Well, as coaches we got back into the office this week. All three of us had our little adventures over break. Lyndsey just got back from California where she went to a taping of the "Price is Right." The episode is going to air on TV on Feb 17th....look for her right behind contestant's row. She kept yelling "ONE DOLLAR!!" Jenny went back up to the mountains for a week, then to Minnesota for a while. Tom headed to Phoenix and Albuquerque to see family.
The good news is that we are all back and preparing for the Spring Season. To let you know how it works for our athletes....
They will be in the weight room and conditioning four days a week. This time of year is designed to really work them hard. We are working on building strength, endurance, quickness, and mental toughness. If you saw some of the things these girls work through, you would be incredibly impressed. Lots of stadium sprints, court sprints, jumping...the list goes on. Joe Shaffer, our head strength and conditioning coach does a great job taking our athletes to the next level.
Then, as far as training volleyball goes, the first seven weeks are individual workouts with the coaches. Each athlete is allowed to be in the gym getting instruction for two hours a week. We break these up into three forty minute sessions. Each position comes in for specific work. For example, the middle blockers will come in and will work on blocking or offense that is specific to the middle blocker. Then, setters will come in and set/play right back defense/block on the right side. Then, the outside hitters will come in and work on...well, basically everything (outside hitters do it ALL!). The last group are the defenders. They will serve receive and work on specific defensive moves. We see a TON of growth during these sessions. We will have three coaches watching 2-4 athletes at a time. Lots of instruction, great focus on skills.
Then, after Spring Break, we have six weeks of team practice. This is a great time to bring the team together to work together on the individual skills that we have developed in the individual sessions. We also have four competition dates, usually the four Saturdays in April. I am sure I will keep you updated on the dates. Most of the time we play against local teams including Denver, Colorado State, Colorado, and several of the local DII schools.
I, personally, love the Spring because you see so much improvement in the athletes, especially the younger kids. Also, the tournaments are fairly informal, so we can stop play if we need to and talk to the team. It is a pretty amazing contrast to our last match...which was very formal.
Well, the girls start classes on Monday, Jan 11th. Looking forward to having them back in town. I can speak for all of the coaches when I say that the reason that we do what we do is because of the interaction with our great young ladies. They are truly a joy to be around....most of the time that is....
The good news is that we are all back and preparing for the Spring Season. To let you know how it works for our athletes....
They will be in the weight room and conditioning four days a week. This time of year is designed to really work them hard. We are working on building strength, endurance, quickness, and mental toughness. If you saw some of the things these girls work through, you would be incredibly impressed. Lots of stadium sprints, court sprints, jumping...the list goes on. Joe Shaffer, our head strength and conditioning coach does a great job taking our athletes to the next level.
Then, as far as training volleyball goes, the first seven weeks are individual workouts with the coaches. Each athlete is allowed to be in the gym getting instruction for two hours a week. We break these up into three forty minute sessions. Each position comes in for specific work. For example, the middle blockers will come in and will work on blocking or offense that is specific to the middle blocker. Then, setters will come in and set/play right back defense/block on the right side. Then, the outside hitters will come in and work on...well, basically everything (outside hitters do it ALL!). The last group are the defenders. They will serve receive and work on specific defensive moves. We see a TON of growth during these sessions. We will have three coaches watching 2-4 athletes at a time. Lots of instruction, great focus on skills.
Then, after Spring Break, we have six weeks of team practice. This is a great time to bring the team together to work together on the individual skills that we have developed in the individual sessions. We also have four competition dates, usually the four Saturdays in April. I am sure I will keep you updated on the dates. Most of the time we play against local teams including Denver, Colorado State, Colorado, and several of the local DII schools.
I, personally, love the Spring because you see so much improvement in the athletes, especially the younger kids. Also, the tournaments are fairly informal, so we can stop play if we need to and talk to the team. It is a pretty amazing contrast to our last match...which was very formal.
Well, the girls start classes on Monday, Jan 11th. Looking forward to having them back in town. I can speak for all of the coaches when I say that the reason that we do what we do is because of the interaction with our great young ladies. They are truly a joy to be around....most of the time that is....
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