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When playing competitive volleyball, it is beneficial to have prior knowledge about your opponent. Scouting is a way to collect, evaluate, and execute information based on opponent statistics. Basic knowledge of rules and regulations will not be provided. This article will provide instructions on scouting at a high school level and above, as well as beginner level.
Steps
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1Identify the opponent to scout. Depending on the level of play, scout a few or every team you play during the season. Go to your teams schedule and chose who you are going to scout. Some questions to ask when determining who to scout are:
- “Which opponents are my top priorities?”
- “Who am I likely to beat, compete with, and lose to?”
- “How much time do I have to watch film of the opponent?”
- “Is there someone else who can assist me?”
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2Acquire the roster and schedule of the opponent. Find these on the schools athletic website. If preparing before the season, identify who is returning and leaving for the next season. Once the season has started, you will want the up-to-date roster and schedule to identify players, other opponents they play, video, and current statistics.Advertisement
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3Access video. Identify free or paid video on YouTube, or other networks. Other options would be to ask coaches for video of them playing the opponent or to attend the game and record it personally.
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4Establish goals. Before watching video, have an idea of what you want to figure out, either specific or general information. Your goals will change due to the amount of time you are able to spend collecting data, the level of play, and priority of the opponent. A specific goal may be determining their kill percentage compared to yours. Other goals may be:
- “Who are there best attackers?”
- “Who are there best passers?”
- “What are there strongest and weakest rotations?”,
- “What are the strengths and weaknesses of the setter?”
- “Where do their attackers generally hit the ball to?”
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5Decide a method for collecting statistics. Options for collecting statistics would be to create a handwritten template, find one online, or ask another coach for their scouting method. A visual chart could be made to mark general trends of serving, attacking, defense, serve receive, etc.
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6Watch video and collect data. When watching video, input data into your online spreadsheet or physically write statistics on your template. Take notes of the offensive and defensive strategies the opponent uses.
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7Identify important players. The majority of teams have an individual player that scores the most points for the team. Or a player that contributes to scoring points with the quality of their play. Some components to look for are:
- Kill percentage
- Serve receive pass rating
- Serving percentage
- Number of aces
- Dig percentage
- Total points scored
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8Calculate the statistics. Use formulas to calculate percentages of different skills. Hitting and kill percentage are important to determine. Calculate serve receive by rating passes on a scale from 0-3 or 0-4 and then take the average. Other statistics like serving percentage, dig percentage, and number of blocks can be taken.
- Hitting percentage = (Number of kills-Number of errors)/Total Attempts
- Kill percentage = (Number of kills)/(Number of attempts)
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9Evaluate the information. With the overall information make your game plan. Use the statistics from the large amount of data to identify trends and patterns. Condensed information could be:
- Attacker attempts and placement
- Serve receive ratings by rotates
- Team offensive and defensive strategy
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10Execute strategy. Inform your team for practice or before the game, where you want your players to be in defense, where to attack, where to serve the ball in order to target or not target a player, the types of serving and attacking the opponents use, and any additional information.
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11Compete against them. Focus on the game plan, but also adjust to in-game situations. Enforce effort, communication, teamwork, and passion. The game is made to be played point-by-point, teach your team to control their side of the net and work hard.
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1Analyze warmups. When playing lower-level volleyball, it may not be necessary to watch video of your opponent. There may not be video available to you. Questions to ask during warmups:
- Who are the setters?
- Who are the defensive specialists, outside hitters, middle hitters, and right side hitters?
- Who is a good attacker and/or passer?
- Where do they typically serve to?
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2Ask other coaches about the opponent. Communicate with coaches how the game against the opposing team went. What did they find the other team to be good or bad at? When at a tournament, watch them play when you are not playing, or video the match.
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3Evaluate during the game. Communicate to your players where the players should serve, attack, and play defense. After the game, explain in more depth about your choices and if you want them to analyze themselves before the game.
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Focus on your side. Do not overemphasize the game plan when coaching during the game. Coach players on their skills, communication, energy, and effort. Learn to enjoy the sport and the relationships built within your program.
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