The Smallest Steps....

The uphill climb has begun.

The past few weeks, teams around the country have begun their seasons. And already, just a month or two into training, Coaches have been heard muttering the following:

"She can't pass" or "She can't block," etc.

"My setter is too slow."

"This team will never be able to..."

These tropes are repeated season after season, often by the same coaches. Despite every team being different, every player being different and every situation being different, we fall into the same complaints like a yearly pattern to begin the season.

“If you hear a voice within you say “You cannot paint.” then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced.” -Vincent Van Gogh

What if this season, we told ourselves a different narrative?

"She can't pass" or "She can't block," etc. Then maybe the question to ask is, "What CAN she do?" She was chosen on your team for a reason. What is the value you can find in her as a person, as a teammate AND as a player? What are her strengths as opposed to focusing on her weaknesses?

The next step of course is coaching her up! What can we do at practice OR even as homework to get her to pass? Or help her with blocking? How can we tailor our practice plan to get her better at one or all of these areas? Raising the white flag a few weeks into the season is not only premature but shows a lack of skill for a coaching staff. Reach out for some help from other coaches in your club or in your coaching circle. 

“The difference between misery and happiness depends on what we do with our attention.” -Sharon Salzberg

Let's adress, "My setter is too slow." For some coaches, a slow setter is a non negotiable. But again, this player was chosen for a reason. Maybe her hands are butter but she struggles to get to the ball? Again, let's reframe: "How can we get our setter to MORE volleyballs?"

Can we position her off the net more, giving her a second head start to the ball? Can we teach her to read the pass better? Is she getting those opportunties in practice or are all of her reps being tossed to her by a coach? At the very least, can you spend an extra 10 minutes before or after or DURING practice with her to help her read and use efficient footwork to make the next play? 

If you have already given up on her, which is a sad scenario but often the case, then she's been scentenced to a season of feeling less than, of constant criticism and depending upon her mental makeup, has probably played her last season of competitive volleyball. Are you, as a coach, as a purveyor of personal and team growth, willing to toss her into the scrapheap to rust away?

"This team will never be able to..."

Again, on the reframing of the statement, "What CAN they do?" If you have a small team and you want them to be able to block their way to wins, have you set them up for failure? Have you, as a coach, always used a certain offense or defense but see it not working well with this group of athletes? Is it them or is it your stubborness to find the right systems to fit these athletes? 

Can you think outside the box, taking into account the age level skills that are important to your team? Can you find solutions to earn points, stop points and win in transition? Or again, a month into the season, have you already raised the whtie flag and proclaimed this a "lost season" because your round pegs don't fit into your square holes?

“Everything can be taken from a man but…the last of the human freedoms– to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances.” -Viktor Frankl

Any great coach is resilliant, is adaptable and is always trying to find ways to make their athletes the best version of themselves. If you have fallen short on these three qualities, what can you do to gain some traction in acquiring them? Take those small steps at the beginning of this uphill climb and build instead of destroy, enhance instead of devalue, lead instead of complain.

The smallest steps begin every journey...