For a really temporary interval, in what looks like a number of lifetimes in the past, I coached a ladies’s staff. It was an fulfilling expertise. Till it wasn’t. However that had nothing to do with the ladies, who had been great. None of these issues have something to do with the story, which is in regards to the setter.
The setter was a really gifted participant with nice contact, and sensible and cheeky in, dare I say it, a De Ceccoish type of manner. She used to like to attain factors straight by setting over the web on the second contact. With out leaping. This was extremely annoying as a result of it was an easy ball to defend and but she all the time scored it. I knew that on the subsequent stage this ball wouldn’t rating however my specific directions to the staff had been that their job was, in each occasion, to determine the easiest way to win the drill or recreation1*. I couldn’t inform her to not play that shot as a result of she was following my directions. What may I do? I made a decision to focus my consideration on the defenders’ actions and tasks.
I instructed the defenders that this was a straightforward ball to defend and that there could be penalties in the event that they didn’t defend that ball sooner or later2. I need to say that the implications had been a minus level within the recreation, however I think I might need made the defending staff run strains3. The result was that the setter saved making an attempt to attain. And saved succeeding, to my intense displeasure and to her, I’m pretty positive, her secret pleasure. No quantity of ‘penalties’ appeared to have the ability to change the result.
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At some second as I used to be prowling across the court docket, it felt like prowling to me however most likely wasn’t, I ended up being precisely behind the place 5 defender because the setter tried certainly one of her specialities. I used to be shocked to study that from the angle of the defender it was nearly not possible to learn the course of the set because it left the setter’s arms. Within the early a part of the flight path, the trajectory appears to be like precisely like a primary tempo set. It’s only after the ball is previous the block that the defender actually sees that it’s truly about to land in entrance of them. And so I learnt. A number of issues.
The ball was not truly a straightforward ball to defend. Historical past has proven that that exact type of setter assault could be profitable on the highest stage (see De Cecco, Luciano amongst others), so I used to be unsuitable about that too. However most of all, I learnt that what the coach sees from a place subsequent to, or behind the court docket, with all gamers of their line of sight, is totally totally different from what the gamers see from their positions on the court docket. Gamers and coaches have a literal totally different perspective.
Earlier than you inform a participant what they need to have executed based mostly on what you noticed, stand behind them (actually and / or figuratively) and piece collectively what they noticed. Now you could have an actual instructing second that may have a deep impact not solely the result of particular person actions however on the way you and the gamers see the sport as a complete.
