Picking your setter

 

We all know how overwhelming starting to coach can be. You have to plan your season, prepare practice plans, deal with different types of athletes, and the list goes on...  Some of these challenges can occur right out of the gate, such as who you will pick to be your setter. Picking your setter can seem like an easy decision, but this choice could, and will, affect the dynamic of your team. In this first blog, I will be sharing some advice on how I deal with tough decisions such as the one noted above. Volleyball is not a perfect science, so every situation will be different for every coach. I hope that my advice will help you, even if it just makes you re-evaluate the way you have coached in the past. Regularly reassessing your coaching methods is very important to your growth and development as a coach, since the sport of volleyball is continuously evolving.

 

If you asked fans who the best player on the court for the match they just watched was, 95% would probably say the big left side that was pounding balls down the line all game. If you asked a coach with a little bit of experience, they would turn the attention to their setter that was running the show. Experienced coaches understand that the setter is the most important player on the floor. I have had the opportunity to work with some great setters while coaching club and I often get asked how I train them. Besides the thousands of repetitions that I get my setters to do during a season, I do not have a special formula. That being said, I feel one way that I differ from other coaches is the way that I select my setters. Too often, coaches will put their biggest players in the middle, strong hitters outside and are left with little options for the setting position. You could have the best hitters in the world on your team, but if you don’t have a skilled and competent setter to properly run the system that you want, your hitters’ efficiency will not be maximized. The obvious choice for me is to look for an athlete with athleticism. Usually the most athletic player with the best hands turns out also to be one of your better hitters. This could be seen as a problem, but not for me, I would rather see my best athlete touch the ball every single rally as a setter rather than just a few times in a match if I make him a hitter.

 

I coached 2 setters in back to back season and they both went on to have great careers. These setters went on to play CIS volleyball and represented our province at the Canada Games. The special thing with these 2 athletes is that they probably would have been the best hitters for their age group in the province. In my experience from coaching volleyball, there is no doubt in my mind that most coaches in my situation would have put them as hitters and used a second string setter to control the game. I strongly believe that if you put your best athlete as a setter, it will bring your team to a whole other level. Your hitters will be able to focus on their technic and shot making decisions instead of having to focus on where the ball will be placed by your second string setter.

 

My number one advice for any new coach is to pick your best athlete to be your setter. This decision will pay off for you in the long run. Also, some coaches make the mistake of picking tall athletes to be setters, expecting them to make it to the next level just because of their size and that tall setters are in high demand. Yes, true, having a tall setter is great, but the size is just one thing that university coaches look for, and I guarantee it is not at the top of the list. A perfect example of this is Dustin Schneider with Team Canada. If your tall setter isn’t a leader, isn’t fast, doesn’t understand the game, and can’t run a good game, they will not make it far as a setter. Remember, tall does not mean athletic.

 

Another piece of advice is if you are unable to find a stud for a setter, do not worry about picking one right away. Frequently, coaches think they need to identify and start training their setter ASAP. What would be the problem with training 3-4 setters until you find the right fit for your team? This situation happened to me when I was coaching a 14U team. There was no clear player who stepped up and understood what I was expecting from them at the setter position. So, instead of just picking who I thought would be the best, I kept training 3 or 4 players until finally, I chose a setter who started running a great offence and became a top level CCAA setter and helped our province finish 4^th at the last NTCC. The funny thing is that this setter would have been my third choice if I had chosen my setter on the first day. It took this setter two years to take charge and develop into an elite setter. I am glad that I was patient as he’s a great setter now, and like I mentioned above, makes everyone around him better.

 

To sum it all up, consider choosing your best athlete to be your setter. This will help your team, volleyball in your region, and volleyball in the province. Remember that it is not necessary to pull the trigger too quickly when picking who your setter will be. Take your time to make sure that your choice has all the skills needed to be a good, successful setter.

 

I hope this blog will help your decision making while seeking out your new setter. If you have any questions, you can send them to maevolleyball@gmail.com. Also, please email me if there are any topics you would like me to explore in a future blog.

 

Thank you

 

Henri Mallet

Executive Director

MAE Volleyball

 

Henri Mallet has been coaching in the Fredericton area for over 12 years. With great success at the High School and Club level, Henri went on to coach 2 years with the University of Ottawa Women’s program before coming back home to help out with the Men’s V-Reds UNB Program. He also coached many provincial teams at the 16U, 18U and NTCC level. Henri is also a high performance beach volleyball coach.

 

In practice: Here’s a good one: I wish I could take credit for this but the idea comes after I had a volleyball talk with club coach, Kyle Holder. I’ve never seen it done or had the chance to use it, but in theory, it should work. Kyle suggested that if you have 2 tall athletic players that you decide to train as setters at a young age, why not, when running a 6-2 system, have them set in the back row, and have them block in the middle in the front row. This will give extra blocking reps to your tall athletes, while giving them setting reps. If it doesn’t work out as a setter, they could be good blockers with the training they and be able to set out of system balls. And if they continue to set, well, they’ll have great blocking experience and will understand the game a little more. If you have a chance to try this or have thoughts about it, please share them with me!