THE KEY TO HELPING ANY PLAYER
REACH THEIR TRUE POTENTIAL!
-By Dave Cross
Coaches, how many times over the years has a senior handed you her uniform
for the last time at the end of the season and walked away naively satisfied
with a "job well done", while you stand there wondering what could have been,
"if only"? One of the greatest challenges we continually face in our programs
is getting each player as close to reaching full potential as we can. So
many times I've listened to frustrated colleagues lament these lost opportunities.
"She just never panned out", "she could have been so much better", and "talk
about senioritis!" are among the favorite cries of these disappointed
coaches.
When we delve into the "whys", a very common thread usually surfaces among
the explanations:
"She NEVER improved at...(fill in the weakness of your choice).
As the conversational search for the "bottom line" reason continues, the
usual responses appear. "I showed her what to do a thousand times, but
she wouldn't change", and "She just wouldn't do the mental stuff"
consistently rank among the top replies.
Does this scenario churn up memories of way too many unfulfilled potentials?
Don't worry, you are by no means alone here. How then can you go about ensuring
the results of your efforts in this area will be pleasantly different in
the future?
Here's a method that can help produce a better outcome. It works with motivated
players who may feel they are already doing enough when they could be doing
more, whether it be in the weight room, or with mental techniques, etc. Many
athletes fool themselves into thinking they are doing everything necessary
and that they will be fine without doing the extra coach may suggest. I honestly
feel this method is also the best chance you have of getting to a player
who is less motivated and less coachable.
Please let me share a personal story with you about a young lady who just
wrapped up her high school career for me during the fall of 2001.
The year before we had graduated a six-foot All-State middle hitter who then
since moved on to play in college at Ashland University. We still had one
big middle (who made third team All-State as a sophomore that fall), but
we desperately needed someone to step up and fill the second middle spot
if we were going to have any shot at continuing our successful run of the
past few years.
The leading (and only) candidate was a 5'11" senior named Monica who had
played right side for us as a junior. Although Monica had done a good job
for us the previous season, her graduation to the "prime time" as one of
our middles was far from a sure thing. She wasn't very strong, lacked quickness,
needed work on her blocking mechanics, had never proven herself as a big-time
hitter, and had the tendency to wind up tighter that a guitar string at crucial
moments. On the plus side, Monica had always been an incredibly hard worker
who was extremely coachable. It was now her time to "step up", or else.
To say I was concerned about this massive potential hole in our rotation
is an understatement. There literally was no one else to turn to if Monica
didn't come through. It was going to be sink or swim with this young lady.
I knew she would work hard, but the fear that she would be satisfied, that
she would settle for being a starting middle on a "good" team her senior
year was very real to me.
Monica and I sat down one day that spring and discussed her coming challenge.
I laid it on the line to her - if she didn't come through and work to become
the best player she could be, we were in big trouble. Being a "good" team
wouldn't cut it - our goals would slip away.
During our meeting, we agreed that she had "dabbled" in the mental training
techniques of "Yes, I Can!", but had not fully applied them the way she could.
After setting her goals for the spring and summer, I sent her on her way
with one additional assignment. It was a visualization exercise we call "The
Crystal Ball Method".
She was to go home and visualize herself playing middle in a big match the
next fall at the skill level she played at her junior year. We both knew
this would not be a pretty picture. She was then to take a step farther and
see and feel the disappointment in her teammates, coaches, friends and family
when we failed as a team. I told her to remember how seeing all this made
her feel and write it down.
Then Monica was to start the visualization over again. But this time things
were to be different. She was to watch herself in this same big match playing
at a much higher skill level - the one she could reach by attaining her goals.
I instructed her to watch as she made one big play after another, finally
culminating in making the decisive play to win the match for her team. She
then was to see the happiness, joy and pride her teammates, coaches, family
and friends all displayed - and gave her credit for making it possible. Again,
she was to write it all down.
When we met again, this already determined young lady had taken her inner
fire to a new level. She was now ready to do the physical and mental "little
things" I knew could make all the difference. No longer was I fearful that
the tools I gave her to change, to improve her weaknesses, would be filed
away in the "I don't need to do all that" box many of our seniors
carry around with them proudly.
So how did things turn out? Let's have Monica tell you herself:
"During my senior year I was able to improve both mentally and physically
on every aspect of my game. My position was middle hitter, and I had a big
role to fill from the previous middle hitter. I was told not to focus on
what she did, but on what I can do and what I will be able to do.
During a match I did a lot of mental talk to myself. I was also able to use
mental and physical anchors to forget mistakes and remember things I did
well. If I made a mistake, I rubbed my left hand on my shorts and told myself
to "move on". If I felt myself getting frustrated I would again rub my left
hand on my shorts and say "clear" to myself as I pictured a clear, white
surface in my head. When I got a kill, block, or made a good pass, I rubbed
my right hand on my shorts and told myself 'good' or 'keep it up'.
If I wasn't doing well, things would get to me and bother me and then I would
start to do bad. But I worked through that by focusing on keeping a positive
head by using the clearing method and putting a smile on my face because
coach was always telling us how important our body language and facial expressions
are. My teammates did a good job too with helping me laugh and forget about
mistakes." (A little note from the coach - yes, I assigned others this
job - the Beatles were never more right when they sang, "I Get by With
a Little Help From My Friends").
"I also used some key words coach gave me. Every time I would go up
to swing, I would tell myself "be quick" just before starting my swing. I
used these same words to help me get to the outside faster to close the block,
too. I would say, "be quick" to myself as I started to move out to the ball.
The mental aspect of volleyball is not the only thing I worked on. I also
worked very hard in the off-season playing club, going to open gyms, and
going to camps over the summer. I took a ping-pong ball and put it into my
left hand and I would reach and throw it over the net before swinging to
help get my left arm up.. To improve my blocking techniques and footwork,
I would do my transition to the outside and block jumps against the wall
before and after summer conditioning and pre-season practices. I also did
agility drills to help my footwork."
And the final results of all this? Monica finished second on the team in
kills behind our All-Stater and actually led the team with a kill percentage
of 52. Her blocking also improved dramatically and she reduced the number
of times she would get "too wound up" significantly. She won one of the two
Most-Improved Awards our team voted on. She was also named second team All-Conference
and All-County and was selected to play in our local County Senior All-Star
Game. Our team shared the conference championship (that made it seven of
the last nine), captured our fourth straight District Tournament Title and
secured our fourth straight 20- win season. (In Ohio, we can only play 22
regular season matches). We were defeated in the Sweet 16 round of the Regional
tournament by the second- ranked team in the state, losing the third game
12 - 15. Our overall record was 21-5.
Probably her biggest compliment came from one of the top coaches in our area,
Lynn Jaloweic, who had coached Monica in club ball at an earlier age. He
stopped to watch us play in a Saturday tournament one day. Later, he called
me to say, "My gosh, has that girl improved. You used to be able to time
her arm swing with a sun dial."
The possible pain of an uneventful senior season, compared to the achievable
pleasure of a successful year to always be proud of, drove Monica to use
methods she had never bothered to try before. In making this change, she
was able to turn many of her weaknesses into strengths, and walk away from
her final day wearing "the purple", proudly knowing she had truly done everything
she could in striving to reach her true potential.
-Dave Cross
National Director
Yes I Can Volleyball
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