Quality First

Seek excellence not validation. Entrepreneur Sara Blakely preaches, "obsess the product." The players are the product. 

Dave Smart is among the finest coaches anywhere. A key Smart concept is, "every day is player development day." NBA legend Kevin Durant owns a similar philosophy, waking and asking, "how can I get better today?" 

Be intentional with specific growth plans daily. 

• Build your body to become stronger and more explosive. 
• Watch video of your technique...your footwork, platform, passing, and arm swing. 
• Refine technique that applies to your position. 
• Practice mindfulness to become more resilient. 

Quality preparation 

• Players, maintain your notebook. After every practice and game write out three things done well and one to improve upon. 
• Maintain and revise a drill book.
• Maintain and edit your playbook.
• Have a teaching file of clips.
• Consider maintaining a blog.
• Develop practice schedules using all of the above.

Quality teaching

• Be specific.
• Get and give feedback as a check of learning.
• Mentor within the team. 

Quality offensive possessions

• Concept dependent - spacing, player and ball movement, finishing
• Track errors by type and cause (decision or execution problem)
• Don't confuse aggressive play with reckless play. 
• Develop 'possession enders' (setting, digging, attacking)
• Track shot quality (no 'shot turnovers'). 
• "The quality of the pass relates to the quality of the shot"- Pete Carril

Quality defensive possessions

• Excellent defense starts with blocking to help the back row.
• Have an attitude of keeping the ball in play.    
• Contest shots without committing net errors. 
• No missed assignments (coverage). 
• Talk. The ball cannot hit the floor. 
• "Same page" mentality (e.g. coverage, setter choices)

Lagniappe. Service tips. Struggling? Adjust toss, stance, and focus.