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2007-04-25T18:40:00.000-07:00

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A Good Block

2007-04-24T18:59:00.000-07:00

There's getting blocked and then there's getting roofed. You decide.

You Think You've Got Hops?

2007-04-24T18:57:00.000-07:00

Next time you think you can jump high, watch this video and prepare to be amazed.

What're All Those Hand Signals?

2007-04-24T06:45:00.000-07:00

In beach volleyball, hand signals are a very common sight. So what do they mean?

"One of the facets of beach volleyball is the use of hand signals by players to indicate to their partner what sort of play they intend to make. These signals are made behind the back, to avoid the opposition seeing the signals. Most commonly the signals are given with both hands by the serving player's partner before the serve, with each hand referring to the type of block the signaler will put up against an attack from the corresponding side of the court. Occasionally, however, signals are given during a rally. Generally, an open hand means the player will not attempt a block, one finger means the player will attempt to block an opponent's spike down the line, two fingers means the player will attempt to block an opponent's spike into the angle, and a closed fist means the player will block "ball," deciding where to set the block based on the set and on the opponent's approach and arm-swing. Wiggling the fingers on one of the signalling hands indicates that the blocker wants his or her partner to serve the player on that side of the court. If the server is a stronger blocker, he or she may run up to the net to block after serving. In this case, the signals given by the server's partner tell the server what type of block to put up."

Nebraska beats Stanford in Women's Beach Volleyball

2007-04-23T07:46:00.000-07:00

The Nebraska women's volleyball team won the NCAA championship over Stanford in Omaha, Neb., last December, and then win the Collegiate Nationals Championship in beach volleyball - over Stanford in San Diego.

Nebraska All-Americans Sarah Pavan and Jordan Larson fought off two match points by Stanford's Cynthia Barboza and Bryn Kehoe to win 2-1 and take the Collegiate Nationals Championship in beach volleyball at Crown Point.

“Everybody expects the California girls to win because they do have that experience and they can come out to the beach whenever they want,” Pavan said. “We have cornfields. We do not have the luxury of coming out and playing whenever we want."

The Longest Volleyball Rally

2007-04-22T11:18:00.000-07:00

This volleyball rally is one of the longest I've ever seen. Great defense, excellent offense, and amazing coverage to boot. A rally worth cheering for.

Goal Settting in Volleyball

2007-04-22T06:43:00.000-07:00

Jim Brogan offers the 10 Steps to Success on his web site.

Attitude: Your attitude is the strongest (or weakest) aspect about you. It will determine your self-image and how well or poorly you do at everything. No more “I can’t”.

Goals: Succeeding and seeing results should be a lot easier if you know what YOU want. If you enjoy what you’re doing and you’re getting better, then you will want to do it more. The goals become even bigger and better.

Objectives: These are the “little things” that constantly focus your attention on the information that will make a difference. The benefits of attaining your objectives daily create a remarkable determination to reach your goals.

Organization: Once you are on the path to accomplishing your objectives and goals you will want to reach your outcome faster. The best in every class, in every sport and every area of life, learn that time is very precious; It needs to be used wisely.

Inspiration: It is inevitable; we all get knocked down physically and mentally. When you were just a baby you fell down but got back up, otherwise you would be crawling everywhere. However, mentally staying focused on your goals and objectives can be challenging at times; Don’t lose sight of “why” you want those goals.

Commitment: You will face challenges from friends, classmates, teachers even people you don’t know. It is GOING TO HAPPEN, you can plan ahead of time that there will be pitfalls. Top performers and successful people always embrace the pitfalls but stay committed to their goals.

Leadership: When you set out to accomplish something friends notice. It creates a level of confidence, courage and determination in you. Little by little, people start to see and wonder how they can get the same results. People start to follow!

Accountability: You have finally learned that, no more blaming your challenges, failures or circumstances on other people. If there is something to get done, a decision that needs to be made, or a challenge to meet, you have proven that you can do it. “If it’s going to be, it’s up to me”.

Good choices, Bad choices, it's up to you : So now your friends depend on you. They watch what you say and more importantly what you do; Your choices and decisions will impact many. Their is no “pressure” on you because you are so confident you can make your own choices as opposed to the group‘s choices.

Success system : If you follow the system you will reap the rewards!

A Good Six-Pack

2007-04-21T20:26:00.000-07:00

Want to see a funny 6-pack? Click here!

Parental Controls - For the Coach

2007-04-17T23:01:00.000-07:00

A high school or club coach’s career is full of challenges. Often times you’ll spend all your free time figuring out the strategy to beat the cross town rival. You might find yourself trying to connect with an athlete to get that fire in her game that you can see in her soul. Sometimes the challenge of the season is to get your schedule set early enough so that everyone knows they have practice tomorrow. The hardest test by far, however, is in handling the unhappy parents of athletes on the team. Surprisingly enough, regardless of the “problem” perceived by the parent, experience will tell you that parent management is relatively basic if you are prepared. There are four basic steps in the process. Skip one and you’ll find yourself painted in an ugly corner.

1. Set Ground Rules for the Team BEFORE Concerns Arise.

A. Your perspective drives your coaching style. Make sure you communicate to your parents and athletes, your philosophy and expectations on every aspect that is important to you. Especially in the areas of commitment, attendance, play time decisions, goals of the team. This is more commonly known as your coaching philosophy, only with details.

B. If a parent feels inclined to discuss a concern, draw out the procedure of approach. Depending on the age level or topic of discussion, a good order of process would involve:

Athlete addressing the issue with coach
-if the issue is not resolved-

Athlete and parent addressing issue with coach
-if the issue is not resolved-

Athlete, parent, coach meet with the club director/athletic director
If the parent or athlete have an emotionally driven concern, require a 24 hour wait period so that all parties concerned can arrange a congenial meeting rather than subject anyone to a ranting rampage.

C. Insist that the athlete is involved in the communication process. This ensures that everyone is hearing and understanding the situation, and involves the growth and development of the athlete as a person.

2. Listen to the Message (not the delivery)
Everybody is different. Some are more emotional than others in terms of their children. Others jump right into the accusatory mode of destroying their child. Luckily, some parents will come with the appropriate mentality of wanting to understand the decisions you make as a coach. Sift through the emotional display. Hold on to and only address the parent concerns that are appropriate to discuss. Refuse to discuss other players’ issues or attitudes with a parent. Get concrete facts of concern. Most areas of discussion include play time for the athlete or playing to win as a team. Be sure you have a pattern of consistency in these areas. No one has to agree with your policies, they only need to understand. Areas that should be of utmost importance include the physical safety of the players, illegal activities, or inappropriate actions that will reflect poorly on your program. Rumors are exactly that. Address facts only.

3. Mirror the Parent Concern

First and foremost, the parent needs to know his or her voice is being heard. As an adult, they have that right to respect. Even if you have to take notes, reflect to the parent what you understand is their concern. If the parent has concerns about items that cannot be discussed, let them know up front that you are not in a position to address that concern and explain (briefly) why.

4. Find the Calmest Ground

Concerns have 3 end results:

A. Address the issue at hand, explaining, from the coach’s perspective, why you have made the decisions that have upset them. They don’t have to agree, they only need to understand.

B. If you have refused to discuss a topic (IE another player’s play time) and the parent won’t let it go, suggest they contact your club director/athletic director. Their job is to support you and protect the program. If your boss wants to change the rules, then so be it. However, more often, the parent will find a dead end there as well.

C. Agree to consider their concerns. Believe it or not, sometimes as coaches, we forget things or inadvertently neglect situations to which we should be attending. You don’t need to admit to any short-sightedness, but the offer of reconsidering your thoughts in a situation can at least leave the parent feeling respected whether you change anything or not. Always contact the parent with a follow up conversation or email to communicate the result of your reconsiderations.

It cannot be said enough that the parent, athlete, and coach perspective of the team’s management are three completely different views. The parent and athlete perspectives are legitimate personal opinions and should be addressed respectfully. However, in the end, it is the coach’s perspective that controls the program. Certainly as a coach, we’ve made mistakes, but they are our mistakes for which we must take responsibility and learn.

Chess and Setting?

2007-04-16T18:54:00.000-07:00

There is more to setting than meets the eye. To be a setter, you not only must be athletic, but you must also be smart. You must know when to set which hitters, when to call a play, when to dump. You must know not only your rotation but the other team's rotation, taking into account weaknesses (i.e. a short blocker) and capitalize on them. Set your tallest hitter up with that short blocker and your team has a better chance of being successful that play.

But what does chess have to do with this? Chess is a mind game, a bloody battle with twists and turns that you must foresee and then either defend the move or counter it. A bishop can move diagonally as many squares as it wishes. A pawn can only move forward one square at a time (two only on its first move) and only capture enemy pieces diagonally. A knight moves in an L-shaped pattern, forward or backward. I could go on and on, but I'm sure you know have a taste of how complicated chess may become. You must know every piece and how it moves, on your side and the opponent's side... just like setting.

In chess, one may set up an intricate trap where you sacrifice your bishop (3 pts.) for a rook (5 pts.). A good trade, with a gain of 2 points. However, the ultimate trade would be the Queen (9 pts.) for the checkmate, or the win. In relation to volleyball, you may set up the middle once on a quick and let her get blocked. The middle on the other side is now ready for the quick again, confident that she can block it. But she knows that a smart setter won't set the middle right away... or will she? Perhaps the setter will run the middle around on a slide... yeah! That's what she'd do! In this scenario, assuming I am a front-row setter, I would tell the middle to run a slide around the back and then set the four. The opponent would be so caught up thinking about whether or not I'm going to set the middle again she would completely forget about the outside attacker.

No, it's not exactly chess, but if you want to be a good setter, you better know how to play your pieces.

These Girls Got Game

2007-04-16T12:24:00.000-07:00

In most sports, the male athletes tend to dominate the media and headlines. The NBA is much more popular than the WNBA and the WNBA is probably the most televised sport for the female athlete. This is where the sport of beach volleyball is going to help break the gender barrier in sports.

Now That I Have Your Attention

Beach volleyball alone is starting to become more and more popular in the media. The bronzed bodied men and the bikini wearing women are a television broadcasting companies dream. If your everyday couch potato is channel surfing and flips to beach volleyball the first image they will see is the sun and the sand. right off the bat the fun in the sun image is on the screen. Now they take their death grip off the remote to see four beautiful babes playing volleyball in bikinis. At this point their jaw may need to be locked back into place after a quick drop. The image that these women are presenting is attracting viewers all over the country and even world wide. The Olympics for the first time in 1996 held beach volleyball in their list of competition.

These Girls Are Good

Once the couch potato is done eyeballing the ladies they will want to understand the game that is being played. Volleyball is a fairly simple game to learn. There is no Man in Motion calls, Moving Screens on a pick and role, or breaking of the wrist in a bat swing. So for the average viewer, following the game is quite simple. If you are an avid fan of beach volleyball you know that on the men's side there are two different teams in the finals almost every week. On the women's side, Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh dominate the brackets. They are consistently in the finals of the tournament almost every week. They are becoming the image of beach volleyball since every week they are on TV. More and more Americans are learning who these two ladies are because of their domination on the court.

The Effect

Over the past couple years there has been a growth in the sport like no other. More and more young kids want to play volleyball to hopefully one day be able to spend every day of summer vacation at the beach playing volleyball. The most growth has been on the women's side of the sport. Younger girls see Misty and Kerri each week and strive to be like them. More women's volleyball matches are televised than men's matches. Even at the High School level, the girls attract more money in sports programs then boys volleyball. Girls volleyball even has a State tournament where the boys season ends with regional champions. Women are beginning to dominate the sport of volleyball, so boys...WATCH OUT!!!

Coach J

You Got Served!!!

2007-04-13T11:27:00.000-07:00

The serve in volleyball is one of the most important factors in a successful volleyball team. It is the one aspect in the game that a player had total control of. If a server misses a serve there is no one else to blame but himself or herself. So what is the best serve in the game? The tough knuckle ball Float Serve or the much glorified Jump Serve.

The Root Beer Floater

When most players reach the college or even high school level of volleyball the floater is looked down upon as a weak and easy serve to pass. There tends to be little power and velocity in the serve, which is a passers dream in executing a perfect pass. But, if a player develops a solid Float Serve, it can become more effective than a Jump Serve due to the few factors that can not be duplicated by a Jump Serve.

A good Float Serve has no stabilizing spin and will dart more like a knuckle ball in baseball. The movement of the ball is very unpredictable to the opposing players (USAVolleyball Guides to Basics). The opposing players will not know where the ball is going to land in the court due to this constant movement side to side.

The Float Serve does not have a distinguished landing spot unlike the Jump Serve. As seen in the Float Serve & Jump Serve Diagram, a passer could pick up easily where the ball is going to land so a passer can set up early with a good solid platform to pass the ball. The Float Serve on the other hand does not drop to a landing spot till the very end of its flight. This creates a tough decision for the passer if they should pass overhead or with a platform. As the diagram shows, if there is a deep Float Serve, a passer also has to make the decision of whether the ball is in or out.

Jump Around

The Jump Serve is probably one of the most difficult skills in volleyball to master. Without the proper technique and timing, the jump serve could potentially embarrass the server more than embarrass the other team with an ace. Even if the jump server does not have the hardest or fastest serve, since the jump serve has been made out to be the toughest serve in the game to pass, it creates a lot of intimidation on the other side of the net.

Once the Jump Serve is mastered, it can become one the most deadly weapon on the floor. A good Jump Serve though does not mean a powerful hit bolting at the passers really fast. A good Jump Serve is one like UCLA’s Garrett Muagututia, who can also place the ball wherever he wants the ball to go. Also the variation of long to short and side to side jump serves keeping the passers guessing where the ball is going to go. It is with years of experience though that Muagututia has been able to develop this serve to be one of the most powerful tools in his game. But with the power, speed, and accuracy a large portion of the Jump Serves by most volleyball players end up in the bottom of the net or out of bounds.

Taming The Beast

The Jump Serve can be a vital weapon but can also blow up right in the server’s hands. Since the Jump Serve is so hard to control, many times a player will miss the serve at a critical moment in the match. It is because this serve takes so much time to master and perfect that it can become a huge momentum changer both for better or for worse. If the server can nail a jump serve every time with precision and force, then the player should Jump Serve. If the server is inconsistent with the serve, let them just combine the two servers and perform a Jump Float, so there is still the same height trajectory as a Jump Serve but maintains the control of a Float Serve.

Serving It Up

So no matter what serve you decide to use, be sure you master both. Developing a good solid Float Serve can be just as effective as a powerful Jump Serve. If you are able to execute a good Jump Serve then use that to your advantage to create some tension in the gym and maybe even some noise. BOOM!!! ACE!!!

Coach J

Reprimanding Volleyball Players for Breaking Rules or Nonperformance

2007-04-13T10:28:00.000-07:00

Do You Have Players Bricking It?

What do you do when someone comes late to practice? What if during conditioning exercises a player only does 8 push-ups when you asked the group to do 10 pushups? What if during wind sprints the player fails to cross the designated lines or for the last few feet when finishes, stops early and walks the last two steps across the finish line?

Many coaches tend create an immediate punishment, such as the offending player running laps at the point in time, or after practice.

What if the player habitually breaks rules on fails to conform. The rest of the group after a while just knows that Tami is always late or Van just likes to see how far he can push the coach without getting in trouble. For the most part the rest of the team knows it is between the player and the coach.

Hey It's a Team Thing.

There was a commercial with Mia Hamm and some of the Women US Olympic soccer team going with a teammate to the dentist office. The dentist comes out of the back with one of the American players, announcing grimly that she needs two fillings. Four other players in the lobby, including Hamm and Brianna Scurry, stand up one at a time, courageously stating, "Then I will have two fillings."

It was a team thing. Sometimes players have to learn it is a team thing.

The most common example I see is when a volleyball hits the ground that shouldn't have. Many coaches will make ALL the players do lines, or push-ups or just hit the ground and get up.

Real Effectiveness: Team Pressure

One way to exert more conformance pressure on the offending athlete is to get the team involved, whether they like it or not, and have them put pressure on the player.

My favorite way to do this is, for example, if one player, Tami, always walks across the finish line when doing lines, I ask her to sit down on the finish line and get real comfortable. I then tell the OTHER girls they are going to run lines, so Tami can see what it looks like to finish completely. Then the rest of the team runs a double set of lines as Tami sits and watches.

Both Tami and her teammates are annoyed with me and each other, but it gets the point across; and I have little problem with compliance after that.

How Should a Volleyball Captain(s) be Decided?

2007-04-09T06:31:00.000-07:00

In the Army, Air Force, Navy, or any Military Force there are always leaders of troops. These generals, lieutenants, and captains are selected by their time in the service, their physical stability, and they are required to take a responsibility test. After all these test, there is another process with higher ranked officers discussing if the potential candidates ability to lead. This process can very easily be translated onto the volleyball court when the decision of who should be the team captain(s).

Coaching Factors in Selecting a Captain

If the coach is the one to make the decision, he or she may very well take into consideration all the requirements that the military takes. The coach will look for someone who has played the game for a long time or has been playing for his or her team for a few seasons. The coach will look at their skills on the court hopefully showing physical talent in every aspect of the game: hitting, serving, setting, passing, blocking, digging, and so forth. Now there may not be a paper exam of responsibility like the military has but the coach will find someone who can be responsible for all the teammates both on and off the court.

The coach will have a good player(s) in mind to be the team captain(s), but is it the coach’s responsibility? Does the power rest in the decision of the people like a democracy? The point being, should the team players decide who they want representing their team and leading them into the battlefield of volleyball competition? If the coach were to choose someone that the team may not get along with or believes they should not be the captain, will the team respond to the captain when he or she is trying to motivate the team or assist them in a game or at practice? With this in mind, if the players of the team choose who they want to be their captain they most likely will respond to the leader better than if the coach picked someone the teammates will not follow.

Best Player or Best Leader?

With the power of who becomes captain in the player’s hands, will the vote just become a popularity contest? Will the team just pick the person who is the best hitter assuming that hitting is the most important aspect of volleyball? Will they pick the player who has the highest status in school or outside of school? Are the players educated enough to know what a true leader is and what responsibilities in lie in being the team captain? All these aspects come into play when a player makes a decision on who their team captain should be.

So where does the decision lie? Who has the authority to pick who leads the team? Does the coach who hopefully has played the sport, been around a lot of different captains or has been the captain on a team decide the team leader? Or should the players who have to listen to the elected captain pick who they want to lead them? For some teams and clubs it is all different in the decision making of the team captain.

The Key Factor: Leadership

Hopefully whatever process is taken the coach or teammates take into consideration all the aspects that the military takes when they promote a solider to a higher rank. The captain will be selected by their time with the team, their physical stability, they are a responsible individual, but most importantly they have the ability to lead a team to victories.

Coach J

Should a volleyball player play up an age group in club volleyball?

2007-03-30T20:06:00.000-07:00

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.

What To Do When Your Son Or Daughter Doesn't Make A Volleyball Club Team.

2007-03-29T19:57:00.000-07:00

Club volleyball is very competitive... and time consuming for parents (and players)... and expensive.

If your son or daughter is unable to join a club volleyball team there are a couple of options.

The simplest is to get friends together and go to open gyms
Join a team at your local community center or YMCA.
Find a beach volleyball court. This is your best option since it forces you to improve all aspects of you game.
Go to a gym and work out to improve your jump, strength and quickness.

Regardless of which option you select, play on a regular basis with a fixed schedule just like you were on a team.

When your son or daughter comes home saying they now hate volleyball...

2007-03-24T09:57:00.000-07:00

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."

"Ahh... I get it," is the reply.

Ring Finger Length as an Indicator of Athletic Performance in Women

2007-03-13T10:32:00.000-07:00

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.

Can a $5 Solution Enhance Athletic Performance Better Than a Million Dollar Government Project?

2007-03-20T15:49:00.000-07:00

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.

Volleyball Club Coaches are Like Portfolio Managers

2007-03-04T17:04:00.000-08:00

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.

Rock, Paper, Scissors Strategy

2007-03-05T13:14:00.000-08:00

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)

2007-03-05T10:54:00.000-08:00

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.

Here is a sample of an online volleyball video recruiting site.

Comments:
Volleyball coaches know errors occur, but sometimes it is helpful to edit out detrimental sections from your skills tape.

Keep your original video at all times. It is easy to find duplicating services in your local area, or at eBay.

Use good lighting.

Is there a "lucky side" to pick when selecting which side of the volleyball court

2007-03-05T10:46:00.000-08:00

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.