Spiked improvement! A basic philosophy for putting a winning team on the court.

A philosophy I have always stuck with is to develop the basics until they're basic, starting with the grassroots level and then developing players through their senior year.

A team cannot progress without good serving, pinpoint passing, and great setting. Developing the basics takes work and repetition. It also takes a coach who can instill respect for basics and develop drills to promote skill maintenance in a competitive and fun manner.

Basics are the building blocks that are required to create sound offenses and defenses made up of good basic skills that give the players the freedom to apply them in game situations.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

I am also a firm believer in teaching "over the players' head"--teaching them things that they are supposedly not ready for, and then challenging them to reach for a higher level--showing them that their coach has faith in them. A coach who says, "They're not ready for this," or "They're just girls," limits his team's potential. Having faith in each player becomes great motivation for the whole team.

At our camp, we try to satisfy five goals:

1 We teach the basics 'til they're basic. This goal makes the players' high school coach happy.

2 We try to achieve each player's personal objectives. At the beginning of camp, we ask each player what her three immediate goals are. These goals usually include becoming better skilled at her primary position, such as setting or hitting.

3 We try to have fun and stay competitive.

4 We try to give them tough workouts. Players feel like they have accomplished more if they are pooped. This produces a sense of accomplishment!

5 Lastly, we teach them something over their heads. Then each player can go home and brag that she learned something incredible. We also challenge them to continue to work on this higher level of skill.

The following experiences can all help raise a player's skill level and knowledge of the game during the off-season: attending camps, playing club ball, playing in competitive off-season leagues, attending open gym, participating in player clinics, playing in state all-star games, playing in beach competitions, and playing in grass tournaments.

A high school coach should recommend and then route his players into positive off-season experiences to enhance their development. A high school coach should also include himself in as many of these experiences as possible.

These situations will help the coach network with other coaches and players, acquire new learning experiences, and show his players how much he is interested in them and in their improvement.

Providing special experiences for players also gives my athletes what some other programs don't offer. A special tournament out of town is always fun.

Offering such an experience to any player enhances the player-coach relationship and encourages lifelong learning. Attending a camp with the entire team provides a key off-season experience and promotes a family type of bonding that demonstrates caring between a team and the coach.

TEAM WARM-UP

Pre-match warm-up serves several functions. Most important, it readies the body for game play. Secondly, it helps psych up a team for competition.

Physically, a player needs to warm up until she has broken a sweat. Suggested activities are court movements that replicate game play. Most high school teams have pre-game rituals to psych the other team out. Many times they include running around the court, slapping hands, diving on the floor, and old-fashioned cheering! The initial warm-up could include side steps, crossover steps, blocking and attack patterns, skipping, sprinting, and jogging!

Many teams stretch after their initial movement to ensure full range of motion in their joints. Most pre-game movement drills are repetitious, creating an attitude of "let's get it over quickly!" Some teams pull out the flexible ladders to perform their agility step work. Some teams perform fun tag games to achieve quick movements with less pain and more fun!

A coach should prevent his own team from staring at the other team who may be executing a "cooler" warm-up! During warm-up, players must focus on their own readiness, the team's readiness, and on their pre-game rituals. Obviously, there is no score awarded at the end of warm-ups, but some warm-ups tend to be intimidating or better orchestrated, which can achieve better mental preparedness.

To stop our team from staring at other teams who were obviously having more fun during warm-up last season, we added a simple relay race at the end of our court movement drills. The players clapped and cheered for each of their groups, so we finally had other teams staring at us having fun during our warm-up!

Warm-up is also the time for a team to become familiar with the court. This includes testing the tautness of the net, identifying court lines and floor surface, and adjusting to the gym's lighting and overhead obstructions.

Most high school and club warm-up time is limited. A lot of our fans complain that the volleyball warm-up is longer than most matches! But each team is usually allowed 10 to 20 minutes of shared court time and 3 to 12 minutes of whole court time.

A team needs to simulate as many game-like ball contacts as possible and use their time wisely. Important tune-up skills include passing and digging balls at game-like angles, attacking, serving, setting, transition, and defensive run-through skills. Drills that can be performed on half a court should be used during the shared warm-up period. Serve receive, hitting from a pass or from transition, and libero/defensive specialist movement should be done during the whole court period.

Many teams also use this time to play triples, quads, or review each serve receive pattern. Our high school league never allowed whole court warm-up, so we were notorious for starting with a 0-6 deficit until we warmed up serve receiving during the first game! Colleges follow more pre-match protocol.

It is important not to "over warm up," too. Regardless of the time allotted, a coach should have his team practice the pre-game warm-up and should time-manage it so it is efficient and prepares the team in all aspects. Warm-up drills can be centered on or initiated by the coach or by a player.

A coach should focus on each player's readiness to play. He also wants to make some encouraging exchanges to remind individual players of specific strategies that are part of the game plan.

Warm-up is not the time to make major changes in a player's technique. Warm-ups are for positively getting the players mentally ready to compete.

The coach initiates most drills by helping create what he needs and motivating his players by testing their limitations and making sure the players achieve some success.

Warm-ups sometimes help a coach determine who is really ready to start in a game. That's a big help whenever the coach has any doubts about one or two positions.

(Reprinted from the superlative coaching text, "Coaching Volleyball Successfully," written by Sally Kus and published by Human Kinetics, Champaign, IL. It contains 224 pages with diagrams and may be ordered by calling 800-747-4457 or online at www.humankinetics.com)

By Sally Kus, Head Volleyball Coach, U. of Buffalo