Reverse Engineer Your Volleyball Season: Season-Long Goal Setting After Tryouts
Most coaches go into a season with a general idea of what they want to accomplish, but the best coaches take a more strategic approach. Instead of setting vague expectations, reverse engineering means starting with your desired outcomes and working backward to develop a clear and actionable plan. Once tryouts are complete, you will have a better understanding of your team’s strengths and weaknesses. This is the perfect time to map out your season’s priorities, ensuring every practice and game moves your team closer to success!
By taking the time to establish measurable goals and a structured approach, you’ll maximize your team’s growth while avoiding wasted time on ineffective drills or strategies. Let’s break it down step by step!
Step 1: Define Your Final Outcomes (Your Coaching Vision)
Once your roster is decided, it’s time to set realistic yet ambitious season goals based on your team’s skills. Ask yourself:
What will make this season feel like a success?
What are my team’s biggest strengths to build on?
Where do we need the most improvement?
What kind of team culture do I want to create?
Instead of just aiming for a championship, think deeper. Do you want a team that shows resilience? A squad with improved skill execution? A group that loves the game and wants to keep playing next year? Define these big-picture goals first.
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Step 2: Identify Key Areas That Lead to Success
Break down your vision into major focus areas, based on what you observed during tryouts. These might include:
Technical Skills – Serving accuracy, serve-receive, setting consistency, hitting efficiency, blocking form.
Team Dynamics – Communication, leadership, bench energy, player roles, accountability.
Mental Toughness – Handling pressure, recovering from errors, maintaining composure in tight matches.
Game IQ – Court awareness, defensive positioning, transitioning between plays, recognizing opponent weaknesses.
Physical Conditioning – Endurance, jump training, injury prevention, speed and agility.
Try and come up with your own, the sky is the limit! Pick three to four major themes that will help you reach your desired final outcome.
Suggested Tool:
Volleyball Coaching Journal – Keep track of these focus areas and monitor progress throughout the season.
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Step 3: Break Each Focus Area Into Specific, Measurable Goals
Take your key areas and set measurable, actionable goals. Examples:
Serving Accuracy: “Increase our team serving percentage from 80% to 90% by midseason.”
Team Dynamics: “Players will do weekly peer shoutouts to build trust.”
Mental Toughness: “We will practice high-pressure scenarios in 50% of practices.”
Game IQ: “By midseason, all players will correctly identify and react to common opponent strategies.”
Physical Conditioning: “Reduce fatigue-related errors in third sets by implementing targeted endurance drills.”
Keep your goals specific enough that you’ll know if you’re making progress towards them.
Step 4: Build Your Season Plan Based on These Goals
With clear goals, reverse engineer your season schedule:
What drills will help you reach your technical goals?
What team-building activities will foster the right culture?
How will you reinforce mental toughness?
Recommended Coaching Books: 📚 The Volleyball Coaching Bible – Buy on Amazon – A comprehensive guide to coaching strategy. 📚 Mind Gym: An Athlete’s Guide to Inner Excellence – Buy on Amazon – Perfect for developing mental toughness in athletes.
REMEMBER: The Best Coaches Plan with Intention
Your season’s success starts now! Reverse engineering allows you to set meaningful goals, structure your practices, and create a roadmap that leads to long-term growth. By focusing on the why and how of coaching, you’ll build a team that thrives on and off the court.
🚀 What’s Your Coaching Vision? Share your biggest season goals in the comments below or in our Facebook group!