“It’s not important what your values are, just simply that you have them.” - Mike Dunlap
2. Culture and Leadership
- It is the sea we swim in.
- You must create a place where people love coming to work or practice every day.
- Culture can be defined as your standards, the structure of your environment.
- ABC 123 = Always Build Culture, Know Your Priorities
3. Signature Style of Play
- What makes you different to everybody else, Lindsay Gaze the best at this.
- What do you really believe in?
- Be consistent every day with this, cut deep with your teaching.
- Better to go an inch wide and a mile deep than the opposite.
- Don’t be a jack of all trades, master of none.
- When your style of play becomes clear, everybody will try and poke holes in your system.
- This is a great thing, just be ready for it.
- Book recommendation — Thinking Volleyball by Mike Hebert
4. Game Knowledge
- While you have your system, keep up with what is on the horizon and what you will be up against.
- TECHNICAL and TACTICAL skills, not just one.
- Wooden: dive deep into one area every off season.
- Never be afraid to go back and coach beginners, or interview for a job beyond your ability.
5. Teaching Methodology
- Coaches are teachers at the very essence, want my programs to be a learning environment.
- Are you a part-whole or a whole-part-whole teacher?
- Can depend on the complexity of the concept or the skill
- Whole = 2–2–1 press 5v0/5, Part = 1v2 Trapping, Back to the whole = 5v4 (advantage to the defence)
- Book recommendation — Tools for Teaching by Fred Jones
- Constant clapping and repeated pointless phrases is not coaching, use your voice meaningfully or else the players will stop listening.
- Praise — Prompt and Leave concept: “Fred I like the way you’re going to the rim (praise), now just get your eyes up a little earlier and the decision will come easy (prompt) and then go coach somebody else (leave)
- ‘Keep and Add’ — “Johnny, keep carrying your hands above the ball on your close out now add a slightly lower stance so you can defend the drive.”
6. Practice Planning
- Write a draft, have a core curriculum of drills you can go to.
- Know your themes for that month, should link together like chapters in a book.
- Don’t be hostage to the wins and losses in your season, stay with the process.
- Nothing worse than the coach who changes his offence and defence every 2–3 weeks.
- Film practice, evaluate which drills worked well and which didn’t.
7. Game Coaching
- Do you have plan A, plan B and plan C ready before each game?
- Coach off the whiteboard in practice so that your players are adaptable.
- International play challenges your priorities, can only be good at 2–3 things.
- If you use film wisely your players will improve with each game.
- Plan B or C usually involves turning up the dial defensively, trying to generate some positive momentum.
- Make sure your players have spent time practicing these plans, or else don’t expect them to go well.
8. Scouting
- 20% on the opposition, 80% on ourselves.
- Get to the point, no generalised language be specific and don’t waste verbage.
- Situational (SLOB/BLOB) can definitely help.
- Less = more
- Coaching it’s a craft, slow down, be an apprentice and enjoy the journey for longevity.
Most proud of the fact that I have been doing this as a profession for 20+ years.
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