That being said, and returning to my opening remark that “defense wins,” I have found that breaking down the defense you want to run into 4 steps is an easy method to teach as a coach.  And, I have found that this 4-step method usually results in a team, and the individual players “picking up” the defense very quickly.  I have found it doesn’t matter what defense you choose to run—the 4-step method of teaching a defense works well.  (Let me quickly point out that the following method of teaching defense is not my invention, but something I picked up at camps, clinics, and from knowledgeable coaches through the years.)

     As I developed my own 4-step method, I gave it a name:  “The 4 Rs” or READ, REACT, READ, REACT.  In teaching the defense using the 4-step method, I make sure the players know the following team rule:  The first two “Rs” belong to the team; the second two “Rs” belong to the player.  In Step 1 (the first READ), all six defensive players “read” the offensive set.  They must locate where is the ball going whether it be strong side, weak side, middle quick, or back row.  In Step 2 (the first REACT), all six players move to their defensive coverage zone or area.  In Step 3 (the second READ), each defensive player individually “reads” what the attacker can do with the given set.  Finally, in Step 4 (the second REACT), each defensive player moves into position to dig or play the ball.  Some of you are probably saying right about now “This guy ain’t no rocket scientist!” but I must point out a well-known rule from “Murphy’s Law of Volleyball,” “If it is stupid, but it works, it ain’t stupid!”

     The true beauty of “The 4 Rs” is its simplicity for both the coach and the player.  The coach (or player-coach) can concentrate his/her efforts on ensuring the team plays the first 2 Rs to perfection.  The individual player, on the other hand, can concentrate his/her efforts on playing great individual defense using the second 2 Rs.  Many defenses suffer from what I call “free-lancing”; that is, on the first 2 Rs not all the players in the defense are acting as one unit.  Perhaps five will go one way and the sixth (free-lancer) will go another.  In “The 4 Rs”, the player can “free-lance” all he/she wants once the player gets into his/her defensive coverage zone or area.  That is what the second READ, REACT is all about.  The first 2 Rs prevents “free-lancing” during the most critical time in a defense—when the team as a whole is moving into the team’s defensive coverage.  It prevents that unexpected “hole” in the defense that should not be there.   It also eliminates or reduces the use of volleyball’s famous and ageless expression “Was that my ball?”

     Over the years of coaching club ball, I have found the greatest challenge to implementing my team’s defenses is integrating players who have played under different defensive systems into a solid defensive unit.  The use of “The 4 Rs” has reduced the time needed to accomplish this mission and has made the team’s defensive concepts easy for my players.   “The 4 Rs” is only one system that works when putting into place a team’s defense.  The key to any successful defense is the coach’s (or player-coach’s) ability to break the defensive system down into easily recognizable and simplistic steps for his/her players.

Defense wins!