How To Impress a Coach at Volleyball Team Tryouts
Walking into the first day of volleyball tryouts can be a daunting experience. Even if you have made the team the year before, your spot is not automatically guaranteed. The best thing you can do to improve your chances of making the team this year is to walk into that gym confident and prepared. Showing up at tryouts, or the dreaded “two-a-days,” out of shape and not having touched a ball in months will simply kill your chances. It just demonstrates to the coach that you don’t care enough to put a little effort into your preparation, and whether you are a naturally gifted player or not, impressing the coach at tryouts is extremely important. Many coaches will not even want to bother with a player who seems ambivalent about making the team. So, here are a few simple tips on how to wow the coach at tryouts.
Be On Time - First things first. You have got to be on time to tryouts, and that means early! Not only do you make a good first impression, but you won’t miss out on anything. Being early allows you to gather yourself together, make sure you have all of your gear, hydrate, go to the bathroom, and warm up a bit before all of the stressful stuff begins, and it also allows you to get a little face time by volunteering to help to set up the gym.
Dress appropriately – Maybe it is a no-brainer, but you need to show up to tryouts ready to play from the get-go. Wear something you are comfortable playing in but nothing offensive or too outlandish. You need to have the appropriate shoes (not your street shoes), knee pads, a towel, water bottle, warm-ups, and probably a few extra pairs of shorts and shirts if you are the sweaty type. Being prepared to practice demonstrates to the coaches that you mean business, and that is always impressive.
Be in shape – Nothing annoys a coach more than having to use precious training time trying to get the players fit enough to make it through a match. If you want to make a good impression and make the team, you need to put the work in during the off-season. Improve your upper body strength by lifting weights, training with a medicine ball, and pounding out some good old push-ups. Improve your vertical and agility by doing ply metrics and jump training. And unless you are playing a sport like soccer, cross country, or swimming in the off-season, you should also be getting in some good cardiovascular
Work hard in practice – The one thing that always impresses a coach is hustle. Put forth a high level of intensity no matter what is asked of you. They notice who is jogging around, happily shagging balls in between drills and who is slowly walking around trying to avoid doing any work. They also notice who is complaining and who is making negative facial expressions. The point is that the hardest working players at the tryouts are noticed, and hustle and work ethic do play a crucial role in who is considered for the team and who is not.
Pay attention – The worst thing you could do at a tryout is look like you are not listening to the coach. This is not the time to catch up with friends you haven’t seen all summer. Don’t let yourself get distracted. Listen to instructions and do your best to do what is asked of you.
Have a good attitude – This goes along with paying attention and working hard. Do not show up to a tryout with some kind of diva attitude. It does not matter that you were the star of the team last year or not. No coach likes a player who thinks they know it all and can’t get any better. You can always get better. There is always room for improvement. Be open and willing to learn in all areas of the game. Besides, you never know when some new person will show up to tryouts and threaten to take your spot on the team.
Play volleyball in the off-season – In order to make a good impression on the coach at tryouts, you should probably have been playing during the off-season. At the minimum, you should have kept your skills up to about the same level as the season before. Ideally, you will have dramatically improved your skill level. No coach wants to have to retrain anyone or bring players back up to a minimum skill level, especially if he or she has seen you play before. Don’t let any excuses hold you back; all you need to keep the basic skills up is a ball and a wall. It isn’t the most idyllic situation, but if you can’t find someone to pepper with or a team to play on, setting, passing, hitting, blocking, and serving can all be done on your own against a wall.
Find a specialty – Perhaps you are vertically challenged or maybe you just don’t have as much experience as some of the other players trying out. These things may set you back a bit in the coach’s eyes; however, being excellent at even just one small thing like serving or passing will elevate you immediately to being in the prospective player pool. The fact that you have worked hard and mastered a skill shows the coach that you are teachable and that you really want this. Besides, any coach would love to find a reliable passer/server/blocker even if he or she may not be extremely gifted in other areas. They will usually be able to find a place for you on the team which allows you to then work on improving other areas of your game and gain more playing time.
If you love the game of volleyball and desperately want to make the team, there is absolutely no reason why, with a little hard work and preparation, you can’t do so. But, making a good impression on the coach is only the first part of the equation. You have to want to put in the effort, be open-minded enough to learn and improve, and be willing to continue to do these things all the way through the season. Following these tips will set you on the path to success!
Author Lisa Weber