The Volleyball Development Camps approach to training
Over the more than 20 years Volleyball Development Camps has been training young volleyball athletes, we’ve come to realise that underlying the work we do in running our camps are certain things that we – personally and as coaches – wholeheartedly believe in and will not compromise on.
We instinctively “know” when something feels right to us, but as that is a rather abstract concept to explain, we have set about defining our “Fundamental Truths” about training athletes.
Individual Development
Age in itself does not automatically progress an athlete onto the next camp, although it can be a general rule of thumb. Nor, for that matter, should it prevent a particularly talented athlete from attending higher-level camps.
Our curriculums are designed so athletes can seamlessly progress along a pathway from one camp to the next. However, that can normally happen only when the athlete has achieved or exceeded the competence specified in the standards of a particular curriculum.
In the whole of our training programme, this is nowhere more evident than in the transition from the Skills level, in which athletes learn how to maintain control and consistency in their individual ball-handling skills, to the Performance level of training, where the ability to control the ball is fundamental to the athlete’s participation in complex team-based and game situation drills. Put another way, you have to be able to control the ball before you can play with the team.
Throughout all the VbDC curriculum, including the most basic ones, an athlete needs to demonstrate that they are capable of a definable level of ability before progressing to the next curriculum.
Why Are We So Particular About Athletes' Training In Specific Curriculums?
Our curriculums are broadly split between “skill acquisition”, “skill application” and “performance” and set in an orderly progression based on ability. We’re reluctant to let an athlete skip a few curriculums to a higher level that they believe they can handle. More likely than not, they won’t be able to.
First, we want all athletes attending our camps, which we accept can be costly, to get the greatest benefit from their attendance. That requires us to look objectively at an athlete’s ability and to report honestly to them about our evaluation of his or her level of skill. Not only might parents have difficulty in making an objective assessment, but they may also be considering their child’s abilities in the context of a “big fish in a small pond”. VBDC looks at skill levels from the global perspective of a huge ocean of volleyball athletes and their abilities.
Second, our recommendations need to be made in fairness to the other athletes as well. It is unfair to place a less-skilled athlete in a training session with them and cause disruption to their training.
And third, while it’s true that an athlete might be made aware of the improvements they need to make by playing against or training with better athletes, it’s also true that the regular practice needed to reach that higher level of skill needs to be done with others of similar ability.
It's Not Just About The Physical Skills
At every level VbDC puts pressure on athletes to achieve their best. They are taught resilience, self-regulation and encouraged to be self-reliant to:
- Deal with the highs and lows encountered in a competitive sports environment.
- Realise that decisions are viewed as active choices and not sacrifices.
- Take responsibility for their thoughts, feelings and behaviours.
Many athletes coming to our camps may not have experienced this before – something we term “Realistic Discomfort”. We aim to provide and encourage athletes to use support networks providing emotional, social, as well as technical and tactical support.
We aim to create an environment where players are challenged, but equally (at times) where they are comfortable making mistakes or taking risks to create opportunities to learn.
We expect a lot of our campers, and we offer a lot in return:
- Individual attention.
- Physical preparation and screening.
- Video analysis.
We introduce athletes to maintaining a “best-performance” state of mind, highlighting not only what needs to happen on the court through good teamwork but what behaviour is expected from the individual who wishes to perform at a high level when away from the court. We demand on-court discipline, for example:
- No mobile phone use during training.
- No loose balls – they must be quickly retrieved by the person who last touched them.
- Respect for others at all times.
- Notifying coaches if it is necessary to leave the court.
Expectations and Recognitions
We recognise that our contact with the athletes coming to our camps is limited, and we aim to set them on the correct path to encourage “step changes” in their thinking, and in athletic development through their clubs.
We provide honest but always supportive feedback, even if it means challenging the boundaries of the athlete’s comfort zones.
The chart below shows how our camps are linked together and uses a grading system that will be familiar to skiers and snowboarders: green for beginners, blue for intermediate, red for advanced and black for experts. This only provides a representation of our volleyball universe as a rough guide for people who are new to our programmes.
Of course, we realise athletes at the top level of our Elite Camp will (hopefully) go on to greater things in the sport and enter a whole new development cycle. Indeed, we impartially advise athletes on opportunities available on both sides of the Atlantic and have successfully helped some athletes secure places at American colleges.
VbDC aspires to be a “thought leader” in coaching and coach education by bringing many years of our own experience in coaching and education together with the received wisdom of the excellent coaches we have worked with over the years.
Our Standards Are High
- We hire the best coaches and give them the utmost respect by valuing their input at all stages of the camps and paying market-leading fees.
- We use the best facilities to provide an inspiring learning environment.
- We use the best equipment, often looking beyond the confines of our sport for ideas and inspiration.
- We seek beyond our horizons to enrich and enhance our knowledge of the game.
- We provide a progressive pathway through our camps for athletes.
- We are advocates of small-sided games, especially for beginners, as we believe they provide a greater number of ball contacts, teammate interactions, and emphasise the linking of skills; however, full court games also play an important part in our camps at the appropriate skill level.
- We aim to develop rounded players with competencies in all areas of the game, with discussions around positional specialisation only taking place at the higher-level camps.
