Reinventing Yourself

"The film is made in the editing room." - Ron Howard

Every season starts 0-0. MVB won't have Sadie, Grace, Manon. Focus on what you have - experience in the front and the back. You have elite coaching. Always focus on what you can do, not what you can't.

Do what the top teams do.

• Score service points consistently. That doesn't necessarily mean fifteen aces a match. But the top teams have far more aces than service errors. 
• Excellent teams win points, not dependent on opponent errors. 
• Don't repeat mistakes. They get serves in, they stay out of the net, they communicate, they don't have rotation errors. 

Coach Bob Knight wrote a book called The Power of Negative Thinking. Strong teams don't give away possessions. 

"Do more of what works and less of what doesn't." Make a list of offensive actions. Decide which need less use. In golf they say, "leave that club in the bag." 

Some attack options include:

• Outside hitting
• Middle hitting
• Quick sets
• Attacking the second ball
• Setter dumps
• Opposite attack
• Downball hitting
• Shoots 
• Slide attacks 
• Back row 

"Be great at what you're good at." 

Expect intense competition for outside hitter slots, a back row role, and designated server. It's not enough to serve as you have to defend. I was asked in the past about playing "all-around." If you can play all roles at a high level, then it happens. In recent years that included Sadie, Elena, and Gia. Hannah Brickley and Jen Cain both did so at a high level. And there were others. "Excel in your role." 

Lagniappe. "You can only be as good as you believe you can be." Confidence relates to performance. "Control what you can control."