Making Wholesale Substitutions-When and Why?

-By Tom Houser


Hey Coach Houser:

Gosh, sometimes it's hard to watch this game of
volleyball. My daughter’s team played North
Central tonight, the coach makes complete
wholesale changes in the lineup, and the girls
play the worst complete match of the season. NC
played mediocre and still whipped us. Oh well,
I've vented (I never get to vent to anyone at
home).

Coach Houser’s Reply:

As you can tell, this email was sent to me by a
parent. Here’s my response to him:


When I make wholesale changes, it's either:

(a) To get someone's attention;

(b) I actually have people who are interchangeable
parts, so the team performance isn’t affected, or;

(c) The match is lost/won, so why not let the
benchees play? They're sure not going to play if
the match is winnable/close!   


Over Substituting And Random Substituting Is A Big Mistake:
I once knew a college coach who made so many changes,
that the women had no level of comfort. One month
a girl may be a starter. The next 2 matches she
doesn’t touch the floor. Weekly, the coach would
even insert girls, without warning, in positions
that they've never played or haven't played
since high school.  

I guess that coach wanted to see if she could
spark the team. But she had no clue. You don't
put an OH on the right when they haven’t played
right in their entire life. The player would be
embarrassed. Likewise, you don't ask a setter to
play DS on the short left . She just can’t do that
job very well.  


The Match Is No Longer Competitive: Maybe your coach
thought the match was pretty much lost, and if she
made those wholesale changes during the 2nd, at
the beginning of the 3rd or during the third, then
OK I can see that. If the coach believes the team
is going to get destroyed, why not let everyone
play? That's what I was doing on the first few
days at Nationals this past summer. In our first 8
matches, I thought we just weren't able to play
with most of those teams. Therefore, why let girls
at Nationals rot on the bench?  

No I’m not an equal playing time coach. Heck, if
we'd had the chance to win each/all/some of those
first 8 matches, I would have coached just like I
normally do. But after watching the first set of
each game, that we just weren't going to beat
them. So why have a girl sit on the bench for
match after match if we're getting beat 25-15,
25-15, etc.   


To “Jolt” The Team: Maybe your coach
thought a few subs would "jolt" the team. I did
that twice at Nationals. We lost badly to a team
from North Carolina, so I changed offenses,
setters, and maybe one other position player.
BOOM, we beat them in the 2nd game. I also did it
after losing badly to some team on the 3rd day. I
let my 2nd setter run a 5-1 for the 2nd set and
even into the next match. OK, that change didn't
have the same outcome. We lost all those games
with the 2nd setter in charge. And "jolts" often
don't work.  

I told my wife Sara last night on the way home, a
coach has to use "the jolt" very sparingly. Why?
First, you don't want your kids playing on egg
shells. A coach doesn't want a starter to think,
"I don't play well in the first 10 minutes, I'm
done." I also don't want my benchees to think,
"I may get 5 minutes tonight, or zero. No clue.
It's random. But if I PLAY WELL, I may get 90
minutes, so I MUST play great, if I get the
chance!!" That's no way to think! Second,
because jolts often don’t work, over using them
will make you look like an over-reacting,
panicking, basket case. Plus, instead of your
changes jolting your team, your changes will have
the team thinking, “Oh, no, she’s doing it again.
This is SO stupid.”  


Jolt The Team With Interchangable Parts: One time
I really remember "the jolt" was at NorthEast
Qualifier in 2004 when my team was playing like
crap in the first game vs. a team from Texas and
lost horribly, maybe 25-9. I took out my 5'10"
setter and put in the 2nd setter, a 5’2” girl who
was a GREAT setter, athlete, competitor, but too
small to run a 5-1 in 16’s open at NEQ. But we won
the 2nd and the 3rd game. I remember it well
because the starting setter’s dad was a head
Division 1 coach! And he was pretty upset. I
answered, "We don't talk about playing time."
After the tournament was over, he wanted to talk
to me on the phone. I was like, "We just won the
match, after playing like dirt crap in the first
game. What's your problem?"  


Embarrass My Player? No Way!! At no time do I put
people in embarrassing positions. Why would I do
that? The individual girls probably won't play
well. Furthermore, the team has less chance of
winning, not more. The team has less chance of
playing well or of improving. So what has a coach
accomplished?  


To Get Someone’s Attention? Last fall I went to
see a college match. The coach decided to play her
2nd setter the entire match. This was a conference
match. OK, I guess the starter wasn’t the best
setter in the world, but the 2nd setter was
significantly weaker. Point after point after
point was given up with doubles and unhittable
sets. The 2nd setter was obviously, significantly
weaker. The team had no chance to play well or to
win. I wonder to this day, "Why did she sacrifice
a conference match?" I guess she had a reason
behind it, but if it was the get the starter's
attention, it was done at a very high price. And I
don’t think it helped the team in any way.  


Finally: How you substitute is a reflection of
your personality. Are you patient with who has
proven their worth to you over the course of their
careers? Or do you judge your players by their
performance every 15 minutes, and make changes
accordingly? Like all other things, when you’re
thinking about your substitution philosophy,
answer this question: “Will it help the team?”  

 

-Tom Houser
Director, STAR Volleyball Camps
Author, “I Can’t Wait” Drill Collection and Ebooks
Head Coach, 2009 Roanoke Junior 16 Nationals,
Old Dominion Region Champion.
Junior National Participant-2006, 2009
www.coachhouser.com