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You may have noticed that in recent times there has been a proliferation of coaching… er, let’s call them tools, on social media. Many of these are AI generated. These ones are a pure delight. Or absolute trash1. I always get those two things mixed up. Other social media accounts are varying degrees of better. One topic that I have seen a few times is some version of ‘How to train out of system play’. What normally follows is a series of drills or drill explanations. And what is common to all of these posts is a structured drill, the purpose of which is to create a system from out of system play.
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This seems a little bit strange to me. A working definition of in and out of system is that in system has a predictable starting point, and out of system has an unpredictable starting point. From a predictable starting point, systems can be developed. From an unpredictable starting point, systems are not possible2. It is surely axiomatically impossible to train an inherently unpredictable situation in a systematic way.
To master out of system play, players, and importantly teams, must be able to:
1. identify a unique situation
2. decide on the best solution, in conjunction with 5 teammates who are simultaneously facing the same unique situation, each of whom will have a different role in the selected solution
3. perform the required skill, most likely in a way they have never practiced before
In short it is a team problem solving exercise where the team never knows the problem before it is presented and must solve it in real time.
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If you want to improve out of system play, you have to practice with an appropriate drill framework. Which means, logically, that the coach has to use drills where the starting point is unpredictable, or as unpredictable as possible, and where there are no, or few, fixed decisions. Put one ball in, let the players figure out the solution. Give them feedback on the decisions they make (NOT on the outcomes). Put another ball in differently, let the players figure out solution. Give them feedback on the decisions. Every 6v6 drill includes an out of system component, give feedback on the out of system component as well as the drill goal.
Out of system play takes a long time to master, as it requires a different technical skillset and demands individual AND collective experience. There are no quick fixes, or magic drills3. However, once the team starts to develop these skills the coach can watch the joy on players’ faces as they find spontaneous solutions they had never would have thought of, when they do something totally unique. And the greatest joy of all is when they find a solution the coach hadn’t thought of.
Those are the most beautiful moments in volleyball.
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