Tobi Farrar Blog Entry

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August 13, 2010
By Tobi Farrar

The first week of preseason is coming to an end!! We are learning so much so fast, but I cannot wait for preseason to be over and to play our first match.

Today was a very productive day. In the morning session, we had a less intense practice and cut down on the amount of swings we took. The team still did a great job and we got a lot of work done.

Warm up consisted of read blocking that involved covering and out of system ball control. After stretching and warming up our arms, the next thing we covered was defensive floor moves. Although they involve diving to the floor repeatedly, I actually enjoy doing them. It teaches technique and how to dig a ball that is not hit directly at you.

The whole rest of the morning practice was spent passing and doing defense. For the last part of practice, the team split up into passing groups and serve received. This was our first practice to take stats on passing, so everyone was on their game.

Practicing makes everyone so hungry. We quickly showered, grabbed some ice for our aches and pains, and headed to lunch. Today we had sandwiches from Bellaire and they were yummy!! During lunch we had our STEP UP guest speakers. They taught us about the use of alcohol and how it affects training and also how to help in certain situations when alcohol has been involved. The presentation is very useful because it teaches how to respond to certain problems we are faced with.

In the afternoon’s session, we took nothing off. It was back to the grind. Intensity was turned all the way back up. We started warm up with mirror blocking and coach on three “JT” style. This session involved a lot of setter/hitter work and some serve receive. Middles worked on timing and hitting quick sets of the setters. Outsides did some serve receive and worked on hitting high balls. After going through several drills we came together and worked on siding out in all of our rotations.

The team is looking great so far and we are starting to gel together and become more relaxed as we are playing six on six. I’m so pumped for this season and what we have to offer. Tomorrow’s session is going to be another chance to get into the gym and get better so we can have a great season this year.