If I Could Coach Again

If I Could Coach Again

By Terry Pettit

I would speak in a softer voice
I would let players discover
More things for themselves
I would find ways
For players to take care
Of themselves
I would empower my assistants
To speaker in a louder voice
I would recruit a more
Diverse roster
I would control less
And empower more
I would travel
In the preseason
I would encourage each
Team member
To befriend the disabled
The disenfranchised
The people less fortunate
I would take more
Risks in scheduling
On the road
I would purchase
Season tickets and give
Them to people who
Did not have access
I would open practice
To any who wanted to watch
I would fight harder
For opportunities for women
I would risk losing more
Matches in the season
To prepare for the tournament
I would work to develop
The trust that I had with setters
With other positions
I would let go of the game
When I got to home
To my family
I would wait until the next day
To speak to a player
Who had not played her best
I would make the effort to understand
What players are dealing with
Off the court
I would let players know they are
More than their performance
I would share more with other coaches
But this is not going to happen
Because my time has passed
I have left the arena
And I will not coach again.

~Terry Pettit

Injury Prevention

Injury prevention strategies are big business in professional sports. This is due to the cost in terms of treatment and playing time lost when an injury occurs.
But it's not just professional athletes who should be taking injury prevention seriously. Even for an amateur athlete or "just for fun" athlete, many types of injury can be prevented, which in turn prevents time off work and costly treatment sessions.
With this in mind, here are the top 10 commandments for preventing sports and exercise injuries:

--Continue Article HERE: http://exclusive.multibriefs.com/content/10-commandments-of-injury-prevention

Articles of Interest. March 7 2014

12 Daily Do's for Leaders

Student-athletes of all ages often wonder, "What can I do to be a better leader?"

Fortunately leadership opportunities abound and present themselves on a daily basis. While they may be subtle, leaders are usually given at least a dozen opportunities to demonstrate leadership every single day.


Discover 12 Daily Do's for Leaders

Staying Hydrated

Staying hydrated is a constant effort for many swimmers, requiring a hydration plan around exercise and vigilance for signs of dehydration. In young athletes, a 1% dehydration can impair athletic performance (a one-pound weight loss in a 100# athlete). 

A plan for drinking enough fluids throughout the day is the best defense against dehydration. For a recap on how much to drink and when, see this article.

What if you could monitor and correct your own hydration? Ultimately, that is the goal for a self-sufficient athlete—to know your body well enough to make adjustments when things are off.  

Learn About Staying Hydrated

Practice Summary - Thursday, March 5th

3/5/14 - Thurs

Dryland (30 min)
Individual passing/catching against wall (straight on/ crossface/ outside)
Grip strength exercises, upside down grip challenge (r/l)
Ball Side Defense lecture
30 sec wall sit/ 10 pushups all x 4
plyo jumps

Lap Lanes (30 min)
Warmup Laps
sprints (5-to-5s)
Over-Unders
dribbling, dribbling w/ flick pass, dribbling w/ shooting position
partner passing while treading

Polo pool (1hr)
partner passing, triangle passing, triangle high tips, 5 person triangle w/defenders
Shooting
rearbacks
post line shooting/pass and swim
one possession drill (doubles)
scrimmage
sprints

Important Videos and Articles for Wapo

Players and Parents,

Kraken Water Polo players need to take the time to watch all of these videos and to read all of these articles as soon as possible. This will be very important over the season, and we will only be talking very briefly about these things in practice. Especially if you have missed, or will be missing practices over the rest of the season, you need to watch/read these. And a few weeks from now, watch/read them again.

Thank you.

Videos:

CWPA Tips of the Week- With Olympians Wolf Wigo and Bradley Schumacher

Drive Defense and Taking away ball side: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpwD5-PA-lc

Shooting Body Position:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hWGSkDnRHA

Upslide:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duPUZJsxqUA

Faking: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywZxp8gp2QE

Outside Turn, beginner and advanced:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMeTkPfjr6Y

Skip Shot: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIMYdQZFAj8

Backhand:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtJc-H3FOXI

Eggbeater: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OW7B6k_09VQ

Flipping the Ball: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jb1TBVfyTCI

Championship Series-With Olympian Brenda Villa

Getting ball side position on offense: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3Uz0DvpCBg

Sealing off, Separation, Turn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hm9RU8z2Am4

Polo 101 Series- With Coach Farkas of Shaquatics

(Made for a young age team, some physical aspects of wapo not addressed)

Positions: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcP10Gu4gdE

Regular Fouls: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpKnTn8DtpA

Turnovers and Exclusions: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdYTbGOuH-A

Pressure Passing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aOoCJMD4sg

Defense: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGN_2pdsrGQ

Self Worth: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBilW05EfzE

---

Articles:

Articles by Robert Gaughran (a little dated, but the main points are still very valid)

Situational Fundamentals-

http://www.waterpoloplanet.com/HTML_Robert_pages/05_Situation_Fundamentals1.html

http://www.waterpoloplanet.com/HTML_Robert_pages/05_Situation_Fundamentals2.html

Water Polo Commandments-

http://www.waterpoloplanet.com/HTML_Robert_pages/03_Polo_Commandments.html

Defensive Tactics-

http://www.waterpoloplanet.com/HTML_Robert_pages/02_Defensive_Tactics1.html

http://www.waterpoloplanet.com/HTML_Robert_pages/02_Defensive_Tactics2.html

Thank you. I am available if anyone has any questions from these videos/articles. I hope you learned a lot.

Water Polo Men's Classification 5/6 - Hungary v Spain Full Replay - London 2012 Olympic Games

Fun little game to watch. GHSWPA refs don't call quite the same, but a good learning experience anyway!

Dryland Workout 7-17-13: 

Good Luck!!! 

---Don't forget to hydrate during the rest periods---

WARM UP

4 step lunges, 5 pushups, 10 crunches,

30 sec “high knees” running in place,

5 leglifts, 5 squats, 20 side leg lifts,

30 sec perfect pushup position plank,

3 supermans, 3 frog jumps,

10 windmill arms, 10 head roll stretches,

30 sec wall sit, 10 calf raises,

100 Crunches (optional: vary left/right)

[1 min rest]

First Set (no rest, push through)

10 pushups

20 mountain climbers

20 leg lifts

40 sec fast scissor kicks (w/core engaged)

X3

[1 min rest]

Second Set (no rest, push through)

10 squats

14 side lunges (7 Each Leg)

14 step lunges (7 Each Leg)

5 Power Jumps

X3

[1 min rest]

Last Set (Focus on the good burn!!)

6x30Tight Fast Arm circles 

(30/per direction/ per position) 

Engaged, Straight Arms

Do 1-3 circling inwards, then 1-3 again opposite direction.

Position 1- Shoulder width, arms out to front, "zombie"
Position 2- Shoulder height, arms out to side, the letter "T"

Position 3- Shoulder width, arms up vertical, "field goal"

2x10 Supermans (2 sec hold, 30 sec between set)

2x10 Tricep Dips (slow down/fast up, 30 sec between set)

Cool Down

1 Mile Cool Down (descending speed gradually from jogging to slow easy walk. 10 minutes estimated)

5-10 Minutes Full Body Stretching (breathe deep)

Recovery Food/Drink (don't wait more than 30 min after workout for this!)

  

GOOD JOB YOU DID IT!!!!