Email Campaign Archive

Coaches: Keep This in Mind

-By Tom Houser


Coach Houser:  I enjoyed visiting your camp this
summer. I particularly enjoyed the meeting your
staff had with the campers after lunch. I think
one of my shortcomings is that I don't devote
enough time on the mental/emotional aspects of
coaching girls. I guess I do know that is
important, but when I plan practices there never
seems to be enough time to work on all of the
physical training and conditioning, let alone have
time for meetings. I guess my practical side has
always convinced my emotional self that you learn
and improve by doing, not by talking. I have made
it a goal of mine to add more team meetings to our
practice time this season. The meeting you (and
your staff) held with the players really impressed
me and gave me a great example of how to do that.
I was particularly impressed with your young,
female assistants during the meeting. I thought
that the campers really related well to them.
 

Coach Houser’s Reply:

I received the email above yesterday. Here is much
of my response below:  


Part 1: Team Meetings.

The team meeting you saw was longer than what I
would have during a season, and it had a few
purposes outside of "meeting". First, it lets
food digest. Second, it keeps us from having to
physically push the girls the entire 6 hours of
camp. Four days of that, and there not much left
for our tournament.  

However, the meeting did have one thing in common
with a meeting that I would have during your
season: It taught the players right from wrong! It
let the players know where I stood, and how far
they could push me. It gave them boundaries. Our
players will make fewer mistakes and get into less
trouble, if they know what their boundaries are.


 
Part 2: The Staff That You Surround Yourself With.
 

My young staff is very cognizant of the right
thing to say. All young coaches must be. Before my
assistants have their first meeting of their
summer camp career, we review what they’re going
to say.  

I also don't employ anyone I can't trust
completely. If I learn that a staff member has had
one single under-age alcohol or tobacco issue,
then they aren't employed. If they are mean or
impatient, they are not employed. If an assistant
is not cheerful, not encouraging, or not
knowledgeable, she isn’t employed. Two years ago
one of my staff was caught using alcohol during
the next school season. She was kicked off her
school team, and I will never re-employ her. Last
summer, one of my staff melted down, fussed at a
girl, while the camper actually was having an
asthma issue. She is no longer employed either.  

I just don’t employ any coach I can find. They are
extremely hard to locate. I just wrote an article
recently where one sentence said, “If you can’t
find someone to help you that you trust, then
you’re better off working alone.”  


Thank you for the compliment. Yes, I’m very proud
of my staff, and they are loyal to the game and to
the campers!  


Part 3: Very few volleyball matches are won/lost
because of conditioning.  

Most volleyball matches are won with passing,
serving, setting, well-run offense/defense, and by
the team being bonded.  

I draw a pyramid for some coaches, and team
bonding is the fourth “layer”. The base is serve
receiving, the second layer is serving, third is
setting. Running an offense/defense is fifth, then
hitting, then digging, then conditioning, then
blocking, then running plays. That's the top 10.
Of course, the team playing GREAT is the top of
the pyramid!  

I can only remember a few matches my teams have
lost because of conditioning. However, my teams
have probably lost a thousand matches because our
serve receiving, 500 because of serving, 250
because of setting, etc.  So you may think my
teams don't condition? Sure they do! But, I
incorporate 95% of my conditioning into my
practice. If there's a choice between fixing a
problem/inadequacy in one of those bottom top 3 or 4
layers, or doing our daily conditioning, then we
ditch the conditioning.  

My travel team just won the Old Dominion Region in
March. They did nearly all their conditioning on
their own. We didn't even do any jump training.
When I selected my team knowing that more than
half of them played a school sport along with
playing on my club team, I decided to give each
girl a conditioning sheet. “Or would you guys
rather stay here after practice and do it?" There
was no argument.

I don't recommend you do that with a school team,
because almost all of them play no other sport;
thus, what conditioning you don’t do may never get
done! But, again, conditioning will be the deciding
factor in about 1% of your matches. Your serve
receive will decide 40%, serving another 20%,
setting another 15%, your offense/defense another
10%, etc. This isn't basketball or football, this
isn't soccer or wresting. It's more like tennis,
where conditioning is important, but there are so
many aspects that are more important! 


Part 4: How much time to devote to the mental aspect?  

I will spend as much time on my team’s state of
mind as I believe the team needs. Do you see them
dragging? Having some bonding issues? Are the
girls discouraged? No, I never let my teams "talk
it out". I may let my seniors say a few words --
after I've gotten a pre-talk briefing from them.
I usually "feel" when my teams need a talk, and
I usually try to give it to them before any
problem becomes big enough to disrupt the team.  

At camps, my young female staff will usually tell
the story in the nice, delicate way. Then I will
interject with the Hot Sauce. I think while you
were there, I said one time, "Let me be more
blunt." So, the campers can hear the 20-year old
female version of what to do, then the 50-year old
man version!  Just remember: A team that’s coming
unglued is no longer a team. An unbonded team
isn't really a team at all. So "learning by
doing" is great; but the skills they learn won't
produce the maximum results if your girls are
lacking "teamness". Sure, you can to do a ropes
course for 3 days out in the wilderness. Or you
have the team make Tshirts, have a sleepover, have
a movie night, have a dinner night, etc. I
recommend a team event at least once every 3
weeks, and at least 2 per month, at least 6 times
a season.  


Finally: It only took me a few years to realize
that coaching girls required that I know more than
just volleyball. I also had to be a part-time dad
and psychiatrist. I recommend to all girls’
coaches to keep a watch on the players and the
team. What do they need? What are they hoping for?
What are their issues? Then try your best to
address them! If you ignore them, I guarantee that
you won’t have a good a team as you could have.


-Tom Houser
Head Coach, 2009 Roanoke Juniors 16’s
National JOVC Qualified in 2006, 2009.
Director, STAR Volleyball Camps
Author, “I Can’t Wait” Drill Collection and Ebooks.
www.coachhouser.com