Three's Magic in the Air

Thinking in 'threes' can help ideas stick. The Navy SEAL operator told his commander, Jocko Willink, to give him three things to remember because he couldn't remember more than that.

The number three has power across cultures. It's also a feature of the rhetorical technique of tricolon. "A tricolon is a rhetorical device consisting of three parallel words, phrases, or clauses delivered in quick succession to create rhythm, emphasis, and a sense of completeness."

• "I came, I saw, I conquered." - Julius Caesar
• "...Duty. Honor. Country." - MacArthur speech to West Point graduates
• "...red, white, and blue."
• The Holy Trinity
• Gold, silver, and bronze medals

Adam Grant wrote the book "Originals." Original ideas can flourish or fail depending on how they're presented, supported, and attacked. What three principles could apply to volleyball? Here are three top ideas from ChatGPT (edited).

We spend hours teaching systems—serve receive patterns, defensive reads, transition timing. But there’s a difference between running a system and understanding it.

The best teams don’t just execute plays.
They improve the plays they execute.

1. Better, Not First

Originals aren’t the first to act. They get it right.

In volleyball, there’s a temptation to chase novelty:

• new serving strategy
• a different tempo
• attack variations

But the edge rarely comes from new. It comes from revision.

A great team asks:

What actually works and how do we do it better? Where are we scoring and where are we allowing points? Have we become predictable and 'vulnerable' to certain attacks?

2. Question the Default

“The way we’ve always done it” is comfortable, worth study. 

Why do we serve that zone?
Why do we make that read?
Why is that our out-of-system choice?

When players begin to ask those questions, something shifts.
They move from 'following directions' to ownership.

Understanding replaces memorization.

3. Explore in Practice, Execute in Matches

Original thinkers generate many ideas - but act on the best ones.

Practice is the laboratory:

• test serve targets
• try different lineups
• explore tempo and spacing

Matches are different. Matches demand discipline. Explore widely. Execute narrowly. Don't think about execution. Execute. 

Every possession asks a question:

Who are you as a team?

A team that waits to be told? Or a team that sees, communicates, and acts?

Original teams aren’t reckless. They are prepared. They think clearly.
They trust each other.

Lagniappe. Most players want to be remembered for what they did. Points. Kills. Stats.

But the game remembers what you give it in the moment.

• the read that changed a rally
• the communication that prevented a breakdown
• the decision that made a teammate better

The best teams don’t just play the game. They understand it.

And that’s what makes them hard to beat.

Lagniappe 2. More teams are attacking "pipe." Coach shares his defensive approach.