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Terry Pettit Coaching

Deep Volleyball Thoughts

(with apologies to Jack Handy)

When the second official comes over to tell you that you have already used your timeouts, tell him that you thought they were free, like molecules in the air. It won’t keep you from getting a yellow card, but it will give him something to think about for the rest of the match.

Do you know how some players keep hitting the ball into the bottom of the block, over and over? It reminds me of that Greek guy who kept trying to push a rock up a hill that kept rolling back on him. Except the Greek guy wasn’t on scholarship.

You want to have real fun with you team? Turn in the wrong lineup. Flip-flop a middle attacker with an outside hitter. You can’t believe the look in the player’s eyes when one of them says, “Here we go again.”

Talent and The Secret Life of Teams – review by Brian Begor

by Brian Begor as posted on RichKern.com

If you are a student of the game of volleyball, as I believe all good coaches are, you no doubt have a proliferation of books on coaching volleyball and leadership on your bookshelf. As I thumb through mine, I can’t help but notice that while different, they are somehow all the same.

Terry Pettit’s new book, Talent and The Secret Life of Teams, is definitely not the same. With chapters titled The Coyote Coach, Snakes, Recruits and Serendipity, you immediately realize “this isn’t your grandfathers Oldsmobile”. Because Pettit is first and foremost a writer, this is a coaching book where nothing gets lost in translation. His words are his own, and as you read, his greatest strength.

What I Miss Most About Coaching

Chapter from Talent and the Secret Life of Teams

Not a day goes by since I left Nebraska volleyball that someone doesn’t ask me, “Do you miss it?” I could respond by feigning a blank look and saying, “Miss what?” But that would be unfair because even though I am asked the question all the time, it is fresh to them. My usual reply, is that “of course there are aspects of coaching that I really miss, but what pleases most is that I get tremendous pleasure and satisfaction from watching a great coach (John Cook) and his talented team continue to have great success building a tradition of opportunity and excellence.”