BY JOHN KESSEL | MARCH 30, 2015, 3:46 P.M. (ET) The glow of your child being chosen to play for a club, perhaps even the experience of having to choose between multiple clubs and not cut, has faded. In the heart of the season, coaches begin making decisions on playing time based on both what they have seen in practices and tournaments. Depending on the team size, you are likely to [...]
Good, short and organized highlight videos will catch the eye of college coaches IF they need your position in your grad year AND they see in the video that your athleticism, court movement and skill level could make their team better. When you send intro emails to college coaches, you should always have a link to your YouTube video in the body of the email. Here are [...]
Sleep is not a vice. We should all remember that. We hear stories about high-achievers who only sleep 5 hours a night, and it leads us to view sleep deprivation as a badge of honor – and maybe to feel guilty if we get a full 8 hours or, God forbid, 9. The underlying message: sleepers are slackers. In fact, that couldn’t be further from the truth. [...]
When it comes to practice, it’s not enough just to have a pulse and show up at the gym.You’re probably thinking, “Duh, Karch, I knew that.” But I say it to emphasize the point that there’s a big difference between just clocking in and clocking out, and engaging in purposeful practice. In the book “Outliers: The Story of Success,” author Malcolm Gladwell writes about factors that lead to high-level [...]
The end of the fall semester is here, and the spring semester of high school will be just as busy. With 5-8 hours of classes Monday-Friday, a few hours of homework each night, and studying for tests each week, it seems that school takes up most of your time. With volleyball, that schedule becomes even crazier. Sometimes, it can seem impossible to stay on top of it [...]
1. Get in the Holiday Spirit! Leave your scoreboard at home and bring your holiday cheer. This is a fun, team-bonding event with many teams gathering for the first time. Enjoy the costumes, volleyball, and getting to know your teammates, families and coach. Take lots of photos and be sure to tag us @socalvbc via GIPHY 2. Bring your "entry fee" Players and spectators entry fee [...]
You aren't what you are.At first glance, that might not make sense, but I’m here to tell you that it’s a true statement. And it’s a good way of jumping into our topic: growth mindset versus fixed mindset.In the USA gym, we’re all about cultivating a can-do attitude. This means that we fully believe that players and coaches are not just born with certain abilities that will dictate [...]
Young players ask me frequently what they can do to better their chances of success on the volleyball court.To be completely honest, I used to struggle when answering this question. I mean, come on! How am I supposed to assess someone without having prior knowledge of who they are, their genetic makeup, speed, versatility, personality, strengths, weaknesses and level of play? All of these characteristics play a significant [...]
One of the ways that athletes work through stressful situations is through self-talk. Self-talk is pervasive in all areas of life, not just in athletics. We mutter under our breath that the cabbie just cut us off. We psych ourselves up to ask out the cute guy/girl in math class. We curse ourselves for missing a serve at match point. ―Stupid, stupid, stupid!‖ You can hear yourself, [...]
This top 10 list is written for all those players in our global volleyball family seeking to grow and become the best player they can possibly be. It’s my checklist of things to focus on, as they are things you CAN control, rather than wasting time, energy or focus on things that are out of your control – like the outcome or the conduct of your opponents, [...]
