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Parents and players ask what they can do on their own to develop skills. The challenge with skill development is learning how to perform a skill correctly and repeating that technique over and over until you build your muscle memory. It is critical to get feedback to ensure that the "homework" is done correctly. This has become a great deal easier with mobile phones and video apps.
At the beginning of every season, I ask my players to load the Hudl Technique app, or similar video apps that allow for slow motion playback, on their phone and set up an account. I will also send them a video of someone performing the particular skill and explain the keys to the technique. In the gym, I teach the player the skill and use their phone to record it. We break down the technique so they know where they need to improve. The players will then work on the skill at home and send me video of their progress. I can provide pointers over email. This has become a highly effective teaching tool. Players find it nearly impossible to visualize what they are doing, but once they see it on video, they can both see and feel what their bodies are doing. This has proven to be a means to drive changes. The best defense depends on the level of competition you are playing. Most 14's teams (and younger) don't hit with consistency. This means your team will get a lot of free balls and hits toward the back left corner of your defense.
For one tournament, where my 14's team played in a U15's division, I had my parents chart where every ball was hit when it was hit over the net. This was for all teams in the division. We divided the court by drawing a tic-tac-toe pattern on the court (9 equal spaces that are 10' by 10') and plotted every hit. 24% of all the hits were to the center square. My team played the traditional middle back, perimeter defense. The girls had trouble reading the short hits and they often fell for kills. As a result, we switched to a middle up defense. This resulted in very few tips or short hits ever falling for kills. We used the middle back defense only for big-hitting teams. Play the percentages. Learn what happens most in the games your team plays, then adjust your defense accordingly. What works for an 18's team will not necessarily work for a 14's team, nor a 12's team. |
Coach BradPlay smart! Archives
September 2020
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