Breakdown: USA Women's First Two Wins in Tokyo
The USA women's Olympic volleyball team is seeking its first-ever gold medal after winning silver and bronze in the previous two Olympic tournaments. The squad has come out strong in its first two matches, beating Argentina and top-ranked China, both in straight sets, to start the tournament 2-0.
As we've watched this women's team through two matches, we're reminded of the value strong pin attackers have in helping a team score points and win matches.
The following chart shows the offensive production of each position group.
USA's starting opposite, Jordan Thompson, has been phenomenal in her Olympic debut. She's recorded a kill on 60% of her hitting attempts and has a hitting efficiency of over .500!
WHAT TO WATCH FOR IN UPCOMING MATCHES
NBC's volleyball analyst, Kevin Barnett, has suggested that Team USA's middle attackers should be a larger part of the team's offensive philosophy. He also wants to see more slightly more kills from Team USA's outside hitters.
Clearly, moving forward, Team USA's opponents will have to figure out how to slow down Jordan Thompson. As opposing coaches begin to make some of these adjustments, how will Team USA respond?
OFFENSIVE SYSTEMS VIDEO COURSE ON GMS+
While the game of volleyball itself has strong patterns that help us develop a defensive system, offensive systems are much more dependent on your unique mix of players. A good offense can take on many forms, and may even evolve during the course of a season. If you don't have much experience with rotation / overlap rules and typical positions, you'll want to go through our Volleyball 101 Course as a pre-requisite. In this course we'll cover the following topics:
The time-tested principles that you'll use as a foundation for developing a system that fits your personnel.
Some common offensive systems and the relative merits of each.
Which skills in volleyball contribute most to winning matches.
Which positions in volleyball have the biggest impact on the game.
Training ideas with regards to systems and skills for better offense.
Our staff takes you through everything you need to teach these systems to beginning and advanced players. We'll bring you insights gained over 30 years of coaching athletes at every level, with clear video examples and whiteboard explanations.
Watch our "Player Draft" video below: