In volleyball, How do you motivate your team to keep playing when the other team has the momentum?

Question

Everytime the other team gets the momentum, my team seems to fall out of the game and lose. It's all a mental issue, but we seem not to be able to overcome it.

Answer 1

This isn't just in volleyball it's in most sports, a good coach will call time out to try and break the server at least. You must encourage fundamentals during the time out, a good first pass, clean set, and the best spike that you can deliver.

I encourage my team to start swinging away, even into blocks, when things aren't going your way you tend to be too technical and then make more mistakes, "just hit the d**n ball" blunt sometimes is the best way to get your point across.

Answer 2

If the team is not going well, I will call a time out.  If it is late in the game and a crucial point, I will keep it simple.  I will tell them that I called the time out just to break their momentum.  I will tell them to take a deep breath and focus on this next pass.  One good pass, one good set and one good spike means we serve.  I will then ask who wants to make the pass.  Hopefully, everyone will scream at me that they want it.  And my 30 seconds is up.  

I will also use that time to do a minor shift in the serve receive.  If that does not work, I will have a more major shift planned.  

Everything has to be upbeat.  NO NEGATIVE statements or you will lose for sure.  Even if the person has shanked 4 straight, you tell them that this pass will be a good one.

Answer 3

ok here i will help you cheers cheers cheers!!!! make up a cheer that will bring you back up. o wait i just thought of one a total original by me. were all down in the dumps so lets cheer up and kick there butts. lol ok just an idea. sorry i wasnt probly much help

Answer 4

Develop a Winning Attitude

On many volleyball courts, the team that loses is not as skilled as the team that wins.

It is not a curse;

The refs are not out to get you;

and it is not your uniforms.

So fix the problem.

Work hard in the off-season! If your opponents are outworking your girls by 200 hours then your team may beat them 1 year in 10.

Make practices as efficient, challenging, fun, and productive as possible. That's really hard to do; but find or create drills that are challenging, fun, and will help your team with their weaknesses.

Learn the characteristics of great teams!

There is no shortcut!

Answer 5

I understand where you're coming from. Momentum is huge. Stay positive, the more upbeat everyone is the better your chances, you're still in it until the game ends, so every point counts!

Call a time out when they, for example, have a really hot server. This will give her some time to cool off, and she might get a little nervous after the pause.

If you're having a defense problem, shift your D. If you have a cup, move everyone around, which might throw the server off because maybe she was aiming for somebody in particular.

When you're rolling the ball back to their side, take your time, set the game at the pace you want. I hope this helps, and good luck!

Answer 6

This, I promise you, happens to everyone.  What my team does is jokes around and laughs together on the court when we have time.  We tell each other good job and cheer for each other so that we don't get upset.  We all know we are great, its just all in our heads.  That is what it is with your team, you have to keep their meral up.  It is easy, just cheer and clap and tell them that they did good when they mess up.  it works well. =]

Answer 7

a good attitude.

talk to them during the game.

pump them up.

tell them"

good try.

thats okay.

your doing fine.

we can do this.

keep your head up.

dont let them down.

we have a chance.

keep it up,.

Answer 8

try making up cheers everytime ur team does something good and if someone makes a kill on ur team then say things like "good job" or something like that. And if the other team is making points then just talk to ur players and regroup ok

Answer 9

i'm a volleball player myself. therefore i know how it feels when the score starts to fall so when it happens, this is what we do ...we scream to the team,"keep it up" , "we can do it", "let's show them the best we got"!... and sometimes when there is a timeout maybe you could tell the teammates that they should just loosen up and have fun.. keep that smile on your face... let your opponents feel intimidated...just take it easy and enjoy yourselves cause in the end.. the score does not matter.. its the experience...besides.. when you're feeling more relaxed you usually tend to do better...