Volleyball Athletes
Do you know what kind of athletes make the best volleyball players?

Volleyball athletes and key character traits for winning at volleyball.

Leadership

All great teams have leadership. The coach is the leader of the team and you also need a leader on the court.

The setter is usually the team leader.

The rest of the players on the team should also possess leadership qualities.

Leadership can be defined as "one's ability to get others to willingly follow".

The following are some important character traits...

• Have a vision. A leader with vision has a clear, vivid picture of where to go. Also, a firm grasp on what success looks like and how to achieve it. It's not enough to just have a vision, a leader must also share that vision and act upon it.
  
  A leader must be able to communicate his or her vision in terms that cause followers to buy into it. He or she must communicate clearly and passionately, as passion is contagious.
  
  A good leader must have the discipline to work toward his or her vision single-minded, as well as to direct his or her actions and those of the team toward the goal.


• Integrity. A person of integrity is the same on the outside and on the inside. A leader must have the trust of followers and therefore must display integrity. A leader who is centered in integrity will be more approachable by followers.


• Dedication. Dedication means spending whatever time or energy is necessary to accomplish the task at hand. A leader inspires dedication by example, doing whatever it takes to complete the next step toward the vision.


• Magnanimity. Magnanimity means giving credit where it is due. Conversely, a good leader takes personal responsibility for failures. This sort of reverse magnanimity helps other people feel good about themselves and draws the team closer together.


• Humility. Leaders with humility recognize that they are no better or worse than other members of the team. A humble leader is not self-effacing but rather tries to elevate everyone.


• Openness. Openness means being able to listen to new ideas, even if they do not conform to the usual way of thinking. Openness builds mutual respect and trust between leaders and followers, and it also keeps the team well supplied with new ideas that can further its vision.


• Creativity. Creativity is the ability to think differently, to get outside of the box that constrains solutions. Creativity gives leaders the ability to see things that others have not seen and thus lead followers in new directions.


• Fairness. Fairness means dealing with others consistently and justly. A leader must check all the facts and hear everyone out before passing judgment. He or she must avoid leaping to conclusions based on incomplete evidence. When people feel they that are being treated fairly, they reward a leader with loyalty and dedication.


• Assertiveness. Assertiveness is the ability to clearly state what one expects so that there will be no misunderstandings. A leader must be assertive to get the desired results. Along with assertiveness comes the responsibility to clearly understand what followers expect from their leader.


• A sense of humor. A sense of humor is vital to relieve tension and boredom, as well as to defuse hostility. Effective leaders know how to use humor to energize followers. Humor is a form of power that provides some control over the work environment. And simply put, humor fosters good camaraderie.

A Good Student

Something real critical when it comes to being successful is, "possessing the ability to learn".

Don't take the ability to learn for granted. Learning is a skill, maybe the most important skill in volleyball.

Your current skill level is temporary. Learning is a skill and your ability to learn can be improved.

If you're an athlete that makes good grades in school, I would bet you're pretty good at learning.

You want athletes on your team that can figure out what they need to do to get better. Good students usually possess this quality.

The Right Attitude

The right mindset can make all the difference.

The following are some characteristics of athletes with a winning attitude...

"Seeing volleyball as play and not work"

Many coaches and players don't understand why "burnout" occurs. Burnout is the result of training without passion.

"Focus is on what you're going to do, and not on what you've been doing wrong."

The following are traits of athletes that have the wrong attitude...

• Afraid to make mistakes. It's common for players to be afraid of looking bad. If you get stuck in this mindset, tell yourself it's ok to make mistakes. Mistakes build contrast. You need contrast in order to learn.


• Getting stuck on "what is". If you focus on what kind of player you are, what your abilities are, what you can do, what you can't do.... then it's going to be real hard for you to change. Focus on what you want and how you want to be and don't make your current reality into such a big deal. Remind yourself your reality is temporary and it's more important to focus on your vision.


• Making the mistake of not "feeling good." Have you ever noticed it's much harder to learn if you don't feel very good? If you ever get frustrated, stop and do whatever you need to change your emotional state. You'll improve a lot faster at volleyball if you are "feeling good".

The following are traits of athletes with the right attitude...

• Not afraid to make mistakes. Players with the right attitude are willing to take chances. In order to learn you must take chances. If you don't take chances then you won't change. If you don't change, you don't learn. Becoming a better volleyball player is all about improving your current skill level. In order to improve skill you must change.


• Have a vision. Not only do you need a vision, but you need to see yourself being "that way" all the time. If you constantly see yourself on the championship team, this will soon become your reality.


• Feel good. The more you feel good, the easier it will be to learn new things. When you feel good, ideas come to you, you figure things out, and improve skill faster.

Advantages to Recruiting Taller Athletes

Tall Athletes for Attacking and Blocking
It's an advantage to be tall for spiking and blocking at the net.

A tall athlete has more room for error when spiking. The trajectory of the ball is hit at a much sharper angle which allows for less attacking errors.

It's also easier to block if you're taller. Taller blockers can get their hands in position faster and cover more space.

Tall Athletes for Passing and Defense
Not just on play at the net, being tall is also an advantage for playing defense. Tall players have a longer reach and can cover more court. A disadvantage to being shorter, for example, it can be harder for shorter players to pass deep serves.

Taller players are also generally stronger. This is an advantage for overhead passing and setting. For example, it's easier for taller players to pass the ball using an overhead setting motion because their hands are bigger and stronger, which makes it easier to control the ball.

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