Growth Mindset

"Mistakes are good; struggle makes you smarter." We learn from our mistakes, and we get better through hard work. "Hard work beats talent, when talent doesn't work hard."

Random vs Blocked

The drills that have the best transfer from practice to games are those that are more game-like. These "random" drills may look, at first glance, as if we are just playing games or scrimmaging, but know that there is a purpose to every drill, and we are working on skills that will help us be successful on the court in competition. These game-like scenarios are proven to have more transfer to actual games.

Developing the Athlete

We wish to develop every athlete that comes through our gym. Development comes more from practice, and is exemplified in game play. We will spend a considerable amount of each practice working on fundamental skills to help develop each athlete into being a well-rounded volleyball player. We hope to stretch our athletes out of their comfort zone, and have them get better every practice.

Developing the Person

We wish to develop the athlete not just as a player on our team, but develop the person they are to become. We want to develop the leadership skills, work ethic, growth mindset, perserverance, and general attitude to be successful individuals in whatever life brings them. Volleyball can be a tool to help develop the life skills necessary to become successful in life.

Developing the Program

We wish to develop an entire program to ensure long-lasting success. Success for Estrella Foothills High School's Volleyball program long after the current athletes and coaches have moved on. We hope to accomplish this through building a long-lasting culture. We hope to do this through creating success in this program early. We hope to do this through developing not as separate teams, but as an entire program. We view the Varsity, JVA, and JVB squads as one deep roster. If an athlete develops to a varsity level, and is ready to help our varsity be successful in competition, then we will use that athlete at the appropriate time. We are not separate teams, but one program looking to have success for years to come.

Straight-Line Serve Receive, Move in Angles

We use a straight-line serve receive, and move in angles to help ensure our athletes cover the entire court, but don't run into each other. We coach our athletes the correct positioning, the correct communication, and the correct form, and do this with the straight-line approach.

Perimeter Defense

"The most common defensive set-up is called a 'perimeter defense'. This 2-0-4 system has two blockers, no player behind the block and four defenders where they themselves along the perimeter of the court, with one foot on the line. In this formation players are always ready to move into the center. This way players know when balls are out; and their movements are directed into the court."

Combos

We may not be the biggest team on the court, and so that means we sometimes need to be creative in what and where our hitters attack from. This helps bring speed and intelligence into the game to help achieve our goals.

Flexibility

Even with these systems in place, we teach the ability to be flexible in everything so that we can adjust to our opponents or to the situation at hand to ensure success on the court. We may adjust our Serve Receive by calling an "audible" and changing who goes where. We may change our defense to a "rotational" defense to adjust for teams that hit line more, or adjust where in the perimeter we place our players to adjust to the tendencies of our opponent.