Tag: coaching skill

Expectations and playing time

Posted onAuthorVolleyball Coaching WizardsLeave a comment

In this excerpt from his Volleyball Coaching Wizards interview, Vital Heynen talks about how he develops and manages expectations both internally with the team and externally with management. He also shares his philosophy on distributing playing time among his players.

Vital led the German National Team to a bronze medal at the 2014 World Championships, then Poland to gold in 2018. He won numerous league and cup titles coaching in his native Belgium, and has also coached professionally in Germany, Poland and Turkey.

Note, John & Mark expand on Vitals comments in Episode 29 of the Podcast.

Putting together a coaching staff

Posted onAuthorVolleyball Coaching WizardsLeave a comment

In this excerpt from his Volleyball Coaching WIzards interview, Vital Heynen talks about the approach he takes to putting together the best possible coaching staff. His comments are likely to prove useful not just to head coaches, but also to assistant coaches in how they approach working in their position.

Vital led the German National Team to a bronze medal at the 2014 World Championships, then Poland to gold in 2018. He won numerous league and cup titles coaching in his native Belgium, and has also coached professionally in Germany, Poland and Turkey.

Note: John & Mark expand on Vitals comments in Episode 2 of the Podcast.

Keeping non-starters engaged

Posted onAuthorVolleyball Coaching WizardsLeave a comment

Keeping players who are not in the starting team happy, or at least not causing problems in the team dynamic, is a key factor in coaching success. In this excerpt from his Volleyball Coaching Wizards interview, Paulo Cunha talks about how he manages the psychology of non-starters and how he deals with professional players who find themselves watching things from the bench.

From 1987 to 2007 Paulo was a coaching education lecturer and course director for the Portuguese Volleyball Association and Portuguese Volleyball Federation. He coached his nation’s Junior National Team from 1986-1992. His club teams in Portugal’s 1st Division won 8 national titles, 7 Portuguese Cups, and 6 Super Cups. Paulo’s coached in 12 European Cups and in 1998 became the first Portuguese coach to reach a European cup final four. Three times he was awarded Coach of the Year by the Portuguese Association of Volleyball Coaches.

Coaching the team’s best players

Posted onAuthorVolleyball Coaching WizardsLeave a comment

In this excerpt from his Volleyball Coaching Wizards interview, US college coach Joel Dearing talks about the need to avoid just focusing our coaching on the weaker players on the team. He says we have to make sure we also give the best player sufficient time and attention.

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.

This topic is one John & Mark take on in more detail in Episode 15 of the Podcast.

The concept of the team – another view

Posted onAuthorVolleyball Coaching WizardsLeave a comment

In this excerpt from his Volleyball Coaching WIzards interview, Vital Heynen shares his concept of team and how he looks to develop that in the volleyball squads he leads. It is worth comparing his views to those shared by Sue Gozansky.

Vital led the German National Team to a bronze medal at the 2014 World Championships, then Poland to gold in 2018. He won numerous league and cup titles coaching in his native Belgium, and has also coached professionally in Germany, Poland and Turkey.

Managing expectations from above and outside

Posted onAuthorVolleyball Coaching WizardsLeave a comment

In this clip excerpted from his interview, Mark addresses the subject of external expectations. He talks about the need to be able to manage the short-term demands for a certain level of performance and success among supporters and management against the longer-term needs of having the team and players optimally ready at the critical time(s) of the season.

Expanding your vision as a coach

Posted onAuthorVolleyball Coaching WizardsLeave a comment

In this excerpt from his Volleyball Coaching Wizards interview, long-time high school coach Stephen Pierce talks about expanding your vision as a coach. That means looking deeper than the final play in a sequence to truly understand the underlying cause of errors and breakdowns.

Stephen Pierce coached high school volleyball in upstate New York for over 20 years before retiring after the 2016 season. During that time he won just short of 1000 matches and his Eden HS teams collected 13 state titles while he was head coach. That is the most for any school at any level. Stephen also developed a regional Juniors club program and led teams to USA Volleyball Junior National Championship medals.

Being a good assistant coach

Posted onAuthorVolleyball Coaching WizardsLeave a comment

In this excerpt from his Volleyball Coaching Wizards interview, US college coach John Corbelli shares his views on what it takes to be a good assistant coach. Loyalty is something that comes up many times when this subject is discussed and John clearly agrees.

John Corbelli is one of the most respected trainers of volleyball players around. This is perhaps no surprise given that he assistant for the USA Women’s National Team under legendary coach Arie Sellinger during the 1984 Olympics. John is probably best known for being the lead assistant to his wife Laurie at Texas A&M where the two spent more than 20 years together. During that time they won nearly 500 matches, made almost 20 trips to the NCAA tournament (including 2 Final Fours), and had players earn 30 All-American selections.

John & Mark talk more about this topic in Episode 23 of the Podcast.

Remembering it’s about the players

Posted onAuthorVolleyball Coaching WizardsLeave a comment

In this excerpt from his Volleyball Coaching Wizards interview, US college coach Dave Shoji shares a piece of advice for new coaches – and really for all coaches. Remember it’s about the players, not about you.

Dave Shoji is a volleyball institution in Hawaii where he has coached the women’s team at the University of Hawaii for more than 40 years. During that time he has won more NCAA Division I matches than any other women’s coach (nearly 1200). He’s won 4 national championships and his teams have made more than 30 trips to the NCAA tournament. Dave has been recognized for his accomplishments with All-Time Great designation by USA Volleyball, AVCA Hall of Fame induction, and numerous other awards.

Training players to manage themselves

Posted onAuthorVolleyball Coaching WizardsLeave a comment

In this excerpt from his Volleyball Coaching Wizards interview, Canadian volleyball coach Glenn Hoag talks about how he tries to develop in his players and and teams the ability to eventually manage themselves on the court.

Glenn Hoag coached the Canadian Men’s National Team in the Rio 2016 Olympics, leading the team into the medal round. His side also won the country’s first NORCECA title in 2016. At the professional level, Hoag can claim four French championships, three French Cups, two Slovenian championships and cup, and a CEV Champions League gold medal, along with league and cup wins in Turkey.