This article summarizes and interprets one article originally published on USA Volleyball website(Unfortunately, I already can’t find this article on the site).
It’s written with the goal of being read by coaches working in youth development. I hope this article provides an opportunity for you to reflect on your daily coaching, which may lead to new ideas and improvements.
Keep Players Busy
It is very important to keep players busy and avoiding downtime. It acknowledges that having 20 players on one court with a single coach seems like a difficult order, but meeting this challenge is the essential first step to good court management.
The key is to shift from a task-oriented to a purpose-oriented approach.
It’s not enough to simply tell players what to do; you must explain why. Players should feel that every single touch of the ball moves them toward a specific goal and that each contact is a critical part of their development.
For this reason, it’s more effective to design drills that are completed when a goal is met, rather than when a time limit is reached. The more players are engaged in volleyball, the less energy they have for fighting or fooling around.
To increase ball touches, let’s start with drills where players can feed the balls themselves. This not only gives them more opportunities to touch the ball but also fosters their independence. For beginners, things can be difficult at first, so consider using partner drills or keeping the exercises simple and familiar.
When explaining the purpose of a drill, start by telling them:
- The player feeding the ball is practicing hand-eye coordination and correct positioning.
- The player receiving the ball is practicing reacting quickly and delivering a good ball to the next target.
This way, you communicate the purpose of the drill clearly from the start.
To maximize the value of your practice time, you can divide a large group into three. Give each group a list of skills to practice, but don’t expect them to master every skill before rotating. Instead, give each group smaller, specific goals and a point system. For example: “Get the ball to the setter,” “Make contact with the ball,” or “Get three touches in a row.”
The most important thing is that practice is always busy and goals are always clear. There’s nothing more wasteful than standing idly on the sidelines or waiting for your turn. Coaches should constantly challenge themselves to improve their drills. If you do, even during tough drills, you won’t find a single player resting outside the court for more than 20 seconds.
My Interpretation:
As a coach, I’ve worked in player development and reflected on whether I’ve done enough to make players “purpose-oriented”. I realize that while I had a purpose for every practice, my intentions were often not conveyed to the players. The line, “Are you letting players rest outside the court for more than 20 seconds?” really hit home. It made me realize I need to seriously think about how to eliminate downtime during practice.
Choose Groups Strategically
The more volatile a team is, the more important it is to be strategic about grouping players and choosing partners. It’s crucial to know your players and how they influence each other.
- Who gets along with everyone?
- Who has influence over others?
- Who is a hard worker?
- Who is a talker?
It’s human nature for people to be drawn to those who are likable. So, how do you create an environment that fosters the best learning?
Don’t leave groupings and partnerships to chance, like rock-paper-scissors. Instead, choose partners in a way that minimizes conflict and maximizes growth. The best way to form pairs will depend on your coaching philosophy and the team’s developmental stage.
If you have a new team with a lot of aggressive kids, you’ll want to prioritize creating a peaceful environment. In such cases, you might pair an aggressive child with a quieter one and add a confident, strong-willed leader to act as a buffer.
If your goal is to focus on improving individual skill levels, pair players with more technically skilled partners to motivate them. For players who are close to a breakthrough, give them tasks they can work on with a partner—challenges that they can’t overcome without mutual support.
Multifaceted, well-thought-out grouping is a powerful tool for managing teams with large skill gaps. You might want to pair players of similar skill levels so the difficulty of the drills is appropriate for them. Or, you might want to pair beginners with experienced players. The beginner can receive easy balls and get meaningful feedback, while the experienced player gets to practice receiving more challenging, unpredictable balls.
The goal of grouping is to maximize growth.
There are no absolute rules. The key is to be intentional and always pay attention to which combinations are most likely to lead to growth. And don’t let conflicts or failed pairings fester; they can feel like a punishment to the players. Be ready to reset the pairings if needed.
Just like in a classroom, a team should provide opportunities to work in different groups and partnerships to learn how to collaborate with various styles and build new relationships.
My Interpretation:
When I run practice, I often use group and partner drills, but I’ve realized that I tend to make my decisions based on skill level. While that can be effective depending on the goal, I think there is new value to be found in intentionally grouping players with different skill levels.
I also realized that I shouldn’t blame players for a practice not going well. The cause of the problem might be the grouping or partner choices. I need to observe my players’ efforts more closely and be ready to change groupings and partners if necessary.
And I need to remember that grouping and choosing partners are just tools to maximize player growth and learning.
Don’t Try to Solve Every Conflict
Even if you’re leading a team toward maximum growth and keeping the kids busy, conflicts and arguments are inevitable. In younger, more volatile teams, they might even start before practice.
“He kicked my ball far away!”
“She spread a bad rumor about me at lunch!”
If you feel responsible for handling every single one of these conflicts and persuading them to find a peaceful resolution, you’ll be exhausted before practice even begins. Worse, your energy and focus will be on these minor squabbles instead of on volleyball and the players who are truly there to learn.
So, instead of dealing with every little thing, try this:
“Whoa. You two both seem really stressed out. I want to help, but we need to start this drill now. If you’ll sit over there (pointing to opposite ends of the gym), I’ll come back to you as soon as I get a chance.”
Then, leave them alone for five minutes and ask them, “Are you ready to come back to practice now?” The answer will almost always be positive. If they still want to argue, give them another five minutes so they can see their teammates practicing hard.
Of course, this method isn’t for major conflicts or for kids who repeatedly bully others. Those situations require a more serious, time-consuming conversation. But this approach is effective for dealing with most minor squabbles.
Your real reason for being there is to coach your players and teach them a love for volleyball. Your energy should be spent on those things. This method also has the side effect of reducing conflict because it sends a clear message: The top priority in this gym is volleyball and the teammates who are giving their all to learn it.
My Interpretation:
I was reminded of how immeasurable a coach’s influence on players is. The idea of a coach showing a key message (“The top priority in this gym is volleyball and our teammates“) through their actions rather than just their words was fresh for me. While verbal communication is important, showing your commitment through your actions might be even more effective for younger players.
And no matter how many right and wonderful things a coach says, they won’t gain the trust of their players if they can’t embody those words in their actions. A resolute and unwavering demeanor might be more effective than any words you can say.
Help Players Construct a Narrative of Collaborative Learning
The ultimate goal for a team is to develop a sense of teamwork among diverse individuals. Court management is about creating a space where growth can happen. Once you achieve that, other methods become less important. The seeds of teamwork are planted throughout practice.
- Collaborating with different partners.
- Tackling tough drills together.
- Exploring new and awkward movements.
- Watching others grow.
- Noticing moments when the team comes together.
The final piece is to guide players into a narrative of shared learning. They become a deeply connected team that supports each other through challenges, failures, and stressful situations, and ultimately grows together by gaining collaborative ability, volleyball knowledge, and skill.
You can introduce this process to your team with a few minutes of discussion before and after practice. Before practice, you might mention something you want them to keep in mind throughout the day. It could be:
- A way to find how other members are contributing to the team.
- How someone handles a difficult situation well.
- A moment when someone gains a special skill and grows.
At first, you might be the one providing these examples. But as the team matures, you can ask players to suggest topics for discussion. Then, after practice, they can share some of the things they noticed.
This simple reflection helps players recognize each other’s strengths and daily efforts and fosters a sense of community. This ongoing practice strengthens the connection between their efforts and their growth. This is a crucial element for a big growth curve at the start of a sports journey.
Once your players internalize the idea that “when effort is shared, the growth that comes with it is also shared,” you have won a long and difficult battle. When your team reaches this phase, you will get a great return on your efforts and become even more immersed in coaching volleyball.
My Overall Interpretation:
“Management” isn’t “Control”
I realized that the word “management” here doesn’t mean “control” as it’s often translated. I think a more appropriate term would be “creating an environment for the players.”
Coach’s job is to focus entirely on creating an environment where players can freely challenge themselves and grow.
I truly hope this article helps coaches with their work.
