Friday's Recap

Ok I know, I know, I haven’t put up an update from Friday’s vball. First of all I’d like to say it was nice to see the 4 new faces and I hope they come back.

This week we worked on hitting again. We worked on keeping the ball out in front of you so you’re able to hit down. Nicole came in and helped out by demonstrating for us what it looks like if you keep the ball out in front. It looks like this: tight-ish set, no blocker, high reach, out in front of your right shoulder, and BAM straight down.

Keep working on your approaches and footwork at home because that will help you more than anything at this point.

We are off this week so enjoy your 4th of July weekend and I look forward to seeing you all again July 10th.

Beach Volleyball

So I checked out the beach volleyball doubles tournament in Anchorage this weekend. There were 4 womens teams that showed. We did pool play in the morning and a single elimination bracket in the afternoon.

The next tournament is July 18th. It's only $15 to enter and it is a lot of fun.

I'll write a reminder next month for anyone who is interested.

Friday Recap

Friday we did a bunch of transition work. I know it is a little more advanced than what some of you are used to but I think it went well. If you only take one thing away from the whole night, take the following concept: volleyball is played before you get the ball. Once the ball has arrived it's a little to late to make corrections to your form. You need to always be ready to get the ball, and when the ball is heading your direction you need to be as prepared as possible for that brief contact. I'm telling you, if you really worked hard on always getting into position and using good form, you'd be set. Once you're in the air and trying to hit the ball, it's a little to late to stay behind it, Or once the serve is contacting your arms, its a little to late to get your butt behind the ball.

It was nice to see Jessica and Molly who we haven't seen yet this summer. Jessica stepped right in and did some fantastic transition work, and I think she grew since last season.

Next week we are going back to hitting. We will be missing some of the setters so we will work more on form and probably use the ball machine to set for us. If you read this, I want to you do 15 approaches every day. Even if you think you've got a good approach, it is always good to do some big approaches, REALLY BIG approaches.

Beach Volleyball

There are beach volleyball tournaments once a month this summer in Anchorage. The first one is June 20th. $15 per person. They start at 10am and are usually finished before 4. (this depends on how many teams compete.) If you want to get a friend and sign up, all you need to do is call 830-2571 and give your name to Dale. You can also sign up by show up 20 minutes early the day of but it works better if he knows in advance how many teams will be there. If anyone needs a ride let me know and we can probably figure something out. Hope to see you there!

Northern Lights Camp

The Northern Lights camp finished up last night with a lot of playing. If you see Mrs. Clawson or the rest of the Northern Lights staff make sure you thank them . Mrs. Clawson puts in a lot of work to get camps up here. Also - she mentioned filling out a survey. Click here to do that.

Last Nights Recap

So last night we only had 2 girls show up. We only went for an hour but I think they were both pretty worn out. About 25 minutes of passing and 35 minutes of hitting. Cassidy b used a phrase that I'm now very fond of. She took a big approach just to catch the ball, turn around, and say she didn't want to hit it because she "has a strategy" and that set didn't feel right. Marina finished pretty strong with some solid hits at the end and was doing a good job "showing me her shoulder"

Well that's it for now. I hope everyone is enjoying thier week. Remember: No Vball Friday. Gym is closed so Group 2 wont be in there until June 19. Group 1's next day is June 18th.

Jedi Master Jayme - Week 2 Recap Revised

Wow, I was obviously not paying a lot of attention last night when I wrote that recap because I missed a couple very important parts.

First of all, the best part of the whole session, and I think you'll agree, was the Star Wars skit brought to you by Rochelle and myself. I know it took a couple trys to get it right, but it was good wasn't it? For those of you who missed out... here goes:
Luke Skywalker(Rochelle): "But master Yoda I can't lift the boat from the swamp."
Master Yoda (me): "Use the force young Jedi"
Luke Skywalker: "I'll try." (Skeptically)
Master Yoda: "No! Try Not! Do, or do not. There is no try."

Yes yes, I realize we missed a line in there somewhere but that is how it was supposed to go. You got the point I'm sure. Do you think we have a career in acting? Maybe that will be my next poll question. Maybe not.

The second part was during a serving demonstration. Besides getting laughed at for my rackety arm comments and the hit a tennis ball with a rope analogy, I really liked the part about types of serves.
My Question: What are 2 types of serves?
Your Answer: underhand, overhand and jump.
Well I'll admit you through me off a bit and had me laughing with that. You are very correct, those are types of serves. The answer I was looking for was Top Spin and Floater though. Now we can combine them and come up with all sorts of serves like a jump topspin or a overhand floater.

Well now that I've gone over the better parts I'll leave you to reminisce about that wonderful Jedi impersonation. Oh and for any of you who would like to start calling me Jedi Master Jayme, I will allow it.

Week 2 Recap

So day 2 has concluded and I think we witnessed some real big improvements today.
First of all, I have to start with the setters. They were putting a lot of balls in the target towards the end. The form was looking great. Devynn lead with 3 sets in a row in the target. Miranda fell just short of 3 with a ball that bounced of the “rim”. She finished with 2. Our goal next time should be 5.

I didn’t watch the passing but I heard a bit of what was going on because a certain Mr. Reynolds felt the need to talk right through our setting drill. I think the passing must have gone fairly well though because during the last drill, there was some great passes made. Cassidy A. had some very nice passes which won her a trip to the hitting line where she had a couple pretty nice hits as well. The hitting must have gone equally well because plenty of you were doing big approaches and hitting the ball soundly.

So that’s that. Next week I’m leaning towards a digging/transition day but we’ll see. Remember to call or email me if you won’t be there!

Oh one more thing for both groups: For those of you who intend on going to other vball camps this summer, I encourage you to continue practicing good form. You’ll get plenty more playing in so you might as well keep using good habits, even if we’re not there reminding you. J