 Hey, what's up you guys? My name is Coach Coco and I love volleyball so much so my channel is filled with tips, tricks, hacks, and anything and everything volleyball. Today I want to talk about some common themes that we tend to see at tryouts. Let's get right into it. I've been making volleyball tryout videos for five years now and throughout that time I have had conversations with players all over the world about their tryouts, coaches about their tryouts and I've noticed some very common themes. Now I typically give very general tryout advice. Advice that could be applicable to any tryout. However, there are some common themes that we're seeing develop because volleyball is a moving and living organism and it grows and change with time. So there are some things that we're seeing change. Let's get right into it. So volleyball tryouts can be the toughest part of the year for a lot of people especially if you are trying out for a new spot, you're at a new school, you don't know anybody, all of that and even if you are going from JV to varsity that can be stressful too. Now with volleyball tryouts there are some common things that I'm noticing and I've talked about these things before but I'm going to reiterate them because we're in a new volleyball season. Common theme number one, cardiovascular exercise. There is just no way in heck. You're going to be able to get out of conditioning. Conditioning is going to happen. That means that you are going to spend some time running or some time doing some kind of physical exercise that may not exactly relate to volleyball. Why is that? Are you a runner? Are you a track star? Maybe not. However your coach wants to see how healthy your body is in the form of physical fitness. Do you think it's going to be helpful if there's a volleyball player who takes one step and they're like, oh coach I can't do it? No. So we want to see how physically fit you are. Does that mean you need to be Usain Bolt and you just need to just be sprinting and hit the world record? Now again, we need to see that you can actually persevere through some exercise and if you can't you have a good attitude about it. Remember attitude is everything. So you have a good attitude about it. Number two, you're going to scrimmage at some time. What is scrimmage for those who are new? Scrimmage is having a mock volleyball game or a mock sporting event which they're going to have people against people and they want to see how you are in in-game scenarios. Now this is probably the most stressful part for new players because they maybe have learned the skills on their own and they don't know how to apply it in an in-game scenario especially if they're applying rotations and all of that. The best advice I can give you in a scrimmage and you've never scrimmaged before is take it back to the basics. Keep your eye on the ball. If the ball comes to you, you know what to do. I know that's scary. Pass it, okay? Set it. If it's the third ball, hit it. Don't be alarmed or afraid if things move quickly because they can move quickly. People are just swirling around each other in like this tornado hurricane-like thing and you're standing there like, okay? Take it back to basics. Be aware of where you are in space and time. Aware of other people around you. Remember, you know, pass, set, hit. Just take it back to basics and that will help you be able to calm yourself down and if the ball comes to you, you'll be able to do something with it. It's okay if you don't know your rotation yet. Nobody comes out of the womb knowing a 5-1 or a 6-2. We all had to learn it. It's how you approach it is that makes the difference. Are you going to be, oh, I don't know it yet, but I'll learn or are you going to be, oh my gosh, I can't do it. I don't know how to do it. I suck. Now don't be dismissive. Come at it and approach it with grace. Tip number three, the coach is going to want to see individualized skills. Now typically, when we are looking to coach, we see players and we can automatically know what they're going to be great at. I can see somebody and go, wow, she's going to swing or pass her all day or she has set her hands like butter. I know very quickly. So I think the best thing that you can do, especially if you're a new player, is to become well-rounded and have a good basis or foundation of skills, especially if you don't know what position you want to play yet. It's a good idea to have a good foundation of passing that doesn't mean perfect, but you know what a platform is. You know how to hold your hands, stuff like that, and know how to, you know what a set looks like. You know what I'm saying. That way, when the coach is asking everybody to apply skills, you have the basics, the basics. Okay. We need the basics. Tip number four, coaches are watching you like, you think they're not watching you, but we're watching you. We want to see your attitude. I can spot somebody from far away and go, I don't know about that one. You have to have a great attitude. Drop the ball, smile. It's okay. I got it next time. Calling mine every single time, asking for a hit. Me, me, me, me, me. I got it. Saying I got it. Things like that show that you understand how we communicate in the game and your vocal. Now I don't mean you go, no, I mean, you go, I got it. Sorry for the headphone users. You have to be very, very, not screaming to the top of your lungs, but vocal, be vocal. Tell me that you really got it. Okay. These are some of the common things that we do see in tryouts. These are some of the common things that coaches are looking for. Even if your tryout is not exactly like this, these are some things that you most likely 95% are going to see. If you've seen some different things, please put in the comments down below what things your coach did because it could help somebody else on their tryouts coming up because school starts in like two weeks. So please put it in the comments below with everything. I hope that you liked this video. Please like, comment, subscribe, and I'll see you guys next time.