Week four has officially begun. This will probably be the toughest week as a team. It has been a long time since the first week when we have had a chance to fully recover and feel fresh. Our practices started to show it in the first three practices of this week. The positive side of this fatigue is the team keeps battling and working hard. As most elite athletes know, the best way to overcome a slump is with positive work.
In the NHL quite a few teams will look at their schedule and find a time in the season when the travel and practices will become a grind and they will do something special for the team to make it exciting. I believe this is where father son trips started, but only guessing. NHL teams invite the players fathers on a road trip so they can experience their son's life. they also get a chance to meet the other fathers. Since we cannot do something like that for this group, WE keep trying to find new ways to warm-up that will give them some added fun and energy. Today was a fun middle years kickball game with lots of team running. Something most of them have not done for a few years.
On the serious side of coaching, when the team starts to struggle it does give the coaches a chance to work on the mental side of the game. A few years ago when I was coaching at GPRC in the ACAC Leigh Goldie used an acronym with the Wolves to help us with between the rally thinking. The game of volleyball is really circular. So he thought of the game that way. Mentally a bunch of things need to happen. The 4 R's
The first R is react. This is the way the game is played, when the ball is in play the athletes have to react to the situation and play what is in front of them. Yes there is a game plan to follow, but really the game of volleyball is so random that once the ball is in play a person needs to just react.
The second R is respond. Once the ball is dead the athletes need to respond to the situation. If it is a score for your team then you cheer and have a chance to give energy back to the team. A look in someone's eyes and a big fist pump can go along way. If the opposition scores then the athletes have a chance to build confidence back up. Again a look in the eye a bit of advice or a positive comment can be the difference. One of my biggest pet peeves is the tapping of the chest and saying "my bad". No kidding it is your bad, everyone in the gym knows who is responsible for the error. Tell us what you can do to fix it. " I have that seam don't worry". That comment builds trust and keeps the confidence high.
The third R is relax. This is the three seconds where a person takes a deep breath and then centers the body. A chance to get rid of the last error. Some will clap their hands as a physical show of corrections, others will "park" the error by touching the floor or wiping their shoes. These are just physical ways to say, I have moved on.
The fourth R is Refocus. This is usually done by communicating. Getting back into the game, to be totally immersed in the present situation. Reacting to this next rally or winning the next point the only one that matters. If you are on serve reception, then the communication is towards the type of serve the server has or the location that she has been serving so far in this match. It can also be about who has who's seams. When you have the serve, the players usually share the attackers locations, what type of block they will be making against the opposition, is the setter front row or back row and many other points. By saying it verbally to the team it shows everyone that the athlete is ready to go and understands the present situation they are in. One of the biggest struggles for teams is when they get down in the score, they get stuck in the second R and forget about the last two, which are very important.
Another friend of mine from Grande Prairie, Dave Johnson, always used the metal backpack as a way to explain our thoughts during matches. He used this as a way to get out of the second R trap. In life we store our memories in a back pack, and when we get into different situations we reach into the back pack looking for the closest memory to the situation. The memory we choose will help determine our reaction. An example of this could be a situation where someone you know is walking by you in the hall and they walk by without saying hello. There are many ways to interpret this situation. One is that the person is mad at you and you have done something to wrong them. So then you spend the day trying to figure out what was going on. Another way to see the same situation is that something must have went wrong with them and they were so focussed on their own problem they didn't see you. Both could be true or none of them could be. How you deal with that situation is based on your past experiences. Which picture/experience you choose to bring out of the back pack. This holds true in sports. Too often when we get down in a match we fall into our negative thoughts and memories and struggle to get back into the present. A person needs to remember that as humans we gets to choose our thoughts and memories. So if you don't like the picture you pulled out then put it back in the pack and grab another one. I have used that saying a few times in the last few days as we battle through some fatigue and some disappointments.
9 days till we travel...starting to amp it up. Can't wait...
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