WIN MORE GAMES WITH THESE 6 TIPS

IMPROVING AWARENESS AND ANTICIPATION SKILLS

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WIN MORE GAMES WITH THESE 6 TIPS

The following are 6 things coaches need to take more seriously.

1. Learn to serve tough. It still amazes me how many players are just tossing the ball up and serving it over the net with no purpose. Every time you serve without purpose, that’s another wasted repetition. I say it's wasted because with every serve, that's another opportunity for you to become a little better server. Each repetition counts, so don't waste any of them.

2. Learn to block. Blocking is by far the least taught skill in volleyball. If your players block really well, and most coaches don’t teach blocking, just think what a big advantage you'll have.

3. Elbow to wrist action. Training the end of the hit is the most important part of learning to hit a volleyball. If all you’re doing is perfecting the approach and ignoring the end result (the contact of the ball) then you’re wasting your time. Your technique for your approach can only help you so much. You're limited in what you can do if you don’t contact the ball right.

4. Not having a primary hitter. Your setter must know who to go to at the end of the game. Your setter needs to understand "setting distribution". Knowing who to set and when is often the difference between winning and losing tight games.

5. Timing transition vs arriving early. It’s real easy to get lazy. You've got to be disciplined to wait and then go fast. Also, speed in transition is important. You don’t want to get caught in between two skills. As a coach, it’s easy to make the mistake of just focusing on the skills and forgetting about the importance of teaching transitioning.

6. Many coaches make the mistake of giving up on training fundamentals. As coaches we sometimes become lazy and just drill, drill, drill all the time. We can sometimes get excited (especially at the beginning of the season) and forget about teaching the fundamental skills. So remember to be disciplined and don't forget about how important it is to teach the fundamental skills of volleyball.

Follow the link for more important tips for improving your skills.

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IMPROVING AWARENESS AND ANTICIPATION SKILLS

Visual recognition, tracking the ball, tracking the attackers, and communicating with teammates are important skills.

Are you good at anticipating your opponent?

The best defenders are always ready to move every time the opposing team contacts the ball. With every contact, be anticipating that the ball could cross the net on any of the opponent’s touches.

Develop the self-discipline necessary to play from a balanced low body position. You should be in a position ready to play defense from the floor up. Each time your opponent contacts the ball, players must move from their medium starting position to the low body defensive position. To get comfortable with being in this position, you must train it regularly.

You also need to be ready to move in any direction. Proper body position involves being balanced and ready to move. By playing balanced, a player will react comfortably and have good ball control when handling routine plays.

Follow the link for more on improving awareness and anticipation skills.

important tips for improving awareness and anticipation skills