Well after literally hours of volleyball this winter, we’re finally finished. We completed our season last weekend with Nationals, even though it’s volleyball and I usually feel like I could do it every day, I’m glad to be getting a little bit of time off.
This year was definitely one of learning though and I’m excited to keep learning, because once you’re done learning, you’re just done. There’s always something different to pick up, a different way to look at something, or even to learn something completely unrelated to the game may pop up while playing.
For example I never thought “The Art of War” by Sun Tzu could be applied to volleyball, but it can.
Some of the things we as a coaching staff focused on were stretching and mental training. We educated ourselves about two things that are often overlooked in sport or are given importance, but without the knowledge of why we do certain things.
For example growing up we did dynamic stretching before playing a game or practicing, we did the stretches that the coaches new and so forth, then we did static stretching afterwards. Again it was what the coaches knew, so we just did them.
I myself have been having issues with a stiff lower back, which I’m assuming is from sitting at my desk writing, and the stretches I knew weren’t really helping. So, off I went to find something that would not only help my back, but help the girls become better competitors. What I found was a different style of stretching called undulating stretching. Dynamic stretching is important before competition because it warms up the muscles and tendons, but cool down stretching should follow through different series of undulating stretches because static stretching actually weakens the muscle.
This was something I never knew before. So, I began doing this undulating stretching that’s supposed to help flexibility and for the first time that I can remember I can stand with my legs straight and touch my toes.
The research I did stressed that stretching should never hurt, you should be able to feel it, but it should never be painful and it also focused on the importance of breathing – breath in while moving between stretches and out while completing the stretch.
As for mental training, I think I’ve read at least four books this winter with another one on the go right now about tips and tricks of mental training and handling competition. Keys to this included breathing, positive self talk, and humour. If you can always have fun and be funny, you do better in the competition.
The absolute best example of this that came from coaching this year was with our 15U team who during time outs would crack jokes, have stare down contests, and dance within the huddle. A time-out in volleyball is one minute long and it doesn’t take that much time to tell the girls what we need them to do or give them a few words of encouragement, then out the jokes come and the dancing, the laughter breaks the tension of the stressful state of competition and lets them relax a little bit when heading back out on the court.
The books not only help in competition, but in stressful situations outside of volleyball these girls will hopefully be able to deal with what they come up against. For example if they sit down to a tough exam and are nervous about it, they’ll hopefully remember their training, take a few breaths (exhaling longer than they inhale to relax), and feel better about writing their exam.
Somewhere along the line this philosophy popped up: Butterflies in your stomach are good, it means you care, but you’ve got to make them fly in formation. Which is what breathing and positive self talk help you to do.
