This weekend I participated in Pat Powers’ volleyball clinic as an assistant coach in Chicago. About 60 eager volleyball players spent 11.5 hours over a full weekend of non-stop solid talk, drills, game strategy and more by non other than volleyball legend Pat Powers. I’ve participated in a few of his clinics several years ago. Coach Pat breaks down the game using a non-nonsense and step-by-step approach that works for junior players and adults alike. In this session, about 15 adults participated which was unusually high number for his clinics. Four adults were club and school coaches seeking to hone their skills to help their kids. Again, this continue to validates the trend of more and older adults seeking to an active lifestyle pursuing the sport at a more competitive level. Then, there was Diego who, for several years now, flies in from Puerto Rico for this clinic and to visit his aunt. Diego is a 14 year old 6’2″ who plays in the roster of one of the top national teams. This kid can hit, set and play… tremendous raw talent with a great future in the sport.
During the clinic, Pat covers just about every aspect of the game emphasizing passing and hitting. He covers serving, defense, blocking and setting, but not to extend of passing and hitting. On overall strategy and gaining that elusive competitive edge, Pat focuses on anticipating the next play or playing the game 1.5 seconds into the future. This is, players shall never play (or follow) the ball in motion but rather focus on the player who is contacting the ball next. This will force you to react to bodies and earn you some precious time to make your next move. As with any team sport, you need to react to the players, avoid thinking and anticipate the next move.
Even after several years of following Pat’s teaching, I continue to appreciate his style and always leave with more helpful tips. I highly recommend this clinic to anyone interested in taking their game to a new level. Pat travels all over the country throughout the year for this clinic, so check the schedule for a clinic near you.
Hello, I’ve already signed up for the clinic, so it’s nice to hear some positive feedback about it! Btw, who is this Diego? What team does he play for? Any other info? It’s so inspiring to hear about young talent. One wonders what other things he’s done to improve his game! I’m excited for the clinic!
You will not be dissapointed. Be prepared to absorb a lot of information in a short amount of time. You do not have enough practice or conditioning drills to fully grasp all the subtle movements, but you’ll have a strong foundation. Many drills are with pairs, and so if you know someone at your level, you’ll likely retain more. As for Diego, he is a puerto rican kid that plays in one of the Junior elite teams in San Juan. If stays focus, he probably can be in the Olympic qualifiers. He has a great family that supports him and totally into the sport. All the best and remember… think ball control 24/7!
Hi… we were considering this for our 12 year old fairly athletic daughter. She has not had a lot of experience in volleyball but will be going to a week long volleyball camp prior to this if we choose to do it. Do you think it would be too much for a fairly novice player or would she get something out of it? She has a high interest in this sport and is usually fairly attentive. Thanks for your input
I wouldn’t do it. Pat assumes that players have a fair amount of knowledge, not only understanding of the fundamentals, but mechanics and game strategy. He spends a good share of time on correcting mechanics of each movement, especially passing and hitting, that your daugther may not absorb. From a team and overall exposure to the sport, only you would know based on her personality, enthusiasm and level of concentration. My initial though after I read your comment was to relate to a 5-6 year old kid visiting Disney World. Will the kid get something from it? Sure. Is it enough to be worth it? Maybe not. You mention that she has a high interest for the sport, and this is great. I encourage her to be in programs with strong individual conditioning and mechanical training (i.e. lots of ball touches per session) with a good coach. This will payoff big to discover her competitive potential or her love for this great sports. I wish her and your family the best! I give her one solid season in a volley camp program and then go for Pat’s clinic.
We just had an experience with Mr. Power’s clinic in Minnesota. Unfortunately, my two daughters (14 and 17) felt that the clinic was a total waste of time. In the first day, they spent 5 of the 8 hour day SITTING ON THEIR BUTTS. Not even kidding. Every skill that is taught in this clinic was in direct opposition to what the kids have learned from their High School programs. And it’s not just our program. It’s all High School Programs. This clinic is meant for a top level player, headed for Division I or Olympic volleyball. It doesn’t make any sense to send any kid in high school to this clinic, unless they are a top level volleyball player trying to find that edge to move them forward.
MZ – I’m sorry to hear about your kids’ experience. I have heard in the past that some experienced players do spend more than their share of listening through concepts and that some of the mechanics are not typical of many clubs. I hope that you share your perspective with Pat, as I’m sure that he will appreciate this. I do believe that bringing a new perspective is always helpful as it helps individual players fine tuned how apply their physical and athletic ability for ball control and performance. There is no one perfect rule to achieve optimal performance. I know many players have found their sweet spot applying Pat’s method.
Myself (57 year old player and coach) and my two sons, 13 and 15 just returned from the Pat Powers Clinic this weeked in Cherry Hill New Jersey. All three of us loved it and I’m sure we have all greatly improved our volleyballl games and my coaching skills.
Yes, we did spend some time sitting while Pat explained skills and techniques. but, it was certainly less than 10% of the time. most of the time was spent running drills to reinforce each skill and some time palying survivor.
I saw definite improvements in abilities of just about all players during the weekend. except for possibly a couple real newbies.
I will comment more tommorow. We have to leave to play a volleyball match tonight.
Nice to see someone from Cherry Hill posting already. John it was great to see you out there with your sons at the clinic. Volleyball is such a great game to enjoy as a family.
I was one of the coaches working at the clinic this weekend at CHerry Hill. It was my first camp working with Pat Powers but it’s so hard to imagine how any of his camps – which essentially are the same at each location – could involve 5 hours of sitting in an 8 hour time frame. If averaged for the days at Cherry Hill I would say that a maximum of 10 to 15 minutes per hour were spent with Pat teaching and the kids asking questions while the rest of the time was spent in drills and with a great deal of feedback being given on each of the skills being taught. As an exercise physiologist and a guy pretty knowledgeable in motor learning and training I can tell you that the ratio of teaching, drilling and feedback given to the campers was pretty outstanding. This was a very hands-on camp.
I have coached women’s college volleyball, girls juniors, boys varsity high school, and boys juniors for several years and have also attended some of the top clinics in the country, including the Gold Medal Squared clinic and although Pat may have some different ideas on certain skills than some other coaches I can honestly say that I felt that just about all of the skills being taught were highly transferrable to the court and made almost immediate performance improvements transpire as the players learned the skills. Whether the players were advanced girls juniors or experienced AA/Open level club players or pretty obvious beginners I could see actual learning and improvements taking place in what amounted to a 24 hour period of time. This is impressive regardless of whether you believe or follow a different system of coaching.
Being teachable and open to learning should be a process that happens until the day you die and I would encourage people to be open to breaking or challenging their dearly held coaching paradigms. After all, how many times has Tiger Woods gone back to the drawing board to change his swing only to come back an even better player?
Happy Holidays!
Hello Pat it was nice meeting you at the clinic.
My sons and I played a volleyball match Sunday night after the clinic.
My sons played better and older son was exited about how many kills he got by reading the block better.
I definitely got an immediate improvement in my defense and my offense. I was much better at reading the hitters and the blockers. Also, Pat’s suggestions on communications were easy to apply immediately and effective.
I am going to have a much harder time correcting my swing and my approach. It will take a while to re-program my muscle memory to correct these skills. When I try to swing using what Pat taught me I feel like I am hitting with my left hand. This is why I think it would be better for young players to learn these skill earlier and not wait until they have developed bad habits.
I agree with Osaez though and would wait until a player has at least 1 years experience in a good volleyball program.
We will definitely attend next year.
I am also one of the court coaches (for many years) for the NJ camp that Pat runs. I must say that I have seen many camps, and I will have to agree with Pat. 10 to a MAXIMUM of 15 minutes per hour spent talking. Kids and adults alike seem to be worn down by the end of day 1.
That being said, I’ve been employing these techniques from the day I learned them. I’ve also employed them with the girls I coach in my club and in my high school.
Do not confuse what everyone else does with progressive teaching styles. What we were taught when we were kids? Lift with your legs. Watch great liberos. What do they do? A commen above states that it is for D I or olympic. I would say that it uses those concepts. THey are treid and true. Watch the weaker players in the camps progress to be stronger, more confident, more able players after the first day.
I can speak for certain that if players stick with it, they are better players. I do not have any olympic or D I candidates on my teams, but I can tell you that all of them are better with these techniques than they would have been anyway.
Also, I am CAP Level II certified. You’ll notice if you piece it together that was USA Volleyball’s training program provides and what Pat provides are similiar, but teaching the same thing (and even the same thing the ‘old school teaches)…which is quiet platform, little arm movement and stable base. Those concepts have been throughout time.
I continue to support his camps as an assistant because i have seen when you embrace the technique and teach it to young players the outcome is significantly better. Also, remember, every player is different and what one player has working, another player may never get to work.
Good luck and I hope to see you all in NJ next year.
I just got back from taking my daughter to a Pat Powers VB clinic. We both thought it was a great experience and learned some valuable lessons. He gives a lot of information in two days but Pat and his team have the players working on the drills and making sure they're done correctly throughout the 2 days. I would highly recommend this clinic to all coaches and players.
I went to the volleyball clinic at West High School. I really liked it, but I would like to learn more about overhand serving and setting.
Thanks.