Experts in action: How to teach volleyball in Schools. By Gylton Da Matta Ph.D. The physical educator is the movement expert in schools. As such, much attention to the long-term movement skills acquisition must be dedicated to physical education classes to assure quality of teaching and learning of both simple and complex skills to all students in school settings.

THOUSANDS OF VOLLEYBALL CHILDREN SAY, THANK YOU! Special thanks to Georgia Southern University and special congratulations to University of Northern Colorado. Our purpose is to explore best praxis of teaching volleyball in schools. We also want to create an opportunity of sharing ideas and disseminating motor learning research and principles of coaching across the spectrum of expertise and ability. THOUSANDS OF VOLLEYBALL CHILDREN SAY, THANK YOU!

The reality of PE… no “buts” ! Physical Education is one of the most important subjects in school. Yet…it faces many challenges: The PE teacher is the movement expert! The school overloads the PE teacher! Coaching and teaching go hand to hand! Students love to learn volleyball: Multi skill levels, males/ females, multiracial, multi ethnic but…it is only effective if teachers know how to teach! Block classes, high student/teacher ratio and some times low resources (NASPE, 2008; FIEP, 2008) Physical Education is one of the most important subjects in school. Yet…it faces many challenges: The PE teacher is the movement expert! But… he or she are treated as blue color, second class citizen in the academe disciplines. The school overloads the PE teacher! But…he or she have the reputation of working on a breeze or doing the easy job. Coaching and teaching go hand to hand! But… role conflicts state that one is better that the other, when in fact, they are the same. Students: Multi skills, multi gender, multiracial, multi ethnic but… in many cases, PE has only one class per week.

Interactive Physical Education Curriculum: Changes with the new rules (Da Matta,1998; FIVB, 2009) The game is faster and more enjoyable to watch. There is a better balance between offense and defense. Overall more participation in all ages at all levels. Parents and spectators understand the game more. New students require a multilevel planning and deliverance of volleyball tasks across k-12. Videos, video games and televised games have increase volleyball exposure (FIVB, 2009). Volleyball is for every student. Even though some skills are complex, overall volleyball can be played with at least three skills mastered.

Play require skills! Skills demand pre-requisites… Lancebol (Catch & Throwing concepts) Floor-ball (Low body posture & striking) Change (Inclusion, movement & attention) Introduction of Spike, serve and manipulative skills (Fiedler, 1972) Introductions of setting, passing and ball control in modified games that allow long rallies (Baacke, 1992; Sawula, 1992)

Volleyball is ideal for schools: Pedagogical value is high. Ultimate team sport. Non violent, inclusive and dynamic. High sportsmanship & etiquette Co-ed, multiethnic, diverse, multi level and multi skills sport (1v1; 2v2; 3v3; 4v4; 5v5; 6v6). Modified games; developmentally appropriate The popularity of volleyball has increase in part due exposure in the media, but essentially because it is a fun, sociable and challenging sport to play. Volleyball is a sport for everyone. It can be played with the whole body and a person can utilize all parts of the body to play. Volleyball is a sport for a lifetime. Children, adults and elderly people play volleyball passionately. As a non contact team sport, volleyball promotes health, recreation, socialization and integration both indoors and outdoors as well. Volleyball is a sport for the school context as it develops competitiveness, problem solving, critical thinking, positive thinking, anticipation and conflict resolution. In essence, volleyball elicits a holistic and harmonically association of fitness, wellness and skills. Overall volleyball develops basic physical abilities such as hand-eye coordination, speed of reaction, agility, flexibility, strength, rhythm, aerobic resistance, dominance, bilateral coordination and asymmetric functional integration (Sage,

Various Modalities of Volleyball: Young-old, men-women, able-disabled. Indoor open and challenger (FIVB, 2009). Grass volleyball and mud-volleyball Sand volleyball or beach volleyball. Family volleyball Seating volleyball (Paralympics) Volleyball offers a continuum of task-specific movement forms that ultimately facilitates curriculum and instruction for K-12 and beyond. However, content knowledge is critical as well as content pedagogical knowledge (Shulman, 1985).

Super Volleyball: Mini, Regular, Giant Volleyball for PE Classes Mini-Volleyball and its variations (Via Volleyball, USA; Viva Volleyball, Brazil; Kids Volley, Denmark; Mini-Volley, Japan, Netherland and Germany). Regulation volleyball is fast, unique and fun (Challenger & Body scale net for teenagers). Giant volleyball appropriate for students with special needs. Mini-Volley consists of a thorough progression of teaching volleyball according to the developmental stages of children 7-12 years of age (e.g. Kids Volleyball in DENMARK).

Progressions, cues and metaphoric cues (Rink, 2006; Berstein, 1957) Must facilitate flow of movement. Three chunks of information. Associated with context of sport. Meaningful and age appropriate for learner. Rhythmic and specific to skill Can be customized to each learner Simple, fun and objective.

Assessment: Rubrics towards Expertise (Matrix of skills) Playing (Proficient skills, tactical knowledge and enjoyment of the game.) Service (Process & product) Spiking (Process & product) NASPE setting test (Product) NASPE passing test (Product) Ball control (Process and product) Peer evaluation for game play. SCPEAP, 2009 South Carolina Physical Education Assessment Program.

Sports and Technology: Playing volleyball for a lifetime Technology, ergonomics and methodology makes learning volleyball easier to play, to teach and to play. Pay attention for digital divide. Learning complex skills is possible through deliberate practice and deliberate play over a long period of time (Ericsson et al., 1993). Elite coaches utilize technology daily so athletes are habituated with such tools (Da Matta, 2004)

Practice with the Brain in Mind ( Nerve system/ sensors; matter over mind) Attention Concentration Decision making process Visual perception Verbal rehearsal Problem solving Anticipation Creativity Self-talk; talk aloud & memory Modeling (Vickers, 2001; Rink, 2006)

Volleyball Physical Abilities Gross and fine motor skills. Hand-eye coordination, visual search skills and multiple manipulative abilities. Dynamic, static and recovered balance. Spatial awareness, movement intelligence. Rhythm and flow. Communication and body expression. Core strength and relaxation. Speed, explosiveness and agility. (Broer, 1973; Seidel et al., 1980; Da Matta, 2004)

What technology tools do expert teachers use? Keep it simple! Timing devices (many) Video recording systems (many) Motion picture films (many) Video capture soft wares (few) Radar or laser velocity measuring device (most at professional level). Simulators and projectors (elite level) Statistics software (high school; JO’s) (Da Matta, 2004)

Practical implications: Use what is available and still keep it simple! Lower costs Feasibility Accessibility Maintenance Practicability Expertise with technology Multicultural sports Developmentally savvy strategies

Learning stages / skills acquisition (Fitts & Posner, 1957; Rink, 2006) Movement repertoire and body control. Familiarization with ball and game situations. Immediate feedback (Magill, 2004) Individual technical development (Da Matta, 2004). Tactical development (McPherson, 1998). Development of physical abilities * Proficiency of sport specific skills. Nature of skills: open vs closed and block vs random practice (Rink, 2006) Cognitive, associative and autonomous phases (Fitts & Posner, 1967)

Teaching Complex Skills In Volleyball Skills acquisition vision 80% (Visual feedback) Motivation to play (Play, learn skills, play) Early initiation & late specialization (Equipment and gear) Injuries prevention (Padding and treatment) Quality of instruction and coaching (Storage long term memory) Positive environment (Fun to see yourself) Methods of conditioning (Testing and Assessment; Fitnessgramm) Athletes’ wellness…successful experience!

What to consider in modern training?

Volleyball specific conditioning ( Neuro-muscular system/ sensors) Agility drills Rhythmic runs Movement patterns rehearsal Court specific sprints with technical moves Jumping and landing drills Temporal-spatial drills Flexibility and relaxation drills Muscular resistance drills

Deliberate practice theory – Sports pedagogy in action! Mass drills, mimics & modeling. Volley-aesthenics (calisthenics, aesthetics) Movement without ball Individual movement with ball and bounce Adjust the rules, multiple contacts, no bounce Altering the speed of the game Partner drill – Modified games Real game with little interferences Once they learn the skills…LET THEM PLAY!

Jumping Program: Frequency, intensity, type & time (Weineck, 2001) Volleyball jumping movements. Static blocks plus transitional movements. Elastics, steps and mini-obstacles on mats. Running patterns and jumps variations with ball. Planned Pliometrics (Boxes and sand) Trampoline (mini-tramp for conditioning and springboard for technical development) Dumbbells and foot weights for refined strength Medicine-balls and basketballs

Principles of Learning & Training (Weineck, 2001; Rink, 2006) Change the environment to facilitate learning. Use special implements to elicit performance improvement. Use strategies to boost athletes’ confidence. Formative assessment as a positive coaching strategy. Simple to complex, individual to collective. Less is more. Maximize athletes’ involvement in practice.

Principles of Sports Training (Matveiev, 1999; Bompa, 2006) Principle of Individuality Principle of Physiological Adaptation Principle of Overload Principle of Interdependence Volume-Intensity Principle of Continuity Principle of Specificity Principle of Contextual Interference

Planning of Training for Schools Early initiation & late specializations (Da Matta, 2004) Stages of: Basic formation; specialization; performance; maintenance. Stage of: Pre-control; control; utilization; proficiency (Graham, 2009). Mesocycles of preparation, competition and transition of performance (Bompa, 2006)

Which high tech did experts use?  TV/ VCR & CAMCORDER. Accelerometer: No Force platforms: No Force transducers: strain gauge: No Pressure sensors Electromyography: Yes Bio impedance: %G : Yes Pedometer: No Seismographs: No Heart rate monitors: Yes Videos stats: Yes VHS/VCR: Yes…a lot!

Resources: FIVB Volleyball Coaches Manual, 2000 2nd Edition Thanks, Gylton Da Matta Ph.D. gdamatta@cahs.colostate.edu or gdamatta7@gmail.com

Main Volleyball References: Confederação Brasileira de Volleyball (2009) Women’s volleyball roster. Players’ Profile and Ary Graça Filho’s Strategic Development Plan for Brazilian Volleyball. Retrieved March 28, 2009 from http://www.cbv.com.br. / www.fivb.ch Da Matta, G. (2004) The influence of deliberate practice and social support systems on the development of expert and intermediate women volleyball players in Brazil. Dissertation published, University of South Carolina. Ericsson, K. A., Krampe, R. T., Tesch-Römer, C. (1993). The role of deliberate practice in the acquisition of expert performance. Psychological Review, 100, 3, 363-406. Graham, G., Holt-Hale, S., Parker, M. (2008) Children moving; A reflective approach to teaching Physical Education. 3rd Ed. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield. International Federation of Physical Education (FIEP, 2008) The reality, meaning and significance of contemporary Physical Education. Rink, J. (2006).Teaching Physical Education for Learning. (5th Ed.) Times. St. Louis, MO: Mosby College Publishing. Sawula, L. (1992/ 2000). Growth and development principles for male and female volleyball players. FIVB Operational Manual IV - Extended Theoretical Information. (pp. 122-139) Lausanne, Switzerland: FIVB.