Wednesday, January 31, 2024

Ask Better Questions

Ask better questions, set higher expectations. Expecting perfection creates frustration. But expecting improvement (triad of teamwork, improvement, accountability) launches a team's trajectory upward.

Brad Stevens encourages coaches to ask, "what does my team need now?" That could vary from working on a specific need, teaching points, or even a day off.

Here's a point from Shane Parrish's Clear Thinking.

"Self-confidence is the ability to focus on what is right, rather than who is right."

For example, imagine a parent is unhappy about their child's playing time. Child advocacy is a 'foundational principle' that conflicts with a coach's mandate, "do what is in the best interest of the team." We might say, "I understand that Susie hasn't played that much. Every day she scrimmages against the best players in the league, giving her chances to improve. When she's had opportunities in scrimmages and games, she hasn't yet raised her level of play. She is a promising young player and gains in skill, physicality, and resilience are ahead of her. Continue to support and encourage her."

Amidst our tens of thousands of daily thoughts, genius and rubbish hasten by. Capture more of the former and dismiss all of the latter.

As a player, focus on what you must do to grow and put yourself in a position to succeed. Former Melrose AD Sonny Lane preached, "I'm pleased but I'm not satisfied." Last season's club had an excellent season, something to build on for returning players.

Return to Michael Useem's 'big four':
  • What went well?
  • What went poorly?
  • What can we do differently next time? 
  • What are the enduring lessons?  
Interjecting ourselves into the process tempts us. My kids liked that I knew nothing about volleyball. I couldn't add one cent never mind two. 

If you didn't play as much as you'd like last season, ask 'what can I do differently' and most important, DO IT. 

Lagniappe. Jump float serve better... 

Lagniappe 2. 


Person > Player

Your coaches care about you as a person, a student, and a player. They want you to succeed in every aspect of life.

There's a saying that when players struggle worst, it's because of problems off the court. To be your best on the court, fashion a great life away from the sport.  

Lagniappe. Serve receive excellence is vital to counteract strong service teams. 

The Best Advice

I used to work with a PA in the ICU who asked everyone for their best piece of advice. Mine was, "share something great," which could be a book, movie, recipe, quote, whatever. 

Exceptional players have exceptional habits. 

 

Tuesday, January 30, 2024

The Primacy of Culture

Few excellent teams have poor culture. And even fewer poor teams have great culture. 

Great quotes don't define culture:

"Fight for your culture every day." 

"Culture eats strategy for breakfast." 

Don Meyer's five criteria included:

Passion. Have great enthusiasm for what you do.

Unity. Work together for the good of the whole.

Servant Leadership. Leaders serve. Bring a sense of community to your actions. 

Humility. "Thinking less about yourself doesn't mean thinking less of yourself." 

Thankfulness. Live a life of gratitude not grievance. 

MVB fosters competitive spirit to promote high performance of the team. Everyone should lead and work to excel in their role. Culture drives performance. 


Why Coach?

All opinions in the blog are solely my own.

"Coaches get more than we give." - Brad Stevens

I had a conversation a few years ago with Coach Herb Welling when I coached Cecilia Kay. He said, "when you get the exceptional player, you have to take care of her." Feel obligated to push and prod that player to reach that upper level. 

Coaches build relationships. Coaches build trust. Trust builds loyalty. Loyalty builds high performance. "The person is more important than the player." 

Coaches add value. Coaches coach the best player and the twelfth player on the roster. 

Coaches earn buy-in. When you have capable coaching that you ignore, everyone loses. You don't become your best and that impacts everyone else on the team. "Don't play for me; play for the girls next to you." 

Coaches build culture. Culture is the ecosystem surrounding the team. "This is who we are. That is who we are not. This is how we play." 

Coaches don't accept mediocrity.

Coaches love competition. We want to win. Yet more than one way to win exists. Success means seeing players grow and achieve long after they've left the program. You don't have to become a great player to become a great person. 

Coaches teach leadership. Becoming a great player often demands putting yourself first. Becoming a great teammate means putting everyone else first. That's more than a subtle difference. "Leaders make leaders." 

Coaches motivate. Michael Jordan told Carolina Assistant Roy Williams that he would work as hard as any player ever at Chapel Hill. Williams told him, "you have to work harder than that." Some player need more positive reinforcement and others need a gentle push. The best coaches know which is which. 

Coaches develop. "Every day is player development day," says Coach Dave Smart. Melrose can't import players in the way some schools can aggregate talent. Crafting players and teams both breed success. 

Coaches help maturity. Maturity means responding to events with self-control and sportsmanship. Meet promotions (e.g. starting) with humility and demotions with grace and determination to improve. 

Coaches self-assess. Coaches look at our strengths and weaknesses looking to build on the former and mitigate the latter. Top coaches remain open to new ideas and edit their approach seeking better solutions. "The coach is the keeper of the story." 

Coaches network. Kentucky basketball Coach John Calipari has a "personal board of directors" with whom he meets periodically to discuss his life path. Strong coaches establish ties with peers and college coaches as 'anteambulos' clearing the way for player advancement. As Ryan Holiday writes, "find canvases for others to paint on." 

Coaches manage ego. "Ego is the enemy." Ego distracts, ego distorts. Ego can contribute to making decisions for self instead of for others. 

A bad day coaching is better than a good day doing many other things. 

Lagniappe. "You want to be a leader? Serve somebody." 

Coaching Reminder

From Professor Adam Grant, 

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Coach Sonny Lane had a corollary, "If I stop yelling, it's because I've given up on you." Coaches don't stop coaching players. 

Develop Your Philosophy

Without a philosophy, consistency becomes difficult. In Jerod Mayo's introductory conference as Patriots' coach he emphasized, "I'm not Bill (Belichick)" and "hard work works." Professional coaching is not a 9 to 5 job. 

Stoicism has become a popular philosophy across professional sports. Two of its best known tenets are "control what you can control" and "you control your response to events."

Ryan Holiday is an adherent, having written The Obstacle Is the Way and Discipline Is Destiny. 

The ability "not to engage" on controversial subjects has value, especially on social media.

If someone asks you for your philosophy, "have one." 

Lagniappe. I'd show more breakdown video of women if I had it. But volleyball is volleyball. Study great players.  

Monday, January 29, 2024

Alpha Bet

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Don't just claim a title, "queen bee" or "beta female."  

Excerpt on beta female

A beta female is often extremely intelligent and has the ability to see things from loads of different perspectives.

She enjoys reading and watching documentaries, knowing that hearing new ideas and other people’s opinions is really important. 

Her intelligence is both analytical and emotional.

She is very good at thinking logically and reasonably in regard to work and career. She is great at forming her opinion and can eloquently convey it to others. 

Her emotional intelligence is also very impressive!

She understands how other people work and has the ability to see things from a whole range of perspectives. This means that she is a great part of any friendship group and can settle arguments and disagreements between people. 

Every team member should lead, regardless of playing status.

  • Model excellence
  • Early is "on time"
  • Be the hardest worker on the team
  • Question how to improve the team and individually
  • Excel at home and in the classroom
  • Be a great teammate
  • Bring energy and positivity
  • Be ready for your opportunity
  • Bring credit to your team 
  • Never be a distraction
Lagniappe. Jon Gordon has written many books on leadership and performance, Soup, The Positive Dog, Training Camp, The Hard Hat, The Energy Bus, and more. 

As you go through life, you will work with leaders seeking control and leaders who serve. You will find that service makes leaders. 

 

Sunday, January 28, 2024

Coaching Mistakes

Coach Scott Celli doesn't make many errors. "Experience is the best teacher but sometimes the tuition is high." Over twenty years ago, he substituted in reserves 'early' at Reading. It almost resulted in a loss. That never happened again.  

Every coach makes errors. A few are apparent to everyone and others only the coach knows. We get away with some. Arkansas women's basketball coach Mike Neighbors is the King of Acknowledged Mistakes

The above article breaks them down into categories (below). 

1. I assumed being an assistant coach would prepare you to be a head coach
2. I told people the TRUTH before I had earned their TRUST
3. I got out of shape
4. I got out of alignment between Process and Results
5. I tried to do too many “things”
6. I was afraid to do “what I thought best”
7. I exhausted my daily decision energy on stuff that didn’t effect winning
8. I stopped confronting things that needed to be confronted
9. I let the Urgent overcome the Important
10. I forgot to keep myself “charged”
11. I didn’t realize how tight my friend circle would become
12. I had no idea how to manage a staff or how to “manage up”

Can we break them down even further or even use a different framework? As a basketball coach, I remember 'choices' vividly. 

Overaggression. We pressed Burlington early. They had better players and we trailed 6-0 in a minute. Timeout. I told the team, "I own that. Bad decision." A bad start was our undoing.

Volleyball note: The more aggressive team usually wins. That doesn't mean recklessness. "Get me over" hits have to get over. 

Justice. Middle school ball is developmental. Playing time wasn't equal but was more equal than unequal. If winning matters, playing TWELVE against teams with EIGHT or TEN who are playing better players more is a bad strategy. That's especially true if we had the best player in the league. 

Volleyball note: "Do more of what works and less of what doesn't." If your strengths aren't back row attack, opposite attack, or setter dumps, use them less. 

Too much, too soon. Technique beats tactics. We could have three times as many sets or inbound plays, but 1) the players won't know their assignments and 2) they won't execute. "We can't run what we can't run." 

Volleyball note: Melrose relies on ball control and balance. There's not a lot of exotic action, although more quick sets in recent years. "Be good at what you do a lot."

Excel in your role. Every player SHOULD want a significant role. "Star in your role." And "become more to do more by doing more to become more." I coached one of the top five basketball players in Massachusetts, a McDonald's All-American nominee (Cecilia Kay). It wouldn't make sense to think you were as good as she was. 

Volleyball note: Earning a spot on MVB is tough. Only six players are on the court at once. If you want a bigger role, then produce when you get the opportunity in practice and scrimmages. For the past three decades, the best players played. The leaders lead, even when underclassmen. Your coaches put you in a position to succeed. The rest is on you. 

Do. Not. Quit. Years ago as an assistant working with Ralph Labella, I got asked to address the team after an embarrassing 'beatdown' of a loss. I told the girls, "You live your life as you play the game. Never lie down and allow the other girls to push you around." Kiki Kiernan came up to me over six months later saying, "that how you live your life stuff really got to me." 

Volleyball note: Coach Celli schedules tough nonleague opponents to prepare the team to face better talent, faster play, and be ready for the postseason. Prepare. Compete. Challenge yourself to rise. 

Lagniappe. Win the battle of serve/serve-receive. Exceptional teams do. 

Becoming Extraordinary

Volleyball athletes benefit from leg strength and power. Ordinary people can do extraordinary things. Consider:

  • Weighted squats
  • Weighted split squats
  • Weighted backward lunges
  • Weighted side lunges
"Winners are trackers." - Darren Hardy

We make our habits and our habits make us.

"That which we are, we are, and if we are to be any better, now is the time to begin." - Tennyson  

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Saturday, January 27, 2024

Excellence

Excellence is available. It exacts a high price from those seeking it. It starts with ATTITUDE. Don't train to improve. Train for greatness. That means sacrifice and sore muscles. It means more sleep and more strawberries, the kind that show up on your legs.

Melrose has multiple players with the 'measurables' and ability to achieve at a high level. Individual achievement translates to team play...horses not ponies. 

Melrose had multiple All-State players four times - 2005, 2009, 2011, and 2012. Three times the team went to the State Finals (2005, 2011, 2012).  

Coach Auriemma explains what excites coaches. I've coached a few of those players as have your coaches. 

My Take on Infallibility

All opinions expressed in the blog are my own. Don't blame anyone else. 

MVB is blessed to have consistency and excellence in coaching and culture. Neither arrive automatically. 

Every successful person fails. Mickey Mantle struck out over 1700 times during a Hall of Fame career. But when he wasn't whiffing, he had 536 home runs, appeared in twelve World Series and won seven, and earned twenty All-Star selections. Yet somehow, he only earned 88% of Hall of Fame ballots in 1974. 

Study failure to learn how to succeed. Here's an excerpt from John Maxwell's Failing Forward:

Chapter 5: Change your response to failure by accepting responsibility

People’s reactions to failure

1. They are angry – taking frustration out on others

2. They cover up mistakes.

3. They speed up – try to leave troubles behind by working harder and faster, but without changing direction.

4. They back up. May lie first and then back up to cover up. Need to be able to admit it.

5. They give up.

Every failure is an opportunity to take the right action and begin again. Need to take full responsibility and admit mistakes. It takes character – we need to get ahead of ourselves and take responsibility for our actions.

Every player has bad practices and bad games. Every coach makes mistakes, too. Arkansas Coach Mike Neighbors has been most forthcoming about his. Here's just a partial list from Coaching Toolbox:


Think about where we made coaching errors. I'll list just a few of mine:

1. Distorted work-life balance. Every coach struggles with this. As a volunteer, part-time coach and full-time doctor, this slapped me upside the head daily.

2. Keeping priorities straight. Developmental basketball is development. Winning is a bonus not a mandate. 

3. Adding too much to the plate. Young players with limited knowledge, experience, and only three hours of practice per week, soak up only a finite amount of information. Sponges are not all alike. 

4. "Man's got to know his limitations." Young players have home, school, and other responsibilities in addition to sports. 


Don't sacrifice young kids on the altar of winning. "Never be a child's last coach." Don't be the guy who puts a twelve year-old in 'the doghouse' from which their only escape is quitting. Have compassion and empathy for players. 

5. Be Helen Mirren. In her MasterClass, Helen Mirren addressed what it takes to be successful in her field. She said, "two things...always be on time and don't be an A*hole." Those rules work for many disciplines. 

Summary: 
  • We're not infallible. Everyone makes mistakes. 
  • Seek work-life balance. 
  • Set and keep priorities.
  • Learn a lot but don't jam it all down players' throats.
  • Have compassion and empathy.
  • "Don't be an A*hole." 
Lagniappe. 
Lagniappe 2. Don't be the guy who takes the credit for wins and shines the spotlight on players for losses. It's a type. "We win together and we lose together." 

Lagniappe 3. Coaching offers us the chance to make people better while learning to become better ourselves. 






Sport Is More Than Wins and Losses

Kobe Bryant shares values that are within the game. What are yours?

1. Make everyone around you better, on an off the court.

2. Be a great teammate. 

3. Communicate. When players struggle, is something wrong off the court?

4. Respect the game. 

5. Everyone leads... in different ways. 

Lagniappe. Medicine balls 

Friday, January 26, 2024

The Iceberg Effect

The most ardent fans see the tip of the 'commitment iceberg' that produces league champions, sectional champions, a state champion. 

We don't see the work in the weight room, the gym, the offseason practices and travel, playing through injury and so forth. A few will remember the tough win over Billerica this past postseason. Fewer will know how Sadie Jaggers excelled through illness that night.

Years ago Ralph Labella opined that the number one factor he believed produced results was commitment. That commitment demands a lot of the student-athletes, families, and coaches. It also is expensive with everything from Club Team expenses, to travel, user fees, equipment, and even higher medical costs. Players get hurt and get run down and sick. 

"Nothing is impossible for the person who doesn't have to do it." You can give your heart, your soul, and your body to be successful and it still may not work out. 

Lagniappe. There's no guarantee that demanding physical training will earn success. But there's a guarantee that not competing your best will not. 

Take Two Minutes (Print and Save)

Coaches teach sport...and life. "The differences between who we are today and the person we become in five years are the people we meet and the books we read."

I often ask young people, "where do you see yourself in five years and what are you doing today to make that happen?" 

MVB might be a vehicle for that transformation. It depends on you. 

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Coach Amos Alonzo Stagg was asked about his team. He replied, "Ask me in twenty years, I'll be able to give you a better answer." 


 Lagniappe. "Your body is your responsibility." Better strength, better play. 

Thursday, January 25, 2024

Single Leg Work

Invest a portion of physical training to "single leg work."  

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Making Your MVB Dream Happen

Get what you want by doing what you must. Examine the habit implementation approach of James Clear (Atomic Habits). Our actions "vote" for the person we wish to become. Writers write, readers read, and volleyball players play volleyball. 

Goal: craft a contributing role this season on MVB

System: work out and build skill

The 4 Laws:

  • Make it obvious
  • Make it easy
  • Make it attractive
  • Make it rewarding
You're hungry to increase your role and you love volleyball. Move beyond your goal to your system. 

Darren Hardy, author of The Compound Effect, reminds readers that "winners are trackers." 

Make it obvious


The nine pound dumbbells sit in front of the fireplace, reminding me they need use. They aren't going to lift themselves. Put a volleyball in an obvious place in your room. 

Make it easy.

Don't expect to have a 30 inch vertical jump overnight. Clear discusses a friend who lost weight by going the gym. For weeks, he literally drove to the gym and only exercised for FIVE minutes. Then he ramped his program. The issue was establishing the habit. ESTABLISH a habit and then improve it. Do two lunges with each leg, 30 seconds of pogos, and 3 'step ups' onto your stairs. Great you've started. Build from there using exercises from the videos you've watched and studied here. 

Review some of the 'volleyball at home' exercises possible or go online to YouTube and enter "at home volleyball drills" and start doing them. "Repetitions make reputations." 

Make it attractive

Use your program to grow team relationships. Workout with a friend. Have a 'Zoom' call or Facetime or whatever you do to workout with multiple teammates. Enjoy the socialization and the workout as a group. Increase the number of reps, the amount of weight, and the number of sets. 

Make it rewarding

Mark an 'X' on the calendar for every day you complete workouts. Track your vertical touch and measures of fitness that work for you. Visualize going to tryouts in August and being 'seen'. 

Last year Sadie Jaggers changed positions from middle to outside. It wasn't magic. She worked out for months to improve her jumping and strength. She played. And then her work got "paid" with performance and recognition, just as her teammates Elena Soukos and Gia Vlajkovic did. It wasn't a "one-off," an accident. 

Lagniappe. Everyone needs to learn to set

Lagniappe 2. 


Lagniappe 3. Your contribution is more than numbers. 

"Be Impeccable with Your Word"

Whether the "First Agreement" of "The Four Agreements" or general self-compassion, gift yourself positivity. You can only be as good as your self-belief. 

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Wednesday, January 24, 2024

What Drives Success?

Exceptional players find reasons to do the work. Generally, they love the sport. Dan Pink, author of Drive, cites autonomy, mastery, and purpose. 

Usually, it's more "who" than "why?" Tim S. Grover in Relentless writes, In order to have what you really want, you must first be who you really are.

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As a coach, I've never crafted a great player. Coaches help players make themselves great. 

  • Make time for training skill development.
  • Help players 'see the game' with practice and use of video (both of the player and of higher level play)
  • Put players in situations that favor both success and exposure to pressure. 
  • Suggest physical training activities. 
  • Suggest readings that teach leadership, character, and professionalism.
  • Make technology available if possible. 

New Age, Old School

All opinions are solely my own. 

Coaches' jobs demand results. Results sum substance and style. Loud or quiet, demonstrative or reserved, what counts shows up as performance.

Coaches have many constituencies - the Athletic Department, players, and to a lesser degree, families and fans. 

Whether labeling your coaches as "Old School" or New Age, task-oriented or relationship-oriented, your opportunities depend on your growth mindset, actions, and positive trajectory. 

Earn your desired role. Own your career arc. 

Grow the skills belonging to your position. Invest your time in a way likely to add value to yourself and to the team

Create athletic explosion. Whether it's vertical jump, lateral quickness, blocking strength at the net, attacking power, endurance or other, you own your progress

Attend to the mental side of development. Physical development benefits the mental side. Sleep and nutrition matter. Mindfulness presents an way to lift concentration, positive well-being, and resilience. 

Coaches get credit or blame for setting the lineups and rotations. That's flawed thinking. Player performance determines minutes, roles, and recognition. Always has and always will. 

Lagniappe. Serve/receive drill...high volume. 

"Get Out of the Bucket"

Sport challenges us to "learn from mistakes" AND "have a short memory." 

Oakland GM Billy Beane discussed his shortcomings as a player in Moneyball. He explained that when he struggled in a game with a couple of strikeouts, he couldn't get past it.

Volleyball can be a momentum game. When you shank a ball, hit into the net, or make other errors, don't allow one play to 'bleed' into a series of bad plays. Exceptional players shake it off.  

Among skill, strategy, physicality, and psychology the message is to stay resilient with self-regulation and help teammates through it.  

Tuesday, January 23, 2024

Not an Expert But "Eat That Frog"

Not an expert? Do well what you do a lot. What do the elite teams do season after season? 

1. Control what they can control. The only "full control" activity in volleyball is serving. The top teams get more aces with fewer service errors (check the stats). Every server needs a 'go to' and 'second' serve, similar to tennis. 

2. Contain the star player. That usually means limiting the top outside hitter. You never shut them down completely. But closing the double block, meaning consistent footwork and lateral quickness, is a ticket to ride. 

3. Don't give away points. Communication separates success and something less. ELO - early, loud, and often. Melrose has the loudest talker in the league. "Call the ball." No campfires, "get me over" hits have to get over, as well as downballs. Sadie Jaggers was excellent on hitting downballs. 

That also means productivity off the court. James Clear (Atomic Habits) emphasizes that better systems produce better results. Productivity tips from "Booksforaspirants" 

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"Eat that frog."

Lagniappe. You want to be great? Train to be great. Maybe you can't do all of these exercises. Don't tell your coaches what you can't do. Show them what you did. 

Coach Jiri on Stretching

Start today. From his course


Dynamic stretching.