Volleyball is 50% mental and 50% skill and that is why we are making a new "curriculum" part of Kettle Moraine Volleyball. We will be using a lot of the teaching of Dan Mickle from USA Volleyball and integrating it into all parts of our program. These are some of the skills we will be teaching our players this next year.
Journaling - what is going well, what is needed
Identify what is happening in your life
How did play go
Match performance to what you are doing
Private journal to keep guidelines between coach / player separate
Prompted what to answer or do with whiteboard
Detail / depth - 10 min before / after practice, 30 min after match
Length of journal - how much details (sleep, eating, school) - time & effort
Goal Setting - big goals, little goals (per season, per week, per match)
Team first, then player goals to help team goals
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant
Time based
Fear Setting - worse case scenario on what happens
Breathing - mental and physical change chemical process / relaxation
In through nose, hold, out through mouth (in 6 count, hold 4, out 4)
In through mouth, hold, out through nose (in 4, old 6, out 6)
Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR)
Guided Relaxation - where, why, focus on the senses
Meditation
Mindfulness - be in the moment, know what is going on around you
Typical length of learning is 8 weeks (get it out early, beginning of summer)
GAP training - space of time between thought and detach from process
start with 1 minute, no thought, through 4 min
Beyond simple meditation - think in detail and focus, don’t attach biases
Self-Talk
Can be positive / negative
May not even know they are negative thought
Label helps
Past / present / future - dwell vs. think
Rational / Irrational
Helpful / harmful
Temporary / Permanent
Imagery / Visualization - all senses
The more senses, the more real / the more it is believed
In uniform for realistic
All imagery vs. visualization
All senses
Guided vs. Self
Performance
Objects
First person
Third person
Body Language
Books to Review