Building a winning volleyball program 19.1.2019

What is coaching? ”Bringing the best out in your athletes.” ”A little bit of coaching is knowledge, but most of it is people.” Dr. Marv Dunphy (USA) ”Getting the team to train at the level it needs to train, in order to be great.” ”Teaching in a way, that is in line with your core values and building principle-based methods to develop skill and competence.”

Questions and decisions Coaching is constant problem solving. We have to ask questions. Who will play in which position? What will we train today? What will we train tomorrow? How should we teach this? And on. And then we have to make decisions, thousands of them, every day.

Coach Hakala Consulting © Principles 1. “As to methods there may be a million and then some, but principles are few. The man who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods. The man who tries methods, ignoring principles, is sure to have trouble.” -Harrington Emerson Coach Hakala Consulting ©

Principles 2. Principles come from statistical trends Laws of nature (gravity) are best examples Things get harder to understand, when a principle is not absolute, but probabilistic (Heatmaps) Follow the laws of learning, laws of biomechanics, the laws of exercise physiology to build methods.

Coach Hakala Consulting © ”Statistical Trends” 2. Coach Hakala Consulting ©

Coach Hakala Consulting © Specificity 1. “Training is specific. The maximum benefits of a training stimulus can only be obtained when it replicates the movements and energy systems involved in the activities of a sport. This principle may suggest that there is no better training than actually performing in the sport.” Training for Sports and Fitness by B. Rushall and F. Pike (Macmillan Education Australia Pty Ltd., 107 Moray St., S. Melbourne 3205, Australia). Website: http://coachsci.sdsu.edu/ Coach Hakala Consulting ©

Coach Hakala Consulting © Specificity 2. “This text maintains that the principle of specificity is the single most pervading factor that influences the improvement of performance from a physiological perspective. Training effects are, in the main, so specific that even minor departures from movement forms, velocities, and intensities result in undesirable training effects.” “This means that incorrectly designed training activities will have no carry-over value for a particular movement form, and may even have the potential to negatively influence activities.” Training for Sports and Fitness by B. Rushall and F. Pike (Macmillan Education Australia Pty Ltd., 107 Moray St., S. Melbourne 3205, Australia). Website: http://coachsci.sdsu.edu/ Coach Hakala Consulting ©

Coach Hakala Consulting © Specificity 3. ”A common misconception is that fundamental abilities can be trained through various drills and other activities. For example, athletes are often given various 'quickening' exercises, with the hope that these exercises would train some fundamental ability to be quick, allowing quicker responses in their particular sport. There is no general ability to be quick, to balance, or to use vision. A learner may acquire additional skill at a drill, but this learning does not transfer to the main skill of interest. ” Schmidt, R. A. (1991). Motor learning and performance: From principle to practice. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics Coach Hakala Consulting ©

Methods 1. Build methods / drills that are in line with principles. (the laws of learning, laws of biomechanics, the laws of exercise physiology) Importance of routine and constraint. The less to remember, the better. Use few key drills and build enough variation inside of them (rules.) Use visual help to explain the activity (whiteboards.)

Methods 2. Training is specific. Train the things that help your team the most. Aka: play a lot of volleyball. The amount of repetitions matters, but so does the quality of those repetitions. 2v2, 3v3, 4v4 games are great. And later, 6v6 drills. You should not isolate skills from the ”gamelike” environment unless you are teaching it for the first time(before the block, there has to be pass-set-hit) Serve and Pass a lot (2 serves from 1 whistle.)

Practice planning 3. (SVK) Coach Hakala Consulting ©

Teaching & Developing skill Follow the principle of SPECIFICITY Early specialization has bad reputation. It in fact can lead to great skill, but complicates matters due to overuse injuries, psychological issues, and other problems which lead to early drop out At the age when most of us coach kids, we should use ALL TRAINING TIME to develop volleyball skills.

Coach Hakala Consulting © Whole vs part method 1. “Whole vs. Part Training: One of the first questions asked when training a new skill is, “Should the athlete practice the skill in its entirety (whole training) or break down the skill and practice the component parts independently (part training)?” In spiking, the “whole” would be the approach footwork and arm work, the jump, ball contact, and recovery. In contrast “part” would focus on a single element of the whole skill, for example, the ball contact.” Bain, S.D., & McGown, C. (2010). Motor Learning Principles and the Superiority of Whole Training in Volleyball. Coach Hakala Consulting ©

Coach Hakala Consulting © Whole vs part method 2. “This query, “whole or part training?” has in fact been asked and answered hundreds of times in the scientific literature. Most notably, Nixon and Locke [6] examined the research comparing effects of whole training vs. part on motor learning and were unable to identify a single study that favored part or progressive-part methods of instruction. “ Bain, S.D., & McGown, C. (2010). Motor Learning Principles and the Superiority of Whole Training in Volleyball. Coach Hakala Consulting ©

Coach Hakala Consulting © Whole vs part method 4. During the intervening decades, the analysis of Nixon and Locke has been confirmed [23], substantiating the evidence that athletic, musical, or ergonomic skills that require a high degree of interlimb coordination are best served by whole-skill practice [24-28]. Given the overwhelming body of scientific evidence demonstrating the superiority of whole versus part training it is puzzling that part progression methodologies remain such a popular instructional paradigm.” Bain, S.D., & McGown, C. (2010). Motor Learning Principles and the Superiority of Whole Training in Volleyball. Coach Hakala Consulting ©

Coach Hakala Consulting © Further reading: Bain, S.D., & McGown, C. (2010). Motor Learning Principles and the Superiority of Whole Training in Volleyball. Schmidt, R. A. (1991). Motor learning and performance: From principle to practice. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics Training for Sports and Fitness by B. Rushall and F. Pike (Macmillan Education Australia Pty Ltd., 107 Moray St., S. Melbourne 3205, Australia). Website: http://coachsci.sdsu.edu/ Coach Hakala Consulting ©