This was the Last strength session before the season starts.
The work changes when competition gets close. We’re no longer chasing fatigue we’re preparing the body to express what we built all offseason.
Plyometrics sharpen rate of force development, elasticity and landing mechanics. Box squats reinforce force production, positioning and lower-body strength without unnecessary volume.
The benefits of proper preparation are simple: maintain strength, improve explosiveness, tolerate the forces of competition, reduce unnecessary fatigue and enter the season physically prepared, not physically drained.
Volume comes down. Intent stays high. Rest goes up. Every rep has a purpose.
You don’t get stronger the week before the season by doing more. You prepare to use the strength you already earned.
You built it, Now Sharpen it. Then Trust it. And Go compete.
🎥: Avery Beers | Your NWA Photographer
Next Level 360 Performance
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Welcome to Next Level 360 Performance, where we unlock the hidden potential within athletes.
Our mission is to cultivate greatness, embracing the 360-degree athlete—versatile and adept in applying learned skills across sports and life.
WEEK 1 THOUGHTS.
A common trend I saw this week wasn’t physical, it was psychological.
Coaches: what we say matters.
Parents: how you respond matters.
Athletes: how you talk to yourself matters.
I saw too many athletes disappointed in their Week 1 performance. Overthinking mistakes. Carrying one bad play into the next. Allowing frustration to become tension, and tension to affect performance.
The game is already hard. Don’t make it harder by fighting yourself too.
Watch the film. Take the information. Make the correction. Then MOVE ON.
Being disappointed doesn’t make you more accountable. Beating yourself up doesn’t make you more competitive. Accountability is having the emotional maturity to look at yourself objectively, own what needs fixing, and get back to work.
And coaches, we have to understand the person before we can effectively coach the player. Everybody doesn’t respond to the same language, tone, or pressure. Coaching is more than knowing the game. It’s knowing people.
Parents, sometimes they don’t need another breakdown of everything they did wrong on the ride home. Sometimes they need space to process, reset, and remember why they fell in love with the game.
Week 1 is information. Not identity.
Win? Back to work.
Lose? Back to work.
Played great? Back to work.
Played poorly? Back to work.
Make the correction without making the mistake your identity.
Focused, but relaxed.
Accountable, but confident.
The best athletes I’ve been around learn quickly, adjust quickly, and most importantly, they move forward.
Next play. Next effort. Next opportunity.
— Coach Jones
08/28/2026
Hear me out!
There’s a part of performance we don’t talk about enough.
The voice an athlete hears when the game gets loud.
Athletes listen to me that voice doesn’t magically show up on game day. It’s being built every day. Through your preparation. Your habits. Your self-talk. The way you respond when you miss, fail, get embarrassed, get tired, or feel pressure.
Coaches, we’re building that voice too.
Parents so are you.
I’ve spent years training athletes physically, and the longer I coach, the more I understand that you can build a stronger, faster, more explosive athlete and still leave a massive part of performance untouched.
Because eventually they have to perform without us.
When the heart rate climbs, the crowd gets loud, the mistake happens, or the moment feels bigger than expected, they don’t need ten more instructions. They need something simple, familiar, and actionable to come back to.
That’s why I’m intentional with language.
Not because athletes need everything softened. Quite the opposite. I believe in demanding standards, accountability, and telling athletes the truth.
But demanding more from someone and helping them perform better are not always the same thing.
Sometimes the best coaching isn’t adding more noise.
It’s giving them something they can actually use when the noise arrives.
See it. Decide. Commit. Respond. Next play.
We train strength.
We train speed.
We train skill.
We better train the mind that has to access all of it under pressure.
Because at some point, our voice leaves the room and theirs has to be strong enough to take over.
Words matter. Choose them with intention.
— Coach Jones
Next Level 360 Performance
The weight room should expand an athlete’s options, not just increase their numbers.
Strength matters. Power matters. Speed matters. But none of it exists independently of the athlete’s ability to organize their body and apply it when the environment changes.
That’s why good strength & conditioning isn’t about collecting exercises or chasing fatigue. It’s about developing movement competency giving athletes exposure to positions, forces, speeds and patterns that better prepare them for what their sport will eventually ask of them.
We don’t replace skill coaches. We don’t try to recreate the game.
We build the physical tools that allow skill to be expressed.
The goal isn’t to create better lifters.
It’s to create more capable athletes.
Train with intent. Let it transfer.
— Coach Jones
Young female athletes need strength training.
Not because we’re trying to turn them into powerlifters. Not because every volleyball player needs to chase big numbers in the weight room. But because strength is a foundation for almost everything we ask them to do on the court.
Jump higher. Land better. Change direction. Produce force. Absorb force. Stay balanced when the game gets chaotic. Control their body in space.
With AK, a lot of the work right now is simple on purpose: building foundational strength, coordination, balance, landing mechanics and confidence in movement.
They need to become competent movers first.
Can you control your knee and hip when you land?
Can you stabilize on one leg?
Can you coordinate your upper and lower body?
Can you absorb force before trying to produce more of it?
Can you maintain good positions when you get tired?
Those things matter.
At this age, I’m not interested in rushing the process. We’re building the base so that when the game gets faster, the jumps get higher and the demands get greater, her body has something to build from.
Stability before strength. Strength before power. Competence before complexity.
The goal isn’t just to build a better volleyball player today.
It’s to build a stronger, more coordinated, more durable athlete for the years ahead.
Keep building, AK. 🏐💪🏾
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