Youth World Championships in Thailand

USA Youth Team - Silver Medalists

I just returned from coaching at the FIVB Youth World Championships that brought together the top 20 teams in the world.  I am pleased to say that after recovering from a 1st match loss to Slovenia, the USA team recovered to finish with a Silver Medal.  We beat Brazil in 5 sets in the semi-finals, then suffered a 3 set loss to a very, very good China team. This is the first time that any USA team, at any age level, has received a medal at a World Championship.  I must say the level of play was very high and I was most pleased with the efforts given by the USA ladies.

Ray Gooden-NIU

Most recent and Upcoming Travels for VTS Video Library

If I was paid by the mile, I'd be a rich guy.  Upon returning from Thailand, I was off to visit some great coaches in the midwest.  I am in the process of posting video from recent visits to Louisville, Illinois, Wisconsin, Ball State and Northern Illinois.  Great coaching going on and I'm very appreciative of those coaches allowing me to share what they do in their training sessions.  If the opportunity allows, please go out of your way to contact these coaches and let them know you're appreciative of their willingness to help share their expertise.  Beginning next week, I am scheduled to visit Michigan, Ohio University, Marshall, South Carolina and still lining up other successful programs.

Dartfish Express and Video Lockers on VTS

I highly recommend the app Dartfish Express for use on your I-Pad or I-Phone.  This is a wonderful piece of analysis software that allows coaches to video, take pictures of your athletes, make verbal and written comments on the video, then, either show the athlete immediately, or, from your device, upload directly to Dartfish TV.  We have many clubs and collegiate squads opening their own private video lockers on VTS.  They take team practice or individual footage, make comments, then directly place on the VTS folder so players can view at their convenience.

Keep Your Players Healthy

Dr. Robin Hunter

One of the keys to a successful season is keeping players healthy. In general, coaches spend most of their efforts in this area in the weight room or track working on developing the physical aspect of the athlete.  More attention needs to be devoted to injury prevention. I would encourage VTS members to access the Four Part Series by Dr. Robin Hunter on the VTS site.  Dr. Hunter does a wonder job of presenting keys to identify potential areas of concern and rehab methods that will keep your athletes on the court instead of sitting beside you on the bench.  For a sample, view one of the video at:

Dr. Robin Hunter

Good luck with those coaching this fall.

New Offerings from Volleyball Training Solutions

Fall Webinars

For the first time, in conjunction with the fall season VTS will be hosting webinars for member coaches.  We will invite you to suggest topics and potential guest coaches.  I'm looking forward to th opportunity to allow an exchange of ideas, thoughts and opinions from guest coaches and VTS members.  If you can't make the live sessions, everything will be recorded for future play.

AVCA Video Tip of the Week

For the second year, VTS and the AVCA will team up for the AVCA Video Tip of the Week.  We are happy to provide the AVCA with quality video information to assist coaches of all levels.

Recent Uploads

If you want to stay up to date, go to our VTS Facebook Page.  If you "Like", you'll see updates, new video, articles specific to areas of coaching interest, etc.

Don't Forget "Digging Deep" Podcasts

There is some really good information being provided on our Digging Deep podcasts.  Our most recent offering was a great conversation with Jill Womsek, Head Trainer for the USA Women's National Team.  Jill offered some thoughts on how coaches can identify and possibly avoid some of the common volleyball injuries.

Private Video Collection for Your Team 

You can create a private video collection just for your team and staff.  This collection will be a password protected collection that allows video upload and download that can only be viewed by your team.  This collection allows for comments, questions and identification of key aspects of the training

session or match that you want your players to focus upon.  Players can access video from home, dorm or their phone.  What is really exciting is that coach and players can
exchange ideas via the channel.  A player from their home can pose questions on what they see and the coach can respond.  wonderful way to share video and expedite the learning process.  Contact the VTS office to get things going for your fall season.

Volleyball Training Solutions-March Newsletter

Upcoming Video Trips

Tonya Johnson

We will be visiting the south next week as VTS takes a look at the training sessions of the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech.  Lizzy Stemke is at the helm of the University of Georgia.  Lizzy is a former All American setter at the University of Wisconsin and a past member of the USA National Team.  Tonya Johnson, a alumnus of the Louisiana State Tigers, has a highly competitive team at Georgia Tech.  I have no doubt both will contribute to the VTS video library.  In the upcoming weeks, we will also visit legendary Orange County Volleyball Club with Head Coach Charlie Brande.  Coach Brande has won multiple national championships with the Orange County program. 

Paula Weishoff Podcast

Paula Weishoff

It was a great conversation with former Olympic coach and player, Paula Weishoff.  We spoke extensively about her training with former national team coaches Arie Selinger, Chuck Erbe and Terry Liskevych helped her form her own coaching philosophy.    Also, we talked about her most recent experience with Hugh McCutcheon.  Great insights from a legendary player, who is currently the Head Coach at UC-Irvine.  Paula has coached numerous Youth and Junior National team, to go along with her most recent experience with the USA National team at the London Olympics.

VTS Tops 200,000 Views

We are happy to focus on the Volleyball Training Solutions site on Dartfish TV recently surpassed the 200,000 view marker.  VTS is happy that so many coaches are taking advantage of a tool to broaden their coaching skills.

Share Video Collection

Pending interest from VTS members, we will create a separate video collection from members so you can share favorite drills.  I would really like to see this concept advance.  I know there are some good things going on in various training sessions.  If interested, drop me a note and I can get things cooking.

Technology Ideas from Rise Volleyball 

I'm always interested in what coaches are doing, especially from a technology perspective.  Below is a note from a VTS member, Loren Anderson.  I thought it was great use of technology to provide feedback to players.

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.

Christmas Newsletter

How Front Range VBC uses Volleyball Training Solutions and Dartfish TV

Every club has their challenges.  Facilities, staffing, equipment, etc.  Teams practice at a wide variety of times and sometimes different facilities.  The job of the club director is to make sure all teams and coaches are in a positive teaching situation.  Below is an example of how Front Range implements technology to assist both players and coaches in providing a quality situation.

• All practices and matches are recorded and placed into a common hard drive.  Without having to attend every practice, Head Coach Jim Miret has the ability to review all  practices.  
• On Dartfish TV, every team within the club has their own private folder.  Also, Front Range coaches have their own folder.  This is only accessible to team coach and players
• Using Dartfish software, Coach Miret can "tag" parts of a practice that he wants to emphasize and places that portion of a practice on Dartfish TV with comments or drawings so all can review.
• This edited video can be placed into both the players folders, or in the private folder of the coach.
• The video can then be downloaded by either players or coaches for future review.

Using this system allows the club director or lead coach to be able to be directly involved in both player and coach development.  There are many tools to share video.  However, Dartfish TV goes the next step in allowing comment and focus on specific aspects of the video.  Definitely a wonderful tool.  VTS can assist your club in developing private folders for your club and assist you in getting started with this  teaching tool.

Dr. Robin Hunter Video

We recently placed some great video by Dr. Robin Hunter on the VTS site.  The focus of the video was simple tools to assess the physical status of athletes and tools to address potential problems.  This is great video for coaches, players and parents.  As coaches, we tend to focus on teaching skills and team systems.  However, if your athletes are injured, they are not going to improve their skills.  I would encourage all coaches to take the time to watch this four part series and use the presented information to assist your players.

Podcasts

If things go well, VTS will be initiating podcasts with coaches and club directors sometime the second half of January.  We will title these productions "Digging Deep" and will focus on in depth discussions with top collegiate, club coaches and club administrators.  These conversations will be free and available on the VTS website.

Teaching Priorities as the Club Season Begins

Going on my own personal experience, I would encourage all coaches to develop two specific items in the early season practices.  Those items being foot movement and posture.  My general opinion is younger players play the game too high, and they reach for everything because they haven't moved the feet.  

NCAA Tournament

A couple items relative to recently completed NCAA tournaments.  First, congratulations to Texas for winning the Division 1 championship.  A wonderful collection of athletes.  I was very pleased that VTS karma treated Oregon, Michigan and Penn State so well.  All these programs are on the VTS site with great training video.  It is always nice to see new teams achieve this level of success, so a special shout out to the Ducks and Wolverines.

Not to be ignored is the success of Brady Starkey of Concordia, MN.  Coach Starkey just won his sixth Division II championship.  Again, positive VTS vibes go to Chris Catanach, head coach of the University of Tampa that finished second in the D-II championship.  Chris is a VTS member.

Sharing Folder

Beginning next week, VTS will institute a sharing video collection.  This will allow for VTS members to upload and download video from other members.  The entire philosophy of VTS is to share volleyball information.  A rising tide raises all ships.  If one club improves, all others will have to improve as well.  We need more good teams and players.  So if you have favorite drill, competitive game or training tool, I'd encourage you to share with others.  I'll send out a notice when the sharing collection is available.  This will be a part of your VTS membership and available to all members.

Thanksgiving Newsletter

Happy Thanksgiving from Volleyball Training Solutions

I hope everyone has a chance to enjoy a relaxing holiday with friends and family.   If you get the chance, send some good karma into the cosmos for the Detroit Lions.  They need all the assistance they can muster.  Not to date myself, but I do remember when the Lions were the only football game on Thanksgiving.  They would annually give the Packers a good go.  How I long for those days!


Focus on Club and Youth Videos

We are making a special effort to reach out to the successful clubs in the country to add to our video library.  There is a value to watch how coaches that work with the various age groups, especially the young ones.  I feel very inadequate when I'm asked questions about players in the 9-12 age group.  So, I'm asking for assistance.  If you know a good coach for the young ones, let me know and we'll get them involved.  I put this video on the site in an attempt to take a step in this direction.  I have

 

also placed a great session of Amber Jaworski working with some 8-10 year old players at Front Range Volleyball Club on the site.  She does a great job of teaching movements and postures relating to the game.  So, this will be a priority for us to increase our offerings in this general area.  Feedback is welcome.

Private Club Collections

Several clubs are purchasing private folders for the coaches in their clubs.  This will allow coaches to upload video for viewing by their club coaches and players.  A great way to share information.  If there is an interest, let us know and we can get your club started.

Share Video Collection

We will be starting a private video collection for VTS members that will be a sharing video folder.  If you have drills or games that you'd like to share with others on the site, you'll be able to upload and download the video, share comments and ask questions of your colleagues.  The goal of VTS is to share good coaching information.  That can come from many sources and I know we have some good coaches under the VTS umbrella.  I hope to have this active by December and will be providing more information as to how this will work.  I'm excited to have VTS to be part of this concept.

Dartfish Days

We will also be initiating a new service for club that we are terming "Dartfish Days" with participating clubs.  VTS staff will come to your club site and perform a Dartfish Analysis of the volleyball skills of club players.  We hope to start this after the New Year.  Again, we hope to take the skill development of younger players to a new level.

 Dartfish Express is Here !!

Dartfish Express is an I-Pad app that allows direct upload to your Dartfish TV Channel from your mobile device.  Along with easy upload, you can provide feedback to your athletes by drawing and voice comments.  Dartfish Express is a great tool for providing easy access to quality feedback for your athletes.  This will be very useful for those teams or clubs that have private collections on VTS.  You'll be able to upload video to your private collection and your players can access and download from their homes.

 Feedback Welcome

Feel free at any time to call or drop a note to VTS if we can be of assistance.  One collegiate member requested assistance in finding him a 6'2" outside hitter.  Sorry, but that is above my pay grade.  But we do want to help out any way we can.  Happy Thanksgiving to VTS'ers.

November Newsletter

Dartfish Express is Coming

You will soon be able to use your I-Pad/I Phone to upload video to Dartfish TV channels.  So the ability to communicate with athletes and boosters just became a lot easier.  For coaches, from your I Pad/Phone, you can video your athletes in skill or team play, draw or comment, then upload directly to your channel.  Another use is some brief video of a match, and upload to parents or boosters that couldn't make the match.  So many uses to develop your athletes, along with interest in your program.  Dartfish TV is a tool that can be instrumental in taking athletes to a higher level.  The ability to learn and communicate should not be restricted to solely afternoon team practices. This exciting tool should be available shortly.


 Dartfish TV Maintenance

On Thursday, October 25th, there will be an maintenance and upgrade which will mandate channel shutdown for a few hours.  Since this is taking place in the middle of the night in North America, this shouldn't cause too much inconvenience.  However, insomniacs may need a plan B should the channel not be ready for your late night viewing.

Japan Video

Toshi Yoshida

VTS recently returned from Tokyo with some wonderful video of Toshi Yoshida working with his Ageo Medical professional team.  Toshi is without question one of the top coaches in the world.  We spent four days in his training sessions as he prepares his team for their upcoming season.  I have about forty hours of video to edit, but will be adding this to the VTS channel in the upcoming weeks.

Upcoming Projects

We will be doing a couple different things in the upcoming weeks.

• I am going to produce a video for parents that will assist them as they work with their daughters.  So many parents want to help, but lack the knowledge to contribute to the cause.  This will be a free download from the VTS site.
• We have training video scheduled with Georgia, Georgia Tech, North Carolina and NC State in the upcoming weeks.  We are also beginning our sessions with successful clubs this weekend as we visit Dead Frog in Kalamazoo, Michigan
• As mentioned, we will be uploading video from our visit with Toshi Yoshida in Japan.  Hopefully, we can get Toshi involved in future projects.

Recommended Reading

I have almost finished a great book written by Salman Khan, founder of the Khan Academy.   The book title is "One World Schoolhouse- Education Re imagined".  This is a wonderful book that critiques the current educational system and makes suggestions for how to better develop a student's abilities.  I always read books with a thought as to how it might impact teaching volleyball.  This book will definitely get your creative juices flowing as to how to better impart the coaching information you have for your athletes.


That's all for now.  As always we are looking to improve and grow the Volleyball Training Solutions site.  Suggestions are welcome and appreciated.  For those high school coaches, good luck as the season winds down.  For club coaches, good luck as the season starts.

October Newsletter

VTS to Japan

Barring a last minute snafu, always possible, VTS will be going to Japan next week to spend time with former USA National Team Coach, and current Pioneer Red Wings coach, Toshi Yoshida.  Pioneer is a member of the Japan Professional League and is training for the upcoming season.  Toshi has allowed VTS into their gym to video their training.  This will be a great opportunity for all to see how one of the best volleyball coaches in history works with his athletes.

VTS Goes Over 175,000 Views

We are pleased that the Volleyball Training Solutions site recently passed 175,000 views.  I am pleased that we are able to share with the volleyball community videos of great coaches and players
doing their thing.  Hopefully, we will continue to grow in membership and expand our video library.

VTS and Top Club Coaches


One of the major pushes for VTS this winter and spring is to get top clubs and club coaches involved in sharing their expertise.  To date a majority of the video on the site is presented by top collegiate coaches.  However, there is an ever growing demand for top age group coaches, especially those who work with younger age athletes, to present their training techniques.  I'm asking for recommendations from the club community.  If you can recommend who you consider to be a top coach, let me know.  I will make every effort to get them involved on the site.

VTS Joins with AVCA and Sports Imports

This fall, VTS joined with both Sports Imports and the AVCA  to supply video tips that can be seen on their websites.  Our goal is to share top volleyball coaches in action, so this agreement is great for the sport and VTS is more than happy to participate.

Dartfish Express

Dartfish will be coming out this week with Dartfish Express.  This is an app for I-Pads that allow coaches to take video in practice with their I-Pads and upload immediately to their Dartfish TV collection.  So, those coaches that have private folders on VTS can use this for both instructional videos for players and well as promotional videos for their parents/boosters.  It is exciting to be able to take video within a practice then have it uploaded immediately so players can watch as soon as they get home from a training session.  Great stuff for both athletes and coaches.

September Newsletter

Coming From Dartfish

Sharing video for players, staff and fans is going to get a lot easier when Dartfish Express arrives this fall.  You will be able to take video from your I-Pad and immediately upload to your Dartfish TV collection.  This will allow so many options for sharing video material.  You can take video from a training session and it can immediately be viewed by players at home.  Or, video from a match that is made available to boosters or parents the same night the match was played.  Instructional video from camps or private lessons can be viewed easily by athletes or parents for future reference.  Dartfish is leading the charge in video technology.

Tie Break Statistical Software

For coaches looking for a solid piece of statistical and video software, there may be a user friendly and reasonably priced option that is newly available in this country.  I've been experimenting with Tie Break software and can say this is a something that provides quality statistical evaluation of a match along with video tags that can be used to edit video for your team or the opponent.  Unlike other options on the market, this is actually easy to use. A student manager can get up to speed on within days.  For those in the market for statistical and video software that has a tolerable learning curve, check out Tie Break.  Their homepage is:  Tie Break Pro

AVCA and Volleyball Training Solutions

VTS will be supplying the AVCA with a Video Tip of the Week.  This video will be an instructional segment of about 2-4 minutes.  This will also be available to VTS members.  The focus of this segment is to highlight some of the top assistant coaches in the country.


 Book Review

One of the things I'm going to provide in upcoming newsletters is a pale imitation of a book review.  Not ready for the NYT Book Page, but I will kick out some thoughts and recommendations.

The first on the list is:  "The Four Hour Work Week"  by Timothy Ferriss.  This is not exactly a coaching book.  However, there is a definite crossover between the concepts of running a business and the demands of coaching.  This is the cross over that I enjoyed.  The focus is encouraging the lifestyle you desire by focusing upon time management techniques.  A teacher/coach is extremely busy.  How might time be saved that allows more free time to pursue alternative activities?  This is not your normal time management book with the same old ideas that you've heard a thousand times.  The idea is not to free up time so you can work more.  The goal is to create free time.

This book will get your creative juices flowing as to how you might streamline your operation and use sources to help free up some time for you.  I recommend this as a good read that is very thought provoking.  If you take some of these ideas and put into your routine, I'd be interested in the results.

Upcoming Video Schedule

I'm hitting the road next week and will visit the training sessions of many top programs.  Tentatively scheduled are Illinois ('11 NCAA runner up); Purdue ('11 NCAA Elite Eight); Louisville (NCAA tournament team); Dayton (NCAA tournament team); Ohio State (NCAA tournament team), finally, Ball State with Hall of Fame Coach, Steve Shondell.  This is the first of several road trips throughout the fall, just in time for the gas price hike.

Team Folders

If I were to return to the world of collegiate coaching, without doubt I would take advantage of the team folders available on Volleyball Training Solutions.   A coach can upload video of training, matches, or individual sessions.  Coaches and players can edit the video for key points, make comments and generally expedite the learning process and exchange of information.  These are private, password protected folders and can be set up within a day. Just contact the VTS office for details.

Fall Season Newsletter

Navigating Dartfish TV

If you are a VTS member and want to make sure you are taking full advantage of the tools available on Dartfish TV we can assist you.  We can arrange a Go To Meeting session that will help you to become familiar with the site.  Everyone is busy during the fall season.  If we can save you some time by assisting you with the site, that will be a good thing.

Custom Members

We will be contacting Custom or Platinum Members to make sure they know that we are available to assist their programs.  This could entail skill analysis, statistical analysis of matches, evaluating practice sessions, etc.  We will assist in any way possible.  Contact the VTS office for more information.

Strength and Agility Programs

Anthony Glass-OSU Strength Coach

We do have staff members that can assist you in developing and monitoring strength and agility programs for your team.  So often, teams have access to limited facilities that are not fully equipped.  At the same time, coaches want to develop the fitness of their players.  We can assist you in the area.  Contact the VTS office to discussion options.

Upcoming Video

As the fall season begins we will pursue the best in educational video for volleyball coaches.  We will certainly want to video the top programs in action.  However, good coaching takes place in many venues.  We will not solely pursue top Division 1 programs.  We will go where good coaching takes us.  If you want to suggest a coach at the collegiate or high school level that we should pursue, feel free to drop us a line.  We will follow up.

The basic philosophy of VTS is there are many methods that are successful.  We have avoided pursuing the thought that there is only one "correct" way to coach.  So, we pride ourselves on presenting information that "makes sense" and is innovative.  We will leave it up to you as to what information you want to incorporate into your program.   I would encourage you to be unafraid to try new things.  Maybe it works, maybe you don't like it.  But, don't hesitate to try new things.

VTS Blog

If you aren't aware, I'm doing a blog on a wide variety of topics, mostly related to volleyball.  The next one will delve into the upcoming practices that most schools are doing in advance of school beginning.  I'll kick out some thoughts as to how one might organize the sessions.
Grow VTS

The only way that VTS can continue to provide quality volleyball educational resources is to grow the site.  If you feel that VTS is a positive contribution to the effort to improve the coaching in this country, pass along the word.

Volleyball Training Solutions June Newsletter

 Fall Coaching Interviews for VTS Members

Kevin Hambly-Illinois

This fall, VTS will begin a series of interviews with the top coaches in the country.  This will be a 10-15 minute session that will examine coaching philosophy, skill development and program organization.  The goal is to make these sessions a high level discussion of coaching skills.  We won't go into the often discussed topics of rankings, RPI, which conference is better, etc.  This will be a discussion designed to help the coaching community become more acquainted with how high level coaches approach their craft.  We will provide VTS members a chance to interact and pose questions to these successful coaches

VTS at the Ohio Coaches Clinic

I'll be speaking and presenting Volleyball Training Solutions at the Ohio Volleyball Coaches Association Clinic the last weekend in July   I'd enjoy meeting some of the Ohio VTS members.  Living in Denver for a couple years now, I'm going to have to re-adjust to the humidity of Ohio in the summer.

Video Schedule

We will be on a limited schedule in the month of July relative to adding video to the VTS library.  Once we get things going in the fall training sessions, VTS staff will once again be out to video the top programs as they begin to prepare for the season.

How Do We Learn?

One of my recent Facebook posts was an article on the Khan Academy: Link: Khan Academy-USA Today  The focus is on how information for students might be presented in a more effective manner.  There is no reason to think that volleyball athletes are any different.  I am convinced that the use of video and pictures are not being used sufficiently to support information and provide feedback.  I would encourage you to be creative in how you present information.  Coaches tend to be pretty good speakers, but sometimes other forms of communication is critical to the learning process.  Video is just another form of communicating.   Dartfish does a wonderful job of creating a format of both video and pictures that can be used effectively to providing a visual of how skills are executed in a proper manner.  I'll be sending out to members a link to download skills showing sequential images of skills.  An idea might be to copy into a poster format and post in your training facility.

Referral Program Coming

Expanding our membership is important to continue to provide quality service.  In that regard, we will be initiating a referral program for VTS members in the upcoming weeks.  On the VTS membership page, there is a place for "Referred By".  We will monitor referrals and establish a discount for the referring member.  More on this in a few days.

Team Folders

A service we will be providing in the fall is a private team video collection.  You can upload video for viewing by your team or fans.  This might include scout video, post match video that is edited using Dartfish Easy Tag (which is a wonderful app for your tablet), or highlight video.  Contact VTS if this is of interest for your program.

May Newsletter

 Changes on both Dartfish TV and VTS Website

There have been some positive changes on the VTS website that I want to make you aware.  We have placed a renew button at each of the levels.  So, members wishing to renew can just hit the "Renew" button, enter the appropriate information and you'll be good to go.  We will also be installing a PayPal button for those wishing to pay in this method.  Dartfish TV has made some great changes, mostly from an administrative perspective.  However, for members with private folders that have tagged video, you'll be able to bring up all your tags just by hitting a button.  So, for example, if you have tagged all of Suzie's serves, these tags are now easily accessible.

New Member "Go to Meeting" Orientation

We will be offering members, especially new members, the opportunity to go over all that Dartfish TV offers for you.  We can go over the site, make sure you understand how to navigate Dartfish TV and use the available tools.  If you're interested in this, just contact the VTS office and we can arrange a convenient time.

"Commented Videos"

I've received several inquiries about videos that have received comments from other members.  The question being how can they see the comment and the video.  I attached a picture that will assist.  Go to the "Home" logo, then click on "Commented" and all videos with comments will be listed in order of comment.  I would encourage comments and exchange of ideas within the membership community.

Using VTS in the Summer Months 

Having a private team folder and using VTS in the summer can keep your team engaged in the summer months.  Here are sample uses of VTS private team folders during the summer:

• Video your open gyms and upload video and place comments and key points that allow players to focus on key areas of development
• Video players performing skills and have VTS perform analysis and place in your collection so player can download.
• Strength and agility programs for your players
• Video from last season with comments and showing successes
• Skill video with analysis

 These are only a few ways to incorporate video into your player and potentially staff development.

Plan Ahead for the Fall Season

Consider having a private folder for your team.  You can upload and download team practices, matches and future opponents.  Players can access from anywhere with an internet connection with their I-Pads.  You can tag matches using Dartfish Easy Tag (free!), upload video, we will synch your video and tags, then you can watch edited video of your team.  Contact VTS and we can get you going.

Recent Video Additions

• Developing Armswing Mechanics 
• Jim Stone will focus on developing proper armswing mechanics for younger players using some lead up activities
• Lower Body Strength Development
• Ohio State strength coach, Anthony Glass, goes over proper fundamentals of lower body exercises in the weight room
• Munciana Peppers
• Coach John Rodriguez takes you through his 12 and under training session with great explanations and presentations of drills

Newsletter/Blog

I'll be developing a two prong approach to volleyball information.  The first will be a monthly newsletter, which will be in this format.  The second will be in a blog format that will focus on volleyball events of the day. The link to the blog will be on the VTS website. 

Use VTS to Store Team Video 

VTS can be used to store team video for the club or fall season.  You can take your match video or scout video and place on the VTS website for convenient viewing for your staff and players.  VTS will create a private folder for your team that only your players can access.  The use of Dartfish Easy Tag will allow convenient editing of your match video.  Call VTS for more information.

VTS Custom Membership

This level of membership is designed to meet the needs of your staff or team.  We can pretty much go any direction you desire.  Personal coaching development, team evaluation and recommendations, examples of drill and practice development, etc.  Just let us know and we can assist you in accomplishing your program goals.

Upcoming Video

This week we will do a setter training video on footwork patterns to move around the court.  We will also do a session on attacking.  Also upcoming are short interviews with top coaches on various aspects of coaching and developing your team.  I'll be sending to members this week some forms that might assist you in planning practice, developing game plans or match evaluation.

Suggestions Needed

Most of the focus to date for VTS has been developing quality coaching video for members.  In the upcoming year, we want to grow the site and raise the number of members.  We also want to diversify our offering to meet your needs.  I'd like to develop a referral program that will reward current members in some form.  I have a couple ideas kicking around in my head, however, if you have suggestions as to a referral program to both increase membership and reward members, feel free to pass along.

Support the Semper Fi-Injured Marine Fund

As you know, a majority of the proceeds of VTS goes the the Semper Fi-Injured Marine

Fund.  Become a friend to the Semper Fi Fund on Facebook and know that your membership on VTS goes to supporting soldiers who have given so much to their country.

As always, your insights, opinions and thoughts are appreciated.  Let us know
if we can assist your program in any way.

Coming in December-New Website and Logo for Volleyball Training Solutions

In conjunction with the upcoming VTS website remake, we are introducing a new logo.  Along with the new logo, we will be initiating some great new services.  These will be detailed on the new site, but in a nutshell, we will:

• Streamline the sign up/renewal procedure- You'll never leave the VTS site and there will be more payment options including easier processing of purchase orders.
• Interactive Level of Membership- your club or high school staffs will be able to participate in members only VTS webinars that will focus on the items of most importance to your situation.  VTS staff will also be available to comment of training sessions, competitions and offer suggestions for improvement.
• Private folders for your program on Dartfish TV.  VTS will create a private folder just for your team or club.  You can upload/download videos of training sessions, past competitions, scout video, etc.  This will be accessible from anywhere with an Internet connection.  This is will be wonderful communication tool for both coaches and players.  As part of this, if desired, the VTS staff can comment and offer suggestions.



Dartfish Analysis-a great learning tool !

• Skill analysis for players-Any player will be able to upload video of their skills for analysis.  For all skill analysis, we will use Dartfish Analysis Software.  The VTS staff will make sure that the players will benefit from a quality analysis with suggestions for improvement.  Players will download the video and be able to save on their computers.

So, we are making every effort to provide an increased level of service for both players and coaches.  If you have thoughts or suggestions, feel free to pass along to VTS.

AVCA Convention

Stop by the Exhibitors area at the upcoming AVCA Convention and say hello.  Our staff would enjoy the opportunity to meet you and talk about how we can serve you better.  We will also be taking some video about how you use Volleyball Training Solutions and the positive (I hope) impact it has had with your staff or players.

Also, Front Range Head Coach Jim Miret and I will be presenting at the AVCA convention on Friday12/16 @ 2:30 on "Innovative Training Methods in Volleyball". Stop by and ask some tough questions.

Help us Grow

VTS on Facebook and Twitter- Like and Follow

The next time your on Facebook, go to the VTS page: Facebook-VTS and click the Like button.  We want to use Facebook and Twitter: VTS on Twitter as a important tool of communication with members.  We all get tons of e-mail, so if we can communicate via these tools, it will help make your inbox less congested.

If you like VTS and can help us grow, all help is appreciated.  Word of mouth is the best advertising, so mention us to colleagues, on chat rooms and forward our website to interested parties.  

VTS Staff at Clinics and Conventions

If VTS can assist in finding great staff for your state or area coaching clinics, we'd be glad to help out.  All the contributing coaches on VTS are obviously very willing to assist in the growth of volleyball.  If their schedules allow, I know they will assist you in any way.  Just drop a note to the VTS office and we will follow up right away.

Simple Drill to Work on Movement and Posture

This is a very simple drill for younger players that will provide lots of contacts, movement and work on posture.  We put cones on the floor to be used as guides for the players to work on movement in specific directions.  Keys for the drill; 1) keep head level when moving, 2) just shuffle step to the ball, 3) work on platform management with a focus on angle the platform to the target.

Front Range Volleyball Club Implementing Dartfish TV into Staff/Player Development

Volleyball Training Solutions and Dartfish TV will be a major focus of staff and athlete development in the upcoming year.  With the use of tools offered in both Dartfish TV and Dartfish  "EasyTag", the ability to share video information will be at the fingertips of coaches, players and parents within the Front Range program.  

For Coaches

• Every team within the Front Range club will have a folder on VTS-Dartfish TV that is accessible by both coaches and players. The coaches, using "Easy Tag" will be able to mark video events within practices and competition.  The "tagged" video will be uploaded to the team folder for viewing by players either at the practice facility or at home.  This will allow timely feedback for players on recent practices or tournaments.  Also in the video folders will be "model" video so players can have a visual of the desired skill being performed.
• There will be a coaches video folder that Front Range Head Coach, Jim Miret, can place video of drills, skill keys, or points of emphasis for staff coaches to view and implement into their training sessions.  This will allow Front Range coaches  to be consistent within the club as to teaching skills and planning practices.

For Players

Testing Leg Strength

• Front Range physical therapist, Djimmer Bosman, will video athletes during physical screens.  These screens are performed to identify potential physical issues with athletes.  The video is placed into a player folder to show the athlete the video of the screen, along with video of rehab exercises that can be done at home.  The parents of the players will be part of this so they know the exercises to be done by the athlete.
• Players will have skill video uploaded to VTS-Dartfish TV and using Dartfish software, will have their skills analyzed with drawings, voice overs and suggestions for skill development.
• Players will be able to download video from matches and training sessions to their personal computers to develop their own video library.

For Club Directors

Jim Miret- Front Range Head Coach

• The challenge for all club directors is to create a communication tool so all coaches on their staff are constantly developing their coaching skills.  Dartfish TV allows for the easy distribution of video teaching keys that staff members can access from anywhere.  In the Front Range program this is being used for practice organization, teaching cues, sport psychology presentations by staff member, Tim Engels, physical training concepts by Billy Gilsan and video feedback of training sessions.

So many clubs have multiple teams and training sites.  To monitor the progress of coaches and athletes is a never ending challenge for club directors.  Using the Volleyball Training Solutions site on Dartfish TV is a wonderful tool for club directors to disseminate video information and feedback to both athletes and coaches.  

Visit to Kansas State

Suzie Fritz

I had a great visit to Kansas State to watch a training session as they prepared for their upcoming match with Missouri (which they won in five sets).  Head coach Suzie Fritz and her staff, Jeff Hulsmeyer and Jeff Grove were wonderful hosts.  I thought the practice was very productive and the players were engaged.  The emphasis upon statistical evaluation of performance within the practice, as well as coming into practice was extensive.  The coaches, based upon statistics, focused upon transition attack and defending against specific sets.  During drills the statistical performance of the team during that drill was provided with the appropriate feedback.

There are two specific items that I will relay that were good ideas for all coaches.  Jeff Grove indicated that in every drill, there were three items to be considered 1) how to score or evaluate the drill, 2) how the ball is entered (serve, toss, etc.), 3) the focus of the feedback.  Jeff indicated if the focus of the drill was hitting, for example, they probably wouldn't give a lot of feedback on defense.

The other item that I thought was nice was that in advance of practice a player would write down what she was going to work on that day.  A teammate would then volunteer to help her in that effort.  The thought was that if players are working to both improve themselves and a teammate, the training really becomes a team effort.

Dartfish TV for I-Pad Coming Soon

VTS members have expressed a desire to be able to view videos on Dartfish TV via their I-pads.   Many coaches would like to take their I-Pads to practice so players can view from the VTS libary on Dartfish TV the drills or skill keys that might be of emphasis on a particular day.  This will be happening soon as Dartfish TV is in the advanced testing stage of allowing the viewing of Dartfish TV via various mobile units.

In advance of that, if there are favorite videos in the VTS library that you would like to view on an I-pad, let me know.  I will need to re-upload the desired videos in a different format to allow viewing on your I-pad. 

Observations from the Road

I've just returned from a 10 day road trip that allowed me to visit some highly successful programs.  I always find these opportunities to visit other coaches in action both exciting and fun.  So often I will see or hear things that I definitely put into my coaching routine.  I also am so happy there are successful coaches "out there" that want the game to improve and are willing to share their knowledge.

I was at the University of Illinois, the current AVCA #1 team in the country.  Also, six time Indiana state champion, Indianapolis Cathedral and NCAA Men's Champion, Ohio State University.  I mixed in 2010 NCAA tournament teams Indiana and Dayton.  As I visited the training sessions of these successful teams one theme was common to all.  That theme was the focus on detail in every aspect of the training sessions.  All these coaches have an eye for detail, organized to the minute practice plans, focus on the part of coaches and players to every aspect of every repetition during training.  The coaches know exactly what they want from every drill and provide quality feedback for both team and individual performances.  They are also very aware of and attempt to influence the "atmosphere" in the training sessions. There is a difference between implementing a drill and really understanding what is necessary for the drill to accomplish desired goals.  These coaches really understand the nuances of a drill or a skill that take on importance at the higher levels of play.

Jean Kesterson

Coach Jean Kesterson, from Indianapolis Cathedral, ran all drills by the scoreboard clock.  Again, a high level of emphasis placed on serving with hoops placed on the floor in the target areas of the day.  Lots of drills were organized with the number of successful contacts.  Upon completion of the drill, players would touch the team/school logo and yell "I'm a winner".  Coach Kesterson explained that not all young players feel that they are winners and she is making the attempt to reinforce an important attitude.  Also, with every successful serve to target, players would yell "Irish" (school mascot).



Coach Hambly was very focused on serve and pass.  I have never seen a team serve as many balls during a training session.  The serve reps took place in small increments periodically during practice.  But, if you total the number of serve attempts for the entire session, it would be a significant number.  He also placed a high priority on video feedback during practice.  Players would go back and forth from the video station back to the drill with keys to focus upon. 

Coach Sean Byron, fromt the OSU men's staff, did a wonderful presentation on blocking.  It is very obvious that the OSU men focus on every detail of the skill.  The blocking video that I was able to gather is valuable for coaches of every level.

Indiana Coach Sherry Dunbar ran a great practice in Bloomington.  Great attention to blocking footwork and execution.  All the middle blockers went through countless repetitions of moving from the middle to the outside.  This combined with lots of focus hand movement above the net was a valuable session for the middles.  From my perspective, blocking is always the last thing that young players learn.  With the focus that Sherry is placing upon the skill, I have no doubt that Indiana will bring this group of young athletes along very quickly. 

 Dayton v St. Louis- VTS lets you listen in!!

It was an interesting experiment when Dayton played St. Louis last Friday.  Both Coach Sheffield from Dayton and Coach Miller from Dayton agreed to wear a wireless microphone during the match.  It was a well played match and both coaches were impressive relative to the information they were giving to their team.  Lots of keys that provided important information to their players.

Videos from the above training/competition sessions, as well as training video from Ohio University, West Virginia, Cleveland State and the Ball State Men will be on the VTS site in the upcoming days.