Clinics That Transformed Your Kid?
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Anonymous
| DD is currently on one of the worst teams in the region. She wants to make a top 50% team next year but doesn’t know how to improve. Does anyone have clinics that helped their kid tremendously? |
Anonymous
There is no such thing as one clinic that transforms a player. It's constant effort, grit, and reps. If your DD is on one of the worst teams in the region, it is likely that you didn't have a good coach either, so think about her possible having practiced bad habits that now need correction. You will see the best improvement if you spend on a private coach at least for a few sessions to get an honest appraisal of what your player needs to work on. Then lots and lots of reps with good form. This may work if your DD wants to work and improve by training hard outside practice. If your DD is like my DD (not much done outside practice), it's probably not worth the money because she won't see much improvement by simply touching the ball in the presence of a coach. |
Anonymous
read *possibly* above. What is your DD age and what is this worst team in the region (if you feel like sharing)? |
Anonymous
Location? This might help if you are in Montgomery County: https://volleymontgomery.wordpress.com/2025/11/22/2026-clinics/ |
Anonymous
Off topic but new volleyball family here. What are the worst and best teams? Specifically looking at Virginia. Is there a place to look up rankings, records or reviews of coaches? |
Anonymous
AES rankings, for 12 and up. No there is no place with reviews of coaches. You won't know your kid’s coach typically until right around tryout time. |
Anonymous
The question of best and worst teams comes up a lot from families new to club volleyball. It is pretty obvious that you don't want your kid to play for one of the worst teams and playing for one of the best teams would be ideal. Unfortunately, some parents become unrealistic in their pursuit of joining one of the top clubs / teams. It is fine to learn what the best teams are as long as you don't misuse that information. As a beginner family, you should figure out what is the best club your kid can join, rather than what is the best club in the region. The question may have different answers depending on the age, skill level, and overall athleticism of your player. If you don't know how to read "AES rankings" mentioned by the PP, here is a link with some step-by-step instructions: https://volleymontgomery.wordpress.com/2026/02/08/finding-a-teams-ranking/ |
Anonymous
That was us last year. Made a better team this year but it took a lot of time and money. She’s aiming for a better team next year and is still working at it. It’s not just clinics… I don’t know where you live, how old your kid is or what position they play (or could play) so this a very general roadmap How badly do they want it? Making a better team is kind of like looking at a promotion, figuring out the job description and seeing what you already have/know how to do, what they can work on and what is simply not fixable. And how much can they (and you devote to it?). It’s a mindset thing first and foremost. Be very realistic about this…top teams will be heavily rostered (12-14 ppl) and you’ll be competing for a spot every practice - and may ride the bench for the entire season. Why do you want a specific team and what are you getting out of it? For instance, many of the top teams will absolutely look at height. Can’t fix that. But they will also look at vertical jump (approach/ standing), strength (force of hit if you are a hitter or quick release or ball if you are a setter), speed (how quickly you can get to the ball / adjust in and out of system) and agility (esp for the DS / libero). None of this is worked on at a clinic. This is worked on at a youth sports performance place (strength and agility) and they’re all over the dmv area. Then there is technique. This is where privates are helpful. My kid was put into a position they didn’t play last year with minimal coaching from the club during practices on how to be successful. Privates taught her the footwork, placement, timing and IQ for the role. Privates won’t be as helpful on the younger side when you don’t specialize, but are needed when you get older and need to play a specific role. Reverse engineer this by asking the clubs that you are targeting if any of their coaches offer privates (try to get coaches who specialize in your role and/or the age group you are going into so that it is developmentally appropriate). I would then encourage you to get into a league (series of games / scrimmages). If you can’t swing a spring league (there are a few hyper local ones) I would swing a summer one. It forces you to apply what you have learned in the other area you work on through game play with people you don’t know well and work with different coaches. Gold star if you can get into a league run by one of the clubs you are targeting. Finally, clinics are only helpful when you know what you need to work on. They’re typically broken down into skills or position: Hitter / blocker vs Setter or Serve / serve receive; first touch; blocking; hitting; setting General clinics are just that. Very general and may not get you what you need. But if you are doing clinics, now is the time to check the websites of the clubs you are targeting, see what they have available and sign up. You’ll get a feel for the coaching and caliber of play. Good luck! |
Anonymous
Just want to echo what someone else said - what are you looking to get out of it? It’s kinda like buying a house. School ratings mean one thing but can’t tell you if it’s a good school for your kid or not. Rankings - they are guidelines, not a rule The rankings look at straight games played with wins and losses. These rankings don’t take into account level of play (lots of teams drop divisions to get more “W”) and level of team (lots of teams drop divisions because the team isn’t ready to play at a higher level). They also don’t take into account the different tournaments played. Some teams will consistently chase bids at national qualifiers with very stiff competition. Others are only playing regional games with very easy competition. Coaching - there is generally a lack of coaches in the area. My DD’s current and former club had 10 coaches turn over last year. That’s nearly half the program. So you can go to tournaments, see how they next level above you coaches, talk to parents, etc. There’s a likelihood that they won’t coach that level and/or turnover. This is why coaching assignments seem to be last Minute. But you won’t get the truth about a coach until you have a trusting relationship with a coach who can tell you who to avoid and who to play for. The best team for you is the one where your kid is happy, learning some stuff and at your preferred level of competitiveness. |
Anonymous
| Worst is spiked dc if they are even still in business! $2k down the drain for a crazy, belligerent coach. |
Anonymous
No matter how good the coaching, a single clinic or camp is unlikely to result in a drastic change in a short amount of time. Like most skills, volleyball takes consistent practice over a long period of time to become really good. That said, depending on how long your DD has been playing, going from beginner to a strong intermediate player can happen relatively quickly. Obviously, it's important to learn good fundamentals as a foundation for further development. Trying to get that training outside her current club in the middle of club season can be tough. Private lessons and coaching not affiliated with other clubs are probably your best options right now. If you're already looking to next club season, start planning for what she's going to do this summer and fall. Over the summer, getting lots of touches and court time is probably most important. Getting exposure to clubs she might be interested in by going to their camps and other training opportunities over the summer can be a good idea, although it's hard to know who the coaches are going to be during the summer. Since coaching is a side hustle for most club coaches, they often don't participate in club summer programs that happen during the regular work day. It's still ok to go to summer camps for clubs she might be interested in, but don't expect her to get to work with a particular coach of a team she's planning to try out for next season. Other good places to get touches are camps hosted by college programs. Once fall rolls around, you need to plan for getting her exposure at the clubs she wants to tryout for. Most local clubs will have weekly clinics for particular age groups, often on the weekends throughout September and October and these are often run by the coaches who will be coaching teams at the corresponding age groups for next club season. You should prioritize the clubs she's most interested in and try to get to some or all of their clinics. These clinics can be good to get a sense for the level of play for a club, meet the coaches and club director, and get a sense of the club culture. Many coaches are willing to chat with players who are planning to tryout for their team after these clinics. For many higher level clubs, these clinics are essentially a pre-tryout - from the clubs perspective, getting to see and work with a player over multiple sessions is much better than trying to find all their players in the chaos of a short tryout. I think it's fair to say that most clubs know more than half of the players (or more) they are going to make offers to prior to the start of tryouts. Another useful thing about fall clinics is the opportunity to get to see the level of play at different clubs. If your daughter aspires to play in college, go to a Metro Travel or Paramount clinic. Getting to see and play with the top players in the region in her age group can be eye opening. If she gets put on the top court and fits right in and loves the speed and intensity, then put those clubs on the list to tryout for. If she finds it intimidating or scary and looks like a deer in headlights, adjust your expectations accordingly and find a club that is better matched to her abilities. While it can be tough, try and be honest with yourself about where your DD might be a good fit. The most important thing is to formulate a plan ahead of tryouts. If volleyball is something she loves and is looking to move to a better club in future seasons, just showing up to a few tryouts and hoping for the best is not likely to yield the best results. . |
Anonymous
| A Metro positional clinic changed DD's volleyball trajectory. It was a reality check, making us realize she wasn't as good as we thought she was, and it allowed us to reset expectations as to which clubs to try out for. We realized she was a latecomer and there were kids with many years of experience ahead of her. |
Anonymous
| If she's not willing to go do it on her own and you have to tell her to do it, stop wasting your money. keep her where she is |
Anonymous
| If she's not willing to go do it on her own and you have to tell her to do it, stop wasting your money. keep her where she is |
Anonymous
This is a good one and we had a similar experience. We signed up for a series of Metro clinics and the reality hit really hard. I thought that any team in the region would be lucky to have my rec player on their roster, so we decided to try out for Metro Travel because many of the other clubs were too weak to even consider. It didn't take more than 15 minutes during the first clinic to realize that the money we paid for tryouts were wasted. The MVSA tryout didn't go according to the plan either, so we had to rethink our strategy during the make-up tryouts. I am still laughing at myself for that clueless first year strategy. I bet you do understand that this was not what the OP meant with that question, but I personally really appreciated the humor in your answer. |