This update is from after phase three of my summer volleyball adventure. It featured two days worth of observing Long Beach State going through the last of their 2-a-days for the 2013 season. Coach Gimmillaro (now retired) is well known as a very technical coach. He spent many years producing coaching videos and doing clinics all over. His training sessions those two days were no exception.
In particular, ball control technique was a major focus of his in the gym. It all starts with the unique warm-up Long Beach used – both in training and pre-match. Here’s a sample of it:
It definitely didn’t stop there. Coach Gimmillaro was very active and hands-on in working with his players. He got them playing both serve receive passes and dug balls in a very specific fashion which focused on footwork and platform.
I chatted with Coach about the Long Beach sand program implementation (they won the 2013 National Team Championship). We also talked jump float serve mechanics, some volleyball business stuff, and a few other things. He even expressed a willingness to travel to England to run a clinic if there was an interest in doing so (I was coaching Exeter at the time).
Naturally, I got some drill and game ideas from watching training, which I have shared since. It is worth noting, though, that there was very little actual variety in the training sessions. The clear dominant focus was on really working serving and passing – building the foundation for everything else.
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