Page 7 - Jim Stone Book Beginner

should be the focus is developing a plan to build all the skills of the game.

For any developmental plan to work, it is incumbent on all coaches to acquire the teaching expertise
that will allow their players to flourish. I recognize the challenge the club directors face in filling out
their coaching staff. There is a point where any warm body becomes qualified to coach the third level
13's team.The club director then should assist the coach by implementing a teaching framework that
allows for productive learning. Frequently, however, the inexperienced coach is left to the challenge
of developing these youngsters without the appropriate teaching tools. A checklist should provide the
needed teaching framework to assist the inexperienced coach.

Coaches who do not possess the needed expertise to develop their players tend to spend excessive
time in unfocused play. The fact that they spend time playing is not necessarily an issue. The issue
is unfocused play, where players receive limited feedback on performance, possess low
concentration levels, and play without clearly defined goals. By spending valuable time in unfocused
activities, the teachers are handing off the responsibility of skill development to their students. The
individual player has no natural genetic blueprint to be developed. There must be instruction,
guidance, and targeted feedback.

The late Dr. Anders Ericsson, professor of Psychology at Florida State University, spent much of his
academic life studying experts' training methods. Using golf as an example, he talked about
gameplay as a primary teaching method.

"You don't improve because when you are only playing the game, you get only a single chance to
make a shot from any given location. You don't get to figure out how you can correct mistakes. If you
were allowed to take five to ten shots from the same location on the course, you would get more
feedback on your technique and start to adjust your playing style to improve your control.
Professionals often take multiple shots from the same location when they train and when they check
out a course before a tournament."

Taking Dr. Ericsson's point inside the world of volleyball, when a coach just allows playing as the
primary teaching tool, the player may not get the repetition or feedback needed for improvement.

Coaches of goodwill can disagree on the best teaching methodology. However, speaking in broad
terms, I'm unconvinced that most coaches, especially those working with the younger players, could
detail the methods by which they teach their players the game's skills. Coaches that rely on
unfocused playing as a primary teaching tool are implementing a student-centered approach where
the responsibility of learning is in the student's hands. This approach has taken on the moniker of
"letting the game teach the game." This teaching path ascribes to the philosophy of if the child plays
enough volleyball, they will discover the essential aspects of skill development and play.The coach is
not an active participant in the learning process. I'm unconvinced that the best method of student
learning is from a foundation of ignorance.

It would seem that I'm not alone with a concern about unguided instruction.