I was a middle blocker all the way through college at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California. I also offer you my personal testimony as to how a change made me better. She could have made other decisions, but she was a well rounded player, accepted the change and embraced being a setter. You can imagine the surprise to all of us when Long Beach State trained her as their starting setter, and the rest is history. She was explosive off the ground and hit with such precision and power for her size and age. Misty May Treanor was one of the top high school outside hitters in the country (and a sophomore on a team of juniors) in 1992 when we played on the U.S. This is how they went from losing a lot at the beginning of this season, to chipping away at opponents who were projected to beat them, and picking up momentum at the end of the season when they needed to peak. Changes were made and instead of questioning Head Coach John Dunning’s decisions, they decided to get 2% better every time they trained and competed. The solution is in your mindset. How do you already know what’s going to happen if you play another position?įor example, Stanford won the 2016 NCAA D1 National Championship this past season with 4 starting freshmen and at least 3 key players playing in different positions than they played the year prior. However, there is more positive perspective to these seemingly debilitating scenarios. “I can’t play right side, I’m no good at it because I’ve always played (insert other position)”.
“If I can’t play middle this season, I just won’t play here.” “I don’t want to play setter because I’ll lose reps at hitting and will fall behind for club tryouts.” “I want to get recruited as an outside hitter, I won’t get seen if I’m playing libero.” You want to play libero, but you have to play right side in high school and don’t play all 6 rotations. ie: You play outside in club, but will only make your high school team if you set.Ģ) You want to play one position in college but you have to play an entirely different position for your high school team. There are some situations where I’ve observed the reaction to the change to be quite pessimistic and debilitating.ġ) You play a certain position in club but will only make your high school team if you play a completely different position. I find this mindset helps get to the confidence level which bypasses any differences that actually may exist.
If players (and coaches) want more productivity in an unfamiliar position, I think it’s important to realize what hasn’t changed: You suddenly can’t jump high enough to block, or see the ball on the right side like you can on the left. In your head, it’s like the game has changed and your armswing has somehow been handicapped by the new position. When working with athletes who are faced with position changes typically I find that only 30% of the time is spent developing technical skills the rest of the time I spend helping you realize you already know more than you think. play middle! These situational and temporary changes are more acceptable when proposed by the coach.īut regardless of whether the change is temporary or not, there is still a hesitation and doubt because it is a “new position” that you “don’t know” and feel limited in knowledge and confidence. Occasionally, there is an optimistic reaction to the change, however it is usually occurs when the change is caused by something out of the athlete’s control, such as a teammate’s injury, sickness or absence in which you, the right side hitter must set…. Oftentimes, the outlook of playing a new position can be slightly negative, so let’s examine the positives behind a position change and ways to embrace the change.Īs an independent/private consultant for many athletes from a variety of clubs, schools and ages, I’ve received many distraught phone calls and met with many concerned families whose athlete has been asked to play another position. For some, there can be seemingly larger change, your position. Changes in teammates, coaching staff, opponents, team dynamics, abilities, and roles on the team.
School seasons have begun, with which comes inevitable change.
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