The Listening Superpower

Charles Barkley asks, "what is your NBA skill?" There's an essential that everyone can improve - listening. Listening translates into every facet of life - relationships, school, work, extracurricular activities. 

"The first price achievers pay is to pay attention." 

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Listening is trainable. Interviewers ask for more information:

• "Tell me more."
• "...and then what?"
  
• "Can you clarify that for me?" 

You might say, "that won't make me a better shooter or a better athlete." Here's an analogy, 'attention deficit disorder'. The patient with ADD often struggles to stay focused in school, work, and on the court. Inability to listen, follow directions, and learn hinders progress. 

Listening is necessary but not sufficient. When listening, consider if the information seems credible, specific, provable. 

Make it important. 

Make it intentional. Good listeners make listening a priority. 

When possible, take notes. 

When completed, mentally summarize what you learned.

Work to remember a few enduring points. 

Consider the following re: data analysis...

Most Common Shot Locations In The NBA This Season. pic.twitter.com/Kfk2MnKmBW

— Kirk Goldsberry (@kirkgoldsberry) March 24, 2021

In the era of threes, shots at the rim, and free throws, this NBA shot distribution chart seems expected. The absence of midrange shots and "long twos" meshes with what we see. 

But should this be generalized? At lower levels (e.g. high school and youth), shot range and accuracy plummets. One observer three years ago told me of a game where 50 percent of one team's missed shots didn't even hit iron. I see high school girls' games where three point shots fall at under a twenty percent rate and airballs are more common than makes. 

Great shots are not universal across levels. 

Better listening, better volleyball.

Lagniappe. Train with the goal of excellence. Develop stability, speed, strength, and vertical power. Athletic training is mandatory for success. 

Be Coachable

Coach Scott Celli said about a player, "She wants to learn. She wants to improve. She wants to play."

Being coachable, listening and working to translate coaching into high performance, gives players a chance to excel. Coaching may not raise your floor or your ceiling based on size, athleticism, and skill potential. But it elevates your performance, your reality.

The "diamond in the rough" is that player who 'comes out of nowhere' to become a contributor or perhaps an exceptional player. Those players share common elements - commitment, determination, work ethic, and coachability. 

A champions best -ability is coachability.

Being coachable isn't a skill; it's a mindset.

Coachable athletes don't just listen-they act.

Average players see feedback as being called out.

Elite players understand feedback is being called up to a higher standard of excellence. pic.twitter.com/TAv4NzfkkB

Being coachable, being teachable is a choice. 

 

— The Winning Difference (@thewinningdiff1) February 17, 2024

Sharing

Shared sacrifice and shared effort earn shared success. 

"This group celebrates the success of their teammates." Coach Hubert Davis #CultureWins
How well does your team celebrate the success of their teammates? https://t.co/0O0sgKR2X2

— Jeff Janssen (@janssenleader) February 4, 2024

It takes character to put team first, to place the scoreboard ahead of the scorebook.

Recall the word mudita, "your joy is my joy." The friendships made on teams today endure for decades. 

Lagniappe. Repost on serving...

Mind Over Matter

Control our responses in a variety of situations. Listen to learn not to respond. 

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Self-Defeating

Bobby Knight wrote a book called The Power of Negative Thinking. He said, "I speak as a coach whose career-long belief was that most basketball games are not won, they are lost."

Success blends doing well and avoiding self-sabotage. The word sabotage comes from the root sabot, a wooden shoe that could be tossed into the machinery of a windmill. 

As a volleyball team or player, what hinders you? 

No planning. Commitment, organization, and preparation separate success and failure. 

Mediocre skill. Without consistency and ball control, deep playoff runs are dreams not destiny. 

Lack of athleticism. "The battle is not always to the strongest or the race to the swiftest, but it pays to bet that way." - Damon Runyan  

Work on vertical jump, lateral quickness, core strength, powerful arm attacks. 

Lack of conditioning. "Fatigue makes cowards of us all."  Jump rope training might be simplest. 

Find a beginner Tabata workout and boost. 

Lack of resilience. Excellent teams don't beat themselves and dig deep to succeed under pressure. 

Procrastination. Put off the work and delay or deny improvement needed to impact winning.

What are you doing today?

Lagniappe.  

Handling Pressure

"Pressure is playing a five-dollar Nassau with two-dollars in your pocket." - Lee Trevino

Pressure degrades performance. "Handling pressure" means that in the moment, your performance dropped off less than your opponent's. 

MVB handles it. 

2003. Andover's Dunn Gymnasium. AC came in 22-0 without losing a set. Melrose had never won anything. Melrose left with a stunning 3-0 upset and its first Sectional Title.  

2009. Greeted at Barnstable in 2008 with the musical strains of "M-I-C-K-E-Y-M-O-U-S-E," Melrose remembered. At the friendlier confines of the Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School, Hannah Brickley and Company sent the Red Raiders home empty-handed, 3-0. 

2012. "Too vanilla," some said. Melrose captures the State Championship, capping off a 26-1 season. 

2021. Billerica. Headed for a crushing defeat in the fifth set, Melrose turns around a 10-3 deficit to win 16-14 with a 13-4 closing run. The enduring lessons included 1) never give up and 2) you have to win points against quality opponents, not rely on them surrendering points. 

Simulating pressure? Scrimmaging with deficits is one way many coaches simulate pressure. Another way is DEEP HIT CHALLENGE.

 

The best drills incorporate offense, defense, and competition. 

What other pressure tips belong? Remember the "COTE of armor" that employs:

Confidence - "Confidence comes from proven success." - Bill Parcells

Optimism - Find a pile of horse manure in your back yard on Christmas. There's a pony in there somewhere. 

Tenacity - Never. Ever. Quit. 

Enthusiasm - "Nothing great is ever accomplished without enthusiasm." 

Lagniappe. Believe. 

Develop You Life Plan Now

Return to the "Achievement Equation."

ACHIEVEMENT = PERFORMANCE x TIME

As a young person, leverage the advantage of time, the magic of compounding. 1% daily improvement creates near exponential growth.

Other than time, what is your edge? Outwork the competition and commit to a handful of principles that favor success. 

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Build your functional strength. 

Enduring and Quirky Advice for Volleyball and Elsewhere

All opinions are solely my own.

Write down the good ideas that cross your mind. Time will arise to apply them. You can journal, write a blog, or maintain a commonplace book. 

1. Say "thank you" a lot, especially to your parents. 

2. Avoid bad people. They bring you down. 

3. "Do five more." - Dan Pink   Extra effort pays. 

4. Find a way to sleep eight hours. In MacBeth Shakespeare wrote, "sleep that knits up the raveled sleave of care." 

5. Eat more fermented foods. Our brains and gut are closely linked. Value arises from heeding 'gut feelings'. The 'enteric nervous system' matters.  

6. Respect the game. Respect coaches, teammates, opponents, and officials. Do nothing on or off the court to embarrass the team or yourself.

7. Be a great teammate by putting the team first and having empathy for your teammates. Put yourself in their shoes. 

8. "Winners are trackers." Track time you invest in yourself through skill building, study, reading, video review, body development. 

9. You know that sport rewards athletic explosiveness. Do something about it. 

10.Stretch. 

11.Be excited, not nervous. Newton North visits Melrose on October 25th in a great non-league contest. 

12.Become your own coach. Be self-aware. Step outside yourself and ask what would an objective observer see? Do you need skill, game understanding, lateral quickness or vertical jump, mental toughness? 

Lagniappe. Start somewhere, e.g. body weight single-leg squats and build upper body power with force-time exercises.

 

Quick Hitter, Measure Something

Our minds and body interact. Positive psychology can result in higher performance and negative mood can diminish performance. 

Some performance experts measure handgrip strength with a dynamometer to assess an athlete's status regarding fatigue or overtraining. But there's more. 

A majority of the studies, including longitudinal and cross-sectional designs, found an inverse relationship between grip strength and depression, with greater grip strength associated with lower depression risk or severity(Ashdown-Franks et al.May 6, 2023

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov › pmc

Depression and Hand-Grip: Unraveling the Association 

A few points worth contemplating:

1) With young players, don't expect consistency. It's often impossible to untangle effects of variable skill, experience, and psychology. 

2) When there is no apparent explanation, find non-basketball factors (academic or personal) that could contribute. 

3) No substitute for trust exists to engage with team members to understand what impacts changing performance. 

Strong communication skills offers a means to monitor the 'vital signs' of our organizations.

Lagniappe. Stay focused. 

"The more concerned we become over the things we can't control, the less we will do with the things we can control"

– John Wooden

— Coach Mac 🏀 (@BballCoachMac) February 10, 2024

Lagniappe 2. Making a difference. 

What is the “Art” of Coaching?

Knowing when…

- To speak up or to listen
- To take a stand or to give in
- To push harder or step back
- To take a break or do one more
- To think of a play or think of a player
- To give a consequence or give a hug

What would you add?

— Greg Berge (@gb1121) February 8, 2024

 Do everything possible to make players feel seen and heard. 

MasterClass on Getting After It

Wisdom from MasterClass

Malala (Nobel Prize winner) "Confidence doesn't require perfection...believe in yourself 

Robin Arzon (Influencer) "Swagger starts with something small...that internal pride cannot be taken away..."

Sam Jackson (Actor) "Success is the byproduct of hard work... understand the fundamentals of what we do and how we do it"

Chris Hadfield (Astronaut) "What are the risks worth taking?... the best antidote for fear is competence...I got this."

Issa Rae (Screenwriter) "To hear male colleagues dismiss women...is very scary...why can't we be afforded that same respect?...you don't have to be a mean person to get your message across"

Howard Schultz (CEO/Entrepreneur) "We all have self-doubt...you can't have any self-doubt about your commitment and conviction...surround yourself with people that can make you better."

LeVar Burton (Actor) "Have the courage to put one's self out there...seek out experiences that give us the opportunity to render service...have a hunger for the unknown.

Jon Kabat-Zinn (Professor, Mindfulness expert) "I have an enormous faith in the goodness of humanity...making eye contact can make someone's day...what kind of a stand do you want to make?...when the world is on fire, at some point you have to stand up."

Lagniappe. Fanga Friday. I'm not an expert... 

27 Sentences

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

Few thoughts reflect originality. Often our best emerges by applying lessons heard or written elsewhere. Living up to those principles challenges us daily. For example, the fourth principle of The Four Agreements advises, "always do your best."

Today's "bonus material" comes from a post, 27 Sentences. Find a few that resonate with you. 

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"You have to believe in yourself before anyone else does. That's the cornerstone upon which real confidence is built."

"You will never lose if you never quit." 

Service Excellence

Who are the top servers in Melrose history? What are the criteria? 

• First, score points. 
• Second, be hard to return. 
• Third, leave an impression. 
• Fourth, not on the current team, so returners, you're not candidates. 
• Fifth, have video evidence. 

I don't have video evidence of Marianne Foley's 28 point service run against Hamilton-Wenham. That's not to be duplicated in 25-point sets. In 2003 (I think), Paula Sen had a serving percentage of over 97 percent, missing four for the season. 

Memory is flawed, selective, enhanced by emotion. We also remember best PEAK and END experience. "Leave 'em laughing" on the comedy stage.

This reminds me of Sara Blakely, CEO of Spanx, who experimented with standup comedy to improve public speaking. One joke went, "I decided to get a dog." Her mother answered, "Are you sure? That's a long-term commitment." Blakely added, "I'm getting a 14 year-old dog."

MVB 'serving excellence' can improve. Blakely says:

• Make it.
• Sell it.
• Build brand awareness. 

There's always a role for the designated server. 

Candidates: 

1. Alyssa DiRaffaele delivered 'sliders' that moved down and away from receivers. She is partly the reason that Lincoln-Sudbury didn't return a home-and-away series. See the video at the end. 

2. Cassidy Barbaro served more like Leah Fowke...hard and often barely clearing the net.  

3. Brooke Bell was the Mike Cuellar (old-time Orioles southpaw) of volleyball, who could deliver 'rotten grapefruit' over the net. Do you know how hard it is to return rotten grapefruit? She was the mistress of the short serve. 

There are plenty of others (highly underrated was Amanda Commito) but these few come to mind quickly. 

What is your MVB skill? Master something to get and keep you on the court. 

Lagniappe. This 2011 video against Lincoln-Sudbury foreshadows a State Title in 2012. Study Alyssa's serves. Note the varied skills of the team (which went to the 2011 Finals, too) varying from power to finesse in a 25-18, 25-22, 25-15 demolition of a D1 power. 

 

What is MVB About?

"Fight for your culture every day." The "What Drives Winning" interview with Jay Wright says a lot.  

Jay Wright on his thought process when starting the first 3 years of his career under .500 as a coach

“I was focused on creating our culture…I wanted to get that point across whether we won or lost the game”

Defines his HOF career

(Via @WDWconvo 🎥)

pic.twitter.com/J2SJeVXwgb

— Hoop Herald (@TheHoopHerald) February 11, 2024

Not every parent will like the coach or think we're doing a good job. Surely, some believed everything wasn't focused on the success of THEIR child. The coach's responsibility is to the team first, to the culture, the ecosystem that drives teaching and improvement.

Coaches want the team to reflect vision...generally one of togetherness and toughness. Toughness is physical and mental. 

If as a player, it's about you and you can't give your best to the team because you're not playing, you're not scoring, or you're not the hub, then maybe you're better off somewhere else.

As a player, what is your MVB skill? What gets you on the team, gets you on the court, adds value? If you expect to play a lot, how do you impact winning? Points score on serves, attacks, and some blocks. Point prevention occurs with blocks and digs.

The culture stands. It gets tweaked around the edges, but the ecosystem of competing every day has been in place for over two decades.

Lagniappe. Martin shows us the German National Team program designed for flexibility, quickness, core strength, and hand-eye coordination.  

Ctrl - Alt - Delete

Embrace Jon Gordon's message:

3 keys to a mindset reboot:

Control Yourself - You might not be able to control all of your circumstances but you can control how you respond to them.

Alter Your Thinking - As Henry Ford said, “Think you can or think you can’t. Either way, you’re right.”

Delete Negativity - Be… pic.twitter.com/nJiuFRnu5N

— Jon Gordon (@JonGordon11) February 10, 2024

Self-control is self-discipline. Commitment comes first. Do the work. 

Alter your thinking. Working hard gives you a chance to earn a spot on the team. Doing more offers the possibility of becoming a bigger contributor. Be a star in your role. 

Delete negativity. Coach John Wooden taught players, "Don't whine, don't complain, don't make excuses. Own your "paycheck" - playing time, role, and recognition.

Lagniappe. Footwork to box jump.

Thoughts on blocking. 

15 Lessons

Legacy by James Kerr is the best leadership book I've read...and read three times. The seven-minute video hits some high points among the 15 lessons. 

What concepts translate to MVB? A lot do. 

"Champions do extra." If success is important to you, outwork the competition. That's hard, requiring time, sacrifice, sometimes blood, sweat, and tears. Every exceptional player in MVB history sacrificed to become her best. It doesn't change when you graduate or join the working world. And nothing is guaranteed. 

Train with purpose. Elevate your skill, strategy, physicality, and psychology. Under pressure, we fall to the level of our training. You don't need expensive equipment to jump rope, do pushups, situps, and many of the "jump training" exercises shown in the videos available here and elsewhere. 

Character matters. Employers want intelligent workers, but first they want hard workers with integrity and honesty. "Sweeping the sheds" translates to cleaning up after practice and games, leaving the gym in better condition than you found it. Empty water bottles, hair ties, and wet floors never belong in the bench area after games. If that means cleaning up after opponents, too, then do it. 

Don't manage expectations. MVB doesn't show up looking for participation trophies. Every season you're pursuing the brass ring, not seeking or accepting mediocrity. When facing the top programs in the state, walk in with heads high, standing tall. You can only be as good as you believe you are. Let your opponent know from the beginning that they are in for a dogfight. 

Culture reigns. Like your word, your culture is your bond. As an upperclassman, you have an obligation to train young players in "this is who we are" and "that is how we play." Underclassmen lead by being prepared, by punctuality, and never being a distraction. Be ready to perform when you get an opportunity, whether a senior or a freshman. When you have the ability, game understanding, and mental toughness, you get an opportunity to play and to earn the trust of coaches. 

The more of these Legacy values you adopt, the more success you will have at home, in school, in sport, and in life. 

Lagniappe. "Do you job well." See ball, hit ball. 

Lagniappe 2. Lady Dolphins basketball coach Shawanda Brown regularly urged on players, saying, "don't back down." That's not metaphorical. The more aggressive team usually wins, taking the play to the opponent. "Don't back down." 

Wanted: Dependability

Whether it is the head coach, assistant coaches, players, managers, etc. the essence of being a part of a TEAM is dependability.

Can the team depend on you to handle your business?

Can the team depend on you to do big and little things for the betterment of the team?

— Radius Athletics (@RadiusAthletics) February 9, 2024

962 English words end in *bility. Many define your value to a team including accountability, durability, reliability, and dependability. 

Dependability means to do the right things, the right way, at the right times.

Dependable players show up physically and mentally prepared, committed, and energized. They do so consistently. 

Dependable players shut out distractions, know that details inform success, and impact outcomes by making everyone around them better. 

Lagniappe. What's in your jump program? You don't have to do everything, but you need to be doing something. 

Other possibilities might include jumping rope, single leg training, squats, and pogos. 

Metacognition

Metacognition is literally "thinking about thinking." You know the expression, "Ready. Aim. Fire." There's no "Fire, ready, aim" for good reason.

Effective people find solutions, not problems. MVB blends execution and continuity. It has to because exceptional players graduate and young players step into those roles.

Nobody hears MVB coaches say, "Woe is me. My top players graduate and the end is near."

After winning a State Championship in 2012, what happened the next season? 

The team went 16-0 in the ML and finished 21-3 with a loss in the Sectional Finals. 

Think before acting. What is the problem? Have I encountered this before? What are possible solutions? What are the range of outcomes with each? 

Take a few minutes daily to think before acting. 

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Lagniappe. Get moving. 

Where the Rubber Meets the Road

Everyone wants the result of greatness but avoids the work required to get there.

It’s boring. It’s a sacrifice. A commitment to show up each day, do the work and live the standard. It’s preparing for the moment so you’re prepared in the moment.

The work is the shortcut.
🪵🪓

— Kevin DeShazo (@KevinDeShazo) February 7, 2024

Quotes don't matter. Promises don't matter. Action matters.

1. Name one thing you did yesterday to prepare for the upcoming season - skill practice, strategy (e.g. video study), physicality (strength, plyo), psychology (mindfulness, visualization). 

2. Name one thing you're doing today to improve. 

3. Name one thing you will do tomorrow to improve. 

Make it obvious. Put a volleyball on your dresser?

Make it attractive. Put a picture of the team on your dresser?

Make it easy. Find a teammate to share your workout. 

Make it satisfying. Picture yourself on the court in the fall during a game, experiencing the excitement and opportunity.  

From a summary of Don Yaeger's Great Teams (my italics):

5. GREAT TEAMS HAVE A ROAD MAP

Every Great Team lays out its plan for finding success in a clear and concise road map. To help navigate that vision, a successful organization has an active, well-designed training program with end goals in mind. This plan is the fabric of an organization's culture, and all involved in it understand the importance of following the road map to reach their desired success — even if the journey is a long one.

Elevate Your Craft

Writer David Mamet reminds his children to "every day do something for your craft and something for your business." Life rewards action. 

Apply yourself fully to school and invest time in other activities - sport, the arts, writing - to pursue your dreams. 

"Great offense is multiple actions." Fans who watched Westborough win the state title saw not only their Player of the Year Quinn Anderson, but excellent defense (platform skills and blocking), and great setting. Great hitters pile up numbers as a function of the 'dig, set, spike' mentality that relies on excellent digging and 'on time, on target' setting. 

Every great hitter in Melrose history relied on passes and sets from teammates. Next year will be the same.

"Winners are trackers." Plan your offseason campaign of skill and athletic development. Write the plan down. A public plan increases your likely of sticking to it. 

"Two is one and one is none." This Navy SEAL adage applies to training and planning. Working out with a teammate lifts two players.

"Become your own coach." What? How can I do that? Years ago at Horace Mann on a hot Sunday afternoon, a young player struggled to  make a reverse layup. The next Sunday, she had it down. Hold yourself accountable to perform at a high level.

 

A few years later in the State Championship, she showed the value of becoming your own coach. 

Lagniappe. Winners do more. Here's the Anson Dorrance quote about Mia Hamm, working out, alone, unnoticed. "You own your paycheck." 

Lagniappe 2. Improve wrist strength for setting. 

Lagniappe 3. Setter dumps. 

View from the Summit

Karch Kiraly visited the top of the mountain as an indoor player, on the sand, and as Coach of USWNT. He knows what it takes and what it means. 

Winning is tough; repeating is harder. The saying goes, "the wind blows hardest at the top of the mountain."

I asked ChatGPT AI why repeating as a champion is so tough.

Repeating as a champion in any competitive endeavor, whether it's sports, business, or any other field, is incredibly tough for several reasons:

1. Increased Expectations: As a champion, there's heightened scrutiny and expectation from fans, sponsors, and stakeholders. Everyone expects you to perform at the same level or even better than before, which adds pressure.

2. 
   

3. Target on Your Back: Being the reigning champion makes you the target for your competitors. They analyze your strengths and weaknesses and strategize to beat you, often putting in extra effort to dethrone you.

4. 
   

5. Complacency: After achieving success, there's a risk of complacency setting in. Players or teams may unconsciously ease up on their training or become overconfident, which can lead to a decline in performance.

6. 
   

7. Injuries and Fatigue: Defending champions often have shorter offseasons due to extended playoff runs or increased promotional obligations. This can lead to fatigue and increased susceptibility to injuries, impacting performance during the following season.

8. 
   

9. Evolution of Competition: Competitors study the champion's techniques and strategies and work on improving their own skills to counter them. The competitive landscape is dynamic, with new talents emerging and existing players constantly evolving, making it harder to maintain dominance.

10. 
    

11. High Turnover Rate: In team sports, there's often turnover in rosters due to trades, retirements, or free agency. Maintaining team chemistry and cohesion becomes challenging, as new players need time to integrate into the team's system.

12. 
    

13. External Factors: Factors beyond a team or player's control, such as officiating decisions, injuries to key players, or unexpected setbacks, can influence outcomes and make it difficult to repeat as champions.

14. 
    

15. Mental and Emotional Factors: The psychological toll of being a champion, including dealing with increased media attention, managing expectations, and handling the stress of competition, can affect performance and motivation.

16. 
    

17. Randomness and Variability: In sports, there's always an element of unpredictability. Despite meticulous preparation and talent, factors like injuries, bad luck, or exceptional performances by opponents can sway the outcome of games or matches.

18. 
    

19. Historical Precedent: The history of sports is littered with examples of teams or individuals failing to defend their titles. This creates a psychological barrier, as athletes may feel the weight of expectations and the challenge of achieving something that's historically rare.

Overall, repeating as a champion requires not only exceptional skill and talent but also resilience, adaptability, and a relentless drive to stay at the top of one's game despite the numerous challenges and obstacles that come with defending a title.

As you might expect, physical factors (health and performance), mental factors (fatigue, complacency), opponent factors, and random factors all contribute. Few teams are so dominant, stable, and consistent that winning is inevitable.

Lagniappe. This never goes out of style.