Blog Posts

August – Routine is Important

This morning I had my last Summer Practice with my 9th grade girls’ team before the high school season starts. At this level serving over the net is just critical; serving wins games.

What makes a great serve? Arm speed – yes. Consistency – yes. Serving the corners – yes. Serving inside the 10 – yes. But in my opinion, it is the routine. I told my 9th grade team, “I don’t care what your routine is. Pick any that you like, stick with it, and do it every single time.” The first player goes to the service line, dribbles three times, perches her left foot, raises her right elbow, raises her left hand, takes a breath, exhales loudly and then serves.

“Excellent”, I say. Now do that for five serves in a row. She does, some go in, some go into the net. I tweak a few things in her form.

“Now”, I say, “add one thing to your routine. Keep your routine the same but before you take a breath, I want you to say quietly out loud ‘this will be an ace’”.

Regardless of your age, having negative thoughts when you serve like “geez, I hope this goes in”, or “geez, my shoulder/arm is just killing me” should never be apart of your routine. If you find yourself thinking this, change it immediately to something positive. Something like, “hot damn, this will be a great serve”.

August Events

There are no August events. Instead, I am securing gym rentals in Florida for the Fall Scrambles and possible Volley For Thanksgiving 24 hour charity event.

August Sales

To get you ready for the college and high school season, all Mizuno spandex and kneepads are on sale in the online store for $20 each.  All Mizuno crew socks are $5 a pair.  Sale starts today and ends on August 31st. Shop online at www.goldfishvolleyball.com/shop