Volleyball Systems and Strategies:A Book Review

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Volleyball Systems and Strategies is a book put together by USA Volleyball based on the work done in its Coaching Accreditation Program (CAP).
It is a very comprehensive look at the next level of volleyball above that of individual skill, namely how a team plays as a unit.
To that end I think it has the potential to be very useful for new and developing coaches, and anyone thinking about how they can try to maximize the performance of their team given the types of players at their disposal.
There are six primary sections to the book:
  1. Serve, Transition, and Serve Receive looks at the types of serves available (float, jump topspin, etc.
    ) and team serve receive patterns.
  2. Defensive Systems describes ways a team can be set up in terms of both floor defense positioning and blocking.
  3. Defensive Strategies looks at different ways the systems above may be employed based on the strengths and weaknesses of your team and/or your opponent.
  4. Offensive Systems focuses on the different ways an offense can be configured, such as the 5-1 or 6-2.
  5. Offensive Strategies discusses different ways of employing an offensive system to put your team's attackers at the advantage.
  6. Systems, Strategies, and the Team concentrates on developing good training plans and handling the team will before, during, and after matches.
Each section of the book is broken down into chapters which focus on one aspect of the bigger subject.
These chapters generally feature the following elements:
  • An initial description of the system or strategy
  • Personnel requirements
  • Advantages and disadvantages
  • Options for implementation
  • Coaching points
The final chapter of each section (except for the last) lists a number of drills aimed at working on the system or strategy covered.
There are as many as 20 drills listed.
That should provide the reader coach plenty to work with to help integrate the system(s) in to their team's play.
There's a companion DVD with the book which covers the primary topics listed above, excepting #6.
It also shows some of the drills included.
It's about an hour in length.
There's a lot of material in Volleyball Systems and Strategies, but it's pretty concisely and clearly presented.
I think it's safe to say that if the reader can grasp it all they will be well on their way to being able to find the right systems and strategies for any team they coach, regardless of competitive level.
That's why I give it a good recommendation.
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