I woke up this morning reflecting on the workouts this week
with the Venice Volleyball girls. It was perhaps the most impressive week of
workouts they have done in the four years I have been working them. They are
getting very strong. (All can squat 1.5 times bodyweight) Yet this is the time
of the training year when I get uneasy. Why? Simply, because as I have said
many times it is relatively easy to get strong, but more difficult transferring
that strength to the game. That is our challenge going forward. I am thinking
of many different ways that I can accomplish this with this group. I am going to use
Myotest more to emphasize bar speed and power production on jumping (The
problem is we only have Myotest). We have two more weeks of this phase where I
will put the final touches on max power and begin transitioning to more
specific movements. I am working on an individual player improvement plan where
each girl will get specific homework to address individual needs. In the next
phase we will have our biggest emphasis on jumping and on quick speed (court
coverage). This is the only window of time when they are not practicing volleyball,
so this offers the opportunity to work on jumping mechanics. I guess this is where the art and science get balanced out.
2 Comments
Paul Davis
Vern-
Using a line of thought you have previously used, and is here in this post, I’d like to be naive, or maybe just devil’s advocate. If movement, and specifically movement that can be used effectively in the sport of volleyball, is of paramount importance then why even incorporate the step of “max power”? What is the correlation between squatting 1.5 X bodyweight and volleyball skill? Are the “strongest” athletes “the best” players? Why not simply focus on integrating movement training with resistance (weighted vest, etc.)?
Paul Clarke
Hi guys…just a quick thought on Paul’s post. For my money the “best” players are usually the fastest (there are a few exceptions of course). But to give every player the chance to be the fastest they can be and be able to express that on the field/court the best route to go for me is to add significant power to already sound, strong and optimum functional movement. For me Coach G has used and approach of training his players strong before they move on to the hugely demanding area of further power development. Any thoughts??