This article is all about raising the IQ level of all players who play the game of volleyball. It starts with an e-mail I received a few days ago:

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Dear VolleyballTeacher,

I’m a junior high school girls coach and this fall will be my second season. I always learn a lot from your articles and thought I would send you an email and ask for your opinion.

My boss, the Varsity high school coach, tells me that raising the Volleyball IQ of my players is just as important as improving their skill level. What does she mean? What is Volleyball IQ and how do I teach it.

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This is the main part of the reasoning behind the term “Volleyball Teacher”. A volleyball coach instructs players how to perform skills of the game, and determines the strategies used in matches. There are thousands of us that do this. A volleyball teacher is a volleyball coach who does all that, but also teaches the players when, and why to use those skills, and also how to read the game as it’s happening. Reading the game is THE most underrated skill in Volleyball.

John Kessel, a very open-minded and great “made-you-think” coaching educator, posted a an article on his USA Volleyball blog, similar to his philosophy of “Playing the Game to Teach the Game.” Basically, he feels the only way to truly teach a player how to think pro-actively (raise their Volleyball IQ)  is to expose them to situations so that they learn when and how to perform tasks. I agree with this completely. Making a player “volleyball smart” will make them players for life, if you coach your players to be robots that respond to stimuli as it happens, the chances are they will not respect the game for the evolving, ever changing rebound sport that it is as adults. And yes, a goal of mine is to instill a love of the game so that teenagers of today grow the sport for years to come. I equate this to memorizing dates in history class as opposed to actually learning history and appreciating it.

What I’m talking about is tendencies, both player and team related. For example, the first thing I ask my players when they shank a serve or get aced is, “Who are they going to serve to now?” The answer is, “Right back to me.” So, now that this player is armed with the knowledge that the ball will most definitely be coming to them, they can prepare mentally, focusing on their fundamental skills and get the ball up in the air. If they are really paying attention, they will even know what type of serve is coming at them. How do they know all of this? Because if they were the one serving, they would serve someone who they just aced. They might also pay more attention to the server; understanding the toss (is there spin?) the footwork, (Is it a jump serve that will drop or is it a floater?) and the contact (flat or spin?). With all of this knowledge, the player will have a much better chance to perform better the second time around.

One thing I noticed about the NCAA Men’s Volleyball final last week was how Stanford’s Libero, Eric Shoji (Son of Dave Shoji, Coach of the University of Hawaii Women’s program), always put himself in a good position to play the ball. Why is he able to do that? Other than having one of the best volleyball coaches in NCAA history as your father? The young Shoji brothers, Eric’s older brother Kawika plays for Stanford too, were always around the game. They played on the beach in Hawaii, they hung out with their father during the Rainbow Wahine practice sessions, they learned the game while playing it. I truly believe that the reason Stanford won the championship is solely due to many key players having a higher volleyball IQ than the opposing team. (That and the absurd .821 hitting average by OH Brad Lawson)

You did ask how you teach this and I will do my best to share what I do in order to give you an answer. The answer is to play the game above all else. Don’t call them drills, call them games and put them in situations that test them. You can tell your outside hitter that you want them to tip the ball down the line 3 times. Then tell your defense to read what will happen after two successive tips down the line. Then see what happens on the 4th attempt. (Kids need to also be reminded that volleyball has no real pattern, you can simply guess and prepare yourself)

I always tell my defensive players to look for the forearm of a hitter while they are in the air. If they see a forearm, it will most likely be a tip or a roll shot. If they can’t see the hitter’s forearm, be ready for power. This is a small cue, but a good one for them to look at if a team is being crafty with their attacks.

You can also pull players aside and ask them certain things like, “Who do you think the setter will set next?” At first you may get a shoulder shrug because they have no idea, but eventually your players will learn to read the game better and give you an educated guess.

On offense, you can train your hitters by having them tip when the defense is covering deep, and hit deep when the defense is covering short. This seems like such a simple thing that most coaches know like their ABCs, but you would be amazed at how younger kids hit a volleyball. They don’t look at the defense, they watch that ball the entire way and hit the ball hoping it gets to the floor or that someone makes an error. They aren’t concerned with where the defense is, they just know they want to get the ball over. If we can teach kids to “see ” more of the game and understand why things happen the way they do, it will be much more enjoyable for them now and when they get to a higher level.

After all, we spend so much time training kids to pay attention to what is going on on their court, that we sometimes neglect to train them how to read what is happening, or about to happen, on the other side of the net. We tend to know, from years of experience, what is about to happen when a set is off the net and a hitter approaches too early and reaches back to hit it (They will hit the ball deep or out). We just need to give them opportunities to read and become more mindful of what they are seeing and what they are doing.

In middle school, this may be difficult, but it can be done. I think a good goal for that age is to get them to understand each person’s role on the other side of the net. Do they know who the best setter, digger, and server is? That lets you know that they are paying attention. You know the saying, “You have to crawl before you can walk.”

Jim Boos, the ex-head women’s coach at Ball State had an excellent discussion at December’s AVCA convention in Tampa Bay, Florida. He was discussing this very subject using “Defensive Eye Sequencing” and training his defense to read the offense and react in the best way possible, putting them in position to stop the offense. He was essentially talking about building his volleyball player’s IQs and giving them the best shot at being successful.

I have always said that Volleyball is a mind game, just as much as a physical one. The smartest players usually do the best on the court. The national champion Stanford Men’s Volleyball team is proof of that. Ask questions of your players, have them play as much as possible, and your players will teach themselves and learn to love the game and play better while doing it.

If you would like to ask me a question, send it to thevballteacher@gmail.com.