The Value of Communication in the Sport of Volleyball Media Research

Running head: COMMUNICATION IN VOLLEYBALL1
Communication in Volleyball
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COMMUNICATION IN VOLLEYBALL

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Communication in Volleyball


I. Overview
Sports are, in many ways, performative. For millennia, humans have performed one form of sports or another – regardless of culture, ethnicity, faith or age. In modern days, sport is no longer an individual experience or, for that matter, a recreational matter for a handful. Instead, sport has grown into a multibillion business cutting across all conventional and unconventional (e.g. video games) sport activities. For one, sport, invoking dynamic images of moving and graceful bodies, has always been associated with verbal and non-verbal communication onsite and outside field or playground. The longstanding interest in sport has, moreover, been motivated in part by performativity (or a propensity to show) and, in part, by communication and, not least, by wins (and losses). The cheers (or jeers) and a countless moves detected and/or made by players and audience are, of course, one important reason why sport has always – and will always continue to – attract crowds at stadiums, courts, fields, playgrounds or at home. That is, communication, verbal and non-verbal, players – and audiences – engage in prior to, during and after a game or series of rounds, is nothing short of an underlying discourse going on, consciously or not among players and/or audiences. For current purposes, communication in volleyball is of central interest. This is justified in part of game’s highly communicative potential, particularly non-verbal cues, employed to address and/or achieve a range of situations and, in part, by game’s largely lack of proper study of non-verbal communication in extant literature. To put matters into perspective, a closer examination is required of how non-verbal communication in volleyball, on- and offsite, contributes positively or not, for example, to enhance coaching styles, peer-to-peer support or attract new recruits. This short paper aims,
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accordingly, to explore how non-verbal communication in volleyball is shown to offer largely untapped into potential to address a wide range of coaching styles, emotional and psychological support, and help identify specific patterns in would-be volleyball professional players. II. Body Use in Volleyball: Changing Perspectives
The use of body in volley, as in all sports, has always been central to coaching and game’s development. Despite a consistent emphasis on body in volleyball as vehicle for individual endurance and overall group performance, attention has been minimal until recently for how a player’s body could be used beyond immediate coaching and physical exercise requirements. Specifically, more and more coaches are now understanding non-verbal communication clues employed, consciously or not, by players to convey a wide range of messages and emotions during different situations prior to, during and after games. These include, but not limited to, how coaches or scouts, monitoring performance of potential recruits, are increasingly paying more attention to body ...