Online Volleyball Blog

“Champions keep playing until they get it right.” –Billie Jean King

If you sit near the court, you hear it. College coaches love it.

Teammates are inspired by it. So… what is it?

Talking, or “barking”, on the court. On a recent college visit, though I’ve heard it plenty of times before, a player mentioned, “The loud teams always seem to win.”

Loud teams tend to be more successful because they are always communicating with each other, letting each other know what is going on.

Things as simple as:
“Let’s go! Let’s go!”
“One pass – right here, right now”
“Setter’s up – watch the dump.”
“Side out!”
“Three hitters – #4, #10, #8″
“We can do this!”

In addition to heightened communication, loud teams are more intimidating. Who wants to play against a team who is louder than the crowd? It’s a daunting prospect.

If a team, however, is quiet by nature, they still must have at least one barker. I suggest that the libero and the setter be the two loudest players because the libero has the best view of the court and the setter always knows who her hitters and needs to let them know to be ready to swing.

In all, every team needs a barker, someone to motivate and fire up the team on the court. Be that player.

And remember, hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard.

Kenzie Aries