Great Advice For Aspiring Young Players
Here is a question and some great answers about how to make yourself more valuable to your team.
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QUESTION: My daughter is a 9th grader and played volleyball in 7th and 8th grade but this year she seems to be the bench warmer. What can she do to make her self better? She loves the game but gets very disappointed when she doesn't play or gets put in at the last moment of the game and does just okay. I've checked into leagues but we do not have any in our area.
ANSWERS:
Pat Powers - Olympic Gold Medalist
Forget leagues. Play in open gyms. Play in open gyms with players that are much better than her. Play on the sand. Play competitve doubles tournaments on the sand. Hit 40-60 balls a day. It is how we play better. The most important thing is don't protect her when she plays. Encourage better competition. It is how she will learn not only to play, but to compete as well.....Good luck!
Mark Lau - Pro Beach Player
One thing that your daughter can do is show her determination. Continue working hard at practice, and making the most of the playing time that she does get. Make a difference. Make a difference while in practice, which leads to more match time, and make sure to make a difference while in the match. The difference can be little or big. Be a positive player, encourage those around her, lead the team in chants while on the bench, show the extra bit of effort in hustling after a ball, or while doing sprints at practice. Another thing to make note of, is she needs to figure out where her playing assets fit into the team. If the team already has 2 great setters and your daughter is only "good" and not "great," well then she needs to figure another way to contribute, maybe in her defensive abilities and she can play libero. In Illinois, the girl's season will be wrapping up in the next few weeks, so she needs to take the time in the off season to get in the gym and work on those skills. Also there are a phenominal number of first rate college programs that run camps that she can attend in the summer, so be sure she takes advantage of that, and see if a local college run anything over the winter. Keep playing. Keep her head up, make a difference.
JoAnna Papageourgiou - Pro Beach Player
First of all, I want to commend you for being so involved in your child's life and wanting to help her in her interests, desires, and pursuits!
Secondly... I am excited to hear that your daughter has the desire to change the situation she's in! Good for her! Carry that desire over to do a little extra off-the-court activities.... Such as doing some things that can improve her individual skills. In volleyball, technique, control, and consistency are a must! If she can get a ball, go against a wall and do repetitions and repetitions of setting and bumping, that will help her a lot. She can do as many repetitions as she is willing from 100 to 1,000. The Russians discovered in their studies that it takes 1,000 CORRECT repetitions to make something a habit. So, I used to be up against the wall setting the beach volleyball 1,000 times... broken up into 20 sets of 50. I did that 3-5 times a week and that made a major difference in my hands! When I've added bumping to that exercise, my control and results improved tremendously in bumping, as well! It makes a major positive difference AS LONG AS proper technique is used. It's important that she has the proper cues to remind herself, to look at her own technique (or have someone watch her and tell her) to keep her doing each repetition correctly. You can look up the proper cues online through Pat Powers or volleyball.com. It's very important to make sure that she is constantly focusing on performing each repetition properly, with her whole body (using not just arms, but legs as well). She can also work on her own to improve her other skills through repetitions, such as doing approach jumps, mimicking the movements she would do on the court, and visualizing herself performing the skills perfectly. Visualization takes not only seeing it in your mind, but better focusing on feeling yourself performing the skill and using all of your senses to make the experience as true to life as possible.... Feel the body doing the motions, see the ball and the court and everything that would normally be seen, smell and hear the things that would normally be around you, etc.. Even taste the sports drink, water, sweat, or thirsty feeling (we hope not! Stay hydrated!) that she would feel during competition... Such accurate visualization actually trains the body's nerves to perform what is being visualized.
The individual effort is a must if she wants to change her situation. She can also work on her speed with speed and agility drills (which can be SO fun) and work out in the weight room, etc. Please ask further questions on any of these options through the "Ask the Experts" feature if you want any more information or specific exercises. The other thing I would also suggest is to have her talk to her coach... ask for suggestions... What can she do to improve her game? What can she do to become more of an "asset" on the court? Can she have some extra time after practice or outside of practice to work on these skills with the coach, alone, or with some other players? Can they set up an "open gym" time where some players can go in and work on their skills on a net? Is there anyone she can suggest to help her with her skills (if the coach has no extra time to do so)?
I grew up in an area that was not known for its amazing volleyball programs (until the founder of this website came along to change all that!) and I understand how difficult it can be. But you can get very creative in your situation to find a way to change it. It may be a great bonding time to work together as a family on some skills, to watch professional or college volleyball to study what the greats are doing, to do some new and fun forms of exercise and to get more involved with teammates and friends to do such things. When I went through physical therapy for my major ankle sprain, I found that the physical therapist group I went through also ran a camp for high school and college athletes to improve upon their speed, stability, agility, and strength. Maybe there is such a program in your community?
Fred Aubuchon - Head Coach - Hastings University
This is a very difficult question that many young athletes are faced with. Not getting playing time, limited resources in the area to improve ability, and time is ticking away. The first thought that comes to mind is to have this individual seek additional time on the court (morning, before or after practice) from her coaches or veteran players in the program, if that's not possible then to have friends or dad spend some time working with her. If neither of these solutions work, then seek out a local college or ex-collegiate players in the area and hire some 1-on-1 instruction. If she has desire, then she has the potential to improve, but it has to start with her.
I have worked with many young players in the same situation. Many young athletes expect to be better through normal every-day practice routines, but not everyone progresses at the same pace. Some need the extra work, while others have either get lucky or have put in the additional hours at an earlier age.
Remember - Michael Jordan got cut as a Freshman... perseverance
Best of luck,
Fred
Chad Hanson - University of Iowa Volleyball
Thank you for your question as I am sure there are many other parents out there who wonder the same thing. I have to imagine that you are geographically close enough to either a USAV junior club http://www.usavolleyball.org/WannaPlay/newregions.v2.asp or an AAU volleyball team. http://aausports.org/sprt_Volleyball.asp?a=sprt_Volleyball_LocalContacts... Just click on either link to find an organization near you. If these are cost prohibitive for you in the long run, then I would see if any coaches nearby would be interested in doing private lessons. Camps and skill clinics would be another option, but she should have skill work for more than just 3 additional days of the year.
The age group that your daughter is in tends to be where much of the separation begins to take place between those girls who play year round (school and club) and those who only play during the school year. The biggest factor is whether SHE wants to get better! If so, then she should ask her coach what she needs to do to get better…I would encourage you to tell her that this is not a matter of playing time but instead it is a matter of improving her own skills. If she shows interest and eagerness to improve, then that will be manifested in her desire to come 5 or 10 min early to practice or stay after 5 or 10 min and work on skills by herself…or even better, talk with the coach and ask for help before or after practice. It is very important, and you’ll notice I have over exaggerated the all caps and the underline usage, that SHE is the one who is driving this process. If that’s the case, then there will be nothing stopping her from improving!
We wish you and her the best in her pursuits to master the game The court is waiting for her…
