The VolleyPod presented by The Art of Coaching Volleyball

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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!

Do you want to score more points and run a fun, fast offense that uses all of your players to achieve a way higher hitting efficiency, create more 1 on 1 attacking opportunities, and put more stress on the defense? 

The Tempo Spread Offense is the answer. But what is it and how can you use it achieve its best effects? This episode goes into the fundamentals of the Tempo Spread offense and how and why to use it with your teams.

Also, Tod goes into how he handles the end of the season, player recognition, and the end of season event. 

Finally, we share info about AOC's Youtube channel which is packed with great videos, including full episodes of The VolleyPod!

Skill of the week: The Tempo Spread Offense

Scenario of the week: The end of the season event

Resource of the week: The Art of Coaching Volleyball's Youtube Channel is located here:https://www.youtube.com/@AoCVB 

AOC Volleyball resources mentioned in this episode:

- Kerry McDonald from Volleyball Canada discussed how to create attacker-blocker advantages: https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/running-an-offense-finding-gaps-overloading-blockers/

- Kirsten Bernthal Booth discusses the many advantages of running an up-tempo offense: https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/how-a-fast-offense-can-give-your-team-an-edge/

- Jim Stone goes into how and why to run an offense that uses space across the whole net to help attacker score from a variety of attack points: https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/jim-stone-sample-offense-with-multiple-attack-points/

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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!

Does your team make too many errors? Everyone knows that errors are the kiss of death for a volleyball team, right? Well, sort of. Davis goes into how to perceive errors in a way that will help your teams to win more matches. 

Is your team "not mentally tough"? Being "weak mentally" is why they lose all of those close games, right? Kind of. Tod dissects this common refrain from coaches and discusses ideas for how to help your teams handle this challenge differently than many coaches. 

Scenarios of the week: When your team makes too many errors & when your team isn't "mentally tough"

Resource of the week: Max Out Mindset can be found here: https://www.maxoutmindset.com/ 

AOC Volleyball drills mentioned in this episode:

- Don Patterson's blog about how a 9 second clip of Samantha Bricio can help your hitters be better: https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/9-second-video-of-samantha-bricio/

- Mike Sealy's video about two different methods for setters to deliver the ball: https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/setting-touch-on-the-ball/

- Jamie Morrison's video about coaching while considering the limits of a person's working memory: https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/working-memory/

Wait!

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!

Movement and athleticism go hand in hand. So why are we allowing young players to stand around while the ball is in play?  

Instead we should train their movement and both "on ball" and "off the ball" skills.  

In this episode, experienced coaches Tod Mattox and Davis Ransom go all in on how to create movement in meaningful ways for younger teams and get them playing more efficient, more intentional volleyball, right away.

Skill of the Week: Movement guidelines for beginners and intermediate teams 

The Art of Coaching Volleyball drills noted during this episode:

Former National Team Head Coach Terry Liskevych's demo and discussion about how to maintain balance during serve receive: https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/when-passing-balance-is-everything/

Kansas' Head Coach, Ken Bechard's quick talk and demo regarding how to get more individual defensive range for your athletes: https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/posture-balance-for-range-on-defense/

 2022 NCAA Finalist with Louisville, Coach Dani Busboom- Kelly's staple team defense and movement drill: https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/rotate-switch-stay-defensive-drill-to-improve-movement/

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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!

From the floor of the AVCA Convention, Tod Mattox and Davis Ransom share some of the most interesting ideas that they found over the course of the annual coaches meeting, as well as interviews with some of the tops coaches in the game:

Tina Kinkead, from La Jolla Country Day School and Coast Volleyball Club

Toby Manzanares, Hall of Fame coach from St. Pius X in New Mexico

Terry Liskevych, the ambassador for The Art of Coaching Volleyball, former National Team Head Coach, and one of the greatest influences in modern volleyball history

This episode is so good that we had to make it one hour!

Each coach shares some of what makes him/her great and you can sense the excitement on the floor of the Convention Center!

Bonus Instagram video showing the Fake Attack Then Set tactic: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CfMlfj-De99/?igshid=ZmMyNmFmZTc=

Wait!

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!

How can we, as coaches, make our practices more enjoyable, engaging, and joyful for our athletes? We know that athletes will be more likely to keep playing and be more engaged if they have fun while they are playing. This episode goes into how we can create space for joy in practice!

On this episode of The VolleyPod Tod and Davis cover some really valuable topics. First, they discuss how to make practice more joyful and therefore more effective, for players. Little things can make all the difference. Next, they go over statistics, from the ground up. They cover all of the fundamental stats, how and why to take them, and how to make them actually benefit your team. Finally, they share a incredible resource from legendary coach Terry Pettit: his book about championship teams, Talent and the Secret Life of Teams. 

Skill of the week: Making practice more joyful and fun for players

Scenario of the week: The why, what, and how of Statistics 

Resource of the week: Terry Pettit's book Talent and the Secret Life of Teams can be found here: https://terrypettit.com/shop/talent-and-the-secret-life-of-teams/

AOC Volleyball resources related to this episode:

The value of rewards: https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/motivating-ice-cream/

Terry Liskevych's fascinating article about Norway's unique method of putting fun first: https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/norways-winning-formula/

Deborah Newkirk's great video about subtle ways to add some more fun to practice: https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/how-to-add-subtle-fun-to-practice/

Debbie Brown's video discussion about how to figure out which drills are both fun and effective for your team: https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/identifying-what-makes-drills-fun-for-your-team/

Wait!

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!

At the youngest levels, consistent serving can easily overwhelm the opponent's serve receive and help your team to win games. But, serving can be a challenge for many young players. So, how can we as coaches become experts at teaching serving and help our players achieve more, earlier?

This episode goes into coaching serving with a baker's dozen tips on teaching serving to our newest players. This week on The VolleyPod, 

Davis and Tod cover how to serve for beginners, and offer key insights that will most certainly help your team serve more consistently, and improve quickly. Next, the coaches discuss how to handle the situation that happens to almost every team in the early part of the season: when roles have not been clearly established yet, and you are going into competition soon. Finally, we share an incredible resource for coaches and players alike, MoreThanWinsVB, an Instagram profile from Scott Mattera, a coach who really knows how to win, but he also creates a culture of fun and inclusion. 

Skill of the week: Serving for beginners

 Scenario of the week: Playing time when roles are not clearly defined yet

 Resource of the week: MoreThanWinsVB on Instagram or they can be found here: https://www.instagram.com/morethanwinsvb/?hl=en  

AOC Volleyball resources mentioned in this episode:

- Julianne Faucette-Johnson's (Univ. of Texas Alum) tips for beginning serving: https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/developing-a-consistent-and-powerful-serve/ 

- Everyone's favorite serving game, "Dead Fish", where the servers "fish out", and rescue, the servers that miss their serve: https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/dead-fish-serving-drill/ 

- Gwen Egbert provides a great wall serving series that gives instant feedback to players: https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/wall-serving-progression/

Wait!

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!

A strong "Base" defense can frustrate the opponent through discipline and defensive grit. How can you be super solid in base and win way more rallies where the ball comes over on 1 or 2 contacts, or they run the quick?

On this episode of The VolleyPod, Davis and Tod go over the importance of, and keys for, a strong "Base" defense. Base defense has been described as one way coaches can tell if they have a disciplined team, and the tips in this episode can definitely help with that. Next, Tod and Davis discuss a situation that happens all the time on younger teams: when one player is less experienced than the rest of your team, and offer some great ideas for how to handle it, that are win-win for the player and the team. Finally, we share What Drives Winning, a Ted-talk style website that features influential figures in sport delivering some of their best advice.

Skill of the week: Protecting your "Base" defense

Scenario of the week: When one player is significantly less experienced than the rest of the team

Resource of the week: What Drives Winning can be found here: https://whatdriveswinning.com/

AOC Volleyball drills mentioned in this episode:

- Tod's win more than 50% game allows for tons of team defense feedback: https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/defensive-transition-drill/

- Defense is an attitude and teams should use that competitive edge to score more points: https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/digging-to-score-and-train-a-competitive-mindset/

- Nabil Mardini plays 3 vs. 6 in his practices to reinforce good team defense habits: https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/wash-to-five-drill-with-nabil-mardini/

Wait!

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!

How can we decrease our opponent's hitting efficiency, making it easier on our team to produce enough points to win the match?

On this episode of The VolleyPod we discuss specifics about how to hinder the opponent's scoring by following several (relatively) controllable principles. The principles found in this episode can help any team to be more competitive immediately. 

Then, Tod and Davis go over some ideas for how to start off the season with an experienced team. The ideas that we cover on this topic can help your team get off to a fast start at the beginning of the season. 

Finally, we share Davis' first project, The VolleyNerd Podcast, with our listeners. The VolleyNerd Podcast is a deep dive into some of the more interesting and fun topics surrounding coaching.

Skill of the week: Decreasing the opponent's hitting efficiency

Scenario of the week: Starting off the season fast with an experienced team

Resource of the week: The VolleyNerd Podcast can be found here: https://open.spotify.com/show/4yk8DUT53pb98uGTMjuYt9

AOC Volleyball drills mentioned in this episode:

Mark Rosen's video about understanding the opponent's setting tendencies: https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/volleyball-strategy-setting-patterns/

Russ Rose's video about defending the left side attack and its important role in decreasing the opponent's hitting efficiency: https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/defending-the-left-side-attack-with-russ-rose/

John Dunning's fascinating talk about how to set up your defense in order to compete against different types of teams: https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/defensive-scheming-with-john-dunning/

Wait!

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!

What do our players have to do to switch successfully from indoor to beach and from beach to indoor?

On this episode of The VolleyPod, Davis and Tod go over some of the key differences, that can be trained between indoor and beach. Then, they discuss how to respond when the ref you have for your match is inexperienced or below average. They also share the latest and greatest Video Analysis App, OnForm, which uses video to help athletes learn from watching their (or others') technique in a multitude of different ways.  In addition, they share 2 great video resources from The Art of Coaching Volleyball library that coaches can view to consider how the beach game relates to the indoor game. And, they share an episode from The VolleyNerd Podcast that compares and contrasts beach and indoor volleyball even more thoroughly with Coach Justin Marshall from Park University Gilbert.

Skill of the week: Switching from indoor to beach and from beach to indoor

Scenario of the week: When the ref is inexperienced or below average

Resource of the week: OnForm Video Analysis App can be found here: https://www.onform.com/

AOC Volleyball drills mentioned in this episode:

Adam Johnson's beach benefits indoor and indoor benefits beach video: https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/adam-johnson-beach-helps-indoor-indoor-helps-beach/

Holly McPeak's video about the specific differences between beach and indoor: https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/beach-volleyball-training-the-differences/

Additional Resource for the Week: 

The VolleyNerd Podcast Episode (on Spotify) comparing and contrasting beach and indoor volleyball with Justin Marshall from Park University, Gilbert: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7p9KNNJPSSb59JRl7Cndfl

Your team's attacking efficiency is arguably one of, if not the, single key statistic, for deciding who wins the match at the high school Varsity level.

Today on The VolleyPod, Tod and Davis discuss how to help your team increase their offensive performance, and win more matches! 

Then, they explore some playoff do's and don'ts. There is not only one recipe for success in the postseason, but The VolleyPod hosts give everyone some things to think about that could help you win more late in the season, which is the best time to win!

They also share a unique pair of shoes that has demonstrated an increase in the verticals of athletes that were wearing these shoes by nearly 4 inches. 

In addition, they share a blog post and 2 drills from The Art of Coaching Volleyball's tremendous library of resources, that can help coaches fine tune their timeout-taking philosophies

Skill of the week: Team attacking efficiency

Scenario of the week: Playoff Do's and Don'ts

Resource of the week: Athletic Propulsion Labs' Vertical Enhancing Shoes can be found here: https://www.athleticpropulsionlabs.com/collections/concept-x

AOC Volleyball drills mentioned in this episode:

- An excellent blog discussion on typical errors for individual hitting and how to correct them: https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/7-common-hitting-approach-errors-and-how-to-fix-them/

- Nabil Mardini's video, 5 shots that every hitter should have: https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/hitting-five-shots/

- Luka Slabe's video about expanding athletes' array of "tools" in their "toolbox" to score more or work out of tough situations: https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/what-to-do-when-youre-stuck-using-your-toolbox/