Email Campaign Archive

Developing a Serving Strategy for the Season
(A Follow-Up)

-By Mike Tully


I enjoyed Tom Houser's recent article on serving.
Some of it I agree with, some of it I disagree
with. Let me explain.

First of all, I love that Tom dedicated an entire
article to developing a serving strategy for the
season. To me, serving is the most important
volleyball skill. Not only is it how you score
points, but the tougher your servers are, the
better your passers will be.
 

I also love this paragraph:

"In volleyball, there is never a 0% chance to beat
anyone, because you have the serve in your hands.
You can serve as tough as you wish."  


Coach Houser is absolutely correct. Serving is
truly the great equalizer. Hall of Fame baseball
player Reggie Jackson said, "As long as you have
a bat in your hands, you can write the story."

Same way with volleyball when you're at the
serving line. You can write the story.

I disagree with the idea that the weaker the
opponent, the safer you serve. I think this is a
recipe for disaster, for a couple of reasons.

First, it's the fatal mistake that the fabled
hare made when he raced against the tortoise. He
stopped running and started thinking. You can't
get in the habit of rating your opponents. You
must train and perform at a high level. Legendary
soccer coach Anson Dorrance said that not bringing
your game is a sign of disrespect.

Second, our job as coaches is to teach motor
programs to our athletes. A motor program is an
infernal representation of how a skill is to be
performed. It is hard enough to teach even ONE
serving program. Why would we want to do anything
that undermined all that hard work?

My advice to our servers is to treat each serve --
whether in practice, warmup or game -- as a
special event requiring full effort.

As for strategy, we teach them to develop a style.
Will you be a power server? Will you rely on spin?
Or will you serve to spots? Or some combination?

We just point the way, give them some suggestions,
and emphasize how important serving is.


-Mike Tully is a member of the "Yes, I Can!"
coaching staff. You can read his peak performance
blog at www.totalgameplan.com