Tips to Help a Volleyball Team Recover from a Loss

  • February 26, 2018

Like any sport, volleyball is all about wins and losses. The reality is every volleyball team loses games from time to time. However, some athletes find it hard to recover from a big loss. Dealing with a big loss can become a real challenge for volleyball players who used to win matches.

A big loss may have a huge negative impact on young volleyball players. The problem is that young athletes may begin to feel depressed and make mistakes on the court after a big loss. It’s fair to say that a loss negatively affects a volleyball team’s spirit. And of course, coaches as well as parents have to do something about this. The question is – what needs to be done to help a volleyball team recover from a big loss? Now, it’s time to come up with the answer!

When a team loses a very important match, coaches as well as parents need to support volleyball players and motivate them to train hard and improve their results. In this blog, we’ll explain to readers how to help a volleyball team recover from a big loss and get ready for the next game in the best possible way.

Take Things Easy

It’s clear that a big loss is a chock for every volleyball player. However, a volleyball team should be able to deal with a shock. This has already happened and the game is lost. If a coach takes things easy, a loss will motivate athletes to train hard. As a result, volleyball players will do everything they can to do great job on the court in the future and win the next game.

Athletes are likely to fall into despair if their coach feels nervous. In this case, things will get even worse. First and foremost, volleyball players need to take a deep breath and try to forget about a loss.

It makes sense for volleyball players to take a short break and relax after a big loss. It would be nice for athletes to forget about volleyball for a short period of time. After a break, volleyball players need to return back to training and continue working hard. Try to Stay Positive

Oftentimes, coaches choose to focus on things that volleyball players did wrong during the game. Actually, it’s a mistake that so many volleyball coaches make again and again. Concentrating only on things that went wrong during the match is obviously something that doesn’t help volleyball players recover from a big loss.

It’s crucial for volleyball players to stay positive after a big loss. That’s the reason why a coach should tell volleyball players about the things they did well during the game first. Even if a team has lost the game volleyball players usually do many good things on the court. A coach should always pay a close attention to such things.

A coach needs to focus on strengths of a team when volleyball players have lost the match. By doing so, a coach will be able to create a positive and supportive environment for his/her team. When a coach gives a positive feedback to a volleyball team, he/she motivates volleyball players to improve their skills and demonstrate better results on the court.

It’s interesting to know that all great volleyball coaches always express thanks to their teams after a match. Actually, this is a great way to support a volleyball team. Let’s assume that a volleyball team has won the match. In this case, volleyball players would be happy to hear good words from their coach. On the other hand, thanks from a head coach will help volleyball players recover from a loss if a team has lost a match.

Never Blame One Athlete for a Loss

It’s pretty easy to blame one volleyball player for a loss. However, it’s not correct! Remember, a successful volleyball team wins together and loses together. So, the job of a head coach is to create the supportive environment where each member of his/her team will feel comfortable.

A coach should never put a lot of pressure on one volleyball player. As a coach you obviously have to make it clear that the entire team has to be responsible for all of its losses, but not one player.

Has one of team’s players made a lot of mistakes during the game? If so, teammates as well as coaches should definitely support him/her and help correct the mistakes. This will certainly help a coach to keep his/her volleyball team united.

It Happens to Every Volleyball Team

You’ll hardly be able to find a volleyball team that has no losses. The history of volleyball sport says that even the greatest teams lose games from time to time. On the other hand, every athlete may have to go through difficult times during his/her sport career. Players as well as coaches need to understand that a loss is something that happens to every volleyball team. If volleyball players understand this, then they’ll certainly find it easy to deal with losses.

Analyze Your Mistakes and Get the Most out Of a Loss

Succeeding in the sport of volleyball is no easy. Athletes will never get better if they don’t analyze their mistakes. Volleyball players should definitely come together after a loss and analyze all of mistakes a team has made during the game carefully. A loss provides volleyball players with the perfect opportunity to learn from failures and make conclusions.

First of all, a coach as well as volleyball players have to figure out all the things a team hasn’t done very well during the match. Also, athletes had to realize what they had to do in order to handle difficult situations. Then, a volleyball team has to decide how to get better and avoid making similar mistakes in the future.

As it was mentioned above, a volleyball team shouldn’t blame one player (or several players) for a loss. An entire volleyball team has to be always responsible for a loss. Nevertheless, it makes sense for a volleyball coach to work with some of players individually.

While speaking to volleyball players individually, a coach can tell them about their mistakes and give each of players an advice for improving their performance on the court. So, volleyball players will be able to avoid mistakes during the next games. Obviously, analyzing mistakes gives a volleyball team confidence and helps players recover from a loss.

Losses Provide Volleyball Players with Experience

The success of a volleyball team depends a lot on the experience of its players. The more experience volleyball players have – the better. Athletes get experience by participating in various competitions. Obviously, every match gives volleyball players some experience. No matter whether a volleyball team has won or lost the game, athletes always get useful experience.

Train Hard to Get Ready for the Next Game

It’s worth noting that the next game gives volleyball players a good chance to recover from a loss. That means that athletes should start thinking about the next game after losses. Obviously, volleyball players will do their best to win the next game. That means that the next game will motivate volleyball players to work hard during practices. Athletes should concentrate on both physical and mental training when getting ready for the next game.

On the one hand, volleyball players need to do drills which help them correct their mistakes and improve their game significantly. Do you often fail to block the opposing team’s attacks? If so, it would be better for you to focus on blocking drills. If you have problems with digging, then you obviously need to do digging drills on a regular basis. Would you like to hit the ball harder and land it on the opponent’s side of the court? If this is the case, you should definitely concentrate on hitting skills. Practicing the right type of volleyball drills consistently will help you correct your mistakes and take your game to the next level.

On the other hand, volleyball players should take advantage of mental imagery. Athletes have to visualize before and after a game. It’s a great idea to visualize various types of difficult situations that can happen. A volleyball player should also imagine how he/she will deal with various challenges during a game.

Thank you so much for reading our article. There is no question that losing a very important match is a big problem for volleyball players. However, athletes can learn from failures and turn a loss into valuable experience. Follow our tips to recover after a big loss, get better and prepare for the next season. Best of luck!