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Coaching USA at the All Nations London 2022 Tournament
All Nations is Back in London
All Nations was back again in London after three long years due to Covid. It is a great tournament because you do get to meet old friends and watch a lot of volleyball. Since it’s back, there’s scheduling and coaching to be done.
Coaching USA
This was my second year coaching the USA. I coached the USA in the last All Nations London back in 2019. When I saw the players who already signed up this year, I knew I had to coach this team again. With my successful season of winning five out of seven competitions, I really wanted to cap it off with an All Nations Championship win. I knew I had the team to get me there but I wanted to be prepared for it too. For those who know me or those who have been following this blog, this really means using performance analysis and stats. I have never taken stats for All Nations teams before, as it’s more about fun rather than being serious, but I didn’t want to leave anything to chance.
The tournament went very well. Long story short, we won all twelve of our matches on our way to the Women’s Championship Final without dropping a set. We faced Europe 2 in the final, who along with the USA, was by far the strongest team in the tournament. I thought we had enough to win but we lost the final 0-2 (14-25, 24-26). Very sad. I have lots of thoughts so I will try and distill them into some reflective points.
General Reflection
See How Players Play Pre-Tournament We played in two Mini All Nations Tournaments prior to the main one starting. This was helpful in a number of ways. The first was really being able to see players play. You can really see their level of play. This is extremely useful because you’re not going in blind when you start the main tournament.
Have Stats on Players This is probably an obvious reflection. I filmed every match in the two Mini All Nations Tournaments so I could take stats and really see where the player’s strengths and weaknesses are. I saw I had a pretty strong team overall. The main strength of the team was having two outside hitter monsters of the team was having two outside hitter monsters (both hitting around 40%) and a third who was no slouch either (around 30% hitting).(both hitting around 40%) and a third who was no slouch either (around 30% hitting).
Able to Rotate the Players Fully I knew I had a really strong team overall so I knew I could rotate everybody to give every player relatively equal playing time and whatever team I put out was enough to win the match. I did plan out the starting line-up for each set of every match on the first weekend and second Saturday so I didn’t need to think on the fly. This was the benefit of playing in those Mini All Nations Tournaments since I didn’t need to go into the main tournament blind.
Scouting Other Teams I saw some of the other All Nations teams in the two Mini All Nations Tournaments. Most were not as strong as the USA but I did see that Africa and Philippines Blue were going to be strong. Due to this, I did seed them higher in the tournament. Also, by having the stats synced to the video, I was able to show video clips to my libero on how the African setter would tip the ball often. This gives the libero so much more information compared to just telling her how they tip.
Filming Matches on Your Phone Has Its Advantages I decided to film matches on my phone because there were multiple matches in a day and I knew my camcorder battery would not last that long. I found that there were a couple of advantages of filming on your phone. * The video quality was much better on the phone * It films in 1920×1080 so I can expand the video fully in DataVolley. I can’t do it with the camcorder video since it only films in 1480×1080. This of course, along with the better video quality, makes it much easier to see shirt numbers when statting. * The phone has a super-wide lens. This was useful since I filmed on the baseline and I could still see the whole court. * It records to one video file. This means I can immediately stat matches. On the camcorder, it can record onto two video files if it is a long match. If that happens, I have to put them together in Adobe Premiere Pro and export it before I can stat the match. * No worries about the battery life. I bought an external battery pack (enough for 4 charges) and I hung it off one of the knobs on the tripod to keep it charged.
I did have to be careful that the phone is turned on its left side horizontally. When I filmed on its right side horizontally, the video appeared upside down in DataVolley so I had to convert it Adobe Premiere Pro.
The one disadvantage is if the phone gets spiked hard. It could destroy the phone at worse or crack the screen or damage the USB-C charging port at medium worse. Maybe a heavy-duty phone cover can help. A camcorder is easier to replace than a phone.
Finals Reflection
Of course, the biggest reflections comes from losing the Championship Final.
Different Starting Line-Ups? With the information I had on hand at the time, I think I was ok with the starting line-up for both sets. They were logical decisions. For the first set, I started the setter in zone 2 so I matched up the opposite (OP) with Europe 2’s big outside hitter (OH). I normally start our rotation in our best point-scoring rotation, which is zone 4, but we had a small setter so the match-up between the small setter and big OH was just too great to ignore. I also put on our third OH as an OP. The stats showed that my three OHs had great attacking stats and my two OPs had so-so attacking stats. I also just made the change in the semifinal to close out the close win so it was reason enough to do it again. As the set scores suggest (14-25), it didn’t work.
For the second set, I needed big changes. I went back to starting the setter in zone 4, which is our best point-scoring rotation. To combat the match-up with the Europe 2’s big outside hitter, I put in the taller second setter to help with blocking. I also put in the original starting opposite and I flipped the outside hitters. This worked a lot better as the set was much closer (24-26).
The Best Line-Up? The best line-up may have been to put the second outside hitter as an opposite and the third outside hitter as a starting outside hitter. This is because it would take advantage of the third outside hitter’s better left-side attacking and the second outside hitter can hit well on both left and right sides. For this particular match too, the second outside hitter is taller so she could have done a better job at blocking Europe 2’s big outside hitter. I would have kept the second outside hitter in the passing unit.
Unfortunately, I don’t think I would have gotten there to make that decision. I didn’t think about it as an option prior to the match so it wasn’t on my mind at all. If I had live stats, I think I would have gotten there but I didn’t have live stats (more on that below). If we would have won that second set, I don’t think I would have changed the starting line-up since we won. Maybe if it was a five-set match and we lost the second set, maybe I would have thought of this line-up.
Different In-Match Changes? In set 1, we were down in the set so I decided I was going to make a double substitution when the setter goes to the front row. I did think having a different setter would change things up a bit in general. However, the setter was back-row for a long time and we were getting behind more and more. By the time I did the double substitution, we were down 13-21. Upon reflection, I could have y the time I did the double substitution, we were down 13-21. Upon reflection, I could have made the change earlier rather than waiting. Maybe a straight swap (so the setter is back row) or still go with the double substitution (so setter goes front row now). Upon further reflection, I could have just done a straight setter-setter swap, especially if I thought a different setter would change things up a bit.
In set 2, I made a couple of late changes. The first was subbing in the second libero, now a defensive specialist, for the middle server when down 19-21. This was logical as the middle was our weakest server and weakest defender. This worked a treat as she got an ace and then she hit the net cord for almost a second ace (it resulted in a free ball then we got the kill). Europe 2 made a time out and then the third serve net the net cord but it went on our side. If it trickled over, we could have won that point and the match could have been much different. I was happy with the sub. Plus, the second libero got some shine for making an impact.
I also did the double substitution at 22:22. I did think this was a sub that could make me look like a genius, like how the serving sub went, or an idiot for meddling in too much. I made the substitutions anyway because it was a logical decision. I did decide to go with the second opposite. It may have been better with the third outside hitter but I was ok with this decision because I wanted to give the second opposite a chance to play. We did lose the set 24:26. Maybe I could have left it as it was but I am still ok with the decision.
Staying on Message for Certain TacticsThe biggest reflection was about what I said to the team and what I didn’t say to the team before the match, between sets and during time-outs. Was there something I could have said that could have made the difference? Does it really make a difference?
Where I landed on this (rightly or wrongly) was I should have stayed on message on certain tactics that you know will work. One of the tactics that I did say was to serve on Europe 2’s big outside hitter. She is normally a middle player and I did have some limited stats that her passing isn’t the best. However, I only said it once before the match and I never went back to it in any of the time-outs or between sets. Watching on the video and looking at her stats, this was a good tactic and I should have repeated it to reinforce the point. One of the tactics that I did say was to serve on Europe 2’s big outside hitter. She is normally a middle player and I did have some limited stats that her passing isn’t the best. However, I only said it once before the match and I never went back to it in any of the time-outs or between sets. Watching on the video and looking at her stats, this was a good tactic and I should have repeated it to reinforce the point.
Having Live Stats Another big reflection was how I would have loved to have some live stats at hand. I could then make some in-match, informed decisions. I have knowledge of the prior stats but it’s always hard to know how they are actually doing in the match and reacting to that.
If I viewed the live stats, one of the most glaring things was my second outside hitter was hitting terribly (-10% after the first set, -5% hitting overall). If I would have known that, I think it would have pushed me into putting her as an opposite. I would not have subbed her out as she was a big player for us. She could have better success on the right side and maybe the third outside hitter can find some success on the left side. In particular, I would have seen that Europe 2’s main outside hitter was hitting extremely well (58% hitting after the first set, 50% overall) so the taller second outside hitter would have helped slow her down. There were of course other things in the stats that I could have used to make decisions to improve the team’s overall performance. There were of course other things in the stats that I could have used to make decisions to improve the team’s overall performance.
With some extra thought, I did have a player who did offer to take some stats for me. This was for the second Saturday so I said it was not necessary. However, if I thought about it, I could have simply asked him to help me in the final. Even some basic attacking stats would have helped me. Some stats for the semifinal match would have helped me too. I may have seen that the second outside hitter was struggling on the left side and that she may have more success on the right side. There was also another coach at the All Nations who was another option to help me. He helped me during the BUCS Trophy Cup Final but I don’t think was there at the Final though.
Coaching in a Big Final in a Big Crowd This was my first time coaching in a big final with a big crowd. I did think about whether I would freeze in such a big final. It could have been a factor in the first set for not making a change earlier enough when it was getting away from us. However, I felt the changes I made in the second set were logical. I don’t feel like there was something majorly different I should have done with what I know then (having live stats would of course have changed that).
Final Thoughts
I was pretty bummed out after the final. I had many thoughts on what I could have done differently that could have changed the result. Upon reflection, I think I am ok with how I performed as a coach. The starting line-ups and substitutions I made in the finals were logical. I could not think of anything else I could have done differently, except perhaps making an earlier change in set 1. I could have said something differently or repeated good tactics during the time-outs and between sets. However, I do think this would only make a minor difference as I find players will only remember this for the first play or two at best before playing their normal game.
The only change I wish I have done was to put the second outside hitter as opposite and the third outside hitter as a starting outside hitter. However, I don’t think I would have gotten there to make that decision with the information I had at the time.
I am also forgetting that there were other matches that I coached. I felt I did well because I used the stats to make the progress to the finals pretty smooth sailing as I didn’t drop a set until the Final. I may have won those matches anyway with the team I have but I don’t think it would have been smooth sailing.
Match Videos
Below is a playlist of matches by USA, starting with the women’s final. I didn’t film the men’s final but you can watch the Facebook stream (link here and here).
Previous Teams Coached
I am generally good at keeping records but then I realised I don’t keep any records of the teams I coached. After some research, below are the teams I have coached over the years.
2022: USA | 2nd Place 2021: Cancelled 2020: Cancelled 2019: USA | Division III Champions (17th Place Overall) 2018: Turkey | Either 17th to 23rd 2017: No team coached due to work at Wagamama 2016: Germany | Joint 5th Place Overall 2015: Asia | 11th overall 2014: Asia Women | 21st Place (Second from bottom); Asia Men | Place unknown 2013: No team coached – probably because I just had the most intense two weeks of my life 2012: No team coached as I was doing the All Nations Volleyball Statistics 2011: Asia | Place unknown 2010: Asia | Place unknown
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