Author: Volleyball Coaching Wizards

Podcast Episode 14: Talking to the team after the match with Tom Turco

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Pre- and post-match team talks have long been the subject of interest and attention, both by those involved in them (players and coaches) and those observing from outside. In this episode our conversation focuses on post-match talks, especially following a loss. It begin with the thoughts of Wizard Tom Turco.

Tom Turco has won 17 state high school championships in Massachusetts, where he has coached for over 30 years. His teams won a record 110 straight matches between 2003 and 2007. Tom was selected as the AVCA National Coach of the Year in 2008 and the NHSCA National Volleyball Coach of the Year in 2012.

Feedback, questions, comments, etc. are always welcome!

Volleyball Coaching Wizard Bob Schneck

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Life decisions and coaching

USA coach Bob Schneck spent his entire 35 year college coaching career at the University of Rhode Island. In the early days he had the unfortunate situation of having to face Penn State in conference each year, resulting in him accumulating a lot of second place finishes. Along the way, though, he did manage to get little URI into the national rankings.

His resume includes:

  • Over 600 NCAA Division I victories
  • Coached 32 All-Conference performers, 6 conference Freshmen of the Year, and 2 conference Players of the Year.
  • NCAA District I Coach of the Year twice
  • Long-time member of the USA Volleyball CAP cadre
  • Outstanding high school coaching record before moving to college.

Here’s some of what Bob discusses in his interview:

– The off-court demands of college coaching
– Work/life balance
– Assistant coach development
– Program building
– Recruiting foreign players

Play this excerpt for a taste of the sort of insights and ideas you’ll get from the full interview:

Get access to Bob’s interview now for just a $4.99 contribution to the Volleyball Coaching Wizards project.

Bob’s interview can also be found as part of the following bundles:

Podcast Episode 13: Breaking the game in to parts, with Mike Lingenfelter

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In volleyball, as in life, it is often beneficial to break things down in to smaller, more manageable chunks. Mike Lingenfelter talked about this in his Wizards interview, sharing his “High 5” concept of providing his team with five progressive objectives for each set. That idea is the focus of this episode of the podcast.

Mike Lingenfelter is the co-director of the Munciana Juniors volleyball club and coach of its 18s Samurai team. After his own playing career, he started his coaching at the college level, but eventually found his niche in the juniors age group where his teams have won four national championships, were national runner-ups an additional four times, and earned three third place finishes. His high school teams won three Indiana state championships and he was selected Indiana state high school Coach of the Year three times. Mike is a regular coaching presenter and clinician.

Feedback, questions, comments, etc. are always welcome!

Volleyball Coaching Wizard Tom Turco

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Coaching the mental at least as much as the physical

USA high school coach is a legend in New England volleyball circles. A major part of his success he attributes to the mental, off-court training he has been doing with each of his teams going back 20 years. It seems to be working pretty well!

His resume includes:

  • 18 Massachusetts state high school championships
  • 110 match winning streak from 2003 to 2007.
  • 2008 AVCA National Coach of the Year.
  • 2012 NHSCA National Volleyball Coach of the Year

Here’s some of what Tom discusses in his interview:

– Tryouts and making cuts
– Focusing on the mental part of the game
– Staff management
– Working with your administration
– Creating a culture

Play this excerpt for a taste of the sort of insights and ideas you’ll get from the full interview:

Get access to Tom’s interview now for just a $4.99 contribution to the Volleyball Coaching Wizards project.

Additionally, Tom’s interview is featured in the first Volleyball Coaching Wizards book. His interview can also be found in the following bundles:

Podcast Episode 12: Coaching to the performance, with Joel Dearing

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When it comes to your coaching during matches, do you coach based on the score line or based on the performance of the team? Joel Dearing, in his Wizards interview, suggests you should be focused on the team’s performance as the score will then take care of itself. This is the starting point of our discussion in this episode of the podcast.

Joel Dearing coached at NCAA Division III Springfield College for 30 years and accumulated over 700 wins. That’s good enough for a Top-10 standing in the record books. He mainly coached the women at Springfield, but also coached the men for seven seasons, and in his last had the team end the year ranked #1. Joel was five times selected AVCA Regional Coach of the Year and coached 10 All-Americans. He is a member of the board at the Volleyball Hall of Fame, a long-time part of the USA Volleyball Coaches Accreditation Program (CAP) cadre, and author of the books Volleyball Fundamentals and The Untold Story of William G. Morgan – Inventor of Volleyball.

Feedback, questions, comments, etc. are always welcome!

Volleyball Coaching Wizard Mike Lingenfelter

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Finding Your Coaching Niche

USA club coach Mike Lingenfelter spent a number of years in the college coaching ranks as both an assistant and head coach following his own playing career. He has really found a home coaching younger developing players at the Juniors level, though. He’s spent over 15 years at the highly respected Munciana program – the oldest volleyball club in the US. There he feels he can have the greatest impact as a trainer and player developer.

His resume includes:

  • Four national championships, four national runner-ups, and three third place finishes with his Juniors teams
  • Three Indiana state high school championships.
  • Indiana state high school Coach of the Year on three occasions.
  • Regular coaching clinic presenter

Here’s some of what Mike discusses in his interview:

– Evolving as a coach
– Having a culture
– Structuring and managing team tryouts
– Developing team culture and cohesion
– Managing the demands of a long season
– Having a player-first mentality

Play this excerpt for a taste of the sort of insights and ideas you’ll get from the full interview:

Get access to Mike’s interview now for just a $4.99 contribution to the Volleyball Coaching Wizards project.

Mike’s interview can also be found in the following bundles:

Podcast Episode 11: Keeping things simple, with Anders Kristiansson

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There have been a lot of things taught to volleyball players over the years, especially when it comes to body position in the ready phase of play. Much of it, though, has seen players put into uncomfortable positions where they struggle to move efficiently. Often this lead them to “revert” back to old habits, which usually means comfortable body posters and motions.

This episode of the podcast focuses on that, not from the perspective of how to make these things permanent, but rather in terms of the desirability of avoiding burdening players with too much complexity. The focus, instead, is on making things as simple as possible.

Anders Kristiansson, who currently coaches in Japan, is a coach who influenced other top coaches. He coached teams to 26 combined men’s and women’s championships in his native Sweden, then went on to win 15 titles in Belgium and 3 more in Greece. His teams played in four CEV Champions League Final 4s and twice reached the final. Anders also coached the Swedish national team during its strongest period of international performance. He lead the team to a silver medal at the 1989 European Championships, the nation’s best ever tournament finish.

Feedback, questions, comments, etc. are always welcome!

Volleyball Coaching Wizard Joel Dearing

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Coaching as Teaching

American coach Joel Dearing spent 30 years coaching the women’s team at Springfield College in NCAA Division III. He also coached the Springfield men for 7 years before handing them off. All of this was while teaching. Joel is one of the most respected coaches in the Northeast of the USA, not only based on the performance of his teams, but also for his efforts in helping other coaches develop.

His resume includes:

  • Ranks in the top 10 in NCAA Division III victories with over 700
  • Lead the Springfield men’s team to a final #1 ranking in his final season
  • AVCA Regional Coach of the Year 5 times.
  • Coached 10 All-Americans
  • Author of Volleyball Fundamentals and The Untold Story of William G. Morgan – Inventor of Volleyball
  • On the board of the Volleyball Hall of Fame
  • 2019 Inductee into the AVCA Hall of Fame
  • Long-time member of the USA Volleyball CAP Cadre

Here’s some of what Joel discusses in his interview:

– Volleyball history
– Having protocols
– Coaching blind spots
– Reinventing yourself as a coach over time
– Developing your best players, not just improving your weakest
– Gender differences in team bonding
– Developing captains and team leaders

Play this excerpt for a taste of the sort of insights and ideas you’ll get from the full interview:

Get access to Joel’s interview now for just a $4.99 contribution to the Volleyball Coaching Wizards project.

You can also get Joel’s interview as part of the following Bundles:

Podcast Episode 10: Captain selection and responsibilities with Jenny McDowell

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The process of selecting a captain and the responsibilities they are assigned are the subject of this episode of the podcast. Audio from the interview of Jenny McDowell in which she shares her philosophy on the subject as the starting point. We then take the discussion into the areas of the importance of the captain role in European volleyball, characteristics of a good leader, development of the captain as a leader, and more.

Jenny McDowell is the head coach at Emory University, which plays in Division III of the NCAA. She has won over 600 wins in her coaching career. Her teams have made 19 straight trips to the NCAA tournament, with four appearances in the Final Four, and a national championships. Jenny has coached 40 All-American player selections and two National Players of the Year.

Feedback, questions, comments, etc. are always welcome!

Volleyball Coaching Wizard Anders Kristiansson

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Mentor to other Coaching Wizards

Anders Kristiansson is a legend in his native Sweden, and has done pretty well for himself in other places as well. He was mentioned by fellow Wizards Ismo Peltoarvo and Jefferson Williams at influential in their own development. He’s also often referred to on The Net Live show as host Kevin Barnett’s coach when he played in Belgium.

His resume includes:

  • 26 combined men’s and women’s championships in Sweden
  • 15 titles in Belgium and 3 more in Greece.
  • 4 CEV Champions League Final 4s, with two trips to the finals
  • Coached the Swedish National Team to silver at the 1989 European Championships, the nation’s best ever performance at a major international tournament.
  • Currently coaching in Japan

Here’s some of what Anders discusses in his interview:

– Improving volleyball for fans
– Understanding good technique
– Coaching in Japan
– Thinking about the psychological aspect of technical development
– Working on team cohesion
– Adapting to different cultures

Play this excerpt for a taste of the sort of insights and ideas you’ll get from the full interview:

Get access to Anders’ interview now for just a $4.99 contribution to the Volleyball Coaching Wizards project.

You can also get Anders’ interview as part of the following bundles: