Volleyball 2005 Preseason Journal Part 3: Mary Beth Moore
8/12/2005 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
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EDITOR'S NOTES: This is the third in a series of daily journals written by Crimson Tide volleyball players. The journals will give a first-hand account of their experiences as they prepare for the 2005 season, and give an inside look at Alabama Volleyball.
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Well...today was our third day of preseason practice and it was also the first day of two-a days!!! Even though our whole wasn’t able to be there for the morning practice (due to finals), those of us who were definitely made our time worth while. For me, the morning started off by heading down to the training room for a little ankle tape. After that, I made my way back to the gym where we began our first practice session of the day. This morning practice was a short, fundamentally based practice. We broke up into groups by position and started our training. The “thugs” (middle hitters) went with Coach Redding, the setters went with Coach Green, and the outsides and libero-defensive specialists types went with Coach Hinterstocker. I of course fit in to the last group mention. We worked on the fundamentals of passing technique...feet first, midline, knee level, weight shift, and freeze!!! After a while we all combined again for a few reps to end practice. Immediately following practice we had our lunch delivered to us which was by the way my favorite...Roly Poly. So, we took our lunches and went home to get some rest before the afternoon session.
The afternoon practice session began with a warm-up that got us moving right off the bat. Basically, we had four people on each side of the net, and the ball had to cross the net 30 consecutive times without hitting the floor, for us to be finished. This drill had to be accomplished in 15 minutes or else we had a consequence. Thankfully we completed the drill with about 10 minutes to spare...which by the way I’m sure was record time! After warm-ups, Jesper (our strength coach) led us in stretching to help relieve some sore muscles.
The emphasis of tonight’s practice was team defensive development....so guess what we did? You guessed it! DEFENSE!! First, we took some individual reps just to get started and then we moved on to two and three person defense drills, just to get used to playing beside each other. After defense, it was on to a little bit of passing. So, the outsides, and liberos went with Coach Hinterstocker to do a drill called the “Passing Pyramid.” It’s kind of hard to explain, but in simple terms, you start at the bottom of the “pyramid” and work your way up. To move up, you have to pass well, and if you don’t pass well you move down. Hopefully that makes a little bit of sense. It seems really simple, but it can be extremely mentally challenging. You have to let go of mistakes very quickly and move on to the next ball. I was extremely proud of how we worked in this drill. All groups got through it in less than 30 minutes....something I don’t think has ever been done. After working hard for about 2 hours, we were rewarded by getting to play a 6-on-6 game for the remainder of practice. Both sides competed very hard, and it was a great end to a great day of practice! After practice we all headed over to the training room to get into the cold tank to keep from being sore tomorrow. It was a very long day, and I am extremely tired!! But I know that all this hard work and all the hard work we put in over the summer is going to pay off. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but one day...and it will be when we need it the most. We are gonna do big things tide...BIG THINGS!! So sweet dreams Volleytiders! Oh yeah...and ROLL TIDE!!!!!
Mary Beth Moore
