Goldilocks Method: Spiking

Applying variability of movement and finding solutions

Check out previous articles in this series:

Goldilocks Method: Serving
Goldilocks Method: Setting

In both of those articles, I shared this image from Rob Gray’s How We Learn To Move.

Wtf is this? Again, read the book, but the idea is essentially, “adding a little noise sometimes makes the signal clearer.” Earlier this week we talked about movement variability and self-organization:

Learning To Move

I’m not too high on the Goldilocks Method for pure beginners. Your 12 year-old’s approach probably has enough variability already in it. But it’s a great tool for trying to go from, in-the-ballpark to just right in terms of their touch and movement efficiency. It’s also my go-to technique for helping a player who is normally really solid on a skill but is getting into a bit of a rut and struggling with her touch and feel.

What is the Goldilocks Method?

Goldilocks is a practice technique I like to use for helping a player understand an aspect of her technique. Like the character Goldilocks, we’re looking for volleyball oatmeal that’s not too hot, not too cold, but, “just right.”

You can use the Goldilocks Method for any skill. The idea is to do a 3-rep sequence where one rep is, “too hot,” one is, “too cold,” and the third is, “just right.” In the first two reps, the athlete is thinking about a piece of the technique and deliberately performing them out on the boundary that she knows isn’t ideal. On the third technique, she isn’t thinking about her technique, she is just focusing on the result; she’s trying to make the ball go, “just right.”

Let’s look at 3 of my favorite Goldilocks variations for spiking. You can do any of these off a variety of hitting drills. You could use something as simple as a coach-toss hitting drill because that controls the input to the hitter as much as possible. If you have higher-level players who can set with a (relatively) consistent location and tempo, you can do these variations off a set, which is ideal.

Variation 1: Goldilocks The Distance

I see some debate over the beginnings of a hitter’s approach. Do they pass and do a quick shuffle to get some width? Or do they pass and roll right into an inside-out approach? Do you teach a 3-step or a 4-step? How much angle do you want in the approach? Etc.

I have some pretty strong opinions about those questions, but I at least see some debate on it. But there’s almost no debate on the last 2 steps, the finishing step-close or plant-step to jump and attack. Almost every coach wants the stride into those last 2 steps to be as big and powerful as possible and to convert as much of that horizontal momentum into vertical takeoff.

(I’m going to use the terminology of a 4-step approach, meaning when I say “2nd step” I mean the LEFT step in a right, left, right-left 4-step approach for a right-handed hitter. If you teach a 3-step approach, substitute “1st step” whenever I say “2nd step.”)

If the hitter’s 2nd step is too close to the hitting window, the stride into their plant-step is too short, which cuts out power, forces them to decelerate and messes up timing, and gets them too far under the ball.

On the other hand, if the hitter’s 2nd step is too far away from the hitting window, they physically cannot stride long enough into their plant-step and they have to broad jump, losing vertical takeoff to horizontal drift, and the ball is too far in front of them when they contact.

So… let’s Goldilocks it. For a typical attacker in the 5’9” to 6’1” range, “toes on the attack” line is probably about right for the 2nd step. We know that’s the neighborhood. So the Goldilocks sequence is:

Rep 1: 2nd step on the “7-foot line”
Rep 2: 2nd step at 13’
Rep 3: “Find what feels right”

Chances are, your player is going to want to be in the ballpark of 10’ on her 2nd step. But it’s not just about finding the magical distance, there’s real value in having to hit a ball that you were too far away from. Or too close to. So the Golidlocks is not just a “find the solution” method for your footwork, it’s also a, “do something in a less-than-ideal situation” for your contacts and rotation through the ball.

Variation 2: Goldilocks The Draw