The Next Level

This week I would like to talk about getting your athletes ready for the next level. The next level could be being promoted from junior varsity to varsity, playing in college, or going pro. I personally wish that my high school coach took out more time and invested in our talent more. There were thing that should have been done that could have helped me have a longer career in volleyball. So depending on the level that you are coaching, make sure you invest in your athletes accordingly.

I will be looking at the youth aspect of this subject. When parents come to me, their main concern is getting their daughter ready to try out for the seventh and eighth grade teams. So there are a few things I take into consideration to decide if that athlete is ready.

1. Understanding of the game -Do they understand the basics of sport physically and mentally? More importantly, are they coming to LOVE the game? If not, no more time should be wasted from anyone involved.
2. Skills of the game – Are the skills either at or close to the level of competition of another level? If not, how fast can this athlete grasp concepts, technique, and skill? What is also key here is that an athlete expresses a DESIRE to grow; he or she should be joyfully committed to getting better at the chosen sport!
3. Knowledge of the game- The athlete should be comprehending more complex game strategies and recognizing the strengths and weaknesses of themselves, their teammates, and their opponents.

Along with the athlete being ready, is their parents or support base ready? This is key when it comes to a progressing athlete, everyone involved must be on one accord. The parents have to want this for their kid and not themselves. With the help of these points you should be able to get your athletes ready. However, It is up to you (as their coach or mentor) to make sure that they have the understanding, skills, and knowledge of the game in order to make it to the next level.

  

Reference

1. Upward Sports. (2016, June 19). Retrieved from http://www.upward.org/blog/cazscorner/advancing-to-the-next-level

Play Smart

In my last blog, I talked about preparing your athletes to be mentally ready in order to finish the game. Now I want to further that discussion with playing smart. When you coach your athletes to play smart, you’re teaching them to focus on outside stimulus given by the opponent and how to quickly process this information in order to get the desired outcome. With that being said, you as the coach must teach them the necessary skills and techniques that they will need for any situation that may present itself in the game.

In a past tournament, I watched an older age group from the one that I coach and I watched the players specifically because I wanted to see if they knew how to adjust according to play. I could tell some girls had played volleyball for a while, while others were just athletic enough to play their position. While the coach did his job very well, there were still phases that the team had where I could tell they were not playing smart. They were not watching the setter, not covering the hitters or blockers, late to tips because they were not watching the hitters hands, the list goes on and on. Those little mistakes started wearing on them, causing them to lose focus and not being able to finish the game. They were not focused on adjusting to what the opponent continually challenged them on. It’s hard to watch talented and athletic teams give the game away because they just are not processing and thinking. “To play smart is to be be mentally sharp and strong.”

Another part of playing smart, is playing together. Playing together means unselfishly, trusting your teammates, and doing everything possible not to let them down. The team has to click, think as one, and move as one. Everyone has to do their part and make the best decisions they know how not only to win, but to be a successful program. Playing smart is more than just a single player, it’s a team effort. All in all, getting your team to play as one, in unison, is the best form of playing smart.

Reference:

1. Lanzillo, A. B. (n.d.). Basketball Mental Aspects-To Play Smart or Play Stupid. Coach's Clipboard.

2. Smith, D. (n.d.). Coaching Tips. Basketballs Best.

Finish It!!!

his past weekend I had a team participate in the State Tournament in our TAAf Region. I could tell the girls were unsure of themselves because we were missing teammates and our last tournament did not go so well. However, the first set was going in our favor. We were ahead 13 to 23, and then we hit a wall. Only being two away from a win, the girls let the opponent score ten points on serves. It was one mistake after another, so points were adding up against us. They ended up losing that set 27 to 25. Luckily the second set went in our favor and we won by eight points. So like any coach, I felt as if we would win the third set because the momentum was with us. Nope! The opponent scored seven points before we even scored once. (FACE SLAP!) Although, we did manage to get things back under control, but ended up losing the set 15 to 9.

Our second game was no different. We were ahead and then that same wall smacked us in the face. Why could they not finish what they started? What was so hard about keeping the momentum regardless of a few mistakes? It was a true test of my coaching abilities. At that moment I was disappointed in them for just giving up. I had to realize they were either twelve years old or younger and did not know how to process making mistakes in a positive and effective way. It sucked to see them shut down on themselves and I could not do anything about it.

As a coach and even a mentor, this will happen. Regardless of age and experience. So what do you do as their coach to get them through it? Do you tell them to suck it up and get over it? Do you baby them and have sympathy? They need an equal amount  of tough love and sympathy.  As the coach,you must  decide when is the best time to address the situation and what approach should be taken to get your point across.  Also, you need to prepare them mentally. Train them to focus on each play and not the outcome of the game. My coach used to tell me “Every play is a new play. Let that last mistake go because you can’t fix it. But you can fix how you address your next move.” By preparing them mentally you’re teaching them to coach themselves and how to pick their faces up off the floor and FINISH IT!

Reference:

1. Cohn, P. (n.d.). How to Finish Strong : Going for the Knockout Blow. Retrieved from Peak Performance Sports.

Love of the Game

As a former athlete, coaching the sport you played is bitter sweet. You eat, sleep, breath the game you love and once played. So now as a coach you want to sometimes relive what you once had through your athletes,  this I call the “Obsessive Coach”. Like obsessive parents, obsessive coaches are ones who wish it was still them playing instead of coaching, and will get highly upset if things are not done exactly like how they once did them. There is no reasoning with their methods because their way is the only way.  There is nothing wrong with having a bit of the obsessive coaches disease, but only if it is for the love of the game.

I know from experience that I am an obsessive coach. I want my athletes to understand the game and perfect the technique so bad that sometimes I forget about how old they are. My athletes play in a 12 and under division, so a lot of the skills and technique that makes volleyball so awesome, they struggle to understand. So I constantly fight myself to pull back so that I can effectively coach them in a way to understand and perform the skill. This is very important and hard to do, especially when you want them to play like you are able to play. Just like how the love of the game keeps me expecting more of them, it also reminds me to coach them according to their skills and ability so that I will get more from them.  Again bitter sweet.

One of the reasons good athletes quit sport is because they are afraid to make mistakes. Being that obsessive coach, you will get annoyed really quick with what seems to be simple mistakes. Just remember, they have to learn just like you once did. Coach your athletes up to love the sport in a way that making mistakes won’t drive them away. Coach them to love the game. In a blog that I read called “Can you teach “The love of the game””, the author wrote three things that can influence an athlete in developing the love a the game.

1. Quality time
2. Respecting the game
3. Having fun playing the game

If you allow your athletes to have these components, they will someday eat, sleep, breath the game like you and perhaps play like you (or better).

References:
1. O'Sullivan, J. (2015). Why Kids Quit Sports. Coaching, Problems In Youth Sports.
2. Bledsoe, J. (2013, January 24). Coach Up. Retrieved from http://blog.coachup.com/2013/01/24/can-you-coach-the-love-of-the-game/

Be Motivating

This week, I’d like to talk about motivation. As a coach or mentor, the young adults that you interact with will look up to you in more ways than just sport. Even though it seems evident this will happen, so many coaches forget and get lost in the job of just coaching. So what happens off the court? Where do those athletes get that extra push that they otherwise will not get? Being motivating is more than just an applause when things are good and a speech when they are not. Being motivating is who you are when your athlete is having an emotional breakdown because home life is not ideal, or when they do not believe they will get through that semester in school, let alone graduate.

I am not saying that motivation is just the emotional side of athletics, but it is a part of  the whole picture. A coach that motivates both athletically and emotionally will get the best performance out of an athlete. “Motivation is thought to be a combination of the drive within us to achieve our aims and the outside factors which affect it”.1  Your athletes may have the drive to perform but those outside factors, the ones that they cannot control, will drastically affect that. So it is up to you to be that boundary that blocks off the negativity and gives that extra push.

Lastly, “Motivation will directly impact the level of success that you ultimately achieve”.2  That being said, help set your athletes or mentees up for lifelong success. Show them how to fight through obstacles with higher ways of thinking and understanding. More importantly, teach them to be self motivating, to be able to push themselves when there is no one else. That is the ultimate reward of being a motivating role model in their lives. Remember, you may be the only source of motivation that they will have in that period of their life. You must not abuse that privilege, but embrace it and use it to develop a better person.

References:
TeachPE. (2016). Retrieved from http://www.teachpe.com/sports_psychology/motivation.php
Ph.D., J. T. (2009). Sports: What Motivates athletes. The Power of Prime.

  

Coach and Player Bonding

One of the most important things to me as a coach and a former athlete, is the bond that the two will have. I can remember my first volleyball coach and how she not only made me fall in love with the sport, but I trusted her to teach me things that was more than just volleyball. There were times that I was not sure of what I wanted to do with my athletic career and school, but the bond that she had with us made it easy to seek advice through her. That coach is the reason why I coach and push to be a mentor to those that I do coach.

So many times we as coaches can get “lost” or “caught up” in the athletes just being our players. We do not get to see them when they leave the gym and conquer every day life. So that means the time we do have with them needs to leave a positive imprint on their lives. By doing this, the athlete will want to do whatever it takes to not disappoint you as a coach and mentor.

Another important reason to build a bond with your players is, you will receive optimal performance. There should be a balance between how you coach them technique wise and your relationship with them.

• Good production + good relationships = peak performance
• Good production + poor relationships = potential to win but little commitment
• Poor production + good relationships = commitment to win but little ability

Keeping that balance requires that professional boundary. However, be open and  human to your players’ needs. Which brings me to my final thought that I want to leave you with. There are six key elements that a coach- player relationship needs: Trust, Faith, Boundaries, Perspective, Toughness, and Knowledge.

 

References

Adidas Tennis Camps. (2015, July 8). Retrieved from http://tenniscamper.com/12-important-things-in-a-good-coach-to-player-relationship-part-1/

Beswick, B. (n.d.). Focused for Soccer. Retrieved from Human Kinetics: http://www.humankinetics.com/excerpts/excerpts/building-relationships-is-important-in-coaching