The Volleyball Coaching Wizards Project
Follow the links below to find out more about the project, who is involved, and how you can help.
About the Project
Sharing thousands of years of accumulated volleyball coaching knowledge and experience. That’s what we’re after! Sound ambitious? We hope so. We want something truly spectacular – something that will help volleyball coaches at all levels for years to come! How? We Read More ...
Who’s Doing This?
John Forman and Mark Lebedew are the two main movers behind the Volleyball Coaching Wizards project. They do, however, get lots of help from their friends, colleagues, and contacts in the global volleyball community. John Forman first thought up the Read More ...
How you can help?
Making Volleyball Coaching Wizards the ultimate resource for coaches is a major undertaking. There is a lot of work done. Here’s part of what we have to do.: Identify and communicate with prospective Wizard coaches. Conduct numerous interviews. Arrange translation Read More ...
Coaching to the performance not the score
In this excerpt from his Volleyball Coaching Wizards interview, US college coach Joel Dearing shares his approach to coaching during a match. In particular, he discusses the importance of focusing on the team’s performance more than paying attention to the score.
Joel Dearing coached a total of 40 seasons of collegiate volleyball – mainly on the women’s side, and mostly at Springfield College. He recorded over 700 NCAA Division III victories, putting him in the Top 10 all-time. He head to Springfield men to a final #1 ranking in his final season coaching them. He was the AVCA Regional Coach of the Year 5 times. Joel coached 10 All-Americans. He is the author of two volleyball books, is on the board of the Volleyball Hall of Fame, and is a long-time member of the USA Volleyball CAP cadre. In 2019 he was inducted in to the AVCA Hall of Fame.
John & Mark expand on this topic in Episode 12 of the Podcast. More from Joel’s interview also comes up in Episode 15.
Making technique simple and comfortable
In this excerpt from his Volleyball Coaching Wizards interview, Swedish coach Anders Kristiansson talks about making player techniques and mechanics simple and comfortable. In particular, he addresses techniques that get taught by coaches which cannot be maintained in the reality of the game.
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.
This topic is something John & Mark give a bit more time to in Episode 11 of the Podcast.
Coaching career advice and the importance of a good administration
In this excerpt from her Volleyball Coaching Wizards interview, Marilyn McReavy-Nolen shares a bit of career advice. She talks about the importance of including the quality of those we work for in the process of deciding on the jobs we take or opt to keep.
Marilyn McReavy-Nolen became the 3rd coach in history to reach the 800 career victory mark in NCAA Division I. She is a member of the inaugural AVCA Hall of Fame class as well as being a member of the Women’s Sports Foundation Hall of Fame. She was also chosen for a USA Volleyball All-Time Great Coaches Award.
Judging player character in tryouts
In this excerpt from his Volleyball Coaching Wizards interview, Jim Stone shares his thoughts on how to go beyond judging player skill and athleticism during the tryout process and to also assess their character, coachability, etc. These are things he uses in his work with the USA Volleyball youth national teams.
Jim Stone spent 26 seasons as the head coach at Ohio State where he amassed over 500 victories. His teams won 3 Big 10 titles and made 15 trips to the NCAA tournament. Jim coached two AVCA Players of the Year and 19 All-Americans. He was selected regional and conference Coach of the Year four times.
The philosophy of training plans
In this excerpt from his Volleyball Coaching Wizards interview, Jan De Brandt talks about his approach to planning, structuring, and organizing training. Among the views he expresses is that coaches should look for ways to make training shorter and that fewer good repetitions is better than many bad ones.
Jan De Brandt was most recently the Hungarian Women’s National Team coach, having previously also coached for his native Belgium. At the club level he has coached in Belgium, Italy, Turkey, Spain, Azerbaijan, and Germany. He is a Winner of the European Volleyball League, a CEV Champions League Silver Medal, and a CEV Cup Bronze Medal. While coaching in Turkey his teams won 2 league championships, 1 cup, and 1 Super Cup.
This subject is one John & Mark discuss in Episode 9 of the Podcast. Another of the concepts from Jan’s interview – the roles of the coach – is the topic of Episode 30.
Selecting team captains and assigning responsibilities
In this excerpt from her Volleyball Coaching Wizards interview, Jenny McDowell talks about team captains. She shares her process for selecting captains and talks about the responsibilities she gives them.
Jenny McDowell is Head Coach at Emory University. In her more than 20 seasons there she has amassed over 700 wins, reached the NCAA tournament almost every season, made it to the Final Four on six occasions, and won two national championships. She’s coached 40+ All-American selections and 2 National Players of the Year.
This topic is something John & Mark talk further about in Episode 10 of the Podcast.
Which is more important – coaching in training or match coaching
In this excerpt from his Volleyball Coaching Wizards interview, Redbad Strikwerda answers the question whether he feels it is more important what a coach does in training or what they do during a match. His answer is perhaps different than what many coaches might think.
Redbad Strikwerda has won 6 league, Cup, and Super Cup volleyball titles in his native Holland. He has coached teams in the CEV Champions League, the CEV Cup, and the CEV Challenge Cup. At the national team level, he has coached in the European League and European Championships.
This topic is one John & Mark expand upon in Episode 7 of the Podcast.
Avoiding cultural or clique splits in a team
In this excerpt from his Volleyball Coaching Wizards interview, Ismo Peltoarvo shares his views on avoiding splits in a team caused by cultural differences or the development of player splits. One of the things he uses to that end is the team goal development process.
Ismo Peltoarvo is one of the most respected Swedish volleyball coaches. He has won more than 20 domestic and international titles in Sweden. He has coached at the international level for both the senior and junior national team. He currently directs the Swedish national volleyball training center.
Differences in coaching female vs. male athletes
In this excerpt from his Volleyball Coaching Wizards interview, Scottish coach Craig Faill shares his views and experiences with the difference in approach required when work with female vs. male athletes. In particular, he talks about the socialization aspect of team management.
Craig Faill has over 30 years of coaching experience in his native Scotland. His club teams have won multiple national championships. He is currently the Head Coach of the Scottish Women’s National Team. He previously head coached the Scottish Men’s Junior National Team and was an assistant to the Men’s full national squad.
Avoiding specializing players early
In this excerpt from her Volleyball Coaching Wizards interview, Ruth Nelson talks about the disadvantages of early specialization in players. In particular, she brings up not just developing a more well-rounded sense of the game, but also suggests it increases one’s enjoyment of the sport.
Ruth Nelson is a member of the AVCA Hall of Fame. She won over 500 matches in 16 years coaching NCAA Division I volleyball. She was an assistant coach for the USA Women’s National team under legendary coach Arie Selinger and was head coach for the US Junior National Team. Ruth also coached professional volleyball and ran volleyball for the Special Olympics for many years. She currently runs a youth volleyball program called Bring Your Own Parent (BYOP).