Everything volleyball: club volleyball, girl's and boy's volleyball, club, high school and college volleyball.
Friday, March 30, 2007
Should a volleyball player play up an age group in club volleyball?
Say there is a very good high school junior who normally would be on a 17's club team, but has been asked to be on an 18's team. Should this volleyball player play up an age group for her club volleyball season?
The pro's of playing up:
Better competition; all in all, a high school senior is better than a high school junior.
More prestige.
Possibly more expoure to college coaches. If you are playing in a 17/18's bracket, your 18's team might rank higher than most 17's teams and higher ranked teams generally have college coaches stay longer to watch.
The con's of playing up:
If you don't play much college coaches can't see you. Even though you might start on many 17's teams, if you don't play, it is hard to get noticed.
You miss a year of bonding with players your own age.
If your 17's team isn't very good you might not get college coaches watching.
Ech situation is different, but in general, it is not only important to receive high quality coaching during competitive practices, it is important to be seen at tournaments if you have college aspirations.
When your son or daughter comes home saying they now hate volleyball...
It is sometimes perplexing when your son or daughter is a complete volleyball junkie - playing all the time, watching it on TV, having a wide array of t-shirts that somehow have the word "volleyball" prominently displayed - comes home saying they now hate volleyball. Sure sometimes they could be just burned out, but sometimes there are other factors (social, team, coach, playing time) that could be involved.
Recently we heard the "I hate volleyball" statement after a practice. Sometimes a coach can be demanding and I thought this was the case. I offered this example...
Assume you are holding your favorite cat, a big Tomboy bruiser, who is loving, but every once in a while is not above taking a paw swipe at you just because he feels like. And, today Tomboy is in your harms, happy, purring and content. I was using a butane lighter to ignite the BBQ grill and the metal tip was now hot, and I pressed the hot tip against the inside of the back legs of Tomboy. Tomboy immediately scratches you, bites you and runs off. I then ask you, "How mad would you be at Tomboy?" You reoly, "I am not mad at Tomboy, I am mad at you because you did that to Tomboy."
I then say, "Instead of me, Tomboy and you, imagine that it is the coach, volleyball and you. Some coaches will use volleyball to get at you, whether to motivate you, or punish you, or just because they don't know better. Don't let volleyball be a tool in this dynamic. Recognize the situation, understand it, and keep loving volleyball."
Can a $5 Solution Enhance Athletic Performance Better Than a Million Dollar Government Project?
Wired Magazine reports that DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) is a US Government agency that creates world-changing technology.
DARPA has begun efforts to make soldiers stronger, smarter, faster and more able to increase athletic performance, or help save lives. Their technology consists of a “coffee-pot” shaped glove that can cool or warm an individual’s core temperature. This allows them to stay “temperature neutral”, remaining alert and able to function in freezing cold, or cooling them to increase endurance and physical performance by many orders of magnitude.
The endurance aspect is illustrated by a Stanford lab technician who was able to increase physical performance. He increased his number of pull-ups without getting tired, his last pull-up as strong as the first. He was able to increase his endurance as well, after several weeks he went from 100 pull-ups per workout session to 180, then to 600 per workout. After 4 months of using the “glove” this individual was able to perform 1,000 pull-ups per workout.
Volleyball, and other athletes, could achieve similar results by having a bucket of ice where they workout and simply placing their arms in the bucket between workout intervals to aid recovery.
Ring Finger Length as an Indicator of Athletic Performance in Women
New Meaning to "Giving the Finger"
Can future female sports stars be predicted just by looking at the length of an individual's fingers?
Professor Tim Spector from King's College London has found that women whose ring fingers are longer than their index fingers should achieve higher levels in sports.
The ratio of the length between the index finger and the ring finger has previously been shown to be associated in males with diverse traits including cognitive ability, disease susceptibility, sexuality, sperm counts and aspects of personality. The King's College London study is the largest one to date examining the ratio between finger lengths and sporting ability.
The research examined hand radiographs of 607 female twins aged 25-79 years from the UK, and the lengths of the second and fourth fingers of each hand were measured. Participants also ranked their highest level achieved in a list of 12 sports on a questionnaire. Research found the highest achieved level of participation in any sport was correlated to women with longer fourth fingers than second fingers.
Often at the beginning of a match, a coin is tossed or the opposing team captains do "rock, paper, scissors" to see who gets to decide to receive or which side of the court to defend.
At first seems to be solely at the mercy of chance and luck. This is a by-product of the very nature of the game. For each attack, there is a parry. The mighty Rock is covered by Paper, Paper is cut by Scissors and Scissors are of course smashed by Rock. Therefore on any given throw the chances of a win, lose or draw outcome are divided equally amongst themselves.
Most people put strategy right up there with the Ouija Board and the Magic 8 Ball, but there is research that shows you how to win at this game.
Besides a book (The Official Rock paper Scissors Strategy Guide) there is the Official Rock-Paper-Scissors Strategy Guide (www.worldrps.com) which offers "plays" and "strategies" that take each move to a deeper level. Opening with a rock is a sign of aggression, while throwing out paper is the least obvious, but not necessarily ineffective, first move.
Professional players say that it's not a random game at all. You win and lose on your choice. It's similar to a shoot-out in a soccer match, the relationship the striker has with a goalie.
Paper is subtle, the choice of intellectual, passive-aggressive types. Scissors are devious, a tool of controlled malice. Rock is between-the-eyes intimidation, preferred by beginners and players who have been backed into a corner.
One professional (umm, yep) rock, scissors, paper players states, "From my personal experience, women tend to open with scissors. There are some other tells I don't want to go into. But I can see things in the shoulders and the forearm."
So, play paper first, unless you want to open with rock or scissors...
Componets of a College Volleyball Recruiting Video Tape (DVD)
College Volleyball Video Tape For Recruiting
Essential Components: There are no hard and fast guidelines on what to send a college coach on your DVD or VHS video, but generally there should be an introduction section, a skills section and a continuous game portion.
Introduction Volleyball Video
At the beginning of your recruiting video briefly introduce yourself. Your name, grade, age, where you play high school and club ball and then discuss what positions you play, talk about your grades and teams as a appropriate. Also give statistics such as standing reach, approach jump and block.
Remember, don't be shy -- "It ain't bragging if it is the truth."
Skills portion of your college volleyball recruiting video (emphasize your specific position):
Hitting: Hit from all positions on the court, and hit quick’s if possible. Be sure to film your complete approach. A common mistake is to overwork the hitter - when this happens they get tired and do not hit as well. If you are a defensive specialist, show hitting from the back row. Video tape from across the net, and then a few from behind the hitter.
Setting: Set to all positions on the court, including 1's, 2's. 3's. 4's and 5's. If you are a setter attempt to have GOOD hitters in your video. If you are not a setter, demonstrate that you can set a volleyball accurately and without spin. Video tape from same side of court from behind the setter.
Passing & Digging: Show the passer handling free balls, float serves and top spin hits. Even if you are a middle blocker or outside, you need to demonstrate you can pass. Video tape from same side of court from behind the passer.
Serving: Show the server performing short, spot and deep serves. If the server has a jumper or jump float demonstrate that as well. Video tape from same side of court from behind the server. If your float serve moves a lot or your jump serve drops dramatically show some video from the receiving side to highlight the movement on the volleyball.
Blocking: Jump against the net to demonstrate how you would block in a game and against hitters when possible. Video tape from same side of court from behind the blocker and also video from the side if you have good arm penetration over the net.
Game video: The camera should be placed at the back of the court where the entire match can be viewed. The entire game should be shown.
Additionally you can embed video in your own personal site to allow college coaches to see you instantly online.
Is there a "lucky side" to pick when selecting which side of the volleyball court
Is there a "lucky side" to pick when selecting which side of the volleyball court to defend. I have had the dubious benefit of having multiple college level statistics courses, so the analyst in me said it really didn't matter. Then one day I saw our high school coach tell the team captain to change her pick of which side to defend for game 5.
I asked him afterwards why it mattered, as it really shouldn't. He said in many high school gyms, and especially in volleyball club facilities, there is a difference as the backgrounds can make it harder to see the volleyball clearly.
He uses an unscientific method to select which side to defend; he selects the side that has produced the most wins for either team.
Volleyball Club Coaches are Like Portfolio Managers
A parent recently was complaining that there really was nothing she could do if she didn't like a high school volleyball coach or volleyball club coach; that she was really at the whim and favor of the coach, who just happened to not be playing her daughter too much in tournaments.
I stated that a club volleyball coach is different from a high school volleyball coach in that a club coach is more like a portfolio manager. We entrust our valuable portfolio to the manager and pay him or her a fee to manage and improve the value of our portfolio for a specific time period, generally of 6 months.
At the end of this time period our daughters are returned to us, hopefully with more value (and hopefully they had fun) and skills than when we engaged the coach at the beginning of the season.
If they are, we consider retaining the same portfolio manager for next club season, and if not, we find a new manager.
