
more often, we increase the chance she
will still love the game as time goes by. It
is up to me to help the athletes on my team
find ways to play volleyball away from our
coaches and formal practice.
Team Chemistry
Team chemistry is an area that we are
hearing more and more about. Developing team chemistry is moving up the list in
terms of importance for all coaches. There
is no denying the important role this plays
in success, but perhaps the more important
part is how much a positive team experience can play in the mental health of everyone involved (not just the players!).
Positive vs. Negative

We are all are drawn to positive experiences: winning, improving, learning, interacting and so on. Every coach understands
this and is working to help the group enjoy
volleyball in some way, but the intensity
seems to grow along with the importance
of what we are doing. If we are not careful,
the moment, week or season can become a
negative completely unintentionally. It isnt
possible for every moment to be positive,
but if the sum of the experiences is, then
we will all achieve our goals in this area.
There are a couple things to consider when
interacting with athletes: the impact of the
moment the players are in and the delivery
that we use in that moment. The impact
can either be huge or it can be minimal.
The delivery can be very direct, firm, harsh,
negative, or it can be very positive, caring,
loving, etc. The interaction that comes up
the most is a non-impacting moment a
conversational exchange in an easy situation, delivered in a caring positive manner.
In the short run it will have little emotional
impact, but over time can help establish a
healthy relationship. But what about the

opposite scenario, a very intense event delivered in a negative, direct, forceful way?
This can cause permanent damage to the
relationships between people. Somewhere
in between these two extremes is where we
most often function. My experience guides
me to never put caring at risk, to never get
caught up in the intensity or importance of
the moment to the point that a relationship
is ruined.
Roles of Athletes
Defining roles for players is important; it
is the one thing that continually comes up
in conversations about what athletes want
from coaches. Athletes want their roles to
be clearly defined, and they may not say it
but they probably want a structure in place
that will help them achieve their goals. As
coaches, we need to be disciplined in our
approach in setting up rules and guidelines.
Physical
Health
Much of our attention is focused on physical health; it is a fine line we all walk between risk of injury and peak performance.
We now have several things in place that we
feel help enable us to maintain health.
Health meetings
There is a lot of communication that
happens between athletic trainers, strength
coaches, coaching staff and the athletes in
a variety of ways. Every week we have a
meeting in which our athletic trainer is in
charge. She gives a report on each athlete
and we discuss each persons restrictions in
practice, the weight room and in life. The
entire staff is aware of the health of each
athlete and thus can help oversee workouts
in a very informed manner. The health
meetings have made it so that we dont have
communication gaps.
Eyes on the athletes

In practice, our strength coach helps the
athletic trainer and all the other coaches
have their eyes on each player. Every day,
there are people to count the number of
jumps of different athletes, the number of
good and bad landings, how much time the
Libero is in the deep squat position, how
many times they go to the floor, etc. We are
trying to keep track of and have an awareness of athlete health.
Surfaces we play on
Many times, the surfaces we play on contribute to injury problems. A lot of athletes
come into college with what may be considered overuse injuries or situations that
are more extreme than in the past because
of the surfaces they play on and the amount
of time they play vs. the actual time they
rest (which is getting smaller each year).
9-inch line
On the court we use the most often, we put
down 9-inch lines, which are 9 inches from
the center line and if a player lands across that
line, she gets warned. If she does it again, then
she is removed from the activity. It definitely
has cut down on injuries at the net.
Cross training
As a young coach I followed the leader
and we conditioned by playing more volleyball. The sport has advanced; the demands
are greater; athletes are bigger, stronger, and
faster; and they are focusing more and more
on only one activity at younger and younger ages. Thus it becomes a more important
part of our plan to cross-train. Conditioning outside of our repetitive sport movements becomes necessary so that we arent
the cause of overuse situations.
When less is more

When I came to Stanford, I sat down
with some of the other coaches and asked
for one tip and I came away with, Always remember less is more. As a coach, I
am in charge of how players get from point
A to point B. One of the things we looked
at early on was our schedule. We played
most of our matches on Friday and Saturday at the time, and traveled Thursday. As
a result, we didnt work out on Thursday
and had it as a day off. We began to do it
at home as well to have a similar routine. I
think we got a lot out of it. Indeed, setting
up the schedule is really a problem when it
comes to the body and recovery. The idea
of planned rest, days off and tapering is really important. One thing I am proud of is
we always monitor it and dont let ourselves
run away with the urges we get to just do a
little bit more.
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Health
and Skills
In our gym today, the health of the stu-
dent-athlete is paramount, especially when

teaching skills. We use two guiding lights to
help us choose how to teach a skill: health
reasons and what the best players around
the world seem to have in common in the
way they perform skills.
Landing
In a game, athletes are going to do whatever they have to do to win. As a result, we
have to pay close attention to how they
land. When we raise our hitting arm up
high to attack, it can cause our balance to
shift and that almost forces us to land out
of balance and on one leg. This, along with
the fact that it seems common to land with
our legs almost straight, will put us at risk
for injury and overuse injuries. It is up to
coaches to make athletes aware of what they
are doing, teach them how to land on two
legs and to gather when they land to minimize shock waves that, over time, may hurt
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us. It is hard to take time away from other

important things and work on landing, but
if we dont do it, the athletes wont do it on
their own.
The Plant
We can help landings improve by working on our approach, where we plant and
how we plant to hit. If we learn to time sets
better and locate our plant better, we will
be in balance more often to attack and to
land. Elsa, who I mentioned earlier, proved
to me that as she understood the health
reasons for timing and location, she began
to work harder to improve her skills. She
found she had to read each situation and
focus more of her attention on setting up
the best approach, rather than how to hit all
the balls she had approached to so poorly.
Hitting/serving fundamentals
It is much easier to start serving/hitting
by not rotating your shoulders and just arching your back, using little rotation, which
puts lots of pressure on your shoulder and
doesnt let your body follow through in a

natural way. When you ask young players at
camp how many have lower back pain from
playing volleyball, 40-50% say they do. The
path we go down in teaching an arm swing
that will help an athlete stay healthy is more
complicated, but can have a huge impact.
Conclusion
The health of our student-athletes is a pri-
ority Im sure we can all agree on that.

Making sure it is a priority in even the most
difficult situations is the challenge. I can
think back over many years and know that
I tried and sometimes failed to find ways to
properly focus on health. But I also know
that I have made many decisions based on
health reasons and I dont remember one of
those times ending up being a bad choice.
It is easy to get caught up in the heat of a
moment, but we have to remember that the
long-term health of our student-athletes is
what is important, both for our team, and
for them as individuals.
MORE
THAN
WORDS
The Importance of
Non-verbal Communication
By Maggie Peters & Dave Weitl, Washington Volleyball Club
A COUPLE SEASONS AGO, I coached very young girls, and I had two players quit in one season it was
devastating. I questioned my methods, wondered what I was doing wrong and talked through it with other
coaches. Dave Weitl, a respected coach in the Puget Sound Region, asked if I had considered how approachable I
was being, both to the parents and the players. This was an ah-ha moment for me. Im a very active coach; that is,
I use a lot of hand movements and it can come across as intense. That can be intimidating for younger and smaller
players. Since his comment, I started paying closer attention to how I was coming across not only in the gym, but
also in my office and out in public.
What do I look like when I coach?

Think about that what are you presenting to your team; what
kind of environment are you creating? Is it an atmosphere of anger?
Are you moody or pouty when players seem to be struggling? Or
are you just flat-out intimidating? It is important to remember
that intensity can easily transition into negativity. It might not
even be the words you use, but the body language and actions you
present which can be perceived as sheer anger. Ask yourself, Am I
instructing and motivating my players in a manner which could be
perceived as angry? Is my intensity really motivating my players or
is it shutting them down?
Counter to a negative coaching persona, do you project joy?
Do you impress upon your players that you have a passion for the
game? A smile and some clapping can do a lot to convey the notion
that youre happy to be there in the gym coaching. We dont see
enough of this.
When analyzing your training environment, remember coaches
are in a position of power, especially when coaching children.
While an older player might reject your suggestion or advice, a
younger player will take what youre telling them to heart and try
their best to replicate it. You have tremendous power over them
when theyre in the gym being on the court is important to them
and they want to impress you.
Males, by default, have a more powerful and intimidating oncourt presence than female coaches. Now, dont get up in arms
if youre a female coach; its just a matter of tone of voice and
projection. Also, remember that players come from different
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backgrounds. You may have players that have rough upbringings

on the same team as players that have gentle, quiet home lives.
Theyll respond differently to different types of coaching styles. All
of this should be taken into account as you begin to evaluate your
training style. In fact, the majority of the message received by your
players isnt from the words you use but from the body language,
tone of voice and facial expressions that are the delivery mechanism
for the words used.
Many think words account for only 7 percent of the message were
trying to communicate. Tone of voice counts for 38 percent, while
body language counts for 55 percent. As you can see, the words
youre saying dont strictly represent what youre trying to convey.
Tone of Voice
Tone of voice isnt what we say, but
how we say it. Its the personality
we convey when communicating. It
includes inflection, volume, pitch and
intensity you can be bubbly or stern
and everywhere in-between. Lets
consider volume. When I first started
coaching, my tone of voice was very
soft. As my confidence increased
and I became more experienced, my
coaching voice gradually got louder
and louder; in fact, it was almost too
loud. And my intensity, the energy
behind the words, became more
focused. When I got worked up, an
11-year-old probably wasnt ready to
handle my delivery. Since then, I have
learned how to control my delivery
and keep a player engaged.
Another aspect of tone of voice
is inflection. Inflection is the way
that we bend a word. Think about
the way you say hey. You can
make it light and fluffy, or you can
bark it in a sharp, crisp way, and it
will have two different meanings. A
simple manipulation of a word can
affect how its perceived.
And of course there is pitch. A
calm, lower pitch can convey confidence. The higher the pitch,
the higher our stress level seems. An upper inflection at the end of
the sentence can infer happiness or pleasantness, while a clipped
ending of a sentence may convey anger or frustration. For example,
think about foreign languages that you dont understand. French
or Swedish can sound very light and happy, while German and
Russian can sound harsh. Its because to a non-speaker, we can only
go off how syllables hit our ears. We are influenced by the pitch,
tone, volume and intensity long before processing the actual word.
I find it empowering to understand how body language can
round out how your tone of voice is perceived. Facial expressions,
such as a frown, furrowed brow or smile, can complete a message.
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Body Language
Body language is the mannerisms, your hand gestures, your posture,
your eye movements and everything else you communicate nonverbally. As a coach, positive body language is conveyed by having an
open stance, facing the court, looking up (think chin up), shoulders
back and appearing relaxed. Negative body language consists of
hunched shoulders, a closed stance, being as small as you can make
yourself on the court. Its almost a defensive posture, protecting yourself
from the anger, disappointment or frustration you may be feeling.
Its amazing how many ways humans communicate non-verbally.
Almost 700,000 behavioral ticks can be conveyed just in the ways
that we move. Remember, it makes
up almost 55 percent of what
youre saying. What should we be
trying to project? We should try
to show that were approachable
sure, come ask me! We should also
convey that were experts. We want
players to be confident that well
have an answer when they have
questions. Also, we want to convey that were engaged while were
coaching. Youre in this game right
alongside your players. If they feel
that you have something at stake in
the game, they will fight harder instead of fearing your reaction.
If were in practice or in tournament and presenting negative body
language, its hard for players to
learn from us. Even if youve been
doing the same drills for years, you
need to work to not appear bored.
Change things up, such as the scoring, to make it not as tedious for
you and your players know that
youre engaged. Never let the players think that something is hopeless. A sense of despair can prevent
a player from striving to get better,
especially if they think youve given
up on them.
Remember to take note of your
behavior over a span of time, particularly a long day of tournament
play or lengthy practices. Fatigue doesnt just affect players, it also
can affect your mental state as a coach, and that will affect how
your language is perceived.
Communication Cycle
On the flip side, are we receiving the messages our players are
sending to us? When youre instructing, read their reaction dont
just accept it and move on. If they dont seem to grasp it immediately,
ask them to repeat what you instructed. Watch their behavior
and look for the signs that they understood your direction. Do
they appear more positive or negative? Are they showing signs of

frustration, hopelessness and low self-esteem? A negative learning
environment typically leads to disengaged players, meaning they
will play with a sense of hopelessness and lack of enthusiasm.
Sometimes a player will even be defiant, which shows he/she now
has the power and attention of the training environment. Youll
need to figure out how to turn the situation and regain control.
A players body language can also give you warning signs.
Protective, closed body language can be an indicator that something is going on on some level, a message either isnt being received or conveyed. No response at all is another indicator that
communication is being derailed. This can be a blank stare, a lack
of acknowledgment and an absence of eye contact. Its basically a
form of dismissal.
Younger players are more of a mirror of the behavior that they
see in the coach; they will tend to give back the enthusiasm and
attention that they receive. As players get older, they begin to put
up more of a mask; the personality and thought process becomes
more internalized. Take the time to study your players non-verbal
communication.
Stances can convey different dynamics. Less powerful stances
usually indicate a player that is less involved from second-to-second and is less of a risk-taker. Players with more powerful body
language tend to be more abstract thinkers and actively engage

in problem-solving, they take more risks and participate actively.
How can we apply this to our own coaching styles? Note how players stand when they huddle around you. Are they defensive or protective? Are they making eye contact? Do they seem encouraged
and excited? Something interesting if a player is touching their
neck, they typically feel vulnerable. That moment is not the time
to make aggressive corrections. Instead, its an opportunity to be
open, relaxed and calmly convey a message.
Scientists are questioning whether or not we can predict outcomes by observing non-verbal communication. I believe that we
can. Simply by observing the facial cues, we can determine who is
confident, who is relaxed and who is ready to learn. This got me
thinking can I change how my players perform without even
saying a word? Just by changing my body language, can I get them
to perform at a higher level and participate more? Studies show
our own body language can change how we feel about ourselves,
meaning that we can go from faking excitement and enthusiasm
to actually feeling that way. Can we change how our players feel
about themselves?
If you devote just two minutes in your day to practicing these
powerful stances and strong body cues, we can make ourselves feel
more powerful and valued. Players can even feel more encouraged
about their own abilities. Chest back, chin up, excited two minutes of a pose during a day, especially for younger players, can give
them a sense of self-worth. When players are standing and waiting in line, have them work on positive, powerful body posture.
In essence, can we teach pride and confidence? It seems that we
absolutely can.
Too many times we worry about the words that we use and not
the unheard messages we relay to our players. Knowing how to
use your body language to enhance a message can help with comprehension and implementation, and your players will learn fast,
compete harder and feel more positive.
Photos courtesy of Dave Weitl.
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TAKING
CONTROL
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Possession Volleyball
How and Why
to Prioritize Your
Training and Systems
By Ben Josephson, Trinity Western
o score high-percentage points in volleyball, it is important to

align your skills and systems into one style of play that is wellintegrated. Lets start at the beginning of the season. Youve got a new
team do we start with serve receive, serving, attacking? We all go
through this every year with every new set of players. We can develop
a road map to not only guide you through the formation of your style
of play, but also a way to quantify the performance of your team.
The bulk of your points are going to come from when your team
has possession of the ball; thats the beauty of our game. As volleyball coaches, we can affect the outcome more than any other coach
in any other sport because the opponent doesnt have the chance
to take the ball away from your team they cannot affect your execution. We must maximize the possession. In each match, theres
a certain amount of points you have control over and a certain
amount of contested points. You must win the controlled points
and win a share of the contested points.
If youre playing against a bad volleyball team, itll be bump-setspike-game over. We care about how we compete against teams
that are on our level or better. How do you go up against a great
team? The way to do it is to extend possessions. Lets say you receive
a tough serve and hit a 2-quality pass now youre in a high ball
situation, so its a 50-50 ball. You cant score directly, so now we
worry about setting up the next play.
Something else to think about is that extending a possession can
result in much more momentum for your team. Think about it
those quick dig/spike kills are great, but whos really pumped up?
Those two players that were involved. Now think about if you get
a great dig, then a miraculous second shot, then another kill the
more people that touch the ball, the more your team feels involved
and the more momentum is generated. Volleyball is a game of runs
and momentum. If you can extend against a strong opponent, you
can work your way to a victory.
We need to re-categorize the sport a little bit. You dont need to buy
into all of this, but it can help you think about your own philosophy.
In a possession mentality, the initial reception is vital to your ability to side-out the ball. If you start with a 2-pass, you can probably
make it to a 3-pass or even maybe a 4, but your ability to improve
is finite. Your second touch must maintain the quality of the possession. If your setter botches the second set, they shouldnt be the
setter. The third ball is where we need to get out of the mindset of
strictly attacking. If youre up against two great players, its a pretty
low-percentage swing. Your hitters need to work through a decision
sequence to determine the most effective approach. The third touch
is the turnover the opponent will now have a chance to take possession, so how difficult will you make it for them? If you cannot
score, make them transition without high-percentage attacks.
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Blocking and serving are non-scoring skills. These are skills designed to get the ball. The more difficulty you can impose on the
opponent by either a tough serve or a strong block, the easier it
will be to get the ball back to your setter. When your setter gets a
chance, thats where we as coaches earn our money. You can control
how well your team executes once the ball is under your influence.
Look at this study. 57 percent of all points scored come off of
kills. The Brazilian coach will train his team to get to 23 points in
a set. They believe that if they beat an opponent to 23, they can
execute to pull out the win. If they reach 23 at the same time, playmakers take over, and you hope to steal one.
Points Scored Study
Team
Kills Aces Blocks Opp AE
Tot AE
Opp SE Opp Err Opp UE
Wash WVB
2013
14.0
1.7
57.1% 7.0%
2.7
11.1%
3.0
12.3%
5.8
23.5%
2.2
8.9%
0.9
3.6%
6.1
24.8%
UBC WVB
201213
13.5
2.3
55.5% 9.5%
2.6
10.9%
3.2
13.3%
5.9
24.1%
2.1
8.6%
0.6
2.3%
5.9
24.1%
Irvine MVB
2012
14.0
1.7
58.7% 7.1%
2.3
9.6%
2.3
9.6%
4.6
19.3%
3.3
13.7%
0.3
1.3%
5.9
24.6%
TWU MVB
201112
13.6
1.7
57.5% 7.0%
3.1
12.9%
2.8
11.9%
5.9
24.8%
2.4
10.0%
0.2
0.7%
5.4
22.7%
Totals
407 Games
13.82 1.83
57.2% 7.6%
2.68
11.1%
2.84
11.7%
5.51
22.8%
2.49
10.3%
0.5
2.1%
5.83
24.2%
Notice something else if you control your kills (around 13

points per set) and your opponent gives you around 6 points in
unforced errors, you can get to 19 points quickly. To put it another
way, just by serving and attacking well (controlling your possession, you can get almost 70 percent of the points that you need in
order to win.
No matter how much you worry over it, you cannot control
what your opponent is going to do. What you can do as a coach is
make sure that your serving and setting and attack is as good as it
can possibly be. They may serve you tough, but how well have you
trained your setter? Once the ball is set, how good is the decisionmaking process of your attackers?
TAKING CONTROL
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Your contested skills are where good teams become great. You
need to dig tough. You need to play exceptional defense. You need
to be strong in serve receive. Think of the game in terms of actions
that you can control. If you train your servers well, then your setters will get better in practice from continually facing them.
System Training Priority

1. Offense
a. In-system Offense
b. Non-system Offense
Action vs. Reaction Skills
2. Serve Receive
Five Systems
Integrated =
Serve vs. Serve Receive
(controlled vs. contested)
3. Serve
Setting vs. Block
(controlled vs. reaction)
4. Block
The Fist
Attack vs. Defense
(controlled vs. contested)
5. Defense
How do you break down the teaching of skills? I suggest

this sequence for teaching skill execution: Control Scoring
Opportunity High % Scoring. For example, if you need to be
a great receiving team, you need to learn how to keep possession.
That means you need to become an excellent digging team. Digging
is a bulk skill, not a precise skill; you just need to get it off the floor
and create time and space for your setters and hitters. From there,
you work on your second touch skills, moving from high ball setting to outside go sets to quick and then back row sets. After
thats mastered, move on to your Aim touches, where you hope to
earn high percentage points. Finally, move on to your supporting
skills. These are the skills that can help your team not only defend
better, but can lead into a foundation for tougher points, either via
a difficult serve or a strong block. This is how youll earn points that
you otherwise cant control.
Now, there are five basic systems of volleyball. If we believe we
can win when we control possession, our systems need to be designed around the premise of getting the ball. Offense, defense,
blocking, serving and serve receive are the major components that
can work together to produce a possession. Those five fingers of
volleyball can become a powerful fist when they come together.
Consider your in-system offense. If you cannot initially side-out,

youll be at a disadvantage immediately were talking an 80 percent success rate on balls that you control. Your non-system offense
is also crucial. You need to score on these high ball scenarios; the
longer a rally progresses, the more likely there is to be an error.
Serve receive and serving work to create points. Blocking and
defense are working to get possession back from the opponent and
hopefully create unexpected points.
Offensive System: In-System
Best chance of scoring: 7080%
Tempos
1st Tempo Sets (middle quick) = 50%
2nd Tempo Sets (slide/bic) = 40%
3rd Tempo Sets (go outside) = 30%
4th Tempo Sets (high ball) = 20%
Look at the numbers above. Your in-system offense offers you
the best chance to score, and middle quick will give you around
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a 50 percent success rate. From there, it progresses through your

tempo sets. You must play to your percentages think of it like
poker; if you play to the high odds, youre playing smart.
If you acknowledge that most of the time youll be working outof-system, how can you turn the odds in your favor? Every player
needs to be able to deliver a quality high ball. If everyone can deliver, you can pass to the outside hitters. This is where how you coach
your attackers comes into play. Their decision-making process is
critical to scoring.
If you have a kill shot take it. Thats the highest percentage
chance to score. If you dont have that high-percentage shot, whats
the next best thing? To keep the ball. Dont let the opponent have
a chance to score points on you. Teach your team to recycle. As
soon as they have it, youre at their mercy. Get them to replay off
the block and reset.
Your serve receive system is where quality possessions can be established. Court coverage is the most important thing to consider.
Your right sides and middles can be used effectively to defend the
court from the short serve. Too often, right sides in the mens game
will sit in the corner and let others do the work. Have a system to
defend against your opponent serving away from your best passers
and preserve your patterns.
When it comes to your serve system, only take as much risk as
you need in order to generate a 2-quality pass. Remember that
scoring on a serve is a luxury. Trying too hard for an ace results
in reckless volleyball. Percentage-wise, youre getting an incredibly
small number of points off of your serving.
Your block system is also not based on scoring. Teach your players to read and how they should be moving. Aligning the block is a
coachable skill. The speed of the game is fairly unforgiving. Make
their weakest hitter score on you. Do not get wiped on the edge or
let your players repeatedly guess and end up out-of-position. Those
are points that you cant get back. Finally, never let your players
give up when theyre beat. Its going to happen if your team can
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recover from a mistake or an exceptional play by the opponent, you

are that much closer to getting the ball back and scoring points of
your own.
When considering your defensive system, the key is to get highpercentage digs. Tips, roll downs and slow shots are all easier to
defend. If your team makes a heroic dig, its probably a 1-quality
pass or worse and youve probably compromised balance and positioning. You score points with kills, not with digs. Ideally, every dig
you make should be settable in your system.
It can benefit your team enormously to quantify the results. Your
players need to understand why decisions are made, what makes
certain approaches to the game more effective than others. Evaluate
each touch on how it improves your possession. Dont rely on oldschool stats, such as kills and blocks. Those are position-specific
and result in the attacker striving to rack up more kills, even when
other options may result in stronger possessions. Same with blocking and aces dont drive your players to overreach in an effort to
stuff the stat sheet.
Think about water pressure. If you have all five systems aligned
and youre generating enough pressure on your opponent, something in their system will break before our own. Its like a waterfall
the pressure is relentless. Your opponent doesnt get any breaks
or pauses. Train and coach with that mentality and youll come
away with a considerable edge.
For in-depth breakdown of the principles addressed here, visit
the Events Seminars section of the AVCA website, where you
can listen to an audio recording by Ben Josephson and view a
corresponding slideshow. That information can be found in the
2013 Seattle category.
http://www.avca.org/education-resources/coaching-education/
convention-seminars/
PERFORMANCE DEVELOPMENT
Developing Athleticism in the

Volleyball Athlete - Part 1
Stacey Torman, MA, MSCC,CSCS
The Sports Peformance program is illustrated

with an Arch structure (diagram 1) in which
one component (Mostability) is the keystone
that holds everything in place. Similar to the
archway of great Roman architecture, if the
keystone is removed, the other components
will destruct more easily if not completely (i.e.
injury). At the same time, the other supporting
components are equally deserving of attention
year-round and play a vital role in developing
the well-rounded athlete. Throughout this six
part series, specific elements of each of the
components in Diagram 1 will be addresssed.
The Keystone: MOSTABILITY
Mostability is the combination of mobility
and stability at the Hip, Thoracic-Lumbar,
Mostability
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Part 1 PRIOR PLANNING

PROMOTES PROGRESS
Diagram 1
Co
he ultimate goal of any sports

performance program is to develop
an athletes physical attributes
necessary to play their sport in the most
efficient, powerful and safe state. The best
systems developed involve collaboration
between the volleyball staff and the sports
performance professional in an effort to
coordinate practices, workouts, matches
and off days in advance. With a plan in
place, everyone is clear on where the team
is headed and understands the process in
which to get there.
In this six-part series, the principles and
organizational features of a volleyball sports
performance program will be covered. In
Part 1, I will cover the Program overview
and principles and explain the Arch system. In Parts 25, I will break down the
phases involved in the year-long program
and provide training specifics that can be
implemented into most programs. Part 6
will include training specific to sand/beach
volleyball and how to combat some of the
scheduling and training snafus associated
with the dual-sport athlete.
Keystone: A central stone at the summit of an arch locking the whole together.
The stone on which all else depends.
and Abdomen (HTLA complex). This complex is the link between the upper and lower
body. Therefore, it must remain simultaneously, strong, stable and dynamic or performance will suffer. The HTLA controls actions
used to withstand all of the demands of cutting, decelerating, and jumping. Structurally
developing the HTLA complex will make the
explosive movements of volleyball more efficient and assist in minimizing overuse and
acute injuries throughout the entire body. The
Mostability exercises priortize the following:
Neutralize imbalances.
- Identify and correct muscular and
movement symmetry and balance
challenges.
- Functional Movement Screen (FMS)
corrective exercises and Postural
Restoration Institute (PRI) methods
are used to ensure the muscles best
suited to the exercise activity are active.
- Build a durable body structure
before a high load of resistance or
a high volume of court-based work
are implemented.
Improve muscular flexibility.
- Active Isolated Stretches1 are used
to allow maximum elongation of the
muscle by avoiding the stretch reflex.
- http://www.smartstretch.com/
videos/it-band-outer-leg-sequence/
Improve range of motion (ROM) at

the joints.
- A full range of motion should be
performed through all resistancebased exercises.
- Self Myofascial Release Techniques
may be used to focus on alleviating knots to restore optimal muscle
motion and function.2
- http://blog.nasm.org/trainingbenefits/foam-rolling-applyingthe-technique-of-self-myofascialrelease/
Neuromuscular synchronization,
alignment and general balance
- Ensure neuromuscular patterns
(co-contractions) are appropriately
synchronized to avoid developing counterproductive movement
patterns.3
- Work to stabilize the knees and
ankles by engaging the HTLA
complex during dynamic tasks such
as landing and cutting.
ATTITUDE
As a team, we determine our sports performance core values who we are and
what we do. The athletes typically create
an acronym and the sports performance
staff reinforces them at every opportunity.
www.avca.org
The following is the 2012 acronym:

Invest-in each other
Accountability take responsibility for your
actions
Moxie determination and guts
Advance get 1% better every workout
Toil Just Grind
Heart Care more than your Coaches care
Lead Find your leadership style and develop it to benefit the team
Extraordinary Do the ordinary extraordinary
Trust Act worthy of others trust
Every rep, set, run, meal-with discipline
RECOVERY AND REGENERATION

There are three factors we adopt to ensure
the athlete is getting proper recovery on a
day-to-day basis and regenerated within the
workout itself:
Self Management of Sleep- Sleep provides
an opportunity for the body to repair and
rejuvenate itself. Major restorative functions in the body like muscle growth, tissue repair, protein synthesis, and growth
hormone release occur mostly, or in some
cases only, during sleep.4
Post-exercise Nutrition Strategies- a
combined ingestion of carbohydrate
and protein after intermittent exercise

such as resistance-based work aids in
restoration of muscle glycogen stores
and muscle protein metabolism.5
Self Recovery Techniques
- Active Recovery Gentle movement
to improve circulation, which promotes the transport of nutrient and
waste product throughout the body.
- Self Myofascial Release Techniques2
Join me for Part 2 when I will provide
specific details of laying a foundation in
Phase I, the Indoor Volleyball off-season
(aka non-traditional season).
1 Mattes, Aaron. Active Isolated Stretching, Aaron Mattes Therapy;1995

2 Clark MA, Lucett SL. NASM Essentials of Corrective Exercise Training, Baltimore, MD:Lippincott Williams & Wilkins;2011.
3 Association of Quadriceps and Hamstrings Co-contraction Patterns With Knee Joint Loading. Riann M Palmieri-Smith, et al, J Athl Train. 2009 MayJun; 44(3): 256263
4 Why do we sleep anyway? Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School December 2007. http://healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/healthy/
matters/benefits-of-sleep/why-do-we-sleep
5 Miller, S. L., Tipton, K. D., Chinkes, D. L., Wolf, S. E., & Wolfe, R. R. (2003). Independent and combined effects of amino acids and glucose after
resistance exercise. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 35, 449455.
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3/31/2014 1:04:52 PM
ASSISTANT COACHES COLUMN
Expecting Greatness
The Assistant Coaches Publications subcommittee is: Mike Gawlik (Michigan State),
Eric Hammond (Towson), Jay Hosack (Penn State) and Marie Zidek (Univ. of San Diego).
By Carol Torok, Assistant Volleyball Coach, University of Arkansas
eing pregnant during season was

great! All my cravings were fulfilled:
from buffet for breakfast (right up
my alley) to dessert for dinner (I am having a
craving!). On a serious note, I had great role
models like my mother, my high school coach
Natalie Cook and my college coaches Laurie
Corbelli and Genny Volpe, all coaches and
moms that are very successful at both careers.
I think there are a few key things to consider
when you are thinking about starting a family.
First thing to think about is your support
system. I have an amazing husband who
supports me and my career. I couldnt coach
without him. We are lucky to have both sets of
grandparents retired and itching to help. Also,
my boss has been supportive from the planning, to the pregnancy, to maternity leave.
Second, one of the hardest things about being pregnant is planning. I think its important
to have a plan. Whether you are trying to start a
family or you are blessed with a surprise, make
a plan! I tried to plan my pregnancy according
to the season. Now, we all know that the bestlaid plans dont always work, so be flexible.
Third, and probably more difficult than
you think, is communication. The competitor in me prepared for tough times and uncomfortable situations, but it also instilled
in me to never quit. There comes a point
when you just cant do what you are used to
and you have to slow down. Youre the only
one that knows that point and you cant be
afraid to communicate that.
Along those lines, here is an outline of
some things that I tried to follow to make
my transition easier:
1. The Plan
Talk to your doctor.
- Travel
- Practice
- Time needed for maternity leave
Find a day-care or babysitter.
- Our child development program on
campus has child care.
- Talk to other coaches.
- Line up family or friends to help
during busy travel times.
2. Being Pregnant During Season

Continue to do what you normally do,
it helps!
Stay healthy
- Travel with snacks.
- Stay hydrated.
- Take time to get off your feet and
rest, especially toward the end of the
pregnancy.
Share the experience with your players.
- How you feel in the different stages
- Your excitement/anxiousness
Stay calm, everything works itself out.
3. Maternity Leave
Prepare for the time you are going to
be gone.
- How much time you will be
taking off?
- What you can or cant do from
home (emails, phone calls)
Make a list of things that you do on a
daily or weekly basis that you will need
help with.
Communicate with coworkers so
things can continue in a timely matter,
especially recruiting responsibilities.
Stay organized!
Enjoy the time with your new baby;
you cant get it back once its gone!!
4. Returning to Work
Start to slowly get back into a routine.
- 23 days a week for a few hours
- Half days or practices for a few weeks
- Back to full days
Nursing
- Have a schedule and make sure the
staff knows that it is important for
you to stick to it.
I am lucky I can bring my baby into
the office a few days a week and then a
student babysits during practice.
Communicate with your staff so you
can get things done in the office but
also have the time you need with your
baby. It is important to have a balance
and it is possible.
5. Recruiting with the Baby

If another staff member can be there,
it helps.
Bring help if you can
- Spouse
- Family
- Friend
- Babysitter
Pick easy travel
- Driving distance, quick flights
- Get there early so you can get settled
and get back into the babys routine.
- Scope out the gym for areas to nurse
or feed your baby.
- Stay close to the venue so you can
get back to the hotel easily.
Stay organized
- Map out the games you must see according to your babys feeding schedule.
6. Team Travel
Easier than traveling on your own
because you have extra hands to help
entertain and carry things
Travel as soon as possible so you, baby
and team can get used to it
Lastly, stay calm and enjoy the experience.
Sure, there were days that practice seemed to
be five hours long because my ankles were
swollen, my back was sore and sleeping at
night was rare, but I felt empowered by
my players! They came in day after day and
worked, and I wasnt going to let them down.
They can read me like a book, so I just enjoyed
the experience and they did too. Being a mom
and having a career is possible. Its not always
easy, but if you want it bad enough, you can
do it. Showing that to my players was one of
the greatest things about being pregnant.
We welcome YOUR input! If you have any comments on this article or ideas for another topic,
please contact our subcommittee. We are always looking for fresh ideas and ways to better
serve the development of our fellow assistant
coaches in all levels and types of volleyball. Send
your feedback to: EHammond@Towson.edu
www.avca.org
FIVB
INSIDE THE HUDDLE
The We World of Team

Sue Gozansky
n a recent trip to Cuba I read Ice

Bound, a book written in 2001
by Dr. Jerri Nielsen documenting
her ordeal being stranded at the South
Pole research station where she diagnosed
and treated her own breast cancer. During
the winter months at the South Pole, it
is impossible for planes to enter or leave
due to severe weather conditions. It was
a fascinating tale of heroism on the part
of Dr. Nielsen, but as a coach my focus
zoomed in on the aspect of team.
A team-first mentality is critical to the
success and betterment of every team, but
in the South Pole, the most remote place
on earth, its a matter of survival. I will focus on three components of team: FUN,
ATTITUDE and DUTY (FAD) and give
examples from this South Pole saga.
FUN: The Navy psychologists who studied
group behavior on polar expeditions recommended an event like a party or special dinner at least once a week. The parties reunited
the community and the notion of laughing
in the face of danger helped people cope. The
Polies social calendar was always full with
fun and goofy games and parties in a frat-like
way. I wanted to beam myself there to be a
part of these events, except maybe the timehonored polar tradition of the 300 Club.
To qualify for membership you wait for
the outside temperature to fall below -100F
then sit in the sauna at +200 F, and when you
cant stand it anymore you dash outside the
dome - an instant drop of 300 degrees wearing only boots and perhaps a neck gaiter to
keep your lungs from freezing. The hardcore
run around the Ceremonial Pole, a 300 yard
round trip that takes 3-4 minutes.
Polies share the same camaraderie that we
do as members of sport teams. The friendships we make are some of the most meaningful in our lives and the experiences we
remember forever. These are the things that
make life at the Pole so special, just like our
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sport teams. We must make team-building

a first priority and not something you do if
you have a little extra time. We must not
leave team-building up to the discretion of
the athletes to do on their own. Schedule it!
Mark it on the calendar along with practice
and competition dates.
ATTITUDE: To ensure the best possibility of having good teamwork, all people
wintering in the Antarctic must pass extensive psychological testing. They are looking
for the same type of person we look for on
our teams: people who are stable, easy to
get along with and intuitive. Playing on
a team as well as living in extreme conditions requires a flexible intelligence, where
the ability to quickly absorb and react to
new situations is a valuable asset. They also
wanted to weed out people with personality
disorders and chronic complainers. This is
what we want, but how often do we pick
attitude over talent?
DUTY: Surviving in the Antarctic is more
like being in an army unit. A group of
strangers are thrown together in a hostile
environment and they must depend only
on each other to survive. For sport teams,
our hostile environment is called the competition and to be successful everyone must
do their job. Dr. Nielson speaks of her re-
sponsibilities: Here, duty is everything. It

is my duty to love and accept and care for
everyone, and to worry about their mental,
physical, and spiritual health, all the time.
Cultivate a culture of duty and collective responsibility. Its the duty of everyone to help
make their teammates better. Its the duty of
everyone to bring energy to the team. We
play with and for each other and our job
skills are equally needed. As Dr. Nielson
says, I am here not to judge but to serve.
FUN, ATTITUDE and DUTY (FAD):
Rarely does a group of unhappy people
achieve success. It is the responsibility of
each player to make teammates happy, to
elevate one other through encouragement
and support. In a Peanuts cartoon, Lucy
asks Charlie Brown, Why do you think we
were put on earth? Charlie answers, To
make others happy. Lucy replies, I dont
think Im making anyone happy, and then
adds, but nobodys making me happy either. Somebodys not doing his job.
For sports teams as well as the Polies, a
team-first mentality is a matter of survival.
Cultivate it! Winning is the ultimate goal
of competition, but the reality is that 50%
of all teams lose. The better goal is to be the
best team and make sure that each player
competes at their highest level. Its hard to
quantify this intangible without seeing it
on a scoreboard, but if we see in the faces
of the players the happiness and joy of the
experience, the team has won.
About the author:
FIVB Instructor Level II
USAV CAP Cadre
Author of Volleyball Coachs Survival Guide &
Championship Volleyball Techniques & Drills
Retired from University of California Riverside
39 years 3 national championships
(AIAW Small College & 2 NCAA DII)
AVCA Hall of Fame
USA All-Time Great Coach Award
MEDIA ISSUES
Decent Exposure:
Media Coverage and Female Athletes
By David Portney
ot long ago I was handed a DVD

titled Media Coverage & Female
Athletes, and popped it in having
a vague idea of what to expect. After 3.5
years of working in the female-driven sport
of volleyball, Ive read countless articles and
seen even more video clips and DVDs on
the topic, but this particular DVD seemed
different.
The Tucker Center for Research on Girls
& Women in Sport at the University of
Minnesota did exhaustive research
which resulted in some interesting
(but not shocking) results. Prior to my
time at the AVCA, Ive worked in professional football and baseball, so the
amount and method of those sports
being portrayed in the media was not a
grave concern of mine. But it also gives
me a unique perspective on how we
should proceed in order to get the recognition we in volleyball deserve. Here
are the top three things we need to do:
1) Stop the blame game. Heres a stat
the DVD opens with: 40% of all athletes in this country are women, they
receive 43% of college scholarships
and just 4% of the overall media coverage. Do I think the media deserves
at least some criticism for covering just
the 4%? Absolutely. Will putting them
on trial and dragging them through the
mud help our cause? Absolutely not.
But it is important to address a few
points about the media. Whenever I
speak with a reporter about covering
volleyball, or any womens sport for
that matter, I often hear Well, no one cares
about it. My first inclination is to reply,
No, YOU dont care about it, but that
doesnt do any good, so we should take a
different approach. Take the facts we have
on hand to make your case. Interest is generally measured by attendance and TV ratings, so lets start there. Since trying to get
more volleyball on TV is part of our plea to
the media, well look at attendance.
Many programs across the country draw

thousands of fans per match, so we know that
enough people care in that region to want to
see the highlights on the news or read about
it later. In 2012, 50 NCAA Division I schools
averaged nearly 1,000 fans per home match
thats a lot of media markets! Not to mention that many Division II and III schools
bring in thousands of fans over the course of
the season. Its a classic chicken-or-the-egg argument. Do people care about certain sports
because theyre being covered or do the media

report on the sports the public already cares
about? Its easy to argue either side.
Another two excuses mentioned in the
video for not covering female sports are We
follow winners and We lack the resources;
there are only so many reporters. To the
former, note that the media will cover the
local football or basketball team regardless
of their record. In the DVD, the example
mentioned was questioning whether the

Chicago media still follows the Cubs even
though they havent been historically competitive on a consistent basis (sorry, Cubs
fans). Of course they do. To the latter, how
many ridiculous new stories involving pet
cats and ice sculptures on someones front
lawn do you see every night on your local
news? Youre telling me that is more interesting than the volleyball match against your
heated conference rival?
Now lets look at who is responsible
for filling the newspaper space and TV
time slots. According to a report referenced by Star Tribune Sports Reporter
Rachel Blount, 90% of sports editors
in this country are men. Of those
90%, many of them are in the baby
boom generation and grew up wanting to cover the NFL, MLB, NBA
and college football. I bring this up
because they will merely dismiss us
if we blame them too loudly. Instead,
we need to help them. We need to
show the mainstream media why
they should be covering our sport on
a more consistent basis by presenting
them with story ideas and angles that
any reporter would be interested in.
At the end of the day it doesnt matter
whose fault it is; all that matters is we
keep progressing and moving forward.
This leads to the second point.
2) It starts with the volleyball staff.
For many college programs it would
be the SID, but it also applies to
the coaching staff. Its vital for any
team to be in the medias ear about not
just the everyday stuff surrounding your
team, but the real juicy human interest
stories. Sending weekly news and notes to
a mass distribution of local media doesnt
quite cut it. Those editors and reporters
at best will gloss it over, but most likely
wont even open it. Get to know the most
influential media members in your region,
introduce yourself by name and invite
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them to a match. Give them great seats and

if possible, food and drink to make them
feel special and appreciated. Its not that
they purposely neglect volleyball; they just
havent been exposed to it!
I understand it can be difficult for an SID
to dedicate the time to handle this with all
of the sports theyre usually responsible for,
but someone must take the reins even if its
a member of the coaching staff. The media
wont know the best stories about
your team, so that is your job. Think
outside the box. While you may be
impressed by how a player put in the
work to be a dominant conference
force, it might be more interesting to
focus on the lesser-used player who
has an incredible back story.
as competent athletes. This wont apply to

current college athletes, but its important
they understand this since they may soon
have those opportunities.
The Tucker Center revealed females from
ages 18 to 34 and 35 to 55, and males from
35 to 55 overwhelmingly prefer on-court
competence over a sexualized female athlete.
The male ages 18 to 34 were more closely
split, but follow-up questions revealed the
seductively to bring attention to their sport.

If anything, the studies show it hurts more
than helps.
The message to the players is to be an ambassador for your sport and your team. Go
out of your way to grow awareness of what
you, your teammates and your coaching staff
are doing. Media loves great personalities, so
give them what theyre looking for while still
being true to yourself. Every team has at least
a couple of attractive personalities,
so use that to your advantage.
Most importantly, if someone
tells you, Chicks arent fun to
watch play sports, dont attack
them. Just like the first point about
the media, while their views might
Nicole Lavoi, be a bit misguided, it wont help to
Director of the Tucker Center for criticize. Instead, encourage them
Research on Girls & Women in Sport to come out to the game, and even
offer free tickets if possible! All you
sexualized photos dont make the male view- can do is get them to the match; the rest is
er take the next step and consume the sport. up to them.
Going back to what Dr. Lavoi said: Sex sells
If you Google Media Coverage & Female
sex. While, by percentage, very few athletes, male or female, have the opportunity Athletes Tucker Center you should be able
to use their body for a modeling career, its to access the entire video online free of
important for all athletes, particularly fe- charge (run time 56 minutes). I highly recmale, to understand they dont need to pose ommend it.
Sex doesnt sell

womens sports.
Sex sells sex.
3) The players need to take personal responsibility. Sorry players,

youre not quite off the hook. Sex doesnt
sell womens sports. Sex sells sex, said Associate Director of the Tucker Center Nicole
Lavoi. She adds while individual athletes
in any sport are entitled to make any decisions theyd like in regards to their own
sports and modeling careers, it only hurts
the mission of women being taken seriously
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GETTING FIT
Volleyball Conditioning Defined:

Measured, Planned, Progressive Overload
Ken Kontor
ow can this simple definition

create such confusion? Let start
with the word conditioning itself.
Conditioning is fitness (a global term that
means many things) that is sport-specific. A
sport is defined by rules. Volleyball rules dictate the physical nature of the game. The size
of the court, net play, how the game is scored,
etc., are all components of the volleyball rulebook. Change a rule and the conditioning
requirements change. Remember marathon
pre-rally scoring matches? The advent of
rally scoring virtually eliminated the need
to train endurance. Now volleyball is more
of an explosive power sport. Despite
that, some coaches still condition the
old way. More disturbing is that some
strength coaches train volleyball players
based on the rules of the game of football insanity! Keep volleyball conditioning specific to the game of volleyball
as it is played today and be mindful of
the individual needs of your athletes.
Measured Where Youre At
If you dont measure where you are at
or if you are getting better, the rest of
our definition falls apart. How can you
plan? How do you know you are progressing? Measuring is testing. This is a
great way of motivating players and telling
you what you are doing is working.
This doesnt have to be a big timeconsuming battery of tests. In volleyball, its
vertical and getting to the ball. In testing
vertical you can make it position-specific by
testing approach jump for outside hitters and
using the stationary jump test for blockers.
In order for tests to be meaningful, they
must be reliable. What makes a test reliable
for volleyball? Why is consistency so important? Reliability gaining consistent results
every time you test is a matter of setting
up the proper mechanics and administrative
procedures each time you test. You should
measure the proper distance and make sure

that the person keeping time is consistent
(ideally, the same person administers the
tests each time). The surface is the same,
the procedures of athlete orientation, the
test sequence and the rest period all must be
consistent every time tests are administered.
Planned When and What To Do
Planning can be a daunting task. To make
it more manageable, think in terms of
units of time: Calendar year season
weekly schedule single practice/conditioning session/competition. The challenge
in effective planning is knowing what your

athletes are doing beyond your control.
This includes other sports, strength training at gyms/school, private lessons and, in
some cases, other volleyball coaches, such
as a club coach if you are the athletes high
school coach. To have any chance at planning, you (the athletes primary volleyball
coach) need to establish an annual calendar
with input and buy-ins from other sport
coaches, strength coaches and, most importantly, parents. Not easy! With this calendar
you are able to plug in conditioning. The
problem is that there is not a lot of time
to condition, and with such minimal time,
what can you get done? The key is to establish conditioning priorities. Remember
Measured from our definitions? This will
help you establish priorities of what you
need to work on and when, based on your
calendar. At the collegiate level, the volleyball coach has greater control of the calendar, so the planning is more manageable.
Progressive Overload How Much
Work/Rest
The final part of these definitions is built on
the planning process. Progressive overload
means stressing the athlete to improve
physical performance on a continuous
basis. But how much continuous load
in conditioning activity is actually presented as opportunities based on the
annual calendar? Volleyball activity and
rest takes precedence. Without proper
rest, progression cant take place. In
fact, the athlete can regress and even get
injured. Progressive overload should be
viewed in the long-term. As a general
rule, off-season provides the best opportunity to progress conditioning,
especially strength (remember the
concept of priorities we presented in
planning). Pre-season presents opportunity to progressively convert strength to
volleyball-specific power/court movement.
During the in-season, if you can maintain
your conditioning, you are actually ahead
of the game. Always in-season? Progressive
overload cannot take place. Conditioning
cant take place. Game over.
I hope Ive taken some of the confusion

out of the conditioning process for you. If
you apply and follow this simple definition,
you will have the satisfaction of having your
athletes reach their full athletic potential.
As a coach, beyond that championship trophy, it doesnt get much better.
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Also in this issue: Managing Health Needs Non-verbal Communication Developing Volleyball Athleticism

A Publication of the American Volleyball Coaches Association

Official Ball Of The AVCA

LIGHTWEIGHT BUTYL BLADDER

SPECIALLY FORMULATED ADHESIVE

STEALTH SOFT-VALVE SYSTEM

Its All About The Ball

Ben Josephsons Trinity Western program has

From the Desk of:

More Than Words

Taking Control: Possession Volleyball

COACHING VOLLEYBALL | April/May 2014 | 1

Associations International, LLC

Address Change: If you are moving in the near future or

Membership: To become a member of the American

AVCA Staff Directory

Centerline Elite Aluminum & Steel Hybrid Volleyball System Features

Rope-saving top pole dome

26:1 worm gear winch

2 | April/May 2014 | COACHING VOLLEYBALL

to get up at four in the morning to watch

was at a practice and I saw this exchange

I grapple with two things about fear. For

are afraid to put themselves out there to be

COACHING VOLLEYBALL | April/May 2014 | 3

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S LETTER

s most of you know, the AVCA

how to pass, set or hit. There are plenty

4 | April/May 2014 | COACHING VOLLEYBALL

in the 1990s I sat on press row at basketball

timeouts during the Olympic Games in

are generally not beginner coaches but

in Italy, not to be morose, but because it so

COACHING VOLLEYBALL | April/May 2014 | 5

Standard chemotherapy had failed the 25 women who

From the Beaches of Southern California

Friend or Follow us and you

COACHING VOLLEYBALL | April/May 2014 | 7

AVCA Board of Directors Update

Kirsten Bernthal Booth

that the concept of libero was brought up in

suggested, they have been met with fear the

8 | April/May 2014 | COACHING VOLLEYBALL

general. After all, the change to rally scoring

TO MAKE ALL ATHLETES BETTER

UA SPIKETOWN 1/2 SLEEVE JERSEY

UA REACT VOLLEYBALL SHORT

Signature muscle-boosting compression fit

Dealing with the Growing Health Needs

hen I think back about my time as a coach (40 years),

10 | April/May 2014 | COACHING VOLLEYBALL

pursuit of their goals, and we also see that

tal health of the people and the group,

Love of the Game

Positive vs. Negative

COACHING VOLLEYBALL | April/May 2014 | 11

healthy relationship. But what about the

Eyes on the athletes

12 | April/May 2014 | COACHING VOLLEYBALL

trying to keep track of and have an awareness of athlete health.

When less is more

dent-athlete is paramount, especially when

us. It is hard to take time away from other

doesnt let your body follow through in a