Why we don't give summer training packets

By Ryan Maloney, assistant women's volleyball coach

Junior outside hitter, Sara Madison

Last week, I was asked why we don't give summer training packets to our team. Fair question, given their prevalence in college sports.

The short answer: because they don't work very well.

The long answer:

Five years ago, when I first became assistant coach, we gave summer training packets. It was the most comprehensive training program you've ever seen, with a new work-out every day, five days per week, and every exercise was linked to a video demonstration. I was very proud of that packet.

It wasn't until two years later, when we stopped giving the packets, that our players started to tell us they didn't follow them. Even our most dedicated athletes couldn't keep up with the day-by-day, week-by-week format.

Our pre-season "SUNYAC Challenge" board

We made a change when Coach Braun came across a new system developed by Calvin's head coach, Amber Warners. The system is made up of nine "challenges" that players need to complete when they come in for preseason. Now, instead of telling our players what to do over the summer, we simply tell them what the expectations will be when they return in August. The onus is now on them.

Several of the challenges are very difficult; enough so that our team is already having anxiety about them. But we've found the anxiety to be a good thing. Our upperclassmen have told us in individual meetings that they wish the difficulty of preseason could carry over to the rest of the year.

As psychologists have known for decades, and humanity has known for centuries, difficulty creates value. Those who go through a great deal of difficulty to attain something tend to value it more highly than those who attain it with minimum effort.

Specific work-outs don't change a culture. Commitment does.