Oil and Water...

The world is told to us in a binary message.

Politics, sports, science, entertainment; the flat ends of the bell curve are what fuels the vitriol, funds the coffers and gives pontificators the milk crate by which to stand a little higher than the rest of the lost flock.

In coaching, it is something that reroutes our thoughts routinely. Currently, the contradition of the Ecological Dynamics framework of coaching and the arch nemesis, the Information Processing approach can not coexist for like oil and water, they cannot be mixed. 

You will read questions on volleyball blogs asking if boxes for coaches and players to stand on are evil and should be banned or is there a use? Should we force our setters into using a setting net target for fear they will be reclassified as an IP setter? Is a serving machine a diabolical appliance that steals from our athletes? 

These hyperbolic statements are wonderful for those who want to build up their bank accounts to sell you merchandise or the idea that you don't need them and should enlist yourself into the movement of the "enlightened" coaches.

Here's a couple of facts to chew on. First, the country is deeply divided by Republican and Democrat. It's palpable in any conversation seen on a political show or read on a blog. But the fact is, last year 28% of the country was Republican, 28% was Democrat and 43% was Independent.

You read that right. According to Gallup.com, the news and political discourse is being driven by MINORITY voting blocks. And if you think this was an abberition, think again. In 2023, it was 27% Rep., 27% Dem. and 43% Ind. In 2022, it was 28% for the two parties and 41% for Independents.

Things are not what they seem.

Are boxes evil in a volleyball practice? Of course not. If your training calls for down balls into a defense or a block, this is a vehicle to accomplish those angles. Is a setting target a tragic fall back? Not at all. It's a way for setters to get work in with some immediate feedback on every set. Is a serving machine a demonic device used to steal reps from players? Maybe: or maybe, as former Pepperdine legend Marv Dunphy told us once, when his men's team is practicing after a long weekend, it's perferable to rest arms and let a machine work the serve recieve.

Are the above perfect solutions? No, probably not. They are fixes for problems that arise. They aren't 100% gamelike but at the same time, they aren't catching volleyballs in buckets to shore up serve recieve. They are viable options for specific situations. Will a setter get better launching into a target? Yes, some. Not in a game like fashion, but work on hands, fingers, wrists is happening.

For those coaches out there fueling "either or" scenarios, let's take a nap. As in any profession in the world, there are good ones and not so good ones. In coaching, there are those that run efficient, fun, engaging practices using setting targets and serving machines. And there are just as many coaches running boring, tired, fractured practices using none of them.

Identify the way you want to coach, we hope using science as the foundation you choose your drills and trainings around. Like athletes, coaches need to learn constantly. it's never ending which makes it a special profession. 

Let's let the middle ground, the gray area, be a safe place for coaches instead of the extreme ends of the coaching bell curve. There is much to gain in that area and much to learn with and from. There are mistakes that will be made and grown from and things that are engaging to your athletes that you will want to pin and come back to often. This is the journey of a coach. 

That journey isn't two toll booths on the other side of a high bridge. The spectacle is under the bridge. 

And finally, it turns out that oil and water CAN mix when oil is dispersed as small droplets in water.The answer lies in the electrical charge distribution at the interface.

...from our eyes to the end of our nose...

"To look through" or "to see clearly."

The Latin word perspicere is translated above and has become the English word perspective.

Nowadays, it's perceived more as how one sees things through their own eyes, but clarity isn't always a factor.

While you are making your bologna and banana sandwich today, you accidentally cut your finger while slicing the banana. Your perspective is it's a small cut, no big deal, life goes on.

But if you are scaling the wall of a mountain, your fingers gripping into crevices and crags in the rock, a cut finger can mean disaster. The grip needed to hoist your 200 pound frame up the rock is compromised. 

The same small cut from the perspective of two different scenarios.

If we aren't scaling mountains, chances are we would never think about this perspective but that doesn't make it any less a hazard to those that do.

Jalen Green is an up and coming player in the NBA, formerly of the Houston Rockets and now with the Phoenix Suns. He was traded a few weeks ago. During the regular season, Green averaged 21 points, almost 5 rebounds and 3 assists. These are substantial numbers from any player in the Association and Green was integral in Houston's push to the playoffs this season, their first in 5 years.

However in the playoffs, Green's numbers took a dive. He still averaged his 5 rebounds and 3 assists but his points per game was only 13 ppg. League perspective became that Green wasn't a playoff player, he couldn't win in big games and thus, he became expendable.

What that perspective probably doesn't talk about was how the defense of the team they faced, the Golden State Warriors, double teamed him to get the ball out of his hands, played him physical and being it was his first playoff experience, used that inexperience to flummox the guard. Jalen Green was traded weeks later.

This past few weeks we have seen the volleyball world's version of the encore. Final end of year tournaments are happening throughout the country. Thousands of teams and tens of thousands of players are participating under the watchful eyes, and perspectives, of coaches and parents alike.

The different perspectives of coaches, players and parents is the driving force behind most of the club hopping, coach-parent meetings and overall discontent throughout the club circles.

Perspective is often infused with the following observation: "Everybody's personal narrative is designed to protect them from pain and accountability."

The Coach who loses already takes a hit to his ego but then must defend why he lost to Parents and sometimes players and club personnel. We forego the perspective of the 19 year old on the sidelines who has all the answers, knows everything about coaching and is rarely if ever given the grace they need to make mistakes, learn from them, gain experience and move on.

Parents make excuses for their athletes, blaming coaches for misusing their talents and other players for not being good enough. The perspective of their daughter being the best player on the team, despite she doesn't start, only plays backrow and can't serve over the net yet infects Mom and Dad's mind. She is being persecuted and so Mom is searching for new clubs on the drive to the airport.

Players, under pressure from said coaches and parents, will blame injury or other players for their foibles, most often to the detriment of the team. He will tell anyone who will listen that his setter can't set him correctly, that he is always set into a block and that his passes are fragile because the other team was screening him. His perspective of being the persecuted starts a toxic domino affect throughout the team.

But in reality, and understanding that EVERY situation is different, if all parties involved just took a step back and tried to see the issue from the other person's perspective, many of the atomic riffs of our season could be muted into simple misunderstandings.

One Mom was propping her daughter up on social media for making an "all tournament" team. Justified or not, she didn't mention the rest of the team, as if they had no part in her daughter's success.

Another Coach was shown alone in a picture wearing their club shirt and proclaiming they were undefeated on the day. No mention of the team that performed, we are to assume it was ALL coaching.

Even athletes will get film from their parents and post a big kill or a monster block on social media sites, never acknowledging their fellow actors that were involved in the highlight. "Yup, Cami passed the ball to herself, set herself and then got the kill down the line! She's amazing!!!"

Volleyball is a team sport first and foremost. Recognize that as an athlete and a Parent. The coach is paid to make your daughter better AND make every other daughter on their team better. Getting better takes time and patience, it is not linear, we all develop, learn and grow at different rates. Holding your athlete to the standard of another is a lack of perspective on your part.

Coaches, we need to recognize that not all Parents are going to see the other 5 girls on the court. Their iPhones and GoPros are focused on their own son or daughter. Don't shun them or hide behind the "48 hour rule." Educate them, talk to them at practice about why and what you are doing. Talk to them honestly about their daughters strengths and weaknesses and what you plan is to utilize and address them. Give Parents the perspective they need to overlook the idea of their one and the other eleven and show them the benefits for all about thinking about the one being part of the twelve.

Perspective is constantly in flux. In our politics, our social media sites, in all aspects of culture. We have become a society of reflexive judgements and a perspective that only travels from our eyes to the end of our noses.

But our sports can be better and do better.

Your own peril...

The want and/or need for robust coaching education has been waning for years.

COVID saw many coaches retreat into their laptops and phones for drills and practice plans.

One club director told us, "Maybe everybody thinks they know everything already."

While you may have chuckled at that last remark, she may not be wrong.

Social media is littered (specifically chosen word) with subscribers who are experts. They will give their opinions on a bread recipe, the current political situation in Thailand and dating advice to Taylor Swift because they know everything.

Chances are if they were tested on any of these subjects they would struggle to score in single digits but there is no one/nothing pushing back. There is no accountability.

Look at this series of setting drills posted some months back.

Newer coaches, bored coaches and coaches that don't have a basis on which they coach might look at these videos and tell themselves they have found the way to train their setters.

The presentation is good and the drills look productive to the uninformed eye so why not use these to progress your young setters.

Georgia Head Coach Tom Black who has a storied coaching history explains his frustration with this kind of thinking in the video below:

"The stuff I'm seeing on social media, just empirically scientifically it's wrong."

If you aren't sure why the setting drills above don't meet a criteria for proper skill acquisition, then you have some work to do.

One of the great  things about the volleyball community is that knowledgeable coaches are willing to help.  The game, and maybe life, has taught them the value of humility and never thinking or assuming they know everything. In fact, find a coach who will admit to you they are always learning and don't know much, and buy them a cup of coffee and just listen. Those are the coaches of value.

Continue your coaching journey through the Instagram and TikTok's at your own peril. You will get lapped by better coaches. But until we embrace the idea of structured learning for coaches WITH someone to push back, debate and scrutinize you, Black is right. 

To make a difference, you have to be the difference.

Fact less and Feckless...

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVMP0LqFzTk

While not being a fan of sports talk, finding it self serving and rarely steeped in truth and fact based opinion, the above clip made it's way to my e mail from a coaching friend.

The argument that started this was that the last 7 NBA Most Valuable Players have been NON Americans. This began the vapid diatribe you can watch in its entirety at the link above.

Normally, this blog would stay away from the self exploitive bloviations that is seen above, but it's important to know a few FACTS before people begin to think the United States sports system is collapsing like these four panelists fragile credibility.

First, yes, it's the last seven years but we are only talking about four players, two of whom have won the MVP multiple times: Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo. 

Another FACT to know is that none of the four panelists have ever coached, but it's nice to see they delight in defiling those in the profession. They suggest without any thought or foresight that it's because sports have become monetized, that personal brands rule the sports landscape and that even 'cancel culture' has crept in and kept Americans from winning the NBA's top individual prize.

The number of international players in the NBA has tripled in the last 30 years. The FACTS are there are now more great International players which might suggest that they have a better chance at the MVP now that there are more of them. (Why would an NBA team bring a mediocre International player overseas to play?)

Trends in sports are always pored over by pundits who claim to have reasons for them all, usually making their arguments, like you can see above, with little to no FACTS and marinated in personal opinion and a small sample size of experiences they muster into their hustle.

Let's try this on for size. Currently the network that produces this bastion for personal narrative and, yes, branding, is complicit in the following:

Middle schoolers in the Little League World Series are made into media fodder as is their coaches. Please read the first two words again in the above sentence: MIDDLE SCHOOLERS.

This network shows high school basketball games and again makes and breaks these athletes AND coaches with each win and loss, with each good and not so good performance. Again, just to reiterate, HIGH SCHOOLERS!

Sacrificing and spit roasting coaches is a daily habit for shows like these and not so shockingly, several coaching legends in many sports have decided not to wake up to Monday morning calls for their dismissal and the abuse and doubt that surrounds their job security daily and resigned. Children are affected, families are affected, and these panelists sit in their air conditioned studio making a shade under $30m a year for the four of them passing judgement on something they know little to nothing about.

College coaches have had to redefine their entire job description in the past few years with the advent of the NIL and the infusion of mega money into collegiate AND high school sports. They are learning on the fly as the rules change faster than the hourly wardrobes by these four hypocrites.

Molly, Michael, Jay and Stephen, shame on you. For a fact less, feckless insult to coaches working to do their jobs. It would be interesting to see ESPN put a coaching show on the docket that criticized the talking shrunken heads who find self satisfaction in taking down hard working coaches and athletes. 

Like the bloviation nation whose noise invades our consciousness by the minute, Coaches want to be the best they can be. Athletes want to be the best they can be. We all make mistakes, we all (hopefully) learn from our mistakes. You calling them out on every downturn might be spirited fodder for your morning ego-thon, but it's not all us.

Look in the mirror!

A Day in the Life....

 May 21st.

The Indiana Pacers erase a 14 point deficit in the NBA's Eastern Conference Championship and tie the game at the buzzer on this Tyrese Haliburton jump shot...

Hard to imagine that at practice the day before, Haliburton worked on this shot- running into the lane and then running back out, turning on one foot and firing up a toe-on-the-line 3 pointer. 

While this event happened earlier in the year, social media snared this video and ran with it. What you see is Grand Sumo wrestler Ura fighting a much bigger Takayasu...

The move Ura performs at the end of the match, according to sources,  has been implemented just 6 times in the last 25 years AND has a .02% effectiveness rate. Is it conceivable that Ura was practicing this move, knowing the slim chance it had of success or did it maybe just "come to him in the moment?"

Four climbers from the United Kingdom made history  yesterday. Climbing Mount Everest is usually a multi week process requiring climbers to move from one elevation to a higher one, acclimating to the thin air with each higher camp until they summit and descend. This group left London on May 16th, was at base camp on May 17th and summited yesterday, May 21st.

Five total days! It is the fastest ascent of Everest in history.

Using science of xenon gas breathing treatments and hypoxic chambers, they defeated tradition and have now put the Everest expeditionary world on it's heels. 

In one day, three examples of thinking outside the box, of looking away from text book solutions and using the solutions allotted them, created successful solutions to overcoming problems.

It's what we ask of our athletes but sometimes, as coaches, we don't give them the tools.

Let them learn to adapt, to solve problems, to explore and refine.

Let them overcome obstacles.

"A Very Special Place"

 The very first think you notice is the painted logo on the side of the wall on the cement courts  outside.

In a poor section of Casablanca, the main city of 7 million in Morocco, a hand painted logo proudly calls out Association Moustakbal Deb Sultan,  (AMDS), the volleyball club for the area. 

 It is run by a gentleman named Saad Mifdal, a lawyer during the day and at 4p every day, comes to open his gym. He has always had an interest in youth sports being a soccer player in his youth. In the early 2000's, he started a soccer club, then tennis, then back to soccer before he settled on and fell in love with volleyball. He gives time, money and the energy to making AMDS, despite its humble surroundings and facilities, one of the premiere training sites in all of Morocco.

 

Much like the Outrigger club in Hawaii who has accounted for 15 Olympians,  AMDS accounts for roughly half the Moroccan National Teams, both men's and women's and several of the Junior National Teams. This despite working with athletes in the Derb Sultan area which is very poor, crime riddled and a place where cell phones are hidden even on the shortest of walks.

 

During a tour of the club, it was obvious why there was a HUGE difference between this club and the others that continue to be coached and trained by Moroccan coaches like it's still 1967.

 

First, the practices see the balls coming from over the net.

 

Second, even the players that are off to the side, not involved in practice, are playing pepper but with a setter and they are taking full controlled swings, not roll shots. 

 

Third and most important, they have a "short court," roughly 15' by 30', 450 sq. ft. v. the normal 900 sq ft of a full volleyball half court.

 

During the tour, a bunch of the boys from the practice that just ended sprinted outside, grabbed the net and set up the short court. (The club is under some renovation and while it is normally up all the time, it has to be put up and taken down for the next month or so).

 

The small court rules are as follows: 2 v. 2. If there are players waiting, games are to 6. The third contact can NOT be a set over or a push over, full swings or cut shots are encouraged. If not, you lose the point. If your team doesn't get three touches, you lose the point.

 

As I was there, a men's National team player that played at AMDS strolled in and began to pepper with some of the younger players. About 20 minutes later, another libero playing on a professional team at the moment, grabbed a ball and began to work and pepper with a couple of other young players. A third Men's National team player came in a little after that. All are from around the area, all coming back "home" for a couple of hours.

 

The kids weren't being lectured, they weren't bored and they were all working with a ball, attacking, setting, digging. 

 

Outdoor cement courts, one beach court, an indoor gym with a floor that should have been refinished 10 years ago, and yet National Team level players are flowing out of AMDS. 

One such player, middle blocker Kabira Najim, begin her volleyball career at AMDS. "I joined this team at the late age of 16. It is a very wonderful experience and the head of the team is very wonderful and takes care of the children. I took training from him for two years after which I went to the Royal Army (club)." Kabira is now a professional player and is a regular on the Moroccan women's National Teams during competitions.

"What I like about the club is the team spirit and the way the President treats the children," Kabira adds. "It was not a team but it was a school that taught us how to play and the spirit of brotherhood."  

"It was a successful start for me, with this team, and the confidence that I got. The culture of the team was that I could be better." She adds.

The day after the tour, the U14 team travelled 90 minutes  to south to El Jadida for the Moroccan Girl's Club Championships. The U14 team, made up of 12 and 13 year olds, looked 16, taking big swings, big serves and playing solid defense. 

AMDS won the Country wide Club Championship in straight sets against the home team, El Jadida.

It's not a secret. The 2 v 2 games that the young athletes start with gives them more and valuable touches in the training sessions, instilling habits they will use their entire careers. The drills are game like and link perception and action. Even off the court, the pepper includes a setter and big swings and digs.

Most of all, in this neighborhood, it is an escape, a release. It's an oasis of fun, adventure, exploration and competition for young boys and girls who must learn the ideas of team, brotherhood, culture and competitiveness in a less than optimal environment.

Kabira puts it succinctly. "It is a very special place." 

Everybody Hurts...

A New York High School basketball coach was fired after this egregious violation of one of his players. His name was Jim Zullo and he was fired the day after this was filmed.

No doubt, Zullo, who has been coaching basketball for 30 years and was in the High School Hall of Fame in New York, has preached to his players about staying poised and in control during stressful times on the court.

( Beware, inappropriate language in the above video, not suitable for children) Univeristy of Connecticut head basketball coach Dan Hurley, who coached the men's Husky's to back to back NCAA National Championships in 2023 and 2024, here shouts to the oncoming team that he hopes the officials don't do to them what Hurley proposes they did to him and his team.

It's a rude, offensive and callous remark caught on video, one of several Hurley made this past 2025 season that did not live up to the expectations placed upon him and his team.

No doubt, Hurley, who comes from a well known but fiery basketball family, has worked with his players on focusing on the controllables, not using blame and taking responsibility for his players actions.

In a clip from last year, Illinois head basketball coach Brad Underwood is shown unloading on his players, one in particular. Some media called him exceptional for "holding his players accountable."

In a hilarious Saturday Night Live skit, coach "Sheila Kelly" at "Middle Delaware State" is called out on her coaching behavior and giving her reasoning for her ridiculous over the top behavior. 

Sport is a volatile atmosphere. Winning, losing, pressure, ego: it's an amalgam of potential disruptive and certainly at times, negative behavior and consequences. It's not the purview of this blog to chastise these coaches for their lack of self control caught by a cell phone lens, but it is a reminder to us all.

Like it or not, we, as coaches, ARE role models for our athletes. Hold them to a standard of behavior you cannot sustain, and you will lose their respect and the locker room. Show them you cannot withstand the heat, and they will soon follow. Complain and blame and you will create athletes in your image. Telling them to now worry about the uncontrollables and then bring them up in every post match lecture, they will zone out. 

These are examples of coaches having regretful moments of losing control. Why is subjective to the coach and the moment: ego? A costly mistake in crunch time? Lack of faith in a player? The reasons are plentiful.

But the one lesson from all of these moments, and the many YOU have seen and consciously collected in your coaching memory is stark.

They hurt.

Ultra what???

 Ultracrepidarianism.

Nineteen letters in one word that is more and more, describing the landscape of which we all inhabit.

For the record, ultracrepidarianism is defined as "opinions and advice on matters outside of one's knowledge."

As the murky waters of social media, journalism and the truth continue to swirl together, we can all expect more and more of this in our futures.

We have a government currently operating with nominees and appointees not nearly qualified for the positions they have been given.

We have media and influencers giving opinions on things they know little to nothing about. Just this week, a bloviator on a major sports network signed a contract for $100 million dollars DESPITE the facts that his reporting has been suspect since the day he started with the network. Time and time again he has talked about sports he knows little about, offering opinions on teams and players despite not having any contact with them. 

A former comedian hosts the biggest podcast in the country where he espouses claims about medical treatments, social fixes and conspiracies. He also announces MMA fights and trains as well, but continues to give medical advice on things he is not educated on. 

Many influencers can fall back on their position that they are simple "entertainment" and they shouldn't be held to such high standards.

But there is a cost.

For example, all of those "experts" who will tell you where to put your betting money day in and day out, and many have as much knowledge about what they are urging you to be on as you do. 

Parents who stride confidently into an AD's office demanding that their son's coach be fired because they didn't draw up the right play last Friday night. Or they didn't play their daughter so they screwed up the lineup, despite not having attended one practice the entire season. 

Coaches and athletes who dwell on social media channels with influencers telling them exactly what is wrong with them and how to fix it- as if everybody is exactly the same. 

These influencers who are looking for likes and hearts but bypass simple motor learning theory and efficient and game like practice design for something that looks "cool" on an iPhone in the hands of a lazy coach or parent.

We are forced to be better consumers of information despite the fact that the tsunami that is currently the information overload we are all gasping for air to crawl out from under shows no signs of receding. 

If you aren't knowledgeable on a subject you want to talk about, learn! Get educated. Help teach others. Use reliable, science based facts that are not in a political arena or being championed by someone making a profit off of his opinions. 

Let's flip the switch on these ultracreptidarianists and give them their due as "entertainers" but shy away from the medical, social and life lessons they want us all to take in.

Who we get...

The podcast guest said it again...

"We get the athletes we deserve."

He was a renowned sports psychologist and had worked with high level teams most of his career. He spoke candidly about his past experiences but this phrase stuck.

"We get the athletes we deserve?"

You could look at this through a philosophical lens, or as an idea of revenge or payback for past actions coaching and recruiting your teams. 

Maybe he was referring to physicality. Bring in a slew of big, strong athletes and watch games get more physical? 

Or maybe he just meant that if we coach at a high level, we will get high level athletes.

Maybe he meant engage your athletes throughout your two a week practices- EVERY practice- and get the most out of them mentally and physically.

Maybe he was referring to the idea that transactional coaching, monetizing athletes for what they can do for your career and ego and showing them the darker side of athletics will haunt the potential of the team?

Perhaps coaching with empathy, treating athletes as individuals-that are part of something bigger than themselves will return athletes humbled and grateful for their experiences they will transfer into life.

It certainly isn't quid pro quo. You can't expect to recruit the best outside hitter from another club and expect them to lead you in kills every game. Sports doesn't operate at the junction of want and result.

Maybe he just meant what we put into our athletes emotionally, mentally and physically is what we can expect to get from them. Infuse positive, athlete centered, engaging transformational coaching into your team and while it isn't a guarantee, perhaps reap athletes (and maybe parents) who are appreciative, intelligent and emotionally secure.

Depending upon the coach you are is maybe who we get...  

Big Rocks under us...

Sometimes social media CAN provide us with inspiration, education and reflection that isn't callous, misguided or banal. This week, under the stars of some big sports happenings, we got lucky.

Fred Duncan, a licensed speed coach for the NHL, NFL and Olympians showed his disgust with the current training regimens of youth athletes at a seminar he was presenting at.

The big rock? "You see so many training youth athletes like they're pros!" Youth athletes are NOT small adults, they are children: with the physiology of a growing body. They need to be treated as such.

Madison Keys overcome obstacle after obstacle until she stood alone at the podium of the Australian Open. She defeated the #2 seed in the semifinal and the #1 seed in the final, despite being the #19 seed- an upset for the tennis ages.

Here Madison talks about the mental chains she unlocked going into the tournament.

The big rock? "I think I've done a lot of work to no longer need this, I really wanted this but it was no longer the thing that was going to bind me, and letting go of that burden."

How often are our athletes defining themselves by winning and losing? How often are our parents feeding that narrative by social media posts ONLY when the team wins but nothing when they lose? 

Winning and losing is random in sport: ask the #1 and #2 seeds at the Australian Open this year. Support your athlete, win OR lose, for competing, working hard and doing their best. 

Finally, Nebraska's head volleyball coach John Cook retired this week. In a tearful news conference, he told the story of the new Nebraska coach, Dani Busboom Kelly who used to play for Cook.

The big rock? "She was going to do everything possible to help that team. Whatever role she was asked to do, she would do."

For the good of the team, Busboom put aside what she wanted, did what the team needed and they won a National Championship on her back. 

These stories become more rare with each sunrise. Players trained and convinced to do one thing on the court, liberos and middles tagged at 10 and 11 years old because of their size THEN and not learning the rest of the game because they are locked into those positional cages. 

As coaches we need to teach the game. Not just one position but the whole game. Give middles the chance to get better at serve receive. Teach your setters to block and your libs to attack. Give them the tools to succeed like Dani Busboom was able to do.

Big rocks make a mountain, the ones Coaches and athletes climb everyday. Here's hoping these big rocks make a difference in your climb.

Pay Now or Pay Later...

 This is a video answer from Apple founder Steve Jobs.

The best taxi driver can get you to your destination in 15 minutes, the worst one maybe a half an hour. A minimal difference from a profession that likely will not fester with you but for more than a few minutes.  But for Jobs, a software designer is so important that the difference for him is more like 100-1.

Think about your coaches.

In a paper titled "The Artistic Accomplishment of Coaches in Youth Sport," authors Dia and Xu write, "The influence of coaches on athletes is huge. Nowadays, many coaches do not understand the meaning of the phrase "catching the heart of an athlete." As coaches, in addition to helping athletes to formulate training plans, improving their performance and helping them to achieve their maximum potential on the sports field, achieving excellent sports performance will not only focus on their performance in the competition, but also pay more attention to the development of the athletes' lives. Helping exercise to deal with 'heart' issues, such as feelings, confidence, motivation and team cohesion, and even the meaning of life, these are the necessary artistic qualities for a good coach!"

This paper was written about coaches in CHINA! Not the United States.

As the new club season dawned upon us in early November, one Club Director proudly shared the growth of his club, over 40 teams now. When asked the question, "You have 40 great coaches and 40 willing assistants?" the pivot in the conversation was palpable.

While other countries require Coaches to get a degree, go through months or years of schooling and often times an apprenticeship before they can put the lead whistle around their necks, the U.S. continues to falter in Coach education and development. 

With youth sports being a cash cow for so many, little to nothing is spent on teaching coaches to be better.

And yet BAD coaches can drive kids away from sport, into depression and the desperate roads that accompany poor self esteem and confidence. Players are scarred deeply, those which they can carry far into adulthood. 

Parents call and complain to a club director, even to a Region officer but the bottom line is, in it's current condition, if a coach doesn't want to get better, they don't have to. They can drive your son or daughter out of a sport. They can affect their lives negatively going forward.

The question becomes when does the fulcrum of bad coaches begin to affect bottom lines? That may be the only push back that will matter.

For a club director that has dozens of teams, losing an athlete here or there is a small loss on a business that shows a huge return on investment. Spending money to send their coaches to an accredited coaching clinic seems frivolous and a loss of practice time.

One admirable Club Director could grow her business, but she is limited by gym space, (not wanting two teams practicing on a court at the same time) and qualified coaches. Every season, one of her first duties is to host an accredited coaching clinic for her staff. She has made a dedicated effort for quality over quantity, for her athlete's well being and training over her bottom line.

Sadly, her Parents may not even notice.

Gym costs, travel costs, Club costs continue to rise with literally no end in sight. To pay so much for a coach to ruin your daughter's athletic career is a short runway to what some parents will see as the eventual payback, litigation.

If you think that is an empty threat, think again, it's already begun.

We hope and want to work with the notion that USA Volleyball will raise the coaching standards along with every other youth sport organization. We will look to their leadership to weed out the bad coaches and reward the good ones. Maybe at a more base level, just define the characteristics of good coaches and bad.

Imagine in 5-10 years, your club having a legal department, having to field 11 lawsuits from parents and athletes that were coached so badly they carry medical records as evidence. The lawyer fees alone are in the tens of thousands and losing a case could be in the millions. 

Or maybe we can accept that putting an "A team," as Steve Jobs called them, out on the courts coaching your club kids, would be a better answer. An "A team" that is up to date in training concepts and ideas, that knows how to treat and get the best out of athletes in the age group they are coaching, that understands basics of player mental health, diet, training and recovery. 

This seems a simple answer but one that turns bottom lines red.

The old adage, "pay now or pay later" may be making a comeback.

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...

Small steps, Huge gains

A recent article in the New York Times quoted a Brookings Institution survey of over 66,000 young people with the following tragedy: “In third grade, 74 percent of kids say they love school. By 10th grade, it’s 26 percent.”

The article by Jenny Anderson and Rebecca Winthrop entitled, “Giving Kids Some Autonomy Has Surprising Results”   follows the spiral of students as they are given less and less opportunities to think and act for themselves as they move further up the educational ladder. The result is disengagement and a lack of social and work skills needed for their future.

Quoting Anderson and Winthrop, “There’s a reason the system isn’t serving people well, and it goes beyond the usual culprits of social media and Covid. Many recent graduates aren’t able to set targets, take initiative, figure things out and deal with setbacks — because in school and at home they were too rarely afforded any agency.”

This isn’t a new phenomenon. In their oft cited and groundbreaking study, Gabriele Wulf and Rebecca Lewthwaite talked about autonomy in their 2016 OPTIMAL theory of sportdevelopment. “Allowing individuals to exercise control over the environment may not only satisfy a basic psychological need but may be a biological necessity. Studies with both humans and other animals have shown that both prefer an option leading to a choice than an option that does not, even if this option results in greater effort or work— suggesting the existence of an inherent reward with the exercise of control.”

What does this have to do with your dozen 15-year-olds coming to practice tonight? Great teachers who are in turn great coaches understand this idea and apply it during their training periods.

What it doesn’t mean is turning the asylum over to the inmates. Anderson and Winthrop conclude, “Giving kids agency doesn’t mean letting them do whatever they want. It doesn’t mean lowering expectations, turning education into entertainment or allowing children to choose their own adventure. It means requiring them to identify and pursue some of their own goals, helping them build strategies to reach those goals, assessing their progress and guiding them to course-correct when they fall short.”

As coaches, this should be our blueprint. Telling an athlete what you expect out of them while never consulting or asking them is a great way to lose credibility with them. Have that conversation. Meet them where they are but always push a little further, let them know your expectations but in the same conversation creating a scenario you BOTH workshop as a way to get there.

In practice, coaches follow their practice plan, careful to make sure everything is completed. In that plan is there any room for the athletes to make some choices?

For example, if your team plays the first 10-15 minutes of practice, can the team pick the game? If you are playing half court or short court, how about letting the athletes pick a constraint for that game? Maybe let them choose the boundaries of the court? Can they choose the final drill or game of practice from a list of three you have given them?

These are small dents in a greater plan, and they don’t cost you anything. The athletes are still getting touches, still competing and since they are playing, probably engaged. The benefits are enormous.

When you can, in the coming weeks, make a note in your practice plans with a star in those points in practice where your team can make some choices. It’s a small step to greater gains.