Julio Velasco on Playing Well

In 2015, Julio Velasco presented to the USA High Performance Coaches Conference in 2015. I saw a bootleg video of his presentation. Here are my notes.

• We used to coach volleyball as a a closed skill, it was only ‘technique, technique’. This has changed in the last 20-25 years.
• Why do we say athletes and not players?
• A lot of coaches know about technique, but do not a lot know about the game. When they talk about the game, they talk about how it should be, and not how it is.
• As coaches, we need a movie in our heads of how the game should be played. It should be a match of our own team, playing at its own level, playing well. (NB he returned to this idea several times in the presentation.)
• The first thing players must do is to interpret the situation.
  • Players who don’t solve the situation NOT because of poor technique but because of poor understanding, or because they are expecting a standard situation and don’t see it.
  • ASK PLAYERS WHAT THEY UNDERSTAND
• The second thing is to find the solution to the problem that exists, not the problem the player expects.
  • As coaches we focus too much on the fault, and not enough on the solution.
  • The real team experience is not good personal relationships, it is on game relationships.
• The third thing is to carry out the solution. This is a technical plus physical problem.
• As coaches we have to know is the error a lack of skill or the wrong choice?
  • In practice when you use an error correction drill format, there is a technical component and a decision making component. That is, if the error is technical, repeat the technique. If the error is decision making, repeat the choice.
• WATCH MATCHES
  • As I coach I need to understand the game. Watching matches is what I use to teach myself understanding
• In coaching, make videos of specific situations and how other players solve problems.
  • When talking the players, don’t tell them about specific solutions, but tell them ‘do it like player x’.
• Train game like and specific situations.
• Why don’t players identify situations correctly?
  • Knowledge.
  • Attention.
• PLAYERS PLAY. MY WORK IS TO HELP THEM PLAY BETTER.
  • That is not ‘tell them what to do’. The coach should not ‘be their brains’.
  • Teach them to know volleyball.
• What is the major and secondary problem, i.e. timing v technique.
• Defence is reading, but not solely reading. It is the interpretation of our structure.

Tagged Julio Velasco

The total of 82 practical Coaching Tips can be found here and here.

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