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Creating Your Own Drill?

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A Quick Coaching Clinic for New Coaches

Coaching is a lot more than just putting together some drills and deciding who plays where. As a coach, there are many decisions about your team and the game that you must make. For starters, this is what I'd tell young or inexperienced coaches:

• Have an offense & defense in your head that you can teach, then teach it, drill it, remind, and keep teaching.
• Don't forget that teams & coaches can be created on offense. But NOT ON DEFENSE. Defensively, all 6 girls must all be on the same page. And they must not "freelance". In basketball, one player can't decide "I'm playing a zone." Similarly, in volleyball one girl can't decide, "I don't think the balls coming there, so I'll cheat up to there."

  You, the Coach must say, "No, no, no.

• Don't forget that teams & coaches can be created on offense. But NOT ON DEFENSE. Defensively, all 6 girls must all be on the same page. And they must not "freelance". In basketball, one player can't decide "I'm playing a zone." Similarly, in volleyball one girl can't decide, "I don't think the balls coming there, so I'll cheat up to there."
  You, the Coach must say, "No, no, no. If you can't play the defense that I've mapped out for us, then I'll find someone who will. This defense was created for a reason. Yes, it has holes. There are only 6 of you on the court. Every defense has holes, but I've taught you for 4 weeks what to do to fill those holes. BUT If you freelance, then you'll create unexpected holes that I didn't intend to be there, and thus no one has been taught to cover them............and you'll be over here visiting me."
• YOU DECIDE for the girls whose ball is whose at practice. The girls don't decide.
  1. Even in serve receive. You can tape the floor and tell your girls "YOU are responsible for this area, you have this area, etc."
  2. Another example, I have one rule that comes into play a lot with both young team and with ANY team that has poor ball control: "My players don't move backwards for a ball............unless they're the setter. They may turn around to play a ball, but it they have to take a step backwards (away from the net), then the ball is either someone else's or it's out." So, "Don't reach back!!!" is one of my key phrases.
  3. Does your setter ever set balls between two hitters and neither one knows who should make the next contact? They let it fall, or both go for it, or the older player tries to save it because ...............she's the older one? "The person who's facing the ball makes the play. Period. If the ball is between you and the net, it's YOURS. Period."
  4. If a player sets a ball in the middle of your court, who takes the next contact? Does it ever fall untouched while everyone's hollering "TAKE IT!!!"? Well, the player responsible is the one who has to move toward the net to play the ball. "If the ball is between you and the net, it's YOURS." That's it. That's it. "If the ball's in front of you, it's YOURS!!" End of discussion. These are things that'll improve team chemistry. I tell the players, "Team chemistry is the look you give spectators that makes them say, 'Gosh, this team reads each other's minds,' or they say, 'This team never lets a ball fall'. So, girls, I will teach you whose ball is whose. Now you have to learn it, remind each other, remind yourself and we'll look like a team with chemistry. Team chemistry is a 50/50 thing. I'll do my part and if you can do yours, we'll save a ton of points!!"