Volleyball Training Solutions July Update

Rachel Holloway Freemyer Talks Setting

It was a joy to do some video work with Rachel Holloway Freemyer, former All American setter from the University of Nebraska.  Rachel was at the Front Range club to begin her preparations for her first professional season this fall in Holland.  On the VTS site, Rachel and Jim Miret demonstrate some advanced setting moves and some drills to work on these moves.  Also, Rachel talks about her setting decisions and technique in live situations.  This is something we haven't done before and it came out great. A brief clip of the interview with Rachel and Jim Miret can be found below.

Video Schedule for July/August

I'll be pretty busy with the Youth World Championship preparation and tournament from July 20-August 22.  The team will begin preparation in Tucson on July 20, proceed to Lake Placid on July 29th, then off to Ankara, Turkey for the World Championships from August 12-22.  The first pool will be challenging with Serbia, China and Puerto Rico as the competition. 

Upon return, the normal flow of upload will resume.  I will be taking a lap around the country in the fall which I am looking forward to a lot.  Hopefully, I can catch some VTS teams in action.

Recommending Good Coaches 

If there are top flight high school coaches that would make positive video contributions to the site, feel free to recommend them.  I know there are excellent coaches at all levels and I'd like to provide visibility to top coaches of younger players.

Observations from Atlanta and the Junior Olympics

I must be allergic to the ATL.  Once again, Big South in April was the first, I leave with some disease.  Perhaps it's mental?  Anyway, a couple random observations in no particular order of importance:

• Level of play was ok, good athletes for sure, but not great skill, very average defense.  The outside hitters were very good.  Hopefully, these players can be six rotation players in college?
• The court set up makes quality serving impossible.  The courts are waaaay to small.  The athletes, especially in the older age groups need more room behind the courts.
• The format makes consistent play challenging.  Too many matches, players going from scoring responsibilities to playing inside of ten minutes.  Barely enough time for a bathroom break.The fact that players are used to this format doesn't make it right.

VTS Summer Newsletter Update

VTS Schedule in the Upcoming Months

Terry Liskevych-Oregon St.

We will be uploading some final video from a recent trip to Oregon, Oregon State, Penn State and Minnesota in the upcoming days.  Then it will be a fairly hectic summer.  I'll be at the AAU's and JO's with my Front Range 16's.  Feel free to stop by court 9,418 to say hello.  Then I'll be coaching the Youth National Team at the World Championships that will take up five weeks in July/August.  At that point, I'm shooting for a lap around the country, stopping at VTS member schools as well as top collegiate and high school programs to add to our video library.  I'm certainly hoping for the gas prices to drop for at least the month of September. If you are a VTS member and have an interest in having the VTS entourage (me) drop by your campus or school, let me know.  We will try to work in a visit.

Team Folders

We are initiating "Team Folders" for programs this fall.  These folders will allow you to upload video for your team or coaching staff, provide your team and/or staff access with user name and password, and they will be able to view the video in your folder from their homes or dorm rooms.  They will also be able to comment, point out key positions, etc.  We can also provide video that demonstrates systems and skills for your staff.  Since every program has different needs, give the VTS office a call and we can talk about your needs and how we might assist.

Rachel Holloway Freemyer

Rachel Holloway Freemyer Talks Setting

Former All American setter at Nebraska, Rachel Holloway Freemyer, spent a few days at the Front Range facility this week. Fortunately we were able to grab her to do some instructional setting video and do a voice analysis of some of her setting moves.  I hope to get this up on the site in a few days.  Just watching Rachel set was a joy.  Great setting mechanics and athleticism.  One of the things that Rachel spoke about was the amount of time and repetitions that is needed to become an elite setter.  This is where the NCAA rules that restrict the time that players can spend with a coach outside the season really impacts the level of play.  The repetitions that are missed are, indeed, significant.

Nice David Brooks Article

The author and commentator for the New York Times wrote a very interesting article relating to what messages we send young people as they graduate and move on with their lives.

Referral Program

VTS is initiating a referral program for members.  If a new member joins VTS and drops me an e-mail indicating that a specific VTS member referred them to the site and fostered the membership sign-up, the referring member will receive a $25 discount on the cost of a renewal.  This will hold true for every referral, with a cap at the cost of an membership.  So, ten referrals will result in a Silver Membership for free for the referring member.  This program will begin immediately.

Youth National Team Tryouts

We had 25 players in Colorado Springs two weekends ago for a YNT tryout.  Our goal was to select 12 players, plus alternates, to attend the World Championships in Turkey this summer.  One of the interesting by products of the tryout was the sentiment of the players that they enjoyed the opportunity to play with and against some of the best players in this age group in the country.  As coaches, we saw players visibly improve in just a weekend, primarily due to the fact that they were forced to improve by the competition.  One can hope that a program can be established that this type of competitive environment can take place more often than once a year.  There is no question that the players would be the beneficiaries of such a development program.

On a different note, the USA is in a pool with Serbia, China and Puerto Rico.  The Serbs took a silver medal two years ago at the World Championships.  The teams from China and Puerto Rico are always good, so there will be definite challenges.