The art of the timeout

Debbie Kniffin | Iowa State middle blocker 2008-11

Player development is high on the list of coaching responsibilities. Hours are spent crafting practice plans that help athletes improve.

But coaches must remember that their own skill development is important too. And I’m not talking about better practice planning. I’m talking about game management, a crucial skill and worthy investment of your time and energy. Because no matter how good your players get, they don’t fill out lineup sheet, make subs or call timeouts.

Unless your penmanship is awful, filling out lineup sheets probably doesn’t need much practice. And my thoughts on substitution strategy are five pages long. So today, we’re going to talk about the art of calling a timeout.

While experience is the best way to practice timeout technique, learning from the mistakes and mastery of others is a great way to speed up the learning curve and hone the art of the timeout.

We chatted with three coaches about their timeout tactics. Here’s what they had to say. The common thread: intentionality and awareness.

David Kniffin, UC Irvine Men’s Volleyball Head Coach

Hearing this guy talk made me fall in love with him and with the non-technical side of the game. (Full disclosure – he’s my husband, and I think he’s kind of amazing.)

When and why do you call timeouts? 
The standard rule is to call a timeout when the other team scores 2 points from the service line. But there are always exceptions. I think the basic idea is to break up the perceived momentum of the game. Volleyball lends itself to providing space for mental resets, but sometimes we need more time than the 10 seconds between serves. Besides the obvious relay of tactical information, I find that this 60 to 75 seconds is best used to just slow down and open our eyes.

How do you structure your timeouts? 
If I call the timeout, I’m the first face and voice they meet when they come off the court. If the players’ world is spinning, I want to provide stability and re-instill confidence quickly. If our opponent calls the timeout, I might allow them more time to mill about and talk among themselves before rallying them together.

What determines the tone of the timeout?
The phase of the season, the match and the personnel. My role, typically, is to maintain stability, so the tone is typically calm and action oriented. Unfortunately, because this is more art than science, I can only say that it is imperfect. So, I try to keep a poem, proverb, fortune cookie or assistant coach on standby in case I am ever at a loss or outside my ability.

Talk about a timeout you would do over and why.
Most of the timeouts I would do over are the ones that I never called. And specifically, the ones where I was experimenting with new lineups and the players had not fully established simple court responsibilities before the subsequent serve. Those are easy, missed opportunities to provide simple and effective support to our boys.
 

Kyle Escontrias, Wave Volleyball Club

When asked which prep coach called the best timeout, a national-team athlete quickly nominated this highly regarded high school and club coach.

When and why do you call timeouts? 
I usually reserve one of my timeouts to stop or contain our opponent’s point-scoring run. The other timeout I usually keep in my back pocket for tactical changes later in the set – such as running a specific play or changing our blocking scheme or defense structure.

How do you structure your timeouts? 
In high school, you get one minute. It allows for time for multiple coaches to talk. In club, timeouts are 30 seconds. As a head coach, I take command of those 30 seconds because I know what needs to be relayed.

What determines the tone of the timeout?
I am a pretty even-tempered coach. My timeouts are usually concise and focused on the information I want to disseminate rather than the energy and emotion of the match.

Talk about a timeout you would do over and why.
I don’t know that I would do any of them over. There are definitely times I wish I had taken a timeout a few points earlier or even not taken one and saved it for later in the set. It’s really hard when the team gets off to a slow start in a set and I have to burn a timeout too early. It makes me less tactical later in the set with big changes I wish I could make but don’t have a timeout to use to explain the changes.
 

Michaela Franklin, Clemson University Head Coach

As a former DI player with 12 years of collegiate coaching experience, Michaela Franklin is well-versed in the tactics and techniques of the timeout.

When and why do you call timeouts? 
Typically, I call a timeout when my team needs a moment to refocus and/or to break up the pace of the game.

How do you structure your timeouts? 
Our timeouts are dependent on who took the timeout – meaning if I took the timeout then, most likely, we are the receiving team and we need to strategize how we can side out. So I’ll reflect with my offensive coach, Jackie Kirr, and then present the offensive strategy to the team. If our opponent took the timeout, this most likely means we are the serving team and need to strategize ways to point score. So I chat with our defensive coach, Efrain Negron, and then we present the defensive strategy to our team.

What determines the tone of the timeout?
I try to gauge where my team is mentally and emotionally. How intense is the environment, and what is the energy level?

Talk about a timeout you would do over and why.
I’ve had numerous where I felt I could have communicated and articulated important information to my team, said less, said more. For me, it’s about learning in those moments, and the most important thing is truly having a pulse on your team to be able to gauge the direction of your timeout.

Debbie Kniffin, a former program director for the Badger Region Volleyball Association,  was a middle blocker at Iowa State from 2008-11.