I periodically hear phrases like “well she’s just really good” or “he’s been playing a long time” as an explanation for what that defensive player just did on the court.

As though what that does player does is dependent on some kind of magic or voodoo that only comes from being “good” or playing for a long time.

True, some things cannot be taught. If I’m 4’11” you can’t teach me to be 6’4”. So let’s dispense with those extremes.

I’m talking about the team defense skills those players are using in the floor that make them seem so incredible: the movement, the anticipation, and the reading that causes it.

Reading is the key.

Reading is quantifiable, which makes it repeatable. And that makes it teachable.

There are two pieces to reading. There is a location read (The Primary Reads in The BODM Line) which create the team scheme and puts your players in the appropriate positions on the court in relation to each other, in relation to what the attacker is doing, and in the best position to do the second read which is-

Reading the attacker.

Reading the attacker is as simple as recognizing if the attacker is hitting at me or away from me. And knowing what to do in either case.

So, old paradigm: reading is some magic voodoo that only great players do after years of playing and training, so it should be avoided as too complicated, difficult and confusing to deal with.

New paradigm: reading is quantifiable, teachable, and critical to success. All players should learn the basics of reading and what to do with it from the beginning of their volleyball careers.

That’s The BODM Line.

The previous posts on Paradigm were geared more toward the specifics of training. I thought it might be appropriate to look at the bigger picture, particularly as it relates to this website.

For those who aren’t sure, “paradigm” means model, mold, or set of guidelines or rules that set a standard.

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So, the current team defense paradigm:

Team defense takes time to install, train, and develop to a very high level.

It’s difficult to teach.

You must have the best, most gifted players to have great team defense.

Team defense is based on formations, reading is an un-quantifiable afterthought.

Reading, though necessary, is difficult to teach.

Reading, though necessary, is difficult to learn.
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Now, The BODM Line team defense paradigm:

Team defense is easy to learn, train, install, and develop to a very high level.

Reading is a skill that is easily quantifiable, which means it is repeatable and teachable.

Any reasonably athletic player can learn to read and play great defense.

Successful team defense is based on reading. The formations are a result of reading.
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Coaches who subscribe to the current paradigm come here looking for a new formation when they already instinctively know the formation isn’t enough. But the current paradigm won’t let them believe the answers do not lie within formations.

Step outside the old paradigm.

The BODM Line and The Block Oriented Defense require a bit of a paradigm shift to fully understand and implement. (Old paradigm: 1} start with a formation, force the formation to match what is happening as you go by modifying the formation according to situation or modifying individual skills, and 2} reading is hard...New paradigm: 1} train a small number of easily learnable concepts to your individual defenders and they will create, as a group, dynamically, on the fly, the appropriate defensive formation for every touch of the ball on the other side of the net; and 2} reading is easy).

"The BODM Line" is a system of team defense that includes a group of concepts, how to train those concepts, and the structure and guidelines to apply those concepts on the floor.

"The Block Oriented Defense" is the most effective application of the concepts, structure and guidelines.

Ultimately it is much easier to train and run than the conventional formation or read defenses. It is more effective than either.

The concepts in The BODM Line can be used to enhance any of the conventional defenses, formation or read. The most effective and efficient use of the concepts is in the Block Oriented Defense.

When using The BODM Line's structure and guidelines you will know specifically why the ball hit the floor. Every time.

When you critique a player on the floor with The BODM Line's structure and guidelines, what you tell her will apply to the next play, not just the one that just happened.

The Block Oriented Defense is applicable to and effective at ANY level of play. It simply grows and gets faster along with the players.

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So why do you care about these statements?

You came here looking for answers. You know formations aren't enough. You know that to make ANY defense work, your players need to develop their reading skills. But the old paradigm says to be afraid of the word read. Be very afraid.

You'd be surprised how many coaches are afraid to try The BODM Line BECAUSE THEY DON'T SEE THOSE SAME OLD ANSWERS! And you WON'T see the same old answers ("change the formation" or "do movement drills" or "recruit a different kind of player) in The BODM Line.

The BODM Line says don't be afraid. The BODM Line puts your players in the BEST POSITION to read the attacker, in ANY situation.

Very soon The BODM Line will show you how to read that attacker. Simply put - what to look for and how to respond and react to what you see. I've distilled down and fine-tuned these concepts over the last two seasons - club and high school. I'm completely satisfied that these reading concepts work with 12-and-unders as well as 18s, college players an adults (If you already have a copy of The BODM Line, this new section will be available to you free of charge).

Shift your paradigm. Team defense is easy. Reading is easy. Everything you see those great defenders doing on the court is quantifiable. And anything that is quantifiable is trainable, and, most important, repeatable.

It’s sometimes difficult to describe The BODM Line and the Block Oriented Defense in conventional terms. This is because the conventional way of defense has a few built in issues, difficulties, and pre-conceptions.

The way we describe conventional defense typically starts with a pre-described or pre-determined formation. The formation isn’t necessarily designed to match what the opposition is doing. Rather, it defines WHICH player is going to play WHERE in the given situation. The situations are 1) when a set goes to the right;
2) when a set goes to the middle; or 3) when a set goes to the left. Sometimes it goes so far as to say where they will be in all situations.

The “where” on the court is two parts.

First, who plays left back, who plays right back, who plays middle back, and who is in tip coverage (in Perimeter tip coverage is not as well defined, usually described as “one of the wings”). You can tell them this ahead of time.

Second is “where” in very specific terms like “three feet behind the attack line, a foot off the sideline” at the moment the attacker is sending the ball to your side. You can NOT tell them this unless you know where, at that exact moment, the ball, the block and the attacker will be.

In a typical “read” defense we tend to give our players spots or areas of responsibility and then tell them to “read the hitter”. There is little guidance or structure beyond things like “watch her hips and her shoulders” and “if she drops her hitting shoulder she’s hitting away from her body” and other similar statements.

In ANY defense, ultimate success is dependent on our players’ abilities to read. They learn to watch a hitter and recognize what they are doing ahead of time, and that gives them the ability to better anticipate what is about to happen.

So when coaches ask “what is the BODM Line?” they are expecting to hear that it is either a spot-based/position/formation defense OR that it is a “read defense”.

It is neither and it is both.

It is not a formation defense in that it does not assign spots or areas to the players.

It is not a read defense in that the players do not not just “go to their spots and read the hitter”.

It is a formation defense in that it will create the appropriate formation to match what in going on on the other side of the net, all the time, on the fly.

It is a read defense in that what the player looks for and where she looks for it will put her in a position appropriate to her teammates, appropriate to what is going on on the other side of the net, and in an appropriate position to read the hitter.

It has the flow and movement of a read defense AND the structure and guidance of a formation defense.

It has the dynamic adaptability and movement for a highly advanced team and easy structure appropriate and learnable for a young inexperienced team.

See what I mean about conventional terms?