THINK OF THE BODY AS A MACHINE

LEARNING TO FOCUS - TIPS FOR IMPROVING CONCENTRATION AND SUCCESS

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THINK OF THE BODY AS A MACHINE

For all practical purposes the fastest kids aren’t faster and more athletic than other kids because they do more speed, agility, and quickness drills.

They’re faster and more athletic because they have a better machine.

Think about it like cars…

If you want your car to run faster on the road you don’t go out and drive it more, you go under the hood and enhance its functionality there. That’s the goal with strength training and other functional training methods.

The actual speed, agility, and quickness drills are kind of like driving a car…

They’re largely just an expression of the inner workings of your physiology. If you want to get better at them long term you’ll be best served by enhancing your inner workings, which include strength, power, reactivity, flexibility, stability, balance, etc.

In sports training, the term core refers to the deep muscle layers that lay close to the spine and provide structural support. Core muscles maintain the body's structure during vigorous athletic movements.

The core is like the transmission of a car. Without a fully functioning transmission, the force that the engine produces can't be transferred to the wheels.

Core training is at the center of your volleyball training because the core is active in all volleyball movements.

Visit my latest page on core exercises for volleyball.

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LEARNING TO FOCUS - TIPS FOR IMPROVING CONCENTRATION AND SUCCESS

One of the most effective ways to deepen concentration through sight is to focus on something subtle.

When your opponent is serving, have you ever paid attention to how the ball spins? Sometimes the ball spins with topspin. Other times the ball will not spin much at all and float.

It's easy to see the ball, but not so easy to notice the exact pattern made by its panels as it spins.

The practice of watching the panels produces interesting results.

After a short time a player will discover he is seeing the ball much better than when he was just "watching" it.

When looking at the pattern made by the panels one naturally watches the ball all the way to one's arms and begins to focus his attention on it earlier than before.

The ball should be watched from the time it leaves the opponent to the time it arrives to your passing platform.

Sometimes the ball will even begin to appear bigger or be moving slower. These are the natural results of true focus.

Another advantage of watching the pattern of the spinning ball is it tends to engross the mind completely. The mind is so engrossed in the pattern that it forgets to try too hard.

The mind is preoccupied and tends to not interfere with the natural movements of the body.

Even further, the pattern is here and now, which is to say the focus is on the now (not past or future).

Practicing "watching the ball" will help you achieve deeper and deeper states of concentration.

For more tips, visit my latest page on improving focus.