FIVB Youth World Championships
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| Molly McCage-USA |
- Wonderful organization. Travel, logistics, hotel, playing facilities were excellent. You can tell the Turkish fans love volleyball. They have a women's professional league that is one of the best in the world. Signs promoting the event were all over the city.
- Level of play was excellent. Different styles of play from the various countries. The Serbs were very tall and played a very simple game. Serve was tough, big block, very strong attackers. China a lot quicker, but still very strong attack. Turkey combined all the above. All the countries had excellent libero play.
- The top teams have all placed a major emphasis on results. Turkey, the gold medal winner, identified players four years ago to compete for a championship. The players trained together in the same club and competed in many international events. Poland has their players together year around as they play on the same club and attend the same high school. China had trained together since April. Success doesn't happen in a vacuum. All the top teams have a very organized development program at the
- The final was a wonderful environment. About 8,000 fans, lots of flags, noisemakers, enthusiasm.
- Our team was composed of wonderful players and people. The players worked hard, learned a lot and were a lot of fun to be around. They are capable of competing at this level, just a little more international experience is needed. Our block, pass and defense were very strong. Serve and attack were a notch below the top teams. We had the "pool of death" with both Serbia and China in our first pool. Although we competed well, to play those teams so early in the tournament proved to be a bit much. We finished with five consecutive 3-0 victories to finish 9th.
- What was learned by the players? The speed of the game with the better teams takes some adjustment. The velocity put on the ball when serving and attacking was something that the players just don't see in this country. The other thing not normally seen is how high above the net the game is played. Both Serbia and China hit over the top of our block quite often. Not that our block was small, just these teams had a very high contact point.
On a side note, I've never seen traffic or driving like I saw in Ankara. The traffic lane markings were just a suggestion which everyone ignored. The amazing thing it works for them. No accidents, but you better bring your "A" game. Driving a car is a very aggressive sport in Turkey.
VTS Fall Video
I'll be leaving soon for fall video updates within the VTS site. I have a good idea on the college programs I want to visit. However, if there are suggestions for good high school coaches that we can feature please let me know. I'll do my best to make it happen.
Video as a Learning Tool
Of course, since I operate a website dedicated to bringing video to the instructional process, I have a fairly strong opinion as to the importance of providing a visual model to expedite the learning process. This is one of the items that I wish I had used more during my own collegiate career. In the attached video, Jim Moore, successful coach at the University of Oregon, shows the importance he places on having video involved in all his training sessions. Of course, the setup that Jim has in his practice gym is not possible in a lot of facilities or programs. However, the fact that he will have each training session available for coach and player review demonstrates the importance he places on video instruction.
Skill Analysis
Members of Volleyball Training Solutions can send some video of their players to have their skills reviewed and analyzed by Dartfish software. This can be an excellent tool for the players to improve their skills. We want VTS to be a tool that can impact the teaching of the sport in this country.
A Book Recommendation
I read an interesting book that has some potential to impact how you might train your players physically. The book is: "The Last Nine Innings" by Charles Euchner. Amazon Link: Amazon Link
This book is an analysis of baseball in a very interesting writing style. One of the parts I particularly enjoyed is the explanation as to how Steve Findley, center fielder for the Diamondbacks goes about his physical training program. The focus on core strength, flexibility and quickness over lifting weights. Something to consider for volleyball. The last I knew core strength, flexibility and quickness were ok attributes for our sport.
I hope all the coaches "out there" have very successful seasons. Feel free to contact me if I can be of assistance in any way.
