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Thinking Volleyball
To be a successful volleyball coach, you need to know more than just how to teach the basic skills and implement a plan. In such a fast-paced game, not only do you need to outperform your opponent, but you must outthink him as well. Thinking Volleyball has you covered!
Hall-of-fame coach Mike Hebert spent years learning the secrets to success--among the most important is that you should never stop learning. In Thinking Volleyball, he goes beyond the development of motor skills to provide a unique cerebral look at how athletes learn. Hebert also introduces the strategies behind his reading defense approach, which will give your team an advantage against any opponent. Regardless of how talented your players are, a positive environment that includes a solid mutual trust among everyone involved with the program is vital for your program both on and off the court.
To take your program to the next level, step inside the mind of a legendary coach and never stop learning. Thinking Volleyball is your resource to developing your program, your players, and yourself.
Hall-of-fame coach Mike Hebert spent years learning the secrets to success--among the most important is that you should never stop learning. In Thinking Volleyball, he goes beyond the development of motor skills to provide a unique cerebral look at how athletes learn. Hebert also introduces the strategies behind his reading defense approach, which will give your team an advantage against any opponent. Regardless of how talented your players are, a positive environment that includes a solid mutual trust among everyone involved with the program is vital for your program both on and off the court.
To take your program to the next level, step inside the mind of a legendary coach and never stop learning. Thinking Volleyball is your resource to developing your program, your players, and yourself.
- GenresSportsNonfiction
280 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 6, 2014
If you're looking for a book to make you think about your coaching rather than just something that presents you with a bunch of drills and systems, then look no further than Thinking Volleyball. A 50-year volleyball veteran, the recently retired author offers his latest book as something he sees as at least attempting to fill the gap he perceives in the coaching literature when it comes to learning how to think about volleyball and coaching. I read both of his earlier books,Mike Herbert: The Fire Still Burns and Insights and Strategies for Winning VolleyballInsights & Strategies for Winning Volleyball, and each had a big impact on me as a developing coach. I therefore much anticipated the release of this new title when I heard of it, and can't say I'm disappointed.
The broad theme of the book is being ready, willing, and able to think beyond the conventional. That's not as simple as being OK with taking risks in how you do things, though obviously that's a requirement (Hebert considers himself something of a coaching maverick). It first and foremost requires actually understanding what that conventional wisdom is, why it's conventional, and its strengths and weaknesses.
There are 10 chapters. One each is dedicated to offensive and defensive philosophy. These are the only two which could be classified as technical/tactical in nature, and even then it's not the main point. The other eight, in various ways, look at different aspects of coaching - things like running a program, developing a style of play, gym culture, team trust, and match coaching.
Personal anecdotes are a common feature of Hebert's writing, and he's got loads of material from which to work. They come from his own playing days and all the major programs he's coached. My one little criticism is that the stories are strongly biased toward the positive and maybe a few failures could have been mixed in for balance. Let's face it. Not everything works as intended and we coaches often find ourselves having to figure out how to recover when that's the case.
Chances are, at least one chapter in Thinking Volleyball will cause you to think critically about what you're doing as a volleyball coach. Hebert has applied his considerable experience and insight into a discussion of just about every aspect of coaching volleyball you could think of, and from all kinds of angles most of us will never have the opportunity to explore personally. From that perspective, I'd recommend it for coaches at all levels and careers stages.
The broad theme of the book is being ready, willing, and able to think beyond the conventional. That's not as simple as being OK with taking risks in how you do things, though obviously that's a requirement (Hebert considers himself something of a coaching maverick). It first and foremost requires actually understanding what that conventional wisdom is, why it's conventional, and its strengths and weaknesses.
There are 10 chapters. One each is dedicated to offensive and defensive philosophy. These are the only two which could be classified as technical/tactical in nature, and even then it's not the main point. The other eight, in various ways, look at different aspects of coaching - things like running a program, developing a style of play, gym culture, team trust, and match coaching.
Personal anecdotes are a common feature of Hebert's writing, and he's got loads of material from which to work. They come from his own playing days and all the major programs he's coached. My one little criticism is that the stories are strongly biased toward the positive and maybe a few failures could have been mixed in for balance. Let's face it. Not everything works as intended and we coaches often find ourselves having to figure out how to recover when that's the case.
Chances are, at least one chapter in Thinking Volleyball will cause you to think critically about what you're doing as a volleyball coach. Hebert has applied his considerable experience and insight into a discussion of just about every aspect of coaching volleyball you could think of, and from all kinds of angles most of us will never have the opportunity to explore personally. From that perspective, I'd recommend it for coaches at all levels and careers stages.
December 31, 2022
The least useful of the three volleyball coaching books I recently purchased. I found it to be much more focused on Mike’s personal experiences and thoughts, rather than anything broadly applicable or practical (what I was looking for).
It’s not a bad book by any means, just not what I was looking for.
It’s not a bad book by any means, just not what I was looking for.
February 6, 2021
Super helpful. One of the better instructional books I’ve read.
October 8, 2024
Watt: “Volleyball heart”
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews