Your Yes I Can VB Gold Gift Message
February 19th, 2008 at 6:16 amTwo Key Factors for a Champion
February 18, 2008
-By Mike Tully
My wife and I just back from a week’s vacation in
Europe, and the first 150 minutes we spent in
Paris carry lessons that can help any coach.
We arrived by train from Lausanne, Switzerland,
and I realized that even though we had planned
certain aspects of our excursion well, I had not
thought to ask which Metro stop was nearest our
hotel. That meant a frantic series of questions to
strangers – in a foreign language.
We finally got to the hotel, much better
acquainted with Paris, and enjoyed the rest of our
trip. The entire process of getting off the train,
changing money, and getting to the hotel took us
90 minutes longer than it should have, but those
90 minutes can mean all the difference to you and
your team.
Planning: Before the trip, it would have been very
easy to e-mail the hotel and ask a simple
question: “Which Metro stop is closest to your
hotel? And which way do we walk when we get off?”
Instead, I left that element to chance, and it
cost us time. It’s the same way in your gym. There
are so many elements of chance in coaching
volleyball, you must control everything you
possibly can. For instance:
-What drills are you going to do?
-In what order?
-Who will participate in them?
-Do you have all the equipment you need?
-Who will open the gym on those certain days when
the rest of the school is off?
-What will you do if certain players aren’t there?
Unless you know the answer to all of these
questions and more, then your practice will wind
up being less than it could have been. “Plan your
work and work your plan.”
(Maybe you’re wondering why we didn’t just take a
cab. At the exchange rate for Euros, it’s a wonder
we were even able to eat.)
The comfort zone: Our scramble to change money and
find the hotel, all done in a foreign language,
pulled me out of my comfort zone in a hurry. And
when it was all done, I had a huge feeling of
satisfaction. It feels good when you realize that
you have learned something, or that you have
grown.
That evening, and the following day, when it was
time to explore the city in earnest, we were able
to do so, because we understood the currency, the
Metro map, and a little more of the language.
As Coaches Dave Cross and Stan Kellner point out
in “Volleyball Cybernetics,” if you stay in your
comfort zone, you will keep getting the same
results. Unless we had been forced to, my wife and
I would never have expanded our comfort zone the
way we did. As it turns out, my lack of planning
actually helped us grow.
However, I would not recommend that method.
Instead, create the best of both worlds. Design
your practices so that your athletes must grow.
And when you see signs of progress, praise it.
Bonne chance!
-Mike Tully is a member of the "Yes, I Can!"
coaching staff. You can hear him now on his "Pep
Talk" hotline at (973) 773-2151.
February 18, 2008
-By Mike Tully
My wife and I just back from a week’s vacation in
Europe, and the first 150 minutes we spent in
Paris carry lessons that can help any coach.
We arrived by train from Lausanne, Switzerland,
and I realized that even though we had planned
certain aspects of our excursion well, I had not
thought to ask which Metro stop was nearest our
hotel. That meant a frantic series of questions to
strangers – in a foreign language.
We finally got to the hotel, much better
acquainted with Paris, and enjoyed the rest of our
trip. The entire process of getting off the train,
changing money, and getting to the hotel took us
90 minutes longer than it should have, but those
90 minutes can mean all the difference to you and
your team.
Planning: Before the trip, it would have been very
easy to e-mail the hotel and ask a simple
question: “Which Metro stop is closest to your
hotel? And which way do we walk when we get off?”
Instead, I left that element to chance, and it
cost us time. It’s the same way in your gym. There
are so many elements of chance in coaching
volleyball, you must control everything you
possibly can. For instance:
-What drills are you going to do?
-In what order?
-Who will participate in them?
-Do you have all the equipment you need?
-Who will open the gym on those certain days when
the rest of the school is off?
-What will you do if certain players aren’t there?
Unless you know the answer to all of these
questions and more, then your practice will wind
up being less than it could have been. “Plan your
work and work your plan.”
(Maybe you’re wondering why we didn’t just take a
cab. At the exchange rate for Euros, it’s a wonder
we were even able to eat.)
The comfort zone: Our scramble to change money and
find the hotel, all done in a foreign language,
pulled me out of my comfort zone in a hurry. And
when it was all done, I had a huge feeling of
satisfaction. It feels good when you realize that
you have learned something, or that you have
grown.
That evening, and the following day, when it was
time to explore the city in earnest, we were able
to do so, because we understood the currency, the
Metro map, and a little more of the language.
As Coaches Dave Cross and Stan Kellner point out
in “Volleyball Cybernetics,” if you stay in your
comfort zone, you will keep getting the same
results. Unless we had been forced to, my wife and
I would never have expanded our comfort zone the
way we did. As it turns out, my lack of planning
actually helped us grow.
However, I would not recommend that method.
Instead, create the best of both worlds. Design
your practices so that your athletes must grow.
And when you see signs of progress, praise it.
Bonne chance!
-Mike Tully is a member of the "Yes, I Can!"
coaching staff. You can hear him now on his "Pep
Talk" hotline at (973) 773-2151.