Emotional Involvment and Commitment

 engagement

noun
en·​gage·​ment in-ˈgāj-mənt

the act of engaging : the state of being engaged

emotional involvement or commitment

Webster's dictionary gives us the destination. Now to find the roadmap.

What gets YOUR attention? A loud noise, a pleasant smell, a song that brings back memories? Maybe it's your boss yelling at you or a person on the road that cuts off your car in traffic. Attention getters can be many things to many people, depending upon your mood, your location, your moment in time. Positive and negative stimulus, near or far, recognized or unrecognized.

The next question takes this a step further: what KEEPS your attention? A chat with your significant other? Watching or playing with your kids? Watching or being in a sporting event or playing music in front of a crowd where the wrong note will bring you ridicule and scorn? Maybe it's eating a delicious meal or a movie. Or maybe it's coming across the scene of a car accident or watching two people argue in public. Positive and negative stimulus, near or far, recognized or unrecognized.

Chances are great you have looked at social media today. Odds are also high that you subscribe to one if not a few "socials" as the kids refer to them. There is something here that grabs and holds our attention. There IS an emotional involvement and commitment to this medium. Why?

Charles Albrighton's June article, "Social Media and the Affect on our Attention Span" from Medium.com states, "Social media’s natural ability to provide quick gratification and never-ending stimulation is one of its key characteristics. The addictive qualities of these platforms are reinforced by the dopamine-inducing rewards provided by likes, comments, and notifications. We are so accustomed to the instant sensations of gratification and stimulation that anything that doesn't stimulate us quickly is considered less desirable and boring. We constantly crave novelty and develop the struggle of sustained focus in offline settings."

You, as the subscriber, which in itself is inclusive and safe, can choose the site you want, can post or not post on that site, can elicit feedback from others with those posts and all of this is controlled by the swipe of your finger- pure autonomy. YOU are in control of what you see, how long you see it and if you will respond to it. 

What about video games? How is it that an imaginary scenario presented to us on a screen can keep kids and adults enraptured for hours as a time while most of you reading this blog after just a few minutes are ready to pack up and head to the nearest 'anyplace but here' cafe.

In a Carnegie Mellon study entitled "A Quick Look at Game Engagement Theories" by authors Ren and Silpasuwanchai, they conclude the following:  "In design, one can consider how to design games based on these theories. There are four design considerations—autonomy (need satisfaction), competence (need satisfaction, cognition), relatedness (need satisfaction, relationship), and emotional arousals (emotion, aesthetics)."

What does any of this have to do with coaching volleyball, or any other sport? Look up again to Mr. Webster's definition of engagement: emotional involvement or commitment. And how do we get athletes and more importantly KEEP our athletes engaged? We can take lessons from two of societies biggest attention grabs.

Social Media uses safety, connection and autonomy. Video games use autonomy, competence, relatedness and emotional arousals. 

Do your practices feel safe for your athletes? Do they have any autonomy? Do you allow them competent moments while pushing them to be better? Do they feel connected and relatable to their team and coaches? Do they feel the highs and learn from the lows of the randomness of sport?

Engagement IS the golden ticket. If your athletes aren't engaged, they aren't learning and if they aren't learning you aren't teaching and if you aren't teaching, you aren't coaching and thus your practice has become the following:

If you see your athletes bored, standing in lines too much, not being engaged in time outs and not listening to your coaching, it's not their fault. ENGAGE them. for two hours a night twice a week, be their social media. Be their video game!

Ditch the lines, keep every player involved in every drill, keep it fun, keep score, keep things game like, don't talk too much, let the athletes have some say in things and find their competence level and work to push them beyond it each and every practice. These are ingredients in a recipe for engagement in a practice. 

Take a few minutes before your next practice and ask this question: if YOU were an athlete in your practice, would YOU be engaged? Would your own child? If you aren't sure, there is tweaking ahead.

Be the coach that teaches, not just the yelling drill sergeant. Engage!

A dozen in the Rear View

Saw things

Clearer
Clearer once you, were in my rearviewmirror- Pearl Jam

While some teams might still be playing, these insights are from coaches who's seasons have ended and we asked them a simple question; "What was your biggest coaching takeaway from this past season?"

The answers are not edited or summarized, they are boys and girls high school and college coaches, in their own words, giving advice and mentorship to other coaches: Volleysherpa moments, if you will.

Enjoy, empathize and experience their responses. 

Intangibles matter more than we give them credit for at times. We had the most talent on our team than we have ever had but struggled to translate that into wins. We had the best culture and team experience that we have ever had but that didn't translate into confidence in the court. We had over half of our athletes on the team come in this year as either freshman/transfer and I believe that it manifested a team experience of anxiety or lack of confidence. Everybody liked each other and worked hard but everyone felt like they had to prove themselves. We had lots of great stats lines joining our program but the correlation isn't automatic joining the new program.

Every team has newcomer athletes who are working through the process of building their identity with a team and I think this season made me acutely aware of that experience. Unfortunately we had a corporate experience of this but thankfully I don't think the difficult experience was wasted. This was a season of sowing by building individual identity within the team. One thing we would have done differently would have created more team processing moments into our practice after a weekend of matches to get down to more of the emotional level of our experience.

I did a better job of dealing with things I couldn't control by focusing on the things I could control.

My takeaway... close games are won in practice. Creating scoring situations in drills at practice eliminates the stress and mental errors in games. You have to teach your players to compete.

I immediately jump to kids don't need to win to enjoy playing the game...but I don't know if that's what you're looking for... That was my biggest take away...not that I didn't know that but my current group of kids just bounces back so fast and moves on with their lives...as a coach, I still way overthink wins and losses.

I think trusting myself and my coaching abilities and then in turn trusting my players to perform what I've taught them in practice.

I'm driving my AD nuts because when we are behind I don't rush to change up my lineup I ride it out because I trust and believe in my players.

As a coach, there have been times where I've talked to my players about how "short" these tournament journeys can be. In hindsight, I had to remind myself despite the outcome we didn't want, I'm glad we competed playing fearless with no regrets.

As a newer High school coach, I wish I would have had a better system in place at the beginning of the season to fix bad habits.

How much kids struggle with staying "present." Attention span and focus.

It's almost all about building a culture

Coaching take-away's from this HS season:

1) Respect and Relationships matter. Player’s learn, relate with each other, and perform better when they are in an environment that is edifying, but not “easy” or lax. 

2) High expectations, clearly and respectfully communicated; hard work emphasized and encouraged, with opportunities provided for each team member to work hard and apply what is being taught....These things give the team the best opportunity to thrive — as a unit and as individuals. 

3) The goal is to have impact and team success TODAY, that will carry with each athlete a longer-lasting benefit for TOMORROW and beyond. 

We tried very hard to word things slightly different or approach technique teaching in different ways or with different feedback if kids were having a hard time mastering something. By doing that we were able to see improvements or have breakthroughs with kids even in the last week of practice.

Sometimes a picture says more than words. The shiny things are nice, but the LOVE, trust, joy we have for each other is ever lasting. Showing up every day and giving our best for each other with each other in the good and the hard is what makes this team great!

Thanks to these coaches for taking the time to share with us their vulnerability and insights. Being a lifelong learner is part of the recipe of coaching greatness. Learn from these high school and college coaches' journey and maybe pick up a thing or two with your team for this or next season.

We are in this together: Volleysherpas helping the path of each other to the mountain top.

5,597 Seconds

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESCEEXewIMU

https://thegreatcoachespodcast.com/episode/john-kessel/

Dazzle gradually...

Over 100,000 coaches, parents and athletes have seen this drill on YouTube.

The conversation ensues. "It's from a Division I head coach, so it must be good. It looks fun. Look at her sets, they are good so this must work. Let's do this at our practice with our setters from now on."

Science in sport, however, tells us the exact opposite. And so this post will hope to show you how these kinds of drills, while amusing and fun and inventive, are a drag on precious practice time and don't transfer to the game of volleyball.

"The Truth must dazzle gradually or every man be blind." - Emily Dickinson

The O.G. of the science in our sport, Dr. Carl McGown wrote this over 40 years ago: "Training is specific. The maximum benefits of a training stimulus can only be obtained when it replicates the movements and energy systems involved in the activities of a sport." He adds, "This principle suggests that there is no better way of training than actually performing the sport. We say, 'The game teaches the game'."

The setter above got good at one thing: catching a tennis ball in a cone. Coaches, what would actually have made her a better setter? 

Dr. Carl answers this simply. "For example, two passers; one is taught how to pass and passes against the wall for a week. One is taught to pass and then passes a live serve for a week. Who will perform better?"

This blog isn't condemning what coaches do or making sport of their training choices and with all humility, the author of this blog was a frequent user of these kinds of drills: jokingly referred to the 'new and shiny things,' before being introduced to the science of motor learning and since, these kinds of drills have become a distant memory.

 If a coach wants to rely on tradition for their coaching, how they were coached, as many coaches do, then the science of training athletes is often put in the back seat. YouTube, TikTok and other social media apps which give us instant content to our inquiries, are now a convenient go-to for coaches and their practice design. And still many of these presenting coaches look for gimmicks and the 'out of the box' ideas to get their points across, market their brands and sell their camps and dvd's to unsuspecting younger coaches who have already placed their orders for more cones and tennis balls for their volleyball equipment room.

Here is another example of a high level coach ignoring the concept of specificity in training.

For some more context in this vital training core principle, here are some more definitions of specificity:

"Essentially, specificity training means that you must perform the skill in order to get better at it."

"Simply put, the principle of specificity states that how you train should mimic the skills, movements, and actions required to perform and excel in the game, activity, or event you’re participating in."

"The principle of specificity of training states that the way the body responds to physical activity is very specific to the activity itself. For example, someone who jogs can expect that their jogging performance would improve as well as their aerobic conditioning."

In the above video, what are these athletes getting better at?

A) Passing a volleyball off their midline

B) Moving to the ball

C) Catching a volleyball in a bucket

The idea of specificity is paramount not only in training our/any sport but it also is key in the TRANSFER of what is practiced to the game. 

In this drill, the coach is attempting to have her blockers work on their one arm blocking technique. Some questions to ask as you look at this drill:

What are the players looking at and what would a volleyball player who is blocking be looking at while blocking?

What is the timing necessary for the players to catch the tennis balls and what is the timing necessary to jump and block an active, jumping hitter from across the net?

What is the movement required in this drill and what would be the movement requirements of a middle in a game blocking a hitter?

Your argument might be this coach is just working on hand placement or hand movement. The question is then, will what she is doing transfer to making these players better blockers. The scientific answer is a resounding no. They will be better at catching tennis balls from a low toss across the net with one or two hands.

Take a moment today, tomorrow, this weekend and look at the drills you have coming up in your practices this week;

Does this drill look like the game of volleyball?

Does this drill use a volleyball and have the ball coming from over the net? (Both of which are key to our sport!)

Will this drill require the purchase of cones, tennis balls or buckets?

Training efficiently with engagement, retention, transfer and problem solving is our goal as coaches. Be a good consumer when seeing these kinds of drills come across your social media feeds. Ask yourself these questions and be a critical thinker. 

'Dazzling gradually' is how we will start to change minds about these kinds of drills. Share your ideas, help younger coaches, be open to change and see the flaws in these and other training ideas. Learn the science of sport.

Your kids might love catching volleyballs in buckets but your volleyball players will appreciate the speed of which they improve more.

Coddiwomple

 Mount Everest stands 29,031 feet high.

For those with the money, resources and fitness to attempt a summit, it is a two month process. Coming into Nepal in March and acclimating to the altitude and lack of oxygen the climbers began incrementally settling into camps a little higher on the mountain during acclimation until May when the gods of the mountain either bless or curse you with weather conditions that can lead to standing on top of the world or at it's most extreme, death.

This blog is called Volleysherpa because like those that help climbers to reach their highest aspirations, we also want to help you reach your coaching Everest.

Let's look at the expedition: two months. It is no secret that our time is valuable. As coaches, we have to ask ourselves why we are in our profession. Coaching club ball is 2-3 nights of our week, sometimes 2-3 weekends  and most often not for the compensation that would make us quit our other job. So why do we do it?

Maybe it's for a part time/ full time pay check. There is nothing un noble about this. Maybe it's for recognition or a chance to lead and teach. Maybe it's because your son or daughter wants to play and the club or organization had no coach, so you stepped in. Maybe it's the love of the game, the chance to help young people grow and thrive.

These are a few of the many viable rationales for taking the helm of a group of 13 year olds that on some days value the tik tok dance they are perfecting over your explanation of the 6-3 offense. Irregardless, they deserve your best. Not because they might be paying clients, not because other parents or school admin is watching. They deserve your best because as coaches, we shouldn't ask our athletes to  do what we aren't willing to.

"We shouldn't ask our athletes to do what we arent' willing to!"

The height of Everest, 29,031 feet, when turned into seconds, is roughly eight hours. Two months, eight hours. Two months, eight hours. Let's make this work! 

First, what steals our time? Family, profession, social life... But how much time do we waste? Can we be more productive learners?

These charts show just how much time we are on our social media apps. Can we release ourselves from this addiction for a few minutes each week to become better teachers and leaders for our athletes?

Here are some examples which might be a ladder across that icy crevice on your way up the mountain.

Check out Nathan Lorenzon's newsletter where each week he takes a book on leadership, communication, self-help and transcribes the main ideas into a one page summary or a short video on YouTube. It's a great way to get the gist without buying the book. You can sign up at https://lozeron-academy-llc.ck.page/49088799fa.

Podcasts are an infinite source of just about anything you want to know in the coaching realm. There are more podcasts then there are books in the NYC Public Library! Use them to your advantage. If you are interested in hearing a specific coach speak, search that coach and see what podcasts come up. If you are interested in a new book but not sure if you want to spend the money, search the author and listen to them talk about the book first.

Some coaching podcasts to consider: Coach your Brains Out, Volleyballogy and The Sandcast are a snowflake in the avalanche of pods out there. Find your specific interest: the science of motor learning, sports psychology, strength and conditioning, etc. and you will find many options to fill your daily commute to work, your dog walk in the morning or that NON tournament Saturday morning at the local coffee shop.

If you are a reader, the mountain of coaching books is a glorious climb and if you aren't much of a reader, more and more books on tape are becoming the norm and less expensive by the day.

If there is a coach you are interested in learning from and they are nearby, have you reached out? Most college coaches, with a heads up e mail, are happy to bring other coaches in to watch them train their teams. Club coaches, high schools and youth coaches as well. Don't be shy, be a learner. 

Volleysherpa is not subsidized by anyone and any of these recommendations are purely based on the quality of the offerings. If you have some you would like to share, please send them to SolinCoaching@proton.me to share with the readers.

Coddiwomple is an old English slang word that means, 'To travel purposefully toward an unknown yet destination."

Eight hours in two months is your goal. Use your time to gain an advantage on your opponents. As USA Volleyball Legend and lead sherpa John Kessel has said over and over, "This is a learning competition, not a volleyball competition." 

As you demand the best from your athletes, so they demand the best of you!

"Be curious, not judgemental."

 Woke up to this:

This assistant coach was fired on Monday for this action last Friday. He worked for Jesuit High School, a Christian High School in Tampa, Florida.

There may be some that see this and roll their eyes at this coaches professional demise. It's not hard to follow that twisted logic when you think about how coaches are portrayed in movies and most television.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUIFWitR9XU&list=UULFd4GfhPDhWJuIE0B3tl7vUw&index=26

Angry, sometimes funny, condescending, emotionally abusive, loud, aggressive and sometimes violent, these movie coaches are revered and quoted often. But this is Hollywood where the ends almost always justify the means.

A few years ago, I was sitting at the dinner table with a husband/wife coaching team in a suburb of Boise, Idaho. During dinner, the husband asked if I had seen a show called, "Ted Lasso" and he pulled up the first episode. However the chat during dinner drowned out the show and it was a few more years until four episodes popped up on an Airbus300 headed overseas. A  handful of episodes on another flight to a coaching clinic in Europe this summer peaked even more interest, but the story lines and characters were fragmented and the show was still a mystery.

However, the final episode of season 3 of "Ted Lasso" was finished last night. Not being a movie or TV critic but one who aspires to help coaches to be better versions of ourselves, the show was like a book you can't put down: bingeable being the current terminology.

Start with this clip and you get the idea of what Ted Lasso is and is not:

He is the ultimate optimist in nearly every situation, despite the personal demons he must overcome during the 3 seasons. He is silly, funny, charming and a 'dad-joke' machine; not at all the kind of coach that is usually portrayed in the movies and TV. 

In his wonderful book "The Culture Code," author Daniel Coyle points to three things that construct a great culture: safety, vulnerability and a common quest. "Ted Lasso" adopts these three  characteristics throughout the incarnations of his futbol team and at first creates uncomfortable toxicity but by the end, the yanking of heartstrings the Hallmark network would envy.

Standing atop the lessons learned during these 34 episodes might deprive you of clean oxygen, but the hike is of eternal value.

In this scene, Lasso recalls a Walt Whitman quote while in the middle of a dart game with a rival club owner. 

Maybe it's just seeing a coach that reads books or can talk to his players without yelling and throwing things. Maybe it's the silly dances that his team rallies around or the way he treats his support staff and colleagues. While in reality we revel in the coach v. coach pre match-up verbal smackfest; TV's Lasso avoids it. Maybe it's the way he relates to each player and staff member, tackles the hard and difficult and is always on the lookout for something to learn.

Parents should pay close attention to the style of coach Lasso is. Even though he is just a streamed character, he is, above all, good for his players and his team and club. He brings passion and joy and humor and empathy. He is an example of what we should all strive to be as coaches; good TO and FOR our players.

At the end of the series, a reporter has written a book about the team, calling it, "The Lasso Way." Ted reads the book and adds this:

In this case, the means justify the end.

Tashi Deleg

 On May 29th, 1954, Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzig Norgay of  Nepal accomplished what no humans had before them- they stood atop Mount Everest, the highest peak in the world.

It was Norgay's 39th birthday and his sixth attempt at the summit of Everest. He used his experience to guide Hillary to the top of the world. When Everest had finally been navigated, (you don't conquer Everest), both were world famous but Norgay, a Sherpa, downplayed nearly all of his assistance and support. In this video, Hillary talks about how Sherpa Norgay saved his life and at video's end, you hear how the Nepali viewed his place in history:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4egTHmDYho

Hillary described Norgay as, "A charming, rather quiet person; someone who would listen to what you had to say, who was not dogmatic. In other words, an almost self-effacing sort of personality—which didn’t seem to go with the great climber he had obviously become."

Sherpas are indispensable in the climbing of Everest or any of the other 14 highest peaks in the world. They carry supplies, set the routes of the climbs, attach ropes and lay ladders that go over large deadly cervices in the ice. They even cook and make tea for their clients, all of whom pay tens of thousands of dollars to say they climbed Everest. But without the Sherpas, most would never come close.

If you are still wondering why this blog is called VolleySherpa, you have missed the point.

This is a coaching blog. It is through the Arizona Region of USA Volleyball but all are welcome to it. In this blog, we will try to help navigate, like the Sherpas coaches should be, the rocky and unsteady terrain of coaching; in this case volleyball.

We will refer to science instead of subjectivity, facts instead of fanaticism. As coaches who are serious about becoming better, we use these guardrails .

As VolleySherpas, we celebrate our athletes and other coaches getting better and succeeding. We work FOR them, we are of service to them. We are transformational, not transactional.

This blog is for serious coaches, parents and even athletes. It is open to criticism and conversation as true learning should be. Coaching isn't the black and white that it's made out to be by those on the outside looking in, but it's the 29,031 feet of gray in between. 

Welcome Sherpas.