The VolleyPod presented by The Art of Coaching Volleyball

Luis Cuatok is a top youth coach in Southern California. His teams have consistently performed well at junior nationals and they have won several medals. At that level, not only do the athletes need to be composed, they also don’t have that many experiences in that situation, so they are learning as they go. On this episode of The VolleyPod Coach Cuatok joins the guys to discuss a newer interpretation of mental toughness, mental adaptability, and it’s role in helping young athletes to be their best.

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Also, be sure to follow The VolleyPod on Instagram at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/aoc.thevolleypod/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and Twitter at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/TheVolleyPod ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for exclusive content and immediately useful tips and drills!

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Also, be sure to follow The VolleyPod on Instagram at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/aoc.thevolleypod/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and Twitter at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/TheVolleyPod ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for exclusive content and immediately useful tips and drills!

This week's skill is a relatively advanced skill: working against the block. On this episode we provide a bunch of ideas that you can train with your team that can help your hitters to deal more effectively with a big or disciplined block and score more points. There are ideas are points that coaches can implement right now with their hitters as opposed to saying "we will wait until she gets stronger and jumps higher". Mastering the ideas in today's episode will definitely help your team win more games.

In our scenario segment, we discuss how to handle the question: "is my offensive system a good use of my team's personnel?". The coaches with The VolleyPod discuss how to look at this question through a lens of the uniqueness of your team, and which strengths that you can maximize to get the most out of your team from an offensive standpoint. This is one of our most fun things to do in coaching; find the unique factors that make your team great!

We always share one great resource each week, and this week it is from the super-optimistic mindset teacher Jon Gordon. His podcast, Positive University, focuses on people who have become masters of their mindset. It includes people like Kerri Walsh-Jennings, Damian Lillard, and Drew Brees. There is a broad plan of helping people who listen to make a greater impact and overcome challenges, but there are many different topics discussed within those broader goals. This podcast is a great listen for anyone trying to make the most out their situation in life.

Skill of the week: Attacking against a big or disciplined block

Scenario of the week: Is our offensive system a good use of our personnel?

The Art of Coaching Volleyball Videos discussed on The VolleyPod This Week focused on working against the block:

Mark Barnard's drill for tooling the block: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/hitting-scoring-off-the-block-drill/

Jim Stone teaches three of the most useful options for dealing with the block, score, recycle, or tool: ⁠https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/5-hitting-options-kill-recycle-tip-use-block-in-play/

Jim Stone has athletes demonstrate another highly useful game for working against the block: https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/competitive-5-point-blocking-and-hitting-drill/

The Resource of the Week, Jon Gordon's Positive University, can be found here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://positiveuniversity.com/

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Use code "VOLLEYPOD" for 20% off of almost anything on The Art of Coaching Volleyball's platform INCLUDING memberships, nearly all of the books, printouts, and more! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Also, be sure to follow The VolleyPod on Instagram at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/aoc.thevolleypod/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and Twitter at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/TheVolleyPod ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for exclusive content and immediately useful tips and drills!

This week's skill is a coaching skill -- adding two contact games into your practices. This is an underutilized, easy to implement method which can speed up learning as well as provide a ton of additional benefits for the athletes. Speeding up the ways our athletes read is important to every team, and two contact games can be a simple but effective way of enhancing this ability. Plus, using two contacts stresses ball control and can help athletes to build decision-making abilities quicker than waiting for these situations to present themselves in games.

In our scenario segment, we discuss a scenario that certainly applies to many teams at the high school or club levels, only having two primary passers on your team. Davis and Tod discuss both the long view of not having enough passers, and the shorter-term view of having to win now without enough passers.

We always share one great resource each week, and this week it is a very cool resource on Instagram called BounceBeach. BounceBeach is essentially a highlight video collection from the world of beach volleyball, but it is curated in a way that allows for study of the best athletes that beach volleyball has to offer as well as the innovative tactics that they are using to raise their level of play and get more wins.

Skill of the week: Coaching skill -- adding two contact games to your practice

Scenario of the week: When your team only has two primary passers

The Art of Coaching Volleyball Videos discussed on The VolleyPod This Week focused on two contact games:

Tod's competitive two contact game: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/one-on-one-competitive-two-contact-drill/

Kirsten Bernthal Booth from Creighton Univ. demonstrates a two contact in the queen of the court style: https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/small-group-drill-two-contacts/

The Resource of the Week, BounceBeach on Instagram, can be found here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/bouncebeach/?hl=en

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Use code "VOLLEYPOD" for 20% off of almost anything on The Art of Coaching Volleyball's platform INCLUDING memberships, nearly all of the books, printouts, and more! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Also, be sure to follow The VolleyPod on Instagram at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/aoc.thevolleypod/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and Twitter at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/TheVolleyPod ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for exclusive content and immediately useful tips and drills!

This week's skill comes directly from the man, the myth, the legend, former Stanford University Head Coach John Dunning. He discusses why and how to teach one of the most effective attacks there is, the slide. Coach Dunning blesses us with many tips for how to teach the slide to young players. This is a must listen for anyone who wants to make their offense more dynamic and effective.

In our scenario segment, we discuss a skill that we all do all the time as coaches: wonder how strong our practice was and how we can make it better. Coach Dunning is currently helping all of the sports programs at Pacific University to figure out this exact question. The answers you find can be enlightening as well as transformative. But how? Coach Dunning goes into this on The VolleyPod this week.

We always share one great resource each week, and this week it is a great resource from Jeff Janssen, The Team Captain's Leadership Manual. This book is the premier resource for developing leaders and captains, with tons of great information and a clear process for how to become a more effective leader. This book is great to use with teams or anyone who aspires to become a leader.

Skill of the week: The slide attack taught by John Dunning

Scenario of the week: Using a simple form and discussion to determine how strong your practice was, and how to make it better

The Art of Coaching Volleyball Videos discussed on The VolleyPod This Week focused on John Dunning's teaching on the slide attack and one of his favorites topics, reading:

Why and how to teach the slide attack: https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/john-dunning-teaching-the-slide/⁠⁠⁠⁠

Teaching young athletes how to hit the slide: ⁠https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/teaching-the-slide-with-john-dunning/

Coach Dunning discusses the importance of reading: ⁠https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/reading-a-part-of-every-skill/

The Resource of the Week, The Team Captain's Leadership Manual by Jeff Janssen, can be found here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.janssensportsleadership.com/resources/leadership-for-captains/

Coach Dunning's list of questions to ask when evaluating a practice can be found here (as well as his notes on the slide): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-SDulQXVmZ_pUPLfNdwoZdF4h_-8cbmWazILjvxlLwU/edit?usp=sharing

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Use code "VOLLEYPOD" for 20% off of almost anything on The Art of Coaching Volleyball's platform INCLUDING memberships, nearly all of the books, printouts, and more! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Also, be sure to follow The VolleyPod on Instagram at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/aoc.thevolleypod/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and Twitter at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/TheVolleyPod ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for exclusive content and immediately useful tips and drills!

This week's skill is critical for every coach: finding a practice planning process that works for you to ensure the most optimal practice for your team. Every coach plans practice differently, but what is most important is discovering a consistent process that brings about really great practices. Without proper planning practices invariably falter or lack the necessary organization to be as effective as they could be. In this episode we go into the process that Davis uses to plan his practices and what listeners can take from how he sets up highly impactful practices.

In our scenario segment, we discuss a skill that is underutilized: using evaluations to help yourself and program get better. Often coaches shy away from evaluations because they can be uncomfortable and can expose aspects of our coaching that are not operating at a high level. This is equally why evaluations are important. They can point out our "blind spots" and help us to realize our greater potential. On this episode, Tod discusses how he uses evaluations and how others can learn from their players, other coaches, and parents to help make everyone better.

We always share one great resource each week, and this week it is a great resource from Cassidy Lichtman, a highly successful player for Stanford University, an Athletes Unlimited athlete, and a motivational speaker. Her website, P/ath Sports, is a great source of all types of videos related to the "soft skills" of being an elite performer. Topics include building confidence, identity and empowerment, and becoming a great teammate and much more. The videos on the site are not all from volleyball players, in fact, they are mostly from well-known athletes and coaches from outside of volleyball. The videos are powerful and can really help athletes to reach their full potential.

Skill of the week: How to utilize a process and routine for creating practice plans that are efficient and effective

Scenario of the week: Using coaching evaluations to make everyone better and more effective

The Art of Coaching Volleyball Videos discussed on The VolleyPod This Week focused on AOC founders' ideas about practice planning:

John Dunning discusses how to divide up coach and player roles during practice for the most impact possible: ⁠https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/roles-during-practice/

Russ Rose teaches coaches how to be better at designing practices in the following video: https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/practice-planning-and-design-with-russ-rose/

Terry Liskevych goes into how to use 10 segments of practice for efficient practice planning: https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/planning-effective-practices-ten-segments-planning/

The Resource of the Week, P/ath Sports by Cassidy Lichtman, can be found here: ⁠https://www.pathsports.org/

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Use code "VOLLEYPOD" for 20% off of almost anything on The Art of Coaching Volleyball's platform INCLUDING memberships, nearly all of the books, printouts, and more! ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠

Also, be sure to follow The VolleyPod on Instagram at ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/aoc.thevolleypod/⁠⁠⁠⁠ and Twitter at ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/TheVolleyPod ⁠⁠⁠⁠for exclusive content and immediately useful tips and drills!

This week's skill is a coaching skill about using a glossary of your own terms to create a unique, individualized team identity, as well as recognizing and naming often overlooked smaller plays. Tod talks about several of his favorite in hopes of other coaches creating their own cool terms.

In our scenario segment, we discuss a challenge that occurs almost every season for almost every club coach, navigating the Qualifying Process. Qualifying is such a challenge, and the expectations are high, so how can coaches avoid some of the pitfalls that Davis has fallen into? Find out on this episode. We discuss topics like: setting up goals from the beginning, process and outcome focused goals, and managing expectations.

We always share one great resource each week, and this week it is a great resource from Isaac Kneubuhl, a coach who has built a following on Instagram by examining the volleyball armswing, training athletes to hit harder, and being a proponent for the circular armswing. His page, TorqVB, is our resource of the week.

Skill of the week: Using a glossary of your own terms to create a unique team identity

Scenario of the week: Navigating the Qualifying Process that so many club teams are aiming for

The Art of Coaching Volleyball Videos discussed on The VolleyPod This Week focused on Utah coach Beth Launiere:

This is an awesome 4 on 4 out of system game: https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/4-on-4-kamikaze-volleyball-drill-with-beth-launiere/

This video is the first in a series by Beth Launiere that focuses on improving your athletes' individual ball control skills: https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/individual-ball-control-part-1-with-beth-launiere/

The following video is an insightful discussion about how to find and train elite performers: https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/elite-performers/

The Resource of the Week: TorqVB on Instagram by Isaac Kneubuhl, can be found here: https://www.instagram.com/torqvb/?hl=en

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Use code "VOLLEYPOD" for 20% off of almost anything on The Art of Coaching Volleyball's platform INCLUDING memberships, nearly all of the books, printouts, and more! ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠

Also, be sure to follow The VolleyPod on Instagram at ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/aoc.thevolleypod/⁠⁠⁠⁠ and Twitter at ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/TheVolleyPod ⁠⁠⁠⁠for exclusive content and immediately useful tips and drills!

This week's skill is a coaching skill about why and how to use only a few simple rules to create a game that will help shape how our athletes perform during practice, and ultimately, perform better in competition. This type of coaching provides a TON of transfer from practices to games, so it should be a vital part of how coaches think of training their athletes. Not only can coaches incentivize their players to play in the manner that they are focused on, they will also find that this type of shaping has a lot of volleyball intelligence opportunities, too!

In our scenario segment Tod leads the way, discussing his proposal for athletes to call their touches in competition, and examining how this one minor rule change could help our athletes come closer to our overall goal of helping athletes live lives of integrity.

We always share one great resource each week, and this week it is The Art of Coaching Volleyball's handouts and worksheets, which can be found under the Resources tab. These handouts can save you time and energy, since someone has already done the work for you. You are definitely going to find something close to what you need!

Skill of the week: Using a few simple rules to help athletes learn faster

Scenario of the week: Calling your own touches in competition

The Art of Coaching Volleyball videos that were discussed on The VolleyPod This Week:

Beth Launiere from University of Utah and JJ Van Niel (currently Head Coach for Arizona State University) from Utah explain their 4 v 4 out of system game: https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/4-on-4-kamikaze-volleyball-drill-with-beth-launiere/

An example of using a few simple rules from Ray Bechard from Kansas, about how to create a drill using only a few simple rules (and get a lot of game-like overhand defense): ⁠https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/hand-to-hand-combat-drill-to-train-overhead-hands-on-defense/

The Resource of the Week is The Art of Coaching Volleyball's printable resources, which can be found here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/category/resources/

Episode 52: Coaching lessons from Japan, coaching in the deciding set, and EpicSportsWait!

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Also, be sure to follow The VolleyPod on Instagram at ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/aoc.thevolleypod/⁠⁠⁠⁠ and Twitter at ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/TheVolleyPod ⁠⁠⁠⁠for exclusive content and immediately useful tips and drills!

This week's skill is a coaching skill all about what Tod learned from his trip to Japan with Coast Volleyball club's top teams, where they played against several of the country's top high school team and a highly competitive university team. He shares his insights about how they do things better, in some ways, than we do in the U.S., and what we can learn from them.

In our scenario segment, we discuss a super fun scenario: winning late in a deciding set (game 3 or 5), and how to approach that situation to win more of those situations, more often.

We always share one great resource each week, and this week it is EpicSports.com's volleyball page where you can find almost anything you need in terms of gear. From nets and balls to clothing for coaches and athletes, EpicSports is the one page you should Bookmark for finding gear.

Skill of the week: What Tod learned from his recent volleyball trip to help compete against some of Japan's best high school and university teams

Scenario of the week: Winning a close deciding set, tips and tactics

The Art of Coaching Volleyball Videos discussed on The VolleyPod This Week:

Jen Oldenburg from Ohio State University explains and demonstrates emergency passing and defense moves with former North Carolina Head Coach Joe Sagula: https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/emergency-moves-for-passing-and-defense/

Tod's famous sock slide drill that helps teach diving: https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/sock-slide-drill/⁠

Dani Busboom Kelly from Louisville has her players demonstrate several sprawling variations: ⁠https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/dig-and-sprawl-drill-variations/

The Resource of the Week: EpicSports for any type of volleyball gear can be found here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://volleyball.epicsports.com/

On this episode, The VolleyPod covers Karch Kiraly's newest book, Chasing Greatness. The coaches take an important takeaway from each chapter and discuss why/how it is relevant to coaches, and how it can help them be better.

"This is the closest thing you can get to being in the gym with Karch" said Davis on this week's episode. There are so many great points in the book and Tod and Davis go over some really interesting ideas.

You can find Karch's book here: https://store.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/shop/karch-book/

Episode 50: Getting my team to play with heart, Mental training remedies for playing better in practice than in the games, and VolleyMovement by Daniel Maciel

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Use code "VOLLEYPOD" for 20% off of almost anything on The Art of Coaching Volleyball's platform INCLUDING memberships, nearly all of the books, printouts, and more! ⁠⁠⁠https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/⁠⁠⁠

Also, be sure to follow The VolleyPod on Instagram at ⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/aoc.thevolleypod/⁠⁠⁠ and Twitter at ⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/TheVolleyPod ⁠⁠⁠for exclusive content and immediately useful tips and drills!

This week's skill is a coaching skill about how to get your team to "play with heart". But what is "heart"? Tod and Davis discuss what it is, how to train it, and how to get your team to want to play in that way.

In our scenario segment, we discuss the common refrain from coaches, "My team plays way better in practice than in the matches", and we think about it in terms of mental training techniques for how to make that situation better, and switch that idea to "I perform better in matches".

We always share one great resource each week, and this week it is a unique resource from someone who has gone through recovery and rehab and continued to play at a very high level, Daniel Maciel and his Instagram page about strength and conditioning with a focus on longevity and safety.

Skill of the week: Getting my team to play with heart

Scenario of the week: Mental training remedies for playing better in practice than in games

The Art of Coaching Volleyball Videos discussed on The VolleyPod This Week:

Russ Rose's video about emergency defense moves: https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/individual-defense-emergency-moves/

Luca Yanez from Benedictine University and his 4-step progression: ⁠https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/digging-while-moving-forward-4-step-progression/

John Dunning and standout Libero Morgan Hentz have a discussion about training excellent defenders: https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/training-defenders/

The Resource of the Week: VolleyMovement on Instagram by Daniel Maciel, can be found here: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/volleymovement/?hl=en