Why beginners start on grass
Small games, lower nets and a lot more touches: how the Nocatee and Fruit Cove classes work.
More touches in the same hour
An indoor team puts six players on each side of the net. On grass, the club's classes play two to four a side, so each player touches the ball far more often in the same hour. Touches build skill, and they are also what makes the game fun for a new player.
A net she can swing over
Nets come down for younger players, so a fourth grader can swing over the top with good form instead of learning a bad habit to reach a net set for adults. As players improve, the net goes up.
How the classes run
- Nocatee: Nocatee Fields, 707 Little River Road, Ponte Vedra.
- Fruit Cove: Julington Creek Plantation Park, 3060 Race Track Rd, St Johns.
- Bronze: for younger players who are just starting.
- Silver: longer sessions with more game play, for players building toward a team.
Classes follow the St. Johns County school calendar. Bring a hat, water and sunscreen; shoes are optional on grass. Rain affects just these outdoor classes, and cancellations go out by text message.
Then what?
Players who want more can try out for a club team at the facility on US-1 North. Club teams take players in grades 5 to 9.
More from the gym
- The screens beside our courts replay every rep. Here is why.A player sees her own arm swing a few seconds after she made it, while the coach is still talking. What delayed video review does for a 12-year-old, and why we built it into the gym.
- Coaches, slow down. A tryout story.A coach who had never met her asked a player to move five feet and change her platform in the middle of a tryout. What happened next is why we tell players to say thank you and play their game.
- Volleyball Pattern Training®, explained for parents.Why the squat she lifts with is the squat she passes from, what the eight VPT episodes cover, and why every club practice starts with thirty minutes in the strength room.