Department of Redundancy Department

THIS: pic.twitter.com/IVDomsoZBj

— Reads with Ravi (@readswithravi) August 3, 2026

Goals inhabit a lot of literature. Goals sometimes feel "over the horizon." Process isn't. Process prioritizes the here, the now, the "this is what we're doing today to improve."

One percent daily improvement earns 37+ fold improvement over the course of a year.  

Discipline defines destiny.

Consistency in process fosters unimaginable gains.  

Belief is earned through discipline and consistency. 

Strong cultures help ordinary people accomplish extraordinary things together.

Enduring Lessons - ChatGPT Plus Extracts Messages from Over 5,000 Posts

Ten Enduring Lessons from 5,600 Volleyball Posts

After writing more than 5,600 volleyball blog posts over the past two decades, I've become less convinced that success comes from discovering the next clever drill or offensive wrinkle. Those matter, but they aren't the foundation.

Championship programs tend to share enduring principles. Here are ten that have stood the test of time.

1. Character Is Skill Number One

Talent opens doors.

Character determines how long they stay open.

Teams improve faster when players are accountable, coachable, dependable, and willing to put the team first.

Everything flows from your ability to "get after it" even on days when you don't feel like it. 

2. Every Day Is Player Development Day

Improvement isn't reserved for practice plans labeled "skill work."

Every repetition, every film session, every conversation, every match is an opportunity to improve.

Development is a daily habit, not an event.

What is your improvement plan for today? 

3. The Game Rewards Reading

Volleyball is more than execution.

The best players read the setter, anticipate the hitter, recognize tendencies, and solve problems before the ball crosses the net.

Seeing the game is often more valuable than reacting to it.

Volleyball is a thinking person's sport. Attention to detail pays dividends.

4. Hard Work Is a Skill

Effort is not merely an emotion.

It is a habit.

Players learn to communicate early, pursue every ball, recover after mistakes, and compete when they don't have their "A" game.

Champions rarely rely on motivation alone.

Hard work is an extension of toughness.

5. Process Produces Performance

Scoreboards measure outcomes.

Championships are built through preparation, communication, discipline, recovery, and attention to detail.

Focus on the process.

Results usually follow.

Trust the process. 

6. Become Your Own Coach

The best athletes gradually require less external instruction.

They evaluate themselves honestly.

They solve problems during competition.

They make adjustments before someone tells them to.

Eventually, they become active participants in their own development.

Develop the ability to "train yourself up" with outside resources. 

7. Contribution Is Bigger Than Recognition

Every player wants to contribute.

Not every contribution appears in the box score.

A timely communication, a disciplined block, an intelligent cover, positive energy, or making a teammate better all influence winning.

Strong teams ask, "How can I help us win?"

"It's great to be part of a team."

8. Adversity Reveals More Than Success

Anyone can be positive when everything is going well.

Championship teams reveal themselves when momentum changes, mistakes happen, injuries occur, or expectations aren't met.

Resilience isn't built during easy days.

It's revealed during difficult ones.

Do. Not. Quit. 

9. Leadership Is Service

Leadership isn't about status.

It's about responsibility.

The best captains encourage teammates, uphold standards, tell the truth, and consistently show up.

They make the people around them better.

Serving your "community" is a worthy priority. 

10. Never Stop Learning

The greatest coaches and players remain students.

Books, clinics, opponents, history, psychology, military strategy, business, medicine—wisdom has many sources.

The sport evolves.

So should we.

There is a continuum of achievement - "legacy" - that you belong to. "Leave the jersey in a better place." 

---

Melrose Volleyball has earned a tradition of excellence because generations of players embraced these ideas.

The uniforms change.

The opponents change.

The rules occasionally change.

The principles rarely do.

The challenge for every new season is simple:

Honor the standard.

Improve every day.

Leave the program stronger than you found it.

What I find most interesting is that, despite writing thousands of posts, your philosophy has actually become simpler, not more complicated.

Almost everything you've written can be traced back to three recurring themes:

• Teamwork
• Improvement
• Accountability

Those aren't just slogans. They are the operating system from which nearly every lesson in your blog naturally follows. 

Lessons from the Sidelines

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Matt Lisle - Coach Lisle (@coachlisle)

Make learning your superpower. That includes learning to read the game. 

Opponent strategy

• Where do they attack? 
• Where is their defense weakest? 
• Do they have a player to attack with the serve? 

Opponent personnel

• Who are their top players? 
• Do they have a weaker blocker? 
• Where do they serve? 

Reading the opponent

• Does the setter telegraph location? 
• Do hitters reveal their intent (e.g. tips)? 

Make your time on the sideline useful so that when you get your opportunity, you're ready. 

Standing Up - Symmetry, Strategy, and More

Symmetry. Sports often show symmetry - give and take, the yin and the yang. 

Consider baseball. Hitting is timing, pitching is disrupting timing. Or basketball. Offense is about creating advantage with spacing, cutting, and passing. Defense shrinks space and tries to limit the separation created by cutting and passing.

Volleyball has its symmetry:

• Serve-receive opposes serve.
• Blocking opposes attack.  

Yet coaching isn't all about technique and tactics. Successful coaches excel at a variety of responsibilities such as:

• Teaching
• Listening 
• Motivating

Coaching is correction and sometimes discipline. Coaches who take discipline seriously also backstop players, "standing up" for them:

• Networking 
• Writing recommendations 
• Supporting them for recognition (e.g. all-star teams, etc.)

According to Leading with Strategy, three types of gap occur in an organization:

• Identity gap
• Marketing gap
• Capability gap

The best 'teams' address all three. Solve for who you are, what is your market, and boost performance. 

Here's AI input on Leading with Strategy by Timothy Tiryaki with volleyball application:

An identity gap occurs when a volleyball program says it values one thing but consistently behaves another way. A team may preach “team first,” resilience, and accountability, yet tolerate poor body language, inconsistent effort, or status-based favoritism. Identity is not slogans on a wall. Identity is what repeatedly shows up in practice, film sessions, conditioning, and pressure moments. The strongest programs align behavior with stated values until “the standard is the standard” becomes cultural muscle memory.

A marketing gap emerges when perception and reality drift apart. Some programs market themselves through social media, uniforms, hype videos, or selective storytelling while neglecting actual player development and competitive substance. Conversely, strong developmental programs sometimes fail to communicate their strengths clearly to players and families. In volleyball, trust grows when messaging matches experience: organized practices, honest communication, visible improvement, and consistent culture become the best form of recruiting and reputation-building.

A capability gap appears when aspirations exceed current skills, systems, or preparation. A team may want to run a fast tempo offense, aggressive serve pressure, or complex defensive schemes without possessing the technical skill, volleyball IQ, or communication necessary to execute them. Coaches close capability gaps through deliberate training, representative practice, repetition under pressure, and incremental mastery. Vision matters, but execution determines whether philosophy survives contact with competition.

Miscellaneous MVB Musings

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Tha Athlete Apparel LLC (@tha_athlete)

The best way to get respect is to give it. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by All In Athletes | Athlete Community (@always_allin)

"Fight for your culture every day." 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Gigi Vecchiarelli (@gigis.vb7)

You can do this three times a week (to allow tendon recovery). Volleyball rewards explosive athletes. 

Consistency

⚠️ EVERYONE KEEPS CALLING THIS "MAN VS MACHINE."

That framing already lost.

You're watching a human go up against a system that doesn't accumulate fatigue, doesn't carry yesterday's injury into today's round, and doesn't have a contract that expires.

The human brings… https://t.co/6BVgA2TDTE pic.twitter.com/WUjU2tMT6D

— Shredder (@Shred_0x) August 2, 2026

Back in the day, Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert had memorable tennis matches. Navratilova was ranked number one for 332 weeks.

Navratilova would deliver smashes from all over the court...and Evert would send them back, a model of consistency.  

Volleyball rewards aggressiveness and consistency. Make both your brand. 

Why Strength and Conditioning Matter

"Fatigue makes cowards of us all." - General George Patton, 1944

Sport tests character and competence. Extended competition tends to degrade both.

Legendary pitcher Johnny Sain said, "If running did it, they'd look for pitchers on track teams." He used this quote to justify his controversial belief that throwing was a more important training tool than running drills. Another saying went, "you don't run the ball across the plate."

Nevertheless, tradition dictated conditioning for pitchers. We had an annual "Pitcher's Mile" on an elevated, indoor track at Briggs Cage. It felt more like competition than training. In 1976, my personal best was 5:07. That wasn't the best time among all the pitchers. 

Volleyball tests you physically and especially mentally. The long matches and long rallies measure your skill and your focus. The players who have paid the "training price" often stand up well "close and late."

The purest measure of aerobic fitness is "maximal oxygen consumption" or VO2max. This is measurable with a cycle ergometer and metabolic cart, neither of which are readily available. The Cooper 12-minute run is a good substitute. Athletes run as far as possible in 12 minutes. 

The original Cooper equation is:

VO₂max (mL/kg/min) = (Distance in meters − 504.9) ÷ 44.73

The equation is not sex-specific—the physiology is already reflected in the distance covered. Normative interpretations differ by age and sex, but the equation itself is the same.

Here's a practical table for female athletes:

12-Minute Distance	Miles	Estimated VO₂max
1800 m	1.12	28.9
1900 m	1.18	31.1
2000 m	1.24	33.4
2100 m	1.30	35.6
2200 m	1.37	37.8
2300 m	1.43	40.1
2400 m	1.49	42.3
2500 m	1.55	44.5
2600 m	1.62	46.8
2700 m	1.68	49.0
2800 m	1.74	51.2
2900 m	1.80	53.5
3000 m	1.86	55.7
3100 m	1.93	57.9

Suggested interpretation for high school girls

Estimated VO₂max	General Rating
<35	Below average
35–40	Average
40–45	Good
45–50	Excellent
50–55	Exceptional
>55	Elite endurance capacity

The point isn't to train "for a test" but to train mental toughness. Can we build a model of 'fitness' and 'resilience'? We can approximate.

Perhaps fatigue does something even more specific. It exposes which behaviors survive stress.

State	What is revealed?
Fresh	Talent
Moderate fatigue	Conditioning
Severe fatigue	Habits
Extreme competitive pressure	Character

Decades ago, three-sport athletes were, if not the norm, not the exception. You didn't have to get in shape because athletes competed in various sports year round. 

It's not a one to one correlation, but conditioning correlates with mental toughness in elite athletes. 

Keep grinding. 

 

Learning Is Not Always Agreeing

A recommendation of "The Courage to Be Disliked," one principle is to neither praise nor rebuke, but encourage.

Adler's philosophy teaches that praise or criticism live within hierarchical structures with unequal power. The 'critic' adopts a higher position of ability passing judgment upon the lower status person without ability.

Encouragement is this 'system' serves the individual who finds the courage to practice or ply their craft. 

"You did well" or "you could do that better" are observations not always intended to change behavior. It is true that some athletes may 'lack' the courage to practice extensively, to struggle with failure, or endure strength and conditioning. Most recognize strong play differing from weaker play. 

I would argue against the value of Adlerian Philosophy in this regard although I favor "horizontal" relationships. 

We can learn about a topic without being in full agreement with its entirety. The Red Sox in large part started to hit when the exorcised "Driveline" from the building. 

The 'metaphorical' MVB 'stars' represent that all team members are "the same but not equal." Coaches recognize this and give individual instruction and teaching appropriate to the needs of each player. 

What Are You Reading Today? Lessons from "The Courage to Be Disliked"

We own our growth and development. That is part of what psychologist Alfred Adler would call "life tasks."

Reading serves you as a cornerstone to build knowledge and extract wisdom from that knowledge.

One of the books I'm reading is, "The Courage to Be Disliked." Here's an image with valuable principles. 

Image prepared by ChatGPT Plus with other inputs

As a player, your "tasks" are distinct from your coaches'. As an adolescent, your tasks likewise differ from your parents'. You can excel or struggle with these tasks independently from others. Norwegian soccer star Erling Haaland shared powerful social commentary about roles within relationships. 

You make choices. When you make a team and don't have the role you would like, how do you respond? Do you have the courage to work hard or choose to become withdrawn and sulk? 

If you help every day at practice with setup, breakdown, and keeping the bench area clean, do you stop if nobody recognizes that or thanks you? Or do you continue because it is "the right thing to do?" Adlerian psychology says don't seek recognition. Seek contribution. 

Whether a thousand or thirty thousand readers visit the blog daily doesn't increase its meaning or value. 

"All problems are interpersonal problems." Relationships tend to segregate as vertical (hierarchy) or horizontal (community). Respect and mutual participation flow better in horizontal groups. 

The circle has no beginning or end. Each star represents a player starring in her role. This is a horizontal organizational structure. (Image created with Microsoft Copilot)

It takes courage to be part of a team, to accept a role, and to stay focused and sacrifice regardless of what is happening. 

Lagniappe. Everyone should learn fundamentals of setting to help with out-of-system play. In particular, the 2005 team had multiple players who could set each other, allowing for three attackers with at least 200 kills. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The School of Setting (@schoolofsetting)

Life Is Not Linear

I asked ChatGPT Plus to create an image reflecting a false narrative (life as linear) and a realistic one - life as a series of moments - triumphs and setbacks - and everything in between.  

The first graph represents the story we tell ourselves: "If I'm improving, the line should keep going up." That's wishful thinking. It isn't how athletes, leaders, and 'everyday people' grow.

The second graph captures something aligning with my coaching philosophy. Life is a series of moments. Every practice, conversation, decision, success, mistake, and recovery is a point. We win, we fail, we muddle along. A few moments change everything. The 'signature moments'. Unforgettable points. The story makes more sense after we've moved along our journey. 

It meshes with recurrent themes:

• Process over outcomes. Outcomes are snapshots; moments are where growth occurs.
• "Don't miss twice." - James Clear  A setback doesn't unless we allow it to do so.
• "Every day is player development day." Not because every day is better than the last, but because every day offers another chance at consolidating strengths or redemption after defeat.
• Resilience. Toughness provide another meaningful dot after a bad one can mean more than the height of the previous dot. "Love our losses" and "learn from losses." 

Coaches don't develop players through uninterrupted success. We help players accumulate scalable successes that looking back, reveal a coherent story.

A bad day or a forgettable column are rarely the end of our story. Do the hard work of crafting the next moment or the next piece. 

Lagniappe. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Munciana Volleyball (@munciana)

1. They respond well after mistakes.
Everyone makes mistakes. It’s part of the game. What separates athletes is how they respond. Can you let it go, reset, and be ready for the next ball?

2. They bring energy before a coach has to ask for it.
The best teammates bring positive energy on their own. They communicate, encourage others, and compete every rep without waiting for someone to tell them to.

3. They focus on effort instead of trying to impress.
You don’t have to make the highlight play every rally. Coaches notice the athletes who consistently work hard, stay coachable, and give their best effort from start to finish.

At the end of the day, talent might get a coach’s attention, but your attitude, effort, and consistency are what earn their trust.