Athlete Tips to Help Address Playing Time Issues
As the club season is firmly underway, some athletes may already be feeling stress related to playing time. Whether it is a lack of court time during tournaments or being put into positions the athlete is not comfortable or interested in, issues with playing time are unfortunately not a new circumstance to youth sports. As it may be frustrating to have to sit on the bench and watch your teammates get most of the opportunities on the court or be inserted into a match in a role or position where you lack experience or confidence, there are strategic ways to handle improving your situation. The objective here is to be opportunistic as opposed to feeling defeated. Here are some helpful tips to manage playing time issues:
1. Before addressing playing time issues with your coaches or club director, it is critical to have a firm understanding of the club philosophy. In youth sports it is important that club organizations identify opportunities that are either focused upon performance from the perspective of competition or if they are designed to help young athletes develop and master skills. Performance-based programs are typically in it to compete and win, which ultimately means that the best personnel will be offered the majority of the playing time. On the other hand, if the philosophy is to develop and master skills, then the true objective should be to balance all opportunities so that each participant gains similar experience overall. Some clubs can and do both simultaneously very well. Others I have seen struggle with this balance or in clearly articulating their true intentions. Knowing these details about the intent of your club team and coaching leadership will be helpful in addressing playing appropriately and in alignment with the club philosophy.
2. It is important to know how approachable your coaches are with this circumstance. Whether or not your coaches have set the tone about playing time from the start, I believe that good coaches allow opportunities for athletes to discuss playing time from a constructing perspective. However, the athlete must accept that although you are creating a dialogue about the issue, it does not always lead to an immediate increase in opportunities and may create some added stress having to face the reality of necessary skill development that needs to occur. What should happen as a result of these conversations is that the athlete has a better understanding of the situation with opportunities to compete and earn increased playing time in the future as skills and experience increase.
3. As an athlete, I firmly believe it is okay to expect that coaches provide you evidence that helps them determine what personnel get on the floor. I don’t think it is okay for any coach to simply tell an athlete they are not playing because someone else is better or has more experience. Good leadership and fair training environments will allow athletes to compete for their opportunities in practice. With that, coaches should be able to provide evidence in the way of data and stats that help highlight the productivity and outcomes across all athletes and positions. Certainly, the data is not the only factor that goes into the coach’s decision to play certain personnel as other elements such as leadership, effort, being a good teammate, and offering specific skills or tasks at a given time can weight more heavily. Be sure to understand how data is collected, calculated, and what that information means to the coach. Not only will this help you have a clearer picture about playing time, but it will also help to improve your understanding of the game better in the way of your volleyball I.Q.
4. It is important for athletes to be in control of their experience when it comes to the dynamics that are the triad of coach-athlete-parent. It is far to easy for some parents to insert themselves into the equation without the full picture or understanding of what is happening within the team, the training gym, and even with conversations between the coach and their daughter/son athlete. As an athlete, it is important that you clearly share information gained from your coaches with parents so that they can get the fullest and most accurate picture possible. If a parent wants to meet with the coach, be proactive to make that happen in a manner that includes you as part of that meeting. I have seen the gamut regarding how clubs and coaches handle these discussions. Some don’t allow it at all. Some are too loose in the lines they draw. Others are very strategic and intentional in ways that keep communication access and lines open, yet assertive and clear. I am not one to believe that communication should not be allowed. Rather, if conversations are requested, I feel it is best that all parties are present and involved when a parent feels the need to insert their voice and opinion.
5. Knowing your strengths and areas for improvement are critical. As a former college coach and recruiting coordinator, I was always assessing the complete athlete and the level of versatility they had to offer. If we could find athletes that could play multiple positions at our level, that was always a big bonus. Having hitters that could pass and play six rotations was sometimes the key. Additionally, identifying athletes that could be role players to come in and serve strategically or play defense for a couple of rotations, that sometimes was the priority. The point being, even though you may not be getting the amount of playing time you want, there are still many ways that you can grow your skill set and be relevant to the success of your team. Being an athlete that is willing, prepared, and has a broader experience base elevates that individual to be chosen for a variety of roles if needed and ultimately increases your odds of getting on the floor much more. Find opportunities to work on critical skills such as serving and passing. Look for more reps in skills that you may not get to do very often such as developing into a versatile attacker that can swing from anywhere on the floor. Again, as you do this you will increase your overall skill set as well as continue to grow your volleyball I.Q. as you put yourself in varied situations and opportunities. Asking your coaches to assess your overall skill set and finding opportunities to improve all-around will be to any athlete’s benefit.
Communication is a big factor here. It is never okay for an athlete to stay quiet when stressed or emotional about their experience. Simply complaining is not the answer however. Be strategic and proactive about the communication with your coaches and all the outcomes of the dialogue to lead to solutions to keep you on task, improving, and creating more opportunities for yourself.