Coaching Volleyball 2.0 CVB2.0 Special Issue 1 | Page 9

Coaching Eye
Training Your Coaching Eye:
Evaluating Video
By Giuseppe Vinci, Founder, Hudl VolleyMetrics
W
“
e always talk to our players about their eye
work, and try to get them to look at the right
things,” says Hudl VolleyMetrics founder, Gi-
useppe Vinci, “We never ask if we, as coaches, are looking
at the right things when we evaluate video and break it
down with them.”
So began a conversation between Vinci and three assis-
tant coaches, Wisconsin’s Gary White, USC’s JJ Van Niel,
and USAV’s Luka Slabe. Vinci asked each to evaluate the
same video clip and comment on what they would point
out to the player in the clip. Their comments give insights
into their eye work, i.e. where are their eye’s drawn, which
is a window into what they emphasize about skill develop-
ment and performance.
Serve Reception:
Gary White: I’ll look at the feet first in the precontact part
of the pass: is the passer balanced and still. Then, is her
platform stable and her move simple; does she stay with her
follow through for half a second. I try to see what she is
looking at in analyzing the server’s movement as that tells
me how much the passer is ‘reading’ what’s going to happen
with the serve. I don’t spend much time looking at where
the ball goes because some passers will pass a flat ball, some
with an arc, but I can tell by how they are moving and play-
ing the ball where it is going to go.
J.J. Van Niel: Our first look in serve receive is seam
responsibility and working the angles so that our passers can
pass on their left. Next, we evaluate the platform; we know
Coaching Volleyball 2.0 | 9