News and Notes for January 2013

VTS Initiates "Digging Deep"

Tom Pingel

Our first podcast that we have given the title of "Digging Deep" is available.  Actually, we wanted the title to be an indicator of content.  Or goal is to explore how good coaches approach the game, their philosophies of coaching, how they pursue excellence within their programs, etc.  So, you definitely won't find discussions of ranking, recruiting and similar items that seem to dominate the discussion.

Our first guest is Tom Hogan, former assistant coach with the USA Women's National Team and current assistant at the University of Denver.  Tom talks about the 2008 Olympics and his experiences working with Lang Ping, how international training methods differ than those in the USA and suggestions for USA volleyball to improve the game.

We will follow this interview next week by talking with Tom Pingel, Coordinator of the High Performance program with USA Volleyball

Parent Video

 We recently placed in the Download Collection on VTS a video designed for parents of younger age players.  So often, parents want to be of assistance to help their young athletes in becoming better players, but are not real sure how to help.  This video is designed provide parents with some basic concepts of the game that can be addressed with simple activities in the backyard.  Thanks to Bob Poulter and Jen Pokraka of the Front Range Volleyball Club for putting this together.

Stretching?  Yes?  No?

There are some coaches "out there" that feel stretching and flexibility work is a borderline waste of time.  There was an interesting article recently in the Wall Street Journal that focused on the San Francisco 49'ers and their commitment to stretching.  The feeling inside the team is that the flexibility routine is one of the major reasons they are experiencing significantly fewer injuries this year.


Dead Frog Far Out Volleyball Club

This highly successful club out of Michigan is using the VTS channel on Dartfish TV to communicate effectively with their players and staff.  Video of matches is uploaded to their private channel with comments by coaches pointing out key aspects of play.  Video is also shared by coaches to assist coaches in their practice planning.  Great work by the DFFO staff !!

Dartfish Days

VTS staff will come to your training sessions to video players and provide skill analysis using Dartfish software.  Or, send in video and we can place analyzed skill in your folder.  Contact the VTS office for more information.  There is no better way for a player to acquire skill and/or make skill modifications than by seeing themselves in action.  In the analysis, we provide key positions, comments and video comparison with successful players.

Share Your Video with Colleagues

On VTS, we have a collection available for coaches that want to share video of their favorite drills.  One of the core missions of VTS is to provide a vehicle for sharing volleyball information to coaches.  Let me know if you want to be involved in this project and we can get you involved.