Email Campaign Archive

A Note From the Editor:

Thankfully, we are finally getting back to normal
after our office computer went down. I sincerely
apologize for the interrruption of your Gold Service.

This week we will send out an article every day to
catch up.

-Dave Cross

Five Keys to Getting Over the Hump

-By Tom Houser

A Question for Coach Houser:

I finished my second year coaching a few months
ago. I coached the JV squad and assisted with the
varsity team. Our girls had a lot of talent, but
we seemed to be missing a piece to the puzzle. We
couldn't seem to get the intensity they needed to
compete successfully against other teams. We won
only 2 matches last season, and while we would
come close, we could never seem to pull it off.
They reverted back to letting balls go without
effort, not covering or calling the ball,
basically giving up. We pep-talked til we were
blue in the face. We tried yelling, consequences,
etc etc, but nothing seemed to give us that
competitive edge that we were looking for. We did
have some issues with our practice facility, and
that may have had something to do with it, but I
don't think so. I felt inadequate all season,
because I had little experience to draw on. The
coaching staff wants to do better next fall. What
do you suggest to help turn this around? 

Coach Houser's Reply:

When I watch football games on TV, I hear the
announcers say, "The offense isn't in-sync today,"
or "there's something missing today". When I talk
to coaches, I hear the same thing: "We just don't
want it badly enough," or "Our team doesn't have
enough heart," or "We kept coming close," or "We
just can't get over the hump". 

When I hear the phrases above, the problem is
nearly always the following: the team just isn't
skilled enough. Period. Sure, the girls could be a
little more fired up, sure they could make fewer
mistakes, sure they could also wear brighter socks
and eat a better lunch. But, if they were more
skilled, there would be more winning and less
losing. 

My u15's team has been to two tournaments. We've
encountered the same strong opponent at both, and
lost 3 of the 5 games we've played. How? They're
stronger and taller than us, and unfortunately
their ball control is as good as ours. That's it.
In the games that we'd disrupted their serve
receive, we've won. But when they pass well,
they're a better team than us. No mystery. 

So Stop The Excuses! The 90% Rule Is Consistent
Through All Sports 

I imagine 90% of the time, the team that loses is
less skilled than the team that wins. No mystery.
No doubt. No excuses.  How do we go about solving
the problems that you mentioned in your email?
Let's explore the 90% for a few moments. This will
be fun! You're about to read my strategies to
improve our teams' chances of winning! This will
motivate you to get in the gym tomorrow with your
team!! 

STRATEGY #1: Serve Receive

Baseball coaches rely on their pitching to win.
Wrestling coaches rely on their conditioning, and
coaches of successful football teams have dozens
of weight room fanatics. 

In volleyball, the key to being competitive is
serve receive. I find my best 3 or 4 serve
receivers and expose them in every rotation. As
the season goes on, they get more and more and
more reps at practice. 

After each match I post our serve receive stats in
the locker room. I want my players to see the
number of times we were aced vs. number of aces we
served. Most seasons, we beat the other team
nearly all of the time. Some seasons, we win the
ace battle every single night!! (I know that
passing quality would be a better indicator, but
since I don't keep up with opponents' P.Q., the
ace vs. ace comparison is quick and easy.) 

Of course a player's skill and athleticism is
important to being a good serve receiver. However,
self-esteem, ego and courage are just as valuable.
Ask your receivers to be fearless. Implore your
serve receivers to do anything to keep from being
aced. Then as your receivers get older, expect the
balls passed from their stomachs to be hand
settable by the setter! 

With continual practice, we can also make our
players quicker, better readers, better
hand-receivers, better at calling and taking the
seem ball, etc. 

Don't forget to stress the fundamentals: "Step
into the seem, don't reach," and "Keep your
platform still," and "You know how to keep the
ball in our court? It's the combination of your
platform angle and absorbing the energy of the
ball." 

STRATEGY #2: Serving

Find what serves your players can master. Some
girls have natural floaters. Some girls can jump
float by the 9th grade. Some girls can stand
against the back wall and serve ICBM balls.
Practice serving 10 to 15 minutes each practice;
no, don't waste their time, but to allow them time
to practice all these serves. 

Yesterday at practice, I announced, "Stay in the
teams that you were in during the digging drill.
Serve!!!" First we experimented with our serve and
our toss (but no jumpers). Then we served from
against the back wall. Then we served short. Then
we served jumpers. Then we had pressure serving
drills. Then we played "Servers vs. Passers". 

Your team must serve 95% in the court. If someone
is under 90%, then put in a sub for her until you
get her attention. Even if that sub is an 8th
grade underhand server. You must make the point
that missing serves is unacceptable. 

STRATEGY #3: "What about that other 10% we
mentioned at the beginning?" 

a) Yeah, you could have a group of girls who are
silly, immature and/or generally noncompetitive.
I've coached groups like that before. Hey, you
can't stuff a square peg through a round hole.
Winning isn't a big deal to this type of kid, and
if we try to MAKE them competitive, they'll be
miserable. *sigh* Sure, I encourage you to keep on
trying to stoke the competitive fires in them, but
this can no more be forced on a kid than you can
make her fall in love with "your" type of boy.  

b) The coaches could be putting too much pressure
on the players. Sure, you want them to win. But
you could be rolling your eyes, showing too much
emotion, living and dying with each point, etc. You
could be freezing your own players. I've seen it
happen more than I can count. 

c) Same thing with the parents! The parents should
be judging their children by their effort and
teamness, not by the scoreboard. If the parents
are hollering "encouragement" to the kids during
the matches, or if the parents are giving the
girls a pep talk every night (or fussing at them
every night), then the parents may the ones who
are freezing-up the kids. Please ask the parents
to just support their daughters and tell them how
proud they are that their daughters have the
courage to even be out there on the court! And ask
the parents to let you handle the
intensity/strategy/motivation side of the sport! 

d) The pressure of the match could indeed be
bothering them. If the girls are mature enough,
then you should run some pressure drills. Pressure
drills aren't hard to create. If you want some
hints, email me at coachhouser@yahoo.com 

e) You must have time to practice. Before next August
rolls around, try to find a location where you can
have a court 6 days a week. You may have to go to
a local church, or at the Y (even if it's 8pm to
10pm!), maybe at the old community center down the
road that's musty and dark. Whatever. I can't
expect my team to win if we're trying to learn to
play the game during matches. We'll lose matches
that are winnable because we're making too many
"team" mistakes.  

STRATEGY #4: Setting

We work and work with our setters. We work hours
on improving their fundamentals: footwork, hands.
Then we ask them to set thousands of balls. Today
at practice we worked on right side transition and
setter footwork. 

We tell everyone on the team, "If the setters
aren't the hardest working players on the team,
then they must find another position to play." 

Your setters will not play to their potential
without proper fundamentals and endless
repetitions. During practice yesterday, the
setters did not serve receive during the "Servers
vs. Passers" drill. They were the setters on the
passing side. I'm sorry if they want to become
complete players, if they think their passing
skills are diminishing, etc. But our team's
setting is a higher priority. 

We could write an entire book on setter training.
But the bottom line is this: If your team can
serve receive and serve well, the girls still
won't play well without a setters who can
distribute the ball. 

STRATEGY #5: Give Your Team A Weekly "Bone Graft".
 
I realize that your team may be young or
inexperienced or not an intense as you'd like.
However, they still want to win and they still
want to earn praise from you. Knowing that, I give
my kids "bone grafts" about once a week. In other
words, I share with them the words that make their
back straighten up, as if I added more bone to
their spine! 

- "You will give this team everything you have.
You have to. You can't disappoint your teammates.
You can't let your teammates down." 

- "You will play every game as hard as you can.
That's the only thing that I will allow. To do
otherwise is to slow down your own improvement." 

- "If you cannot play hard, then you can stand over
here with me. This is not where you want to be,
because if I think there's game in you that you're
not exhibiting, then you and I won't get along." 

- "Why did you try out for this team? I'm sure two
of the reasons were that you like the game and you
wanted to improve. How can you say either, then
not give me full effort. Nope, won't happen.  If
you give me less than your best, then I'll find
someone who will give me more." 

- "I've taught you how to play defense. Now do it.
Our athletes and our heart all all good enough to
play with anyone in the region. And therefore we
can play defense with anyone." 

- "When we give you a serving signal, put it
there. You do it at practice. You can do it in a
match also. If we didn't think you could do it,
then we wouldn't have given you the signal. Do it!" 

- "It is our will that we win this next match.
It's not up to the opponents, the parents or what
happened in math class today. The outcome of this
match is up to us. Now take this match. Take it!" 

- "Today our spirit and enthusiasm will be the
best it's been all season. Coaches included! We
will cheer and cheer until we drive our opponents
into psychiatric care. Regardless of how much you
play, if the team wins, we all win. So let's do it!" 

I don't say any of these in anger. I say them with
emotion and with conviction. I may say them during
timeouts or before practice. I may say them when a
drill isn't going well, or between games of a
match. I criticize my players very seldom. But I
preach to them once or twice every week. The
preaching is always bone-grafting, "spine
straightening" stuff, never personal or mean. I
want the girls to play better, so fear and
humiliation won't work for long. Positive
motivation will work for years! 

I give my Captain Of The Day thirty seconds at
every practice to speak to her teammates without
any coaches around. She is expected to use "bone
graft" words. At the start of the season, I tell
all the players that when they're the COD, they
are required to speak in positives. There is no
criticism allowed. They should use words that make
their teammates smile, words that make their
teammates want to play hard, and words that make
their teammates want to bond with each other more
and more. 

OK, sure. You may still lose more than you win.
You may still lose a lot. The JV team I coached in
2001 lost 15 matches. However, they played hard,
they played tough, they never stopped until the
end of the match. And these little inner-city kids
had every reason to give up! Yet, I wouldn't allow
it. And when the season was over, and we won four
matches (while the varsity team won none for the
2nd year in a row), they were all so proud. 

At our end-of-season banquet, they gave me a
plaque that read, "For never giving up on our
team. For standing up to our attitude. For pushing
aside anything that got in our way. For teaching
us how to play and how to live. We love you, Coach
Houser." 

-Tom Houser

Head Coach, 2008 and 2007 Roanoke Juniors 15's
Open Director, STAR Volleyball Camps Author, "I
Can't Wait" Drill Collection and Ebooks
www.coachhouser.com