Virtues of Consistent Setting
Perhaps one of the most under-rated characteristics of a good team (or maybe I am biased because I'm a setter) is consistency of setting.
You see a lot of setter changes with competitive teams at the juniors level as well as in adult recreational open-gyms/leagues. Sometimes a coach decides to run a 6-2 simply to get more players involved in the game (rather than for proper strategic reasoning.) Other times at a recreational (however competitive) league, teams may decide to run a 6-2 or just rotate "middle setter" to keep more players involved or to "keep it simple."
I need to whole-heartedly disagree with the notion that having two drastically different setters splitting the touches, or changing setters upon every rotation, simplifies the game. I'll touch upon both points (6-2 and "middle-set") in today's post as well as the general concept of how having a good setter can clean up the game.
Coach the Player, Not Yourself
Take a random sample of volleyball players and ask them for a list of what they think makes a good coach. Some will say experience, others will say intellect, and everybody else will list something different. And yet, they will inevitably list many overlapping characteristics.
Depending on their strengths, coaches can be specialized as good team builders, good tacticians, or good technical coaches. It is the latter that I want to touch upon today.
I firmly believe that regardless of what sport you are coaching, there is one defining feature of a good technical coach - The ability to coach for a player's specific style, not to change the player's style to conform to the coach's own playing form.
Polarity of Words
One of the earliest lessons I was given as an aspiring coach came from my high school coach. Not only was he a great example to follow as a player, but also as a coach, and he helped serve to mentor me in my pursuits to better understand the game. As a person who coaches youth, it is important to remember that there are subtle differences in the ways you get a point across to your players, and that some ways are better than others.