Journal#3(Reflective Journal):

Essential Questions:
How do you know if you have the "perfect" serve swing?

According to April Chapple, formeer USA National Team Member and Volleyball Professional, all you have to do is keep your elbow high above your ear when you serve. To make sure that your swing is the same all the way, look at yourself in the mirror it will help you.

How do you know if your elbow is high enough?

When you pull your elbow back before you toss the ball, stop and see if you can look underneath your elbow. Once you have checked if your elbow is high enough, repeat the steps again before you toss the ball.

What if I want to serve the ball to a different position on the court. What do I have to do to accomplish that?

"FACE YOUR TARGET!" Facing your target will help you to make sure that your serve will go to where you want it to go. Facing in one direction and serving in another rarely "fakes out" the opponent. Consistent practice will help you to improve your serve in no time. "The ball is in YOUR court."-April Chapple.
What can players do to get their communication on the court loud?

Gary Sato, USA Men's National Team Assistant Coach, has warm-up drills to help his team communicate. For this drill, you allow for a maxium number of quality contacts. Be sure your the players are talking before and especially during the drill.

Raymond Patcho,Hilina'i Volleyball Club Head Coach, has his players pass the ball to each other. By when during this, the person passing the ball calls the person's name who is receiving the ball. By doing this, the players know each others name and at the same time, they all know who is going to get the ball.
What can a player do to get the "perfect" pass?

Steve Aird, TCA Coach, does drills with his players to help them with their passing. He has his players who play back row stand in their positions where they play (left- back, middle-back, and right-back). A coach or player can toss the ball to them. Then, the passer should pass the ball off the net (five feet off the net and 10 feet in the air would be an ideal target). Passing the ball to this distance and hight helps the setter get the ball to where it had to go. Passing the ball to close to the net can cause the set to have a hard time to set the ball or where the other team can attack the ball.
Why is the setter called the "quarterback" of the team?

According to Raymond Patcho, Hilina'i Volleyball Club Head Coach, the setter is known as the quarterback of the team. The setter leads the team on offense. The setters job is to take a ball that's passed from a passer and set it to a hitter. Setting is a very important position in volleyball because the better your setter is, the more efficient your offense can be, and the more opportunities your team will have to score points.
What are some drills that you can do to help you with your hitting?

Raymond Patcho, Hilina'i Volleyball Club Head Coach, makes his players stand on tall blocks along the net. Coaches toss the ball in front of them and the players hit the ball. This drill helps the players to work on their swing. When hitting, you have to worry about your approach and your timing of your jumping and then the timing of when to hit the play, but breaking it down to parts helps the player to get a feel for their swing. When working on the player's swing, you can see a difference in their hitting. Doing this drill, players are able to work on their locating of hitting the ball. You wouldn't want to always hit the ball the same area. So doing this drill players are able to work on facing their shoulders in a different direction causing the ball to go a different area.
When is the "perfect" time to block the ball?

Beverly Oden, a starting blocker to the Atlanta Olympics, shares some tips on being a middle blocker. The starting position of being a middle blocker is to stand along the net with your hips and shoulders square to the net. Your feet should be slightly shoulder-width apart. If you bend your knees slightly, you would be able to move more quickly in either direction. Once you have your stance, hold your arms up, elbows out, palms facing the net at about eye level. Keeping you hands here at this level whenever the ball is on the other side, will help you in case the ball comes over anytime. You would need to be ready if it crosses accidently.

Timing is important when blocking. Jumping to early can cause the ball to go right over your head. In order get your timing right, you watch the hitter that you are blocking. What you have to do is jump a few seconds later them. Also, watch their shoulders. The hitters tell you where they are going to hit the ball. The way they turn their shoulders will show you if they are going to hit line or hit angle. By watching your hitter you can also tell how they are going to hit. Either tip the ball or slam the ball right down. Watching your hitter is important for a blocker to do.

Volleyball is a fast game, what kinds of drills can teams do to help with getting to the right places at the right time?

Bill Ferguson, USC Head Coach, shared some drills that he uses with his team to get them to where there are suppose to be when the ball is coming over as a fast pace. He calls this drill the Trans-Routes. This drill helps the players to work on their transition to attack the ball after the player digs the ball. So this drill is mostly for the hitters in the front row, but at the same time it helps the passers in the back row to get where they are suppose to be able to pass the ball to the setter once the ball has come over the net. To do this drill, the players start in base defense. Base defense is where you have all the players in the places where they are suppose to be. The hitters along the net spread out and the passers all behind the 10 foot line. For the middle back player, they are to stand a little more back, close to the back of the court. Once everyone is their places, the coach will slap the ball and blockers get to their spots at the net, while diggers get to their spot back row . The coach will then either slam the ball or tip the ball over. Once the player digs the ball, players work on moving into their respective transition routes. This drill can help all players, even if it is focusing on attacking the ball after it is over. The blockers can block the ball as the coach hits the ball over the net, can help the back row players work on transitioning to the right spot for where the ball is going. It helps the hitters who are not blocking, to practice on getting the tip balls that the blockers are unable to get and lastly, it helps the setter to work on their setting the ball.

Journal #2 (Essay: Data and Information Gathering)

One resource that I have for my information gathering are volleyball magazines that I have received. These volleyball magazines give you tips on how to transition into hitting the ball, tips on how to improve your passing, improve in communicating on the court, and many more.

Volleyball Magazine (November 2009 issue):
USC Head Coach, Bill Ferguson, shared two Drills that he uses to take the Trojans Men's Program to a new level.
The first drill, Trans-Routes, helps the players to work on their transition to attack after the a player digs the ball. This drill helps me because I play an outside and opposite hitter. To work this drill out, the team starts in base defense. Then the coach slaps the ball and blockers get to their spots at the net, while diggers get to their spot back row (I have video footage that I will show of how to run this drill. To know what the players are doing, I will have voice overs in my video). The coach will then either slam or tip the ball over to a predetermined player. Once the player digs the ball, players work on moving into their respective transition routes. This drill can help all players, even if it is focusing on attacking the ball after it is over. The blockers can block the ball as the coach hits the ball over the net, can help the back row players work on transitioning to the right spot for where the ball is going. It helps the hitters who are not blocking, to practice on getting the tip balls that the blockers are unable to get and lastly, it helps the setter to work on their setting the ball.
The second drill, Cross-Court-Pepper, is like Trans-Routes drill, but this time you are playing with players on both sides of the net. This drill is the help hitters control their hitting. What is control hitting? Control hitting is when the outside or middle blocker hits the ball in a certain area. This is to help them with their form of swing and to get their hitting consistent. So hitters should hit the ball with a controlled swing (roughly 70%) at area 5, also known as left-back, on the opposite side of the court. Once they have the hitting down, then hitters may increase their velocity in hitting as the rally progresses.

Volleyball Magazine (December 2009 issue):
TCA Coach, Steve Aird, shared tips on how to improve a player's passing. Passing is a crucial part of volleyball. Without a pass, you can't have a set. Without a set you cant have a hit. Without a hit, you don't have a high chance of scoring.
To work on passing, have the player pass the ball from the spot that they normally would play (left-back, middle-back, or right-back). 1)Either a coach or another player can toss the ball to them. Then, the passer should pass the ball off the net (five feet would be an ideal target). Balls to close to the net or overpasses can turn into points for the other team. By passing the ball of the net, pressure is taken off the passers and now there is a 50-50 chance that either side will get the point. 2)Keep the ball in front of the setter. By passing the ball to the setter's zone (approximately between the middle blocker and opposite hitter, areas 2 and 3; middle-front and right-front), pressure is taken off the setter to move the ball a great distance. It is much easier for the setter to move forward to set a ball. 3)Make one move. The pass doesn't need to be perfect, but last second moves or swinging motions from passers can cause errors and/or overpasses. Players often make errors by trying to be "too perfect." Coaches should train their players to make one move to the ball, eliminate extra movement, and to trust their angle. 4)Players should face the ball and angle their platform. By doing this, more often than not, if players miss the area to pass the ball, they will miss in front of the setter and the team has a chance to score. 5)Shuffle to move, stay relaxed, and in a balanced position to pass the ball. In an unbalanced position, there is a high chance that the ball will be shanked, passed in an opposite direction. 6)Don't play balls that are out. Leave them alone! They are free points. Some coaches, like mine, say to play the ball if it's close to the line because you may never know if it is in or out. Also, if your not sure if the ball is in or out, go for it. You may never know where the ball is going to land. The turn of the ball may cause it to drop in instead of out as you predicted.
A few drills that you can use to work on passing are the Butterfly Drill, Triangle Passing, and Servers vs. Passers. One drill that my club uses is having the ball bounce between your legs. This drill is to help you know where you have to be when passing the ball.

Volleyball Magazine (January 2010 issue):
Communication plays a big part in volleyball. Without communication, players can get hurt or a team can lose a point. A crucial communication is when players call out for the ball by either saying "mine" or "I got". Without saying this players can either bump into each other and get hurt or the ball can fall in between them because no one called for the ball.To get his team to communicate on the court, USA Men's National Team Assistant Coach, Gary Sato, comes up warm-ups and drills to help his team communicate. WARM-UP DRILLS: Mini-Games: allow for a maximum number of quality contacts. Be sure your players are talking before and especially during and after plays. Pepper: Go full speed and stress quality contacts. Make sure the players are getting after it and going hard.

Drills that my club do for communication is we call out the person's name who is getting the ball passed to.

Volleyball Magazine (February 2010 issue):
Former USA National Team member and volleyball professional, April Chapple, shared three tips to focus on to optimize a player's serving form in volleyball.
Tip#1: KEEP YOUR ELBOW HIGH ABOVE YOUR EAR WHEN YOU SERVE. How do you know if your elbow is high enough? When you pull your elbow back before your toss, stop and see if you can look underneath your elbow. Once you have checked if your elbow is high enough, repeat the steps again before you toss the ball.

Tip#2: TOSS THE BALL THE SAME WAY EVERY TIME YOU SERVE. Create a ritual that you perform each time you serve so you don't rush. That ritual can be bouncing the ball three times in a row, then taking a breath and pointing your foot in the direction you want to serve before serving.(My ritual is standing at the far right corner of the court, then bouncing the ball five times, and last aim to where i want to serve.) Work out your ritual so that you do the same thing every time, whatever it may be.

Tip#3: FACE YOUR TARGET. Facing your target, will help you to make sure that your serve will go to where you want it to be. For the float serve, show everyone in the gym where you intend to serve. Facing in one direction and serving in another rarely "fakes out" the serve receive.

Consistent practice will help you to improve your serve in no time. "The ball is in YOUR court."-April Chapple

To practice serving, April Chapple, shares three drills that you can do. 1) A warm-up drill is for a player and her partner to each stand across the net facing each other with their feet on the ten foot line. Using the correct serving technique, each player takes turns serving to each other. After each player gets a feel for it, both players should then take 2-3 steps back and repeat what they were doing. Even though they are farther apart, their serving technique should be the same. The goal of this drill is for both players to serve to each other and maintain ball control. 2) This drill is for you to do at home. Practice your arm swing at home in the mirror. Doing this drill will help you to get use of bring your elbow back and behind your ear. Later you will find yourself doing it automatically. 3) When practicing your serving and your alone, practice serving to certain spots on the court. You can practice serving to your weakest point or if you want to practice serving float serves. This drill can help you with your serving.