Dear Prep Dig, Once Again We Are Facing “That Jersey”
Dear Prep Dig,
It’s tournament time again and like always, we are facing the team who always stands in our way of heading to the state tournament. No matter how good of a team they have or we have, they are just always in the way and have been the nightmare to face time and time again. I know we match up well with them, but there is just something about this matchup we struggle with each year. Any suggestions as to how to approach it this time around?
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Ah, yes. The jersey. Once some teams see the jersey across the net, it’s almost the feel of being ten points down from the start and a constant uphill battle. Everybody has a thorn in their side that just seems to be there year after year. There are a few ways to approach this depending on your team and what their mindset is going into it.
Ignorance Is Bliss
This usually happens with teams that are a bit on the younger side. They just go out and just play – carefree and loose. Use this to your advantage. No need to turn the dial on emotions any higher than it needs to be. The lighter the pregame speech, the better, no need to add any extra thoughts into a carefree mindset. Of course, there will be tough times during the match, but again the timeouts can still be loose and remind them of the basic fundamentals of what got them to this point.
The Pressure On The Seniors
They might not say it, but Seniors feel it. If they have consistently lost to a particular team year after year, they will have it in the back of their minds. They might not talk about it as a team, but they may hear it from their parents, other students, and people in their circle. As a coach, it’s necessary to address the elephant in the room, and how you can attack the opponent not so much physically, but more so with the mental game. Focus on your side of the net, find minor parts of the game that might give you a mental edge, assure your athletes that they can respond to adversity, and stick with what got you to this point. Sometimes in the postseason, teams will feel the need to make drastic changes or get so focused on what the other side of the net is doing that it will make what you’re doing that much more uncomfortable. Control the controllables.
Positive, Mental Visualization
The mind is powerful. Train the athletes with skill, but train them how to respond to adversity, communicating during chaos, and staying present in the moment to move on to the next play. Walking your team through a positive, mental visualization activity where they can learn to control their breathing, seeing themselves being successful, and seeing their teammates be successful. Go into the details from the feel of the gym, the uniforms, the lights, the whistles, everything, make it real. This is not only teaching them how to approach a stressful situation in volleyball, but even if they have test anxiety, a job interview, or any other situation they are anticipating that is a high-stress situation – and again a “High-Stress Situation” isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but for these teenagers, it’s valuable to embrace those moments and have confidence they can succeed at a high level.
I wish you well with your next opponent, no matter who it may be, familiar jersey or not 🙂
Prep Dig Chris