All opinions expressed in the blog are solely mine.
Everyone experiences frustration...no exceptions.
We choose our response. Do we stay frustrated, emotionally drowned or do we recover to "next play" and play present?
Volleyball is a game of runs, of momentum. Excellent teams don't allow one point or one error to bleed into a series. You're going to get hit. Respond with your own flurry of punches. More than anything else, keep your will to fight back.
Maggie Fitzgerald's first fight (language).
Lagniappe. Self-regulation.
Stephen Gonzalez, Asst AD for Mental Performance, talking to Dartmouth basketball about the importance of emotional regulation.
"Play a lot." The first key to playing is to play. At first, you won't be skilled enough, athletic enough, experienced enough. Play withers obstacles.
Author David Mamet has "what hinders you?" inscribed on the back of a new watch. Sometimes people need reminders about their restraints. Having a mirror is easier.
"Every story is about someone searching for something." Every season teams navigate a journey seeking the brass ring.
Mamet says, "I wish" foretells failure, versus "I will" or "I intend." Yoda clarifies.
Just as writers find answers to free the hero from setbacks, teams must figure it out when adversity strikes.
Belief is powerful. Not in isolation...belief drives commitment, hard work, and growth.
Teams cannot achieve great things without belief. Both the components of the achievement equation, PERFORMANCE and TIME need belief. When you don't believe, performance drops, especially in 'winning time'.
Players and teams need to hear that others believe. But belief has to be earned as it can't be gifted. And you must know that belief is deserved.
You can only tell one player she's the best you ever coached. And because it's truth, she validates the ticket. Earn the ticket.
Joe Mazzulla on winning the championship at TD Garden:
“I knew we were going to win. I knew we were going to win at home. There was a sense of inevitability within our team because they made a decision that they were going to do it.” pic.twitter.com/M3vHDISHyD
A few themes echo from coaches. "Control what you can control." That means (ACE) attitude, choices, and effort. "Ace" the process.
Coaches lose sleep over what players are doing or not doing. Coach Saban always said, "It takes what it takes." You must do what excellence requires and not do what will interfere with it.
Coach Scott Celli and his staff aren't looking in your windows assessing your skill building, hydration, nutrition, sleep, and post-training recovery. "You own your paycheck."
"You can't be great and comfortable. You've gotta make a choice. Are you going to be great or are you going to be comfortable? " @TWSE05
Average may be comfortable, but it's never satisfying. To be more, you have to be willing to do more. pic.twitter.com/HXZzN0qBE7
— The Winning Difference (@thewinningdiff1) June 25, 2024
Every team has a story. Time reveals which are true or 'less true'?
Coaches help players and teams write narratives. Sometimes, "we run out of silver bullets." Former English cricket selector Ed Smith tells us not to underestimate the power of stories. Which is more powerful, truth or lies? Which moves more, love or hate, positives or negatives? Smith's essay asks as many questions as it answers.
"But WeWork failed because the story was a lie. And that’s what defines a storyteller’s long-term legacy. It’s not enough to have the confidence and the technique to make stories look right, the stories have to be right, too. And time will eventually sort that out, with no mitigation or mercy."
Team building requires coaches AND players to assemble a whole greater than the sum of its parts. Consider what Westborough accomplished the past few seasons. It's intellectually lazy to say, "they had the best player in the state and they could always 'go there' when necessary."
That diminishes their team effectiveness in 'conversion', serve and serve receive.
Before the NBA Finals, some pundits lauded Dallas as having the best backcourt ever. Bill Simmons pushed back as did the Celtics.
Beware too much belief in our personal stories while working to upgrade what goes into them.
Lagniappe. "Play the right way."
"Play the right way means play unselfishly, respect each other's achievements, play hard, and fulfill your role"
The Dalai Lama visited a vegetarian hot dog stand and the vendor asked, "what do you want?" The holy man answered, "one with everything" and handed the vendor ten dollars. He got his dog and asked, "where is my change?" The vendor replied, "change comes from within."
What inspires you? It could be sport, leadership, literature, learning, music, art, drama, comedy.
Here's the ChatGPT take on the 'value of inspiration'.
"Inspiration holds significant value across various dimensions of human experience, encompassing personal growth, creativity, motivation, and societal progress. Here’s an in-depth look at why inspiration is so valuable:
Personal Growth and Development
Self-Discovery and Improvement:
Clarity of Purpose: Inspiration often leads individuals to discover their passions and purposes, providing a clearer sense of direction in life.
Motivation for Change: Inspired individuals are more likely to embark on personal development journeys, adopting new habits, learning new skills, and overcoming obstacles.
Enhanced Resilience:
Strength in Adversity: Inspiration provides emotional and psychological resilience, helping individuals to persevere through challenges and setbacks with a positive outlook.
Creativity and Innovation
Fuel for Creativity:
Artistic Expression: For artists, writers, musicians, and creators of all kinds, inspiration is the spark that ignites new ideas and drives the creative process.
Innovation: In professional and academic fields, inspiration leads to innovative solutions, new theories, and advancements in technology and methodologies.
Problem-Solving:
Creative Problem-Solving: Inspired individuals approach problems with an open mind and creative thinking, often finding unique and effective solutions that others might overlook.
Motivation and Productivity
Drive and Ambition:
Setting and Achieving Goals: Inspiration propels people to set ambitious goals and work diligently towards achieving them, enhancing productivity and a sense of accomplishment.
Sustained Effort: Unlike fleeting motivation, inspiration often leads to sustained effort and long-term commitment to projects and endeavors.
Workplace Morale and Performance:
Employee Engagement: Inspired employees are more engaged, productive, and likely to contribute positively to the workplace culture.
Leadership: Inspirational leaders can elevate team performance by instilling a shared vision and fostering a collaborative, motivated environment.
Societal Impact
Cultural and Social Progress:
Role Models and Leaders: Inspirational figures, from historical leaders to contemporary influencers, shape societal values and drive cultural and social progress.
Collective Action: Inspiration can unite people around common causes, leading to collective action and societal change, such as social justice movements, environmental campaigns, and community service initiatives.
Education and Mentorship:
Inspiring the Next Generation: Teachers, mentors, and parents who inspire their students and children cultivate the next generation of thinkers, leaders, and innovators.
Lifelong Learning: Inspired individuals often become lifelong learners, continually seeking knowledge and self-improvement, which enriches society as a whole.
Emotional and Psychological Well-Being
Positive Emotions:
Joy and Fulfillment: Inspiration is often accompanied by a sense of joy, fulfillment, and a heightened state of well-being, contributing to overall happiness.
Hope and Optimism: Inspired individuals tend to have a more hopeful and optimistic outlook on life, which is crucial for mental health and emotional stability.
Sense of Connection:
Community and Belonging: Shared inspiration can foster a sense of community and belonging, as people connect over common passions and goals.
In summary, the value of inspiration is multifaceted, impacting individual lives and society in profound ways. It drives personal growth, fuels creativity and innovation, enhances motivation and productivity, contributes to societal progress, and promotes emotional well-being. By seeking and nurturing inspiration, individuals and communities can achieve remarkable outcomes and lead more meaningful lives."
Be empowered.
Lagniappe. Sport rewards footwork, balance, and athletic explosiveness.
“It's about holding our players accountable to be excellent. When you are held to that standard for a period of time, then a funny thing happens. At some point, you begin to hold yourself to that standard, and you no longer need someone else to do it for you.” -Kara Lawson pic.twitter.com/m8uOE6hZFj
Captains' roles include holding the team accountable to the standard. That doesn't mean winning every set or every match. It means accountability to standards of the MVB process.
Doing the right things, the right way, all the time give teams a chance at success.
𝐂𝐎𝐀𝐂𝐇 𝐊 𝐎𝐍 𝐄𝐗𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 "My hunger is not for success, it is for excellence. because when you attain excellence, success just naturally follows." • Excellence is the mindset. • Excellence is the standard you set. • Excellence starts with you. pic.twitter.com/lNIpdgR5GJ
— Coach AJ 🎯 Mental Fitness (@coachajkings) June 23, 2024
Accountability means holding yourself to a high standard. That means accountability is pursuit of excellence.
MVB is never about rebuilding. Three seasons ago, Elena Soukos graduated. Two seasons ago, Gia Vlajkovic graduated. This season, Sadie Jaggers graduated. There's no white flag that goes up, because your job is reloading, not rebuilding.
"Make every day your masterpiece." - John Wooden
Lagniappe. Read "pass, set, hit" as soon as possible. Get to your spots and coverage area. Just as MVB scores will arise of attack, block, and sets, defense needs to contain the same from opponents.
Paul Rabil was the world's top lacrosse player and confidant of Bill Belichick. Belichick's top two *bility words were ABILITY and DURABILITY.
Determine which *bility words apply for you.
"Talent is a commodity. Work ethic is a commodity. But the ability to take coaching and instruction, to hear critique and then work to address it- that is rare. Be rare. Be coachable." @PaulRabil - 'The Way of the Champion' pic.twitter.com/r5irjdW4QV
— The Winning Difference (@thewinningdiff1) June 22, 2024
You never know who is watching you. If a college coach comes to watch you play, what vibe do you want to project?
1) Stand out as being special. If the assistant coach has to ask who they're scouting, you're done.
2) Show top effort, communication, teamwork. Give coaches a reason to get and keep you on the floor.
3) Body language matters. Nonverbal communication counts as much as what we say. Eye contact and a firm handshake close a lot of deals. Project maturity, leadership, and confidence.
Your body language toward missed shots, teammates’ mistakes, being whistled for fouls, getting your butt kicked on a play, being subbed out of the game, how you lose & handle any adversity tells coaches all they need to know. What’s your body language saying about your maturity?!
Netflix has an excellent series featuring interviews with five elite coaches, including Doc Rivers. Coaching principles cross domains, widely applicable.
Skills cross boundaries. Strive for clear thinking and communication.
Study the techniques of skilled writers. Anne Lamott emphasizes first drafts. Get something down. Steven King preaches strong verbs and avoiding adverbs. Not much worse than very, truly, really which add little.
Here's a post about the great Ernest Hemingway who said, "Writing is easy. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed."
Bigger words aren't better. Longer sentences may create confusion. Exotic vocabulary doesn't help.
Know your audience. Write to capture their interest. Find authors you admire and for practice, imitate their style.
Better communication at home and school flows into your MVB play. Silent teams lose. Talk energizes. Talk focuses. Talk intimidates. Communication wins throughout your whole life.
Your belief, work, preparation (habits), and luck determine outcomes.
Consider the 2024 Celtics, heavily favored to win. The 'peak distribution' or expected is the middle of the Galton board. That happened but never excluded other possibilities - dissent, injury, bad bounces.
All opinions expressed in the blog are my own. They do not reflect those of the Melrose School Department, Melrose High School, the Athletic Department or any individuals. Language in videos, especial from from professional athletes, may be 'rough'.
Coach Scott Celli is relentless in his desire to improve. Learning about other sports, other coaches, their attitudes, beliefs, and value can help us all grow.
Joe Mazzulla, fascinating, not yet anointed. Look under the hood. What formed a guy, tempered him, damaged and resurrected him? Some of the material, especially the Basketball Immersion video takes time to digest.
Formative years. Mazzulla used his time on the bench wisely.
Joe Mazzulla helped get WVU into the Final Four by proposing a 1-3-1 defense to coach Bob Huggins. Always had coaching pedigree pic.twitter.com/cbkxjuH5RJ
Mazzulla took hard coaching. He embraced criticism.
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla on Jerry West:
"He had a tough way of showing that he loved you, but he was super, super competitive and he really, really cared about you."pic.twitter.com/lN70nE4aip
Joe Mazzulla doesn't like the high school self. He sees him as short-tempered and reacting before thinking. He called that "Growing Pains."
Philosophy. Prepare for copycats. "He incessantly emphasized pace, space, ball movement, and taking the right shot offensively, regardless of what happened in a given game. Defensively, he got the most out of Boston's absurd personnel by removing the inexplicable lapses that cost the Celtics in past seasons."
“The healthiest relationship to have with success is to understand that you can still get better, and so I think that’s the space that we have to live in.”
Porzingis said, "“As coach said yesterday in the first meeting, we have to live that lifestyle. We have to live that life day-to-day. We have to put in the work, and then, in the end, if we put in the work, we will achieve the results. But it has to be like a daily focus. Not always keeping only that big goal in our minds. We’re keeping that in mind.”
Coaching clinics. "If you're late for class, then you're going to be late to a rotation." LQO - learning, questioning, ownership.
Where am I?
Where do I want to get to?
How will I get there?
What will get in the way?
Video. Above all the brain is the organ that craves predictability. Our brain constantly predicts which allows unpredictability to disrupt us.
It’s interesting to hear Joe Mazzulla promote chaos and unpredictability in training!
”The game is so unpredictable and a lot of times in the coaching world, you practice predictability and comfort, our (Celtics) guys have done a great job buying into the opposite.” pic.twitter.com/6jbJGLloW2
— Transforming Basketball (@transformbball) June 20, 2024
— All the Smoke Productions (@allthesmokeprod) June 19, 2024
“Praise and criticism are both just as dangerous, if you don’t handle them well. Winning is just as dangerous as losing if you don’t handle it well. Our guys handled winning the right way. Whether we won or lost, we just moved onto the next game,” Joe Mazzulla
"Take an active role, whether you are defending or attacking. Attack your enemy's weak spots to optimize your strength/achieve a numerical edge in those spots. Strive to make the enemy defend itself. Concentrate your force at its weakest point, where its troops can least resist. Adjust your plans as you go; adapt to changes on both sides." - The Art of War
An old joke says that if "DAD" looks in the mirror, he sees DAD. But if DOG looks in the mirror, he sees GOD.
Mastery requires us to see the truth in the mirror. What is our footwork, strength and conditioning, game understanding? What strengths should be leveraged? What weaknesses must be attacked?
Progressing in sport, become your own coach. Video is the truth machine, which is why opponents and college coaches watch your video.
REALITY OR DELUSION
Asking a player for their assessment of their own game, what’s important to them, etc. and then going back to see what the FILM/STATS/FEEDBACK says allows you to understand if the player actually has clarity on their game.
Don't be a victim. When Clippers' owner Donald Sterling was shown to have made racist statements, Coach Doc Rivers said, "my parents taught us not to be a victim."
Own our preparation, practice, and results.
You're writing the 2024 season every day through your habits that will translate your goals into results.
"Control what you can control." You control:
Offseason play
Studying the game
Physicality - strength and conditioning
Resilience - visualization and mindfulness
Coaches worry about factors beyond their control - character and behavior.
Take control of your self-care.
Sleep - seek a minimum of eight hours nightly
Hydration - adequate hydration minimizes fatigue
Nutrition - adequate calories, fruits and vegetables
High performance training includes a comprehensive approach to self-care. The MVB blog addresses multiple training areas.
Britain became a cycling powerhouse under the training of Dave Brailsford using "marginal gains" theory.
Marginal Gains Theory (from Brave AI)
Brailsford is credited with developing the concept of “marginal gains,” which involves making small improvements in various areas to achieve significant overall gains. This approach has been widely adopted in various sports and industries.
This translated to 14 Olympic medals and seven Tour de France wins.
Nutrition is one component of high performance training. In the "Brain Health" MasterClass (subscription), they share this recipe for roasted cauliflower with jerk sauce.
The recipe contains numerous nutrients not for us directly but for gut bacteria regulating the "enteric nervous system." We have hundreds of millions of neurons that interact with our brain. They contribute to our emotions of happiness, anxiety, and depression. Feeding them matters.
Here's the recipe (the cauliflower is literally in the oven).
For the cauliflower
1 large head cauliflower (about 3 pounds), leaves removed
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp kosher salt
For the jerk sauce
¼ cup avocado oil
¼ cup coconut aminos
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves, or ½ tbsp dried
½ tsp black peppercorns
½ tsp allspice berries
2 dried or fresh bay leaves
1 moderately spicy fresh red chile, such as Fresno, stemmed
1 scallion, trimmed and roughly chopped
1 large garlic clove, peeled
1 small shallot, roughly chopped
½ Scotch bonnet or habanero chile, stemmed
1-inch knob ginger, peeled and thinly sliced against the grain
¼ whole nutmeg, grated, or ⅛ tsp ground nutmeg
1 tbsp kosher salt
Zest and juice of 1 lime
Instructions
Roast the cauliflower
1. Set an oven rack 10 inches or so from the broiler. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
2. Trim the base of the cauliflower so it can sit flat. Flip the cauliflower base-side up and cut a deep “X” into the base, stopping when you reach the stems or the florets. This helps the core and base cook at the same rate as the rest of the head.
3. Rub the cauliflower all over with the olive oil, then season the cauliflower all over with the salt. Set the cauliflower in a large, heavy ovenproof skillet (11- to 13-inch works best). Transfer the skillet to the oven and roast to soften up the cauliflower (it’ll go from white to cream in color), 30 to 35 minutes. Pour ½ cup of water directly into the skillet and keep roasting until the water has evaporated and the cauliflower has patches of light golden brown and is just tender enough to easily be pierced with the tip of a sharp knife, 20 to 25 minutes more.
Make the jerk sauce
1. While the cauliflower is roasting, combine the sauce ingredients, including the finely grated zest and the juice of the lime, in a blender and blend on high speed until completely smooth, about 1 minute.
Make the dish
1. When the cauliflower is tender, remove it from the oven and heat the broiler. Use a flexible spatula to rub the top and sides of the cauliflower (don’t neglect those lower sides!) with the blended mixture.
2. Broil the cauliflower—basting it after 5 minutes with the juices that have accumulated in the skillet and trying your best to get that flavorful liquid in all its nooks and crannies—until the top has spots of black char, 10 to 12 minutes. Serve hot or warm.
Learn across domains. Legendary basketball coach Pete Newell taught "footwork, balance, maneuvering speed." You play 100 percent of the game on your feet. Almost.
Wake up and ask, "how am I getting better today?"
Art imitates life in this training montage from Academy Awards Best Picture Million Dollar Baby. Footwork, balance, timing, armswing.
Metaphorically, you are going to get hit. How do you intend to 'hit back' to respond? "How to fight back so the other guy doesn't want to come after ya."
Lagniappe.
Have you studied your video?
Form begets function. Focus on Sadie Jaggers pre-positioning and three step footwork into attack. "Better form, better results."
All opinions expressed in the blog are solely my own. I am not a volleyball expert.
Keywords: Conversion, Containment, Passing
Fundamental excellence never exceeds "too good." Although Emerson said, "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds," he didn't mean in volleyball.
Consistency, aggressiveness, and execution drive results. Building great habits links goals and results.
Always get your "marching orders" from your coaches. In my opinion, MVB can approach its goals with 'deliberate practice' focused on three areas.
Serving
Serve receive
Double blocking the outside
That doesn't mean ignoring setting, digging, or attacking. Based on observations of the top area teams, better performance in "conversion" and at the "scoring moment" offers statistical edges. "Positive" scoring arises from attack, serve, and block.
Serve/serve receive result in conversion from offense to defense and defense to offense. The double block offers a chance to neutralize or contain the key driver of most offenses.
Coach Jiri Popelka suggests techniques and drills for improved passing. His advice as a former elite international player has merit.
The greater your skill and consistency, the greater your confidence will follow.
A high ratio of service aces to service errors fosters winning volleyball.
First, a definition from OpenAI:
"A volleyball service ace occurs when a player serves the ball over the net and it lands in the opponent's court untouched or is touched but cannot be kept in play by the receiving team. Essentially, it's a serve that results directly in a point for the serving team without the opponent being able to return the ball effectively. This is a desirable outcome for the serving team as it immediately scores a point and puts pressure on the receiving team."
Furthermore, "A good ratio of volleyball service aces to service errors can vary depending on the level of play and strategy of the team. However, a commonly cited benchmark for a strong serving performance is aiming for a 2:1 ratio of aces to errors. This means for every service error committed, a player should ideally achieve two service aces.
Achieving this ratio indicates effective serving that puts pressure on the opposing team while minimizing the number of points gifted through errors. It's important to note that this ratio can be influenced by various factors such as the skill level of the players, the strategy of the team, and the level of competition."
All players are not equal in their 'reading' serves, perception of "late specifying information" or agility and quickness allowing adjustments. I am told that Gigi Albuja has a deceptive serve with late movement.
Lagniappe (repost). Video worth study from 2011. Note Alyssa DiRaffaele's devastating serves in one of the dominant service performances in MVB history. The serves had both topspin and sidespin helping find the floor and the alleys.
