Jason Sayer of Monument, CO is a project consultant with Renewal by Andersen. His daughter is a high-level volleyball player recruited by many Division 1 schools. In the following article, Jason Sayer discusses the optimal strategies for empowering young athletes in this sport.
Competitiveness is needed in order to snag wins in all team sports, including volleyball. However, young female players may often lack the intense fire that seemingly comes to male athletes easily. While there are exceptions to this generalization, the most effective coaching strategies employed for female teams differ from those of an all-male team approach.
Experienced coaches often repeat the phrase, “Girls must bond to battle, but boys must battle to bond.” This statement alone is the foundation of the strategies that have been adopted for motivating and empowering young females on (and off) the court.
Jason Sayer of Monument, CO explains that it can be quite challenging to figure out which coaching techniques best ignite the competitive blaze. Often, female players feel hyped right before the game starts, but then they clam up once the whistle blows.
The remedy? A few coach-given strategies to keep confidence levels high.
Jason Sayer of Monument, CO on Leveraging the Powers of Obstacle Courses
Training often revolves around fitness, volleyball practices, and related skills. However, coaches shouldn’t underestimate the empowerment and motivational encouragements of taking their young female teams to obstacle courses, reports Jason Sayer of Monument, CO.
While players won’t consciously think about it as a team-building or motivational exercise, their subconscious will. By participating in challenges as a team, communication skills are developed, and stronger bonds are formed.
Jason Sayer of Monument, CO says that it ultimately increases the entire team’s confidence, which translates well onto the court. Plus, obstacle courses are super fun too.
Giving Young Female Volleyballers the “Why”
Unlike most young male athletes, female players want to understand the reasons behind their coaches’ behaviors and choices. For example, they want to know:
- Why they’re practicing passing for so long.
- Why they’re being allocated a role reserved for another player during other seasons.
- Why they have to do a different warmup when the old one seemed great.
Jason Sayer of Monument, CO says that explaining the methods and reasonings behind coach-made decisions allows female volleyball players to buy in to the logic. Naturally, they won’t always agree, but they’ll likely understand the thought process leading to the intended outcome.
Olympian Karen Thatcher says that acknowledging emotional standpoints and explaining other views is a sign of respect to female athletes.
Jason Sayer of Monument, CO notes that this applies to benching players too. Whenever coaches bench a female player, it’s important to clearly let them know why. Experts suggest using assistant coaches to offer real-time feedback to all players who leave the court.
Providing Impactful Yet Calm Feedback
The key to motivating and empowering young female volleyballers is to provide consistent constructive criticism. Even if they don’t like what they hear, they will take it to heart if they want to avoid having the same discussion again.
Jason Sayer of Monument, CO explains that the method of delivery is important too; staying level-headed is the only way to sustain attention appropriately. Shouting is often disregarded, and the athlete will most likely not bother to listen due to high-running emotions.
The brains at RookieMentor give the following insightful tips for providing constructive feedback to young girls in volleyball:
- Never address a particular player’s mistakes in front of the whole team.
- Provide written feedback (three to four bullet points) to remind them of improvement areas.
- Keep pre- and post-game talks short and sweet. Two to three main points should do the trick.
- Allow them to talk during feedback sessions to ensure they take ownership of the game.
- Try the sandwich approach to feedback — one positive thing, one thing to improve on, one positive thing.
Setting Achievable Goals
Team USA mentions that female athletes, regardless of their sport, have a more difficult time separating emotional and private lives from the competition than male players.
Research has shown that men’s brains are divided into boxes. They have one for relationships, another for work, another for sports, and so on. They even have a box where they can achieve the elusive “thinking about nothing.”
Females, on the other hand, don’t have such boxes, explains Jason Sayer of Monument, CO. Instead, it’s all one large, intertwined knot. And the nothing box? Forget it.
Therefore, it is difficult for young women to separate themselves from parental issues, friendship fallouts, and bad days while preparing for and playing games.
Setting achievable goals is one effective way to aid the much-needed separation and obtain focus.
With female athletes, creating the ideal team culture allows them to reach their full, amazing potential.
