Lessons Learned II...

To continue our conversation about what coaches learned from this past season, these are from High School and Collegiate Coaches from around the country. What can we learn from their lessons?

"There is an old saying, 'You can't push spaghetti, you have to drag it.'
When selecting a team, carefully choose people who have desire and heart. Cut the rest. I would rather work with players whose skill level may be inferior in the beginning, but their attitude and work ethic is great. It may take longer, but in the end you will be able to accomplish much more."

"When we listened to the kids talk about the 5 things they'll miss most... only 1 listed had to do with volleyball. So, here we have perhaps our most talented kids yet...and they love to compete, but they're here for the ride and all the team building, etc too. One of their favorite memories was our film&fun "practices" when after film we did things like play reverse charades and made cookies. So while these kids...some of our best yet....LOVE volleyball and LOVE to compete...even they remember everything else first too."

"Each season is a learning lesson for me, as I am the constant student of this game. So for me, this season was about what defines success and/or a successful season. And even though we missed the playoffs, I found myself proud of our progress this year. With such a large group of freshmen; 8 of 12, I really focused on the individual and group successes on and off the floor. When we watched film from our first match, and then film from our last match, it is night and day. This team dealt with adversity by working harder and bonding together. This team also demonstrated tremendous growth as young women off the court. So, for me, this season taught me to look at more than wins and losses for what dictates success; and to broaden my view to see the bigger picture that is in play."

"This season I learned to swallow my pride and remember that simple is better. I have always hated single blocking and considered teams who did it to be 'poor' teams. The old adage 'if one blocker is good, two is better' has always been our mantra. I pride myself on being a coach who isn’t afraid of pursuing innovative things. We took on swing blocking and jump serving at the high school level before other teams in our area had even heard of it. This year, however, our team was very small: 5’4, 5’5, 5’6, 5’7 with 5’10 and 5’11 in the middle. A few matches into the season, it was clear that our smaller kids were not getting touches on the block, and we were getting killed on tip defense because our back row was getting hammered. Our two middles are young, but they have very good timing and technique on the swing block. The little people on the outside and right side were just in their way. We decided to pull them off for defense and let the middle just swing from pin to pin. Our team this year had MORE total blocks than last season! Our MH2 had almost as many blocks as our whole team did last year. While I still hate the 'idea' of single blocking, I learned that sometimes, simple is more effective and practical scores points. We have to cater our offensive and defensive strategies to the athletes we have, not the other way around. Of course, a small part of me is still hoping our small kids will grow and get mad hops so that we can double block next year like 'real' teams and a voice in the back of my head is screaming, 'What’s next? Middle-up defense? What is this, 1985?!' but I know that my swallowing my pride and letting go of my own personal biases allowed our team to go 29-4."

"This season I learned that as a coach you need to allow your players the freedom to play well. I think too many times we as coaches are too critical about things that definitely don’t matter in the moment and today’s athletes really let that affect their confidence and performance. We had a way better second half of our season this year because I just a lot of things go and let them be them."

"I don't think I really learned anything new this year but certainly reinforced certain philosophies. No matter how good or weak my team is, hard work every day and commitment to the 'team' needs is critical. Take nothing for granted and earn it. And we can and will continue to learn and improve...even going into the practice before the championship. My team embraced this and I respected their commitment to improving everyday."

"A lesson I learned this past college season is to coach to your team’s strengths more than spending too much time on your team’s weaknesses. In the past I have been guilty of spending too much practice time and coaching emphasis on coaching to our next opponent also. This year we focused primarily on what our team was good at and how do we use those strengths to score more. Of course we spent some time on improving our weaknesses and scouting opponents but it was only about 25%-30% of our practice time. During spring season we will devote more time to improving our team’s weaknesses but during our competition season we will spend the majority of our time working on what we do best on the court."

"Patience was the #1 thing I learned from my HS experience. I get a mixed group of players from different levels of the game and many with a less diverse club experience. I do my best to keep things simple in HS and do my best to challenge players individually but don't have huge expectations of them. My goal is to make kids better in HS and do my best to make sure they have a positive experience. I held my players accountable and wanted them to achieve in everything they did, but was always realistic of what they were capable of. When we competed against powerhouse programs, I reminded them that we were not expected to win, but it would be awesome to upset!"


"Team chemistry does not guarantee wins. Winning without it is undeniably difficult but having it is not a promise of success. My
team this year was easily the most physically and athletically gifted
group of young women I have ever had the honor of working with. Mentally, we struggled. By the end of the season I knew I had missed something in the training process that as a coach I should have provided. We are taking steps now to ensure we address those issues early for next season. The girls got along amazingly well. They truly enjoyed the company of their teammates. I even had a parent tell me that her daughter told her that this was the first team she had ever played on where she got along with every one of her teammates! All of that is great but at the end of the day, we need to win games. Which we did. More than any other season in many years;14 wins. However, the team did not meet its goal of making it into the playoffs and therefore, as a program, we are disappointed with the season.
Despite the team chemistry and all the girls truly enjoying playing
together and spending time together, we still pulled away from each
other when our opponents put pressure on us during the games. This is
where our lack of mental toughness and discipline would show up.
Instead of trusting in the ability of the team to perform as a unit, we
tried to take over the game as individuals. In the end, I realize that
I designed a preseason plan that created opportunities for the team to
develop some chemistry on and off the court. I got the outcome I
wanted. Unfortunately, it was at the expense of creating mentally
strong individuals that could hold themselves together emotionally
during the toughest times of a competitive match. I have to hold them
more accountable and put more pressure on them in practice. I have to
train them to the point where they trust not just their own skills and
abilities but the skills and abilities of their teammates as well. I
also need to teach them to hold themselves and their teammates
accountable for their actions. I will have a veteran team of seniors
next year who will be highly motivated to succeed. Finding a balance
between giving them control of their team and doing what I tell them to
do as the coach will be a critical piece to our success or failure."
Thanks to these wonderful coaches who shared their lessons learned with us to help us get better.