You might be hearing about this rule before. In case you don’t, I will show you how it works and how you can apply it to volleyball so that you can boost your confidence.
The Pareto principle states that for many outcomes roughly 80% of consequences come from 20% of the causes.
Even though this principle established by the Italian economist Wilfredo Pareto it’s been around for over a century we don’t pay much attention. And we should. This rule is applied to a wide range of situations in our mundane lives such as economics, maths, sciences, engineering, and quality control… and of course sports.
The 80/20 Rule is applied to sports
Even though no scientific study has been made, elite athletes attest over and over that this rule is true. Michael Jordan once quoted “the game is 80% mental and 20% physical”.
When we watch an elite athlete consistently performing on TV we think those guys are superhumans or some sort of entertainer characters created to make our lives enjoyable.
Truth is, once lights go out, those athletes run to the PT room to ice their joints, get some pills, or make an XR. and this is are just the easy struggles they face. The pressure of performing at an elite level night after night, the hectic of dealing with public relationships, work-life balance, and some other nontangible challenges are the perfect mix for athletes to succumb to the pressure when they’re in the arena.
How does this 80/20 Rule applies to volleyball?
Both coaches or players must beware of this principle so we can make a conscious effort to understand how it works so we can learn to dance with the numerous challenges we’re surrounded by while competing.
According to the rule, the physical (the skills, the takes 80% of work but has 20% of impact on players and team’s performance. On the flip side, the mental part doesn’t require much (20%) but has 80% of the credit on player’s and team’s success.
First thing we need to do is understand what’s in each category. Let’s start with the ease one.
The 20%. The physical.
In this category we can include the volleyball skills, tactics, strength, and conditioning, the game systems (offense and defense), I mean all that we can see and measure.
Please don’t get me wrong. All this items are equally important as the ones in the 80%. They’re just are different skillset.
Teams that have better fundamentals, solid game systems, and clear ideas of how to play are more successful. That being said, go ahead and take care of these things because they’ll matter. They just are on side of the cake.
Why this skill sets are worth just 20%?
I know and agree with you. It takes a lot of time, reps, sweat and tears to be good at playing volleyball individually – and it’s even harder as a team.
Practicing the skills and game systems consistently is a prerequisite to success but it needs to be intentional.
Michael Jordan is known for pushing his teammates so hard in practice that some of them said he was the worst teammate they ever had. But he knew this was going to happen. He also knew that making his teammates better was the only way he was going to win six NBA championships – even if it cost him being labeled as a jerk by some of his teammates.
Intentionally practicing is how big teams and players transfer the gains made in practice to the games. That includes creating scenarios of tension that push players to pull the best out of them for the benefit of the team.
Deliberate practice is actually what links us to the other part of the puzzle.
The 80%. The Psychological.
The reason I said the 20% is the easy one, it’s because even it takes a lot of work to be a good team physically, technically, and tactically, these skills are tangible and measurable.
Contrarily, the mental part of the game hardly can be seen and measure until is too late (players are struggling in the court).
This nontangible skill set includes resilience, courage, patience, positive self-talk, a trust the process (NOT AN OUTCOME) mindset. It also includes a set of attitudes and attributes that function as a glue so players can hold the negative self-talk and emotions with tied hands. These include coachability, sincerity, respect, kindness, generosity, selflessness.
Whether you’re an Olympian, a Pro, a college player, a competitive club, or high schoolers, I hope you’re aware of the 80/20 Rule and that you can work efficiently on the areas you consider need more work.
Just remember, both the 80 and the 20 parts are equally important if you want to learn to dance with the stress an tension that creates playing high level.
Taking car of the mental
The reason I said the 20% part is easier it’s because you can see and measure how a player is passing, hitting, or serving. On the other side, it’s super hard to know what’s the psychological state of each individual on the team.
Elite athletes has professionals helping them with the mental part.
But what about youth players that aren’t pros but yet have to deal with a huge amount of stress at school and some other situations that growing teenagers are facing these days?
Youth coaches must develop high levels of intuition to scan player’s mood. Sometimes this task is ease but some time will take some hard work.
Making an exploration by skillfully asking the players how they feel and how their day was is an effective tactic. The challenge is that players sometimes mask out their struggles with secondary concerns that aren’t the root or the main source of the drain.
Once we assess the team’s mood, we can intentionally work to attack what you see.
The reason why coaching it’s so hard it’s because it doesn’t really matter how much you know or how many drills you know. It’s what best serve the athletes what matter.
When I see players struggling mentally, I know it’s not the best day to run a challenging cooperative ball control drill. When they’re not willing to cooperate or communicate I look for ways to engage with some sort of fun participating activity. During games, when players are on their heads, I look for words that make them, feel capable of competing against any team and players. When they’re relaxed and not playing or practicing with the adequate intensity I know it’s time for some tough, and so on.
As players compete against more challenging teams and players, the stress level rises. The best way to overcome the stress is by creating the same game situations during practice. It’s important that players understand this so they don’t misunderstand why they are working so hard. That being said, if practices are too easy you’re probably not going to be prepared to compete at a high level.
