Ask Coach Houser

Blocking And Defensive Stategies!

CoachHouser — Sun, 11 May 2008 11:36:05 GMT

Coach Houser:
I have a player that is little over 6 ft. When the ball is hit it goes between/through her arms. She tries to squeeze them close and her chin is down. but if they hit directly into her arms it still goes through sometimes. Suggestions????

My answer may seem simple, but it's the only answer I have. She must not allow the ball to get between her arms. Period. Sure, it will happen occasionally, but that's once a tournament, once a week at practice. But that's as much as she can allow.

She must squeeze her arms tight enough to where a ball cannot get through them. Period. If that's impossible b/c of her genetic bone structure, then oh well. I have coached girls before who cannot straighten their elbows; thus, it's nearly impossible for them to ever be a good passer. Oh, well.

However, the non-staight elbows girls are 1 in 1000. I imagine there's also that same 1 in 1000 chance that your player can't keep a ball from getting her arms.

I know you know the reason why the ball just can't be allowed to go b/t her arms, but let's talk about it anyway. In most defenses, there is no coverage behind the MB. Reason: balls lands there so seldom (and we can prevent balls from landing there so well), why put someone there? She's pretty much a wasted digger. I haven't put someone behind my MB since 1989, and I don't see me going back to it.

So, my girls must try their darndest to squeeze their arms and close our block. We try to force the opponents to either hit though us (which they should be rarely successful), tip over us (we'll pick that up, if we're a good team!), hit over us (which should mean the ball goes out), or hit around us (which we hope we will dig). In fact, that's the logic behind the perimeter defense: have your blockers create a "shadow" behind them where the opponents cannot hit and thus your blockers "funnel" the hit to where your diggers are. With this strategy, your diggers have less court to cover b/c they are concerned about a hit coming into only 70% of the court b/c the other 30% is "blocked off" by your blockers.

Will the other team still be successful some? Of course.

* Hole in your block or the ball goes between the blocker and the net.
* The hitter can hit over your blockers (oh, oh! That's trouble!)
* tooling the blockers' arms or hands
* A digging error on a diggable ball, or the hit has too much velocity to dig
* the hit lands in an area that your diggers just couldn't get to (on the line or in the deep 1 or 5 corner)

But at practice, you and your players keep on working and working on the things that I just listed, thus reducing the likelihood that the opponents' hitters can be successful!

If anyone else has questions for me, please ask! Your questions give me great ideas for articles for Dave Cross's Gold Member Coaches!

Tom Houser

Director, STAR Volleyball Camps

Head Coach, 2008 and 2007 Roanoke 15's Open

Head Coach, 2006 Roanoke 15's Nationals, JOVC Qualifiers

Author, "I Can't Wait" Drill Collection and Ebooks

www.coachhouser.com

"Coaching Is So Hard! Will It Ever Get Easier?"

CoachHouser — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 17:28:51 GMT

Coach Houser:
I'm 28 years old, and have been coaching for 5 years. Gosh, coaching is still so hard! There is always someone questioning me, some parent complaining or some player breaking a rule. And sometimes I cause my own problems. Yeah, I will say something stupid, or punish a player when I shouldn't, or not deal with something I should have, etc. Do you have any words that will make me feel like there's light at the end of the tunnel?

Hey Coach!

Man, do your words bring back memories.

In my first year, I gave out jerseys. I thought I was smart to say, "Seniors get first pick." Little did I know that Tammy took the jersey number that Anissa had worn the year before. Anissa came to me crying. I stumbled, "Huh? What? Ahhhhh, OK, I'll let you know tomorrow."

About 2 weeks later I said, "We're going to have a short Sunday practice." On Friday, the principal comes to my classroom and tells me that Sunday practices in Virginia are illegal. Oh. OK. Didn't know that.

I can guarantee you that as you get older, most of the "big" things will become little. They may even become afterthoughts. Many of the big things that are left will be delegated. So, eventually, as you coach longer and longer, you should be able to concentrate on the important stuff: coaching your team!

In addition, as you get older and have more attitude, the problems you have with parents and players should decrease also. I am now older than most of the parents, and I have probably averaged only 1 issue a month over the past 10 years. Really. And I don't think it's because the players and parents are scared of me. I sure hope not. But the players know that I will not tolerate disrespect, tardiness, skipping of practice, attitude, etc. And I think the parents know that there will be no fussing in public, no whining about playing time, and no sudden "Oh, Janice won't be at the next 4 practices" without some consequences.

If you're 25 or 30 or 35 and the parents are all 40 to 50, they may look at you as young and think you just don't know what you're doing. And they use your age to justify some of their bullying. If you never have had children, the parents may also tend to look at you as inexperienced and unknowledgeable in the area of understanding teenagers. More reasons to confront/question you.

Since I'm 50 years old and my stepdaughter is the libero at Radford University, I believe the parents on my team have a little more patience with me. They are more likely to say, "I guess Tom knows what he's doing." Notice that I said they're "more likely" to feel this way! Just wait until I do something stupid! And 45 year old parents know stupid when they see it! haha

Here's an example. At our first volleyball tournament in January, the parents and players thought we were done for the day and that we would leave the arena. Yes, the other three teams on our net were playing and working, while it was our turn to rest. Perfect! So I got the parents together and said, "There's a match on court 47 that I'd like the girls to watch." No sound. Nothing. Just stares. What's up? I was thinking to myself, "What did I miss? If we leave now, aren't we an hour ahead? Why can't we stay a little while?" Then I looked at my assistant, she pointed to her watch, I looked at mine and I was like, "Oh, my gosh. I thought we were an hour ahead. We're 30 minutes behind?!?!?! No problem, let's go find some supper!" The parents smiled, started talking again and we walked out together.

One more thing: I have better judgment now than I did when I was in my 20's and 30's, thus I do fewer dumb things......like fussing at kids in public, like not controlling my emotions, etc. I am more organized also. So I don't get lost leading the team to tournaments, I don't miss deadlines, I don't change my practice or tournament schedule unless I'm forced to, etc. Here's an example. I learned at Wednesday's practice that we had no court for Saturday night's practice. What did I do? At 25 years old, I may have cancelled practice. At 35 years old I may have told all the parents and players. But at 50 years old, I told the team nothing. One parent spent 3 days beating the bushes looking for a court. He found it on Friday night, so Saturday's practice was normal time, just different location. Perfect! No one had to know anything else.

Right now, I'm coaching the 4th straight team where the parents and I are working together. Yep, we're all one team. I plan on keeping it that way. Do I go out with them? No. Eat & drink with them? No. Do I visit their house? No. I am still Coach Houser. But we work together, we talk over some things, I listen to their ideas, and we respect each other. It's great!!

Now, let's spend a moment looking into the future. Let's say your coaching career doesn't evolve the way mine has. Let's say at 30, 35 and 40 years old, you're still battling the parents, being overruled by your administrators, having monthly heart-to-hearts with the athletic director, making bone-head decisions, etc. If those time-consuming coaching issues aren't subsiding, then you need to find out why! Hey, if my judgment has improved, anyone's can! hahaha You must discover what you are doing -- or what you aren't doing -- that continues to hold back the progress of your team! Maybe a coach at your school who doesn't have the same problems can help you out. Ask SOMEBODY. I have no sympathy for a coach (or for a teacher) who, after 10 or 15 years, is still having the same issues with players and parents that they had when they were just starting. How can such a person sleep at night? How is such a person satisfied with their job? And how do you think the parents and players feel when they discover they're on that coach's team (or in his classroom)? They say, "Oh, no, not HIM!! Oh, no."

Tom Houser

Head Coach, 2007 and 2008 Roanoke Juniors 15's Open

Head Coach, 2006 Roanoke Junior 15 Nationals, JOVC Qualified

Director, STAR Volleyball Camps

Author, "I Can't Wait" Drill Collection and Ebooks

http://www.coachhouser.com/

Picking A Middle School Team......Too Many Kids!!

CoachHouser — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 01:15:19 GMT

I have a "good" problem for the first time in 4 years. I coach at a small school (about 150 kids 7th-12th). I am the junior high coach, JV and Varsity coach plus 8 of my junior high girls on are on my 14's club team.

We are beginning are junior high season on Monday and for the first time, I have too many girls to have an effective team. We are the only feeder program for the high school. I am in a quandary. Do I cut? Do I set a "playing team" and a "practice team", knowing some of the girls who don't make the playing team will probably burn out and quit. What I don't want to do is have so many girls on the 8th grade team and wash out the effectiveness of being on a team. My 7th grade team is fine numbers wise.

What do you suggest? I know you have coached at small schools where numbers make the difference as you move up the levels.

Hey Coach:

First, I think your idea of having two different teams is ingenious! Can the practice team have a good long practice every time the top team has an away game? And then can you reward 1 or 2 of the practice players each time you have an away (or home!!) game by allowing them to dress out?

I guess the size of the team depends on the "athletic culture " of the girls at the school. Let me be clearer. When I coached at a small private school, athletics were a low priority not only to the kids but to the parents as well. The kids would play one season, then they wouldn't play the next, then they'd come back and play. My starting setter's parents would not allow her to play her senior year. Why? I was going to require the daughter to make up all the hours that she was going to miss because of a family vacation that they were taking after our season had started. This head-butting occurred even after I had told them in January when tryouts would be held. sigh

If this is the culture at your school also, then you can expect a 20% to 40% attrition rate. If you're going to keep only 1 team, then I strongly recommend you keep a bigger team, maybe as many as 16 kids. I wouldn't go over that.

But if you can keep a practice team, then keep about a maximum of 12 on each team. If the kids you coach are like those where I taught, then you have to figure that 100% of the practice players will never make varsity and 40% of the upper team will give up the sport before their first varsity tryout. So, from my figuring, you may only be able to expect only 7 of those 24 girls making the varsity team.

On the other hand, if the girls at your school love sports and they have parents that encourage them -- regardless of the strictness of the coach -- then you can probably get away with a one smaller team of about 13 to 15 players.

Tom Houser

Visit me sometime at www.coachhouser.com!

Coaching a 14's team........communication, intensity & consequences

CoachHouser — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 21:17:11 GMT

Coach Houser:
I currently coach a 14s club team and am having the normal issues of not being able to get them to communicate on the court. The other issue I have is teaching my girls how to have fun but play hard, they are either screwing around or way too serious and not having any fun.
When I played I was more of a "tom boy" so it was fine for a coach to make us run or do push-ups or something if we screwed-up but I think that may be too harsh for them.
I know some of this just has to do with age, but any feedback you can give me or helpful hints would be greatly appreciated. My girls have the skills now they just need the "volleyball edge".

Hey Coach:

COMMUNICATION: You may want to consider helping your team with their communication. I mean, you decide whose ball is whose. You decide who takes the seam ball, and you decide who takes the campfire tip. I'm coaching 15's and that's what I do on my team. After that, the girls can play with a clear conscious (No more, "Am I being a ball hog?") and the girl with the most attitude isn't taking all the balls b/c no one else will.

SILLINESS: My 15's team got very silly last Sunday right before our final match. So we didn't play very well. Being a 50 year old man, I accepted long ago their need to have fun. But I've never accepted their need to be silly to point of distraction. The girls started getting that way again at Wednesday's practice. So, before today's practice began, I had a talk with them. "I want you to have fun. But we will not be silly, goofy. We will have our fun by our hard work. So when someone makes a great dig, or makes a great hit, or our setter makes a great set, then we'll get crazy. How's that?" I think this will work with your 14's, as long as you keep their minds occupied, as long as your practice is full of effort & energy. One of my players went to another team's practice today, and came to my practice saying, "It was boring." That's the LAST thing you want your kids to say about your practice, or you're the reason they're misbehaving. Same thing in the classroom......half of the discipline issues that teachers have with kids is b/c the kids are bored. We can solve that problem by making their time with us interesting, exciting & fun!!

CONSEQUENCES: I think I've raised my voice at my team twice since we had our first meeting in November. And I think I've twice told them, "I'm getting upset. We don't want to go there." All the rest of the time, it's "Bonus Point!," or "That's a great play!!!", or "The team needs you to do this. Can you? If you can't, let me know." In fact, I just wrote an article for Dave Cross about positive coaching. If you'd like to see it, I'll attach it to an email. I've gone completely away from punishment b/c I figure if it's not useful in training dogs, cats or horses, how effective will it be on humans?

Tom Houser

http://www.coachhouser.com/

Abusing Players? No, that's not to way to get the most from your players!

CoachHouser — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 02:46:55 GMT

Coach Houser:

I understand that coaches are human, and can get emotional, but my daughter's coach is extreme. So negative and mean to the girls. Some of them actually hate him. Is this normal? We've only dealt with a few coaches, and the majority of them are mean. I'm sorry for the bummer email. I guess you hear stuff like this a lot.

Your email wasn't a "bummer". It was real feeling from a real person.

And as for "he's human," that's not a good excuse for abusive, ridiculous behavior.

Sometimes I'll do something stupid, and my wife will support me saying, "You're human". I answer, "Yeah, but I'm a 47 year old human and I should know better. I must know better."

When coaches do stupid stuff, then they (a) better apologize reallyt fast or (b) better have a really good reason for it! Otherwise, their skill at working with their present team will vanish; and, their future ability to recruit players and the train players will suffer greatly!

If a person is coaching because they enjoy kids, then they won't abuse the kids.

If a person is coaching for some other reason (winning, the feeling of power, etc), then the coach may believe that the kids deserve that rough treatment. But, no. The coach is wrong. No one ever needs or deserves abuse. Especially defenseless children!

I hold coaches up to a higher standard than the average adult. I always have. Even when I was a teenager, I expected coaches to be better than the average adult. I thought that (and still do think!!!) coaches are supposed to be leaders and role models. And if they don't want to those things, then they should not be coaching.

Even when I was 26 and in my 1st year of coaching, I expected great things from myself. But, I didn't really know what I was doing. It seems I was screwing up daily. A strategy would backfire. Movitvational speeches would actually damage my team's efforts. A statement would hurt a player's feelings. My principal would just shake his head.

As I've gotten older, I've realized one very important thing. I hope that your daughter's coach will realize the same thing eventually. I've learned that I'll get more effort, dedication and loyalty from my players by smiling, being concerned about their school work, listening, encouraging, complimenting, being there for them, telling them how awesome they are, etc. Inversely, the meaner I am, the more I fuss, the more I embarrass the players, then the worse they'll perform. And who's to blame?

Tom Houser

Head Coach, 2008 and 2007 Roanoke Juniors 15's Open

Head Coach, 2006 Roanoke Junior 15 Nationals, JOVC Qualified

Director, STAR Volleyball Camps

Author, "I Can't Wait" Drill Collection and Ebooks

http://www.coachhouser.com/

Which foot to have in front before you start your spike approach?

CoachHouser — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 23:44:11 GMT

I have a question: While waiting for a ball to be set to you, which foot should be in front before you do your spike approach? Even though I was a setter most of camp, when I got a chance to hit, I couldn't remember for the life of me. I remember everything else that you taught me though - high reach, snap, "L". I think it's finally coming together for me, and I got some compliments about my hitting last night.

There is no correct answer to your question. But there is a preference. Here is mine, and I think it's logical.

I want my right-handed players to start with their left foot in front.

There are a number of advantages of having your left foot forward!

the hitter can wait longer to start their approach, thus can judge the set better;
since the first step can't take the hitter as far, the hitter won't be as likely to get in the net;
the hitter doesn't have to get as far off the net;
yet, with only 3 steps, you lose no power.

If a hitter starts with their right foot forward, then the disadvantages are just as numerous!

the hitter must start her approach earlier, thus committing herself to a set before she's aware of where it's going to be;
the hitter is more likely to get in/under the net;
the hitter has to get further off the net.

How's that? If you have a coach who says, "Right foot forward for right-handers," then I understand. Many coaches say that. But do me a favor, please. When you hear a really good reason for it, email it to me! haha. I've never heard a good one.

Tom Houser

Head Coach, 2007 Roanoke Juniors 15's Open

Head Coach, 2006 Roanoke Junior 15 Nationals, JOVC Qualified

Director, STAR Volleyball Camps

Author, "I Can't Wait" Drill Collection and Ebooks

www.coachhouser.com

Teahing The Slide Approach To Your MB's

CoachHouser — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 15:26:37 GMT

Yesterday at practice, my 9th grade MB's spent about 15 minutes learning the slide approach. The OH's & setters were at other stations accomplishing other tasks.

Digressing for a moment................One way I judge my practices is how much of the time my players are standing around doing nothing......so when I want to teach something to the kids who play a certain position, we get into stations. For about 15 minutes yesterday, my OH's were working on rolling & emergency digs, while my MB's were working on their slide approach, while the setters were setting 82's in preperation for the time when the MB's and setters would be together.

Back to the slide approach: Here's the email that I sent to Samantha, my assistant coach. She's only 18, so I tried to be as specific and detailed in the email as possible. Then when she arrived at practice, I reviewed with her again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sam, you will teaching the MB's slide footwork. Here is what I want you to go over:

a) Footwork: Forward with the left foot, then right & left. The final two steps are like she's shooting a lay up in basketball. Do not let the MB's take a 45 degree angle with the first step, or they'll run past zone.

b) The approach doesn't lead the hitter TOWARDS the net, but ALONG the net. The approach takes the hitter parallel to the net. So as the girls are learning the footwork, when they swings at an imaginary ball, their fingers shouldn't rake the net.

c) The hitter's attitude is the following: The ball is set, then I "run it down". It's like giving the rabbit (the volleyball) a head start, then having the dog (the slide hitter) chase it and "run it down".

d) Stress to the girls to not be early. The hitter must have confidence that she can run the ball down. And she will be able to, if the set is the proper height and properly set off the net. (If it's not the proper height, we'll take that up with the setters.) Even if the setters put the ball in the wrong zone, if the hitter isn't early, she can adjust. If she is early, she'll look like a goof b/c she'll be running by the set or she'll be swinging at a ball that hasn't gotten there yet.

e) Just like when hitting any 2 set, the hitters should have their left foot on the floor when the ball is in the setter's hands.

f) The hitters' armswing is the same: "Arms following the left foot". Try to have the girls do it, but I see a lot of sliders who have very little armswring. If they can't master the arm swing, don't spend a lot of time with it. The footwork is your top priority.

g) I will be on the other side of the net teaching the setters to set the 2 into the 8 zone. You may need to put a piece of tape on the net in the 8 zone so that the MB's can see the zone. The setters & MB's will later be working on this together, so the tape can be left there even during rallies.

Coach Houser
www.coachhouser.com

Questions Answered: Setter drills, staying low, when to run quicks & slides

CoachHouser — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 21:36:46 GMT

Hi Coach Houser, I am currently coaching a well-skilled 14U girls team in Ontario, Canada. I would like to find some more drills specifically for our 3 setters. Also any suggestions that would help the girls stay low instead of going low would also be helpful. At what age do you suggest introducing the "quick" set and "step-around"?

Hey Coach:

Thank you for the email. I really enjoy getting emails from coaches! Let's get right to your questions:

a) Setter drills I don't have many specific setter drills. If my setters are fundamentally sound, then I allow my setters to set and set and set at practice. If my setter(s) doesn't get 500 sets every practice, then she's not getting enough touches. If the setters aren't fundamentally sound, then we work on that during warmups, stations, or at specialty practices that occur before or after regular team practices.

b) Staying Low Jeeeeze, this is a hard one. I also tell my 15's players to "cover your shoes before the hit is made, not during the hit." "But what if it comes at my face?" "Then you use your hands. Understand that your hands are designed so that they can protect your face. But your arms weren't designed to protect your shoes. So you must force yourself to cover your shoes with your arms, then let your hands do what nature has taught them."

c) When to start quicks and step arounds (or slides). I want my kids to start doing it whenever they're ready. Right now I'm coaching 15's. My taller MB's are presently concentrating on quickening their attack, and the smaller ones are focusing on hitting 2's as quickly as possible. But we haven't run the first slide, not even in practice. If you know you've got good passers, a good setter and athletic & teall MB's, then you should start forcing quicks & slides on them early..........13's and 14's is just fine.

Now, I want to tell you how I would create the habits in my players that you've mentioned. (Sure does beat fussing at them!) It happens at practice! I can make nearly anything a habit at practice!!

We ran a drill similary to this at practice on Wednesday Jan 16th. I split my team into 2 mini-teams of 6-on-6. I told the 1-spot girl on team A to serve 3 consecutive times, regardless of the outcome. We'd play out each rally. After those 3 serves, and with no rotation on either side, I then told the 1-spot girl on team B serve 3 times. We'd play out each rally. But there were no points for winning the rally. The points came this way:

Rotation #1: 1 point for a middle attack that's in the court. 2 points if that attack creates a shank dig or is a kill. After a goal is reached, there may be consequences for the losing team, then both teams rotate one spot.

Rotation #2: Same thing, except now it's for the right sides. After a goal is reached, there may be consequences for the losing team, then both teams rotate one spot.

Rotation #3: 1 point for a kill by an OH. 1 point for a setter dump that creates a shank pass. 2 points if that setter dump is a kill. After a goal is reached, there may be consequences for the losing team, then both teams rotate one spot.

Now let's say I'm coaching your team.

Rotation #4: 1 point if, at the time of the opponents attack, every back row player is covering her shoes. After a goal is reached, there may be consequences for the losing team, then both teams rotate one spot.

Rotation #5: 1 point if, at the time of the set, the setter had right foot forward, hand were early and still, and she's facing her outside hitter. After a goals is reached.........you get the picture!

Rotation #6: 1 point for a slide that is successfully hit in the court. 2 points if that slide becomes a kill.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To see more drills, please visit me at http://www.coachhouser.com/. There are 4 drills that are free to download. If you like them, you may want to considering buying the "I Can't Wait" Drill Collection". It has over 120 drills that I created that make my teams better instantly. I think they'll work for you also. Let me know if you have any questions.

Have a great season!!
Tom Houser

When it's time to pick a college........

CoachHouser — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 00:34:12 GMT

OK, Coach Houser, i just got off the phone with the coach of xyz college and its pretty much a done deal. He wants me to come play a little bit in the gym with him and some of the team on next week and then tour the next day. I'm so excited. If he wants me, I'm ready to commit. I want to be playing college ball next year so badly!!!

Here is how athletes pick a college. Read closely!

a) Do you like the school? (You'll find out that during your trip). If not, ditch the school and start (a) over with a new school. But if you do like the school, then you may proceed to (b).

b) Do they offer what you want to study? Do a lot of reading on their website......a whole lot. Get your parents involved and ask them to read over the website. If the school doesn't offer what you want to study, then ditch the school. Pick another school, and then go back to (a) and start this process over. But if the school does offer what you want, then you may proceed to (c).

c) Is the volleyball team a good fit for you? If not, you may want to attend the school anyway and not play volleyball. However, I recommend you keep looking, visiting and researching to see if you can find a school that has (a), (b) and (c). And if you can find that school, then you've found the perfect fit!!

Coach Houser
www.coachhouser.com

Enterted the 21st century!!!

CoachHouser — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 01:59:47 GMT

Well, I'm finally blogging. Well. Cool.

I normally write articles. I've written dozens for www.volleyball.about.com and for Dave Cross's Gold Members. If you're a vball coach and you enjoy receiving 3 articles a week and a newsletter at the end of each month, consider becoming a Gold Member at www.yesIcansports.com

But now, I can put thoughts & ideas here...............stuff that I can't see as article material.

Please contact me anytime at coachhouser@yahoo.com!
And please visit me at my website, www.coachhouser.com

Coach Houser

p.s. I only have July 7 - 15 left to direct summer volleyball site camps this summer! All the info is on my website, or you can email me.

Serve Fundamentals

CoachHouser — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 21:45:23 GMT

Have a volleyball question? Send it to AskCoachHouser@active.com.

Q: I'm looking for some fundamental mechanics for accurate serving. Specifically, correcting weak serves based on incorrect fundamentals: throwing the ball too high, twisting, following through incorrectly, etc. Can poor fundamentals be corrected?

Kids pick up detrimental overhand serving habits when they're young. They often learn a stroll, a lean, a twist or an across-the-body follow through -- otherwise knows as "softballing."

All of these habits are merely efforts to try to get the ball over the net. But as the player becomes older, these habits become useless and must be eliminated. The analogy I use at camps is, "When you first started shooting a basketball, didn't you invent a shot that was just an effort to get the ball to the rim? Then as you got older and stronger, you had to change your shot." Serving is the same way.

As the player gets older, she needs to rid her serve of all the extra movement that will promote inconsistency. The stroll is useless. The lean/twist/softball will lead to an occasional "grandma serve" -- that's the one that rifles into the bleachers, making the surprised grandmas duck for cover. This occurs when your shoulders move away from the ball, taking the hand with them, thus making it more difficult to keep the center of the hand contacting the center of the ball.

Softballing a serve will create an occasional pulled serve -- like a "pull" hitter in baseball -- or a shanked serve as the ball hits the outside of the server's hand. From my experience, these habits increase a player's errors by five to 10 percent, and that's more than enough to require a sub each time it's her turn to serve.

Now, if a player eliminates all of the above habits, she will lose some power at first. And that's fine. I ask my kids, "You want 20 mph in the court, or 30 mph out?" Young players have a tough decision to make: overhand serve correctly and only get 50% in the court, overhand serve incorrectly and get 70% in the court or learn an underhand serve that'll be 90% accurate?

Many kids think that serving underhand means you're a weaker player. But I tell them, "I want you to serve 90% in the court, I don't care how you do it. If you can't, you will most likely lose the privilege of serving in a match."

Some players have a toss that's way too high. And a lower toss often times makes the serve more difficult to execute. But if a player were to simply "toss, prepare, step, hit," then the toss could be much lower. One tip to remember is not to drop your serving hand after the ball is tossed. This will save you the crucial time needed to execute a proper serve based on a low toss.

With a low toss, the ball is only traveling about 1 mph when a player contacts it. But if the toss is higher, the dropping speed increases, thus increasing error.

If the server wants the ball to go higher, then she uses the same serving motion, but tosses the ball closer to her or even over her head. If the server wants the ball to travel lower, then she should toss the ball more in front of her. An out-in-front toss is risky, though. It requires more arm speed to hit the ball so that gravity doesn't pull the serve down into the net. A low toss may increase serving errors, so be careful.

The mantra is "Toss, prepare, step, hit". That's it. No lean, no twist. A follow-through isn't even necessary. "Toss, prepare, step, hit." Shoulders parallel to both the floor and to the wall behind the server. The server hits the center of the ball with the center of her hand. If done properly, she will notice an added benefit: The ball will float.

Recently, my team finished the season tied for first place in the conference and we had a one-game playoff; best two of three to 15, old side-out scoring. Well, my team missed eight serves in the first game -- my seniors were so anxious their serving was out of control.

The second game started the same way. I think we missed five of our first 10 serves. One of the seniors even asked me to put in someone to serve for her. So we finished the night with two freshmen serving underhand in place of two of our star players. They had 11 service points and four aces! We ended up winning the match, and no one thought less of the player with the underhand serve.

3 Basics for Young Setters

CoachHouser — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 21:41:56 GMT

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Q: My daughter tried to set this fall on her 7th grade team. I said “tried,” because very few balls ever came close to her. People were crashing into her, balls were falling--it was worse than third graders on a playground. Do you have any advice?

There are three basics that I teach young setters.

Ask for the ball
I want my setters to say, "Judy, here I am!!" or say, "Phyllis, here, here!" If my setter says something like that, then the ball is more likely to be passed to her and not up in the air or over the net.

I ask my setters to not say the same words each time. A few years ago, a setter at one of my camps had this shrill, “HERE!” I’ve also heard numbers of setters say, “Target!” Regardless of the decibels or the wording, if you setter never changes what she says, then those words become just more noise that players will eventually not hear any longer.

If a setter can learn to call someone’s name, then that’s the best way.

Make a decision about who's taking the second hit
Sounds simple, huh? Well, for a middle school kid, it’s not. She has to decide if she can make a decent second hit. And if she can’t, is there anyone else who can? If there’s no one else to take that shanked pass, she has to go for the ball. That’s a lot to think about in a split second.

As team members get older, this won’t be as big of an issue. Not just because of their age, but because the passing is better and the setter anticipation and quickness is better.

If a young team of mine mess up a second contact, the first thing I ask my setter is, “What did you say.” If she answers with “Nothing,” then that was the problem. If she says, “I said ‘Mine, Jenny, mine, mine!’,” then I know she did what I asked and my next conversation will be with the hitter who got in her way.

What setters should say when they can't take the second hit
Setters on my team don't say "Help!” That word is vague and doesn’t assist the team enough. Seriously! “Help” only tells the teammates, “I’m not taking it, one of you guys take it.” That’s not enough.

If my setters aren’t taking the second hit, I want them to tell a teammate to take it. For example, if Cailin wants Samantha to take it, she should say, "Sam take it!!" And if Cailin will say this, guess what Sam will do? Sam will take that second hit nearly every time. Why? Because it’s a critical, panicky situation, and the girl who’s in charge told her what to do. If I were Sam, I’d take it too!

In fact, the only time a hitter like Sam will let this ball fall is when the ball was actually closer to Cailin and Sam is surprised. But this happens. And it’s OK. Young setters will make that mistake.

But the bigger mistake than making the wrong decision is not making a decision at all, saying nothing. Then many second hits will be problematic as every few minutes girls let balls fall in between them or they crash into each other trying to play them.

Spike Approach for New Players

CoachHouser — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 21:18:48 GMT

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Q: Any hints on teaching spike approach to new players? The toughest part seems to get them to incorporate swinging their arms properly.

Teaching your rookies a correct spike approach has to be done! I have no patience with coaches who say, “I tried, but my girls refused.” Girls can't be allowed to leave middle school ball without knowing it. They know the names of their teammates; they know the name of their school; they should also know a proper spike approach. It’s absolutely fundamental.

Let’s talk about arms for a moment. For right handed players, their arms will follow their left foot. In other words, if the left foot is forward, both arms are forward. When the right foot comes forward, both arms should go back, following the left foot.

Some other arm hints:
• Both arms come up before the hit. Remind your girls to avoid the "lazy left arm" syndrome.

• When the arms are back, they should be back until they can't go back any more! If a girl’s arms will go back so far that they’re parallel to the floor, then that’s what I want to see every time; unless the set is too low and she’s in a hurry.

• Remind your girls to avoid the "bird wings" arm swing. This is when the arms don't go straight back and straight forward, but flap to the side like a bird.

How do you reinforce this? I have created drills where I only award players when I see certain skills performed. You can run such a reward drill with arm swing.

Here's an example: If I’m coaching a middle school team, I may say, "I'm splitting the team into two mini-teams. Coach Jones and Coach Smith will be tossing balls to both mini-teams to spike. Coach Johnson and I are going to count how many proper arm swings I see from both lines. When we get to 100 we'll change the drill."

Or you could say, "The first mini-team that gets to 50 will win."

If you do not have four adults at practice, alter the drill to this: “Jennifer and Samantha will start as the first to toss. When their team gets to 10 correct arm swings, I want a new player to toss.” Of course, one of your players is bound to say, “But coach, I can’t toss well.” You will answer, “Not yet. Go ahead and do it. You’ll be tossing balls for as long as you play volleyball, so let’s practice it now.”

Suppose you want to convert the drill into something different? "How many correct arm swings can we all get together in just three minutes? Each time we do this drill, we’re going to beat the time before!" It won’t take long for all of your players to be doing their arm swing perfectly.

Just like kids learn Algebra in many different ways, so can kids learn their arm swing and spike approach in many different ways. If your kids are still having problems, partner them with someone who has mastered it. You can also bring in video of the high school team and let the girls see more experienced players on video.

When I’m in charge of a high school program, all the JVs know their spike approach. It's a point of pride for us. We want to look good. We want to look trained. We want other teams' parents & players to say, "They all do their spike approach the same way. That looks GOOD."

But more than that, if a girl doesn’t know a proper spike approach, then she will never be able to reach her potential. It’s a curse that we can put on our players or we can avoid. But it’s up to us as coaches. And a spike approach must be learned in middle school, or in a player’s first year with a team.

The Underhand Serve Makes a Comeback

CoachHouser — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 21:14:13 GMT

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Q: I coach 5th & 7th graders. I don't allow them to underhand serve because I think it's obsolete. What do you think?

In all my rookie and middle school camps my staff and I teach kids how to underhand serve. In fact, the "Server Of The Week" at a veteran camp two years ago was an underhand server. The player stood against the back wall of the gym, served bombs from 30 feet behind her endline and got shank pass after shank pass for her team.

I have to say, she had an injured shoulder, thus was forced to serve underhand. But to this day, even though her shoulder is better, she still serves underhand. When I asked why, she said, "I'm the best server on my team. Why change?"

I know that was an extreme case, however underhand serving is not obsolete. If your girls are too young/weak to overhand serve, then why require them to fail over and over? The parents will probably be more upset with watching their daughter's immense frustration than they will be with losing. Even people who coach baseball realize that there's a time when a "T" is needed. And even volleyball under 10s get a lower net, a softer ball and a smaller court.

I want the kids I coach to be successful. If they can't serve in the court, then they cannot be successful. Overhand serving is nice, but for 5th graders it's like controlling a riding lawn mover--some are old/mature enough to do it, some aren't.

For 99 percent of kids, they will eventually start overhand serving. Some will start in the 5th grade, but some won't be proficient until the 10th grade. I just let it happen. And when they can serve 80 percent in the court overhand in practice, then it's time to try to overhand serving in a game situation.

There was a man who was the head varsity coach of a suburban school in a neighboring county. He always required everyone on his JV team to serve overhand. Even though we beat them about half the time, I distinctly remember three matches that were given to us because his team missed so many serves.

"But Coach Houser, you're doing a disservice to your kids by allowing them to serve underhand!" No, I'm not. Allowing my girls to underhand serve had no detrimental impact on their future. How do I know? Because our varsity team would beat the suburban school 80 percent of the time.

A few hints on underhand serve (for right-handed kids):

*Have your players hold the ball in their left hand. Don't allow them to toss it. Yes, they can just hold it. It's legal. If you want to check the 2006-07 NFHS Rules Book, it's on page 29, Rule 8, Article 1. I tell my kids, "Now you can play T-ball! Everyone likes to play T-ball!"

*When your players are learning to underhand serve, have them learn the following: "Backswing, step and hit". Notice that I didn't say "drop" or "toss."

* Keep that left arm frozen solid. If that left arm moves, then the server is no longer playing T-ball, but playing a harder game where they're trying to hit a moving target.

*If the ball isn't going far enough, the girl needs more backswing.

*The biggest problems my youngsters have is not being able to hit the back of the ball. They hit the ball too far towards the bottom, thus directing the ball up into the rafters of the gym. Show your girls tricks like how to turn her body 45 degrees to the net, drop their left shoulder, until they can contact the back of the ball, thus making it go forward.

*Any flat service can be used to hit the ball. I recommend that girls ball up their fist, then contact the ball with their "candlestick," (a word I got from a cheerleader). Other coaches recommend serving with an open hand, or serving with the heal of the hand. If it works for your players, then stick with it.