I thought it'd be fun to investigate something I am very familiar with for this weeks last blog post. Yay volleyball!! Being so deeply passionate about volleyball however, I was unaware that there was such a thing as the Deaflympics for indoor and beach! While learning about teamwork and an assortment of other team things, I had heard a story about a team that learned how to non-verbally communicate with their deaf teammate.
Volleyball, to some, is considered the ultimate team sport. A large amount of volleyball is communication, whether that's calling for the ball (MINE!), or yelling if the ball is landing in or out of the court. But in other cases, a large majority of volleyball is non-verbal…reading people's body language and looking for cues (hand signals) from the setter (the girl who typically takes the second ball contact and pushes the ball over her head with her hands) to see what route she wants you to take as you go to hit the ball at the net. Each team uses an array of different hand signals. An example would be for the setter to hold up a 1 with her finger indicating that the middle hitter run up for a quick attack (fast paced approach where the ball is set very low, right in front of the setter).
That being taken into account I was fascinated to find out more information about deaf individuals who play the sport I love so dearly. I came across Charity Sanders, who represented USA in the 2013 Deaflympics in Sofia, Bulgaria playing sand volleyball. In her post she explains what it is like to be a deaf volleyball player. Forget how hard you may think playing indoor volleyball is, and try playing volleyball in the sand with only one other teammate. Let me tell you, if you want a good workout play some competitive sand volleyball (or watch). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5E-MI93S0w Misty & Kerri make it look easier than it looks. Charity goes on to explain in her blog post how she has played indoor and sand, and what she encounters as a deaf volleyball player. She makes a great point by saying…
"In my humble opinion, 'deaf volleyball' facilitates true on-court chemistry. Often, hearing people ask me how deaf people communicate on court, and their first impression is that there's a disadvantage to not communicating with verbal cues."
Like the ones I had mentioned earlier…but Charity goes on to say,
…"I've played volleyball with hearing people, and have seen that often verbal communication can be as detrimental as it is helpful: a ball that is called out is actually in, or someone says that they have the ball but they’re not there and the ball drops to the ground. The secret to ‘deaf volleyball’ is to have a game plan and team chemistry -- to know exactly what your teammates will do in each situation. If you’re unsure, just dive for the ball!"
I cannot disagree with her, considering there have been many times where I have been guilty of doing such things.
Becoming comfortable with your teammates on the court without communicating demands an unbelievable amount of trust and holds each player to a new level of accountability, whether that's indoor (where you have 5 other teammates), or beach (just you and your partner). I can only agree after reading Chairty's post that deaf volleyball really does facilitate the purest form of on-court chemistry.
http://www.xojane.com/sports/an-unlikely-deaf-volleyball-player-going-for-the-gold
http://www.usdeafsports.org/volleyball/
Volleyball, to some, is considered the ultimate team sport. A large amount of volleyball is communication, whether that's calling for the ball (MINE!), or yelling if the ball is landing in or out of the court. But in other cases, a large majority of volleyball is non-verbal…reading people's body language and looking for cues (hand signals) from the setter (the girl who typically takes the second ball contact and pushes the ball over her head with her hands) to see what route she wants you to take as you go to hit the ball at the net. Each team uses an array of different hand signals. An example would be for the setter to hold up a 1 with her finger indicating that the middle hitter run up for a quick attack (fast paced approach where the ball is set very low, right in front of the setter).
That being taken into account I was fascinated to find out more information about deaf individuals who play the sport I love so dearly. I came across Charity Sanders, who represented USA in the 2013 Deaflympics in Sofia, Bulgaria playing sand volleyball. In her post she explains what it is like to be a deaf volleyball player. Forget how hard you may think playing indoor volleyball is, and try playing volleyball in the sand with only one other teammate. Let me tell you, if you want a good workout play some competitive sand volleyball (or watch). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5E-MI93S0w Misty & Kerri make it look easier than it looks. Charity goes on to explain in her blog post how she has played indoor and sand, and what she encounters as a deaf volleyball player. She makes a great point by saying…
"In my humble opinion, 'deaf volleyball' facilitates true on-court chemistry. Often, hearing people ask me how deaf people communicate on court, and their first impression is that there's a disadvantage to not communicating with verbal cues."
Like the ones I had mentioned earlier…but Charity goes on to say,
…"I've played volleyball with hearing people, and have seen that often verbal communication can be as detrimental as it is helpful: a ball that is called out is actually in, or someone says that they have the ball but they’re not there and the ball drops to the ground. The secret to ‘deaf volleyball’ is to have a game plan and team chemistry -- to know exactly what your teammates will do in each situation. If you’re unsure, just dive for the ball!"
I cannot disagree with her, considering there have been many times where I have been guilty of doing such things.
Becoming comfortable with your teammates on the court without communicating demands an unbelievable amount of trust and holds each player to a new level of accountability, whether that's indoor (where you have 5 other teammates), or beach (just you and your partner). I can only agree after reading Chairty's post that deaf volleyball really does facilitate the purest form of on-court chemistry.
http://www.xojane.com/sports/an-unlikely-deaf-volleyball-player-going-for-the-gold
http://www.usdeafsports.org/volleyball/