About the Book What makes a successful volleyball coach? How do some coaches win year after year at the national and international level? What do they think about when coaching and how do they select and prepare their players? What practical advice and activities would they share that any volleyball coach and player (rookie or veteran) could find beneficial? This book features eleven of the most successful volleyball coaches in North America. While many books have been written on great coaches in a variety of sports, no book until now has featured winning volleyball coaches and their keys to success.
Why do these coaches win? Are they better recruiters, better motivators, better teachers of fundamentals, better strategists, better leaders, better practice planners, or have they simply encountered better opportunities? Perhaps the answers lie in none of the above or all of the above. This book will answer these questions and more.
The purpose of this book is twofold. First, we, the authors (who are long time volleyball coaches), spoke directly with some of the greatest volleyball coaches in hopes that they would offer insights coaching at a highly competitive level. The coaches selected for inclusion in this book have won at least two or more national or international championships. Coaches have also been selected to represent the scope of volleyball and include male and female coaches and coaches of male and female volleyball teams. Questions for the interviews were gleamed from other publications on successful coaches and solicited from volleyball coaches. Each coach was asked the same questions and encouraged to provide examples from his or her own experiences.
Secondly, this book provides practical hands-on advice directly from the winning volleyball coaches. The authors requested each coach to provide his or her five favourite drill activities. Most sport specific publications highlight either coaching philosophy or provide technical and tactical information and drill activities. No volleyball book, to date, provides both types of useful information. Not only will readers receive insights into the thoughts and principles of the coaches but they will benefit from how the coaches’ plans are put into practice. The drill activities afford the reader the opportunity to use the very drill activities that have contributed to the success of these coaches. This insight about the kind and quality of the drill activity may bring further understanding as to why these coaches have been successful. Any coach or player will find this book immediately useful.
The book features a coach in each of similarly formatted chapters. The first section of each coach’s chapter provides a biography to highlight the success of the coach. The second section features a question and answer narrative. The third section of each chapter displays the coach’s five favourite drill activities. Each drill is clearly labeled and drawn on a common template for reader ease. For today’s volleyball coach and player, this book is an exceptional resource book. The contents provide the secrets to success of the top college, university and international coaches and drill activities for every day competition preparation – all in one easy to read-easy to use book.