SmarterVolley Live Recap

Some takeaways from a 1-day clinic on Offensive Concepts

In a previous post I mentioned that I had a weekend open up recently in the middle of this summer and put it out there to the SmarterVolley audience if anybody wanted to host me for a 1-day event to work with their program. (Note: I have 2 weekends in December open, reach out if you’re interested for that timeframe.)

A few people inquired and one particular program made it work. I always love getting in the gym with new teams and this was a fun one to work with. I took them through this “Offensive Concepts” clinic that I’ve developed over the past couple years. The clinic was a blast to do because this team ended up being slotted right in the prime demographic for it. I’d call them a “good” high school aged program. They weren’t all filled with 17 and 18 year-old D1 commits, but they were also not struggling simply to hit the ball over the net.

This level of team: executing the fundamentals with some consistency but needing a bridge to the next level is what I’ve tailored this particular clinic for. To reference my Organization - Mechanics - Skill framework

Organization Mechanics Skill

I’ve noticed that juniors volleyball is very heavily skill-focused. The majority of practice is set up to train player’s skills and the word “skill” features very heavily in coach and parent language around juniors volleyball. Players go to “Skills Camps,” and coaches work, “Skill Sessions,” into practice. People freaking love skill.

And I get it! That’s ultimately where the rubber meets the road. But… I think (at the risk of over-generalizing all of juniors volleyball coaching) that the pendulum has swung too far. I think we, as a coaching profession, over-coach skill and under-coach mechanics. Mechanics are a difference in kind. Skill is the difference in degree.

Taking 3 steps or 4 steps in your spiking approach is a change in mechanics. The length of your stride, how quickly you get off the ground, how you maintain your relationship to the ball in the air, your timing… those are all more on the skill end. (Remembering that there’s a bit of a blurred line there)

Broad changes in mechanics can occur within a few training sessions, maybe just one. But the skill to coordinate the precise timing? Being able to produce that movement with power? That takes a lifetime of training. It doesn’t mean coaches can’t assist in this process, but I believe that something like timing is learned, not taught. Coaches can teach approach footwork. Players have to learn timing and the ball is their only teacher. So let’s talk about how this is put into practice…