WOW. What a whirlwind. The past few days have FLOWN by. I don't even know where to start. Maybe on Day 7 would be a good start. On day 7 we started changing the schedule again to fit ALL the teams in and two practices a day for each group (beach, men indoor and women indoor) so here is our schedule: 7-8am beach teams, 8-10am mens indoor, 10-12am women's indoor, 2-4:30pm beach, 5-7pm women indoor and 7-9pm-ish men indoor. Yep, that is a loooong day with lots of volley. The beach teams are younger and Mark and I are able to get in conditioing and plyos with them in the morning before getting too in depth with coaching. The girls team is made of the best under-21 players in Chennai and we have ben working a LOT with them on defense, reading hitters, blocking and serve receive. We taught them how to swing block and a put in a newer blocking defensive system for them and it seemed to make a big difference. Between training the women's team and starting off the with men's team, we were introduced to the Men's National Team Chief Coach, Ramana Rao. He is in charge of choosing players for the National teams at the senior, junior and youth levels. We were surprised to have a ceremony with all of the players and Mark and I were honored by the staff of the Volleyball Federation of India where we were given traditional Indian silk shawls and what the called lace garlands which are huge ceremonial neck pieces. It was a occasion and it means a lot to both Mark and I to be honored for doing something we both love.
That night while working with the guys, the best college age players in Chennai, we put in swing blocking and worked a lot on that all night. They got better and better at it and are triple blocking on a lot of sets. Although not a very big team all around, they have a dynamic group of athletes that can really get up and jump. I think we can really get them to a nice level before the 26th when they go to play in the country's national championship.
Day 8, January 21
We did a LOT more work with the older boys team on blocking. We are continually amazed not only at their athleticism, but at some of the balls they can run down and touch. I think it's a function of havin a great group of athletes and that they play on a surface that's a fombination of asphalt covered in dirt and a hard dirt baseball infield. Not ideal for making lots of moves to the, uh, "floor". They are really taking to swing blocking but we are still having some issues getting all of the players to get their hands over the net.
The girls team has been improving by leaps and bounds so far. Even witha large number of girls (almost 20) were are making a lot of changes and have been working defense to control their moves and really focus on their eyework. Tey have some really nice attackers but we need to really work on their net play and quality of contacts. They too make a of touches on defense but some of them aren't super disciplined on defense so that;s something we'll continue to work on.
Mark and I were beat after a long day and just ate at the hotel so we could get some sleep as early as possible.
Day 9 (already!) January 22
I'm continually amazed at how many high powered people we continue to meet. They are really rolling out the red carpet for us. This person run this federation here, that person is the head of this, it's truly amazing. I'm starting to think Martin has WAY more juice than he's letting on... I also need to mention how amazing the staff is here with the federation. They are constantly bringing us coffee (which is incredible here) and tea during our breaks and getting us LOTS of water. Our two main guys, Big Kumar and Little Kumar, are two of the hardest working guys here. If some people in the US got it done like these guys (and everyone else) do, cancer, AIDS, world hunger and the meaning of life would be cured and figured out, within 10 minutes. Martin continues to crack us up with his phrase "OK, no problem." Martin, please, nore more food. OK, No problem and then he brings us twice as much as the day before (although we're doing more pushing away than at the start of the trip at this point).
As for training, wow. The guys are getting RELLY good. They are fast learners and take our coaching very well despite the language barrier. The blocking has vastly improved and we are nbow working on the offense to get them to run faster tempos backrow and to the pins. We still have some individual areas to work on with some players but as a whole they are growing leaps and bounds.
Mark and I have also been catching the end of a FIVB coaching course on the use of technology in analysis. Many coaches here had no idea you could use video for opponent preparation and scouting and self-analysis to your won teams benefit. We've already used our cameras and the federations video camera to provide players with immediate on what they are doing and how to improve it and it is helping them out greatly. Without having seen some other teams in India, I think this group could really have a great tournament. The only downside right now seems to be that both Mark and I would love to have more time with the players. We really think they could give someof the top NCAA men's teams a VERY competitive match if not win one.
We also put in swing blocking with the girls tonight and after a while it's starting to take hold. They are making better moves and really pushing through the net. It's going to take a lot of mindful repetitions to get them out of some of their old habits but they have some nice players in key positions which will be great for them. Their defense is improving greatly drill by drill and their coach is really enthusiastic and has been a great help in explaining what we are saying to the girls.
One nice surprise was Little Kumar ran to get us lunch and brought us, you guessed it, INDIAN QUESADILLAS! Just a nice extra bright spot in the day. I can't say enough about how great everyone is here and how great we are treated.
After the guys practice, we went to Martin's house, had some dinner and chatted with him and a few other people. We were tired and wanted to go back to the hotel to sleep since wehad to be up at 5:30 and he says, of course, 15 minutes, then i'll take you back. 2 hours later, we got back to the hotel but we aren't complaining. We had some great home cooked food and learned how to play Carrom, a game that kind of combines checkers with billiards. Mark's team won but my partner, Prabakar, and I are going to have a practice session and maybe shoot some video to get ready for our next match up.
One thing that really throws me off is being 10.5 hours ahead of home and having absolutely NO concept of what day it is. I know dates but couldn't tell you if it's Saturday, Sunday, Monday or whatever for all the tea in India (which, trust me, is a lot)
I know I am forgetting a LOT right now but it's about 1am here and have been up since 5:30am. I'll be back tomorrow with upates on Jan 23 and 24 and have asome more in depth and coherent thoughts. I can't believe we're already on our last day of camps. Never thought I'd say it but I am really bummed about it.
Ok, cheers from India
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