Stick-to-itiveness

As volleyball teams across the state continue to make adjustments from competing in winter to fall, interesting little tidbits pop up here and there.

At a recent Clawson High practice, coach Jenny Brown talked about adjusting to humid gyms and the unfortunate times when her players are forced to dive for balls with what she called, "a little bit of burnt skin."

Diving on the hardcourt has always been something that made me cringe, and is probably part of the reason playing basketball never crossed my mind, but to hear Brown and players like Clawson senior Sarah Edwards describe the difference between a summer volleyball practice and a summer basketball practice by saying, "(The floor is) harder to slide on because instead of sliding, you stick," put things in context.

While volleyball players adjust to playing and conditioning during a Michigan summer, it begs to question what it's going to be like as girls basketball coaches and players have to adjust to the winter and its long, break-filled schedule. You can only imagine what kind of practices and drills veteran coaches like Grosse Pointe North's Gary Bennett will be able to come up with to fill those long winter breaks.