Alexis on Greg Chappell on Phil Hughes

More insight on skill models, this time from Greg Chappell’s observations on Phil Hughes. “Textbook” skill model does seem irrelevant at the highest level. After all, if everyone did things exactly the same way, how can you get an advantage? innovation has always played a big part in successes at the Olympics, Japan with the quick attacks and float serves (1964 they didn’t win but got the silver), Poland with the backrow attack (1976), The Brazillians with the jump serve (1984, they didn’t win, but they got the silver with the USSR boycott), The US with the two passer reception system. I’m sure all these things were “outside of the box” when they first appeared.

And we should listen to Greg Chappell when he talks about skill model. For no better reason than the fact he won a 1-day international match by getting his brother to apply the strangest of bowling skill models on the last ball – an underarm delivery! To this day, no one doubts that it was effective!

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I read this story about Phil Hughes in the Australian yesterday:

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,,25168449-28737,00.html

Greg Chappell makes a great point which is very relevant to this conversation: “There’s no right way or wrong way. Have a look at the scoreboard and tell me that he’s played badly.”

“He doesn’t comply with the coaching manual but the coaching manual should have been burned before it was even published because it’s been the greatest impediment to exploring batting in its fullness that’s ever been perpetrated on the game of cricket,” Chappell retorts.

“The sad thing is the better players have not necessarily fitted the coaching manual. To focus on replicating the perfect cover drive actually misses the point of what batting’s all about.”

Christian Stapff on Skill Models

Some stuff that came out of the Volleyball Symposium (held conveniently on the same weekend as SA’s state’s school’s cup last year) in Canberra where Hugh McCutcheon spoke. forearm passing doesn’t seem to get any simpler. it’s the like the IKEA of passing skill models. right foot always in front, arms swing from left side of body to right. hard to argue with the guy witha gold medal.

I happened to attend Volleyball Symposium in Canberra.
Hugh McCutcheon was indeed a wonderful and masterful clinician.

He prefaced his comments by saying that there is more than one way to execute, and he added that most of the skill model follows these rules:
keep it simple
reduce any unnecessary motion
\do what is provn to work

To that end, the US men’s program( the US womens have used different approaches) uses the following for sere receve:
right foot slightly forward
arms straight and resting a little on knees–this should help with preserving energy( i.e. reducing the load) for all other explosive movement
controlled arm movement passing the ball from the left side of the body.

the research indicated that passing from the left was more successful regardless of the handedness of the passer.

I am going to make some additional points:
1. having the head( balance mechanism still prior to passing will help in tracking the ball
2.passing the ball from the left allows the passer a look at the trajectory, which should help( of course this applies to passing from the right side too
3. passing always from the same side means double the practice time. would you throw the ball left-handed if you are right handed?
4. i suspect this makes sense as the setter is position at pos 3/2 and most serves would be more easily passed form the left toward the setter

Finally, the platform must always be straght…

Alexis Lebedew on Skill Models

More great thoughts on skill model from Alexis Lebedew. He’s definitely right that the way elite players do things is irrelevant to how to teach a beginner the same skills. There’s an inevitability that the players you coach at a developing level will go through technical reinventions as they move on. The authorship of a player is clearly a malleable concept.

I agree with the skill issues in development. I think part of the issue is what we hope to get from Skill Models.

Most (if not all) literature about skill learning/teaching talks about making any Keys/Cues simple, and making as few of them as possible. Both to cut down on overcoaching and also make it easier for the athlete to remember. I’ve seen some success using the idea of: What can you absolutely NOT do as a developing athlete if you want to be sucessful at the elite level (without taking 2-8 years to change a technique). Once you look at things from this perspective some things become clearer.

For example with blocking – I’ve seen some coaches of developing athletes use only 2 cues: get your hands over the net as far as you can and as early as you can, and land where you took off from. Now, do the best blockers in the world do this? Sometimes, somewhat. But what the best in the world do is often irrelevant for developing players (and coaches). On the other hand, if a player can do those two things before going to the ‘next level’, then they can progress quickly. For Setting I’ve seen the following cues work effectively: follow through in the direction you want the ball to do, and see the ball through your hands as it comes down.

Remember – skill models are not what are used to master skills. They are to learn and teach skills.

Luke Campbell on skill models and player development

More on skill models, this time from (presumably) Luke Campbell. Looks like Platform is king. anyone got some good platform exercises?

Agree with Mark for sure, there is not only 1 way to do something, and absolutely no doubt the platform is the biggest thing in reception, and they spend hours on it with the younger players in every league i’ve played in. From what i saw at nationals and school cup our (Australia) biggest skill problem is the setting technique. I was stunned at schools cup the amount of setter that were no doubt catching the ball, it was sickening. If there are coaches around like Huy says Simon is, then they should be used and abused by other coaches, in the end we should all be working togeather to produce better players

Mark Lebedew on Skill Models

Some good insight from former Australian Men’s  coach Mark Lebedew. I had the pleasure of listening to Mark speak about training and cue recognition when he was in Adelaide last year. It has certainly improved my trainings since. He also has a great deadpan sense of humour. I do recommend watching the technical videos on the fivb site of the 2007 men’s world cup. Will be even better when they start posting more stuff on it.

You’re right about the weird relationships between volleyball and ’skill models’, but I happen to think this is a particularly Australian idea.  The idea of the ’skill model’ is that there is one right way of doing something.  This is, of course, completely wrong.  And the biggest mistake that people make is confusing technique (which is a functional method of performing a task) and aesthetics (how it looks).  Volleyball is not an aesthetic sport.

To the specific examples, none of these things are new.  I know I’ve been talking about using the arms in passing for 15 years and Velasco for longer than that.  But in Australia people spend too much time thinking about legs and arms and not nearly enough time about the platform.  Italian junior coaches spend hours teaching the platform.  Watching 100’s of kids at Junior Nationals trying to pass without a platform is much worse to me than fingernails on 100 blackboards and not because it is not aesthetically pleasing but because it is functionally not effective.

I could talk about coach education for hours, but the coach has a responsibility to his/her players to a) study the game, b) look beyond aesthetics and c) not allow that near enough is good enough.

As for videos on the internet, there are plenty of links to volleyball videos on Devo, but specific technical videos are on www.fivb.org

SASI Wirreanda – Australia’s next top skill model

Is there any other sport that has such a weird relationship with skill model?

You know you’re a real tragic when you spend your spare time (not working and coaching) turning up to other people’s training sessions to “borrow” their ideas. Which is exactly what i did last night. About a year ago, SASI began a basic satellite programme in the Fleurieu (South) to promote volleyball to high school kids in the area. I noticed a remarkable improvement in the WIllunga kids i coached that went. The sessions are great. They’re run by former Australian player Simon Phillips and a lot of fun. They’re relaxed but productive, and highly engaging and interactive. Simon just also happens to be great at teaching and you can see the immediate results.

These sessions are that good that it’s bit of a bummer more kids don’t take up the opportunity. Only about 13 kids turned up last night (12 willunga, 1 victor harbor), which is a good number to work with. There are longer term plans to extend this out into other areas like the north.

Most interestingly, Simon has the finger on the pulse of the current skill models being taught and used at the AIS, so it’s like getting a software update into the system – whether you like it or not! I liked a lot of the techniques i saw and will no doubt “adopt” them, but I can’t say I’m overly fond of everything i saw:

• Forearm passing with upright position and swinging arms – there is a skill model which is beginning to spread of passing without much use of the legs, but swinging the arms from low to about 90 degrees to the body. apparently espoused by Hugh McCutcheon.
• Highball sets using stiff fingers – there’s also a skill model of stiffening the fingers and “stabbing” at the ball to give it extra height if you have to set it a long and high distance. It gives off a sound that would make any purist vomit and there’s slight spin. given the current interpretation of what is a “double-touch”, it’s admittedly effective. I started seeing this technique two days before at my club training when i saw one of the advanced SASI players do it. it’s less puzzling now why a well drilled player would set like that.

Skill models change like fashions. The Olympics serve as the catwalk for all to see. But like all fashions, some looks never really go out of style on certain people. I’m skeptical that we’ll ever see a lot of liberos at an olympics pass without their legs, although the outside hitters might. I’m skeptical that we’d ever see a lot of setters set high balls with stiff fingers, although someone else on the team might if the setter can’t get to the ball. Even with the rule changes that you can finger pass the serve, a lot of serves are still passed on the forearms.

But my personal taste isn’t really the issue here. I might not like retrospective releases of old sneakers, but if I sell shoes for a living and they were a hit at Fashion Week, I better start stocking re-issued onitsuka tigers and nike air force 1’s if i want to stay in business. As a coach, being stubborn with skill model can cost your players further opportunities. It might not, but say there’s a squad or team being selected and there are two players on the fringe. one player has the skill model the coach/selector likes, the other will have to be “re-invented” to their preference. who’s going to get in? (of course this is more applicable at the fringes of selection than at the top. people tend to have more patience with these players).

And that may sound ridiculous but how often do you hear selectors and coaches say “The clubs/schools just aren’t teaching their players right”. It’s all relative because what’s “right” changes every 4 years or so (it wasn’t so long ago that people were being taught to pass with rigid arms straight out with high shoulders).

Even for my open mind, i’ll find it difficulto make skill models i don’t like into gospel. But at least i owe it to my players to try them out, understand how they work and make them aware of it. they don’t deserve to miss out on playing State volleyball just because i think another coach’s ideas are retarded. I should at least tell them something along the lines of “i don’t like ___ style of ___ and i don’t think it works in ____ situations, but ____, who is selecting the ____ team will probably prefer it, so appreciate that if you’re going to try out there are different expectations and you might have to make it work. up to you”. As coaches, we have to stop saying “I’m right, and everyone else is wrong” and instead explain things in their context. And at the risk of asking too much, instill in them the sort of attitude and wisdom it takes to adapt and exercise good judgement. is it information overloading? maybe. but we’re dealing with a pretty intelligent and well educated (perhaps even over educated) generation. At worst it can only make them better people.

We are seeing increasing gulfs between coaches. devo reported something like 600 coaches in Victora with only 150 of them registered – that’s at least 450 of them out of the loop. But the solution isn’t to say what’s right or wrong, but understand all the perspectives and educate the players. you owe them that much instead of bagging other people’s ideas as trite. your coaches shouldn’t be bagging one another and their views. for players it can be like having parents who fight a lot. i’m not perfect at this, but trying to get better. i can’t expect every other coach to try to be as open minded, but i can at least make the start.

it just means spending some of your free nights driving 40 minutes to the middle of nowhere to see what other people are doing. Watching guys like Simon work, it’s not always such a bad chore.