We have some internal problems on my developmental 15's team. I have two girls who are among the best on the team, but treat others on the team very
poorly. Very little of it is overt and I do not hear most of it, except second hand. On top of that are some parents of very sheltered girls who are worried
these girls are going to negatively influence their daughters. They want me to "do something" about these girls(and have lots of suggestions). I
thought practice had gone pretty well tonight, except one girl who was fuming through the practice (not in either group). She and her mom stayed after
practice to tell me all of the nasty things the two girls said during practice. It is driving me crazy and I need some suggestions how to deal with both
groups, both of whom need to focus more on volleyball skills and less on other things. I am a seasoned coach which has seen this destroy a team before and I
only have 10 kids so I need them all. Help!
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Problem players
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 ktbugsmom |
Problem players |
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Registered Member
Posts: 49 (04/21/08 10:17 PM) |
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bigtexbro |
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Registered Member
Posts: 2492 (04/22/08 12:46 AM) |
First get them all togather in a group...Tell them one more time you hear of any bull like this they will be running until there legs hurt and then your going
to run them more....make the whole team run not just the one player or group of girls....I know this sounds wrong but at that age they need to understand to
leave the potty mouths at home and not bring it to the gym...I have seen this in the past and you hit it on the head that it will turn in to bad team if not
stoped....Just be up front with them let them know you have found out what is being said....There old enough to understand that they cant do that...and if it
keeps going bad maybe you need to sit them out in a match even if it means you lose big time....make your point to them
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expertidiot |
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Registered Member
Posts: 298 (04/22/08 7:38 AM) |
I'd think about it like the Marines... how do they build "esprit de corps?"
Partly, the answer is "shared pain, shared challenges, shared successes, and shared failures/consequences." Make practices really, really hard... give them goals to achieve that require all 10 players working together. Give them all the challenge of getting every player over the net (think about that one for a second). Blindfold them all, rope them all together, and give them an obstacle course to get through. Put heavy backpacks on them, rope them all together, and have them run for a half hour - together. And, of course, tell them that if there's anything less than 100% teamwork and 100% support and encouragement of each other, then the volleyballs will go in the cart and they will work on getting in really, really good shape. |
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VBCoach22 |
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Registered Member
Posts: 71 (04/22/08 9:29 AM) |
ktbugsmon, there was a similar thread to this a week ago (bad apples)...I pushed it to the top, there may be some good advice in there for you.
Seems like there are two schools of thought here on how to deal with this situation (based on the previous thread). 1.) Correct the two individuals through group punishment 2.) Correct the two individuals by punishing the two individuals While bigtex and EI seem to rely more on #1, I tend towards #2, at least in this case. Why? Because here you are trying to correct a behavioral or attitude problem, not a skill or effort problem. A couple of girls show lackluster effort in a drill....stop and make them all run. The team keeps shanking serves in a drill...stop and make them do pushups, etc. But all the running, suicides, etc. won't correct the fact that these girls (based on the little info given) seem to think they are better than the rest of the team and aren't afraid to say so. I think you need a better approach...one which directly addresses the heart of the matter...the two girls attitude. Again, you can check the other thread (lots of folks like the "change in the pocket" idea). My two cents here are to simply pull the players aside before practice (w/their parents) and: 1) Let them know that YOU (not the other parents or the other players) have been noticing poor attitudes and behavior from them 2.) That it ends RIGHT NOW 3.) That they have to learn that with great talent comes a greater burden...the other players look up to them b/c they are better...they will follow them anywhere...all they have to do is lead...NOT TEAR DOWN the weaker players. The next time a player does something wrong or incorrectly, they should be the first to help. 4.) If they cannot do this, they will be excused from practice 5.) If they don't practice, they don't play in matches That's the first part. The second part is more difficult and that is teaching these two (as well as the other eight) how to be much more positive on the court. There are no specific drills for that....it's simply an attitude/approach that starts with the Coaches, includes the parents, and ends with the players. I could go on and on here, but I think you get the idea....hope that helps! |
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expertidiot |
correction... | ||
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Registered Member
Posts: 298 (04/22/08 12:51 PM) |
VBCoach22 wrote:That's an incorrect interpretation of my position on these things. If there are problem players, I always favor zeroing in on the problem players directly. I think the rest of your post is great advice. The two threads you compared actually describe very different situations, I think. Maybe I'm wrong, but I interpreted this thread to mean that there were a bunch of players on the team sniping at each other, and that it was more of a team issue. It seemed like maybe some "team bonding stuff" might help in this case (if you can call tying the entire team together, putting heavy backpacks on them and having them all run together for a half hour a la Marines "team bonding stuff"). In the other thread, the coach said that he had two players who goofed off, didn't work hard, and showed utter disrespect for their coaches. No way I'd punish the entire team for that, and that's what I wrote on that thread. (ktb182's excuses for similarly bad behavior notwithstanding, of course.) |
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passorfail |
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Registered Member
Posts: 27 (04/22/08 4:40 PM) |
Please tell me that before my "time" is over in this game of volleyball, there will be an end to this group punishment. The guilty should pay for
their ways, not the players who are giving it their all. Find out who is at fault and deal with it directly. You risk resentment when you punish players who
are giving you all they have and you treat them unfairly.
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VBCoach22 |
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Registered Member
Posts: 71 (04/22/08 9:01 PM) |
If I got it wrong EI, I'm sorry...you always give good advice and I'd hate to get on your bad side (goodness knows I will need your advice in the not
too distant future). I went back and reread both situations and I think they are similar, with the only difference being who is being disrespected. In the
"bad apples" thread it was the coaches and in this one, it is their teammates. Both involve two suspect players:
"Our outside AND middle have completely shut down, resorting to clowning around in practice, showing no work ethic, and showing utter disrespect to the coaching staff." "We have some internal problems on my developmental 15's team. I have two girls who are among the best on the team, but treat others on the team very poorly." Disagree with passorfail to the extent there are plenty of times when group punishment is fine...win as a team....lose as a team....for minor issues, young players need to learn to police themselves. My only concern is that when these posts come up, a lot of responses advise a physical punishment to correct a poor attitude that seems to "define" the player. I can see it for an isolated incident, but if I always act like a jerk and you run me to death...all you get is a tired jerk! At 15, I'm quite confident that these girls are not a lost cause just yet :-) I am sure they will come around when presented with the fact that their attitudes are hurting the team and what they can do to be better teammates. If not, then they can enjoy watching the other eight play until they do. |
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bigtexbro |
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Registered Member
Posts: 2492 (04/23/08 1:57 AM) |
by making the whole team run or do a drill over and over . The other girls then will get on the other players back and say straiting up or this will never
end...i do think you should all so go after the problem player with running by her self but you have todo it where she is looking from the outside...when she
is running have the other players do something fun and earn things like candy or something....she will then see working as a team can work for her to....all so
I am bigtexbro not bigtex he is my brother...
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vbdoc |
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Registered Member
Posts: 186 (04/23/08 8:16 AM) |
Don't know if this was covered, but I had the same problem when coaching basketball years ago. I had another coach come in and run my practice while I
watched from the bleachers. It was the first time I got to really see what was going around me. I had been focusing on the players in the drill. Now I got to
see ALL the players. We had several team "meetings" after that and it helped to clear the air. As I said, it helped somewhat, but the girls were high
schoolers.
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ktbugsmom |
Problem players | ||
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Registered Member
Posts: 49 (04/23/08 10:52 AM) |
Thank you for all of the suggestions and insight. I have teamed up with their high school head coach ( I teach there, but do not coach ) to address these two
as I found they are doing the same thing in spring training at school. One comment about young enough to change reflects why I care, because I think with
management, they can. I also know they need individual "attention", but believe group consequences are needed too. Thanks again.
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