All I Really Need to Know About Coaching I Learned From This Quote

Many years ago I read the book All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum. It is a series of short essays about, well, life. It's an easy read. There are a lot of reflections and observations about life that are worthwhile. It's not groundbreaking philosophy or anything, but I like the title. The title refers to the first essay in the book. It mentions how the rules we learn playing in the sandbox at kindergarten will serve us throughout our lives. With that in mind, I present you with the best quote on coaching volleyball I have ever heard:

"Since we learn best in training situations that are basically gamelike, we should incorporate three contact drills as often as possible. I am convinced that the best hitting drills are pass, set, hit (P-S-H), the best setting drills are P-S-H and the best passing drills are P-S-H. Likewise, the best defensive drills are dig set hit combinations." - Marv Dunphy

 Marv Dunphy was the coach during the 1988 Olympics when I first watched and was getting interested in volleyball. In my naivete I thought he was the best coach in the world. I don't know if he was the best coach in the world, but he was definitely one of the best coaches in the US. He probably still is. His Pepperdine teams are regularly quality teams, and they are always strong blocking teams. I have heard opposing coaches with good blocking teams talk about how they did well to actually out-block Pepperdine.

The quote itself is great. Through repetition it drives home what we should be doing in practice. If a skill can be taught, or a drill done with the three fundamental contacts (pass, set, hit), it probably should be done that way in practice. There are times when cutting out some of the three contacts might have value, but the importance of pass, set, hit shouldn't be questioned. The quote can be adapted to other skills as well. For example: The best serving drills are serve, pass, set, hit. The best blocking drills are pass, set, hit, block. Students of motor learning should see the value here. Giving our athletes repetitions are going to give them the optimal environment for growing and improving.

Also lurking within the quote is the idea of gamelike training. We want our practices to replicate the stresses of actual competition as much as possible. This is another motor learning gem. Conventional wisdom states that a basketball player who misses free throws in games should shoot a lot of free throws. This leads to the player shooting large volumes of shots at a time, like more than 10 in a row. While this might improve the player's skill in that event, it does not replicate the conditions of the game. Often that hypothetical basketball player hits those 10+ free throws at good percentage of the time, but still doesn't perform well during competition. Shooting 1 or 2 high pressure shots periodically through practice will have a better likelihood of making the player better in shooting free throws during a game. All too often coaches like to do similar things in volleyball, like high volumes of serves without the subsequent pass, set, hit. Our players are never going to have to block (or dig) a hitter hitting self tossed sets from a box in competition.

There is a flow to volleyball. A lot of that flow is built on the pass, set, hit drum beat. Don't clip your athletes' wings by stifling that flow. Allow and encourage them to play out rallies. Give them drills that attempt to replicate the situations they might face in competition. Don't teach the skills of the game in a way they will never see. Stick with pass, set, hit.