College Volleyball Recruiting Newsletter – X
Championship Combines (vbcombines.com) and Athletic Recruiting Counselors (arcvb.com) engages with hundreds of college coaches each year – In listening to college coaches, we have selected 5 areas which they have emphasized about recruiting and college volleyball!
Be in the correct physical condition – Volleyball shape is specific to the sport. College and Club players all to often do some running and think they are in shape to begin the season. Instead of using the first week to maximize their skills sets, players have to use the first week to get into volleyball shape and work through their soreness. Volleyball shape means being able to jump, and jump, and swing, and jump, and swing, and explode, and dive/roll, again and again and again.
Trust Coaching – Coaches provide instruction and give feedback players to make their volleyball experience better. While every coach may have their shortcomings and no coach is perfect, the depth of experience/age/wisdom/miles on the odometer, allows a coach to do their jobs successfully. Often, coaching is just sharing volleyball experience with players; trust that the coach wants you to improve and is sincerely interested in you getting better.
It can be the Small Things – As Volleyball players move beyond the fundamental skills ability, it is the small adjustments illustrated by your coach that can make the difference between on-court success and failure. Just think about all the small things which a player usually hears from a coach – hands up early when setting, present the platform early when passing, low body movement instead of tall when passing/defending, elbow up quick when attacking, hit down the line, off speed to the middle – These are all small tips, which can be applied easily to be successful.
Apply It – Too often, Volleyball players don’t apply what they have been shown and/or told. In volleyball camps, team practice, individual trainings, is it surprising how simple coaching instruction is not applied. Players will simply refuse instruction, even though coaches absolutely know it will easily make that player better.
Maybe it is a matter of teenagers being teenagers, or kids being spoiled growing up, or thinking that since they were All Conference last season or the best player in Waxahachie, that they know better. Even in the collegiate ranks, players can refuse to apply the coaching, and then get mad when they don’t play. If you are hitting .083 by attacking only cross court, and the coach tells you to hit line to tool the block, but you refuse, don’t be upset when you are standing at the end of the bench because you are still hitting .083.
Coaches are not coaching you because they are bored, or to hear their own voice, or to try and embarrass you; they are coaching you to get better as an individual, so the team will be successful. Hitting .300 is fun, tooling the blocker is fun, getting better is fun, winning matches is fun. Volleyball, the NAIA and NCAA DII have many similarities in terms of level of play and scholarship support.
Maximize the Time – Collegiate and High School players seem to forget that they have a small window to be a competitive volleyball player on a team. Players sometimes choose to get emotionally caught up toxic, petty, childish issues that only demean an especially valuable time in their life and competitive experience. Instead of just enjoying the simple times between matches and practices, they roll around in emotional poison ivy. Instead of letting a drama hand grenade fly by, players will reach out catch it, pull the pin and then feel sorry for themselves when it blows up. Choose to focus on the positive, choose to savor every moment, choose to enjoy being around your team mates (even if they are not perfect or your best buddy) choose to do the right thing, not the drama thing.
College coaches are always thinking about volleyball and when they share their thoughts, it is good to listen!
