My Favorite Volleyball Drills

          Coming up with drills to do in practices is sometimes hard because they have to involve all positions, be productive, and be fun at the same time. Some of my favorite drills are Pra-ja, Columbia, George, Baseball, WIN, and Split Court. All of these drills are fun, productive, and everyone gets a lot of touches.

          Pra-ja is a game I learned at HP this year. It is definitely my favorite drill because it involves a lot of quick thinking and communication between you and your partner. Pra-ja is a 2 on 2 game with 2 balls being played at the same time. You and your partner are allowed 3 touches on each ball like normal but you can let the ball bounce in between each contact. In order to get each ball in play one partner from each side will serve one ball to the player on the other side who is not serving. After each ball is in play you play normally but you can let the ball bounce once in between each contact. If one team wins both points they stay and the other team waves through, but if both teams win one point they are both off and two new teams come on. I like this drill because it tests how well you can communicate with your teammate and it trains you to look across the net to tell your partner where he/she should attack the ball to. A hint for this drill is to never tip short. Tipping in the drill is an easy pass for the other team because the short tip will bounce up directly to a player on the other side.

          Columbia is another awesome drill. Columbia is run with 4-6 players on each side of the net. The scoring and rules of a normal game apply, the only thing that is different is that every player rotates when your team attacks the ball over the net. I like this drill because you get to experience playing every position. George is similar to Columbia with 4-6 players and regular rules/scoring applies, but if you make a mistake you are out and the next person in line on your team replaces you. I like this drill because it puts pressure on you to not make a mistake. Volleyball is a game of mistakes, every point is caused by a mistake. So everyone is going to make mistakes at some point in a game but it is the team who makes the least mistakes that will come out on top. When you are playing the game George it really makes you focus on the position you are playing because if you want to stay on the court you can’t make a mistake.

          These are just some of my favorite drills I have played. I hope this helps if you are looking for fun drills for a practice :) 

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Favorite Volleyball Related Quotes

1.    “My attitude is that if you push me towards a weakness, I will turn that weakness into a strength” -Michael Jordan

2.    “All things are difficult before they are easy”

3.    “Courage is taking those first steps to your dream even if you can’t see the path ahead”

4.    “Somewhere behind the athlete you've become and the hours of practice and the coaches who have pushed you is a little girl who fell in love with the game and never looked back... play for her.” –Mia Hamm

I like number 1 because in volleyball everyone has a skill that they can improve on and if an athlete can take the time and get the reps to improve their weakness it will eventually turn into a strength.

Number 2 I think really relates to volleyball in the sense that it takes thousands of reps to perfect a skill until it become easy. If you want to become great at a certain position you have to work hard every time you are in the gym and get as many reps as possible.

I love number 3 because I can relate to it. My biggest dream is to play D1 college volleyball and I have been working hard on improving my skills and contacting college coaches. Even though I don’t know where I am going yet and I can’t see the path ahead I know that if I keep working extra hard I can get there.

Number 4 is probably my favorite because it makes me realize that when I was younger I had the same dreams as I do now and I still love playing volleyball as much as I did when I was little.

Link to the quotes: http://www.fantasyhelp.com/offbeat/ultimate-collection-motivational-sports-quotes/

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Mississippi Valley Conference Volleyball Tournament

          Yesterday Linn Mar held the MVC Conference tournament. It lasted from 8 am until 7 pm, and we (Kennedy) played the whole day. It was a great tournament for us. We were all playing at the top of our game and we were having fun. We didn’t let 3 or 4 point runs from the other team get to our heads and I think that was a big difference from tournaments in the past. We stayed focused throughout the entire day.

          We started off strong by defeating Waterloo East and Dubuque Senior in straight sets. Our last game of pool play was against Iowa City High (ranked 8^th in class 5A). We beat them in 3 sets and came out first in our pool. In the quarter finals we faced Iowa City West, who we lost to in regular season. We really wanted revenge so we came out strong and fought hard until the end. We ended up playing a third set, one of the most intense and exciting games I’ve ever played in. At one point the score was 13-12 West and they were serving, when the down ref blew his whistle and beckoned a wrong server. While the refs figured out if West was in the wrong rotation, my team came together in the middle of the court and I told them to think about what it feels like to lose a 5^th set. I said we are not losing this game.  We battled hard and came out winning with a final score of 16-14. When the game was over I was so excited and proud of my teammates for not giving up. We had earned a spot in the semi finals.

          In the semis we played Linn Mar, who we had lost to in regular season so we were back for more revenge. We defeated Linn Mar in straight sets and earned a spot in the championship match! We played City High in the championship match, which made it the third tough match in a row we had to play. City High came out strong and we just couldn't put points together. We lost in 2 sets, it wasn't how we wanted the tournament to end but Conference runner ups isn't to bad. Overall, we had an awesome tournament and I am so proud of us for making it to the championship match.

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USA Women’s National Team wins World Championship

          The USA Women’s National team made history today, by capturing the U.S. Women’s first gold medal in any of the three volleyball majors- The World Cup, The World Championship and the Olympic Games. U.S Head Coach Karch Kiraly also became the fourth person ever to win a World Championship gold medal both as a player and a coach. The women defeated China in 4 sets, 27-25, 25-20, 16-25, and 26-24 to claim this awesome title.

          Kim Hill- played at Pepperdine University and outside hitter from USA, was named MVP of the tournament and “Best Spiker”. She also led the team with 19 kills, and just 1 error. Alisha Glass- played at Penn State and setter for USA, was named “Best Setter”.

          I can’t imagine the feeling of winning a World Championship. Just looking at the pictures gives me chills. A huge congrats to the Women’s team.

http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Volleyball/Features/2014/October/12/VICTORY-US-Women-Win-First-World-Championship

Picture Link: http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Volleyball/Features/2014/October/12/VICTORY-US-Women-Win-First-World-Championship

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Qualities of a Good Volleyball Coach

          Having a good coach can really affect the outcome of a team. I have had so many coaches so far in my volleyball career but the best coaches have common qualities. A coach that is positive, calm, determined, and a good communicator is key to having a successful team.

          Positivity is important because if a coach doesn’t have a positive mind set and outlook on the game your team won’t improve or be able to realize the ultimate goal for your season. Also having a coach that believes in your dreams and wants to help you reach your goals is very important. If you meet a coach that sees potential in you and tells you that, don’t take that for granted and continue to work hard until you reach your full potential. Last year I told my club coaches I wanted to play D1 college volleyball and they said I definitely could and they would help me get there. They also told me what they were going to help me improve on and what I needed to work on. The biggest thing they said to me was they see potential in me and they can’t wait to continue to work with me. I think when someone hears that from their coach they are motivated to work even harder because they realize that someone other than themselves wants to see them succeed. That is an awesome feeling.

          A determined coach is important because with the determination to win anything is possible. If you have a coach that wants to succeed as much as you do, great things will happen. A coach that remains calm in tight situation is also very important. If you are in a close match and you make a mistake most players don’t want a coach to yell at them and tell them what they just did wrong. Instead a coach that stays calm and tells you how you can improve what you just did wrong on the next play would be more helpful. Volleyball is a game of mistakes, who makes the least mistakes is who wins the game. Therefore, a coach should understand that everyone is going to make a mistake some time and getting mad at a player is not going to help the situation at all.

          Having a coach that communicates well is also important. Communication can range from letting you know ahead of time when practices are cancelled or there is a change in practice times, to choosing the right words to say in a team huddle just before your team is going to face a tough opponent.

          I have been blessed to be coached by the coaches I have had. I have learned so much not just about volleyball, but life in general from them. I can’t thank them enough for helping me continue to grow as a person and an athlete. I truly believe that with a great coach and players that strive to be successful an awesome team can be formed.

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Nfinity, or Mizuno Knee pads?

        Trying to decide what brand of knee pads to buy? Well you have come to the right place. I have gone through multiple pairs of knee pads and I have worn many different brands. I would say the two most popular brands that are worn by volleyball players are Mizuno and Nfinity.

          Mizuno knee pads are thicker and cover more of your leg then Nfinity knee pads do. The downside to Mizuno knee pads are that they are harder to wash and dry. When you wash them they take forever to dry because you have to let them air dry or else they will shrink.

          Nfinity knee pads are much thinner and cover less of your leg. The main difference in Nfinity are the removable orange pieces that act as the cushion in the knee pads. This piece allows you to wash the black or white material separate from the orange piece so they will dry faster. The orange pieces are really easy to get in and out and dry right away after you wash them because they are a rubber type material.

The price difference between the two is about $10, with Nfinity costing about $35 and Mizuno’s costing around $25. I think even though they are about 10 bucks more, you will get more use out of the Nfinity knee pads. Overall, I think Nfinity are more comfortable and also look better on because they are smaller and less bulky. 

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2015 National Qualifiers

          A national qualifier is a tournament where you have the ability to receive a bid to nationals. Last year nationals were held in Minnesota, and this year they will take place in New Orleans. Nationals is also a great opportunity to be seen by college coaches, if you want to play in college. It depends what division your team is in, but usually you have to place in the top 3 to qualify. You can also qualify at your state’s regional tournament.

          What place you earn at a qualifier will determine what division you compete in at nationals. The divisions from most to least competitive are Open, National, USA, American and Patriot (you don’t have to get a bid for Patriot division). To see what you have to do to qualify for each division see the link at the bottom.

          The National Qualifiers that I have been to are the Nike Mideast Qualifier, Mizuno Northern Lights Qualifier, and the Asics ShowMe Qualifier. The Mideast qualifier is in Indianapolis, Indiana, Northern Lights is in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and ShowMe is in Kansas City, Kansas. To see the complete list of national qualifiers see the link at the bottom.

National Divisions: file:///C:/Users/Robert/Downloads/New%20Division%20Summary.pdf

National Qualifiers:

http://www.teamusa.org/usa-volleyball/events/indoor/girls/2015-girls-junior-national-qualifiers

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