I wonder if young coaches brought up on social media just use drills because 'better' teams/coaches use them? The key message here is : know what you want to achieve, choose/ design a drill that helps you do this.
100% on that last line. Almost every drill you find “out there” is useful if you know why you’re using it, it’s developmentally appropriate for the players you have.
That’s the hard part, of course, because that’s a decision only you as a coach can make based on (the other hard part) knowing your players.
I heard Bob Bigelow say that being knowledgeable about child development and physical education is way more important than X’s and O’s if you’re a youth coach.
There is no such thing as “plug and play,” especially when you’re coaching kids. You have to use your judgement, make decisions, make mistakes and learn. Which is, ironically, exactly what we need to let the kids do.
I actually think it’s worse among coaches slightly older who did not have access to social media or Amazon when they started. My first year coaching volleyball there was one volleyball coaching book at the biggest Borders bookstore I’ve ever seen (3 stories). So you either copied what you did as a player or you made up stuff out of thin air, which is what I did because I never played volleyball on a team. 🤷♂️
Now coaches can find info and alternatives almost anywhere. The problem is deciphering usefulness and quality.
I wonder if young coaches brought up on social media just use drills because 'better' teams/coaches use them? The key message here is : know what you want to achieve, choose/ design a drill that helps you do this.
100% on that last line. Almost every drill you find “out there” is useful if you know why you’re using it, it’s developmentally appropriate for the players you have.
That’s the hard part, of course, because that’s a decision only you as a coach can make based on (the other hard part) knowing your players.
I heard Bob Bigelow say that being knowledgeable about child development and physical education is way more important than X’s and O’s if you’re a youth coach.
There is no such thing as “plug and play,” especially when you’re coaching kids. You have to use your judgement, make decisions, make mistakes and learn. Which is, ironically, exactly what we need to let the kids do.
I actually think it’s worse among coaches slightly older who did not have access to social media or Amazon when they started. My first year coaching volleyball there was one volleyball coaching book at the biggest Borders bookstore I’ve ever seen (3 stories). So you either copied what you did as a player or you made up stuff out of thin air, which is what I did because I never played volleyball on a team. 🤷♂️
Now coaches can find info and alternatives almost anywhere. The problem is deciphering usefulness and quality.