Had a conversation last night with a men’s team coach. He said “my guys can’t play defense at the level of the offenses they play. They just hit the ball too hard. It’s going too fast for them to react to.

The NCAA men’s semis were on tv. The big hitters were getting speeds of 68-70 miles per hour on the ball on the hardest hits. Team defense was kind of accidental in that the back-row was simply placing themselves at their spots and trying to react to the ball. They were not particularly active. By that I mean they were going to spots and waiting, many times not even making a move on the ball if it was more than an arm’s length away. The liberos were a little better, but then again, they're supposed to be...

And they were hitting the crap out of the ball. I mean these are the best players in the country, right?

SO WHY AREN’T THEY PLAYING DEFENSE?

Ok before you blow a gasket, I’m not saying they’re not good players. I’m not attacking the coaching they get.

This has more to do with the state of the game in general. I have said before and will continue to say the way we teach defense in this country does more to hamper players than it does to help them.

WE DON”T TEACH THEM TO READ FROM THE BEGINNING.

The ones that do learn to read are generally either the very best players, or they are players that have reached the peak of their physical ability because of their size or an injury. Or we just get older and don’t have the jump and speed we used to. Whatever the reason, we find ourselves needing to learn more about the game than “jump high, hit hard, block big and serve tough.” The best players often will have great instincts and will tap into them early. I’ve said before “instincts” refers mostly to reading.

When we don’t teach them to read early, they also aren’t learning the movement and anticipation early. Consequently, as they get older and stronger and the game speeds up, it gets harder an harder to adapt to the advanced game for the average player. At the highest levels we see more and more power but less and less floor game.

I say any player capable of hitting a ball 50 mph or faster also has the ability to play defense at that same speed.

If they learn to read (and all that goes with it) at an early age their defensive abilities will continue to improve as they grow physically. When they get to that 50-60 mph hitters level their defensive ability will fit right in with that level.

Imagine if we never let any baseball players play fast-pitch until they reach the big leagues. Or didn’t allow live goalies in hockey until they reached the NHL. Batters and goalies would be insanely behind the rest of the players at those high levels the same way our floor defenders are behind.

Batters and goalies play full speed in the development stages of the game. As slap shots and pitches speed up, their abilities to deal with that speed get better and better. And they’re dealing with baseballs and pucks that are a lot harder, a lot smaller and a lot faster than volleyballs.

So our best players at the highest levels will be playing that same incredibly high level of relentless defense IF they learn it at a young age and continue to develop it throughout their careers.

The BODM Line system isn’t just a read defense. It’s a system that TEACHES reading from the very beginning. The Primary Reads put players in positions on the court that match what the situation and their teammates; out-to-in, direction and dig-or-go give them the tools, the structure, and the guidelines to be successful in those positions both individually and as a team.

That’s The BODM Line.