Kilmarnock Volleyball Development Project

Stuart Edgar from Kilmarnock Volleyball Club applied for a Club Development Award to help with the cost of buying a video camera and was successful.  Below is the first of the articles from Kilmarnock Volleyball club which demonstrates the benefits to the club.

Development of a Junior Player

Stewart CaldwellStewart Caldwell is a 19 year old middle blocker playing his first season with the club and playing his first season in the Scottish first division.

Process

The video equipment that we purchased with the SVA development grant has allowed us to record all of our games for analysis.  This has allowed each player to be given a detailed and accurate statistical analysis of their performance in a number of key areas of performance.  This analysis of performance highlighted that Stewart Caldwell’s kill and efficiency percentage were lower than would be liked. 

Further analysis of the recording of the matches demonstrated that Stewart’s timing was late giving the opposition blockers time to form a strong block against his attack.  This information was used to plan practice sessions designed to help Stewart develop better timing for his attack.

Prior to the practice sessions Stewart was given a compilation of his attacks on video so that he could see the flaw in his performance and information was given to him on what changes he should make to his timing.

During the practice sessions the video recording equipment was also used so that Stewart got both verbal feedback from the coach and also visual feedback quickly after performance.  This allowed small changes to be made to his performance as he had a visual picture of what he was doing.

During practice the camera was placed at a different angle than during matches and this also highlighted a further issue with his performance which was that he was too tight to the setter when jumping.  This information was again used to show Stewart what the problem was and he was again able to get both visual and verbal feedback in order to improve his performance.

Advantages of using video equipment

The video equipment was extremely valuable in the development of this player’s performance in this aspect of performance in a number of ways:

  1. We were able to get statistical evidence of performance.
  2. We were able to watch the players’ performance repeatedly in order to identify his weakness.
  3. We were able to make a compilation video of the players’ performance so that he could be shown the flaw in his performance.
  4. We were able to video the player in practice so that he could see his performance and make changes during the session.

Number of sessions recorded

The information was recorded over three first division matches and the equipment was used for this specific purpose during two training sessions.

Feedback

Feedback was provided to the player both verbally from the coach’s observations and visually using the screen on the camera and also a laptop.  The player also received feedback from his own perceptions of his performance and the outcome of his actions.

Results

As a result of this process Stewart has become a much more effective attacker.  He has demonstrated this in his last two matches for the club were he has had hitting figures of 50% kill, 40% efficiency and 57% Kill, 57% efficiency.

For more information on the Club Development Grants please click here