Dan Mickle’s distinction is useful for volleyball coaches: pressure isn’t intensity. Pressure pulls attention toward outcomes and consequences (“don’t miss,” “this one matters”). Intensity is high engagement in execution – clear cues, quick resets, and tight rhythm. The trap is that pressure looks like good training (noise, urgency, score). Unfortunately, it often produces the exact end-game behaviors we don’t want: rushing, forcing, tightening up, and playing not to lose.
If you want game-like, build intensity with clarity and structure, not consequences. Give players one job per rep (serve seam 1/6, pass balanced, swing high hands), protect routines (pre-serve, post-error reset), and let constraints create difficulty. Wash scoring is a clean tool here. It makes reps matter while keeping attention on execution rather than punishment or coach emotion. (See also Thinking differently about wash scoring).
Here’s a simple version: start every rep at 22–23 and play a wash to 3. The down team must win two in a row to score; the up team scores on any rally win. Require a declared serve target and seam responsibility before the whistle, then enforce a short reset window after each rally (breath + cue, then go). It will feel intense because the environment is tight and meaningful, not because you manufactured pressure.
Quick check: after the segment, can players tell you what they were executing, and did mistakes lead to better resets or more emotion? If they can’t name the cue, you probably trained pressure.
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