Coaching Takeaways from a Season in the Rearview...

 At the end of a long volleyball season, it's not hard to see how they are a microcosm of life. The season;  some good, some bad, filled with memories of grace and fortune and memories of grief and regret. It's the best time to ask coaches who were willing to share, what was their biggest takeaway from the season just ended.

Please enjoy these high school and college coaches who opened up and shared a piece of themselves with you for all of us to learn.

Thank you Coaches!

Never underestimate the power of being flexible. Flexibility can open so many doors for both players and coaches alike. For example: don't pigeonhole a player in one position. If they want to try something new, find a way to let them experiment with it. During our season due to injuries, illnesses and just not working out in certain positions, we had to shift athletes around. Some of those shifts worked out to enhance our lineup better than before the switches. Some found out they were better than they thought and gained newfound confidence.

 My biggest coaching takeaway this season is that bigger isn't always better. After 22 matches, going 14-8, putting our biggest players at the net, we switched to a faster, small-ball lineup that put our two liberos all the way around in six rotations. Our increased ball control allowed us to go 16-1 to end the season, only losing one five-set thriller 17-19 at the state tournament against a 6'4" block. Ball control, defense, and serve receive matter more than hitting and blocking. We may have looked like a middle school team size-wise, but volleyball is just a simple game of don't let the ball hit the floor.

My biggest takeaway is finding a way to train resiliency.

 My biggest take away from this season would be to never look past the importance of each individual athlete and I learned it is good to give your players power. When you empower them with knowledge and give them mindfulness of their own skills, they can move mountains. My team was an amazing group of players who played for themselves and their teammates. They loved each other on and off the court. That is a tough combination to find in our youth of today.

 Players need to believe that they can win any given match and must stay focused throughout the entire match in order to have the best opportunity for success!

 Love my tribe, grateful to be surrounded by a FUN and inspiring coaching staff. Players that are ALL IN, seeking to be the best version of themselves, and looking to Be About Others. Love that we can laugh, grow, and compete together. Without stress there is no adaptation... more controlled chaos... to explore what we are made of we need to be uncomfortable. Seek to expose holes in our game, embrace failure, next point mindset...

 My biggest takeaways from this season are that no matter the talent level in the gym or on the roster, you will not be as successful as you would like to be unless EVERYONE involved buys into the goal of the group. Team cohesion, unity, & valuing each other's contributions are even more important than who jumps 30" and hits straight down.

 The biggest takeaway from this season was that at the end of the day our athletes need to feel loved, valued and appreciated. Whether the team exceeds your expectations or underperforms the relationships between both their coaching staff and teammates will determine how the season went for them. Intentionally cultivating relationships and investing in community seems like it can never truly be overdone.

One of my biggest takeaways was just reinforcement of an idea I try to incorporate every year if at all possible, during playoffs. Basically, it is this; introduce something new before a big match. I do this a lot and whatnot seem to do is convince the players that we have something up our sleeve that is going to give us a competitive advantage. They really buy into it most times. I know they did this year. We beat a team in the quarterfinals that we weren't supposed to beat. They had tremendous size, a 6'7 Florida commit and several other talented players. We moved the lineup around a bit and changed our approach as to how we would serve them. It worked and we punched them in the mouth. The girls played with so much confidence. So my takeaway is, never get complacent with the successes, you can always adjust the smallest of things to help your players with their confidence.

Getting in the way...

In December of 2021, the Az. Region hosted our "Education Weekend." Despite over 1000 coaches in the region, only 22 attended and only 16 finished the 2 1/2 day clinic. One of these 16 was a young coach from Tucson, a former player, who had just started working with her middle school team. 

With an open mind and willing to make changes, you can read here what it has brought her and her program.

I wanted to let you know that the school season started a little more than a month ago and I have been implementing what I learned at the coach training from back in December. Practices are dedicated to either playing speedball or doing full bump/set/spike practice, which is very different from what I was doing before. 

The girls are not only getting in maximum touches, but they absolutely love practice! I haven't heard "When can we...." which I did get in the past. We are still working out the logistics, but we have mostly figured out how to get two nets between the basketball hoop poles so there are practically no lines anymore. Not only did we not cut any players this year (we have 21 on the team), but they all are getting the entire practice at a net.

This season we are also 4-1 with still more than half of the season to go, where in the three previous years our best season winning record was 3 games total. There are a few reasons why they are doing so well that are out of my control, but I feel like I am now supporting their experience instead of getting in the way of it. 

I can see exactly what they have been doing in practice applied in the game and they are even running plays now, which they never did before because I was so focused on bumping lines. 

Because of everything I learned, I am finally feeling like I have some idea about what I am doing as a coach. I want to thank you again for organizing the training and to let you know that even almost a year later, it is still extremely impactful and was without a doubt worth the time and expense to attend. Also please pass along my thanks to John, Marouane, and all the other presenters.

PS We had an unfortunate season ending ankle injury with one of our players and I am planning a practice dedicated to sitting volleyball so she can play with the team again. I would not have thought about that without having heard from Whitney!

...The Same River Twice...

 "Alexa, make me a better coach..."

Why wouldn't this work? 

We can ask Alexa to play me side 2 of Pearl Jam's Vs. album in it's entirety at the volume we want, when we want by just asking loudly.

We can get on the phone and order pretty much any food we have a hankering for and it will be delivered to us within the hour to our front door.

We don't have to  wait for next week's installment of our favorite television show, we can just download all the episodes and watch them in class, or on our bathroom or lunch breaks. 

We don't have to take the film down to a photo processor to get our prints an hour later. We can just pull up the thousands we have on our phone right now AND send them to anyone in a split second.

We can jump into a group text and sit in the comfort of our bedrooms while we chat with our friends without all the messy facial expressions, voice inflection or learning how to read people. We can just chat on our terms.

We can hop on a number of social media spiderwebs to see all the good things that happen to our friends or teams, but not nearly as often do we see the losses or bad moments. These are too traumatic. Losing isn't in the playbook!

"Alexa...I'm waiting..."

It's not anyone's fault. We are in a society based on me, my time, my comfort, my likes and dislikes and my tolerance for those around me.

Not just the kids you are coaching, or the Parents you will be involved with this season, but your co coaches, your assistant coaches, your Club Director.

So if no one will tell you this, it's time someone did.

Watching a video is a miniscule part of being a better coach. Listening to podcasts is a step. Volunteering to assist a coach or a team is a step. Reading is a step. Not just coaching books, but science journals and asking questions are steps. 

The good news is that all the things we talked about up top are also things that can help you in your quest. It's easier than ever to hear great coaches talk via podcasts and YouTube. It's never been easier to read a book or listen to it. You can watch volleyball online at almost every level with minimal cost and high speed internet. 

But Alexa isn't the answer.

Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher born in 544 B.C. said, “No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.”

Experience is the ultimate teacher, in both success and failure. But it can't be gathered from inside our bedrooms or inside our cars or all from our phones. 

Meet us halfway. If there is a clinic you think will help, find the excuse TO go. If there is a coach you want to see or a team that interests you, make the effort. 

We ask so much of our athletes all season and beyond. Why shouldn't they expect the same from us?

Magic Beans and Fairy Dust...

Bill coaches a medium sized high school team in New Jersey. He did a 4-day camp the week before tryouts and two scrimmages to see his team together, experiment with some different line ups and situations, try to find leadership and help solidify some decisions going into week one with as much concrete information as possible.

Camp ended and he was ready. His outside hitter was a beast, and she was also a team leader. Although she had only been playing for just barely a year, she had blossomed as an athlete in volleyball and the team was better because of her.

Two days after camp and one day before tryouts, the outside hitter was playing football with her brothers. A hard pass, a late hand and she broke a finger on her attacking side. She was done for a good part of the season.

Bill was angry, then disappointed and then in reorganization mode. What to do now?

On February 4^th, the Phoenix Mercury became one of the betting favorites to win a WNBA title even though the season was still months away. They had acquired a seasoned post in Tina Charles to a one-year deal with the pure intent of this being an all-in go at the trophy. All Stars Brittney Griner, Diana Taurasi and Skyler Diggins-Smith were ready to lead this team to it’s fourth Championship with the deep and star studded talent fashioning the box score.

Two weeks later it all began to unravel.

Center piece Brittany Griner was arrested in Russia where she still sits today, at the writing of this blog, in a Russian prison, found guilty of drug charges. The team was distraught and played distracted and affected for their new coach. Charles asked out of her contract after just 17 games because she didn’t think she was getting the ball enough. Taurasi suffered an injury and despite, somehow, still making the playoffs, Diggins-Smith also left the team the last two weeks of the season. What had begun with such high hopes crashed into a 2-0 sweep in the playoffs.

 

As Coaches AND Parents, we have stories we tell ourselves. “This team is good enough to win it all.” “My daughter is the best player on this team!” Rarely do those stories flesh out into reality and yet we continue to tell ourselves these fairy tales over and over.

As coaches, we must prepare for the worst. In 1988, Paul Westphal was a 37-year-old ex player looking to get some experience and coached Grand Canyon College to an NAIA Championship. What is forgotten is that late in the season he suspended two of his best front court players and highest scorers for team violations. Despite being short AND shorthanded, Westphal used what he had and beat the favorite Auburn-Montgomery 88-86 for the Championship.

Did Westphal expect to lose two crucial players as the playoffs loomed? Probably not but he did what great coaches do: he prepared for the worst! He had plans ready just in case.

If your best player goes down tomorrow, do you raise the white flag and cry foul? Or do you have another option? Do you have back up plans after back up plans ready? Are your players ready to play one position or volleyball?

The chances your high school or club season will go exactly as planned is a winning Lotto ticket. Think, as coaches and Parents, all the things that could DERAIL your season, then work backwards to help stem those tides. Bad grades, family emergencies, injuries, burn out, Parent over involvement and disruption, coaching change, etc. And in all of these, you an still not account for everything and anything that might happen. Life is random.

Your expectations of the narrative we tell ourselves is just that, a narrative. Our lives are full of them, daily. When things don’t meet the expectations of our narrative, we become disappointed, even though often our expectations are rooted in magic beans and fairy dust.

Be realistic, see beyond the obvious and understand that which has become clear to every great coach and parent in the world. 

Life teaches us humility.

"One, two or three contacts and don't let the ball hit the floor..."

 Send it over the net in 1, 2 or 3 contacts and don’t let the ball hit the floor on your side.

She started with that simple formula. She was a college basketball player who was offered a job coaching High School basketball BUT was told she would also have to coach volleyball.

She didn’t know anything about volleyball. She had never played the sport. So she enlisted the mother of her best friend who was a volleyball coach, travelling hours to her home the day before the season started to copy drills, learn the game and come up with any idea on how to coach something she didn’t know at all.

Another coach described his journey. “I became involved in volleyball when I went to college with the intention of being a basketball coach and happened to go to a school … that doesn’t exist any longer, and it happened to be a school that was very good in volleyball. Just randomly got involved in volleyball because of that. I never took a volleyball class before I got to college, so I transitioned from basketball to volleyball while I was there. I just took a couple classes and learned how to play and was on the team and had terrific mentors that were open to sharing their passion for the game with people who knew nothing about the game.”

Another coach graduated from a high school in Indiana and a classmate was coaching the JV team at their alma mater. This coach casually offered his services not thinking she would ever call. This fan of the game, who used to go watch his sister play, he got hooked as the JV team he was helping with went undefeated as did the varsity. The next year he jumped to another school and a coaching journey saw the rubber hit the road.

How did you get started? Your daughter played? Someone at your city or park program needed coaches? Maybe you just wanted to assist and got caught up in the excitement and rewards of coaching young people?

The why is important. The who is important. The how is most important.

Coaches must be flexible, chameleons of social and behavioral changes in their athletes. Cultures change, society changes, attitudes, and influences change. Coaches must change with them to survive the profession.

The coach who graduated from a high school in Indiana won his first NCAA National Championship last season as coach of the University of Wisconsin Badgers. Kelly Sheffield is heading into his 35^th year of collegiate coaching and is one of the preseason favorites to repeat as National Champions.

The coach who went to college to coach basketball retired last season after 43 years, 7 National Championships and leaves the Penn State volleyball program as a perennial powerhouse. Russ Rose embraced the sport as both a player, a coach and an official and his ideas and strategies are DNA for many coaches and programs across the world.

The high school basketball player who boiled down the game to two mantras is starting her 41^st year at Dorman High School in South Carolina. Paula Kirkland has won 14 S.C. State High School Championships and is poised for another this season. She admits it took her 10 years to be comfortable with what she was doing as a coach, but she has been a cornerstone of both club and high school ball in South Carolina since.

All three of these legends had to change. The things they practiced, the way they practiced. They opened their minds and never thought they knew it all. They continued and continue to learn from others, gather more information from different sources and read and listen to make themselves better.

Chances are you won’t see 35 or 40+ years coaching. But your athletes deserve nothing less than a coach who is a lifelong learner. A coach who doesn’t think they have all the answers. Your athletes are asked every practice to get better.

It’s a standard we should hold ourselves to as well.

Paula, Russ and Kelly have.

"Cold and Timid Souls..."

The Golden State Warriors won the 2022 NBA championship last night, defeating the Boston Celtics in six games. This is the fact. And now comes the noise…

Pundits will crush Boston’s All-Star and Olympic Gold Medalist Jayson Tatum because he only scored 13 points on 6 of 18 field goal attempts and he had 5 turnovers. Of course, Tatum is to blame….

Think for just a minute of the silliness of that statement. Jayson Tatum is to blame for the Celtics losing. He led the team in scoring this season, averaging 27 points and chipping in 8 rebounds and 4 assists per game. He was their best player and without him it’s hard to imagine the Celtics would have even made the playoffs.

But it’s Tatum’s fault that Golden State won.

Go back to last week and one of Golden State’s best players, Klay Thompson was only 4 of 15 in his three-point attempts in the first two games. ESPN analysts boldly predicted that the Warriors would lose if Thompson continued to play this badly.

He didn’t and the blame was redirected to the next player who was in line with the type of statistics that those who ARE NOT playing in the NBA think they should have.

Yes, this is the definition of preposterous.

But it isn’t just a professional sports infection.

The word stems from the 1100’s Latin word “blasphemere” which was to “speak lightly or amiss of god or sacred things,” the word whittled down to its current adaptation: blame.

If you have been asleep, comatose, or living in a bunker for the last 50 years, maybe you haven’t noticed. But blame is the currency of American politics, the driving force behind sports talk shows, the rationale for unforeseen and unfortunate outcomes and overall, a self-serving AND face-saving strategy for all.

Blaming others has been around since Eve coaxed Adam to take a bite of an apple, but it is becoming more a coursing lifeblood of athletes, fans and coaches of youth sports as well.

The last tournament you attended; can you count how many times YOU blamed someone else? The official? The coach? The site director? USAV rules? The club? Another player or parent on the team? Another team or coach? Just this ONE instance, this literal teardrop in an ocean of a youth sports career and we have used blame like it’s oxygen.

Have you ever wondered why? Why are we so quick to blame? The person driving slow in front of us made us late! It wasn’t the fact that I was late leaving the house and now trying to speed up for the time I wasted earlier.

The official that just called my daughter for a double isn’t calling anything on the other team and hates our team, it’s not likely that my daughter is still learning to set and is still making mistakes in the learning process.

My team lost their rivalry game because the coach is an idiot and doesn’t know how to coach, it’s not the fact that for today, for this moment, the other team was better.

Why blame others?

Noted author Simon Sinek skims the argument and comes up with this: “Accountability is hard. Blame is easy. One builds trust, the other destroys it.”

Renowned author Brene’ Brown scuttles blame into two quick points. “Blame is simply the discharging of discomfort and pain.” And, “Blame is faster than accountability.”

The Harvard Business Review talks about blame as “the germ that spreads and is the goal of protecting one’s self-image.”

And in a wonderful article from a few years back, Andrea Blundell in the Harley Therapy counselling blog gives 5 valid reasons for blame:

• 1.      Blaming others is easy.
• 2.      Blame means you don’t have to be vulnerable.
• 3.      Blaming others feeds your need for control.
• 4.      Blame unloads backed up feelings.
• 5.      Blame protects your ego.

Unpacking these ideas gives us a sense of why we are so quick to blame others. But there is a moral casualty from our behavior that festers under the surface.

Our children, our athletes become victims.

Blame stokes the furnace of the “poor me” attitude. The athlete that is misunderstood by their coach, hated by the officials, chided by the other parents, not the coaches favorite. “Why should I work hard? No one on the team gives me the ball anyway!”

This mentality is a hop, skip and a jump from walking away from sports, perhaps forever.

Are their coaches with favorites? Of course. Is an athlete hated by an official? Perhaps but highly unlikely. Other parents treat this athlete badly? Maybe, but a better explanation is that kids can hear what they want to hear.

The bottom line is that every mistake on your life can be blamed on something or someone other than you. That is the reality of blame.

But when you see coaches take the blame for a loss, or players stepping into the mouth of the media lion, there is something refreshing and courageous about those moments. Probably because they are so rare.

As always, the mirror is our best teacher. Next time you want to blame someone, stop. Remember that young athletes are not professionals and are still learning. Remember that officials are not perfect and miss things. Remember that professional athletics are and will always be random. Remember that a jump shot in basketball is not automatic and that a swing on a volleyball court isn’t always a point.

But most of all, remember what Theodore Roosevelt said in his famous quote. Appreciate the effort, the hard work, the commitment. And those critics that spend their time and make a living criticizing others don’t deserve our attention:

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

"What are you willing to do?"

There is nothing simple about coaching. 

Nothing.

Managing personalities: athletes, parents, staffs, administrations, it's a full time job BEFORE you get to the practices and match management. 

But certain ideas and methods help. Are you a coach of science or habit? Are you a coach of ego or inclusion? Are you a coach that loves what you are doing or always feels undervalued and underappreciated.

Another principle comes to mind in this chaotic world we are balancing daily.

Volodymyr Zelensky is overseeing the invasion and destruction of his country. Russia attacked Ukraine in a highly anticipated military juggernaut in early February and since those opening days, President Zelensky has been the face of freedom, courage and integrity in a country the world saw just a few months ago, as helpless and doomed.

He has, more than any other world figure in recent memory, transformed this once thought to be slaughter of his people by Russian forces into a nail biting, give and take daily struggle for freedom. The underdog is alive and well at the moment!

Zelensky has captured the hearts of the world with his courageous videos. He has lowered himself to take meetings with important US political figures, (many of the Americans looking for an election photo to bring in more fundraising), and has begged and pleaded for help from the US and other western countries, putting his ego aside for the good of his people and his nation.

It is too soon to tell how this war will be reconciled but Zelensky is now cemented in history books and social media memes as a beacon of courage and integrity.

Why has he taken the world's imagination? Perhaps it's because we have little to no one in power these days that is courageous and demonstrates integrity.

Coaching 12-14 year old's, it's hard to imagine how they will view the U.S. political system. What President will they write their essays about in the coming years that won't create havoc within their family or social circles? 

Currently, rife with lies and mistruths, we are voting on our future with people willing to sell their souls and convictions for high donors and opportunities for election results. We have government positions being decided by a "big lie" that even it's perpetrators know (and have slipped to say) is fake. 

Integrity is a missing ingredient in our leadership around the country and the world. Not just in politics but in business and of course, sport. Daily examples of doping, cheating and less than model behavior saturate our hunger for online content. None of this is new of course. In this global theater now just a swipe away, we have instant access to the foibles in our jean pockets.

We choose to vote for those that affect our daily lives and so some of these principally devoid mouth pieces will be overseeing your state, or maybe your school board or local municipality. In this, you have a choice to vote or not.

And in the case of our athletes, we have a choice as well. While usually not held to a vote, we can decide to hold ourselves to a standard of integrity or decide on a scorched earth policy of team well being vs. what it's worth it to get the win at the next National Qualifier.

Have you ever told a player one thing and then did something contrary to what you had said earlier? Have you ever cheated on the score? Bullied an official or a scorekeeper? Have you ever watched a ball land in, saw the lines person call it out and then agree because it benefits your team and gives you a big point?

Rob Evans, former ASU basketball coach used to ask coaches this question: "What are you willing to do?" He was asking to what level will you go to cheat to win? In basketball, with three officials, the game is called with much more autonomy than in volleyball. The human element is a central part of the game. Would you grab a player illegally to slow him down? Bump a player to knock the ball loose? Argue a call where you knew you were wrong with the hope of getting a call later in the game?

In our sport, would you put your college graduated Assistant Coach into your 16's Regionals match for the advantage? Would you fix your roster so you could have one of your clubs best players play on two teams? Would you allow a player to play that was ineligible? All of these are examples of what has happened just in our Region.

Some coaches would call this "being competitive." Coaches with flexible morality refer to the oft quoted, "If you aren't' cheating, you aren't trying." But imagine your son or daughter watching this behavior. Are you comfortable with this? Especially if your son or daughter is directly affected by this fracture of integrity?

What can you do tomorrow, next week, next season to be that moral compass for your athletes? Can you tune out Parents that want the win at any cost? Can you teach your athletes that a win won fairly is a win they can be proud of and a loss where they gave their all is worthy of praise as well?  Can you make the right call, even if it hurts your team? 

Using Rob Evans' question, "What are you willing to do.....to show integrity to your team?" What things do your athletes do that you can point out as shining examples at every practice? 

How can we make integrity as talked about a quality as "the big lie" is talked about as an election strategy?

You may be coaching 12 year old's, but your athletes will not be with you their entire athletic careers. They will become students in high school and college and transition into voting adults, hopefully looking for the candidates who show the integrity and courage they learned as an athlete.

What are you willing to do?

Tis the season...

A Club Director from the east coast called this week for advice. He had two coaches on the same team that had basically “checked out.” They were coaching from the bleachers, just yelling, negative, berating their athletes. They had two weeks, four practices and two tournaments left but fewer and fewer players were showing up at practices. The team was disbanding before everyone’s eyes because of the behavior of the coaching staff.

This week, a close friend and coach found another job and was done with coaching. Even though she has a month left in her season, a season in which she was asked to coach one team and assist on another, she was fried. She was at a tournament almost every Saturday, 4 hours a night during practice nights and it had taken its toll. She was done with her coaching job in club and in high school.

Tis the season. Burnout, malaise, boredom for all. While some teams are competing for championships and medals, most teams are quietly slipping into the off season abyss.

As a coach, this can be the hardest part of the season. The same kids, same attitudes, same drills, same practice plans: it all adds up to, “NOT AGAIN!”

This dangerous month is most perilous for your athletes. Will they see you as either a coach who is still working to make practices efficient and productive or one who has punched the timecard and is just trying to get through these last few weeks?

If your son or daughter was on the team, how would you want your coach to behave?

If you are doing the same drills you have been doing all season, think of the idea of Bernstein’s “repetition without repetition.” How can you do this drill differently but get the same result that is engaging and fun for the team?

What skills can you introduce that will engage your team and push them out of their comfort zones?

What non-volleyball practice can you come up with that will be fun and engaging for them? Sitting volleyball? Basketball? Skills contests with prizes? Let your imagination run wild.

It’s easy to tell a coach to stay positive, stay engaged, engage your athletes. But a team that has struggled or hasn’t been very good all season might have the mentality of the Los Angeles Lakers this season after their disappointing campaign: let’s just END this!

But you still have the opportunity to hold value to one of John Kessel’s pillars of great coaching: Don’t be a child’s last coach!

You have a few weeks left. Push yourself to learn how to better teach a skill you aren’t comfortable with and teach your athletes. Find a smart, efficient game like drill you have never done before and try it. Maybe it works, maybe it doesn’t but you will never know unless you try.

You ask your athletes every day to give you their best, to work hard and be engaged. They might ask the same of us.

三节课- Three Lessons

 The winter Olympics limped to a close in Beijing a few weeks ago. While TV ratings for the games were down over 40% and a general waning of interest has begun to pervade the quadrennial event, it is still one of those rare collections of the best athletes in the world competing in their specialty events and from these athletes and their circumstances, the rest of us can learn some valuable lessons.

赎回- Redemption

In the 2006 winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, a young 20-year-old American snowboarder named Lindsay Jacobellis competed in the final of the snowboard cross. Watch what happens: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWD1yVLqbpY.

Jacobellis puts a little mustard on the dog on the last jump and it cost her a gold medal. She was vilified by the press and spent the next years of her career apologizing and regretting her youthful indiscretion. Yet 16 years and four winter Olympics later, at the age of 36, she had this moment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mny01JBunQM.

As one of her competitors says to her before their post-race hug, “You finally got it!” Jacobellis didn’t retreat from her miscue, she fought upstream. She stayed with what she loved, trained hard and gave herself opportunities to continue competing at the highest levels until she finally got her golden moment.

She never let her regrettable moment define her, she worked hard to redefine herself. Congratulations Ms. Lindsay.

从年轻开始- It starts with the young

If you use medal counts as the basis for who “won” the winter Olympics, Norway topped the charts. Oh yeah, they also “won” in 2018. Um…also in 2014.

What is going on here?

Norway is a country of 5.4 million people. How can this country have more medals than Russa, (144 million), Germany, (83 million), Canada (38 million) or the United States, (330 million)?

Sure, it’s their Nordic climate. They don’t do as well in the summer Olympics as they do in the winter games, although Norway DID win the Men’s BEACH volleyball gold medal in last year’s Tokyo games! They win medals in just a few winter Olympic events. They are great skiers, ski jumpers and biathletes. They don’t really factor into any of the bobsled or luge events and the last figure skating medal they had was 86 years ago.

What they do have is a program for their youth. A program that features things we should look to emulate here in the U.S. First, they are inclusive. Skiing is available for youth across the country. The cost is minimal. It is fun, it is well coached. It is not scored until kids creep into their teens. Children of Norway get to enjoy their sport without the pressure of wins and losses. They aren’t worried about the score or stressed by coaches and Parents.

They learn to love the sport because they have nothing pulling the love away from them.

Imagine your next tournament, and the kids are just playing volleyball for the fun of it. Beach is the closest thing we have to this in America, but even this is being overrun by clubs and coaches in the last few years.

Is it possible to pull back and let kids find their passion for a sport and then keep our hands off while they are learning hands on? With the $20 billion dollar market of youth sports in the United States, it seems unlikely. But can you, Mom and Dad, just allow your sons and daughters to find their own passion, their own path to sporting success? It may not lead to Olympic golds, but it can lead to better, happier and more productive athletes.

见光- Seeing the Light

Fifteen year old figure skater Kamila Valieva was set for her golden moment. Despite being shackled by a doping accusation throughout her Olympics, the Russian went into her final skate as the favorite to win gold. Then came her performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPJJIBidYYs.

As she came to the bench after her performance, she was greeted with this from her coach: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlLFgZu3rcQ. “Why did you let it go?”

Whether Valieva is guilty of doping or not, the conduct here is on her coach, former Russian skater Eteri Tutberidze. The rest of the world watched in literal horror as this 15 year old skated off one patch of ice into another- a stern lecture from the person she is most trying to please. It’s hard to imagine Valieva falling on purpose, trying to embarrass herself, her coach or country, but the bruised ego of Tutberidze lashed out with those sentiments. It was described as “chilling,” “alarming” and “ugly” by a world press.

Yet, look around and listen on Saturday at your next club tournament. Listen to the things some coaches are saying to their athletes. Listen to the way some parents talk to their child. You might be surprised to hear the same sentiments and maybe worse. The rancor with which some coaches and parents use to “coach” their players can be humiliating and harmful. We allow this because we are competing; winning and losing. It’s what separates us from them.

Maybe this will help some coaches and parents see the light, we can only hope.

There was a lot written and talked about after the Beijing Olympic games about the Olympic brand being sullied. Doping scandals, allowing countries to participate despite proof of cheating and struggles to find cities to host are all at the nucleus of this conjecture.

But lest we forget the creed of the Olympics put forth by one of the pioneers of the event, Baron de Coubertin:

"The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle.”

Lessons are learned at every sporting event, usually by those who came up short. And great athletes, great coaches, great people, embrace these lessons and learn from them. And there is no one place where more lessons in sport can be learned than at an Olympiad.

Congratulations to the medalists, congratulations to those that struggled. Respect and love to both.

...A Hard Pass...

 The Los Angeles Rams just won the Super Bowl in the final minute of the game. Look no deeper than that, and it is a great accomplishment for a program and a team who haven't won a Super Bowl in 22 years.

But INC. magazine's Justin Bariso did dig a little deeper into the success of the Rams, writing a piece titled, "The Los Angeles Rams Used a Simple Rule of Psychology to Win the Super Bowl."

Positive psychology.

Not that being positive is that grandiose a revelation, but in the NFL where negativity, abusive behaviors and punishments are the norm, the Rams joined those teams who have seen the light and are using the powers of the human brain to get the best out of their athletes.

Rams offensive tackle, Andrew Whitworth, a 40 year old veteran, said of Coach Sean McVay's coaching style, "We don't have coaches out there screaming at people. That's not allowed on our field. It's about having energy and positivity and belief that no matter what happens on one snap, the next snap's the next best one you can have." 

Wait a minute. All those sports movies where Coaches are yelling and screaming and breaking down their athletes all season to get the big game, and then they give them the rousing speech in the locker room that propels the comeback win against all odds, isn't this how it's supposed to be?

Excuse my language, but hardass is a hard pass.

You need look no further than downtown Phoenix where at the time of this blog, the Phoenix Suns are rocking the best record in the NBA coming off a Finals appearance last season and one of the prohibitive favorites this season.

Coach Monty Williams has put in place a culture of respect, integrity and fun. You don't see Williams yelling at this players on the sidelines, he doesn't have to. He has put them in positions of success, communicated their roles and given a team that prior to his hiring in 2019, hadn't made the playoffs in a decade. The team has bought into his coaching style and culture that even on the days they get off during the season, they still come to the gym to see their teammates and put extra work in.

Williams holds his team to high standards but also said in a 2021 interview, “I hope that when our players are around our staff, and in particular me, they know I’m here to serve them in any way that I can,” he said. “I want to help guys get better. I want to help them get paid. I want to help them win games, but I want to do it in a way that allows for them to think, ‘That guy cares about me. He cares about my family. He cares about me as a person.'"

These are young, professional men being paid a lot of money to play football, baseball, basketball, soccer, hockey, etc. Some coaches have figured out that the human brain shrinks from negativity, corralling other bodily resources and rarely getting the best out of an athlete.

Fear works for a while. Players are afraid of punishment, to get screamed at, to be embarrassed in front of their peers. Coaches too!

In a 2012 paper titled, "Handshakes, BBQs, and bullets'; self -interest, shame and regret in football coaching," author Paul Potrac detailed his time coaching an elite soccer program. In it, he talks about coaches "looking out for themselves," how "coaches come and go," how coaches need to "watch their back," and "seize any opportunity." When Potrac realized the human toll on his character, he left the profession.

Go to a youth sporting event and count the number of teams, courts, fields with coaches raising their voices at children: berating and embarrassing them. At times, you will see a coach get angry and call a time out just so they can punish their players IN THE MIDDLE OF THE MATCH with running lines or pushups.

Seemingly, this coach feels embarrassed and their reflex is to embarrass those who they think embarrassed them.

As that coach, it may work for a while. But eventually players will tire of these theatrical and baseless punishments and leave that coach, that club or sadly, perhaps the sport.

Are you that coach? Not sure?

If you have an assistant coach, have them pull out their phone and record your voice during a match. Is it positive or laced with things NOT to do, insults and volume?

If you don't have an assistant coach, ask a Parent to film you during a match. Is your body language positive? Are you bringing more anxiety to your team with your antics or are you a calming presence for them?

None of this is easy. Hollywood has taught us that being a hardass = success. Early professional coaches in every sport league were part of this blueprint. It's all we knew at the time.

But now that the wiring of our brains is under academic eyes, we see now that this isn't the best way to teach, to learn or to inspire. Those coaches are not only becoming extinct because they refuse to adapt, but the videos, lawsuits and complaints pile up upon their terminations. It can be an ugly send off.

Coach, teach responsibly and with your athletes' learning at the forefront of what you do and how you do it. No one likes to be embarrassed, yelled or screamed at, insulted or berated.

Need more research? E mail us. Want some feedback? E mail us. Want a clinic to help coaches adapt to a positive, player centered runway to coaching? E mail us.

We're here to help.

Low Hanging Fruit...

In December of 2021, the Arizona Region held their semi annual Coaches Education Weekend. The preeminent Youth Coaching guru in the US headlined a cast of cadre that included a former NBA coach and author, a lynchpin of the science community of Motor Learning and new author, a USA Women’s National Team assistant coach who talked about scouting at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, a gold medal Paralympian in Sitting Volleyball and one of the best Cadres in USA Volleyball.

The line up was announced 70 days before the event. In 2019, affectionately now known as “pre pandemic,” Education weekend hosted over 120 coaches between indoor and beach presentations. So this clinic was going to be a home run! People had been locked down for a year or more. Now was the time for coaches to come out and learn. With over 1000 coaches in the Region now, registrations opened and on the first Friday night of Education Weekend, we had our number!

22.

.02% of the coaches in the Az. Region attended.

What had we done wrong? Reaching out to some coaches, they complained that it was a busy weekend. There were a few preseason tournaments going on, but not everyone was playing in them. .02%? One coach joked that maybe the coaches in the Region thought they knew everything already. Maybe they weren’t far off…

This is not a reprimand but a call to action. Coaching is THE silver bullet. A great coach can make up for a mediocre or poor club, but a great club cannot make up for a poor coach.

YOU are part of the equation of athletes improving, enjoying the sport, pushing themselves to their limits and beyond.
YOU can also be part of the equation of athletes quitting the sport, feeling insecure about themselves and their performance and inflicting physical and mental harm.

Being better at coaching is paramount. Not just the X’s and O’s but the relationships, the psychology, the methods and philosophies of training.

So what did we do wrong?

Before the advent of YouTube and streaming services, if you wanted to watch a program, you had to be in front of the television on THAT channel at THAT time on THAT day. And to find out what happened next on the show, you had to tune in the next week at THAT channel at THAT time and THAT day again. You had to have some skin in the game. When you wanted to watch a sporting event, you had to tune into the station at the time it began. There was a commitment to that event you had to make. If you wanted to know who won the Oscars, you watched the presentation or you had to read about it the next day in the newspaper, there was no in between.

Of course, now, you can watch games hours, days or even weeks and months later. You can find most television shows streamed later and you can binge watch an entire season to your hearts content. No more waiting, no skin in the game. Oscars are streamed and if not, just pull the phone out of your pocket to see in real time who won. The same with sports. If you didn’t get to see the Super Bowl, you could have just as easily pulled up ESPN and watched the play by play. There is no more commitment. What you want is at your fingertips, when YOU want it, WHERE you are at WHATEVER time fits YOUR schedule.

Seemingly, the Netflix-verse applies to coaching as well.

If you want a coaching drill, pull up “volleyball drills” on Google and get 24,700,000 in a half a second. Type in “coaching drills” you YouTube and the scroll seems endless. Why do you need a clinic? Everything is at your fingertips on YOUR time where YOU are at THAT moment.

Following this logic, how many of you would be comfortable rewiring the electricity of your house watching a YouTube video? How about learning to surf or base jumping with a wind suit? Why not? Because there is the potential for disastrous and life changing results.

Yet isn’t coaching the same? How many bad coaches in youth sports leave a scorch earthed landscape in their wake? Kids quitting sports, feeling insecure or suffering from mental and physical anguish- how is this not disastrous and life changing?

How many questions are asked during these video or google interactions? How much feedback can coaches get from these quick hits? Further, is the coach able to disseminate the drill to see if it fits the skill set, age, playing level of their athletes. Is it a drill that fits with the ideas of how athletes learn best; motor learning principles and philosophies and the optimal ideas of teaching?

An organized clinic is an exceptional learning environment. How many times have you, as a coach, gone to a college practice to watch how that coach does it? The ASU coach, Sanja Tomasevic, recently commented that in her five years at the helm of the Sun Devil program, she has had 4 coaches e mail her and come watch her practices.

4.

True learners have skin in the game. They are reaching beyond the comfort of their couch and mouse. They venture to other avenues to gain more knowledge. Imagine the thing you are most passionate about in your life other than your family and children. How did you learn more about this? Was it by taking the easiest road possible?

E mail a college coach and ask to come watch their practice. Call the Region office and let’s set up an online or in person coaching clinic for your club coaches. Reach out to Coaching Education in the Region and let’s grab some coffee. Have a dialogue that will force your mind to work a bit more, open to ideas, debate others. This is how we learn as humans.

You can take any drill online and run it, but it is helping your team? Is it efficient and the best way for your team to learn? Or is it the lowest hanging fruit.

Imagine coaching athletes with this mentality: always taking the easiest way out, never pushing themselves and always making sure the learning they did was on their time table, where they want it to happen when they feel like it. How successful a team would you be coaching?

Excuses, rationalizations and doing it how it’s been done before is laziness in any profession. You are coaching the next generation of leaders and Mothers and Fathers and teachers. Can this be any more important?

Season 7 of Seinfeld is a Netflix subscription and two clicks away. Bringing out the best in that 14 year old learning the game shouldn’t be so easy.