# Volley | Brains > Masterclasses with the highest performing coaches in our game. To promote and expand the sport of volleyball. Full access with a $120/ year membership. Public Ghost content for AI and LLM tooling. This file includes a bounded export of public pages first, then recent public posts. Append `.md` to any post or page URL to get the content in Markdown (for example, `/example-post.md`). ## Pages ### Expert Questions URL: https://volleybrains.com/expertquestions/ Last updated: 2025-06-09T08:56:36.000Z This is the "questions page" from volleybrains.com. The readers of this newsletter are coaches and players that all love the game. Most of these questions aren't questions with 'easy' answers. And it's quite impossible to get through all these questions in one sitting. And some questions are questions which you maybe don't want to respond to. ### All that is okay. Our video call is an open conversation about volleyball...every opinion is a good one. *Asking specific questions will get great answers*. ## Questions We divided the questions in 4 chapters. ### Coaching 1. **Why** did you decide to commit to being a professional volleyball coach? **What pushed you towards that decision?** 2. What **advice would you give yourself as a starting coach**? An advice that is so clear and logic for you now, but that you had to develop over the years. (Can be about anything) 3. What are bad recommendations you hear about coaching or training volleyball? 4. **Do you have a particular goal**? Maybe a goal that you already reached or a goal that is so hard to reach that it gives you daily motivation?(and some healthy stress :-)) Can be personal on a team or club level, or all of those. 5. **Team rules**. Are there some fixed rules that you put in place? **Technical/volleyball related and organisational**. 6. **Team management.** Sometimes managing completely different teams year over year. Do you have any methods that you reach back to every new season? 7. When preparing a new game (next weekend), how does **your general approach** look like and **did you ever change your approach**? **Why** did you change and was the outcome beneficial? ### The game 1. The future of volleyball, from a technical point of view, **how will the game evolve according to your opinion**? Or what are you hoping for that the game will look like in a couple of decades? What is needed to get there? 2. According to you, **what rule change is necessary**? And why would you want to see this rule implemented? 3. **Best game** you've ever seen. What recent or game from the volleyball vaults did validate once more that volleyball is the greatest sport on the globe (for all of us). For sure share your opinions about this matchup, what you took away from it. ### The players 1. If you would have the ability to put together the world's most performing volleyball player. **Which (5) characteristics would he/she have**. 2. If you can make the **strongest 'starting six' in the world**, right now. What would your team look like? **Why did you choose** these players? Female or Male depending on your expertise. 3. If you could have a gigantic billboard anywhere with anything on it — metaphorically speaking, getting a message out to every athlete on the globe — what would it say and why? ### Personal 1. What is an **unusual habit** or an absurd thing **that you love**? 2. How has a **failure**, or apparent failure, **set you up for later success**? Do you have a “favorite failure” of yours? 3. Do you have a book that you like a lot? Which lessons did you get out of it? 4. What is one of the best or most worthwhile investments you’ve ever made? (Could be an investment of money, time, energy, etc.) 5. In the last five years, what new belief, behaviour, or habit has most improved your life? 6. When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, or have lost your focus temporarily, what do you do? (If helpful: What questions do you ask yourself?) ### Get in contact with us. URL: https://volleybrains.com/contact/ Last updated: 2026-01-20T18:37:13.000Z - Do you have valuable feedback that could improve volleybrains.com? - Do you have a question about the memberships? - Did you spot a mistake in an article? - Other requests...? ### You can email us at hello@volleybrains.com ### Welcome! URL: https://volleybrains.com/subscriber/ Last updated: 2023-11-22T07:52:51.000Z You are now **a member of volleybrains.com**. Enjoy the articles! We're happy you're here. You now have **full access to our entire article database** and you'll receive a notification of every new article in your inbox. (add '' to your contacts to never miss a notification) ### To log in or log back in on your device(s): You can **easily log in from any browser** with these 3 easy steps. ### 1. Press the **'Subscribe' button** at the top right of our homepage. You'll see **the pop-up** in the picture below. **Press 'Sign in'**. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/06/signin_volleybrains.jpg) ### 2. In the next **pop-up,** you need to fill in your email address (the email address you used to become a member) and will need to press continue. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/06/signIn2_volleybrains.jpg) ### 3. You'll now receive a link in your mailbox. Press the **'Sign in to VolleyBrains'** button. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2023/11/snap-1.jpg) 💡 As long as you don't clear your web browser's cache history ****you will stay logged in on that device.** In case you are not logged in anymore or you're using another device to log in, you can just run through these steps again and log in. It's very straightforward. ### You want to check your account? In case you want to check your account, want to edit your billing info or cancel your subscription you can do that at the top right of the website when you're logged in. You can go and press the **account tab** to get access. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/06/account_volleybrains-1.jpg) 💡 ****Attention:** Coaches with 'group memberships' (your club or school has provided you with an VolleyBrains membership) will just see that they have a yearly complimentary membership. **Group membership accounts** need to go through your admin and they'll email us at matias@volleybrains.com to take care of what is needed. If you have any questions, don't doubt and just email me at matias@volleybrains.com Enjoy! Matias ### Mini 'Team Culture' Masterclass...go time! URL: https://volleybrains.com/team-culture-masterclass/ Last updated: 2022-07-30T09:55:25.000Z ### 👋 Shortest intro ever...(fair attempt) Hi, my name is Matias Raymaekers, former pro player, now running a player representation agency, guiding pro volleyball players so that they make the best choices and develop a sustainable pro career. In early 2021 I started volleybrains.com ### 🙋 Volleybrains is what exactly?? We want volleyball coaches all over the globe to NOT **waste time finding the right information** OR spend time **consuming the wrong insights.** On volleybrains.com we offer exclusive access to 1 on 1 talks with the best coaches in the game. Our video calls get squeezed into extended, deep dive 'masterclasses' based on video content. ### ⚡ Bold statement of the day **But as always, you still have to do the work.** Sit down, soak it up, put to use what speaks to you. We just offer the convenience. ### 🔥 What you're actually here for. 'Team Culture' is a very broad topic, it's anything and everything, it's what you do, say, think, act on...or choose not to act on. Down below we selected 3 clips out of 3 of our Masterclasses. ⚡ **Take away what you need from them.** --- # [Alan Knipe:"Our culture is by design, not by default."](https://volleybrains.com/alan-knipe/) We spend a tremendous time on our culture. The really enjoyable part of being a college coach in the men's game is that our season starts in January and you get your team in in August. So you can spend that entire fall academic semester of building your team, both as athletes in the strength and conditioning and in the weight room. And also in what we call our "retreat" that we have every Monday of the entire fall semester, where we're spending time on what we believe in. And there's lots of levels to that. Obviously we can talk about our blocking and our defense and all the technical parts of the game, but there's also things that are super important about our culture. > Because I'm a big believer, if you go back to what I said earlier about sustainable success, then you have to make sure that your culture is by design, not default. The culture that I played in as a player here, albeit that it turned into a national championship and some very, very good teams. And I loved my time here. But it was very much by default at that time. We had a very good collection of players, some very good coaches at the time. And then from year to year, it could change dramatically. So it was a little bit up and down, but the bad part about that is really quickly, if you're not careful, the culture by default can go bad in a heartbeat to. The wrong coach, the wrong players, not enough attention to the behavior within the locker room within the classroom, how they interact off the court with one another. There's lots of different things that can change it. So you have to be able to address these early things that ****will** come up, not if they come up. Especially in this age of social media, where people can disappear from reality and just communicate with their thumbs all day. That becomes a little bit of a problem later on in life when they have to work within a unit with a team and they have to be able to communicate with the coaching staff... So teaching them communication and teaching them how to be open and honest with their communication and direct with one another so that we can get buy-in. If a team doesn't have good communication and they don't trust the fact that they can communicate with one another, they can communicate with their coaches...you're going to have players that are silenced and when they're silenced, there's not going to be buying into what you're trying to do. > And if you don't have buy-in, you're not going to get to the level of having any trust with one another. And obviously trust, as we all know, is an enormous part of team success. Trusting to make the right play on the court, trusting that they'll make the right decision on Saturday night, trusting that they'll do what they're supposed to do academically to still be able to play. Lots of trust is broken by the fact that communication hasn't been established as a foundation. And once you get the trust, and once you develop the trust with one another, you can now hold each other accountable. Because you trust that the other teammate and the other coach or your head coach, or whoever it might be is totally invested into this culture and is communicating each step of the way and building trust each step of the way. You're going to be more apt to trust that when he talks to you about accountability, like even volleyball related: 'Hey, that tip was yours. You have to get it.' Or I'm asking you to do this offensively or set this kind of offense as a setter. > You trust him more when you've had good open communication and lots of contacts. And then now the accountability to holding yourself to the level of what the coach wants or what the players want, or your teammates want is easier for everybody because of the trust. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/12/knipe6.jpeg) And once you have the communication and the trust and the accountability. Now we can start getting to the point of getting the results that we all wanted from the very beginning. So we spent a lot of time talking about our culture being by design being intentional. And once again, going back to the idea of being able to write it down, we use kind of like, in a corporate world, a job description. Everybody has a job description, but in a team, there is no such thing, even though we imply there is. So what we do a lot is we'll take our team and we'll divide it by position. And after we're deep into our retreat, we'll have the outside hitters get together and the opposites get together and everybody...the groups, get together and write their job description. What does it means to be an outside hitter in our program? On blocking on defense on, on our offense, serving whatever, all the different areas and what they're going to commit to doing. And they have to actually present that job description to the group as a group, they all get a piece of it and they all explain it to the group. And what they're saying to the group is they're saying: "this is what we're going to do." So we're stating it, we're writing it down. And then we're asking you to hold us accountable to this. And it's okay for you to hold us accountable because we're telling you, we know this is important. And we do this, this drill where everybody, each group does this back and forth to each other to build that accountability, so we can get to the results. So I guess to kind of take it into one line or one bullet point of information that I would say about culture is... > Culture is everything about your team and it takes time and it takes effort and we choose culture by design over default. --- # [Russ Rose:'You can't get too high when it's good and you can't get too low when it's not good.'](https://volleybrains.com/russ-rose/) I always say to them, listen, you have a very small window of time in which you try and be good while you're here. Everything matters and everyday matters. But it's not life and death. > There are always more important things, but you must be focused on what you're doing on the day that you're doing it. That's all. And if you have issues that prevent you from being focused on that day, I just need to know ahead of time, because otherwise my assumption is going to be that you're going to come in and give a hundred percent and be ready to go. If we were going to put coaches in different boxes, you, who is more than qualified to be a coach, it sounds like you would be a technical coach. I'm an attitude coach. And if somebody was going to ask a technical question that I thought could go either way. I'd say, that's a good question. Matias is going to answer it for you. If somebody would ask me a certain question about performance, I just say: Yeah, they need to play harder. My answer is: If you don't go for the ball, you're out of the drill, that's the answer. And how do we do that? ****That's how we do it.** If you don't go for the ball, somebody comes over and pats you on the butt and you're out of the drill. No one yells, no one does anything. But if you're out of the drill, you're not getting better. You're not in the rotation. You’re a shagger or you're kind of just standing around. > It doesn't take players very long to understand that I don't have a lot of rules, but the rules that I care about...I really care about and the team matters. I coach women and I'm a sarcastic person. People always say sarcasm is a bad thing. And I'm like, well, that's unfortunate because I have been sarcastic for a long time and my attitude is that... losing sucks too. What's worse. I think losing's worse than being around someone who is sarcastic, to me, it's like: Hey, deal with it. Don't worry about what's being said. I always say: Hey, listen, I don't know what you're thinking because, I don't. And in return, I'll never make a statement where I say you don't care because I don't know if you care. Everybody cares. Some people care a lot. Some people just don't know how to demonstrate that they care when they play. But this is what it looks like to me and the other team. And if the other team thinks that you don't look like you're competitive, or it doesn't look like you're a good teammate, or it doesn't look like you can handle making an error...well, that feeds the momentum to the other team, whether it's real or not. The development takes place from my standpoint, through that sort of communication. I mean, we can show a video about how people do it right. That's the beauty of this thing (looks at 2nd screen) here is, you know, you can watch the TV, record stuff and say, man, these guys are unbelievable. And some of the women are unbelievable, but it doesn't transfer. But when they see themselves, yeah, there it is. You know, a picture is worth a hundred words, but videos worth a million words. > And a video of you having bad behaviour is a million words. --- # [Dani Busboom Kelly:"All of my players need to have a great experience, I take that very personal"](https://volleybrains.com/dani-busboom-kelly/) One thing that we do, that's really unique and difficult, but has really paid off is, we have role meetings, but we do them in front of the team. So we talk about every individual in front of everybody else. I think that really helps build trust because we're really transparent. And then it allows them to hold each other accountable so they can hear us, what we say you need to do, whether it would be more playing time or what you're doing well. > So it's also an opportunity to call out the things we want to see repeated in front of the whole team and to make sure that our players know that that's valued. But also a way for them to hear about their play in front of their peers. And it's sometimes probably the most awkward for me because I'm the one leading the meeting. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/03/coach_squad-1.jpeg) And saying 'negative' stuff about a player in front of everybody is kind of hard, but I think it's really been great for our program and something we're going to continue to do. And that doesn't mean we never talk behind closed doors because that's unrealistic. We have to sometimes, but mostly we don't, I just don't want anybody to think we're hiding something or trying to keep info, I don't want somebody coming out of our offices going down to the locker room saying or thinking something, that isn't true. That's why we try to do everything together as a group. --- 💡 Thanks for reading and watching all the way through til the end of this Mini Masterclass! ## 😇 Here goes my shameless plug If this content is what you were looking for, if it helped you in some way, if you need to share this with your coaching staff... Well this and so much more is all a click of a button and some credit card digits away.🤦‍♂️😊 Become a "volleybrains member" and get full access to every article and **every upcoming article** on volleybrains.com. 35+ articles and 250+ exclusive video clips are available to our members...TODAY. Press the button below to become a paid member.👍 [Yes, I Want Full Access!](https://volleybrains.com/#/portal/signup) You can get your VolleyBrains membership **to be fully repaid** \-> We are an educational platform. Depending on your activity and your organisation it’s likely your VolleyBrains membership can be considered an expense. Do you have more questions? Our [about page](https://volleybrains.com/about/) goes a bit more in depth. ✉️ Or just send me an email at matias@volleybrains.com Have a great day! M --- ### Frequently Asked Questions URL: https://volleybrains.com/faq/ Last updated: 2024-05-02T16:38:46.000Z ## Some quick answers to questions people ask most often. ### General #### What is VolleyBrains? Volleybrains.com is the platform that makes it possible for anyone to read and watch deep dive interviews with the best pro volleyball coaches on the globe. Alongside that we also offer actual practice overviews of pro teams. In those videos the top coaches go over every single minute of their practice. The coaches we interview are: current high performing coaches of the best leagues in the world, coaches that are breaking the paradigm or the legendary coaches of the game. #### What is included in a VolleyBrains membership? Membership includes access to our complete and ever growing database of interviews and practice overviews. Each masterclass includes in-depth notes of our video calls. Every single masterclass from number 14 on and every future masterclass is mostly based on video content\*. When we post a new Masterclass, a notification will arrive in your email inbox. \*(also Masterclass 11 & 12 include video clips) #### Where can I read and watch? Our website is mobile friendly, so it can be viewed anywhere. #### Which masterclasses or practice overviews are right for me? Most of our members live in the United States or in Europe. 2 regions with very different volleyball cultures. I would encourage you to alternate articles from coaches that you know with those not yet known to you. That will get you the most broad insights...and will undoubtfully get you to know some interesting coaches. #### How to use VolleyBrains? It is you, the reader, who makes up your own opinion and figure out what advice or which new insights you want to implement in your own coaching style and with your own team/club. You get a full article to focus on, we urge you to block out enough time and get everything out of every article we'll feature. ### Pricing & Payment #### ****How much does VolleyBrains cost?** The annual membership is 120 dollars and provides unlimited access to all previous articles and every new article as they launch. For discounted group memberships, please visit [this page](https://volleybrains.com/group-rates/). #### How to get your membership fully repaid? Volleybrains is an educational platform. Depending on your activity and your organisation it’s likely your VolleyBrains membership can be considered an expense. Check with your school, club, organisation or accountant. And get your membership fully repaid by the organisation where you coach or get it deducted from your taxes. Within 24 hours after becoming a member we will provide you a payment receipt in your email inbox. #### Why isn’t VAT or other sales tax added to my purchase? VolleyBrains operates under the VAT exemption for small enterprises rules. Once our annual limit hits all new subscribers will be billed the additional VAT according to their country of origin. Right now, you can still enjoy this ‘extra discount’. #### How can I contact VolleyBrains? If you have more questions, please email us at hello@volleybrains.com. We're happy to help if it is needed. ### For our VB members #### How do I change the email address attached to my membership? When you are logged into volleybrains.com, the 'account' section will be visible at the top right of our website. Over there you can easily edit and save your personal data. #### How do I change my billed credit card? In case your credit card is about to expire or you want to change the card that is credited: When you are logged into volleybrains.com, the 'account' section will be visible at the top right of our website. Press the 'Update' button where it says 'Billing info' Over there you can easily edit and save your new billing info. Volleybrains.com uses Stripe.com as it's payment processor. Your data are not accessible to us, they are secured by the payment processor. #### How do I cancel my membership? If you don't want to continue your yearly membership, you can cancel your membership renewal at the top right of our website in the 'account' section that's visible when you are logged in. Press the 'Change' button where it says 'VolleyBrains Membership'. Press 'Cancel subscription' to cancel your membership. Please note that there aren't refunds for partially unused membership periods. Your account menu clearly states when your subscription renews. Your **account section** is very straightforward and looks like this: ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2023/08/volleybrains-account.jpg) *The green boxes are of course used to protect some of the data of this account.* For any further questions you have you can email us over at hello@volleybrains.com ### Member testimonials. URL: https://volleybrains.com/testimonials/ Last updated: 2024-01-14T07:33:54.000Z ⚡ ****We often ask our members to give feedback on the Masterclasses that were produced or on volleybrains.com in general.** Below you can read some of the member feedback to get an even better understanding of what you can get out of a volleybrains yearly subscription. We'll be adding more testimonials in the future! ## Feedback by email... ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2024/01/testimonial_vb_matthew.png) ⚡ 🇺🇸 Matthew - Club Coach ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2024/01/testimonial_vb_bryan.jpg) ⚡ 🇺🇸 Bryan - Club Head Coach ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/08/volleybrains_testimonial2.png) ⚡ 🇺🇸 John - Club Head Coach ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2023/08/Testimonial_Glenn_VB.jpg) ⚡ 🇺🇸 Glenn - Club Head Coach ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2023/08/Testimonial_Kathy_VB.jpg) ⚡ 🇺🇸 Kathy - Club Coach ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2023/08/Testimonial_Massimo_VB.jpg) ⚡ 🇮🇹 Massimo - Club Coach ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/08/volleybrains_testimonial4.png) ⚡ 🇺🇸 Ann - Youth Coach ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/08/volleybrains_testimonial5.png) ⚡ 🇺🇸 Jodie - Club Coach ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/08/volleybrains_testimonial1.png) ⚡ 🇩🇪 August - Youth Coach ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/08/volleybrains_testimonial3.png) ⚡ 🇸🇪 Ulf - Youth Coach More to come... ### About URL: https://volleybrains.com/about/ Last updated: 2025-01-05T11:01:25.000Z Hi, We are Marta Szczygielska and Matias Raymaekers. Email: hello@volleybrains.com ### What we do: Give the current coaches in the game of volleyball the tools to develop into their personal best versions. ### What we've done: Former pro volleyball athletes with 35+ years of experience in the international game. ### What we want to do next: Apply more of our skills and network to make it easier for **you** to learn and grow into the best volleyball coach you can be. In some way or form, we want to connect the knowledge of the best coaches out there **to every single volleyball coach in the world.** --- ### Group membership rates. URL: https://volleybrains.com/group-rates/ Last updated: 2025-05-11T11:00:54.000Z The feedback we received the most from our subscribers is that they want to know if volleybrains.com offers discounted group rates. Yes we do! Email us at memberships@volleybrains.com or fill in the form below. We'll contact you within the next 24 hours. ### The VolleyBrains Weekly URL: https://volleybrains.com/weekly/ Last updated: 2022-12-22T17:57:39.000Z We're launching **The Volleybrains Weekly**, a free weekly email with volleyball and other coaching greatness inside. Every Sunday you'll receive an email that is brief but **packed with value**. ### Whether you're a seasoned pro or just starting out, we've got something for everyone. If you're **digging this** (no pun intended, we're all about **the spike game**) drop your email below and you'll be in the loop. ### Manage or prevent failed payments. URL: https://volleybrains.com/manage-your-account/ Last updated: 2023-09-01T18:22:35.000Z In case your credit card has expired or you need to update your payment details, please go ahead and change your billing info. It just takes a few steps. 1. Log into volleybrains.com 2. Press the Account button at the top right 3. Update your billing info ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2023/09/image.png) If any help is needed, email us at hello@volleybrains.com **Volleybrains.com uses Stripe.com as it's payment processor.** **Your data are not accessible to us, they are secured by the payment processor.** ### We're preparing your gift card. URL: https://volleybrains.com/gift-confirmation/ Last updated: 2023-12-09T13:15:35.000Z Your order was successful! Thank you for choosing the VolleyBrains Holiday gift card. As you landed on this page, our team of joyful elves got to work. In a room filled with festive spirit, our craftsmen are meticulously adding the login details and personalized message to your card. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2023/12/elves_workshop_VB.jpg) Once it's ready, the key to this treasure of volleyball wisdom will be sent directly to you, the thoughtful gift giver. You'll then have the joy of forwarding it electronically or printing it out to present it in person, wrapped in your love and care. Here are the precise next steps: 1. **Gift Card Creation**: We're personalizing your gift card with the message and login details. 2. **Sending to You**: The completed gift card will be emailed to you **within the next 12 hours**. 3. **Your Turn to Gift**: You can then forward the email or print the card to gift it in your unique style. As always, if you have any questions, email me at: matias@volleybrains.com I'm here to help. ### The perfect Holiday gift to any volleyball coach. URL: https://volleybrains.com/gift-cards/ Last updated: 2023-12-20T15:36:22.000Z On more than a few occasions we received the following question. **“Does VolleyBrains have gift cards for their full access membership? I want to gift a membership to a coach that’s dear to me”** *No, we didn’t.* **But now we do.** [Gift 1 year of VolleyBrains](https://buy.stripe.com/14k5lo7Jw5aB14QdQZ?ref=volleybrains.com) ### In just 3 steps you'll have the perfect gift: **1\. Press the button** above or [this link](https://buy.stripe.com/14k5lo7Jw5aB14QdQZ?ref=volleybrains.com). **2\. Fill in your payment details** and press Pay. *Important fields (picture below):* - Email of the gift receiver (1): is needed to create their login to our platform - Personal message on the gift card (2): You have **255 characters** to write a personal message which will be put on the gift card **OR when you leave that field open,** we'll add ... 🎄 "Excited to present you a year of full access to VolleyBrains.com! May it fuel your passion for coaching and enrich your volleyball journey. Here's to learning, growing, and inspiring greatness on the court." ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2023/12/details_process.jpg) **3\. Sending to You**: The gift card will be emailed to you, the gift giver, (as a printable email attachment) **within the next 12 hours.** The receiver's login details will be put in the gift card. **And now it's your turn to gift**: You can forward the email or print the card to gift it in your own unique way. *Spread the joy of volleyball knowledge.* *Let's grow our game.* --- [Gift 1 year of VolleyBrains](https://buy.stripe.com/14k5lo7Jw5aB14QdQZ?ref=volleybrains.com) --- As always, if you have any questions, email me: matias@volleybrains.com --- ### Examples of the actual gift card: You'll receive a dark and a white version of the same gift card. Use the dark one to send through email and the white version to print. Or do as you please. 😊 ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2023/12/2.jpg) ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2023/12/3.jpg) ### Skills & Drills URL: https://volleybrains.com/practice-database/ Last updated: 2024-10-20T07:42:42.000Z _This page is for paying subscribers only._ ### Interview Invitation URL: https://volleybrains.com/expert-player-questions/ Last updated: 2025-06-09T13:59:32.000Z ### Help shape the future of coaching — by sharing what only players know. --- ## Thank you for considering this. I would like to talk to current and former world-class volleyball players about what truly supports a player's growth. The questions we want to ask you are designed to **uncover the deeper insights, lessons, and experiences that can help today’s coaches better understand what truly supports a player’s growth.** Most of these questions aren't questions with 'easy' answers and some answers will likely flow into others; that's perfectly fine. --- ## What to Expect This isn’t a formal interview. It’s a relaxed, thoughtful conversation. - 🕐 **Duration**: 60-80 minutes - 🎥 **Format**: Video call - 💬 **No perfect answers**: Just your real, honest perspective We want to go a bit deeper than just highlights or achievements — we’re interested in what you needed from coaching at different stages in your career, what really helped you grow, and what maybe didn’t. *Some of that you might have realized in the moment. Some of it might have taken years to understand. Some of that is maybe even still unclear.* There’s no pressure to have perfect answers. This is about exploring your experience and how that experience might offer **clues** for today’s coaches. --- ## What We'll Explore We’ve organized the conversation into four main themes. These aren’t a script — just guideposts for an open, reflective discussion. ### Developmental needs and gaps 1. When you reflect on your early development, what do you wish your coaches had known or understood about you as a young player? 2. What were the most important things you needed from a coach when you were 14, 18, 22, 28, 30+ and how did those needs evolve? 3. Was there something you didn't understand as a young player that a coach could have helped you understand earlier? 4. Were there any coaching behaviors, mindsets, or methods that you only appreciated much later in your career? ### Skill and mindset development 1. Were there specific drills, feedback styles, or practice environments that had a lasting impact on your development? 2. Did you ever experience coaching that was too prescriptive or too hands-off? What balance would you have wanted more of? 3. What non-technical skill (leadership, resilience, communication) did you wish coaches had helped you with even more? ### Player - coach relationship 1. What do you think coaches often misunderstand about the internal experience of elite players? 2. How did your best coaches earn your trust, and what did they do when things weren’t going well? ### Looking back and forward 1. What advice would you give to coaches developing players who remind you of yourself at 16? 2. If you were to design a coaching philosophy based on your playing journey, what would be at its core? 3. What role do you think coaches should play outside of training and matches — especially in elite pathways? 4. What’s one thing you’d want every youth coach to stop doing — and one thing you’d beg them to start doing? --- ## Let's hop on a video call If you’re open to it, I’d love to schedule a video call on a time that works for you. Thanks for considering this. Matias Raymaekers # ## Posts ### 119. Dan Lewis: Steal time from the team, and you give it back. URL: https://volleybrains.com/dan-lewis-part2/ Last updated: 2026-08-30T12:02:23.000Z Dan Lewis is a Canadian volleyball coach whose path runs through nearly every level of the sport, from national team libero to head coach of Stade Poitevin Poitiers and, since January 2025, Canada's senior men's national team. He spent more than 15 years as libero for Canada, played professionally in Switzerland, France, Poland and Slovenia, was an assistant coach at the Tokyo Olympics, and in July 2023 led Canada's Next Gen program to the country's first-ever gold at the NORCECA Men's Pan American Cup. In part one, we covered his playing career, the mentors who shaped him, and how he made the move into coaching full-time. This second half picks up where that conversation left off. If you haven't read it yet, start with [part one](https://volleybrains.com/dan-lewis/), but this one stands on its own too. [118\. Dan Lewis: The quickest way to get better is to get organizedA four hour, wide ranging conversation with one of Canadian volleyball’s most respected coaches: the mentors who shaped him, the frameworks he’s built for developing athletes, and the honest story of what it actually took to reach the highest level. Part one of two.![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/icon/VB--3--7619a80d-8b3a-47b2-9929-bb21fe7ba12b.png)Volley | BrainsVolleyBrains![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/thumbnail/dan-lewis_volleybrains_cover-e8a54bc8-019e-4ec6-a921-e8f14ed121b1.jpeg)](https://volleybrains.com/dan-lewis/) **This second part explores:** - Why he doesn't believe in fines, and how the "wheel of misfortune" turned discipline into something the team enforces itself - Hard work, discipline, enthusiasm: the core principles he won't compromise on, and why daily motivation isn't his job - How he builds a weekly game plan, from Glenn Hoag's pen and paper matrices to classifying attackers into patterns he already has systems for - The single best question to start any block defense preparation, given to him by Stéphane Antiga - Why innovation in volleyball always arrives out of necessity, and how ten finger reception created the hybrid serve and the modern push - The rule change he'd love to see, and why the block out should stay playable on the opponent's side - Building the Frankenstein player: vision, long levers, coachability, and the one thing he tests before anything else - How fencing, wrestling and tennis are great for reception, and how he coaches it as physics - The billboard message he'd put in front of every player and coach in the world: structural tolerance, and what ignoring it actually costs We have 59 minutes of transcribed interview with coach Lewis in this article. Enjoy! Enter Dan... --- **Matias:** Team rules. Are there fixed rules you put in place, both technical and organisational? **Dan:** I have a model in my mind, and it's like, if you steal time from the team, you're going to have to give it back, and it's going to be physical. So I'm still old school. I just love making sure everybody understands that they're going to have to give time back if they took time from the team. And that gets ironed out real early. You have to be careful, because it's not like pit drills, where you're just kicking the crap out of everybody. It's not really like that. It's more of an emotional thing. You've got to emotionally connect a drill to the fault. And I do that by not being able to breathe. Not physically hurting, but lack of breath. Being out of breath is a terrible feeling. **Matias:** I think you need to give an example here, because this is going to come off really weird in the video. 😄 **Dan:** Yeah, so what I do is just a coach one on one defense drill if they're late, or if it's a standard kind of penalty. I call it back to back, because I play the Drake song "[Back to Back.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEa7SWkPpE4&ref=volleybrains.com)" It starts, and it's like, oh no, not again, you know. It does such a good job. So I'll play this song, it's about three minutes, and I just go through the process of a one on one. It was funny, because it's a technique my coach at university, [Garth Pischke](https://gobisons.ca/sports/mens-volleyball/roster/coaches/garth-pischke/787?ref=volleybrains.com), used. It was one of the best things I borrowed from him. [Garth Pischke - Men’s Volleyball Coach - University of Manitoba AthleticsAs one of the most successful and respected coaches in Canada, Garth Pischke finished his 38th season![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/icon/favicon-1f0412ae-6782-436f-95a3-c325d7b7453c.ico)University of Manitoba Athletics![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/thumbnail/_Coach_Garth_Pischke-475eebb9-c785-4df5-9b59-fbabbeabc98d.jpg)](https://gobisons.ca/sports/mens-volleyball/roster/coaches/garth-pischke/787?ref=volleybrains.com) Anyway, I had a lot of that at university. My first year, I was doing it a lot. I made a lot of mistakes. But in the end, you start to understand it. It's like, yeah, I made a mistake, I need to pay for that mistake. There's a really clear understanding, and it's just you and you alone. I get the guys involved with making sure it's safe, with the water and the balls coming in, everybody working together. ### And at the end I go and give the player a big hug and say, thanks man, that was really good, you're pushing hard for the team. Just to positively reinforce that you made up for it. You made the mistake, and normally it's for being late or something. I don't necessarily like fines, because some guys make enough money that it's like a speeding ticket. For a super rich person, they don't care about a speeding ticket. But if I get one on the highway, I'm like, damn, you know. The effect is completely different for two people. But that three minutes of back to back, **nobody hides.** I love that about it, and in that sense, I guess I'm old school. But the reality is, you just have to have clear standards, beyond time. I talk about my core principles of hard work, discipline, enthusiasm. I don't want to motivate you so much. I'll help, no problem. ### But if I have to motivate you daily to play, you are in the wrong environment. If you can't be enthusiastic about training, you've got a fundamental problem with what you're doing. So in that sense, that's a core value for me. I express these things, and I try to make a quick leadership group based around the captain, but supportive of the captain, to get the team to self enforce. Self enforcing is the best. This year I had a great culture team, even though we had to manage some tricky individuals. Or tricky scenarios about individuals, not necessarily the individual itself. So navigating those is always best if the team is taking care of themselves. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2026/08/volleybrains_danlewis21.jpg) Then there was another fun one that I don't know where it came from, but we borrowed it last year, which was spinning a wheel with the penalty on it. So instead of a fine, it ended up being, okay, you're going to do your back to back, and you've got to spin the wheel of misfortune. And it's like, you've got to do this. It might be a minor physical penalty, or take some time, or just something annoying, or cleanliness, or you've got to buy a beer, whatever it is. I said, okay guys, but you've got to have one space that's free, so that there's always a chance you can just do the back to back. So that's been great. You kind of make it fun, while making sure the culture is taking care of itself. And of course, when the guy spins the wheel, everybody's just loving it. 😄 --- **Matias:** When you're preparing for the next game, how does your general approach look? And has your approach changed over the years? **Dan:** Again, I am probably one of the luckiest coaches in the world, that I worked with [Glenn](https://volleybrains.com/glenn-hoag/), was mentored by Glenn, and just got to observe him prepare. [31\. Glenn Hoag:“It is my responsibility to help my sport to grow”In this Masterclass we feature Glenn Hoag. Glenn has over 2 decades of experience in coaching pro teams, he is the head coach of the Arkas Spor team since 2010, but for sure Glenn is best known for being the head coach of Canada’s Senior Men’s national team.![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/icon/VB--3--6e4780bb-60de-4987-b7b9-15e1804db088.png)Volley | BrainsVolleyBrains![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/thumbnail/glenn1-383b9fa2-5f29-48cd-8f79-2bc66b1a6f65.jpeg)](https://volleybrains.com/glenn-hoag/) And then after years and years of that, being the assistant to [Antiga](https://volleybox.net/stephane-antiga-p522?ref=volleybrains.com). I can't express enough gratitude, orally and emotionally, for how lucky I was to have these guys as the people I'm studying with and preparing with, showing me their methods, letting me look behind the curtain. Because this is one thing that I think is a massive advantage for some coaches. And now I'm starting to realize that, okay, that's a massive advantage if you're putting in the time and you've got an organized way of doing something. But it's the delivery now, and the retention factor, that is even more important than what you're doing. So I'm slowly migrating towards, are there systems in place currently that match an opponent? ### The first thing I do with the preparation is look at all the offense of the opposing team and see if it's inside or outside of our current block defense capacities. Because I can then start to classify guys. I have nicknames for guys now. This guy's a classic, this guy's a double angle, this guy's power and dump, whatever it may be. But not too many, right, because you don't want too many different patterns that they have to recognize. So the classic attacker is side out, hard driven cross with a drop. We have a system already that plays that guy. Well, game plan done for this guy. Imagine that, already, without even doing anything. So I love that. When we play a group of classics, my God, I'm in heaven. Backing up, setter plays to four, classic setter, zone two, love it. Middle blocker don't follow, left side stay in. Some of these systems for game planning are just based on classic systems that guys already play. The problem is that the higher level you get to, the more complicated it gets, because guys simply don't have as many tendencies. So in the end, all of my preparation, from historically learning, becomes a lot about block defense. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2026/08/dan-lewis_volleybrains_cover-2.jpeg) And now I'm starting to realize, okay, that's not enough. This year was my year of expanding into offense more, and how to tactically attack other teams. I levelled up massively this season with that. And now I've created another structure to apply, to see how the opponents defend well against a certain type of attack. So now I'm looking at this and trying to create scout spreadsheets that immediately give us information based on that. ### I'm diversifying, growing in that, but my core game preparation has always evolved out of block defense. I established that quickly by the end of last year, because it's so much work, what Glenn would do. He would do it individually. This is 25, 30 years ago. He literally has a massive matrix of in system distribution per rotation. Literally with pen and paper, six rotational sheets, reception here, quality in this location, watching all of it like this. And I'm like, that's incredible. I'm watching it, watching, watching, and I'm like, whoa. Can I do that? Because I don't mind game planning, I like it, but to do what he does for each game... But I just adapted it to the current needs I had. So I took his matrix, which was the most important part for me out of his system, and I printed out the matrix and cut all the video by rotation. He could do his by game, old school, because he existed before Data Volley existed, right? His system was just dialed in. Then I saw [Stéphane (Antiga)](https://volleybox.net/stephane-antiga-p522?ref=volleybrains.com) working by rotation, cutting everything, double plus plus, leaving exclamative out. Because simply, more or less, you're into a classic block defense versus exclamative. Although after talking to another coach who really helped me out, he said, well, it's not enough. You've got to know if you're going to follow or not on exclamative. And I was like, oh, I didn't even think about that until he told me. So I'm picking all these pieces together. The system, now becomes inside or outside of our current system. That's the first question. And then there are some kind of basic block defense patterns that you see everybody use. Like now the left side is way inside, which never really happened before. And this is strategically interesting, because that left side blocker is now so efficient at stepping in and coming back to the middle, or getting to their guy. They're moving as efficiently, if not faster, than middle blockers. And then the middle blocker patterning completely changed in system as soon as [Seyed](https://volleybox.net/seyed-mohammad-mousavi-p596?ref=volleybrains.com) from Iran came along. Seyed just blew open the mechanical functioning of block defense for the middle. Because I remember Antiga saying that he would have a game plan where you're not allowed to spike in the direction of Seyed. And I was like, what? He was like, yeah. When we played Iran, it was forbidden to spike cross court if he was in the front row. And I was like, what do you mean? And he said, no, I'll just sub you out if you spike cross court, because you don't score. His movement was so efficient. I couldn't believe he'd say this and mean it. So I went back and started watching Seyed block, and I was like, this guy's movement is completely different. Because I grew up with read block only, right? You do that, and then eventually you do your split and you go. And originally it was just, you'd stay still, and it's so slow to stay still. You can't load anything. So all of this, the way I would game plan, was all through block defense. And then I start to expand out and realize, okay, well there's no way I can do the old classic system. So I'm cutting the most important pieces. Then I realize I'm still killing myself. And I'm still not even getting to offense enough. So I'm like, all right, I need to pattern these. I started to create the patterns. This guy's this, this guy's this. So it's in or out of our system. ### That's why the organization of your own system is so important. You want to have a system that catches a lot right away. And you can see it kind of standardizing now in the new age. Okay, I'll give you this one gem that Steph gave me. I remember writing it out. The first thing you've got to do when you're prepping against a team for block defense is, what can you dig? That's the first question you have to ask yourself. What can you dig? Because if you can dig something and you don't need a blocker there, well hallelujah, you've just saved a lot of work. I mean, that's why digging hard driven is so important. If you don't have that, you're at a real big disadvantage, because you just have to try to block and touch everything. ### But if you have a certain spike, versus a certain player, in a certain zone, that you can dig a lot and the majority of the time, this is where you start. What can we dig? And then, what can you catch? Catch is where you don't actually go to block it, you go to catch it, just to get the block positive, which you can then transition. That's the next step. So then you don't have to pay as much attention there. And then it's, okay, who's got the shoulder, where if you don't touch this, you're dead. That becomes that kind of pattern. And then, I finally got to, at the end of Next Gen when I was coaching, like four years ago, I finally got to give information to the setter before the game. I didn't even do it before. It was like, we have our offense, our setter's going to run our offense, that's how it's going to be. But then I was like, okay, let's just look at the other opponent's blocking. What are they doing in double plus plus in certain situations? And then you can kind of superimpose that on your team. This guy's a big middle spiker, this guy's committing with most other middle spikers, he's going to commit here likely, and he's committing early, he's not committing late, then he's committing at the end. If you can see those, pick up those patterns, it's amazing. So then it's, okay, your offensive system, overload, separation, whatever it may be. How does the other team defend that? You've got to do that search. You've got to check that out, and then you can give your information. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2026/08/volleybrains_danlewis22.jpg) So as I'm doing the preparation, it becomes those pieces from the game planning, and then, okay, now I'm trying to spread it out. I don't do one big meeting anymore, I try to spread it out. I go immediately at hitter direction, because if you have nothing but you have hitter direction, you've got something. So I start with hitter direction, and like I said, inside or outside our system. And then it's always opposite. In France, what I'm always doing is opposite, the two left sides, directions first, and then against our capacity to stop something. A guy can have... if we have a certain matchup, we're not even going to block it if we try, because maybe we have a weakness. So then we've got to reinforce that with defense. And that's what I'm really looking for with my own team, just any straight lines. Do we have a bad block or a bad defender? Because if a guy spikes there, you're dead. You can't have a non blocker and a bad defender in a line that somebody else has a strong attack on, or you just lose immediately. So I'm making sure we don't have any of these lines. And then extra work would be, okay, if I get to it eventually, I do a tactical information give, where it's like, if you commit on this middle, he'll always for example, if you're going to commit, you commit to this side, but if you're late in reading, he'll hit this way. So I've studied the guy enough, in his attack, that in this situation he has a tendency. ### So if you can find these tendencies, and if you can classify these tendencies quickly, and you already have blocking systems for them, wow, it makes your life easier. But I would say it takes a lot of time to do that. So you've got to figure out what corners you can cut, and then, how do you deliver it? So now, as we prepare for matches, I'll hit the opposite early on a Wednesday. I'll show the guys after training, hey, first look at opposite. [Hirsch](https://volleybox.net/simon-hirsch-p3589?ref=volleybrains.com) was easy to do for the final, but we had trouble stopping him anyway the first night. He was short side cross court, side out, two angles. So seal the line, middle leave the gap, doesn't hit the six, high ball, dead centre. It was automatic, but you still have to stop him. You can give your guys that information. But then there are certain guys on your team who, even though they have that information, aren't mechanically capable of doing it. So then it becomes matchup oriented. But that's almost secondary or tertiary scenarios where you just might not have that time. And if you're at two games a week, good luck. You'd better have some systems in place. --- **Matias:** The future of volleyball, from a technical point of view. How do you think the game will evolve, or what would you hope it looks like in a couple of decades? And what's needed to get there? **Dan:** Well, I don't think about this question so much. A lot of people speculate, especially now, because of all the crazy rule changes we've had in the last five years or so. Let's just face it. The first, best, greatest thing that ever happened to volleyball was the video challenge for touches and in and out. What a change to the game, and for the better. Also probably the rally point scoring. Maybe for the diehard old school volleyball guys it's not, and maybe on the beach they don't like it. But the reality is, for the indoor game, I think for the fans to understand and follow it, and just for the ease of introduction and learning, and also probably to keep the scores a bit tighter, rally point helps a lot. It makes it way more exciting. So I'm really happy about those two changes. ### There are a few things they have to understand when they're changing rules. The unintended consequences, and then not dampening the possibility of innovation by the players. I played for a while before the libero, and before they brought the libero in, middles were receiving. And when they created the libero rule, they just destroyed the value of the middle internationally, in the sense that their stock went way down, because all of a sudden they don't receive. They probably could have projected that effect. And then it just raised their size up. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 118. Dan Lewis: The quickest way to get better is to get organized URL: https://volleybrains.com/dan-lewis/ Last updated: 2026-08-16T08:23:45.000Z Dan Lewis is a Canadian volleyball coach whose path runs through nearly every level of the sport, from national team libero to head coach of a professional club and the Canadian men's senior national program. In July 2023, Lewis, then head coach of Canada's Next Gen program, led Team Canada to its first-ever gold medal at the NORCECA Men's Pan American Cup, one of only two times in history Canada has won that title. Before stepping into coaching, Lewis spent more than 15 years as libero for Canada's national team, competing professionally in top European leagues across Switzerland, France, Poland, and Slovenia, and serving as an assistant coach for Canada's men's team at the Tokyo Olympics. He retired as a player in 2016 and moved into coaching full-time, eventually taking over as head coach of the French professional club Stade Poitevin Poitiers in January 2024 and being named head coach of Canada's senior men's national team just over a year later, in January 2025. We sat down with Dan in May, right after the season in France had wrapped up, for a long, wide-ranging conversation that covered his entire journey: the mentors who shaped him, the frameworks he's built for coaching and training, and his own evolution as a coach. It's the kind of conversation that goes everywhere (which we love), and we're splitting it into two articles, each one manageable to get through in one sitting. **This first part explores:** - Why fatherhood was the moment that reshaped his entire focus - The airport meeting and tryout story with Glenn Hoag: "I can help this team" - Why he believes coaching is one of the loneliest jobs in sport - How an economics degree led him to build his frameworks for balancing repetition and game-like variability in training - Why "my way or the highway" coaching fails, and what co-creating with players actually looks like - The training principle from his mentor that explains why some technical fixes stick and others don't - Why organization is the fastest lever for improving any team - The "booster rocket" mindset: why his real motivation was never the Olympics itself - The unlikely goal he still has at 50, and why chasing "the process" matters more than the result We have 55 minutes of transcribed interview with coach Lewis in this article. Enjoy! Enter Dan... --- **Matias:** Can you walk me through some of the key turning points in your journey, from playing to becoming a coach, to where you are today? **Dan:** There are a few things that come to mind right now. One I've got to remember to tell you about was a meeting I had with [Glenn Hoag ](https://volleybrains.com/glenn-hoag/)at an airport. [31\. Glenn Hoag:“It is my responsibility to help my sport to grow”In this Masterclass we feature Glenn Hoag. Glenn has over 2 decades of experience in coaching pro teams, he is the head coach of the Arkas Spor team since 2010, but for sure Glenn is best known for being the head coach of Canada’s Senior Men’s national team.![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/icon/VB--3--a2b01d35-c4dc-4f96-8825-899a1adf24e7.png)Volley | BrainsVolleyBrains![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/thumbnail/glenn1-66f1b9c2-269e-4914-ad57-30e998d7c230.jpeg)](https://volleybrains.com/glenn-hoag/) But the first thing is, I was getting older, and when William, my first son, arrived, and Jessica, my wife, gave birth, all of a sudden everything just got laser focused. Maybe this happens to a lot of people. I had this massive new responsibility, and it was like, okay, I was able to just wipe out like 98 percent of the garbage in my life, boom, windshield wiper, it's gone. ### I was just dialed in and focused. It's incredible how much free time you have when you filter out all the garbage. So I started to study, taking business courses and stuff like that, and it was okay, but it wasn't super exciting. It wasn't massively engaging. I was never really one for school anyway. Like I said, I'm more of a "do" person than a "study the plan and then go" person, which obviously has changed a little. But so there was that. I've always loved looking at real estate. I don't know, I think a lot of people do, but I love it. I've lived in so many places, good and bad. When I was young, I just wanted to build a cottage or chalet in Canada. That was my number one goal, even above volleyball. All the money I made, which wasn't a lot, just went into that, and I got lucky because I was able to find some land in different places, cheap, and I started building. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2026/08/dan-lewis_volleybrains5.jpeg) When I was training on the national team in 2002 and 2003, I was building my cottage on the weekends. I'd get in trouble for it too, because I was pretty tired when I trained. But it was just another love I had. I wanted to be an architect when I was a kid, but I didn't draw much. I was good at math, and science was okay, but math in particular I liked. So I got some guidance counselor advice in high school to go into engineering instead of architecture. What I should have done is stick with my love for architecture and just start drawing. I probably would have been more inclined to actually be studious. So I went into engineering, just because I was good at math, not because I liked it. And I hit a wall, because I already knew most of my first year math from high school, and it just wasn't for me. By the end of the year I was like, no, this is not for me. So I switched into a general arts program in economics, which was interesting, but also about half garbage. Anyway, that's my studies. **But I loved volleyball.** I was playing it and loving it, and I just kept going to the next level, next level, next level. ### When I was finishing high school, at 18 years old, I didn't even know you could play pro. It wasn't something I was familiar with. I went into university and had really big success in my first year, as just a loose cannon, but successful. And then I realized, my God, you mean I can... I can try out for the national team? What do you mean, pro? Where do you play pro? What's pro? Oh. So between my first and second year, I realized I could become a professional. So then I just decided, okay, I'll be a volleyball player, and I went after it. It took a while to get organized, with a few injuries here and there, because I was never really well balanced. It was an all or nothing kind of thing. As I started to play more, I had a moment in my life around 27 or 28 where it was like, okay, things are not working out well in pro. I was in Montpellier at the time, playing pro, and I was descending in quality as a human, not just quality of volleyball. And at that moment, I realized that, and I'd already separated from the national team before that, because I just wasn't able to have the type of relationships with certain people involved that you needed to have at that level. Partially my fault, probably partially theirs. But anyway, then Glenn took over the team, I knew a lot about Glenn from the pro side. And I knew he wouldn't touch me at that time for pro with a 10 foot pole, because he just knew better. And then I said, okay Dan, you have a chance here to smarten up, basically being drawn to him as a mentor without really knowing it. So I decided, okay, I'm going to try out again, because Glenn was good, he would set up open trials and give everybody a chance. I showed up and Glenn Hoag takes me to the side, we go sit in a cafe, and he's like, why are you here? And I said, I can help this team. It just flew off my tongue. That was exactly what he wanted to hear. I didn't know what he was going to say or ask me. I figured it was probably going to be something about the past, but it wasn't. It was just, why are you here? And I said, I can help this team. And he's like, okay. He just made his own opinion of me through working with me, not through anything before. So that was a major moment. At that point, it was either going to be, okay, I'm going into the working world, or I'm staying in volleyball. ### And then having Glenn all of a sudden as a mentor for like 15 years, both as a player and as a young coach, that changed everything. And then eventually, I loved the game so much, everything about it, that I kept playing. The libero position came around and I was like, well, I can do this, I'm good at it, I can still help the team, I can still play pro even, which is difficult as a North American libero. So it just kept going. I ended up playing until I was 40\. And all of a sudden it's like, all right, well, yeah, I can get into the world of construction, landscape, all that stuff. I still like that. Maybe I can go start work and find excitement in the real world. But there was also a unique moment when there was an assistant coach position open at the [National Excellence Program](https://volleyball.ca/en/national-excellence-program-%28nep%29?ref=volleybrains.com), the NEP, in Canada. Talking with Glenn about it, he was like, are you interested in this? And I said, let me think about it. It wasn't very long before I said, yeah, I think I'd like to coach. [National Excellence Program (NEP)Program Overview: The National Excellence Program (NEP) is designed to prepare athletes to perform at the highest level of our sport and to continue their development towards the National Senior Team P![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)Volleyball Canada![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/thumbnail/GalleryPic_cropped-f1e5c973-d6b1-461e-80b8-fc6e2b23b74c.jpg)](https://volleyball.ca/en/national-excellence-program-%28nep%29?ref=volleybrains.com) Now, I always knew I would coach in some capacity, because I used to go and coach with [Hernan Humana](https://yorkulions.ca/sports/mens-volleyball/roster/coaches/hernan-humana/32?ref=volleybrains.com) on the beach. I just wanted to stay connected, because I loved the beach when I was growing up too, and I didn't want to lose touch with that environment again. So I would go back and ask him if I could train a little whenever I had time, and I'd end up coaching a bit. ### He always said, it's great that you're giving back. And I'm like, okay, if that's what you think, but I just love being here. Then when I got injured, I was living in Vancouver at the time, and I was like, I need to connect with people. So even injured, with my knee, after surgery, I would take my crutches down to the beach and watch people play and train. And eventually I'd be like, hey, do you want me to help run your training? And I ended up with a group of girls training there. I knew them, they were friends with my girlfriend. And that just exploded into this whole summer of these girls coming in. So we just went after it. Six is a good number to train, so I'd invite another crew in. And I was like, man, this is amazing. They really enjoyed it and appreciated it. And it allowed me to stay connected to the things I love, being on the beach and playing ball. That was all before this moment with Glenn. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2026/08/dan-lewis_volleybrains.jpg) So, Glenn, we were traveling back from VNL at one point, and he just sat me down and said, okay, if you're going to do this, this is what you need to know. And he laid out a few things. He said, it's going to be **way more planning than you think, and nobody's going to understand you**. And I was just like, alright, I'm like, what do you mean, not understand me? He just had so much experience, and he could chisel it down to those two things. It's going to be an unbelievable amount of planning, and no one's going to understand you. And I'm like, yeah, that's pretty much it. ### And then, in the end, he said, and if you don't like solving problems, don't coach. So those three pieces alone ended up being my model. So when people don't understand me, I'm like, yep, Glenn said this would happen. Then it's just, keep solving problems, and eventually, if you plan enough and plan well enough, you're going to get to where you want to go, or at least have a chance. He said no one's going to understand you, and it's going to be extremely lonely because of that. And that's kind of what I'm finding out now. That's why I think it's so important that coaches connect with each other, because we're all kind of in this competitive world as well. But man, there's got to be a better system for connecting coaches to support each other because of this. So there are two things I really changed as I got older. One, I don't give shit to referees. I try not to, because it's such a difficult job, and we need them more than they need us. That changed how I interact with them, and also how I view coaches on other teams, compared to when I was a player. Yeah, they're my adversary, but they're also who I need to connect with, for quality of life, understanding, learning opportunities, things like that. And it's super important. It's difficult, because as a coach you're just in this environment. Like here, I feel really lucky where I am in France at the moment, because I'm in a secure environment, with people where we trust each other in what we're doing. But man, it is not safe being a coach. It's so easy to just get chopped, and there's nobody there protecting you at all. It's really something I've talked to one or two other coaches about, and it's been really on their minds as well. --- **Matias:** This is for sure an occupation where there are more coaches than there are spots, so it's not that easy to find genuine connection with people because of this inherent 'lack of possibilities'. **Dan**: Yeah, if I don't connect well with a coach, I don't blame them at all. I'm just like, I get it, this guy, or this man or woman, is under an incredible amount of stress. And if they don't want to talk, don't want to share anything, that's fine. They're just on their own journey, and if it's not the right time to connect, then it isn't. But last year was almost comical to me. I was in my first year as a pro coach. I'd coached development for seven years, but development is so different from the competitive environment. And I just wasn't ready for the amount of anxiety. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2026/08/dan-lewis_volleybrains8.jpg) We talked about that little before, just the nervous system being turned on, and not being able to switch it off. I went around to pretty much every coach I went up against, and I was like, do you have these butterflies all the time? I do. I'd be like, hey, how are you doing, good luck tomorrow, but hey, can I ask you a question? And some of them were just like, whatever, and others were like, yeah, it kind of goes away after the season. And I was like, what? What do you mean, after? It can't be like this the whole time. And it can, and it does. That's why I was talking about it before, having to build all that structure mentally, just to be able to manage it well. And then, eventually, at the end of the line, it's probably more about self acceptance than anything. We can unpack that if you want, later or whenever. --- **Matias:** Maybe that's already the answer to the next question, but this one is always valuable. If I talk to somebody who's been coaching for decades, I'd ask, what advice would you give to yourself starting out. For you, this isn't that long ago. Would that be the advice you'd just give yourself, or would it be something else? **Dan:** Yeah, I think it's perfect to just take what we're talking about. So originally, I was super lucky to have mentors and be in a competitive environment for a while, but as the assistant. Because the amount of pressure and stress on an assistant just isn't comparable to the head coach. I was working with Glenn as an assistant, and I was lucky to work with Antiga as an assistant too. And then I just said, okay, if I really want to help these kids in this program, I need to get to the younger athletes and have earlier intervention with them. So, on the development side, the competitive sequences in those years and seasons are short, like one week, two weeks. And of course you have this incredible anxiety going on, and you need to manage that, but it's easier because it shuts off quickly after the event. And then, not understanding what it's like going from that environment straight into the competitive environment of professional coaching, or head coaching, say a national team, for a season of four months or so, however long it is. Not being prepared for when that anxiety switches on and you've got to manage it 24/7, and not being prepared mentally for that. And luckily for me, I was willing enough to admit I was having problems, to my peers. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2026/08/dan-lewis_volleybrains2.jpeg) So like I said, I would just go up to all the coaches and say, hey, I've got this insane amount of anxiousness all the time, do you have that? I've got these butterflies, it never goes away. And a couple of the guys were extremely nice, and they'd be like, yeah, we have that as well. And they'd start talking about it, and I'm listening, looking for clues. So that was amazing, first, just knowing I wasn't alone. Understanding that, okay, it's not just me, there are other people who feel that too. So that was good. It's still like, okay, I can figure this out. And then [Robbie,](https://volleybox.net/roberto-serniotti-p41822?ref=volleybrains.com) who was at Cannes, I told him, I would go up to every single coach and say this and ask them for help. And they were all willing to help me. It was amazing, and I thanked them. I'm so grateful they would listen to me and share what they thought. So, Robbie, he said, you need to talk to somebody about this. He really listened, and he was like, yeah, you need to talk to a professional. I was like, maybe he's right. So then I started unpacking that. And I think the advice I would have given myself (Glenn gave me a lot of that advice already, but I would have added, knowing myself a little more), just how anxious I am as a person anyway, it's just part of me, probably more than normal. It served me really well when I was competing, because I'd be freaking out, but as soon as the whistle blew, I was just dialed into that ball, and it all went away. But before the game, I'm butterflies like crazy. I was lucky that I could always sleep, but that's maybe a separate thing. Anyway, I would just tell myself, don't just think that knowing volleyball, or being able to connect with people well, is enough. You're not prepared mentally for the amount of stress and anxiety you're about to face. You've got to go back, understand your nervous system, and study the mind a little more. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 117. Timeouts in Focus: Italy vs Canada - VNL 2026 URL: https://volleybrains.com/117-timeouts-in-focus-italy-vs-canada-vnl-2026/ Last updated: 2026-07-13T14:01:14.000Z ### ⚡ What’s inside this article? We pull back the curtain on the timeouts from both coaches. What tactical messages are they sending out when everything is on the line? Using audio clean-ups, we isolate what is said — then translate (Italian ↔ English) so you can capture *exactly* what the coaches meant. ### 👥 The coaches on the bench Canada is led by **Giovanni Guidetti**, head coach of the Canadian women’s national team and Turkish club VakıfBank. We recently sat down with Giovanni to discuss culture, staff, belief and why surrounding yourself with people who are better than you is not a risk. [114\. Giovanni Guidetti: I don’t want to be in the photo. I want to be the photographer.We sat down with Giovanni Guidetti over a coffee, fresh off his seventh Champions League title with Vakifbank, and already settled in Canada. On culture, staff, belief, and why surrounding yourself with people better than you is not a risk.![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/icon/VB--3--530d1209-edaa-4d1e-bbc0-b34fcd665229.png)Volley | BrainsVolleyBrains![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/thumbnail/giovanni_volleybrainscover-dff38e4c-f9b6-45a1-9c5a-8233efb87473.jpeg)](https://volleybrains.com/giovanni-guidetti-part2/) On the opposite bench is **Julio Velasco,** head coach of the Italian women’s national team. Julio is best known for transforming the Italian men’s national team into the dominant force of the early 1990s. After decades of work with elite clubs, national teams and the Italian federation’s development system, he took charge of Italy’s women in 2024\. [53\. Julio Velasco: This is an art.Julio Velasco is a legendary figure in the world of volleyball. Over the years Julio had many roles in international volleyball, from coaching Italian top teams, the Italian phenomenal 90’s National team and other world class national teams.![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/icon/VB--3--99bdf436-ecd9-4f27-b83f-a85d2624fefe.png)Volley | BrainsVolleyBrains![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/thumbnail/Velasco_volleybrains1-50272bc0-e623-459a-a7ee-1449ce254563.jpeg)](https://volleybrains.com/julio-velasco/) [54\. Julio Velasco: Be a happy and energetic coach.In this 2nd Julio Velasco Masterclass article, we focus on the mistakes he feels he made and the lessons he learned from them. But we also go deeper into Julio’s favorite resources which helped him become a master coach.![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/icon/VB--3--3d5bdbc5-ca1d-4372-aab2-0998c62de56b.png)Volley | BrainsVolleyBrains![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/thumbnail/velasco2-1-8802ba8c-1945-47a9-b0eb-1ecb5eb6e440.jpeg)](https://volleybrains.com/julio-velasco-2/) ### 💡 Match details Italy and Canada met on **July 11, 2026**, at the **Kai Tak Sports Arena in Hong Kong**, during Week 3 of the Women’s VNL preliminary round. The match was especially important for Canada, which entered it needing results to qualify for the VNL Finals. Canada took a 2–0 lead through strong serving, stable reception and effective transition play. Good passing allowed Canada to vary its attack instead of relying only on Kiera Van Ryk. From the third set, Italy improved its reception, involved its middle attackers more often and created better opportunities for Ekaterina Antropova. Italy also increased its serving pressure, making Canada’s attack more predictable. With a stronger block and fewer errors, Italy won the third and fourth sets 25–23 before dominating the tie-break 15–5 to complete a 3–2 comeback. Despite the defeat, Canada earned one standings point and remained in control of its qualification chances. The following day, Canada beat the Dominican Republic 3–1 and secured its place in the VNL Finals. **Stat Sheet:** ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2026/07/gamesheet.jpg) ### 📺 Highlight Reel ### Important reminder These clips offer a brief look at what happens during the timeouts. They are not—and should never be treated as—a critique of what was said, why it was said or how it was communicated. A timeout is only one visible moment within a much larger coaching process. Enjoy! _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 116. Kelly Sheffield: Winning the Right Way URL: https://volleybrains.com/kelly-sheffield-part2/ Last updated: 2026-07-05T12:20:04.000Z We [first](https://volleybrains.com/kelly-sheffield/) spoke with [Kelly Sheffield ](https://uwbadgers.com/sports/womens-volleyball/roster/coaches/kelly-sheffield/2911?ref=volleybrains.com)in July 2021, when Wisconsin was knocking on the door of a national title. A few months later, the Badgers won it all. A lot has changed since then, in his program and in the sport itself. Coach Sheffield is one of the most respected minds in American college volleyball. Since taking over in Madison in 2013, he has built the [University of Wisconsin](https://uwbadgers.com/sports/womens-volleyball?ref=volleybrains.com) Badgers into a **perennial national contender**: that 2021 NCAA championship, multiple Big Ten titles, a string of Final Fours, and a fan base that makes the UW Field House one of the best environments in the sport. But this conversation is less about trophies and more **about how you keep a program grounded while everything around it shifts**. NIL, the transfer portal, five-year eligibility, and the arrival of professional leagues on American soil have rewritten the rules of college coaching. Kelly talks about how he navigates it all without losing what makes his program his own. **Key takeaways from this article include:** - How the transfer portal and five-year eligibility have changed roster building - Why a college program now needs a general manager - How film study and game prep have evolved over the last few years - How DISC profiles help him coach each player differently - Why conflict kept above the table makes teams stronger - Why he develops leaders across the whole roster, not just captains - The books currently shaping his approach to leadership Our 70-minute conversation was divided into 13 video clips. Let's get into it. Enjoy! --- **Matias:** We've just been talking a little bit about the kinds of volleyball college programs that exist. From my point of view, there are maybe three different kinds. You have a program that just doesn't participate in NIL, the transfer portal, all the gooey stuff that's been added over the last few years. That's one route. Or you fully commercialize everything, and you just try to win. That's another route. Or you have the hybrid game, which can be anything in between. Knowing you, from interviews, podcasts, our own interview a few years ago, I'd say you're choosing the hybrid way. So if that's true, what does being hybrid actually mean for you? **Kelly:** Yeah, we're constantly trying to figure out what this landscape is. Here, volleyball is really important. We play in the UW Field House, and every match has over seven thousand fans. And we move across campus and play a few matches in the Kohl Center, which is our basketball arena. There, we'll play in front of sixteen or seventeen thousand. So it's important to the community, it's important to the athletic department. Winning is certainly important. The finances of it are pretty important to our athletic department and our university. So yeah, there is an expectation of winning. ### But yet this isn't pro, this is college. And to me, one of the more enjoyable parts of what I get to do is developing people. That's a big goal, an important goal, that we're learning life skills and we're teaching them. There's a lot of teaching at the college level, as there should be. So there's this balance where winning is important, and competing, but it isn't the only thing. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2026/07/kelly7_volleybrains.jpeg) And you continue to develop people, but now you've got transfers. Five years ago, ten years ago, you could pretty much expect that somebody was going to be in your program for four years. Transferring happened occasionally, but not a lot. Certainly we couldn't pay players. Heck, we couldn't even give them a bagel spread, that for some reason was illegal. They had a lot of these silly rules, and now we've gone the exact opposite direction. Now you have players coming in and out of programs all the time, and we can pay them, in some cases very, very significantly. There are certainly some programs that have the resources to pay these players better, in many cases, than about any pro team can. So how do you balance all that? How do you balance high school recruiting Because right now, high school kids in the US commit two years before they get to campus. And then there's the influx of international recruits coming into these programs. It's opened up the floodgates for a lot of players overseas to come here and not only play volleyball, but get their education paid for as well. I think that's one of the strengths of the US system, that you don't have to pick or choose between an academic route or a sport route. Both can be combined. You can get the schooling paid for and make a really healthy living while doing it. So managing that is something we talk about a lot as a staff. --- **Matias:** Also the choices you have to make, what are you willing to leave on the table? Are you committing to a path while staying genuine to what you're doing?Like we said, hybrid can mean a lot of things. **Kelly:** It can. I still find a lot of enjoyment in developing players. I think we've had quite a few players come here, whether it's one year, Mimi Colyer was here for one year, but I thought she really got a lot better that one year. Or whether it's somebody who was here for five years, like Dana Rettke, I thought she did a great job of developing. Or Sarah Franklin, who was here for three years. So whether they're here for one year like Mimi Colyer, three like Sarah Franklin, or five like Dana Rettke, we still have a responsibility of not just putting a team together, but helping them with their dreams and their goals. ### Developing them as humans, as young ladies, and developing them as athletes who are hopefully getting closer to reaching their potential. The length of time is just a lot different now. And we're about ready to pass a rule, I think within the NCAA sometime this month, that every player will get five years to play. That changes the equation, right? Is somebody going to be here for four years? Are they going to be here for five? Are they going to be here for their undergraduate degree, or are they going to try to get their master's degree too? So the ability to pivot is really, really critical. And you try not to get into the mindset that I think we're in with basketball. I think basketball here in the States, it's more year by year, putting a team together. You'll see some of these basketball programs where the entire team leaves, everybody leaves, and it's about getting a whole new team right then. Our sport isn't in that space. There's a lot more transferring than there used to be, but almost nobody's replacing an entire team. It's usually a couple of players graduating, maybe one or two transferring, and you bring in a few more. So there's always a balance between developing kids who maybe aren't going to be ready for two or three years, and bringing in others who are ready to go right now. --- **Matias:** With all that change, would you say the level of play has actually gone up? **Kelly:** Although there's a lot of change, I don't think our game, at least here at the college level, I don't think it's ever been played at a higher level than it is now. I think part of it is better investment. I think part of it is also that kids aren't just going to schools in their local area anymore. With so many volleyball matches on TV and streaming platforms, people are getting outside their little bubbles. I think a lot of international players have come over here, and that's elevated the game and the college experience. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2026/07/kelly2_volleybrains.jpeg) And then something like VolleyMetrics has done an amazing job. I mean, the fact that I can sit here on my computer and watch just about any match in the world being played. As a program, as a coaching staff, we watch a ton of professional and international volleyball and have discussions about it. And the game has never been better here in college. --- **Matias:** What competitions or teams do you and your coaching staff enjoy watching, where there's not just enjoyment and learning, but also something you can actually implement with your own team? Some kind of tempo, some kind of setting, whatever it might be. So what leagues, maybe what players in particular are you watching? Or is it all over the place? **Kelly:** Number one, the videos you're putting out of practices, and coaches talking through some things, I really, really enjoy that. (thank you, Kelly 😉) Fortunately, over the last ten years or so, we've had quite a few players go over and play for some of the top teams in Turkey and Italy, so I watch as much of them as I can. I haven't had players go to Japan, but I enjoy watching their style. ### Their creativity is something I appreciate, because I think sometimes teams, especially here in the States, can look very similar to each other. There's a lot of creativity happening over there in Japan, and a bit in China too. But I'd say most of my time is spent on those top teams in Turkey and Italy. The last couple of years I've been to Coppa Italia in person, and seeing that live, it's not just the level of play but the production they put on. The number of videos I've taken sitting in the stands there and sent back to our marketing team saying, we've got to steal this. Or to our strength coach saying, look at some of these activities they're doing in their match warmup, we've stolen some of that too. And then the pro leagues here in the US, that's been a game changer for us, having both LOVB and MLV here. We've got a pro team in Madison, LOVB Madison, with a couple of Badgers playing on it. One of my player's dads has been the head coach the last couple of years, so being able to go watch them train and compete has accelerated my own learning at a speed that's really exciting. --- **Matias:** The people on your staff, how I view them, knowing a bit, reading some bios. These are people you have a long term relationship with, trust in them, from them. I would describe them as trust hires. Did you build this staff for who Wisconsin is today? Or for where Wisconsin needs to go, if you know what I mean. **Kelly:** Brittany Dildine has probably been with me the longest. I think we're going into eighteen years together. She was with me at my previous school at Dayton, right after she graduated from college. I think she was our second assistant at the time, and she's learned and grown into one of the best coaches in the US. Gary White, I think, was two years after her, so we're going into year sixteen together. He was a former engineer and a club coach, and was our volunteer at Dayton, and has grown his role over the years. Jessica Yanz is our director of operations. She played for me at Dayton, then became our director of operations there, and then came here and has grown in her role. I think she's probably in year fifteen or sixteen as well. Lauren Carlini, as you know, played for me. Her first year as a freshman was my first year here, so that was thirteen, fourteen years ago. She finished up her pro career and is now coming back. Our strength coach, Kevin Schultz, has been here for thirteen of my fourteen years. Chad McGehee is our mindfulness coach, he's been here since 2019\. Our athletic trainer has been here the entire time I've been here. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2026/07/kelly5_volleybrains.jpeg) I'd say it's a bunch of people that we just enjoy being around. I don't know if they were trust hires, because I didn't know any of them when I first hired them, but they've just stayed on. John Shondell is probably the one guy I've known for a while. I used to be his assistant coach back in high school, in the mid nineties, early to mid nineties. We graduated high school together. We've known each other since we were probably twelve or thirteen. He went on to coach at Purdue for twenty years, and we brought him over here after he coached one year of pro volleyball here in the US. So he was the one guy I knew beforehand. But what we're doing is probably changing quite a bit, and that's probably one of the points you're trying to get at. Gary White was a volunteer assistant, then an assistant coach for us, and now he's our general manager. The thought of a college team needing a GM a few years ago was almost laughable. But the business of players, the contracts and payment, somebody communicating with agents, the multi year planning of the pot of money you have, it's just different now. It didn't exist a few years ago. So we really needed that role, and we transitioned him from a coaching role into a GM role. **Matias:** That should be my job somewhere, damn it. I would really love that. You know a lot of people, you know volleyball, and then you think you know money too. You always think you know money better than money knows you. 😄 **Kelly:** You know, that was my dream job when I was a kid, to be the general manager of the Cincinnati Reds, back in the day. So yeah, Gary has my childhood dream job, except it being a volleyball program. 😄 **Matias:** It's all fun and games until you actually have to do the job. And you're in this transfer market situation, and calls go off from morning until evening, and it's all highly emotional. --- **Matias:** What we talked about before, and the more typical VolleyBrains question, the game prep question. Maybe just walk us through it. How has preparing for a game changed over the last couple of years? **Kelly**: The amount of information we have now is just insane. I get a stat package that's probably fourteen pages after every match. In our practice gym, I think we've got eight different cameras, and three or four TVs around that we can put any camera on. We download every practice, and our players comment after every practice. Every practice, our players and coaches are communicating that way over film. Getting players comfortable with film, and the strength of learning behind it, beyond just a highlight video, has been something we're constantly trying to teach and get more efficient at. I'd say what we changed was probably around 2019\. We used to give people a scouting report with everything on it, and go in and say, here's the clips, we're going to watch this, watch this, watch this. Players would have those one or two sheets memorized during a match. And one of the things with that particular team was, if something went different in the match, they had trouble adjusting. They went in with a plan, they knew what that was, and they had trouble adjusting perspective in the moment. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 115. André Sa: Success Is A Decision URL: https://volleybrains.com/andre-sa/ Last updated: 2026-06-14T12:38:48.000Z André Sa is not the kind of coach who arrives at a big club after one lucky season. He built his way up through Portugal, Norway, the French second division, and Vandoeuvre-Nancy, before taking over as head coach of [Volley Mulhouse Alsace](https://www.volleymulhousealsace.fr/?ref=volleybrains.com) in 2025. Volley Mulhouse Alsace is one of the most storied clubs in French volleyball and a consistent presence in top European competitions. In his very first season in Mulhouse, **he won the treble**: the Supercup, the Cup of France, and on May 1st 2026, in front of a sold-out crowd, the French national championship. It was a goal he had spoken out loud to his wife ten years earlier, when he was coaching in the second division in Istres, watching Mulhouse from the stands and thinking: one day I want to be the coach of that club. **Key takeaways from this article include:** - Why success starts with one decision, and how he made it in 2008 - How he aligns expectations with players before they sign - Why he asks every player the same three questions before making an offer - How he structures game preparation in three fixed moments - Why agents remain the biggest unsolved challenge in volleyball - The five building blocks of every great player, according to coach André - Why you don't need to understand volleyball to fall in love with it - What "more yes, less but" actually looks like inside a team We have 50+ minutes of edited Masterclass for you, divided over 19 video clips. Let's get into it. Enjoy! --- **Matias:** The first big question for me is always about the mental switch. The moment you decided: okay, I want to become a professional coach. Do you still remember when that was? Where you were, what time period it was, and why you made that decision? **André:** I remember it very well. It was exactly the moment I finished my diploma at university, as a sports teacher. In Portugal, when you finish your studies, you don't get a job immediately. You have to wait, sometimes three or four years, before you get a position in a school. And often it's far from your home. But that was never my goal. To spend 30 years in one school, doing the same thing. I did those studies to learn more about sport. When I finished, I said to my wife, we weren't married yet, she was my girlfriend at the time, I said to her: I'm going to take a bet. For the next five years, I want to be a professional coach. If it doesn't work, I'll do what the others do. I'll go back to school, teach during the day, work at a club in the evenings. But I'm going to take the risk. ### Looking back now, with more life experience and maturity, that was a decision that was not crazy, but a little out of the box. Because I had no example in front of me. No coach in Portugal had made it that way. Everyone had a school salary for security and worked at clubs on the side. This was around 2008\. And now, nearly 20 years later, I'm still a professional coach. So it turned out to be a good decision. It wasn't easy, there were a lot of doubts along the way. But I don't regret that decision for a second. --- **Matias:** If you could rewind to those first years of coaching, knowing what you know now, what advice would you give your younger self? **André:** We don't control as much as we think we do. When I started, I was 27, and I didn't have enough maturity to understand that. I wanted to do much more than the players were able to do, or willing to do. I started with men, and now I'm with women, but the feeling was the same. I kept thinking: I will change their mentality. I will change this. I will change that. ### So the big advice is: we don't control as much as we think we do, or as much as we think we will. Take it easy. Prepare well, absolutely. Explain your ideas clearly. Make sure the players and the team buy into what you're doing, and use them to help you along the way. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2026/06/andre_sa_volleybrains2.jpg) When I was young, I didn't want to ask my players for their opinions, because in my head that meant showing weakness. And that's not the right way. You don't have to ask everyone, but sometimes you just say: hey, help me here. I'm thinking about doing this. You have a bit more experience than me in this. What do you think, honestly? The biggest advice I can give any coach is this: you don't control everything. And that is completely normal. --- **Matias:** What are things you still hear today that make you think: we should have figured this out already. Why are we still talking about this? It can be cultural, technical, about clubs, management, agents, anything. **André:** One thing that keeps coming up, and we're feeling it more and more in volleyball right now, is the impact of agents. Because over the years there has been a constant fight, a real ongoing tension, between agents, coaches, clubs, and players. And we should be working together for the development of the player. We have already lost a lot of players. Players who could have had amazing careers, because of mistakes, because of ego fights between clubs, between coaches and agents, because an agent wanted to use a player to get into a certain club or market. And in the end, who loses? Volleyball loses. Because that player gives up, or never reaches the level they should have reached. We have been talking about this for years and years. Everyone says yes, everyone says no. Some agree on certain points, not on others. But nothing changes. Nothing changes. And if I'm not wrong, we now have ten times more agents than we did ten years ago. Because the market has changed. More players, more agents, and no longer just one or two agents with a clear overview. But the problem is still the same. If I could change one thing, it would be this: players, make sure your agent is working for what you want to achieve. Not the other way around. I say this to all my players who are thinking about changing agents or are unsure how to work with one. ### The agent is there to give you a service. You are not a product of your agent. You are not something that belongs to your agent. There are a lot of young players who start working with agents without understanding this. And as a sport, with all the smart people volleyball has, we should be much better at this. We should understand the role of each agent, in what way they can genuinely help coaches and clubs raise the level of the game. If I could say one thing that I believe has the biggest impact on our sport globally, it is this. --- **Matias:** The next question is about goals and goal setting. It's a personal one. Like we talked about before we started recording, you and your family made a decision together: let's commit to this, let's travel, let's live in different countries. So what is your own goal in coaching? Not the obvious answer, winning the championship with Mulhouse, but your personal goal as a coach. **André:** On the material side, when it comes to titles and trophies, I want to share something. When I came to France, ten years ago, in 2016, I said to my wife: I want to be champion in France. I will be champion in France. I want to win the cup. I will win it here. Ten years ago. And the curious thing is that at that moment, I was coaching in the second division, in Istres, in the south of France. The first division club closest to us was Venelles. I used to go and watch their games because they played at home on Fridays, which meant I could drive there. It was about 45 minutes away. I remember watching one game, Venelles against Mulhouse. The coach was Magali. Venelles won 3-2\. But watching Mulhouse, I thought: I love this team. They play really well. After the game, I walked across the court and I wanted to talk to Magali. Say bravo, you know. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2026/06/andre_sa_volleybrains3.jpeg) People who know Magali know that after a defeat, no one can talk to her. But I said, I'll take the chance. She doesn't know me, let's go. She looked at me like, who is this guy? I don't think she even caught my name. I just said: hey, bravo for your team. I really believe you will be champion with this team. The spirit is there. And in the end, she was champion. But that evening, I drove home and I said to my wife: I told you I wanted to be champion. I will be champion in Mulhouse. I will be the coach of Mulhouse. And that was ten years ago. The only person who can confirm this is my wife. But that is the true story. So the goals I set when I arrived in France, I achieved them this season. I'm not saying I don't want to be champion a second or third time. But over these ten years, I also set another goal: I want to win a European competition as a coach. Not necessarily the Champions League, but a European competition. And I want to bring that to a club in France. So if you ask me right now what I am really focused on, it is that. That doesn't mean the national league becomes less important to me. Of course I want to win that too. But this is my extra motivation. And then the second thing, as a coach in the broader sense: my biggest goal is that my colleagues respect me. Just that. That they can look at me and say, I like this guy or I don't, but either way, I respect him. That is also what I am working towards. --- **Matias:** You talked about wanting to be in a relationship of genuine respect with your coaching peers. That connects to what I wanted to ask next. Do you have coaches from other sports, or leaders from other fields, who inspire you? Not to copy them, not to become them, but people where you think: this way of working, this way of being, is something I want to develop in myself. **André:** It is easier to feel inspired by coaches from volleyball, because the connection is more direct. But I want to be honest: I didn't get inspired by these coaches because of how they train or how they run a session. I'm not beside them every day. I don't see how they work. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 114. Giovanni Guidetti: I don't want to be in the photo. I want to be the photographer. URL: https://volleybrains.com/giovanni-guidetti-part2/ Last updated: 2026-05-17T11:51:06.000Z Two weeks after lifting his seventh Champions League trophy with [Vakifbank Istanbul](https://www.vakifbanksporkulubu.com/en/?ref=volleybrains.com), Giovanni Guidetti was already in Canada, where he enters his second season as head coach of the national women's team with the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics in their sights. Giovanni Guidetti is the most decorated coach in the history of women's professional volleyball. Since joining Vakifbank in 2008, he has turned the Istanbul club into **the most dominant force the sport has ever seen**: seven CEV Champions League titles, four FIVB Club World Championships, a Guinness World Record of 73 consecutive wins across all competitions, and a 2026 season that ended in a historic treble. He has coached six national teams, appeared at four Olympic Games, and is only getting started in Canada. **Key takeaways from this article include:** - How coach Guidetti defines culture as a non-negotiable standard, and why talent alone never overrides it - Why training volume is a vanity metric, and what he measures instead - The "Starbucks rule": how great organizations preserve their identity while constantly renewing themselves - Why elite leadership is less about expertise and more about who you put around you - How some of his coaching hires came from a single lunch - What is actually happening in a coach's mind at 22-18 in the third set - Why protecting your non-working time is not a luxury. It is part of the job. - Why surrounding yourself with people better than you is not a risk. It is the strategy. **Coach Guidetti's coaching tree**: Giovanni's Vakifbank staff has been home to some remarkable coaching minds, several of whom have sat down with VolleyBrains: [Vanny Miale](https://volleybrains.com/on-the-court-26/), [Cesar Hernandez](https://volleybrains.com/practice-cesar-hernandez/), [Sanja Tomasevic](https://volleybrains.com/sanja-tomasevic/), and [Jamie Morrison](https://volleybrains.com/jamie-morisson/). Their masterclasses, practice breakdowns, and deep dives are linked throughout this piece. Now, let's get into the interview with Giovanni. --- **Matias:** 22-18 down, 2-0 in the third set of the Champions League semi final game against Conegliano. How much at this moment is still tactical advice, and how much is emotional, or about focus, or group dynamic? What is going on at that moment? **Giovanni:** I think it's a little bit a combination of everything you said. If somebody could track the brain of the coach in a moment like this, it would be like — I don't know — that image of a California highway, or a Japanese highway, with a million crossroads, where everything is coming at you at once, and the opposite of everything too. You're thinking about what to say in the press conference if you lose. At the same time, you're thinking about what to do to win. At the same time, you're trying to give advice to your players. And at the same time, you're thinking about what happens if we lose. I would like to say I'm just focused on the next point. I mean, of course I'm focused on the next point, but what's going on in the brain of the coach there is very, very confusing. In that moment, it was just about believing that if you keep doing your job correctly, and they give you one chance, then something like a miracle can happen. And we know sport. You know sport. I know sport. We've seen millions of moments like this. I've lost matches where I was up 14-11 in a tiebreak. I've won matches where I was down 2-0, 18-10\. So we can talk about this forever. At Vakifbank, we really like a comeback. It's inside our DNA. I can't even tell you how many golden sets we won when everybody was already leaving the gym because it was done, because nobody believed in us anymore. So we know that in moments like this, having experienced these kinds of miracles before gives you hope. ### We knew that if we kept going, doing our job, and they gave us the chance, because that's always the key part, then if you take it, you can change everything. And that's what happened. For example, we didn't change our tactics in that moment. We kept what we were doing, and then the block came. In that key moment, the block came. Not because we changed everything. No, we kept doing what we were doing, and the block came. And the setter was pretty good in that moment, understanding which players had the eyes to kill the ball. And me, on my side, I'm just what I call a very lucky spectator with a front-row seat. I can't do much more. I'm just the closest person to the players, just keep encouraging. I think the key thing, for us as a staff and as players in that moment, is that we didn't change our face. We didn't change our belief. We didn't change our trust, point after point after point. Honestly, if a match like this happens in a qualification group, you know it's 2-0, 22-18, and you know you can recover in a quarterfinal or another match. Then it's done. But honestly, nine teams out of ten, against Conegliano, 2-0, 22-18? Done. The players already stop believing. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2026/05/giovanni_volleybrains4.jpeg) I was really lucky that my players didn't care that Conegliano was on the other side of the net. They didn't stop believing. They didn't stop fighting. And again, our setter was very good in that moment, understanding which players wanted to kill the ball. And then of course, in that moment, Boskovic was on fire, and Marina Markova followed very well. We got those couple of defensive plays we needed. And in that same moment, Conegliano started thinking, "What's going on? They're not giving up." And then the opposite happened to Conegliano. ### This is the beauty of sport. One time it happens to us, one time it happens to the other. Like you say, it's a cliché, but the only thing that counts is to keep believing, always, because there is always a chance. I think in that moment we wrote another great page of sports history. And another time, it will be another team against us that writes a great page of sports history. That's what makes sport very, very special. There is no end until the referee blows the whistle. There is no end to any match. And that's what makes it so fun to watch. --- **Matias**: What are the things you've really internalized for yourself as a coach, within the microcosm you've created at Vakifbank? The things where you feel: these I have to keep doing at the highest level, because I know that's what makes us competitive. And on the other side, what are things that, over the last 15, 10, five years, you've let go, because you understood they weren't that important? **Giovanni:** That's not an easy question. 😀 **Matias**: I thought about these things before we started recording. 😄 **Giovanni**: The first one, for sure, is culture. We cannot escape it, change it too much, or step away from what our culture is. It's so, so important for us. ### In the staff, with the players, it's very clear: if we don't keep high standards in our culture, we're not going to succeed. We're not going to be happy with what we do every day. And it's wide, because it's in everything. It's in the attention each one of us puts into their job. We play against the last team in the league, we play against Conegliano. The standard of work is the same. The standard of preparation is the same. The weight room everything. Even the way we take care of our fitness room. If you ever talk to our athletic trainer, you'll understand: that fitness room is like a temple. Everything has to be in order, everything has to be precise. [26\. On the court: The Strength and Conditioning Experts.We are back with the second part of this weeks ‘On the court’ series. We sent out 3 questions about physical development in volleyball to 3 top experts in the field. The questions were: 1\. Do you have a particular idea of ​how a volleyball athlete should physically prepare? Having![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/icon/VB--3--48.png)Volley | BrainsVolleyBrains![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/thumbnail/Untitled-design.jpg)](https://volleybrains.com/on-the-court-26/) That's where we're building a lot of our success. Same with our medical room. We have three people there, one from Spain, one from Turkey who has been with us since 2020, and another. It's another very important room in our environment. And then there's our work on the court. The players spend twice a week training with virtual reality, just to gain maybe 0.001 in decision-making speed, arm speed, or a little more understanding. Will we win because of that? We don't know. But if we try to be even 0.001 faster, maybe it helps. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2026/05/giovanni_volleybrains2.jpeg) Every two or three years, I also try to bring in new coaches who give me and the players something fresh. Take my setters, Cansu and Sıla. I spent more time with Cansu, but I also spent a lot of time with Sıla. Cansu was preparing matches with me, working with me, listening to me for at least eight years. ### So the question becomes: what more can I give her? This year, I decided she needed someone just for her. We invented a role that probably didn't exist before at Vakifbank: the setter coach. I brought in an amazing guy, you probably played against him, TJ Sander. He was an incredible setter who had to stop very young because of physical problems. He also runs his own academies and does amazing work there. For him it was the first time in this kind of role, but he was the main voice with Cansu. I still communicate, I still have Cansu in my gym every day, but he was the one leading those conversations. Then I also brought in another coach from Serbia. ### So the staff keeps the same culture, but we add something new, little by little, every season. I always like to give each season a title. I can't remember what this season's title was, but I remember one season we said: we want a new house, but the foundations stay the same. There's a quote on the wall in our locker room, where the players change their shoes and look up: "Your talent brought you here. Your behavior will decide if you stay." The focus is on how the players work every day, how we as a staff work every day, how we try to be good every day. That's very key for us. Unfortunately, sometimes we have to say goodbye to good players, even great players, because they don't fit fully into our culture. We don't care if they score 30 points a match or have 80% reception. If we don't see them matching our culture, we can't work together. And I want to be clear: I'm not saying those players are bad. They're amazing players who just don't match our culture. They can win elsewhere, they'll be successful. No problem. We're just trying to find players who match what we are. Now, your other question, what I'm doing less compared to maybe 10 years ago: there's been a lot of work on myself. Year by year, I always try to get some outside help. This year, for example, I collaborated all season with a sports performance expert, kind of sports psychology, an Australian guy I was really lucky to meet. I actually found him through a podcast, reached out, had him give a talk to the team last year, and it was so fascinating that I kept working with him. I've had others before too. I can tell you for sure: I'm trying to be less emotional, less angry. Less emotional, maybe not entirely, I can't lose my emotion. But at least a little more calm, a little less angry. If you saw me 10 years ago, I was breaking a volleyball board every match. I learned that probably wasn't helping the team. So I've worked on that. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2026/05/giovanni_volleybrains1.jpeg) And if I look at how we trained 10 years ago versus now, I can tell you we've learned to be more efficient. ### That means working better, not always more. Before, it was: we need to work more than everyone else, six, seven hours a day in the gym. And we were successful doing that, I won't deny it. But now we don't do that anymore. We went from two sessions a day to one session, three to four hours, maybe five hours total including therapy. But it was a step forward. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 113. John Hawks: Your behaviors have to match your goals. URL: https://volleybrains.com/john-hawks/ Last updated: 2026-04-19T07:20:21.000Z Named head coach in October 2024, John became only the third coach to hold that title, stepping into shoes shaped by two giants: [**Al Scates,**](https://volleybrains.com/al-scates/) who built the dynasty across 50 years and 19 NCAA titles before retiring in 2012, and **John Speraw**, who added two more back-to-back in 2023 and 2024\. [81\. Al Scates: You need to enjoy yourself.Welcome to our Masterclass Interview with Al Scates, a legendary figure in the world of volleyball. Al’s remarkable career spans five decades, during which he transformed UCLA’s men’s volleyball team into a powerhouse.![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/icon/VB--3--43.png)Volley | BrainsVolleyBrains![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/thumbnail/scates_cover_volleybrains.jpg)](https://volleybrains.com/al-scates/) Coach Hawks knows this program from the inside, he served as assistant for UCLA from 2015 to 2022, winning the **2022 AVCA National Assistant Coach of the Year** award. Before that, he coached at UC Irvine, USC, and Long Beach State. After his UCLA assistant period John took the head coaching job at Loyola Chicago where he posted a 40-17 record and won **MIVA Coach of the Year in 2023**. As head coach of the USA U21 Men's National Team, coach Hawks guided them to a historic **Bronze medal at the 2025 World Championship in China**, the first U.S. U21 team, men or women, to ever medal at the World Championship. **Key takeaways from this article include:** - The one piece of advice he'd give every young coach chasing the dream - Which technical beliefs he holds firmly, and why he's skeptical of how middles and opposites are typically trained - How he structures an entire match week, from hitter tape to a game-day quiz - Where he lets his captains handle team culture, and what he reserves for himself - What he does in the first 24 hours after a loss before he ever talks to his team - What building genuine resilience in players actually looks like in practice - Why "just be you" might be the most important message any athlete can hear today We have 15 clips and a total of 50+ minutes of edited conversation with coach Hawks in this article. Enjoy! *Enter John…* --- **Why did you decide to commit to being a professional volleyball coach? What pushed you towards that decision?** Yeah, it's funny, I haven't really thought about that career transition in a while. I was coaching at UC Irvine with John Speraw from 2003 to 2006, and during that time I was also working a full-time job at a company called Cardiac Science. They were the first company to publicly sell an automatic defibrillator, the kind you see mounted on gym walls and in hotels. I was on the product assurance engineering team. My day started at 5:00 AM and I'd work until 1:30 in the afternoon. Then I'd race over to UC Irvine for practice from 2:30 to 5:00, and that's not counting video sessions or player meetings. After that, I'd drive straight from Irvine and coach club volleyball at Balboa Bay from about 7:00 to 10:00 PM. So from 4:00 in the morning until 10:00 at night, I was either working or coaching volleyball. As you can imagine, that didn't leave much room for a marriage, and I ended up getting divorced around 2006\. No kids, so at least that made things a little simpler. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2026/04/johnhawks_volleybrains4.jpg) It was in that last year at Irvine that I really knew, this is what I want to do. I'd been talking to Speraw about it for a while, and they brought me on both the women's and men's staff, partly just to help make up the salary difference, because I was taking a massive pay cut. But being recently single, I could actually make that work. I moved in with my brother in his studio in Laguna Beach and just figured it out. From there, I pretty quickly landed the job at USC on the men's side. That move to SC was really about getting to focus on one program plus a club team. I survived by being as resourceful as I could: private lessons, coaching a couple of teams, running camps, doing stuff with USA Volleyball. You just hustle, right? But honestly, the core of it for me was simple: I didn't want to be around engineers anymore. I didn't want to sit in a cubicle. That's just not who I am. ### I need to be on my feet, active, moving, impacting kids' lives. It was a bold move, no question, but I was genuinely excited to take it. I was coaching at the highest level of volleyball in the country, working with great kids I already knew from the club days, and I just immersed myself in it as deeply as I could. **What advice would you give yourself as a starting coach? An advice that is so clear and logic for you now, but that you had to develop over the years.** It's interesting to reflect on that. What I tell my staff now is that there has to be a balance in life. And I think I just went in so deep and so hard that, yeah, I've probably achieved things that a lot of people would want in their careers. And I probably wouldn't be here without that mindset. But I do feel like I've learned from it. ### When I go home now, I have two young girls and a wife, and I try to be as present as I possibly can. I'm not spending the whole evening on recruit calls or watching endless video. I watch enough video, I've got a good staff, they handle things. So if I could go back, I'd tell myself to find a little more balance. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2026/04/johnhawks_volleybrains13.jpg) There were a lot of stressful days. A lot of grinding and just hoping the next door would open. And I do believe that if you're a good person, if you coach with your heart and do things the right way, those doors will open. But yeah, balance. I know that's probably not the most exciting answer, but honestly, I think it's one of the most important things. For all of us. **What are bad recommendations you still hear about coaching or training volleyball?** Gosh, there's a lot that's changed and evolved over the last 25, 30 years I've been coaching. But the one thing I've tried to do throughout is adapt. Now, some of this depends on the level you're working with. Take the passing debate: midline versus passing outside your body. My daughter is playing 12-and-under volleyball right now, just starting her journey, and I'm teaching her to pass midline. I know some people are probably cringing hearing that, but I want her to have a proper foundation first — moving her feet, getting her shoulders over the ball, all those fundamentals. Then as she develops, you add layers. And at the higher levels, passing outside your body is absolutely a must. How you use the inside shoulder, how you track the ball, keeping your head steady, all of that becomes critical. But you have to build to it. On the setting side, one thing I really don't believe in is setters taking the ball from a fully extended position, arms straight up, setting purely off the wrists. I think setters should be taking the ball just above the forehead, elbows up, and using more of their triceps. That's something I feel pretty strongly about. And then with middle blockers, they need to serve. They need to learn the jump serve, they need to be able to hand-set, they need to pass. If you're not training your middles to do those things, I think you're missing out on real development opportunities. Same goes for opposites, we need to train them to pass. With how hard people are serving these days, and with rows like 1-3-4 where you can get your opposite involved in serve receive, building those service reception patterns around your opposite is genuinely valuable. I think it can be a real key to success. **Do you have a particular goal? Maybe a goal that you already reached or a goal that is so hard to reach that it gives you daily motivation?** In terms of personal goals, the one thing I haven't experienced yet is the Olympic Games. So would I love to be involved with the Olympic team in some capacity? A hundred percent. That would really complete my volleyball journey. ### Beyond that, the goal every year is the same, win a national championship. Especially here at UCLA. The path to get there might look a little different each year, but the destination doesn't change. What I really believe in is coaching with your heart. My guys know I care about them deeply. This isn't a transactional relationship where it's all about how many points you produce or what your passing rating is. That stuff matters, sure, but I don't think you can truly be successful without coaching from a place of genuine care, and building real trust with your staff and your team. Every year is a little different, every kid responds a little differently. But if there's no trust there, my words won't land the same way. When I'm hard on someone, they need to know it's coming from a good place. And because we've built that relationship, they do. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2026/04/johnhawks_volleybrains6.jpeg) I also don't yell a lot. Honestly, I think that approach is a bit crazy. I'm dealing with mature, educated young men, and I'm going to treat them that way. You can get your message across without that. There are times I'll be direct — "you need to be here, you need to do this" — but it doesn't have to come with a lot of noise. ### And when I think about how I want my team to play, I want them composed and resilient under pressure. If I'm volatile on the sideline, they're going to mirror that. So my goal as a coach is to model exactly what I want from them — coach the next play, stay forward-focused, and lead by example. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 112. Marco Meoni - Setting Masterclass URL: https://volleybrains.com/marco-meoni/ Last updated: 2026-03-29T10:33:52.000Z Marco Meoni is part of the history of Italian volleyball. Three Olympics, two Olympic medals. World Champion. Three European Championships. Four World League titles. Champions League winner. Best Setter at the 2003 World League, the 2003 Champions League Final Four, and the 2008 Champions League. He played 273 matches for Italy's national team, at the center of Julio Velasco's Generazione di Fenomeni. Today he lives in Houston — which was never really the plan. He came over to visit friends, they offered him a job, and he thought they were joking. They weren't. He stayed because the opportunity didn't exist back home: **coaching volleyball to young people as a full-time profession.** In Europe, you can't. In the US, you can. He coaches at [Houston Volleyball Academy](https://www.hva.club/?ref=volleybrains.com), runs his own consultancy [Volley IQ](https://www.volleyiq.net/?ref=volleybrains.com), and spends his summers on the bench as an assistant coach with Italy's men's national team. Both ends of the coaching spectrum — and he wouldn't trade either one. This conversation is about setting — not the basics, but the second layer. The things that separate good setters from great ones. Why do we actually jump set? What does tempo mean, and how do you diagnose when the setter-hitter connection breaks down? And much, much more. 💡 The complete insights are in the videos. Watch all eight. Clips 2, 3, 6, and 7 feature footage of Giannelli, Sbertoli, and Christenson broken down in real time. Clip 4 shows Marco on the court with his own setters. --- **Key takeaways from this article include:** - Why the real reason we jump set has nothing to do with speed or angle — and what it actually does to the opponent's defense - The nine different heights from which a setter can deliver the ball, and why mastering each one is the foundation for becoming elite - The right-left footwork explained: why it matters, what goes wrong when coaches teach "go under the ball," and how to read it in film - Why you need to set when going *up* — not at the peak — and what happens to your hitters' timing when you get it wrong - A clear framework for diagnosing a bad connection: whose fault is it — the setter or the hitter? - Why strategy and tactics are not the same thing, and how confusing them costs you points on the floor - Empathy vs. sympathy: what every setter needs to develop, and why overthinking it is the fastest way to lose it - Why improvisation is actually the most planned thing you do *Enter Marco...* --- ## Why We Actually Jump Set Everything I'm going to share is my point of view. Not the truth — just what I've learned and what I see working. We'll look at some of the best setters in the world — Giannelli, Sbertoli, Christenson — and then we'll see how I translate those same principles when I work with kids who are just starting to jump set at 14, 15, 16 years old. Let's start with a question I ask every time: **why do we jump set?** The answers I get are almost always the same. *Because we play faster. Because the angle is different. Because I'm closer to the net so the distance to the hitter is shorter.* These answers aren't completely wrong. But they're not really right either. Here's how I show it. I stand in zone six, toss the ball to myself, and set — standing — a super fast ball to the pin on target. Then I do the same thing jumping, and I set a high ball, also on target. Then I ask: which one was faster? They say: *you were standing.* So speed is not the reason. The real reason we jump set is to **anticipate the offense.** By reaching the ball earlier, I compress time for everyone on the court. Think about your middle attacker. If I jump and reach the ball high, I'm setting earlier — which makes him even more late than he already was. If I stay on the ground, I give him one or even one and a half extra steps. He arrives in time, he's a real threat. And the moment he's a real threat, the middle blocker on the other side cannot leave him. He has to stay honest. Which means he has less time to get to the pin. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2026/03/marcomeoni_volleybrains3.jpeg) Now add the pipe — the back-row attack from behind the middle. That ball only works when the quick attack is live. If my quick attack is too late, the connection doesn't exist, and I go from four offensive options down to two: left and right. That's it. This is the difference between a great setter and an average one — even if both have beautiful hands. Giannelli, Sbertoli, Christenson: watch them carefully and you'll notice they sometimes *don't* jump, especially in transition when the middle blocker has just landed and is still recovering. Jumping in that moment would reach the ball before the middle attacker is anywhere close to ready. So they wait. They stay low, they give him time — not because they're going to set him necessarily, but because keeping him as a threat changes everything on the other side of the net. One more thing: jump setting is not binary. It's not just *jumping* or *not jumping.* I work with nine different starting heights — from standing with hands close to the head, to fully extended arms, to a medium jump, to a maximum jump. Each one produces a different tempo. A setter who truly masters all nine has nine different weapons. A setter who only knows one or two is easy to read and easy to defend. This is the foundation. Everything else builds on top of it. --- ## The Footwork: Right, Left, Jump Now we know *why* we jump set. Let's talk about *how.* In men's volleyball, the footwork is **right, left, jump.** That's it. Watch any game, watch any of the best setters in the world, and 90% of their jump sets come from that same rhythm. Yes, you'll occasionally see left, right — but that's the exception, not the rule. The most efficient movement is right, left, and go. The key word I give every setter I work with — whether they're jump setting or standing — is: **attack the ball with your right foot.** The right step is not just a step. It's the moment you commit to the ball, bringing it into your body's trajectory. Everything starts there. Now look at the arms. This is something coaches often miss. Before the jump, the hands are already ready. They're not floppy, not relaxed, not arriving as a surprise. The arms are preparing as the right foot is moving — they travel together. By the time the left foot closes and the jump happens, the hands are already in position. The set is not an afterthought. It's already happening. There's one situation that demands special attention: **a short pass from zone two**, coming from the right side. The instinct — and I see this everywhere — is to open up and go left, right to cut the ball off. But by doing that, you're closing your left shoulder before the set. You're already rotating away from your options before the ball even arrives in your hands. This is one of the most important technical points in all of setting. And it's exactly what you'll see the best setters solve — circling behind the ball, staying right side first, finishing in control. It looks simple when they do it. It's not. 👍 Watch the video clip with the setter highlights for more and all the insights; reading the text without watching the video wouldn't do it justice. --- ## Body Position, Hips, and the One Mistake That Kills Your Hitters Let's start with where the setter should be standing before the ball even arrives. The ideal position is between zones two and three, less than a meter from the net, at **45 degrees facing the passer.** Not parallel to the net — angled. That angle does two things: it lets me track the serve receive from the start without losing the ball, and it means when I release the set, the ball is always going in front of me. I'm never turning blind. My eyes go from the serve to the platform of the passer, and from there I start moving. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 111. Massimo Barbolini: What you won yesterday doesn't count today. URL: https://volleybrains.com/massimo-barbolini/ Last updated: 2026-03-08T14:29:37.000Z For nearly forty years, [Massimo Barbolini ](https://volleybox.net/massimo-barbolini-p41814?ref=volleybrains.com)has worked at the highest level — from the golden years of Italian club volleyball to today’s global professional game. He won in Serie A with **Matera** and built a dynasty at **Sirio Perugia**, collecting league titles, national cups and the **CEV Champions League**, then continued to deliver results with big-name clubs such as **Pesaro, Casalmaggiore, Novara and Scandicci**. Massimo’s national-team accomplishments alone put him in rare company. As **head coach of Italy’s women**, he carried them from contender status to reference point in the women’s game: **European champions in 2007 and 2009**, plus **FIVB World Cup titles in 2007 and 2011.** When [**Julio Velasco** ](https://volleybrains.com/julio-velasco-2/)took over Italy again, he brought coach Barbolini onto the bench as an assistant—part of the staff that went on to win **Olympic gold in Paris 2024**, and the **2025 VNL and World Championships.** Massimo has also contributed to the growth of the professional game in the United States with **LOVB Houston**. Wherever he’s worked, the pattern is the same: clearer standards, better systems, and teams that end up competing for titles. **Key takeaways from this article include:** - The "sliding doors" moments that shaped his career, from [Julio Velasco](https://volleybrains.com/julio-velasco-2/)'s mentorship to getting fired in Spoleto very early in his career - Why coaches who need to show they're in charge aren't really in charge - Why he believes in creativity and problem-solving within a system of a few rules - The art of saying less: reducing video sessions, match preparation, and information to the absolute minimum - Why he never enters the locker room before a match, and his admiration for coaches who can deliver value there - Putting your medals in a drawer: the discipline of erasing what you've done and starting fresh - His obsession with high balls in the transition game and why he'll never believe in speed for speed's sake - How social media is making the coach's job harder, and why clubs should care - The tactical trends he refuses to follow and the rule changes he believes the game needs - And so much more... We have over 1 hour of edited conversation with coach Barbolini in this article. Enjoy! Enter Massimo... --- **Matias Raymaekers:** Why did you decide to commit to being a professional volleyball coach? What pushed you towards that decision? **Massimo Barbolini:** It's been a long time now, a really long time. But I remember the reasons well. Basically, I was playing at Panini Modena. I was pretty good, actually. I was captain of the under-16, under-17 teams. But then I had a shoulder injury and had to stop playing. So I started coaching a bit in the youth system. Then, luckily, when I was twenty-one, [Julio Velasco ](https://volleybrains.com/julio-velasco-2/)arrived as head coach. He wanted a young assistant coach from the youth system. And at that time, people were starting to think about trying to make coaching a real profession, mind you I'm talking about the 80's here. Because back then, almost all coaches were phys-ed teachers who did coaching on the side. So, following Julio's advice, I said let's give it a shot. I'll keep studying, obviously, but I'll also try to be a coach. The lucky thing was that when he left to coach the national team, I was twenty-five, and Agrigento called me right away to be head coach in A2\. Almost all of my players were older than me. I had [Zaytsev ](https://volleybox.net/nl/vyacheslav-zaytsev-p1872?ref=volleybrains.com)as setter, just to give you an idea. And from that point on, the fulltime profession of coaching also started to emerge. Things went pretty smooth for me, it was one of those sliding doors moments where you step through and you're in. ### If I think back to the beginning, there are so many episodes that make me think yes, I definitely earned it, but I was also quite lucky. ### Because there are so many times where now I see coaches starting out and all it takes is one bad season, or even half a bad season, and boom, it's all over. I was fortunate to get pretty good results from the start. But speaking of sliding doors and strange situations, after four years I had the only firing of my entire career, when I was in Spoleto. And from there I was lucky enough to be called to coach the women's team in Matera, which was one of the top teams in Europe. That's where my career in women's volleyball began. So maybe if they hadn't fired me from Spoleto, I would have done another half season, maybe some good and bad seasons, but I might never have gotten that opportunity. An opportunity that yes, I earned, but you also need a bit of luck. That's what I believe. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2026/03/massimo_volleybrains3-1.jpeg) But if I think about the key moment, I remember it perfectly. Talking with Julio we'd say, I'm young, there's no family yet, so why not try? Why not try doing this full-time? Back then it was a really unusual thing. Even financially. I mean, sure, things now are definitely worse than they were years ago at the beginning. Because now there are coaches where, if I'm being honest, I'd have to advise them, if you have a family, yeah okay, coach, sure. But first find a job. Then coach on the side. ### One more thing I'll say, something I'm also quite proud of, is having managed to do all of this while still, as much as possible, being there for my family. I know it's not easy. But I managed to raise a family. It's something I'm proud of, having managed not to let one thing negatively affect the other. That's something I really value. Maybe my wife sees it differently, that I'm never home. And my daughters too. But no, joking aside, I'm happy to have been able to do both things up to this point. **Matias Raymaekers:** What advice would you give yourself as a starting coach? An advice that is so clear and logic for you now, but that you had to develop over the years. **Massimo Barbolini:** Well, my advice would be what I think I've done myself. Meaning, always be humble. Don't try to force yourself to do things just because you see others doing them, because everyone has their own character, their own personality. I mean, I went to Agrigento at twenty-five. I couldn't behave the way Julio Velasco behaved at Panini, even though he was my role model. I was talking to players who were almost all older than me. So sure, certain lessons applied, but I think the way you carry yourself also has to be different. I think, and I hope, that I've still managed to maintain that balance. Sometimes I criticize myself because maybe it's a bit too much, too humble at times, maybe I should assert myself a little more in certain situations. But I think that approach has been important. Because I see a lot of young coaches whose first priority is showing that they're the ones in charge. The first thing they want to prove is that they command respect. They don't accept dialogue. And I think that's wrong. Also because, honestly, I haven't seen those coaches go very far. ### That doesn't mean you should always give in to certain situations or just accept whatever people want. No. But wanting to show from the start that you're the boss, that actually means you're not really in charge. When someone constantly needs to show who's in charge, to remind people what they've won, to say "do you know who I am?" To me, that's a big sign of insecurity. And I'm sure you, as a high-level player, you must have noticed this too. Players pick up on it. Players absolutely pick up on it. Because when a coach has too much need to show off, too much need to prove himself, it means he's not really confident in himself or in what he does. **Matias Raymaekers:** What has changed in coaching over the years? Things to look out for that can sidetrack you if you're not careful about it. **Massimo Barbolini:** In my opinion, coaching is a very difficult job. I'm very happy. I'm past sixty now, so I'm just grateful. I hope I can keep going as long as possible because I enjoy it. I enjoy it, maybe because they're really all younger than my daughters now. But it makes me feel young every time I walk into the gym. It keeps me feeling young, so I wouldn't change a thing. What I do see, and it bothers me a little, though honestly I'm getting to the point where I just don't care anymore, is that what has changed for the worse is the impact of social media on volleyball. It didn't exist before. Even twenty years ago, it wasn't there. And probably my generation has a harder time accepting it. What I think we need to realize, and it's hard to realize, is that clubs get influenced by this. In the sense that in the end, people can write whatever they want about me. I removed my access to Instagram. The only reason I had it was to share photos with my daughters and photos of my dog. But since people started writing insults under the photos of my kids, under the photos of my dog, I made my account private. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2026/03/massimo_volleybrains2.jpeg) But only for that reason. Not because of the criticism. They can criticize me from anywhere and I couldn't care less. But what I see is that there are situations where you can tell that clubs are being influenced by this stuff. And that makes the coach's job even harder. You're already alone against everyone. You're already the first one on the list when things go wrong. If on top of that, from the outside, people give weight to these things, it really makes our job incredibly difficult. I always tell setters, look, you're second in line. First it's us coaches, and then it's you setters. And if the setter is a foreign player, it's even worse. But we're always there, always right at the top. That's something I honestly accept, completely, because I know it's part of my job. But I think clubs in general should do a bit more to defend the figure of the coach. Because in the end, yes, maybe you're the one who loses out because they fire you. But ultimately everyone loses. I've always believed that. If you're a club and you have a coach, it's like a coach with a player. You might think he's not the best, but in that moment, he has to be the best. Because if I as a coach show that I don't trust the setter, it's over. If the club shows it doesn't trust the coach, it's over. People always focus on what hits them personally. Maybe there are twenty negative comments and a hundred positive ones, and you look at those twenty. Or one negative and ten positive, and you focus on that one. But again, what I'm saying is, if the club listens to that stuff, it's their problem. Because in the end, they're the ones paying, they're the ones losing the chance to win. Then the blame falls on the coach. Fine, the blame will always fall on the coach. But in the end, you still didn't win. Because unfortunately, and this isn't just in sport, it's in society too, we have this tendency to always need to figure out whose fault it is. I see people who focus first on making sure that if something doesn't work out, it's not their fault. They don't put their energy into making it work. But if it goes wrong, they're like, it wasn't me, it was this, it was that. That's maybe why, if we're coaches or players who are used to taking responsibility, that actually helps us get good results in the end. ### Because in the first place you have to focus on getting the result. Not on justifying why the result didn't come. I think that's a concept I carry very strongly in my head. And I see that the more time goes on, partly because of this whole social media thing, players are being bombarded too. They're used to being judged. And not just in sport, in life too. Kids at school are constantly being judged or scored. So you always have to think about justifying yourself. You're always on the defensive. If you can't do something, you're stupid. ### No, if you can't do something, you just can't do it yet. I'll tell you, I'm not really someone who follows speeches and talks and that kind of stuff. But there's one that I definitely like a lot. The Federer one, where he explains how many points he won and lost, and it's basically fifty-fifty. I send that to my young players wherever I go. Every single time. It's not Massimo saying this. It's Roger Federer, the greatest tennis player of all time. He's the one saying it. So think about that. And if you make a mistake every now and then, that's fine. It happens. 54% **Matias Raymaekers:** Big question, really big question. Your connection with Julio is a special one, so this question brings me to a lack of judgement I had when doing a video call with him. After that one time, I never did that again. :-) I asked him if he'd already achieved everything he wanted to achieve in volleyball. This was right before he started coaching at Busto, and he said, are you kidding? I want to coach women's volleyball, do the national team, and win there. The results are here now, so that question will never again be asked in that same way. 😄 So the question to you is, what's the goal that makes you get up in the morning? Do you (still) have one? **Massimo Barbolini:** I have one. In the sense that for me the goal is always to try to get results, to try to win. Obviously sometimes you're in situations where it's really hard, really hard to think about winning. ### But that goal, which I think transforms into "trying to win", is really about having respect for your own work. Like I said, for almost forty years I've been making sacrifices and my family has been making the sacrifice of being away from me. So yes, money is important. But money alone doesn't make you get up every day wanting to go to the gym. And honestly, there are days when I don't feel like it either. But I have to go because it's my job. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 110. Timeouts in Focus: Coppa Italia Final 2025-2026 URL: https://volleybrains.com/110-timeouts-in-focus-coppa-italia-final-2025-2026/ Last updated: 2026-02-15T14:14:01.000Z ### ⚡ What’s inside this article? We pull back the curtain on the timeouts from both coaches. What tactical messages are they sending out when everything is on the line? Using audio clean-ups, we isolate what is said — then translate (Italian ↔ English) so you can capture *exactly* what the coaches meant. ### 👥 The coaches on the bench This match features [**Fabio Soli**,](https://volleybox.net/fabio-soli-p26815?ref=volleybrains.com) head coach of Rana Verona, who many of you already know from our VolleyBrains 2-part Masterclass. [84\. Fabio Soli: Embracing Player Creativity (Part 1)Fabio Soli is the head coach of Trentino Volley, one of Italy’s and Europe’s top pro volleyball teams.![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/icon/VB--3--40.png)Volley | BrainsVolleyBrains![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/thumbnail/soli2.jpg)](https://volleybrains.com/fabio-soli-part1/) [85: Fabio Soli: Building Self-Regulating Teams (Part 2)With Fabio Soli we continue our insightful discussion in Part 2 of our Masterclass interview.![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/icon/VB--3--41.png)Volley | BrainsVolleyBrains![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/thumbnail/SoliLavia-24.jpg)](https://volleybrains.com/fabio-soli-part2/) On the other side is [**Marcelo Méndez**](https://volleybox.net/marcelo-mendez-p30785?ref=volleybrains.com), head coach of Itas Trentino and former Argentina national team coach (2018–2025). ### 💡 Match details Rana Verona beat Itas Trentino 3–0 (25–21, 25–22, 25–20) in the 2025-2026 Coppa Italia Final, sealing the club’s first national cup with a dominant performance from start to finish. Verona’s offense was led by U.S. setter [Micah Christensen](https://volleybox.net/micah-christenson-p1244?ref=volleybrains.com), who fed their main scorers [Noumory Keita](https://volleybox.net/noumory-keita-p32828?ref=volleybrains.com), [Darlan Souza](https://volleybox.net/darlan-souza-p29039?ref=volleybrains.com) and [Rok Možič ](https://volleybox.net/rok-mozic-p32231?ref=volleybrains.com)throughout the match. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2026/02/festa_volleybrains.jpeg) Trentino arrived short-handed to the final four: [Alessandro Michieletto ](https://volleybox.net/alessandro-michieletto-p28908?ref=volleybrains.com)missed the match due to a back issue, and [Daniele Lavia ](https://volleybox.net/daniele-lavia-p7045?ref=volleybrains.com)had only just returned after a long time out, so he didn’t play in the final. That imbalance showed up in side-out and transition, where Verona repeatedly won the key rallies. Verona’s attacking dominance was clear, closing the match at **57% spiking efficiency**. **Stat Sheet:** [![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2026/02/Match-Stats-Italian-Cup-2025-2026.jpg)](https://www.legavolley.it/match/40101?ref=volleybrains.com) ### 📺 Highlight Reel ### Important reminder We are of course missing context on what was said during game prep, in the practice gym, in 1-on-1's and a 100 other things. *The clip is a look into what is going on during the TO's, not/never a critique on what was said, why and how.* _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 109. Practice videos: Tuomas Sammelvuo - Osaka Bluteon URL: https://volleybrains.com/practice-tuomas-sammelvuo/ Last updated: 2026-01-25T14:07:09.000Z ### 🔍 Intro We've already featured 26 practice video articles with pro and college coaches, and today it's time for **our 27th Practice session article** here on volleybrains.com. At VolleyBrains, we bring you inside practice gyms worldwide to see **how top coaches develop their teams**. 💡 Navigate to our [practice videos page](https://volleybrains.com/tag/practice-videos/) for an overview of all the featured practice videos. ****Be sure to leverage this unique resource**. ### 👊 The coach who's guiding us today In this practice video session, we’re guided by [Tuomas Sammelvuo](https://volleybox.net/tuomas-sammelvuo-p471?ref=volleybrains.com), a Finnish head coach who is currently leading **Japanese SV.League team** [**Osaka Bluteon**.](https://www.osaka-bluteon.com/?ref=volleybrains.com) Coach Sammelvuo’s journey has run straight through the heart of world-class volleyball. After **an elite playing career** across Europe and Asia, he moved into coaching in the early 2010s with the Finnish national team, quickly establishing himself as a **top international mind**. From there, his path has taken him through some of the game’s biggest benches and countries: he led Russian club Kuzbass Kemerovo and the Russian national team, guiding them to **VNL gold in 2019 and Olympic silver in Tokyo**. He then coached Russian side Zenit Saint Petersburg before taking charge of Polish powerhouses **ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle** and **Asseco Resovia Rzeszów** in the PlusLiga, and more recently the **Canadian national team** and Japanese club **Osaka Bluteon**. Known for his tactical clarity, and ability to connect across cultures, Coach Sammelvuo puts a strong emphasis on communication and shared responsibility. Before you dive into the training, you could also revisit Tuomas’s Masterclass article over here: [17\. Tuomas Sammelvuo:‘Your best players are the ones that make the culture, they are the foundation of your team.’With the Russian National Men’s team Tuomas Sammelvuo just won the Olympic Silver medal🥈. We had a talk with him after the VNL tournament in July a few days before leaving to Tokio.![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/icon/VB--3--39.png)Volley | BrainsVolleyBrains![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/thumbnail/tuomas-front-1.jpeg)](https://volleybrains.com/tuomas-sammelvuo/) Osaka in action ### ⚡ What's inside the practice videos? Osaka Bluteon is built around a powerful mix of top-level Japanese stars like opposite [Yuji Nishida](https://volleybox.net/yuji-nishida-p11693?ref=volleybrains.com), complemented by physical foreign spikers and a world-class setter in [Antoine Brizard](https://volleybox.net/antoine-brizard-p5216?ref=volleybrains.com). Supplementing traditional Japanese ball control with attacking height, power, and a fast, creative offense. Inside the video session some of coach Sammelvuo’s takeaways are: - **Spike warm-up that teaches system and technique** Attackers work on one- and two-ball sequences with targets and footwork cues. - **Opponent-specific 6v6 to handle tips and pushes** Training both the reading of these situations and the mental reset after “ugly” points. - **Simple, named defensive systems with clear visual anchors** Tape on net and floor fixes starting positions; Defense A/B/D tell defenders exactly where to move. - **Pre-game style serving to build rhythm and reps** Short “pre-game service” block with one-side serving doubles contacts per server, even with a big roster. - **Managing ultra-fast transition without losing quality** Working on set location and approach paths so attackers still have multiple attacking options. - **Clear role definitions in block, defense, and coverage** Offensive spikers are protected for transition, while defensive spikers and the libero take extra responsibility on tips, pushes, and attack coverage. - **Balanced team structure without “A team / B team” labels** Everyone knows who plays more and who plays less, so simply name sides (e.g. “Team Anto”) instead of ranking them, avoiding unnecessary hierarchy that doesn’t add value to the work. - and so much more... ### Practice clips preview A **4 minute sneak preview** of Osaka Bluteon’s Opponent Prep ### VolleyBrain Members only sessions Full practice video recording: **39 minutes** of narrated practice session 💡 ****Quick tip:** The video is timestamped. Use the chapters to quickly navigate through the video for later reference. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2026/01/osaka_notes_volleybrains.jpg) _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 108. Practice videos: Francesco Petrella - Emma Villas Codyeco Lupi Siena URL: https://volleybrains.com/practice-francesco-petralla/ Last updated: 2026-01-04T13:06:24.000Z ### 🔍 Intro We've already featured 25 practice video articles with pro and college coaches, and today it's time for **our 26th Practice session article** here on volleybrains.com. At VolleyBrains, we bring you inside practice gyms worldwide to see **how top coaches develop their teams**. 💡 Navigate to our [practice videos page](https://volleybrains.com/tag/practice-videos/) for an overview of all the featured practice videos. ****Be sure to leverage this unique resource**. ### 👊 The coach who's guiding us today In this practice video session, we’re guided by [**Francesco Petrella**](https://volleybrains.com/francesco-petrella/), an Italian head coach who is currently leading the Italian Serie A2 team of **Emma Villas Codyeco Lupi Siena**. Coach Petrella’s path has been a fast climb through high-performance environments: after progressing through youth coaching, he stepped into the Italian Superlega in **2016** as an assistant coach at **Modena**, and in **2017** joined coach [**Angelo Lorenzetti**](https://volleybrains.com/angelo-lorenzetti-part2/) at **Trentino Volley** initiatinga long mentor-mentee stretch at the top level that helped shape his coaching identity. In **2023–2024**, Francesco took on his first head coach role with Italian top team **Modena**, and last season he brought that leadership to **Poland**, taking charge of **PSG Stal Nysa** in the PlusLiga. Known for his focus on **standards, clarity, and responsibility**, Coach Petrella blends elite technical work with a strong culture-first approach. Before you dive into the training, make sure you also revisit Francesco’s VolleyBrains Masterclass over here: [78\. Francesco Petrella: Between Stimulus and Response, The Space to LeadFrancesco Petrella’s passion for volleyball, along with an expertise in team culture and leadership, and his experiences in the Italian Superlega, make him the perfect coach to have an interview with.![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/icon/VB--3--38.png)Volley | BrainsVolleyBrains![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/thumbnail/petrella4.jpeg)](https://volleybrains.com/francesco-petrella/) ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2026/01/team_emmasvillas_petrella.jpeg) ### ⚡ What's inside the practice videos? From the outside, many of the exercises in this session will look familiar. What makes this practice even more worth studying is **the reasoning behind them**: Coach Petrella is consistently clear about *why* each segment matters for his team, and what outcome he’s trying to produce. You’ll see how he tweaks the objective inside of each drill to create different results. By changing what is scored, what is constrained or what is emphasized, the *same* exercise can train different performance outcomes. That approach becomes even more important because of the **group he’s managing right now**. His roster is a blend of: - **Experienced Serie A2 players**, who need qualitative match preparation and workload management week to week. - **Younger developing players** (competing at a lower level in parallel), who need more learning reps. So this session is not just “a practice.” It’s a look at how a pro coach builds training that delivers **performance now** while still creating **development over time.** Inside the session coach Petrella's big takeaways are: - **Daily float-serve receive work, built for the league** Early technical activation is centered around **float/short serves**, because it’s a major theme in their league. Short exposure beats occasional long sessions. - **Out-of-system offense as a main theme** A 6v6 drill focused on high balls and “mission impossible” situations: Learning to execute when the system breaks. - **Score design to control performance targets** He uses asymmetric scoring to measure outcomes. The score isn’t “just a game”, it’s a way to know if the team met the standard. - **Resilience built into the scoring system** Lower the target slightly (e.g., 18 → 17) to push a “salvage the set” mindset instead of wasting the rest of practice. - **Pressure passing finisher (match-realistic)** Ends with max-pressure spin serving: servers swing freely with no error limit to simulate end-of-set stress; if passers lose, they repeat—because break points only come from truly stressing side-out. - **Overall efficiency: shorter blocks, higher focus** He avoids overly long serve-receive segments (boring + cool-down risk) and keeps practice structured, especially given a roster with both experienced and younger players. ### VolleyBrain Members only sessions 48 minutes of narrated practice session 💡 ****Quick tip:** The videos are timestamped. Use the chapters to quickly navigate through the video for later reference. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2026/01/petrella_ytpreview.jpg) _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 107. Practice videos: Maciej Biernat - Budowlani Łódź (Part 2) URL: https://volleybrains.com/practice-maciej-biernat-part-2/ Last updated: 2025-12-07T10:31:53.000Z ### 🔍 Intro We've already featured 24 practice video articles with pro and college coaches, and today it's time for **our 25th Practice session article** here on volleybrains.com. At VolleyBrains, we bring you inside practice gyms worldwide to see **how top coaches develop their teams**. 💡 Navigate to our [practice videos page](https://volleybrains.com/tag/practice-videos/) for an overview of all the featured practice videos. ****Be sure to leverage this unique resource**. ### 👊 The coach who's guiding us today In this practice video session, we feature [**Maciej Biernat**](https://www.budowlanilodz.pl/profil/-/p/sezon-2023-2024/maciej-biernat/6723/24?ref=volleybrains.com), head coach of **PGE** [**Grot Budowlani Łódź**](https://www.budowlanilodz.pl/?ref=volleybrains.com), one of Poland’s top women’s volleyball clubs competing in the [**TAURON Liga**](https://www.tauronliga.pl/strona-glowna.html?ref=volleybrains.com) and the **CEV Champions League**. A true product of the Budowlani system, coach Biernat began his journey with the club as a statistician, later served as an assistant coach, and in 2022 took over as head coach. Since taking charge, he has guided Budowlani Łódź to consistent top-tier finishes — **3rd in 2023**, **4th in 2024**, and **3rd again in 2025** — while leading them back onto the European stage with regular **CEV Champions League** appearances, including a **2025 quarterfinal** run. His growing influence within Polish volleyball has also been recognized by the **Polish Volleyball Federation**, appointing him as head coach of Poland’s **national university team** for the Summer Universiade. Known for his calm authority and analytical precision, Coach Biernat combines a statistician’s data-driven insight with a coach’s intuitive feel for player development. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2025/12/Budo_biernat3.jpeg) Last season's third-place celebration ### ⚡ What's inside the practice videos? This is the second practice session that Coach Biernat has generously shared with VolleyBrains. Filmed right after the New Year’s break, during the thick of Budowlani’s mid-season grind, these sessions offer an inside look at international-level professionals preparing for one of the world’s top competitions. Even with injuries affecting the roster at the time, you’ll see athletes training with the precision, poise, and focus that define elite volleyball. And a **thank you to Coach Biernat for putting all of this together in English.** It’s not his first language, and we truly appreciate the extra effort he’s making to give our members access to this kind of training environment. Inside the session coach Biernat's big takeaways are: - **Short, confidence-building pre-match work:** The day-before session stays simple, quick, and game-focused. No overload, no complicated patterns—just clean touches that reinforce rhythm and belief. - **Player-led warm-up:** Earlier in the week the staff prescribes warm-ups, but the day before a match the athletes take ownership. Autonomy matters more than volume at this stage. - **Quality first touch, always:** No rushing, no “electric” first contacts—just controlled setups that keep the team organized. - **Breakpoint preparation as a theme:** The main six rehearse BP situations with precise feeds: fix the position, handle controlled hits on the body, and maintain balance with minimal, efficient movement. - **Defense built on stability:** One or two steps max. Narrow base. Controlled movement in zone 6 prevents drifting and keeps reactions sharp. - **Efficiency with one court:** Double activations, boxes, and creative setups ensure every player gets meaningful touches. Limited space doesn’t limit the quality of training. - **Attack rhythm without fatigue:** Two-side hitting with setters on both ends provides targeted reps in zones 2 and 4\. Short sequences (6–7 minutes) keep tempo high and legs fresh. - **Strategic defensive spacing:** Against certain attackers, opening zone 6 is more effective than forcing a closed block. With strong defenders, controlled spacing becomes an advantage. - **No extra “feel-good” reps before a match:** The day before competition is not the time for 100 extra swings or special requests. Confidence must come from executing under pressure, not repeating without consequence. ### Practice notes Some of you are from Poland or Polish speaking. Maciej's notes of this featured practice could be valuable to you. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2025/12/Notes1_biernat.jpg) ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2025/12/Notes2_biernat.jpg) ### VolleyBrain Members only sessions 25 minutes of narrated practice session 💡 ****Quick tip:** The videos are timestamped. Use the chapters to quickly navigate through the video for later reference. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2025/12/Timeframes_biernat.jpg) _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 106. Jamie Morisson: You don't know what you don't know. URL: https://volleybrains.com/jamie-morisson/ Last updated: 2025-11-23T13:28:08.000Z [Jamie Morrison ](https://12thman.com/staff-directory/jamie-morrison/2155?ref=volleybrains.com)has been the head coach of **Texas A&M volleyball** since December 2022 and has quickly revitalized the program. In just two seasons, he led the Aggies to a 37-21 record, including a 21-8 mark in 2024 — the program's highest win total since 2019\. At the same time, developing multiple AVCA All-Americans and All-SEC selections. His impressive international resume includes three Olympic medals as an assistant coach — gold with the U.S. men's team in 2008, and silver (2012) and bronze (2016) with the U.S. women's team. And leading the Netherlands women's national team to a silver medal at the 2017 European Championships. He also coached the U.S. U19 women's team, where he holds an unblemished 24-0 record and has won multiple gold medals. **Key takeaways from this article include:** 1. Why **"you don't know what you don't know"** is the most important lesson for young coaches and how to embrace continuous learning at every stage of your career. 2. **The false dichotomy of "no I in team"** — why teams need individuals to bring their authentic selves to create true collective strength and unique team identity. 3. **How to balance the art and science of coaching**, recognizing that teams are living organisms requiring both technical precision and emotional intelligence. 4. How **professional volleyball's transactional nature contrasts with college volleyball's developmental mission** — and why that distinction matters. 5. **The importance of being a "Chief Reminding Officer"** — constantly reinforcing core values and vision throughout the season. 6. **How sports psychology and motor learning aren't separate disciplines** but deeply intertwined aspects of coaching excellence. 7. And so much more... Enter Jamie... --- **Matias Raymaekers:** Do you still remember the moment when you decided, I want to jump into coaching full time? What was your frame of thought there? **Jamie Morrison:** Mine was actually the opposite, randomly. I vividly remember, I went to school at UC Santa Barbara. I tried to play volleyball and got cut. I was grateful and thankful that the women's team asked me to come and be a practice player at first, and then a volunteer assistant. I remember walking around campus, and I remember exactly where I was. Our practice gym was here, I was also a teaching assistant, and that was over here. I was kind of in between, either walking to or from. And I remember thinking to myself, "Who's going to want a guy that got cut from his team as the coach of their team?" I think to this day, every coach you could ever talk to, they're probably hiding it if they don't say this, but there's a little bit of imposter syndrome. I remember it vividly, being like, "I need to go with the business world." ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2025/11/jamie5.jpg) ### I always tell young coaches, whenever they ask me about my path: Get really good at things that people can't live without, and put yourself in the best environment you can. For me, that was learning Datavolley and being put in an environment where, I got done at Santa Barbara, the assistant I was working with Liz Towne-Gilbert changed my life. She ended up taking an assistant coach job at the University of Southern California. They called and said, "Hey, before you get into the business world, we'll pay for your MBA." And I was like, "I can't turn down a free MBA." So I went to USC. Then a year later, someone asked me to talk to [Hugh McCutcheon](https://volleybrains.com/hugh-mccutcheon/). That same skill set kind of put me in that position, and then it put me down this path. I knew I wanted to coach. It was this game that I love. It was mentoring young people to go be great at something and teaching them to love the game that I love. I tell young people, whether it be volleyball or something else or coaching or some other part: ### Find something that you love doing every single day. All of a sudden, work becomes this thing that's fulfilling and rewarding, not this thing that you're doing for money. So it wasn't that I didn't want to do it. It was just this imposter syndrome moment of like, "Who's going to want me?" And I still have it every once in a while as I've coached around the world and done different things. It's, "Man, this has been really cool," but it's also... And I'm going to go back to that beginning piece. If there's young coaches that are listening: You want to go get the best job sometimes, make the most money, or be at the most prestigious place. ### But be at the place where you can learn the most. I was really lucky at the beginning. In the early parts of my coaching career, I got to be around some of the great coaches, whether it be Kathy Gregory at UC Santa Barbara, Mick Haley at USC, and then being around Hugh and just the influx of people that came into that gym. I was just a sponge of information at that time. --- **Matias Raymaekers:** For me, the first thing that comes to mind is that early-stage feeling of not knowing what you don’t know. That’s always a big one. Even now, but especially when you’re starting out, you just have no clue. **Jamie Morrison:** No, and I think if I were to give any advice to anybody out there, it's that one: you don't know what you don't know. Especially when you're young, you feel like you know it. But I tell this story every single time, I look back at the four-year-ago version of me, and I'm, "Man, that guy was stupid." It's just one of those things. ### But even to this day, I think I've gotten more set in the way that I coach as I've gotten older, but I've also gotten more curious in the way that other people are coaching. Just because I think when you're young, it's like, "This is the way to do it." And as you get older, you start to figure out, "Well, I did it wrong four years ago. I'm probably still doing something wrong now." And you start looking around for those things a little bit more than you were when you were younger. --- **Matias Raymaekers:** If you could talk to a younger Jamie, what is something that you would tell him? What is something that he needs to know? **Jamie Morrison:** I think it's "you don't know what you don't know." I think that's number one. I was appreciative of where I was with the national team and everything around it, the learning that happened. I wouldn't be the coach that I am today without it. But I think I'd tell myself to be more open to that. To be in those situations and just understand that the people around you have been in these situations for a lot longer than you have. Soak up all the information, all the decisions, everything that's happening around you. I think that would be number one. ### Number two would be: balance the art and science of coaching. I think there's two different sides of what we do. If you look at the science piece of it, there's motor learning, there's statistics, there's all these other things. If you look at the art of it, it's the motivation piece, the team dynamics piece. These teams are living organisms that you've got to mold into the thing that you want. Each one's different. I think that's the other one. And maybe the other thing too is: each athlete's different. When I was younger, I was 100% motor learning. We were trying to create things that all look the same. As I've gotten older, it's more of, each individual is different in terms of their motivations. Each individual is different in terms of their body mechanics or their mobility. Two passers are going to have five things that are identical between them. But then outside of that, they're going to make passing, the skill, their own. ### I think it's the individual piece, whether it be a human being or a team. Each one is different and unique, and you've got to coach them differently. --- **Matias Raymaekers:** The question is about bad recommendations. What is stuff that's still going around in the coaching world and volleyball today that you're thinking, "Okay, why is this still happening?" **Jamie Morrison:** I'm going to go non-volleyball first, and then I'm going to go volleyball. The non-volleyball one I always say is, and this is just continuing what I just said, "There's no I in team." Actually, there are lots of I's in the team. And I think that's what makes teams unique, and each one a little bit different from another. The fact is, they're all made up of individuals. And those people need to put themselves to the side, I get where the saying comes from. "Hey, you've got to put yourself to the side for the betterment of the team. ### But I'm a big believer that each person needs to bring their best self before you worry about others on the team. And then the second piece is just that, again, I've never coached two teams that were the same. Whether it be in college, where you get two or three athletes that cycle through, or the U19 United States National Team, where it's a different group of athletes every single year, at least every two years. They're all different, unique organisms made up of 16 or 17 or 22 people, depending on how big your staff is. And each of those is unique and different. So I just think that piece from a coaching standpoint, each one's going to be different. ### I also tell our athletes, "Bring your most unique self to this. You are what makes this team." We talk a lot, and if you ask a question about other stuff, I wish I had learned the sports psychology piece. The best teams I've ever been a part of are the ones that are able to stay true to who they are as an individual and stay true to who the team is and what its makeup is. I think as a coach, you're supposed to bring some things that each team you coach is going to do. But man, on the court, in those big moments, it's: Can I be myself? Can I be myself as a passer? Can I be myself emotionally as a competitor? Those moments are huge. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2025/11/jamie10.jpg) So "there's no I in team", I think there are. There's a place for it. But then it's: Can I quickly get past myself and put myself in a situation where I want to make this team its best? Volleyball-wise, and I don't know if this is true in Europe, but I just hear "high elbow" a lot when it comes to attacking. And some of the most powerful hitters I've ever coached. If you look at Clay Stanley, David Lee on the men's side, they were roundhouse, their elbow was down near their butt. You've got to get power by getting that thing back. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 105. Timeouts in Focus: 2025 Men's World Championship Final URL: https://volleybrains.com/105-timeouts-in-focus/ Last updated: 2025-11-02T10:40:21.000Z Italy defeated Bulgaria 3-1 in the 2025 Men’s World Championship final — a commanding performance with just one slip by Italy in the 3th set. Set scores: **25-21, 25-17, 17-25, 25-10** Italy clinched its fifth overall Men’s World Championship title, and second in a row. Bulgaria reached the World Championship final for the first time in 55 years. A great performance for a team that's still in development. ### ⚡ What’s inside this article? We pull back the curtain on the timeouts from both coaches. What tactical messages are they sending out when everything is on the line? Using audio clean-ups, we isolate what is said — then translate (Italian ↔ English) so you can capture *exactly* what the coaches meant. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2025/11/WC_Mens_volleybrains.jpeg) ### 💡 Match details Venue: SM Mall of Asia Arena, Pasay City, Philippines. Attendance: 15,682 spectators. Italy dominated the first two sets (25-21, 25-17), then after dropping set three (17-25) closed out with full force in set four (25-10). Stat Sheet: ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2025/11/Stats_Mens_WC_volleybrains.jpg) ### Important reminder We are of course missing context on what was said during game prep, in the practice gym, in 1-on-1's and a 100 other things. *The clip is a look into what is going on during the TO's, not/never a critique on what was said, why and how.* _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 104. Practice videos: Maciej Biernat - Budowlani Łódź (Part 1) URL: https://volleybrains.com/practice-maciej-biernat/ Last updated: 2025-10-19T11:59:41.000Z ### 🔍 Intro We've already featured 23 practice video articles with pro and college coaches, and today it's time for **our 24th Practice session article** here on volleybrains.com. At VolleyBrains, we bring you inside practice gyms worldwide to see **how top coaches develop their teams**. 💡 Navigate to our [practice videos page](https://volleybrains.com/tag/practice-videos/) for an overview of all the featured practice videos. ****Be sure to leverage this unique resource**. ### 👊 The coach who's guiding us today In this practice video session, we feature [**Maciej Biernat**](https://www.budowlanilodz.pl/profil/-/p/sezon-2023-2024/maciej-biernat/6723/24?ref=volleybrains.com), head coach of **PGE** [**Grot Budowlani Łódź**](https://www.budowlanilodz.pl/?ref=volleybrains.com), one of Poland’s top women’s volleyball clubs competing in the [**TAURON Liga**](https://www.tauronliga.pl/strona-glowna.html?ref=volleybrains.com) and the **CEV Champions League**. A true product of the Budowlani system, coach Biernat began his journey with the club as a statistician, later served as an assistant coach, and in 2022 took over as head coach. Since taking charge, he has guided Budowlani Łódź to consistent top-tier finishes — **3rd in 2023**, **4th in 2024**, and **3rd again in 2025** — while leading them back onto the European stage with regular **CEV Champions League** appearances, including a **2025 quarterfinal** run. His growing influence within Polish volleyball has also been recognized by the **Polish Volleyball Federation**, appointing him as head coach of Poland’s **national university team** for the Summer Universiade. Known for his calm authority and analytical precision, Coach Biernat combines a statistician’s data-driven insight with a coach’s intuitive feel for player development. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2025/10/biernat_VB_team.jpeg) Last season's third-place celebration ### ⚡ What's inside the practice videos? Maciej shared four full training sessions with VolleyBrains — today we’ll dive into one of them in detail. The remaining sessions will be featured later on. These practices were filmed right after the New Year’s break in the heart of Budowlani’s mid-season grind. Despite a stretch of injuries at the time, you’ll see top-level athletes training with precision, poise, and the sharp focus that defines high-performance volleyball. Inside the session coach Biernat's big takeaways are: - **Preparation with purpose:** short, efficient physical prep, then straight to the ball. Warming up only as long as it serves to get ready. - **Serve–pass identity:** a team built around pressure serving and confident reception. Variety (short/drop/zone targets) matters more than showy power. - **Simple → complex:** start clean, then layer constraints and chaos so decisions, not perfect reps, drive improvement. - **Breakpoint mindset:** embrace the mess: covers, “dirty shots,” second-touch solutions. Scoring in transition is a competitive advantage. - **First touch is king:** quality and height of the first contact keep the middle alive and the offense balanced under stress. - **Use video, keep ownership:** feedback tools support learning, yet players are pushed to self-correct and solve in real time. - **Efficiency under constraints:** Training stays compact, competitive, and gives confidence, especially pre-match. Limited court time, control injuries. Enjoy! And a big thanks to **Maciej** for breaking down his session and sharing the purpose behind every detail. *As always, we greatly appreciate every single coach open to share their insights, especially those who go the extra mile to do so in a nonnative language, helping grow the game for everyone.* A sneak peek into Lodz's in-game performance - A lot of what coach Biernat is emphasizing in the practice edit is seen in this clip. ### Practice notes Some of you are from Poland or Polish speaking. Maciej's notes of this featured practice could be valuable to you. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2025/10/practice-notes-01012025-Lodz.jpeg) ### VolleyBrain Members only sessions 50 minutes of narrated practice sessions 💡 ****Quick tip:** The videos are timestamped. Use the chapters to quickly navigate through the video for later reference. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2025/10/Budowlani-Timeline.jpg) _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 103. Practice videos: Tom Black - University of Georgia URL: https://volleybrains.com/practice-tom-black/ Last updated: 2025-10-05T12:11:54.000Z ### 🔍 Intro We've already featured 22 practice video articles with pro and college coaches, and today it's time for **our 23th Practice session article** here on volleybrains.com. At VolleyBrains, we bring you inside practice gyms worldwide to see **how top coaches develop their teams**. 💡 Navigate to our [practice videos page](https://volleybrains.com/tag/practice-videos/) for an overview of all the featured practice videos. ****Be sure to leverage this unique resource**. ### 👊 The coach who's guiding us today In this practice video session, we feature **Tom Black**, head coach of the **University of Georgia Bulldogs** and former **U.S. Women’s National Team** assistant coach. Known for blending detail-oriented training with a deep understanding of motor learning, Coach Black has helped guide teams to success at the highest collegiate and international levels. Before joining Georgia in 2016, he led programs at **UC San Diego** and **Loyola Marymount University**, taking both to multiple NCAA tournament appearances. On the world stage, he played a role in the **U.S. Women’s National Team’s 2014 World Championship title** and **Rio 2016 Olympic bronze medal**, later serving as **head coach of Team Canada’s women’s national team**, where he led them to a Nations League qualification. Coach Black’s background as both a collegiate player and an elite-level coach shapes his holistic approach — one that connects motor learning, transfer, and competitive pressure into purposeful, high-repetition environments where athletes truly learn the game. For more on Tom’s philosophy and journey, take a look at [our previous article.](https://volleybrains.com/tom-black/) [97\. Tom Black: What you seek isn’t in the winning.Tom Black is the head coach of the University of Georgia’s volleyball team and a former U.S. Women’s National Team assistant who helped win a World Championship in 2014 and an Olympic bronze medal at Rio 2016.![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/icon/VB--3--33.png)Volley | BrainsVolleyBrains![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/thumbnail/Blackteam-1-3.jpg)](https://volleybrains.com/tom-black/) At Volleybrains, we love bringing back the coaches from our Masterclass articles to these practice videos articles — connecting their ideas, philosophies, and frameworks to the **real* way they shape practice. ### ⚡ What's inside the practice videos? Tom shared a full training session, and we broke it down in detail together. The session you're about to watch was recorded on the 1st of September 2025, approximately one month into the season. Inside the session Tom goes into detail on: - Letting players self-organize before practice to set the energy and rhythm - Purposeful warm-up progression: setters first early in the season, then adding passers with live serves for better transfer - Using short, focused “mental model” drills (2 minutes max) to build understanding before randomness - Competitive doubles tournament with a fun “Play of the Day” concept to spark creativity and all-around volleyball skills - Tutor blocks dedicated to serving and offensive systems — always initiated off a live serve for realism - Smart integration of video feedback (iPad + TV delay) to accelerate learning while keeping players self-reliant - Daily focus on Rotation 1 — aligning setter–middle timing and attack options - One-way rotation competitions to maximize offensive rhythm and feedback - Transition drills entered through “trans toss” — mirroring true game reads and movement sequences - Finishing with high-pressure serve-and-pass challenges to simulate match tension and close practice with focus Enjoy! And a big thanks to **Tom** for breaking down his session and sharing the purpose behind every detail. ### Practice clips preview 1. Real life transition - why, how. 1. Feedback and engagement ### VolleyBrain Members only sessions 52 minutes of narrated practice sessions 💡 ****Quick tip:** The videos are timestamped. Use the chapters to quickly navigate through the video for later reference. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2025/10/NOTES_TOMBLACK_VOLLEYBRAINS.jpg) _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 102: Timeouts in Focus: 2025 Women's World Championship Final URL: https://volleybrains.com/102-timeouts-in-focus/ Last updated: 2025-11-01T10:06:42.000Z Italy and Türkiye went toe-to-toe in a rollercoaster 3-2 match that had it all. These were the set scores: **25-23, 13-25, 26-24, 19-25, 15-8**. Italy grabbed its second-ever Women’s World Championship title. ### ⚡ What’s inside this article? We pull back the curtain on timeouts from both coaches. What tactical messages are they sending when everything is on the line? Using audio clean-ups, we isolate what is said — then translate (Italian ↔ English) so you can capture *exactly* what the coaches meant. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2025/09/worldchampsvolleybrains.jpg) ### 💡 Match details It was Türkiye’s first-ever appearance in a Women’s World Championship final. Italy, already strong in recent tournaments, showed resilience under pressure — bouncing back in sets 3 and 5 after losing sets 2 and 4\. Stat Sheet: ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2025/09/statsworldchamps.jpg) --- ### Important reminder We are of course missing context on what was said during game prep, in the practice gym, in 1-on-1's and a 100 other things. *The clip is a look into what is going on during the TO's, not/never a critique on what was said, why and how.* _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 101. Jason Watson: Play and be present. URL: https://volleybrains.com/jason-watson/ Last updated: 2025-09-07T10:34:50.000Z Jason Watson has been the head coach of[ Arkansas volleyball](https://arkansasrazorbacks.com/sport/w-volley/?ref=volleybrains.com) since 2016 and has taken the program to historic new heights. In 2023, **he led the Razorbacks to their first-ever NCAA Elite Eight** with a 28–6 record, earning **SEC Co-Coach of the Year and AVCA South Region Coach of the Year honors.** Under his leadership, Arkansas has made nine NCAA Tournament appearances, including a memorable Sweet 16 upset over Kentucky. Before arriving in Fayetteville, coach Watson spent **eight seasons at Arizona State** where he led the Sun Devils to four NCAA Tournament appearances and helped the program reach its first top-25 ranking in a decade. Before that, **he was the head coach at BYU**, where he compiled a 74–18 record over three seasons and was named Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year in 2005 after guiding the Cougars to a 25–4 finish and a conference title. **Key takeaways from this article include:** - **Why to design practices** that embrace variability instead of trying to control every possible outcome. - **The data-driven approach** that focuses on coaching effectivenessrather than just player performance metrics. - **Why traditional scouting methods** may be overwhelming players with too much irrelevant information. - **How to build trust** through actions in the gym rather than formal office conversations. - **Avoiding traditional coaching hierarchies in practice** — there are no starters vs. non-starters; everyone trains together. - **Why the future of volleyball** lies in "cleaner" play and longer rallies that showcase true athleticism. - **The simple but powerful philosophy** of "play and be present" that can transform athletic performance. - And so much more... Enter Jason... --- **Matias Raymaekers:** Was there a moment when you decided to fully commit to coaching volleyball and seize the opportunity? What pushed you toward that decision? Was it just 'let's try it out,' or was it more like 'this is really what I want to do'?" **Jason Watson:** My coaching journey actually began while I was in college. I played college volleyball in the United States at Brigham Young University, alongside what has turned out to be several really good coaches. [Hugh McCutcheon](https://volleybrains.com/hugh-mccutcheon/) was my roommate at BYU, and [Kevin Hambly](https://volleybrains.com/practice-stanford/) is now at Stanford. [30\. Hugh McCutcheon:“It’s about committing to a standard of competitive excellence.”Last week we highlighted Hugh McCutcheon’s recent TedTalk, this week we’ll cover our conversation we had with him. Hugh is of course known for coaching both the USA Men’s as Women’s teams for an extended period between 2005 til 2012.![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/icon/VB--3--26.png)Volley | BrainsVolleyBrains![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/thumbnail/hugh5-2.jpeg)](https://volleybrains.com/hugh-mccutcheon/) [51\. Kevin Hambly: It’s all about the players. It’s all about them.In this Masterclass we feature Kevin Hambly, the head coach of Stanford’s women’s volleyball team. Under Kevin, Stanford has won multiple conference titles and the NCAA Championship in 2018 and 2019\. Under his leadership, 10 players became AVCA All-Americans.![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/icon/VB--3--27.png)Volley | BrainsVolleyBrains![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/thumbnail/cover_kevin.jpg)](https://volleybrains.com/kevin-hambly/) There's a long list of us who have come out of that program. We were all coached by [Carl McGown](https://byucougars.com/staff/carl-mcgown?ref=volleybrains.com). In the summers, I would do these volleyball camps around Utah and Idaho, and into Wyoming. One summer, I got to work alongside Carl for seven or eight weeks. He got the top court, of course, and I got the bottom court, but it was great to hang out with him. I think getting to be with him and seeing his passion for coaching... I mean, he coached high school kids the same way he coached college kids, the same way he coached Olympians. He just loved coaching. ### So I think that's where coaching as a profession probably started for me, that was the genesis of it. I grew up in Sydney, Australia, so coaching as a profession probably wasn't something you could realistically pursue back home. But once I graduated from BYU, I got my first coaching job at Montana State University up in Bozeman, Montana, and I've just moved around since then. I would say those summers working "alongside Carl", which is probably generous to say it like that. I was watching Carl coach, and that was probably the start of this career. Those were wonderful days for me. --- **Matias:** What is the advice that you would give yourself as a starting coach? If you could talk again to your younger self, what would you want to tell him? **Jason Watson:** I think there's a lot that I've learned over the years. I think coach education, especially college coach education, like the coach education you would get coming through colleges, is to create your coaching philosophy. And maybe there's some merit behind that, but it shouldn't be so dogmatic that you can't change. So flexibility in looking and evaluating is important. I think you need some principles, you need a lens through which to look at things that are going on, the trends within the sport. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2025/09/jasonwatson_volleybrains1.jpg) But certainly don't be so dismissive of them just because you haven't experienced them or done anything like that. I think that's pretty important too. ### One of the most important things is that not everybody on your team is on your team for the same reasons. Every athlete is their own athlete and every athlete is their own person. And that's really significant, I think. You're going to have athletes on your team that are going to be fully utilizing all of the resources that you have at your disposal. And then you have some that aren't. And that's okay, you know, because everybody's got their role to play and everybody's their own person. So trying to meet people where they're at in their, I don't want to use the word "commitment," but where they're at in their space, is probably really significant. And I'm not sure I was even aware of that when I first started coaching. Now I'm probably a little bit more empathetic and kind, and I think that's served me well. --- **Matias Raymaekers:** What are some bad recommendations you still hear about coaching or training? Subjects where you think, it's 2025, why are we still saying this? Why are we still doing this?'" **Jason Watson:** Let me try and put some guardrails around this answer. I think our sport is wonderful. What makes our sport wonderful is the randomness that occurs within a very confined space. I think it makes it exciting, and I'm biased, of course, because I love volleyball. What coaches try and do is control all of those variables that they think they see. And in doing so, and I'm copying[ Robert Gray](https://search.asu.edu/profile/391944?ref=volleybrains.com), who's a wonderful researcher at Arizona State, in trying to impact or put some guardrails around variability, we decouple vision and action. And I think that, I don't understand why we're still doing that. *(In one of our next articles we're going to dive deeper into skill acquisition through the constraints led approach supported by Rob Gray and others. Be on the lookout for that one.)* And then we also try and prescribe "A plus B equals C" in an environment where A never equals B, but could end up equaling C. There's so many random things that go on. If we think about our sport, we celebrate as coaches and fans an athlete's ability to successfully navigate variability, right? And we hold those athletes up as being elite in our sport. And yet we don't train our athletes to be able to go do that. ### So that to me is still mind-boggling, that we haven't yet figured out that context rules the day and that our practices should probably reflect that context. I would probably train you a little different than I would train 11-year-olds, but still I would be limiting the scope in which I would have them do an activity, while still trying to promote solutions to random environments. I think that's what we're trying to do. I would be bored writing practices that were prescriptive in nature. So therefore I don't. But that would be the one thing. I'm just a big advocate of trying to embrace variability within our practices to allow our athletes to draw the connection between what they view and how they respond. ### And then as a coach, to be a conduit to help them be contextually aware and maybe even recognize some patterns. I think that's a pretty significant role that the coach has. And then get away from this idea that we have to master fundamentals before we can play the game. That just also seems kind of silly to me. --- **Matias Raymaekers:** Do you have a particular goal? Something that energizes you when you wake up in the morning? It could be a specific goal for this season or a broader goal for why you coach. **Jason Watson:** I don't know if I have these outcome-based goals. I think it's pretty cliché, winning is the result of some things. One of the things that's quite rewarding for me is to take a group of athletes that probably have been overlooked or, in the United States, maybe under-recruited, and put them into some systems and put them into an environment that we have in our gym and give them an opportunity to go be great that maybe they might not have had somewhere else. But I imagine lots of coaches think that. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2025/09/jasonwatson_volleybrains2.jpg) One of my goals is to ensure that my gym, my practice environment, is unique, **based upon the answer that I gave before, is context-driven.** ### That's one of my big goals: to make sure that I'm always learning, always being better than I was the year before. How can this drill be better? How can we work transition in a way that's occurring organically or ecologically rather than prescriptively? How do I get learning to occur in my gym without telling my athletes what it is that we're actually working on? That's fascinating to me and I have a goal to be better at that. I think as a coach, we identify things that our program needs to upgrade. We use a lot of data to accumulate things. But then write practices that allow us to work on those types of things, but not necessarily sharing that stuff with our athletes. We're just gonna get better at this thing because of the way we're writing practices. I think that's fascinating to me. So that's a goal. I'm not there yet. I feel like I've got such a long way to go in that space, a ton to go, but I like where I'm heading and I like my practices. But I think those would be the goals. And I'm confident that where we're heading is gonna allow us to have some success. I think my ultimate goal would be to coach as long as I choose to coach and not let somebody make a decision on my behalf when I no longer get to be a coach. That'd be nice. --- **Matias Raymaekers:** You mentioned data, which makes me think "approach". So let me ask: How do you prepare for games, and have you ever changed that approach? And since you brought up data and the importance of the right context in your gym, has your coaching philosophy been continuously evolving, or was there a turning point where you started questioning everything? And how does data fit in there today? **Jason Watson:** I think where I'm at today is it's just been a gradual evolution. I don't think there's been one defining moment that made me pivot. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 100. Ray Bechard: Surround yourself with people who contribute more than they consume. URL: https://volleybrains.com/ray-bechard/ Last updated: 2025-08-17T14:51:46.000Z Having led the Jayhawks' program over an extraordinary 27-year tenure from 1998 to 2024, Ray Bechard stands as the most successful coach in [Kansas volleyball](https://kuathletics.com/sports/womens-volleyball?ref=volleybrains.com) history. As a Kansas native coach Bechard led Kansas to 13 NCAA Tournament appearances, including a memorable Final Four run in 2015. A five-time Big 12 Conference Coach of the Year, 'Coach B' developed 26 All-Americans and guided Kansas to seven top-25 finishes during his career. Before arriving at KU, coach Bechard coached at the junior college level for over 13 seasons at Barton County Community College. His impact extends beyond wins and losses. Coach Bechard is recognized as a **true architect of modern Kansas volleyball**. Bechard elevated Kansas volleyball from a program that had never reached the NCAA Tournament to a nationally competitive force. **Key takeaways from this article include:** - **Embrace unexpected opportunities** \- Sometimes the best paths come from saying yes to things outside your comfort zone. - **Focus on process over results** \- Young coaches obsess over winning to build their resume. Instead, appreciate daily effort and improvement from players rather than rushing toward outcomes. - **Master the fundamentals** \- Passing and serving win games at every level. Basics matter more than complex tactics. - **Surround yourself with contributors, not consumers** \- Choose people who give energy and help others grow, not those who drain energy and only take from the team. - **Maintain unwavering standards** \- Team identity and expectations never stop, even outside practice. Standards must always be met, unlike goals, which can be adjusted. - **Consistency in leadership is crucial** \- Players need the same version of their coach every day. Trust builds slowly but disappears quickly with one inconsistent moment. - **Invest in meaningful relationships** \- The best investment is time with family and people who genuinely care about your well-being, not just your professional success. In this open and insightful conversation, Coach Ray Bechard shares the experiences and ideas that have shaped his remarkable 45-year coaching journey. Enter Ray... --- **Matias Raymaekers:** Do you remember your thought process about what made you commit to becoming a head coach? **Ray Bechard:** I grew up in a large family with six siblings, four of whom were brothers. So it was always competitive around the house, just with daily tasks or whatever we were doing. I played all sports growing up. It was seasonal here in Kansas: football in the fall, basketball in the winter, track and field in the spring, baseball in the summer. I'm from a very small town, and we'd go to an empty lot, pick up sides, and play. I was completely enamored with sports and competition. I had a decent high school career and got an offer to play community college basketball at [Barton County Community College](https://www.bartonccc.edu/?ref=volleybrains.com), which I was excited about. I played for a coach named Lauren Miller. About halfway through my freshman season, I was pretty intrigued with how he went about his daily business as a coach. ### There was one practice where I remember standing there watching as we ran through some offense, and it just hit me. I said, "Hey, this is exactly what I want to do. I want to coach basketball." So I finished my two years at Barton County, completed my undergraduate degree at [Fort Hays State University](https://www.fhsu.edu/?ref=volleybrains.com), and at age 21, I signed my first contract to be a high school basketball coach at a small rural high school in Western Kansas. I was also going to teach driver's education, which is pretty exciting when you understand that kids in rural communities have already been driving for a couple of years by the time you get to them, and elementary PE. I felt like I was in heaven, preparing for that opportunity. It was a very small high school, only a couple of hundred kids total. But about a month and a half before I was supposed to start in August, I got a phone call from the superintendent, a gentleman named Terry Marshall. He said, "Ray, I need your help with something." I asked what he needed help with, and he said, "We're looking for a new volleyball coach at the high school." I quickly replied, "I'm sorry, I can't help you. I have no interest, no background, no expertise." He said, "Well, I'd like you to think about it for a day or two." I said I would. He called me back a couple of days later and said, "Ray, I'd like to congratulate you on being our new high school volleyball coach because we can't find anybody else." I said, "Terry, I'm not sure I can do the job." He said, "Yeah, just do the best you can for a year and then we'll figure it out." So I had about a month to do a deep dive and call people. I was fortunate to have an older brother who was a high school volleyball coach, so I leaned on him a lot. I built a relationship with [Terry Pettit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry%5FPettit?ref=volleybrains.com), who was the volleyball coach at the University of Nebraska and has done as much for volleyball in the Midwest as anybody. Slowly but surely, I tried to build a little bit of a plan, and we made it through that first year. I'm not sure the team was very prepared or very organized, but we played hard and had fun. What I learned is that volleyball was intriguing to me because there were so many people in such a small space, so many intricacies, so many movements, so many demands on communication, and so many teammates in a closed space. I got pretty enamored and excited about the possibilities of that. After my first year of coaching volleyball and basketball, and teaching those farm kids how to drive, Terry, the superintendent, and principal Bill Stapleton asked, "Will you do it again?" I said yes. I think I got a little bit better each year and became more adept at what I was trying to do. I still loved basketball dearly, but I began to develop a real passion for volleyball. That's how I got my coaching career off the ground. ### The lesson there is: When an opportunity presents itself, at least give it a chance. Give it some thought, give it an opportunity, hear people out, because you never know where that might lead. --- **Matias Raymaekers:** What advice would you give to that young Ray who was starting? If you could talk to him now, what would be the definite advice you'd give him? **Ray Bechard:** Well, obviously, I was fortunate not to close the door when an opportunity presented itself, even though initially I didn't think it was the right thing. After thinking about it and pondering on it and saying "why not?", I think it was an opportunity to stretch who I was and who I wanted to be. We all live in a comfort zone, but the more we can get outside that comfort zone, I think we have a chance of being the best version of ourselves. I think the message to younger Coach Bechard – Coach Ray – would be that I wish I had been a little bit more in touch with the process instead of results. ### As a young coach, sometimes you're trying to survive, you're trying to impress, you're trying to build your resume, you're trying to create opportunities for the future. But in fact, the opportunity that's right in front of you is the most important thing. I know there were days at Lewis High School, or when I went on to Barton County Community College, or even at the University of Kansas, where there were student-athletes and people who were giving great effort. I think I did appreciate it, but maybe I would have had greater appreciation now for people who are going through the process and how that works, and why that's so important. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2025/08/raybechard_volleybrains3.jpeg) Yes, the winning and losing part is pretty mission-critical for keeping your job, but what kind of behaviors are those student-athletes exhibiting to try to get to that result? Are we locking into those? Are we appreciating those? Are we giving those the value that they deserve? Because in the long run, it's those behaviors, it's those moments that'll get us to the result we want. But sometimes I think we're in such a hurry to get to the result and try to figure out what that's going to look like that maybe we lose a little bit of sight of what the process should look like – and appreciation for those moments when they happen. --- **Matias Raymaekers:** The "bad recommendation question." What are the recommendations that you still hear coaches today give each other that keep on amazing you, like "Is this still around? **Ray Bechard:** Well, from a technical side, it's two things: first contact, can you pass and serve? People ask me all the time, "What should we work on?" And it's so mundane, but the answer is always the same, regardless of the level of team I've coached. We went to a Final Four in 2015, and you think about the team we were playing, the University of Nebraska, very physical, very dynamic, obviously very skilled. But in that match, they did two things a little better than we did: they passed and served a little bit better than we did. It seems very simplistic, but if I could rewind and go back, I'd spend more time on those two skills. Now, when I coach my granddaughter's club team, which is coming up here shortly, we just can't overstate those two skills and how they lead to the outcome you want to achieve. But beyond the technical side, somebody told me early in my coaching career: ### "Surround yourself with people who contribute more than they consume." I always thought that was one of the most valuable pieces of information I ever got from somebody. Forty-five years ago, that was true. And today it's still true. I want to be around people who are willing to contribute, who are givers instead of those who feel like they consume or take out, the energy vampires or whatever you want to call them. There hasn't been a day or two that's gone by where I haven't mentioned that to the teams I've coached: Are you contributing? Are you consuming? Great organizations, great teams, they have a room full of people who are willing to contribute more than what they take out. We talk a lot about surrounding yourself with people who have EGB, **energy-giving behaviors**. Anytime you walk into the room with these people, there's this energy, this enthusiasm, this optimism. I always get excited about people like that. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2025/08/Ray-Bechard-volleybrains-run-kopie.jpeg) I think we need to look at. I always ask people, who are the four or five people in your inner circle? Who do you surround yourself with? Who do you rely on? Who's your board of directors? Are they excited about you when you talk about your goals? Do they create optimism in your world? Are they excited about your path and where you're going? And do they make you better? If you can't answer yes to all those questions, I'm not sure that inner circle is appropriate for you in that moment. We talk to our team about this all the time: Who are you relying on for information? Who's in your inner circle, and how are they helping you be the best version of yourself? --- **Matias Raymaekers:** Do you have a particular goal? Something that, when you wake up, gives you energy, or something bigger? It could also be something very objective. And the mistake I was going to make is thinking, "Well, you're a retired coach, maybe you don't have a goal anymore," but I can already see you smiling. So the question for you is: what is your goal today? **Ray Bechard:** Today, I was excited about having a conversation with you! But people ask me, "How is retirement?" and I'm still sorting through what that's going to be like. Every day for me now, I don't have the structure that I had in my prior situation, so I've got to be disciplined enough to create that structure for myself. For the last 40 to 45 years, the months of August, September, October, November, and December, I was booked, I was busy, I was full speed ahead with my job. Now I'm excited about going to some football games. I've always wanted to go to Notre Dame and watch a football game. I don't know if you've seen the movie *Rudy*, but that's part of it. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 99. Travis Hudson: Authentic relationships are everything. URL: https://volleybrains.com/travis-hudson/ Last updated: 2025-07-31T16:22:28.000Z When Travis Hudson took over [WKU volleyball](https://wkusports.com/sports/womens-volleyball?ref=volleybrains.com) in 1995, he inherited one of Division I's worst programs, ranked 308th out of 326 teams. Fast forward three decades: **he is the architect behind turning WKU Volleyball into a championship-caliber team** and bringing national attention to the Hilltopper program. Coach Hudson has led WKU to an astounding 34 conference championships and 17 NCAA Tournament appearances. He is **a 12-time Conference Coach of the Year** and has coached 12 Conference Players of the Year, 13 All-Americans (including four, four-time All-Americans) and 68 first team All-Conference honorees. In this deeply personal conversation, Travis shares the philosophy and experiences that transformed a struggling program into a volleyball powerhouse while maintaining his core belief: success on the court comes from who you are off it. **Key takeaways from this article include:** - Trust yourself as a young coach - learn from others but filter everything through your own authentic coaching style. - Why boringly consistent simplicity beats fancy drills and complex systems every single time. - How investing in players as humans first creates the foundation for championship performance. - The critical balance between being a great coach and great parent - and why you don't have to choose. - Why the best players embrace vulnerability and aren't afraid to look bad while learning. - How a monthly Zoom group with other coaches became his most valuable professional development tool. - The power of strategic distance - why he never watches warmups and arrives just before game time. - Understanding that coaching greatness transcends X's and O's - it's about relationships, communication, and genuine connection. Enter Travis... --- **Matias Raymaekers:** Do you remember the moment that you decided, "Okay, I'm going to jump into full-time coaching or professional coaching with both feet"? And what was your thought process behind becoming a full-time coach? **Travis Hudson:** I do remember it. I grew up playing football and basketball, so we could talk a long time just about this piece of it because when I graduated from high school, I had never played volleyball in my life. And at the age of 24, I became the head volleyball coach at Western Kentucky. And that's a pretty big jump in a short period of time. *(full WKU video at the bottom of this Masterclass)* I did believe that I would coach – I always thought I would coach – but I thought I would end up coaching football or basketball. Volleyball was just put in front of me. When I was exposed to the game for the first time, I knew that's where my passion was going to be. ### And then coaching... you know, I've always been fascinated. I've always believed that someone who can really coach could learn to coach any sport. I've always believed that. I've always believed that anybody can learn the X's and O's of coaching a sport. But what makes a coach elite is relationships. It's the ability to communicate. It's the ability to be vulnerable, you know, and to just dive in and learn X's and O's. That's why I think – if it was just about understanding the game, then every elite player could become an elite coach. And you notice that's not always the case. I always felt like I had a gift to teach and to build relationships. Volleyball became that avenue. --- **Matias Raymaekers:** If you could talk to your younger self starting out coaching, with the experience that you have right now, what is something that you would really want to tell yourself? **Travis Hudson:** Trust yourself more. Don't worry as much – trust yourself more. Because, you know, one of the biggest mistakes I made when I was young as a coach is craving, wanting to be great at what I did. I watched so many coaches around me, and obviously you learn things from every coach that you spend time around, but it's also about understanding that genuinely being who you are is a critical component to being able to coach at a high level. I've said this many times, there are coaches that are yellers and screamers that succeed at a high level. There are coaches that are very calm and reserved that succeed at a high level. And you just have to, I guess, understand the message but relay it within who you are. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2025/07/Travis_Hudson_volleybrains4.jpeg) And as a young coach, I wish I would have trusted myself a little more. ### It's one of the messages I try to give to young coaches now when I talk to them: learn everything you can learn from the people around you, but run it through your filter. Because ultimately, you know, that genuine side of it is one of the real keys to doing it at a high level. **Matias Raymaekers:** Yeah, I think that translates also to what VolleyBrains is. Don't try to be everything that Travis Hudson is or that [Russ Ross](https://volleybrains.com/russ-rose-part2/) is. Use all these opinions and put it through your own filter. --- **Matias Raymaekers:** Okay, today we are 2025\. What are bad recommendations that you still hear about coaching volleyball that you're like, "Okay, this should already be a story of the past. This shouldn't be going around anymore"? This can be technical, this can be about culture, team play – whatever you want to talk about. **Travis Hudson:** I guess the thing that popped in my mind when you asked that question is – as a young coach and as you're growing – you start learning all these different things about the game. You start learning all these different ways to teach and all these different drills. And you know, there are hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of drills, and to be honest, in a year's time, I use about 10. You know, there are all these fancy names for these drills and these cool ways to go about it, but at the end of the day, I think you can spread yourself out too much. ### I've always believed one of the real keys is not necessarily doing more – it's being boringly, boringly consistent in the things that you do. And that's a real foundational piece for me. I think that simplicity is a good thing, not a bad thing. You know, many people, when they talk about what we do offensively here, they always talk about how simple our offense is. I always laugh at that – a scouting report when you're playing Western Kentucky only takes about 20 minutes to put together, but it's defending it that becomes the hard part. And so that's the thing for me – the simplicity of it. I think you see it as the game has evolved through the years. You see things go in and out of popularity. But at the end of the day, it's still about doing a certain few things very, very well and very, very consistently. --- **Matias Raymaekers:** Do you have a definite goal right now in the phase of your career that you're in? **Travis Hudson:** Yeah, my goals have always been the same. And they're still the same goals that motivate me, and it's kind of crazy because you think about a career of longevity – you have these big long-term goals, and I never did. I never have. I've had the same goals that are on repeat. First of all, my biggest goal has always been to be a great dad to my kids. One of the things that I was told early on in coaching was how much this would pull me away from my family and I would have to make choices between my family and being a coach. And I always said the same thing: if I ever have to choose between being a great coach and being a great dad, I'm gonna choose being a great dad. ### But I don't believe you do have to choose because I believe that those things feed off one another. And so my goals are kind of similar. My goals every year is to take the team in front of me and to just maximize who they have the opportunity to be and to watch those kids develop away from the court as well. I just had a conversation with a player two days ago who is a super driven young player in our program right now. And I told her I wanted her to spend time away from volleyball this summer, and she didn't really love my answer. And I said, "No, you don't understand. I'm not asking you to sacrifice yourself as a volleyball player. I just want to make sure that when we're done on this journey, you define yourself as something more than just a volleyball player." ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2025/07/Travis_Hudson_volleybrains5.jpeg) And so we spend time trying to evolve in other areas. Some people in our program have an artistic side to them. Some of them are really close to their faith. There are all these different things that make them complete, which I think make them better as a player. ### And I guess one of the things that I've said over and over when people ask me about our success here is I always say we've had the success we have on the court because of who we are off it. And to be honest, after 31 years, those are the things that are still important to me. Those are the things that motivate me year to year. You know, I've had success beyond my wildest dreams as a head coach. And so if winning a championship or going to an NCAA tournament or doing whatever was my goal as a coach, I would have already retired. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 98. Nickie Sanlin: There's no progress without failure. URL: https://volleybrains.com/nickie-sanlin/ Last updated: 2025-07-06T15:03:55.000Z Nickie Sanlin took charge of [McKendree’s](https://mckbearcats.com/staff-directory/nickie-sanlin/123?ref=volleybrains.com) women’s volleyball team in 2014 and built the men’s squad from the ground up a year later. Since then, her women’s teams have piled up 135 wins and five NCAA tournament appearances, while her men’s squads have passed the 100-victory mark and are the 2025 MIVA regular season champion. Coach Sanlin owns two MIVA Coach-of-the-Year awards and this past season became the AVCA’s National Collegiate Men’s Coach of the Year, the first woman to earn the honor. USA Volleyball also chose Nickie to lead the U23 men's team at the 2025 NORCECA Pan Am Cup. Away from the court, she chairs the AVCA Diversity Development Team and mentors young talent in USA Volleyball’s NTDP pipeline. In this open and insightful conversation, Nickie shares the experiences and ideas that have shaped her coaching journey. **Key takeaways from this article include:** - How can failing help you figure out what you truly love? - Deliver clear and supportive feedback to help players progress quickly and build resilience. - The importance of sticking to solid basics instead of chasing flashy new drills every year. - Thoughts on why today’s volleyball needs flexible skills and bold ideas. - Why owning every loss teaches you exactly how to win next time. - Aiming for the next goal keeps you hungry and stops post-win laziness. - Thinking about future rule changes helps coaches plan far ahead. We have 50 minutes of video interview (divided over 14 clips) with coach Sanlin in this article. Enjoy! Enter Nickie... **Nickie, why did you decide to commit to being a professional volleyball coach? What pushed you towards that decision?** *“I got fired from a job.”* I went from being a collegiate athlete to... not knowing what I wanted to do next. From fifth grade, around 10 years old, through to 22, I played sports my entire life. And then, once that ended, I thought, "Well, I guess the natural next step is to get a job." But I was terrible at it. It just wasn’t what I wanted to do. I was working with people who had never played sports, who didn’t have any sense of accountability or drive. It was just a job for them, a means to an end. What I’ve learned about myself over time is that I don’t have a gray area. I’m either all in or all out. There’s no in-between. And at that job? I was bad. I worked at Target corporate. It was not good. Eventually, I got fired. I had no choice but to move back home. I had two kids under the age of two. And the only thing I knew was volleyball. So I started coaching. Anything I could. Thirteen-year-olds, boys’ 18s, high school teams, whatever I could get my hands on. Then a collegiate assistant job opened up, and I thought, "You know what? I think I can do this." ### At that point, I had no idea about Division II, or college coaching, or recruiting. I just knew volleyball. I didn’t get the first job I applied for because I didn’t have any experience, and I was so bummed. But then the job at McKendree opened up in 2011, and I got it. It didn’t pay much. Honestly, it was poverty level coaching. But I loved it. I lived it. Breathed it. Ate it. And that’s when it clicked: I can wear athletic gear every day. I can do something different every day. I get to compete, even if I’m not the one physically competing. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2025/07/nickie_volleybrains2.jpg) That was probably the real beginning, though looking back, I had already been coaching for years. In school, I coached all summer. I coached club, camps, I didn’t even go home. Funny thing, my yoga instructor now was my high school volleyball coach. She brought in a letter I wrote as a senior, 17 years old. She sent me a picture of it, and I read it and thought, “Wow… this sounds exactly like me now.” Even back then, I was basically coaching my teammates, just with worse grammar, before college cleaned that up. So I’ve been coaching my whole life. But I had to get fired for it to click. ### And that’s something I tell my players all the time: “There’s no progress without failure.” I got fired. One of you might get fired someday. And it might just be the thing that opens the door to something special. **What advice would you give yourself as a starting coach? An advice that is so clear and logical for you now, but that you had to develop over the years.** It’s not personal. It’s not life or death. I’m very passionate about what I do, and sometimes, that passion used to completely take over. Back then, I didn’t understand why people didn’t operate the same way I did. I remember telling my sister when she was heading to college, “You need to be first in sprints. First in drills. Be the best—always. And don’t get distracted—boys are dumb.” (Obviously, I didn’t take that advice myself at the time…) But seriously, I was so focused on the intangibles that led to success. I just didn’t realize yet how to balance that passion with the message I was trying to give. Looking back, I think that intensity attracted a lot of the athletes I coached early on. I was in it with them, running, lifting, playing side-by-side. We weren’t that good, but we were in the trenches together. I don’t think the passion was a bad thing. But I can admit now that I could’ve tempered how I delivered it. I was very brash, very direct. Still am, to a degree. I’ve always been the type to just say, “Hey, this is what it is.” Back then, I didn’t get why they couldn’t separate the person from the player. I’d go right for the jugular and think, “They’re athletes, they can take it.” I never paused to consider that maybe, at 18 to 22 years old, they couldn’t. Now, I’ll preface what I say with, *“*This isn’t about you as a person, this is about you as an athlete.” And yes, I still push them, but I give them the benefit of the doubt. I understand if it hits them personally, even if they say it doesn’t. ### That’s something I’d tell my younger self: not everyone hears things the way you do. Not everyone is wired like you. I always say, “I played school.” I didn’t love school; I just showed up, went to practice, played in games, worked out, and hung out with friends. That was the life I knew. At the beginning of my coaching career, I was 100% all-in. Sun-up to sundown—recruiting, emailing, calling, just grinding constantly. I gave every ounce of myself to it. And honestly, that dedication helped get the program to where it is today. But now, I’ve learned to create more balance. My phone goes off at 9 PM, don’t text, don’t call. (Though, of course, my players still call until I answer. That’s just how it is.) But I take more personal time. I prioritize family. ### And I’ve learned that delivering a message with care doesn’t mean backing down. It means explaining more clearly. It means helping athletes understand that criticism of performance isn’t criticism of them as people. I still hold high standards. I still push hard. But I’ve learned how to temper the words, and that’s made all the difference. **What are the bad recommendations you still hear about coaching or training volleyball?** When I was watching the VNL, one thing that stood out, though I’m not sure this is the “right” answer, is how confused people are about being out of rotation on the toss. It’s become a real hot-button issue. A lot of people are worried that this is going to creep into NCAA play, and honestly, I hope not. I just don’t think we have the officials to police that consistently or accurately. But beyond that, there are *so* many things in our game right now that spark debate, like, how are we teaching ball control? How are we training defense? We were talking offline about coaches still teaching methods from the ‘80s or ‘90s. And I get it, my coach was a midline passer. I grew up on that. But no one is training midline passing anymore. Everything now is outside the midline. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2025/07/nickie_volleybrains1.jpeg) Still, you’ll hear these little pockets of conversation pop up: Why don’t we just go back to the way we used to teach it? Why doesn’t that work anymore? And sure, volleyball is one of those sports where there are a dozen different ways to skin a cat. There’s more than one way to train something successfully. But I also think we don’t talk enough about this: If something clearly works for someone, why aren’t we open to doing it that way? I was at a convention recently, and it hit me how many different ways we are teaching something as fundamental as eye work when blocking. Is it “ball-setter-ball-hitter”? Or “ball-ball-ball-hitter”? I sat there thinking, How many variations are we going to create for this? Yes, there’s nuance in coaching. Yes, players learn differently. But sometimes it feels like we’re overcomplicating things just for the sake of being different. Right now, though, the toss/rotation issue in the VNL is the one creating the most confusion. **Do you have a particular goal? Maybe a goal that you already reached or a goal that is so hard to reach that it gives you daily motivation?** It’s a two-parter for me. As a competitive person, this season was huge. We won our first conference championship, 12 years in the making. I still remember my first year. We went 8–22\. This year, we flipped it, 20–8\. That growth didn’t happen overnight. It came from years of building, grinding, and pushing. So now the next step is: Can we win the conference tournament? Can we hit those next milestones, one by one? That part is self-fulfilling. It’s the path you expect to climb. But this year, something happened that I never saw coming: I was named [National Coach of the Year](https://www.avca.org/award/2025-avca-national-collegiate-mens-coaches-of-the-year/?ref=volleybrains.com). [2025 AVCA National Collegiate Men’s Coaches of the YearCheck out the 2025 AVCA Coach and Assistant Coach of the Year for National Collegiate men’s volleyball.![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/icon/cropped-AVCA-Favicon-2024-270x270.png)AVCA![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/thumbnail/2025-AVCA-NC-COY-Nickie-Sanlin-McKendree2-banner.jpg)](https://www.avca.org/award/2025-avca-national-collegiate-mens-coaches-of-the-year/?ref=volleybrains.com) And to be honest, that was never on my radar. Not even close. It wasn’t a goal I’d written down or thought about. It didn’t feel tangible. I’ve been Conference Coach of the Year before, and that’s great, and it means something. It’s recognition from the nine coaches you play against regularly. And I’ll say this, it’s a blessing and a curse. The blessing is obvious: it’s an incredible honor. The curse. It’s the pressure that came with it, especially internal pressure. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Jeff Butler: Leading with love is a core principle of our academy. URL: https://volleybrains.com/far-out/ Last updated: 2025-07-02T15:35:24.000Z **Today we're featuring Jeff Butler,** a seasoned volleyball coach with over 30 years of experience across high school, club, and collegiate levels. Jeff has led teams to multiple district and regional championships, coached a USAV Open Bronze Medal team with Dead Frog Volleyball, and served as Assistant Coach at Western Michigan University. But Jeff's most impactful work might be happening right now as Founder and Director of the [**FaR Out Coaching Academy**](https://faroutvolleyball.com/coaching%5Facademy/?ref=volleybrains.com)**.** We're sharing Jeff's story because **it bridges the critical gap between expert knowledge and practical application**. What started as six coaches in year one has now blown up, creating a model that's catching the attention of [3STEP ](https://threestep.com/?ref=volleybrains.com)leadership and clubs nationwide. **The importance of sharing this story cannot be overstated**. While volleybrains.com can provide access to the world's best coaching minds, the real impact happens when clubs like [FaR Out](https://faroutvolleyball.com/?ref=volleybrains.com), and coaches like Jeff create intentional systems to apply that knowledge. 💡 This article is for every club director, veteran coach, and volleyball leader who has ever wondered: ****"How do we actually use all the expert knowledge that we can find on volleybrains.com to develop our coaches?"** **Here's exactly how Jeff built something special using volleybrains.com as his foundation...** *We didn't go for a word by word transcription in the article below, but took the liberty to highlight the most important pointers and quotes. For the full experience, just sit back and check out the clips...you'll love Jeff's enthusiasm.* Enter Jeff... --- **What happens when a veteran coach decides it's time to give back?** For Jeff Butler at Far Out, it started with a simple realization: "I reflect on my early coaching career and there were so many really talented, established coaches that were willing to pour into me... and now it's my turn." But Jeff's vision went deeper than just volleyball knowledge. During post-tournament sessions with his coaching staff, he noticed **young coaches had exceptional technical skills but struggled with the "whole person" components of coaching**. "Their volleyball knowledge is just off the charts. They really knew their volleyball, but those whole person components that are so critical in coaching—I felt there was a hole there." **The secret to FaR Out's success lies in Club Director Joe Steenhuysen's exceptional leadership**. FaR Out operates on three foundational pillars: [**Trust, Love, and Family (TLF)**](https://faroutvolleyball.com/character-goals/?ref=volleybrains.com)—and Jeff's Coaching Academy became the perfect way to "live out trust, love, family to our coaching staff." With Joe's "simply phenomenal" support, they created something unique: **an intentional curriculum that prioritizes people skills over volleyball skills**. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2025/07/FarOut_3.jpeg) "I don't want this to just be about volleyball. I want it to be about whole person stuff," Jeff explains. Their academy addresses communication with athletes and parents, understanding player development from ages 12-18, and building team-first cultures. **In a club with over 500 athletes, this approach has created genuine connection and community**. Take parent communication—a major challenge for young coaches. "They're like, Jeff, I'm not a very good writer. What do I say?" Jeff's solution? "Let me give you a formula... let me talk to you about parenting kids in this age bracket, they haven't had their own kids yet. Let me give you a little bit of perspective." **Jeff estimates very few clubs in the country have developed such comprehensive coaching development**—making Far Out's TLF-driven approach a true model for the industry. **How do you structure a coaching academy that actually works?** Jeff Butler brings his classroom expertise to FaR Out's coaching development, but **the real game-changer has been integrating VolleyBrains masterclasses as the foundation of their entire system**. "I structured it like I structured my classroom," Jeff explains. "There are a lot of different kinds of learners in a high school classroom and that's no different for adults." His teaching background revealed that **variety is essential**, but it was a classroom breakthrough that led to FaR Out's most powerful tool. "About halfway through my teaching career, I was a little frustrated with discussion in class and kids being quiet," Jeff recalls. "I started to journal before we would have discussions, and all of a sudden it just took off." **That discovery became the foundation for how FaR Out uses VolleyBrains**. **"I knew that VolleyBrains just from my reading and interacting, it was super engaging and these coaches would love it. So that became the base of my journaling activities,"** Jeff explains. Now, every single one of their 10 annual meetings centers around a specific VolleyBrains masterclass: - **Strategic masterclass selection** \- Jeff starts each year with Kirsten Bernthal Booth's "Find Your Why" masterclass - **Targeted journal prompts** assigned for each VolleyBrains session - **Structured discussions** that begin with 10-minute VolleyBrains takeaways - **Accountability system** ensuring coaches implement what they learn [60\. Kirsten Bernthal Booth: My ‘why’ in coaching is to help women grow.Kirsten Bernthal Booth has been building Creighton’s volleyball program for the last 20 years, developing it into one of the top programs (appearing in the AVCA’s Top 25 poll each of the last 10 years).![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/icon/VB--3--16.png)Volley | BrainsVolleyBrains![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/thumbnail/header_kirsten_volleybrains.jpg)](https://volleybrains.com/kirsten-bernthal-booth/) "My goal is for the coaches to have 10 masterclasses that they interact with," Jeff notes. **The journal prompts drive real implementation**: "What were your major takeaways from this masterclass? How could you implement them into your current practices? How do you plan to do that?" ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2025/07/Farout_2.jpg) **Far Out's flexible approach accommodates every coach's schedule while maintaining VolleyBrains as the core**: - **Full curriculum**: December to mid-June, 10 in-person sessions, each built around a VolleyBrains masterclass - **Half curriculum**: 5 meetings with the same VolleyBrains integration for busy professionals The results speak for themselves. "Even those quiet coaches, they've written, they've thought about this, they feel like they've got something to contribute as well," Jeff observes. **By using VolleyBrains as their content foundation, FaR Out has created an academy where every coach comes prepared to engage and implement**. "It's not just content I'm interacting with and doing nothing with, but there's an encouragement on my side to really get them to take some action on it." **That's the power of structured VolleyBrains integration**. --- **What happens when you invest in your coaching staff's development?** The numbers at FaR Out tell a compelling story, but **the real transformation goes far deeper than enrollment figures**. "First year we proposed this, we had six coaches and I was thrilled," Jeff recalls. **This year, they more than doubled that number with just over a dozen coaches participating** between their full and partial curriculums. "The growth to me indicates the impact—people are really wanting to be a part of this." But Jeff sees three critical areas where the academy is making a real difference: **Connection and Community:** "When I get these coaches together in a group and we start discussing some of these topics... I see them rallying around each other, helping each other, supporting each other." The academy creates space for coaches to address real struggles in real-time. "If a coach is struggling with something, well, let's just talk about this, you guys. Let's give some encouragement to this gal, to this guy." **Improved Coach Retention:** For a club with over 500 athletes, keeping quality coaches is crucial. "I said, Joe, I think we can improve coach retention, which at a club our size is really important," Jeff explains. **Better retention means more consistency for athletes and stronger program development overall**. **A Replicable Model:** Jeff believes Far Out's approach can work anywhere. "I think the model that we have would be super easy to duplicate for a club. The structure of it, you can take it and make it your own." While Far Out focuses on whole-person development, **other clubs can adapt the framework to match their specific values and priorities**. **The vision for growth is organic rather than forced**. "If people see the power of what's happening at Far Out, then I think that happens organically," Jeff notes. --- **How do you create sustainable growth in coaching development?** Jeff Butler's approach at Far Out reveals a powerful truth: **start where you are, focus on excellence, and growth will follow organically**. "When you're talking about growth, I think ultimately you have to start small," Jeff emphasizes. "The focus needs to be on helping the people in your organization first." **Whether you're a massive club like Far Out with hundreds of athletes or a smaller program with 60 players, the principle remains the same**: make an intentional effort to support, encourage, and develop your coaches. Jeff's formula is straightforward but profound: "If you do that with excellence, if you do that with commitment and you do it with some love, I believe that growth opportunities are gonna come." **It's not about having the perfect program from day one—it's about genuinely investing in your people**. **As Far Out enters year three of their academy, Jeff's vision extends far beyond their own success**. "What I hope other clubs and their leaders take away is that there's a huge need for this. There's a huge need for coach education." He believes this challenge exists everywhere: "I can't imagine that it is any different at any club around the country than it was at Far Out before we started talking about pouring into our coaches instead of just saying, oh, here's your team, and go." ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2025/07/FarOut_4.jpeg) **The message is clear: young coaches today need real support, encouragement, and development**. But Jeff's approach to spreading this philosophy is refreshingly authentic. "The first step in showing people what's possible, then becomes what you're doing in your organization and sharing the power of what is happening with you." **Rather than pushing a specific model, Jeff believes in demonstration**. "If that appeals to other people, then yes, this other club might say, we would love to do something like that." **It's about creating something so impactful that others naturally want to replicate it**. **The volleyball community needs more clubs willing to invest deeply in their coaching staff**—and Far Out is proving exactly how powerful that investment can be. --- **What would it take to scale coaching development across the volleyball community?** Jeff Butler's vision for growth is grounded in authenticity, proven value, and the volleyball community's unique spirit of knowledge sharing. **Jeff's commitment starts at home**: "Next level to me has a lot of different meanings. But the first would be continued growth, encouragement, support for all of our coaches at Far Out. That's my first commitment." He's determined never to lose sight of the coaches who inspired the academy in the first place. "I have a commitment to grow that first at home and I don't want to lose that." **The backing from 3STEP, Far Out's parent company, is growing stronger**. "The company that owns our club 3STEP is really interested in seeing where this goes. Our club director is on board," Jeff notes. But he understands the business reality: **you have to demonstrate clear value before asking for support**. "You don't just go in and ask somebody for support just because you think this is something really nice. You have to show value. This is a for-profit company." ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2025/07/FarOut_5.jpeg) **Here's where the partnership model gets powerful**: Jeff sees massive potential in working with other clubs to showcase practical solutions like VolleyBrains. "Understanding that you don't have to pay thousands of dollars to educate your coaches. Your annual fees are negligible compared to what a single conference might cost, and it's for a year, and you're able to probe into the minds of the best coaches around the world." **Far Out makes coaching development completely accessible**—academy participation costs coaches nothing, and they actually receive a VolleyBrains subscription as an incentive. "Hey, you get a subscription to this really killer coach education site called VolleyBrains." **But Jeff's deepest motivation connects to volleyball's core values**. Since starting coaching in the mid-1980s, he's treasured the community's "transparent sharing" of knowledge. "These people are sharing knowledge with me as a competitor... I'm sharing this knowledge with you, but I'm still gonna do it better than you." **That competitive collaboration drives everyone to improve**. **"Doing this has just given me such a sense of fulfillment,"** Jeff reflects. "Watching these young coaches and their desire to learn, to improve, to grow their games and just keep that special legacy... of transparent sharing is just something that I really treasure." **The volleyball community's greatest strength has always been coaches helping coaches get better**—and Jeff's academy is proof that this spirit can transform entire organizations. ****Ready to see how your club can implement a similar academy model?** Contact us about group rates and discover how VolleyBrains can become the foundation for your coaching development program. [Learn more ](https://volleybrains.com/group-rates/) --- **Extra resources:** 1. Schedule and topics that were covered in Year 1 Academy 2024-2025 [FaROutCoachingAcademy24\_25FaROutCoachingAcademy24\_25.pdf59 KBdownload-circle](https://volleybrains.com/content/files/2025/07/FaROutCoachingAcademy24%5F25.pdf "Download") 1. Two examples of weekly parent communication for the last team Jeff coached at FaR Out. First one is after our first competition of the season and the second is after our first major tournament of the year that followed that. [ParentCommExamplesParentCommExamples.pdf70 KBdownload-circle](https://volleybrains.com/content/files/2025/07/ParentCommExamples.pdf "Download") --- Thank you, Jeff. This Sunday we'll be featuring a new Masterclass article with none other than [Nickie Sanlin](https://mckbearcats.com/staff-directory/nickie-sanlin/123?ref=volleybrains.com). Be on the lookout for that. ### 97. Tom Black: What you seek isn’t in the winning. URL: https://volleybrains.com/tom-black/ Last updated: 2025-06-15T12:18:41.000Z Tom Black played as an outside hitter at UC San Diego from 1993 to 1996, set several school hitting records, and was named *Volleyball Magazine*’s Small College Player of the Year in 1996. After college, Tom coached the UC San Diego women's team from 2005 to 2009, guiding them to the NCAA tournament each season and earning Pacific Region Coach of the Year honors in 2006\. He then spent seven seasons at Loyola Marymount, making three NCAA trips and reaching the Sweet 16 in 2015\. Since 2016, he has led [Georgia](https://georgiadogs.com/sports/womens-volleyball/roster/coaches/tom-black/3340?ref=volleybrains.com), steering the Bulldogs to three NCAA berths and consecutive 20-win seasons. Coach Black has made his mark on the international stage, too. As a U.S. assistant from 2013, he helped the team win its first World Championship in 2014 and an Olympic bronze in 2016\. In 2019, he took charge of Canada’s women, leading them to the Challenger Cup title and a 2020 Nations League spot. Back at Georgia, he earned SEC Coach of the Year honors in 2022. In this open and insightful conversation, Tom Black shares the experiences and ideas that have shaped his coaching journey. **Key takeaways from this article include:** - Reinforce core values in daily micro-moments to let culture take root - Aim scouting at offense and serving where it moves the scoreboard fastest - The one piece of advice he’d give his younger coaching self—and why it probably wouldn’t have worked - How creativity and coaching overlap—and why you’re more creative than you think - Can you enforce team values *without making it about yourself*? - What’s the biggest time-waster in volleyball prep—and why do so many coaches still do it? - and so much more... We have 36 minutes of video interview (divided over 14 clips) with coach Black in this article. Enjoy! Enter Tom... **Tom, when did it click for you that you wanted to become a full-time, professional volleyball coach? What was that trigger?** Well, a lot. For a long time in my twenties, I was balancing being a coach or being a writer. And honestly, it's not like a huge story. I remember running a drill for a high school team that I was coaching, and things were just clicking in a way that was kind of telling me that I should pursue it. At the same time, I do think I was chickening out a little bit—like, coaching was safer. And so I think there was part of me feeling like I should go this route because it’s safer and acknowledged. ### But I also remember that moment of running the drill and just feeling like I was kind of a part of something, and it was clicking. So it was just a moment. It was LA Baptist. I was running a defensive drill in the San Fernando Valley. So I still remember that moment, you know? But there were a lot of reasons that I went down that path. **What advice would you give yourself as a starting coach? An advice that is so clear and logic for you now, but that you had to develop over the years.** The hard part with that question is, I know I wouldn't have listened. I think that's the tough part, I just wouldn't have listened. But who I am now, I probably would’ve tried anyway. And I think there are two parts to that question, too. There’s what I would tell that person based on what I’ve learned, and then there’s also what that individual needs in the moment. I’ll try to answer without going off on a tangent. ### For instance, I think what I would’ve told that person is: there’s no amount of winning or championships that’s going to give you what you think it’s going to give you. But I also think that, at that time, I would’ve wanted to listen. I would’ve tried. I just wouldn’t have understood it at the level I do now. So in a way, it’s almost not worth saying. But I would’ve tried to convey that as deeply as I could. **What are bad recommendations you hear about coaching or training volleyball?** Well, I think we’re going backwards a little bit in coaching. I think the content of coaching has exploded, and the quality has gone down—and I think those two things are directly correlated. And I’m not trying to be like an old geezer slamming social media, but there’s a lot of effort right now going into how I look, how I sound, how I’m presenting. Which is fine—that’s a part of coaching. ### But there’s a rigor to coaching that’s diminished, in my opinion, compared to 20 years ago when you didn’t have social media. Back then, if you wanted to learn how to coach, you had to read a book, go to a clinic, and have an in-depth conversation. Someone would scrutinize you. And I’m saying this from experience. I can think of five coaches off the top of my head from 20 years ago who I vehemently disagreed with, but who were phenomenal coaches. I might not have agreed with them, but they would push back, they’d challenge me, and they had real reasons for what they were doing. I greatly respected the depth. Even if I disagreed with their conclusions, I respected the rigor it took to get there. I’m not seeing that as much now, except from people who are already part of that older generation. Because again, so much of coaching right now is about how I sound when I’m talking, how I look when I’m talking, how I’m being presented. And the stuff I’m seeing on social media? I mean, just empirically, scientifically, it’s wrong. But it sounds good, it looks good, and it’s produced well. So it gets eaten up. So I don’t even know where to start with that question, is kind of what I’m saying. I’m just... yeah. Just saying what I’m seeing. **Do you have a particular goal? Maybe a goal that you already reached or a goal that is so hard to reach that it gives you daily motivation?** I'm not driven; I used to be, but I’m not driven by a particular goal anymore. I mean, of course, I have goals for the program. But what still gets me excited is what the job provides on a daily basis. Like, I still get fired up about trying to figure out a better way to design a practice—and then seeing someone get better because of it. ### It could be me and an assistant coach, or just anyone in the program, but when that spark happens in the day, when there’s a little leap forward, it gets me. Whether it’s from the way practice was designed, or a meaningful conversation, or both coming together in the same session… those are the things that still fire me up. I don’t know if I have specific goals, exactly, but I feel connected to that process. I’m shooting for that every day. So maybe it’s more of a target than a goal. Of course, we do have goals. But I’d be lying if I said that’s what gets me out of bed. It’s the tiny sparks, those little moments that come from the work we’re doing, that still make this job feel like a cool thing. **Team culture. Do you have any methods that you return to every new season? It's a big question, but you can take your answer wherever you want to take it.** I'm not very good at long answers. I think, for us at least, there are team rules, there are team values, and then there’s the culture that’s created because of all that. The rules, I mean, I think most coaches, way better than me, would agree with this, but I had a coach early in my career who said, “Hey, do you want to be a coach, or do you want to be a cop?” And I said, “I want to be a coach.” And he said, “Okay, then keep your rules small.” That always stuck with me. It was [Duncan McFarland](https://socalindoorvolleyballhof.com/duncan-mcfarland/?ref=volleybrains.com); he was a great player and a great coach. And I think the rules have to be simple. The more rules you have, the more time you’ll spend enforcing them. And that’s not what we’re trying to do. We’re not cops. So for me, I’ve got three or four core rules, max. Then there are the values. And I can only speak for myself here, but for me, it’s about introducing those values and then, throughout the season, constantly pointing to them: “That’s an example of it.” “That’s not an example.” Over and over. And that’s just life. That’s how they get stronger. And then, finally, that’s where culture comes in. ### I think of it in layers: rules, then values, and then culture. And culture is just the result of all of it, the culmination of all the inputs, all the interactions, all the days stacked together across a season. Honestly, I feel a little anxious the first time I give a talk on a value. Because if I don’t feel at least a little vulnerable when I talk about it, it’s probably not the right value. But even then, the talk isn’t the most important part. What really matters are those hundred little interactions during practice. That’s where it becomes real, or it doesn’t. That’s where the culture either forms or it doesn’t. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2025/06/Black1.webp) --- *Matias: Do you expect your assistants to call out and reinforce these values whenever they notice them, or do you prefer to handle that yourself?* *Is everyone on the staff free to point things out and clarify?* *Or is that mainly your role?* --- No, I think it’s two parts to that. First, for sure. The better I am at understanding our values and how they’re implemented, and the better I am at communicating that, the better my assistants will be, the better the players will be... and on and on. No question. But the second part is this: I do think there’s a slippery slope. We all have egos, we just do. And there’s a part of competitive sports that I don’t think you can be great at unless you have some kind of ego. There are a lot of ways that can show up, but it has to be there in some form. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 96. Angelo Lorenzetti: We are at their service. URL: https://volleybrains.com/angelo-lorenzetti-part2/ Last updated: 2025-05-25T12:42:51.000Z Angelo Lorenzetti’s coaching journey spans over three decades, marked by a relentless pursuit of excellence and a profound impact on the teams he leads. From his early days nurturing talent in Fano and Italy's youth national teams, to coaching the world's top pro teams and global volleyball stars, Angelo has continuously combined a deep knowledge of the game with a strong commitment to helping players grow. Angelo's leadership and tactical brilliance has brought success to top Italian clubs, including Modena, Piacenza, Trentino, and currently, Sir Sicoma Monini Perugia. In May 2025, Lorenzetti achieved a career milestone by guiding Perugia to their first-ever CEV Champions League title, a testament to his strategic acumen and ability to inspire peak performance under pressure. In this conversation, one of volleyball's most thoughtful coaches shares the principles that have shaped his decades-long career. Insights that extend far beyond the court. Angelo Lorenzetti doesn't just coach volleyball; he architects cultures where people can become their best selves. **What You'll Discover:** - How to recognize perfectionism as a performance inhibitor, not a virtue. - A framework for managing the 48 hours before competition to sharpen focus and align energy. - Why a gym must function as a *place of identity*—not a transactional, "non-place." - The three structural pillars that make delegation meaningful: competence, reliability, and sincerity. - Why rules alone fail—and how enduring principles create sustainable team cultures. - How civic values—awareness, responsibility, respect, and commitment—translate into elite performance environments. - Why real dialogue requires preparation, presence, and a shared willingness to engage in discomfort. - How to create a psychologically safe space where mistakes fuel growth rather than fear. - Why inherited narratives like “we are the strongest team” can undermine adaptability and competitive edge. - A case for rethinking volleyball’s scoring model to deepen engagement and competitive fairness. - How consistency, availability, and intentional presence quietly shape elite team dynamics. - and so much more... There are 52 minutes of edited video with 11 clips in this Masterclass. Enjoy! --- Coach Lorenzetti was one of VolleyBrains' earliest and most enthusiastic contributors, sharing his insights in a written interview back in February 2021\. In this interview, we'll also revisit some of his reflections from four years ago and explore if his philosophies have evolved since then. [3\. Angelo Lorenzetti: ‘Study the game because it never stops teaching you something new.’Hi Volleybrains readers, My first memories of following Italian Serie A1 volleyball are the finals of the 2001-2002 season. Daytona Modena versus Sisley Treviso, one of the truly classic battles. That finals race was won by Modena in 4 games. At Modena were playing legendary players like Andrea Giani, Lloy![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/icon/VB--3--11.png)Volley | BrainsVolleyBrains![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/thumbnail/bruno-lorenzetti-e1417501983608-728x410-1.jpg)](https://volleybrains.com/angelo-lorenzetti/) --- 💡 Angelo’s rich metaphors are captured in the written transcript. Watching the video with subtitles alone would make you miss too much context. So we’ve chosen not to add subtitles for this interview. Still, we strongly recommend watching the videos to feel the rhythm and emotion, but turn on YouTube’s English auto-subtitles, which are rapidly improving with AI. This will get you as close to the results that we could've created. Here’s how to enable them. --- **Matias:** Last time we spoke, I asked you what advice you would give your younger self at the beginning of your coaching career. And your answer was beautiful. You said, *"Dear Angelo, remember that the players are the stars of the show. You’re there to serve them. Your job is to help them bring out the best in themselves."* You went straight to the core of it. Could you share a moment in your career when you forgot about the essence of that answer—maybe because of the stress of a match or the pressure to perform? Or maybe a better question is: what do you do when you realize you've lost sight of that? **Angelo:** Yeah, that’s a good question. I won’t claim to be perfect in living up to that principle, but honestly, I can’t recall a specific moment when I completely betrayed it. It’s something I try to stay mindful of every single day—especially when tension rises or there’s potential conflict with a player. I really make an effort to practice it daily. Maybe I’ve slipped once or twice, but what truly matters to me is that *knowing* the principle already means you’re actually *living* it. That’s the key. Sure, I’ve had better results with some players and not-so-great results with others—but the question that always stays in front of me is: *How do I make sure that this player is the lead actor in the story?* That mindset has become a kind of compass for me. Maybe there’s been a day where I lost track of it momentarily, but I can honestly say I’ve never abandoned it consistently. It’s a strong value—**it’s the central principle of my work.** **Matias:** So it’s something you really live with every day—it’s always present. Maybe I asked the question just to hear you say that again. 🙂 But it’s important. It sounds simple, right? It sounds like it should be easy to do. But if you don’t keep it front of mind, it slips away—and then you lose track of why you’re doing what you’re doing. **Matias:** Let’s talk about non-negotiable principles in team culture. In a volleyball team with just 12 athletes, when even one player changes, the team changes from the inside, right? So are there things—maybe not just “rules,” but certain conversations you have with players at the start of the season? Do you have fixed rules in place, or are you more the type who says, “Let’s see how things evolve”? **Angelo:** That’s a beautiful question. For me, it’s not just about how I am in the gym—it’s how I interpret civic life in general. I’ll give you an example: when prisons are overcrowded, and statistics show that people often go back to jail after being released, it tells you something. It tells you that rules by themselves don’t work. ### Before we even talk about *rules*, I believe we have to talk about *principles*. The principles are always the same, but the way we apply them can change depending on the group. For me, the core ones are: - **Awareness**—It starts with asking, “Why am I here?” It’s like being at school and the teacher calls your name—you're declaring your presence, your purpose. "I’m here to learn." - **Responsibility**—This is your *ability to respond* to questions that arise from being aware. - **Respect**—And not just in terms of behavior, but really valuing what you did the day before. You respect today, and through today, you give value to what you built yesterday—whether it’s in training, in relationships, or anything else. - **Commitment**—Which is self-explanatory but central. These are civic principles, not just sports values. They belong in the locker room, on the court, and outside in everyday life. Rules, then, are just tools we use to express and uphold those principles. In my teams, for example, it’s never explicitly written that *you can't be late*. But that’s obvious—because in regular life, if I have a meeting with someone, I don’t show up late. So it's not a sports rule—it’s basic respect. That’s important, for professional athletes especially. Sometimes they think, “I live my life outside, and when I step into the gym, I do my job and that’s it.” But it doesn’t work like that—it’s all connected. ### If you don’t live those principles in the gym, I think you'll struggle to live them outside too. Now, that doesn't mean everyone always follows those civic “rules.” But if you work on the *principles*, you know those principles can be shaped and adapted. I’ve been coaching for decades—I’m 60 now—and I keep meeting new generations. Take phones, for instance. In volleyball teams, phones have always been a mess. You’re not supposed to have them at the table, not here, not there. But today? Phones are part of our lives. Some coaches still ban them completely. I prefer to go with *common sense*. When you’re at dinner with your wife and kids, you don’t scroll through your phone unless it’s something urgent. That’s the idea I try to bring into our team too. Last 2 points of the Champions League win! So no, it’s not that rules aren’t important. Every structure needs rules. But the problem is that the usual approach to rules is punishment. We see it in society too—especially in Italy now. Something happens, and the immediate reaction is: new rule, punishment, punishment, punishment. Instead, I believe things should be explained first. Whether it’s citizens or players, they need to understand *why* a rule exists. ### A rule should help you fulfill a principle. That’s where its value comes from. Yes, it’s a longer process. It would be easier to just hand out a sheet of rules at the start of the season. But that’s not how I work. **Matias:** I think you’ve already answered my next four questions. I love it. Let me take a look now… **Matias:** So, how do you build a culture where players really take ownership of the team’s success? We’ve touched on this already, right? But it feels like it’s part of something bigger. **Angelo:** Yes, it’s tied to the whole discussion around expectations, you know? This is actually one of the first conversations I always have with the team—about roles. Because, let’s be honest, the world of volleyball isn’t always that professional. Many times, as a coach, you walk into a team where you're not necessarily the one who selected the players. Maybe you haven’t even spoken to them before. Sometimes it’s someone from the club, a director, who’s had the conversation with them—and maybe they painted a bit of an ideal picture. So yeah, on this point I’m very clear. I’m determined. Because I believe that every structure—not just a sports team—rests on two key things: **Respect for roles, and productive conflict.** Now, when we talk about roles, we have to understand what that really means. It's not just a label. It’s a broad concept, but inside that concept are expectations—the player’s expectations of himself, what his teammates expect of him, what I as the coach expect, and what he expects from his coach and teammates in return. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2025/05/Angelo_volleybrains_1.jpeg) And these expectations? They change every time someone enters a new team environment. That’s why it’s so important to make them explicit. Because if you don’t, each person starts to construct **their own version of reality.** They show up thinking things are one way, but reality might be another. And that’s where a gap forms—a misalignment. And to fill that gap, what usually happens? People start to complain. It’s natural. So one of the first things I make clear is: Who is a starter, and who isn’t? What does it mean to be a starter? What does it mean to be a backup? Are you a backup who’s close to the starters or one who’s far from them? That’s something I always clarify right away. If there’s uncertainty, I'll make it clear. But I don’t say something like, “You’re all starters.” If I’ve got three outside hitters and I’m still figuring things out, I’ll say: “None of you is a starter right now.” Because being a starter is something you have to earn. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 95. Alfee Reft: Coaching is about shaping people. URL: https://volleybrains.com/alfee-reft/ Last updated: 2025-05-02T12:17:05.000Z Alfred “Alfee” Reft had a standout playing career as a libero at the [University of Hawai'i](https://hawaiiathletics.com/sports/mens-volleyball?ref=volleybrains.com), where he was named an AVCA First-Team All-American and the 2005 Asics/Volleyball Magazine Defensive Player of the Year. He still holds the school record for most digs in a season. After college, Reft played professionally in Europe for seven years and was a member of the U.S. Men’s National Team from 2006 to 2010 and again from 2012 to 2015. He started coaching in 2010 as an assistant at the [University of Minnesota](https://gophersports.com/sports/womens-volleyball?ref=volleybrains.com). He later joined the [University of Illinois](https://fightingillini.com/sports/womens-volleyball?ref=volleybrains.com) and helped them reach the Final Four in 2018\. From 2020 to 2022, Alfee was associate head coach at the [University of San Diego](https://usdtoreros.com/sports/womens-volleyball?ref=volleybrains.com), where he helped lead the team to its first-ever NCAA Final Four appearance. In December 2022, he became the head coach of [UCLA Women’s Volleyball](https://uclabruins.com/sports/womens-volleyball?ref=volleybrains.com). Coach Reft was also an assistant coach to the U.S. Women’s National Team, from 2022 til winning the silver at the 2024 Paris Olympics. In this Masterclass Alfee shares what he picked up over all those years, and how it molded him into the coach he is today. **Key takeaways from this article include:** - The importance of keeping playfulness and curiosity alive in high-performance coaching. - How mindfulness and mental performance can shift a team’s entire competitive edge. - Why four simple cultural pillars matter more than a list of rigid rules. - What it means to lead young people beyond the court, and why that’s the real win. - Coaching isn’t just about winning, it’s about shaping people. - Being real builds trust, even when you don’t have answers. Enjoy! Enter Alfee... **Alfee, why did you decide to commit to being a professional volleyball coach? What pushed you towards that decision?** For me, the transition wasn’t a huge leap. I played professionally and retired from the national team in 2015\. But even throughout my playing career, I was always coaching. That was just part of who I was. ### From a young age, I knew I loved teaching, building, and creating with others—that was always in me. So when I stopped playing, it didn’t feel like a major shift. There was a bit of a gap between finishing my playing career and stepping back into college coaching. But even before that, in 2009–2010, I had already dipped my toes into the college coaching world at the University of Minnesota. That gave me a solid intro to the collegiate coaching game. After that stint, I returned to playing for the national team. Then, once I fully retired, there was about a three-year stretch before I made the move back to college coaching. During that time, I stayed active, I was training and coaching young athletes, mostly juniors, out here in California. Eventually, I felt the pull to return to a more competitive environment, something team-oriented, something high-level, where everyone was pushing to build something great. That’s always been the direction I was headed. So when my friend Chris Tamas, whom I had coached with at Minnesota, called and said, “Hey, I’ve got this opportunity at Illinois. Are you interested?” it was an immediate yes. It just made total sense. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2025/05/alfeereft_volleybrains6.webp) That’s how I got back into the college game. Even while I was playing overseas, I would still make time to work with junior clubs, help out in the gym, just because I loved it. I’ve always loved the sport. Coaching, exploring the game with other athletes, helping them grow, it’s been in my heart from the start. So I feel like coaching has always been at the core of who I am. **What advice would you give yourself as a starting coach? An advice that is so clear and logic for you now, but that you had to develop over the years.** That’s a good question, I saw it on the list and spent some time really thinking about it. For me, it’s about continuing to play, to stay connected to the sport, to the profession, to the relationships. ### And when I say “play,” I mean keeping that sense of fun, exploration, and curiosity alive. I think a lot of coaches talk about this, and for good reason, it matters. When I was younger, I had these big dreams and a clear vision of what I wanted my career to look like. But sometimes that mindset can feel a little rigid or overwhelming, like you have to stay on this perfect path and check all the right boxes. Over time, I’ve realized that the moments where I’ve felt most effective and most fulfilled, in coaching and in the sport, have come when I approached things with a sense of playfulness. So, I try to carry that with me: to keep finding joy, love, and fun in what I do—even during the hardest or most stressful times. This profession definitely has its pressures, like any career. But I always come back to this idea that we can choose to be playful in how we navigate the process. And I believe that’s what brings out the best in us and in the people we work with. **Mindfulness and mental performance training are everywhere now—apps, routines, daily habits are no longer a trend, it’s part of the culture. But you were already deep into this work long before it became mainstream. What drew you to mindfulness so early, and how did that journey begin for you?** **Jennifer Petrie actually mentioned you to me a couple of years ago specifically in the context of mindfulness and the work you did together at San Diego. Can you walk us through what that looked like? What specific practices or systems did you implement with the team, and how did they evolve?** As a player, I was fortunate. Back in my early college days at Hawaii, this was way back in 2004, I got introduced to sports psychology. It wasn’t common at the time, not like it is now. Our coach, [Mike Wilton](https://hawaiiathletics.com/sports/mens-volleyball/roster/coaches/mike-wilton/814?ref=volleybrains.com), asked if anyone was interested in meeting with a sports psychologist, and I said yes. I didn’t even really know what it was about, but I was curious and wanted to keep learning. That experience was impactful for me. I was already feeling some of the pressure that comes with performance, and I didn’t have a ton of tools to deal with it. ### This psychologist worked with me on visualization, setting intentions, and developing awareness around what I was experiencing. It laid the groundwork for how I’d think about the mental side of performance going forward. Later, when I was on the national team, we had another incredible sports psych working with us, different style, but equally powerful. [Hugh McCutcheon](https://volleybrains.com/hugh-mccutcheon/) was one of my coaches back then, and he believed in that kind of work. So, I had these valuable touchpoints throughout my playing career that helped shape the way I approached both the game and myself. [30\. Hugh McCutcheon:“It’s about committing to a standard of competitive excellence.”Last week we highlighted Hugh McCutcheon’s recent TedTalk, this week we’ll cover our conversation we had with him. Hugh is of course known for coaching both the USA Men’s as Women’s teams for an extended period between 2005 til 2012.![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/icon/VB--3--9.png)Volley | BrainsVolleyBrains![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/thumbnail/hugh5.jpeg)](https://volleybrains.com/hugh-mccutcheon/) Fast forward to when I finished playing, before I got back into collegiate coaching, I spent time in a training facility here in California. We worked with young athletes, and I brought in my close friend [Nicole Davis](https://www.instagram.com/nicolemdavis6/?hl=en&ref=volleybrains.com), who’s not only one of my best friends but also a top expert in sports performance and psychology. She played libero for the U.S. women’s team for a long time and worked with [Dr. Mike Gervais](https://www.instagram.com/michaelgervais/?hl=en&ref=volleybrains.com), who’s a big name in the space. ### Nicole helped me understand how trainable the mind is. We train the body, we train skills, but we often neglect the mind. Yet confidence, calm, poise, and awareness, these are all things you can train*.* And she brought in a clear curriculum to do just that. So with our athletes, we weren’t just doing volleyball drills and lifting weights, we were training the mental side just as intentionally. That experience reinforced how important it is. When I got to Illinois, we brought that same approach with us. We worked on breathwork, creating personal mission statements for the athletes, helping them understand who they are and how they want to show up in big moments. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 94. Practice videos: Cesar Hernández González - Nantes Volleyball URL: https://volleybrains.com/practice-cesar-hernandez/ Last updated: 2025-04-06T18:53:02.000Z ### 🔍 Intro We've already featured 21 practice video articles with pro and college coaches, and today it's time for **our 22th Practice session article** here on volleybrains.com. At VolleyBrains, we bring you inside practice gyms worldwide to see **how top coaches develop their teams**. 💡 Navigate to our [practice videos page](https://volleybrains.com/tag/practice-videos/) for an overview of all the featured practice videos. ****Be sure to leverage this unique resource**. ### 👊 The coach who's guiding us today In this practice video session, we feature [César Hernández González](https://volleybox.net/cesar-hernandez-gonzalez-p68577/clubs?ref=volleybrains.com), head coach of **Neptunes de Nantes Volley-Ball**. Appointed in 2023, Coach Hernández González brought a wealth of international experience to the French professional league. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2025/04/cesar_volleybrains3.jpeg) Before joining Nantes, he served as an assistant coach at top European clubs including [VakıfBank Istanbul ](https://www.vakifbanksporkulubu.com/en/?ref=volleybrains.com)and [Savino Del Bene Scandicci](https://savinodelbenevolley.it/?ref=volleybrains.com). On the international stage, Cesar led the **South Korean women's national team** and has long contributed to the **Spanish national program** in various coaching roles. From 2025 onwards he'll be the new head coach of the **France women national team**. Coach Hernández González also holds a **Ph.D. in Sport Sciences,** blending academic insight with high-level coaching experience to develop elite performance environments. For deeper insights of his expert data analysis work take a look at our [previous article](https://volleybrains.com/cesar-hernandez/) with Cesar. [37\. Cesar Hernandez Gonzalez:“Focus on winning 3 sets. You don’t need to focus on winning the match.”In today’s Masterclass we feature Cesar Hernandez Gonzalez. Cesar is the newly appointed head coach of the Korean women’s national team, in charge of building their new look team. Cesar is also an assistant coach and data specialist over at Turkish powerhouse Vakifbank.![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/icon/VB--3--6.png)Volley | BrainsVolleyBrains![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/thumbnail/cesar_cover_volleybrains.jpeg)](https://volleybrains.com/cesar-hernandez/) ### ⚡ What's inside the practice videos? **Cesar shared 2 practice sessions** and we went through both of them with great detail on a video call. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2025/04/cesar_volleybrains5-1.jpg) Inside of the videos he will go into detail on: - Emphasis on reading drills to sharpen player decision-making under pressure - Structured sequences like "Four Ball" to replicate real-game flow - Mixing positional groups to improve all-around ball control and awareness - Use of progressive tempo-setting to align middles and setters effectively - Scoring systems that reward quality repetitions over sheer volume - Daily competitive elements like “Bagher League” to build intensity and focus - Customized serve-and-pass drills based on opponent tendencies - Gamified passing targets that push players to sustain high-level consistency - and so much more Enjoy! *And a big thanks to Cesar for cooperating and creating this together.* ### Practice clips preview 1. Warm-up: Defense ball control 1. Setter's flow: Attack sequence on targets 1. "The Korean drill" ### VolleyBrain Members only sessions 66 minutes of narrated practice sessions 💡 ****Quick tip:** The videos are timestamped. Use the chapters to quickly navigate through the video for later reference. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2025/04/volleybrains_overviewnantes.jpg) _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 93. Erin Virtue: Each recipe for success is going to be unique. URL: https://volleybrains.com/erin-virtue/ Last updated: 2025-03-23T12:07:57.000Z As a standout setter at the University of Illinois from 2001 to 2004, coach Virtue earned All-Big Ten and AVCA Honorable Mention All-American honors in 2003, and lead the Fighting Illini to three NCAA Tournament appearances. Transitioning into coaching, Erin began at Loyola University Chicago in 2006 before serving as an assistant coach at the University of Cincinnati (2007–2010) and the University of Michigan (2011–2015). And took on the role of associate head coach at Northwestern University in 2016\. Erin's assistant coach position with the U.S. Women's National Volleyball Team, contributed to a [gold medal at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics](https://mgoblue.com/news/2024/7/23/volleyball-my-medal-moment-erin-virtue?ref=volleybrains.com). In January 2023, Erin returned to [Michigan](https://mgoblue.com/sports/womens-volleyball/roster/coaches/erin-virtue/6499?ref=volleybrains.com) as their head coach, bringing her extensive international experience to the Wolverines. In this thoughtful and inspiring conversation, Erin shares the experiences and ideas that have shaped her journey. **Key takeaways from this article include:** - Development pillars: Craft, Mind, Team, Body, and Heart guide programming. - Create intentional moments to decompress to prevent coaching burnout. - When overwhelmed, focus on taking concrete actions rather than dwelling. - Having a strong purpose helps endure difficulties in pursuit of excellence.The value of staying curious and learning from people around you - Learn a simple but powerful framework for athlete development—on and off the court - The role of strong communication and shared values in building a staff - Insights into how top-level players "read the game" and why that matters - Thoughts on where the sport is heading, and how to help players prepare for it We have 58 minutes of video interview (divided over 15 clips) with coach Virtue in this article. Enjoy! Enter Erin... **Erin, why did you decide to commit to being a fulltime volleyball coach? What pushed you towards that decision?** I think about this a lot, and people often ask me, "Where did you get your start? What made you decide to coach?" For me, it all started with a massive amount of adversity—probably not an uncommon story. I was playing at the University of Illinois, and in my senior year, we were rolling. Everything was coming together. And then, I tore my knee. I was the senior captain, and I took so much pride in what we had built. We were in the middle of rebuilding that program, and suddenly, my season was over. It was a tough blow—you never want to get hurt, and it felt like such a disappointing way for my college career to end. ### But looking back, it actually gave me a really cool opportunity to impact the team in a different way. Instead of being on the court, I had to figure out how to contribute from the sidelines. I asked myself, *How can I still be a good teammate?* We had a freshman setter stepping in, so I focused on supporting her, helping the attack, and just being there for the team however I could. At the same time, I wasn’t done playing. I rehabbed hard and had really enjoyed that new feeling of being part of something without being on court. Eventually I had the opportunity to train with the national team under Jenny Lang Ping. I had a choice—play in Italy or train in Colorado with Team USA. For me, the decision was easy. Italy was an incredible opportunity, but it was in the middle of their season, which meant a lot of matches and less focus on training. What I really wanted was to learn—to get better, to soak up knowledge. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2025/03/erin-virtue4_volleybrains.jpg) I just wanted to train with a coach like Jenny. She was such a great player for China, and I took every chance to ask her questions, to learn from her, to pick her brain. I was a good enough player to be in that gym, but I could already see that my future probably wasn’t with knee pads on. So I made the shift. I left playing behind and decided to pursue coaching and teaching. I even went back to school to study how to be a better teacher and coach. It’s funny—coaching wasn’t my plan. It wasn’t something I chose at first. But in a weird way, I’m really grateful for that injury. It sidelined me from playing, but it put me on a path I didn’t even know I wanted to be on. **What advice would you give yourself as a starting coach? An advice that is so clear and logic for you now, but that you had to develop over the years.** I think that the two main things I would think about is: one, just be thirsty. Ask questions. Be around people that are smarter than you. And I had a wonderful chance to be around a lot of really good people, and I think my young self was shy. I still don't think I know it all, by any means. I have so much to learn. But for me, to put myself in a really uncomfortable place where I'm asking something questions, or seeking clarity —just being thirsty—would definitely be advice I’d give myself. ### And then with that and I think this is a place young coaches stumble sometimes—is: **stay authentic**. I think there are so many coaches—you’ve gotten an opportunity to interview some amazing people—and by the time they’re in the twilight of their career, I think they really know who they are. But that takes a while for a young person to shape and figure out—who they are, and how can they bring their authentic self to what they’re doing. And that certainly took me some time, for sure. I would see really great coaches, or coaches I looked up to, and then I would maybe gravitate toward that area, or that personality. You know, some basketball coaches watch Bobby Knight from Indiana, and he has a very unique style of coaching. But there's only one Bobby Knight. And he has this specific style. There’s only one [Russ Rose](https://volleybrains.com/russ-rose-part2/). They’re very unique individuals. And I think that young coaches—and certainly as I was younger—I wish I would've learned that sooner, of just: I can just be me, and try to continually find the best version of me. --- *Matias: I think that there's a lot of things in there. Advising yourself to be more authentic is difficult, because young Erin doesn’t know of course. She doesn’t know how to be authentic.* *But then—she can be open to learn. Just be there. Be open to learn. Your being authentic will come faster in that way.* --- Yeah. And I think high performers—and I certainly, in everything I've always wanted to be great at something since I was a little kid. Even if it was just eating dinner faster than my brother or something, you know? I was always trying to be good at something. And I think that comes with having this relationship with failure, or embarrassment, or lack of knowing something. When you're authentic, or when you're trying to stay thirsty, that means you're seeking clarity. ### And we teach that to our athletes now: we're gonna mess up, and that’s how we grow and get better. And I think young coaches, like young athletes, have that same fear. And maybe it’s not as big as for other things in life; but it’s there. It’s present. You have to be able to let go of that if you want to be great. **What are bad recommendations you hear about coaching or training volleyball?** The first thing that comes to mind when I think of kind of a bad recommendation—or just a school of thought that I don’t agree with—is language that is very finite. Like, *“You must do this to be great,”* or *“Everyone who’s good is training only this way.”* ### I really just believe that each recipe for success is going to be unique. There are some principles—there are pieces in motor learning, in how we learn, whether that’s on the court or in the classroom—and there are definitely some scientifically proven things that are real and grounded. But there are *so* many pieces to who we are as people, and to the people we’re working with, that make things really unique. And coaching is kind of like a river—you’re never going to step in the same river twice, because it’s always moving. There are just so many components that go into that. So language that I usually have an issue with—or try to stay away from—is anything that feels finite in its nature. To me, that’s not moving forward. That’s just looking backward and only trying to copy the recipe that worked for someone else. Well, at Michigan, maybe *that’s* not the recipe we need to be great *here.* So, I try to learn from other people, but also make it our own. There are a million examples of that, but I guess, as a general area, that’s one I would definitely throw some caution at. **Do you have a particular goal? Maybe a goal that you already reached or a goal that is so hard to reach that it gives you daily motivation?** Well, first of all—I love what I do. Right now, I’m the head coach at the University of Michigan. I’m working with this program and this incredible staff. I’ve had the opportunity to work with our national team. And there’s so much time, effort, and just energy that’s put into what we do as coaches. And I think probably everyone that you’ve interviewed has some version of just… love for what they’re doing. Because we pour into it—more than some other occupations. Friends of mine, or siblings, or family members—they’re like, *“Man, you are just… it’s all around you.”* ### And that’s love. And I think for some people—they’re an accountant, and then they go home and they’re not an accountant anymore. That’s not my life. And that helps me come to terms with it—yeah, it’s just all around me, no matter where I am in the world. As far as my goals, for the program here at Michigan. There was a really famous coach we had here for football, Bo Schembechler. Back in the 1960s, he started a phrase: *“Those who stay will be champions.”* ### I’m going into my third season at Michigan, and I want to stay. I want to see what we can do here. I want my players to come, and *stay*, and develop, and grow—and be a champion *here*. And that can look a lot of different ways. But certainly, performance-wise, we’ll be chasing championships—no question. But I want my athletes to leave and be champions in *whatever* they choose to be. There are so many pieces to that. But I think about that phrase a ton, and how it relates to why I’m pouring so much into this place. Because I believe in that. And I believe that it *can* be done here. And in the kind of revolving door that is athletics at times, I really want to bring in staff and players who want to achieve that goal—together. **Team culture. Do you have any methods that you reach back to every new season? It's a big question, but you can take your answer wherever you want to take it.** I think it’s a really important question. And when you talk about culture, it immediately gets very big, because the culture of your program is in *everything* that you do. It’s in everyone who’s part of it. It’s the athletes, the coaches, the support staff, the alumni, the prospective student-athletes, the recruits, the parents, even everyone who comes to camp. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 92. John Cook: Wrapping up Nebraska's practice videos URL: https://volleybrains.com/practice-nebraska3/ Last updated: 2025-03-09T11:03:36.000Z I asked coach Cook a few more questions at the end of the recorded practice sessions. In this mini article, we'll tackle those. 💡 From the next article on, we'll again cover long-form Masterclass interviews and practice video sessions. It was important to add these clips, though. ### Intro to the outro ;-) Throughout the two practice session articles, we’ve seen how Nebraska’s training is built with precision—every drill, every role, and every adjustment serves a purpose. We had a few more questions to ask to coach Cook. **Matias:** The coaches in your program—a nice thing to highlight is how you work together and divide responsibilities between them. I remember in our [first VolleyBrains recording](https://volleybrains.com/john-cook/) you talked about how you hang out after practice and they come to you with pro game clips, and so on. It's not just "John Cook telling everyone what to do", like it was in the old days, but it's really about listening, conversation, and debating. Did something change there? What responsibility do you put on assistant coaches? **John:** Yeah, let me show you something here. (John takes out a practice plan) You won't be able to see it on video, but this is our practice plan. All of our guys and all of our coaches meet a half hour before practice, before we start setter training. This breaks down the whole drill. I do this every day and outline what we're going to work on. So everybody knows what we're doing. When we talk about this in our meeting, everybody knows what they're focused on, what the theme is that day, certain things we're working on. So we're all organized and we're kind of divided up. One coach is looking at middles, one coach is looking at setters, and one coach is looking at outside hitters and liberos. That's kind of how we do it, but this is our system. ### I'm very particular about making sure everybody knows what we're doing. Our players need to feel like we know what we're doing. And we're very organized because, again, we only get so much time. So how efficient can we be and how many reps can we get? --- **Matias:** I don't want to impose takeaways on people—but what I took away is: We don't really need to watch what other people are doing. Of course you have game prep, but as you go through the sequence of building on top of stuff, letting players rotate, playing with everybody in your team, being meticulous about your practice, it is more about yourself. Yes, it is important to know what other people are doing. It is important to have some insights, have some sparks or motivation from pro leagues or the best players in the world. But in the end, it's the thing that you do well and it's the thing that you do day in day out. It's less about influences from outside. That's what I got here. Does that sum up a bit about how you approach things? **John:** I think so. But I rely a lot on our assistants for feedback. And then of course I've watched every one of your videos. I've watched football practice. I watched basketball practice. We send our coaches out in the spring—in the past, I've sent them to other gyms that will let us come in and watch. So we study what other people are doing. I've been to Japan and China probably five times with college teams. When you're with those guys, they know how to train, so a lot of this stuff has come from them. We didn't do defensive bursts in this practice, but we do a lot of digging drills, coach-initiated drills in different ways that I picked up from Asia. I've watched national teams practice in Europe. I've watched USA practice. We're always looking for ideas and ways to adjust. But you're right. ### At the end of the day, I'm going to design the practice plan and this is what we're doing. And everybody's all in. --- **Matias:** So this is what we do and this is probably what we're going to do next year, but we can fine tune it. It's not completely set in stone, but it's pretty much set in stone. But if we see something better, let's swap, let's try something out, but let's not throw away everything we have. Cause that's never a good idea. **John:** We'll always try new things. Like a lot of the men are doing some of the quick attacks where they're drifting away from the setter, drifting toward the setter—we will always try that. ### Now, if it doesn't work, we're going to punt it, but we're going to try it. And the players have fun doing that. But at the end of the day, we're going to do what we do really well. --- **John:** I'll pump you up a little bit. My wife asked me today, "Why are you gonna do this podcast?" And I just said, "Matias is trying to do this great job from Europe, sharing volleyball with the world." I just applaud you for that. I think it's really good. You've done an excellent job. You've had some great people on there and you tackle everything from practices to philosophies to how people got into coaching. I don't know anybody else that's really doing that. And I applaud you for it. And it's an honor to be on here. **Matias:** Really appreciate it. I think you touched the two things that are important. And we talked about it before off recording. It's not only the thing we did today. It's also the thing that we did four years ago. And it's about people. It is people and it is the nitty gritty—it's both of them together. You cannot be just the greatest statistician in the world and then expect to win with a team. No. You cannot be the best people-person or the best teacher but you're stuck in your fundamentals and don't know where the game's going. And I think that's what we try to bring. I just know that it's about that. You have people that want to see more practices. Okay. Let them watch more practices. But in a way, like this, we're talking about practice, but we're not talking about practice anymore. It's important that there is this duality. It's not that college volleyball in the States is the be-all end-all. You can pick up something everywhere. Everything can be interesting, if you love the game. --- ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2025/03/image.png) Been a ride! --- ### Everything Nebraska Volleyball on VolleyBrains.com [91\. Practice videos: John Cook - Nebraska (Part 2)What is happening in the training gyms around the world? Today we have John Cook breaking down part 2 of a Nebraska pre-season practice session.![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/icon/VB--3--2.png)Volley | BrainsVolleyBrains![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/thumbnail/johncook_volleybrains_cover2.jpg)](https://volleybrains.com/practice-nebraska2/) [90\. Practice videos: John Cook - NebraskaWhat is happening in the training gyms around the world? Today we have John Cook breaking down a Nebraska pre-season practice session.![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/icon/VB--3--3.png)Volley | BrainsVolleyBrains![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/thumbnail/johncook_cover_volleybrains-1.jpeg)](https://volleybrains.com/practice-nebraska/) [32\. Dani Busboom Kelly:“All of my players need to have a great experience, I take that very personal”In today’s Masterclass we feature Dani Busboom Kelly. Dani is the Louisville Cardinals head coach and was awarded the AVCA Coach of the Year award last December. Louisville finished their 2021 regular season with ‘zero’ defeats and went on to play the National Championship semi final.![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/icon/VB--3--4.png)Volley | BrainsVolleyBrains![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/thumbnail/daniB_cover.jpg)](https://volleybrains.com/dani-busboom-kelly/) [2\. John Cook: ‘Be A Lifelong Learner’During the Christmas holidays I had the pleasure to get on a video call with coach Cook. John Cook is the head coach of the Nebraska Huskers volleyball program. Under John’s guidance the Huskers went on to grab 4 National Championships. This current season is his 21st straight season at![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/icon/VB--3--5.png)Volley | BrainsVolleyBrains![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/thumbnail/John-Cook-3-1.jpg)](https://volleybrains.com/john-cook/) ### 91. Practice videos: John Cook - Nebraska (Part 2) URL: https://volleybrains.com/practice-nebraska2/ Last updated: 2025-02-23T10:11:24.000Z ### 🔍 Intro We've already featured 20 practice video articles with pro and college coaches, and today it's time for **our 21th Practice session article** here on volleybrains.com. At VolleyBrains, we bring you inside practice gyms worldwide to see **how top coaches develop their teams**. 💡 Navigate to our [practice videos page](https://volleybrains.com/tag/practice-videos/) for an overview of all the featured practice videos. ****Be sure to leverage this unique resource**. ### 👊 The coach who's guiding us today In this practice video session, we feature [John Cook](https://huskers.com/staff/john-cook?ref=volleybrains.com), the former head coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers. John served as the head coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers women's volleyball team from 2000 until his (recent) retirement in January 2025\. During his tenure, he led [Nebraska](https://huskers.com/sports/volleyball?ref=volleybrains.com) to four national championships - 2000, 2006, 2015, 2017 - numerous conference titles, and a list of accolades that seemingly have no end, cementing **his legacy in collegiate volleyball**. In December of 2020, when I reached out to John with a rough idea for what would eventually become Volleybrains.com, **he was immediately on board.** [2\. John Cook: ‘Be A Lifelong Learner’During the Christmas holidays I had the pleasure to get on a video call with coach Cook. John Cook is the head coach of the Nebraska Huskers volleyball program. Under John’s guidance the Huskers went on to grab 4 National Championships. This current season is his 21st straight season at![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/icon/VB--3-.png)Volley | BrainsVolleyBrains![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/thumbnail/John-Cook-3.jpg)](https://volleybrains.com/john-cook/) The very beginning of VolleyBrains.com His enthusiasm and support from the very beginning played a crucial role in shaping VolleyBrains into what it is today. (Thank you, John) Two weeks ago, in a testament to **his dedication to our game**, coach Cook spent the final hours of his last day in his Nebraska office recording the video session you're about to watch. His passion for **advancing volleyball knowledge** and education remains as strong as ever. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2025/02/cook_volleybrains_salute.jpeg) John's last salute to the Nebraska fans ### ⚡ What's inside the practice video clips? In this article, we'll dive into part 2 of a 2 part series on how Nebraska's **pre-season workouts have been intentionally build**. We'll break down a 3 hour pre-season training session and go over every single exercise. [In part 1](https://volleybrains.com/practice-nebraska/), coach Cook focused on **setter sequences, serve sequences, block work, and fundamental concepts** that build the foundation for a high-level volleyball team. This 2nd part will explore **hitting progressions, game-like training, and competitive drills** to enhance player decision-making, execution, and adaptability. Inside of today's 27 minute video **Coach Cook** will go into detail on: - Step-Close Mechanics: Focus on explosive last two steps for better timing and power in attacks. - Game-Like Situations: Training incorporates realistic block setups, hitting angles, and pressure drills to simulate match conditions. - Medium System Play: Players adjust to imperfect passes and make quick shot selections based on defensive setups. - Rotational Inclusion Philosophy: All players rotate through drills to ensure depth, game readiness, and injury prevention. - Serving & Passing Under Pressure: Competitive drills enforce low-error play, tactical serving, and in-game adjustments. - Competitive Finishing Drills: High-intensity games like "Trash Can" and "22-22" push players to execute under pressure. - Corner Up Communication: Ensuring focused, eye-contact communication during coaching moments. - End-of-Practice Conditioning & Cool Down: Players finish with high-intensity serve-pass battles before transitioning into recovery - and so much more... Enjoy! *And a big thanks to coach Cook for creating this together.* ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2025/02/cook3_volleybrains_volleyballday.jpg) World Record - Volleyball Day ### Practice clips preview 1. Corner up - clear communication 1. Machine Gun - emphasizing 'step, close, hit' ### VolleyBrain Members only full session *27 minutes of narrated video session with John Cook* 💡 ****Quick tip:** The practice videos are timestamped. Use the chapters to quickly navigate through the video for later reference. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2025/02/volleybrains_overviewnebraska2.jpg) _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 90. Practice videos: John Cook - Nebraska URL: https://volleybrains.com/practice-nebraska/ Last updated: 2025-02-09T12:56:01.000Z ### 🔍 Intro We've already featured 19 practice video articles with pro and college coaches, and today it's time for **our 20th Practice session article** here on volleybrains.com. At VolleyBrains, we bring you inside practice gyms worldwide to see **how top coaches develop their teams**. 💡 Navigate to our [practice videos page](https://volleybrains.com/tag/practice-videos/) for an overview of all the featured practice videos. ****Be sure to leverage this unique resource**. ### 👊 The coach who's guiding us today In this practice video session, we feature [John Cook](https://huskers.com/staff/john-cook?ref=volleybrains.com), the former head coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers. John served as the head coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers women's volleyball team from 2000 until his (recent) retirement in January 2025\. During his tenure, he led [Nebraska](https://huskers.com/sports/volleyball?ref=volleybrains.com) to four national championships - 2000, 2006, 2015, 2017 - numerous conference titles, and a list of accolades that seemingly have no end, cementing **his legacy in collegiate volleyball**. In December of 2020, when I reached out to John with a rough idea for what would eventually become Volleybrains.com, **he was immediately on board.** [2\. John Cook: ‘Be A Lifelong Learner’During the Christmas holidays I had the pleasure to get on a video call with coach Cook. John Cook is the head coach of the Nebraska Huskers volleyball program. Under John’s guidance the Huskers went on to grab 4 National Championships. This current season is his 21st straight season at![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/icon/VB--3-.png)Volley | BrainsVolleyBrains![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/thumbnail/John-Cook-3.jpg)](https://volleybrains.com/john-cook/) The very beginning of VolleyBrains.com His enthusiasm and support from the very beginning played a crucial role in shaping VolleyBrains into what it is today. (Thank you, John) Just a few days ago, in a testament to **his dedication to our game**, coach Cook spent the final hours of his last day in his Nebraska office recording the video session you're about to watch. His passion for **advancing volleyball knowledge** and education remains as strong as ever. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2025/02/cook_volleybrains2.jpeg) ### ⚡ What's inside the practice video clips? In this article, we'll dive into part 1 of a 2 part series on how Nebraska's **pre-season workouts have been intentionally build**. We'll break down a 3 hour pre-season training session and go over every single exercise. In this first part, coach Cook will focus on **setter sequences, serve sequences, block work, and fundamental concepts** that build the foundation for a high-level volleyball team. Part 2 will explore attacking, team play, and group dynamics, bringing everything together into competitive game scenarios. (coming up as our next VolleyBrains article) Inside of today's 40 minute video **Coach Cook** will go into detail on: - Maximizing Reps: Every drill is designed to increase touches and optimize learning time. - Structured Progression: Training builds from fundamentals to complex scenarios, ensuring gradual improvement. - Live Transition Drills: Practicing out-of-system sets, setter decision-making, and maximizing offensive efficiency. - Precision & Adaptability: Emphasis on ball control, and in-game adjustments. - Setter Training: Themed drills emphasizing precise ball placement, adaptability, and real-time feedback from hitters. - Serving progressions and block fundamentals. - and so much more... Enjoy! *And a big thanks to coach Cook for creating this together.* ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2025/02/johncook3_volleybrains.jpeg) ### Practice clips preview 1. Go set, moving your setters. (part of the pre-season setter sequence) 1. Five one transition work. (part of the pre-season setter sequence) 1. Six-person pepper. ### VolleyBrain Members only full session *40 minutes of narrated video session with John Cook* 💡 ****Quick tip:** The practice videos are timestamped. Use the chapters to quickly navigate through the video for later reference. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2025/02/overview_nebraska.jpg) _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 89. Practice videos: Milan Zarkovic URL: https://volleybrains.com/practice-milan-zarkovic/ Last updated: 2026-04-19T07:03:50.000Z ### 🔍 Intro We've already featured 18 practice video articles with pro and college coaches, and today it's time for **our 19th Practice session article** here on volleybrains.com. At VolleyBrains, we bring you inside practice gyms worldwide to see **how top coaches develop their teams**. 💡 Navigate to our [practice videos page](https://volleybrains.com/tag/practice-videos/) for an overview of all the featured practice videos. ****Be sure to leverage this unique resource**. ### 👊 The coach who's guiding us today In this practice video session, we feature [Milan Zarkovic](https://hawaiiathletics.com/sports/mens-volleyball/roster/coaches/milan-zarkovic/2832?ref=volleybrains.com), the associate head coach of the [Hawaii's men's volleyball team.](https://hawaiiathletics.com/sports/mens-volleyball?ref=volleybrains.com) Since joining the team's coaching staff in 2014, Coach Zarkovic has played a pivotal role in the program's success, leading the Rainbow Warriors to **the 2021 and 2022 NCAA Tournament Championship** and multiple Big West Championships. Be a happy coach! Milan's coaching prowess was recognized nationally when he was named the **AVCA Assistant Coach of the Year in both 2020 and 2023**. These accolades reflect his exceptional ability to develop competitive teams and his significant impact on the sport at Mānoa. Prior to his role in Hawaii, coach Zarkovic served as the **head coach of the Serbian Junior National Team**, achieving notable success with bronze medals at both the European Junior Championships and the World Junior Championships. His national team experiences also include a tenure as head coach of the Belarus Senior National Team. ### ⚡ What's inside the practice video? This 34-minute video is **unique** because it's packed with drills that cover basic volleyball skills, emphasizing how to manage space and keep the whole team active and engaged. Coach Milan’s **enthusiasm for volleyball** and his coaching style really shine through. Because this video moves (very, very) quickly, you might find yourself rewinding to catch all the drills and techniques shown. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2025/01/milan_volleybrain7.jpg) This session is great for anyone looking to understand coach Milan's volleyball background. You'll surely pick up a lot from this insanely, passionate professional. 💡 Again, this is going to be fast-paced, so be ready. Just a heads-up, the quality is going to have that nostalgic VHS vibe. So, if it gets a bit fuzzy, pretend you're back in the 90s. ;-) Inside of the videos [Coach Zarkovic ](https://hawaiiathletics.com/sports/mens-volleyball/roster/coaches/milan-zarkovic/2832?ref=volleybrains.com)will go into detail on: - Start with simple moves and progress to complex patterns. Begin with fewer players before adding more. - Adapt exercises for all age groups by adjusting difficulty levels. - Everyone should learn all skills - no specializing early. All players need to set, defend and cover. - Clear communication is key between players on the court. - The right court positioning helps players know their responsibilities automatically. - and so much more Enjoy! ### 📕 Extra resources Coach Zarkovic published two books. They are filled with practical drills and tips that are easy to understand and apply. Go and give them a look over [here](https://www.amazon.com/stores/Milan-%C5%BDarkovi%C4%87/author/B0DFGYDR2H?ref=ap%5Frdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true). ### Practice clips *34 minutes of narrated video sessions with Milan Zarkovic* _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 88. Sanja Tomasevic: Give back to move forward. URL: https://volleybrains.com/sanja-tomasevic/ Last updated: 2024-12-31T10:17:45.000Z As a player, Sanja was a standout at the [University of Washington](https://gohuskies.com/sports/womens-volleyball?ref=volleybrains.com), leading the Huskies to four NCAA tournament appearances, including the 2005 NCAA National Championship, while earning multiple All-American honors. Her professional playing career spanned Europe and Asia, where she showcased her skills on the international stage. Transitioning to coaching, Sanja held assistant coaching roles at the [University of Miami](https://miamihurricanes.com/sports/wvball/?ref=volleybrains.com), [UTSA](https://goutsa.com/sports/volleyball?ref=volleybrains.com) and served as head coach at [Arizona State University](https://sundevils.com/sports/womens/volleyball?ref=volleybrains.com) (2017–2022). Now, she is an assistant coach at [Vakifbank Spor Kulubu](https://www.vakifbanksporkulubu.com/en/?ref=volleybrains.com), one of the world's most prestigious pro club teams. What makes Sanja truly remarkable is the breadth of her experiences. Few people in volleyball have seen the sport through so many lenses—from playing at the highest levels to coaching in both collegiate and professional settings. This makes her a uniquely valuable voice, offering insights that cover every aspect of the game. **Key takeaways from this article include:** - The power of listening as a cornerstone of effective coaching. - Why staying stuck in outdated methods hinders progress. - Strategies for continuous learning and using time effectively. - Team management with individual autonomy through team values. - The place that passion has in a demanding profession. - The role of connection and respect in team environments. - Insights into modern volleyball rules and their impact on the game. - Finding balance and purpose as an athlete and a coach. We have 55 minutes of video interview with coach Tomasevic in this article. Enjoy! Enter Sanja... **Sanja, what advice would you give yourself as a starting coach? An advice that is so clear and logic for you now, but that you had to develop over the years.** A big thing for me would be listen, listen, listen. As coaches, we learn a lot along the way - whether it's in the classroom, through volleyball experience, or whatnot. When we see a blank canvas or someone young who wants to learn, we tend to want to talk a lot. ### But we can actually learn so much more by listening - listening to our team, to our players as individuals. I can only speak to coaching women's teams since I've never coached men's teams. But with women, it's all about connection. If a player feels like we can connect, they're more likely to work hard and follow through on everything you say. Many times we jump straight to "do this, do this, do this," rather than taking the time to get to know and learn about them first. So my advice would be: listen, listen and learn about your team and your players before you start teaching volleyball. **What's a common mistake you see volleyball coaches still making today?** Being stuck in the past is a major pitfall - whether it's being stuck with a team that worked before, stuck in the year that worked for you, or stuck in certain ways of doing things mentally or physically. The game has improved tremendously. Players are taller, faster, jumping higher, and hitting harder. The game has changed so much, and we need to be flexible and continue to educate ourselves so we can translate this knowledge to our players on the court. If we still teach volleyball the way it was taught when I started in the 90s, we're in big trouble. I mean, in the 90s, we didn't even have Google! Now we have access to all this data and technology. Every day there's something new coming out - tools to speed up reaction time, enhance this or that. With VR and everything else that's developing, there's no reason for us to be stuck in the past. We need to keep learning and educating ourselves so we can be the best we can be for our athletes. **How do you go about continuously learning? Is it being in contact with people in different kind of leagues, on different kinds of levels. How do you personally do that?** First of all, let me share my background. After finishing my coaching role at [Arizona State University](https://sundevils.com/sports/womens/volleyball?ref=volleybrains.com), I had about six months to explore what I wanted to do next. During that time, I got certified as a sports life coach. While the concepts I learned weren't exactly revolutionary, they made me think about things in ways I never had before. One of the key concepts we learned was about "24 golden nuggets" – referring to the 24 hours we get each day. Let's say you spend eight of those sleeping (though parents might disagree with getting that much sleep!). Even then, you still have plenty of hours left to accomplish what you need to do. It's all about prioritizing within those 24 hours and finding where everything fits. Now, if I told you I dedicate two hours every day to learning, I'd be lying. But I can commit to learning for an hour or two every other day. And if I miss a day, I don't beat myself up about it – I just get back to it. How do I keep learning? I stay connected with my peers. We have this understanding where we don't expect immediate responses from each other, but we'll share podcasts or interesting content with messages like, "Hey, check this out." It doesn't need to turn into a full conversation – it's more like saying, "I'm thinking about you, here's something interesting." We both understand we're busy, and that's okay. You can also just Google whatever's on your mind. Think about what's the topic of the week, usually something your team is dealing with at the time. Is your team struggling with crossover steps and blocking? Having trouble with reading? You can find plenty of videos about these topics online. The resources are endless. We just need to prioritize our time. ### That's really the big takeaway – those 24 golden nuggets and how we use them. Sure, you might spend some time scrolling through TikTok as a pastime occasionally, but is that making you a better coach? Probably not. It's important for our athletes to understand this too. Each day isn't the end of the journey – it's just the end of that day. Tomorrow starts fresh with new opportunities and new 24 golden nuggets to invest in. Instead of saying "this whole week" or "this whole month has been bad," we should ask ourselves: Why has it been challenging? What can we change about it? **What's your philosophy on team rules as a coach?** From my journey as a player to assistant coach and then head coach, I've learned something interesting about rules. Often, rules exist simply because someone thought "we should have a rule for this" – and it makes you wonder about their purpose. Sometimes these rules turn coaches into full-time police officers, constantly controlling and checking. This takes a lot of time and energy, with little to no benefit. If anything, it just creates a divide between coaches and players. When I coached at the university level, having rules was mandatory – probably for legal reasons or something similar. When you have to create rules, you create them; it is what it is. But most rules are really just common sense. I would give players the rule book and tell them, "You should probably read this because you need to sign it, but here's the summary: Consider what you're here for, which is schol and volleyball. If what you're planning to do doesn't align with that purpose, don't do it." Meaning, if it's going to negatively impact these two things,don't do it. But if you can maintain a high level in both areas, you can do whatever you want. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2024/12/sanja2_volleybrains.jpeg) You're an individual, a human being, and you should do whatever fills up your tank at the end of the day. That's how I feel about rules. ### However, I believe values and behaviors are more important and need to be established and discussed. In college, that's something we talk about during the recruiting process. In professional sports, like here at [Vakifbank](https://sundevils.com/sports/womens/volleyball?ref=volleybrains.com), [Giovanni ](https://volleybrains.com/giovanni-guidetti/)discusses our values and behaviors with the team on day one. When everyone arrives from their national teams with different schedules, it's the first conversation we have – and it has nothing to do with volleyball. ### It's about who we are as people, how we treat others around us, and what kind of effort we expect to give to this season and team. These things are non-negotiable. For example, when we leave the gym, we must leave it pristine – better than when we came in. If someone left an empty water bottle in the gym before we arrived, we clean that up, and then we make sure there's no trash left behind us when we leave. These little things really add up. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 87. Practice videos: Kevin Burch - Ohio State University URL: https://volleybrains.com/practice-ohio-state/ Last updated: 2024-12-08T10:14:51.000Z ### 🔍 Intro We've already featured 17 practice video articles with pro and college coaches, and today it's time for **our 18th Practice session article** here on volleybrains.com. At VolleyBrains, we bring you inside practice gyms worldwide to see **how top coaches develop their teams**. 💡 Navigate to our [practice videos page](https://volleybrains.com/tag/practice-videos/) for an overview of all the featured practice videos. ****Be sure to leverage this unique resource**. ### 👊 The coach who's guiding us today In this practice video session, we feature [Kevin Burch](https://ohiostatebuckeyes.com/staff-directory/kevin-burch/?ref=volleybrains.com), the head coach of [Ohio State University's men's volleyball team](https://ohiostatebuckeyes.com/sports/mens-volleyball?ref=volleybrains.com). Appointed in May 2019, coach Burch has led the Buckeyes to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in 2023 and 2024, securing both the MIVA Tournament titles and the 2023 MIVA regular-season championship. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2024/12/burch_volleybrains.jpeg) Before his current role, coach Burch served as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at **Ohio State**, contributing to national titles in 2016 and 2017\. His prior experience includes positions at **Penn State, UC Irvine, and Springfield College**, where he was part of multiple championship-winning staffs. Coach Burch has been involved with [USA Volleyball](https://usavolleyball.org/?ref=volleybrains.com) since 2011, serving as an **assistant coach** and technical coordinator for **the Boys U19 team**, and contributing to the development of young athletes on the national stage. ### ⚡ What's inside the practice video clips? In this article, we dive into 2 separate Ohio State volleyball practices during their fall season, offering a unique glimpse into how Coach Burch and his staff structure their training sessions. We'll also walk through how **Ohio State** goes about their weekly practice scheduling and the various responsibilities of the coaching staff. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2024/12/ohio-state_volleybrains.jpeg) With 19 players on the roster and a great example of limited court space usage (in practice 1), we'll see how they maximize efficiency and player development while adapting to various challenges. Inside of the videos [Coach Burch](https://ohiostatebuckeyes.com/sports/mens-volleyball/roster/coaches/kevin-burch/1882?ref=volleybrains.com) will go into detail on: - The use of comprehensive weekly outlines that enhance staff coordination and have player development at it's core - The critical role of clear, concise coaching feedback and how the staff positions themselves around the court to provide optimal instruction - Strategic use of competition and energy management, including how specific drills are designed to get players mentally and physically engaged from the start - Their focus on critical skills like non setter setting, three-man blocking mechanics, and medium-pass offense adaptations - The integration of modern performance tracking through Catapult technology to monitor player loads and optimize training intensity - Creative solutions for maximizing repetitions and court space, drawing inspiration from international coaching techniques - Implementation of specialized drills like "Earned, Not Given" that develop both competitiveness and tactical decision-making Enjoy! *And a big thanks to coach Burch and his staff for cooperating and creating this together.* ### Practice clips preview 1. Compete and engage 1. Earned Not Given ### VolleyBrain Members only sessions *57 minutes of narrated video sessions with Kevin Burch* - Video 1: Weekly schedule overview (15min) - Video 2: Practice session 1 (30min) - Video 3: Practice session 2 (12min) ### Practice plan and schedule downloads *Download the plans coach Burch reviews in Video 1* [2024-10-28 Practice Plan2024-10-28 Practice Plan.pdf93 KBdownload-circle](https://volleybrains.com/content/files/2024/12/2024-10-28-Practice-Plan.pdf "Download") [2024 Oct 28-Nov 3 - Weekly Practice Outline2024 Oct 28-Nov 3 - Weekly Practice Outline.pdf101 KBdownload-circle](https://volleybrains.com/content/files/2024/12/2024-Oct-28-Nov-3---Weekly-Practice-Outline.pdf "Download") 💡 ****Quick tip:** The practice videos are timestamped. Use the chapters to quickly navigate through the video for later reference. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2024/12/preview-Ohio.jpg) _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 86. Russ Rose: Everything Matters URL: https://volleybrains.com/russ-rose-part2/ Last updated: 2024-11-11T13:41:17.000Z After an unprecedented 47-year tenure at Penn State, culminating in seven national championships, Rose's insights into the sport of volleyball remain as sharp and relevant as ever. The recent BTN documentary ["The Streak" ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7OBrtvpjL4&ab%5Fchannel=BigTenNetwork&ref=volleybrains.com)showcases one of the most remarkable achievements in collegiate sports history - Penn State's 109-match winning streak and four consecutive NCAA championships. Yet, as Rose reveals in this comprehensive video interview, the championship teams weren't necessarily his best teams - but **they were the ones that found ways to win when it mattered most**. In this interview Coach Rose offers invaluable perspectives on: - Why watching international volleyball is interesting for coaching development - How to build championship teams beyond just gathering talented players - The importance of detailed statistical analysis beyond conventional metrics - Adapting to modern challenges in the NIL era - Managing the transition between college and professional volleyball - Creating competitive training environments that drive excellence - Understanding the evolving patterns in international volleyball - Developing players who can succeed at the next level - The changes USA Volleyball is undergoing - and so much more... With his characteristic attention to detail and straightforward approach, coach Rose shares insights gained from decades of experience at the highest level of collegiate volleyball, his attention to international competitions, and his ongoing analysis of the sport's evolution. Enter Russ... **How important is it for coaches to keep learning and growing to move from one level to the next? Is being aware of the best volleyball played worldwide essential to that growth?** Do coaches want to continue to learn and grow? If they're interested in that - which I think is the only way to be successful when moving from one level to the next - they need to be aware of the best volleyball being played in the world. ### I've always been an avid viewer of international volleyball. Whether I was traveling with the U.S. men's team or women's team, I would always say, "Hey, I'm going to stay in the gym and watch practice." We would go to the tournament in Montreux, and after our practice, Japan would come in next. I happened to know one of their assistants because he used to be at Lock Haven. ### I'd say, "Hey, I'm not scouting - I'm just a volleyball geek who wants to watch you guys train." Not to write it up or do an article or book - that's not my thing. What I wanted to see was how teams evolved. In '64, Japan was the best team in the world. What are they doing 40 years later to try and remain relevant as the sport continues to grow? For coaches, let's say you're one of the 350 Division One college coaches, and your program isn't well-funded, but you're happy to have a job. Is there great value in watching all the VNL matches or Olympic matches, men and women, like I do? Probably not. But if you're in the next 100 programs, does it serve a purpose? Yes. And in the next 100 those schools probably have one or two players who could benefit from watching the elite level. What I always picked up was seeing something special - like watching Sergio when he was playing, and being able to tell one of my players, "Hey, let's watch video of this guy because he's the best libero in the world today." Or with players like Giba or Andre Heller from that era. Your athlete can't mimic these moves probably, but you can show it to them, this is what they do, and you could pick this or that up from that. It was always limited with USA Volleyball in this country - not a lot of video on TV. You can get more now as the internet gets more advanced. Unfortunately, I'm just not very good with the computer. To me, the good thing for the day was just being able to connect with you. 😄 **What drives you to approach coaching with such attention to detail and a unique perspective on stats and practice?** **I have 43 years of books in my office** \- stats and practices written out longhand - because every year, I might change something based on what I saw. This year, watching the Olympics and the VNL right before that, I noticed some definite patterns in the men's game. I've always thought the men's game leads the women's game - some of the top women's teams get that way because they're monitoring what's happening in the men's game. Even watching some beach volleyball, which I don't watch much of, I noticed there's so much more hitting on two. On the indoor side of things, Japan's men's team was the best at handling balls coming over the net. When their setter would take it, they'd throw it to the middle where traditionally people get it to the libero to set someone. Their pipe hitters were jumping and either hitting or setting a back set to the four or a fast set to the five. That's a training thing, but it's beautiful. If I was still coaching college, we'd be doing that because **if you can do things in your gym that force teams to spend time defending it, that's better than everybody doing the same thing** and just seeing how we play, hoping we make fewer errors or somebody going off and having an exceptional game. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2024/11/russ2_volleybrains.jpg) When there wasn't much video available, I would sometimes walk down to the other gym if the men were practicing and have my players sit there and watch. The men are doing it faster, stronger, jumping higher. **I wouldn't do this with players who were physically unable to perform at the next level,** but for those who could and weren't doing it in practice - sometimes they were visual learners rather than just listening to me saying, "No, no, you got to be up faster. We need to hit the one ball like the men are hitting it." You've got to be in the air - they're like "Oh, okay, one ball," and you're like "No, I want you to be in the air before the setter releases the ball so that if they don't block it and you hit it higher, they don't dig it. Now we're getting points." I have a vast library, unfortunately many in VHS tapes and DVDs because my staff knew I didn't want to just use Volleymetrics. ### I understand its importance, but for me, I wanted to watch everything - what you were doing in a timeout, who was talking to whom. I wasn't just watching rotation by rotation, although I watched it differently than my staff. They would all look at the same output from Volleymetrics. **That's why I always kept my own stats.** If I hit the ball out of bounds and you're in the net, I'm getting credited with a kill - and that's not a kill. I hit the ball out of bounds. I'm trying to get better on my side of the net. So my stats were always different than the NCAA box score. I was very anal about certain things, even though I never felt I was ever the smartest guy in any room. I always felt I was **working harder** than everybody I was working against. **If you were a coach in today's game, with all that video content available, would you feel like there would be a diminishing return watching so many hours of video?** I bet **I watch more video now than 90 percent of Division I coaches**, and I'm not even in the game - though I'm helping some pro teams. So I'm watching some pro players, and I'm watching to find out some systematic things maybe. I watched too much, and my wife would say that even now when I don't really have any skin in the game. But my skin in the game is wanting to know what's going on. When my friend from Michigan comes to visit, I can talk about [Michigan](https://mgoblue.com/sports/womens-volleyball?ref=volleybrains.com). *(Hi, Coley Pawlikowski...* 🙂*)* I can say, "Hey, you know, you got two people hitting 60 percent of the swings," and I know where they hit from the left side, right side, and back row. Nobody's asking me, but when we're talking to an agent or a pro coach about somebody, I already know this stuff. I don't have to call the coach and ask what they think - I've seen them play quite a bit. ### I watched the same amount for a last-place team as I did for a first-place team, which doesn't make sense to a lot of people. They'd say, "You've never lost to this team in 30 years. Why would you spend any time?" And I'd say, "The reason we did win for 30 years is I recognize that every match in the conference has the same value." I like to talk to coaches and hear what they think when they watch something. I knew my team better than anybody, but somebody could walk in the gym and watch us play a match, and I wanted to know, "Hey, what did you think?" Because sometimes you're so close, you're in it, you don't even see the forest for the trees. If you're a coach, **you need to know your team first, and then after you know your team, then you need to look at the next team.** Back in the old days in the Big Ten, we would play two matches, Friday and Saturday. So I would be a week ahead. On Monday, we would be doing a blocking drill, and I'd say, "Friday's opponent does this, Saturday's opponent maybe doesn't do that." Like when [Hugh](https://volleybrains.com/hugh-mccutcheon/) was at Minnesota, they would run middle attack from 12-15 feet off the net because the Tapp sisters were really good, and their setter was really good - they practiced it and were excellent at it. So if we were playing them and another school, I'd say, "This other school doesn't do that at all, so don't just release on a ball that's off the net thinking it's out of system, because Minnesota's in system extends way further than others." Do we see all of that in Volleymetrics? I wouldn't think so, but I don't know. I used to talk to [Giuseppe](https://volleybrains.com/guiseppe-vinci/) all the time and say, "Hey, I have concerns about some of these things because I don't think they correlate well with what I think." ### Watching video is important, for sure, but you have to recognize it's always about the team you have. You're shaping your team to be the best they can be. And there are times where you're going to put that team together and it's going to exceed the performance of somebody who's got better players. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 85: Fabio Soli: Building Self-Regulating Teams (Part 2) URL: https://volleybrains.com/fabio-soli-part2/ Last updated: 2024-10-26T12:16:46.000Z In May 2024, Trentino Volley, under the masterful guidance of coach Fabio Soli, clinched the European Champions League title with a commanding 3-0 victory over Polish powerhouse Jastrzębski. This triumph in Europe's premier club competition, where the world's elite teams clash, marks a pinnacle in **Fabio Soli's coaching journey**. Whether you're a coach, athlete, or any kind of leader, **this interview offers precious insights into building successful teams, managing pressure, and maintaining peak performance** while staying mentally healthy. This honest discussion about personal struggles and growth provides valuable lessons beyond the volleyball court. In our conversation Fabio delves into: - Why volleyball is shifting from physicality to technical mastery - How to build tactical systems while preserving player autonomy and trust - The power of data-driven decision-making in modern volleyball - Why strict rules might be hurting your team's growth and what to do instead - How to handle overwhelming pressure in high-stakes environments - The counterintuitive approach to leadership: embracing imperfection - Essential insights for athletes transitioning out of professional sports - and so much more We have 30 minutes of transcribed and subtitled interview with coach Soli in this article. Enjoy! Enter Fabio... --- **How do you organize your team's tactical system, and which factors influence your decision-making process? Plus (let's make this even more complex) how do you balance structure while maintaining player autonomy?** From the point of view of organizing how we play: I did a summer study on how teams perform - data that I've got out of our league play, the Champions League, and the national teams. This is all data that's fairly easy to get. With that data in mind, you start to create your basic game concepts, which I then propose to my players: who plays the high ball, who's setting when the setter isn't there to set, how we cover, how we defend - always with a certain adaptable capacity that your players need to develop. That's my starting concept. Then it is clear that in this starting concept, many variations can happen, so the important thing will again be, as I told you before, to **give your players the freedom to read the game**. It is clear that you have to have players who are able to read, adapt, and communicate. ### This is something that, more than just training it in the gym, you create it in your relationship with them, continuously being in communication with them. Who is responsible and can quickly adapt, who is in charge of covering the ball - this creates a different and necessary focus in the player, an ability to look differently at things, in communicating differently with their teammates. The libero knows he's the one to go under the block to cover. But if he can't go there, he is the one who says "you go, I'll stay." It's all those things which are more about attribution of responsibility in reading and adapting, rather than organizing every single thing. Then macro-situations, as I told you, get organized. For example, how to generally distribute sets in our side out, how to attack the high ball, who attacks the high ball. I**n my system, the high ball attack is almost exclusively for our P4's because opposites have lower numbers there**. Earlier I was looking at Slovenia-Serbia, with Stern who was attacking every single ball - second line, high ball, always scoring - so that is an adaptation to your system. But in principle, my players attack it in zone 4 because in zone 4 we have a better chance of replaying the ball. We have more chances to score the point. All that comes out of a whole series of data which I share with the team. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2024/10/Soli21.jpg) So you create a base of play, which I think everybody is doing. With this base concept, you cover every macro-situation, stimulating the players to have that spirit of adaptation that I was telling you about. Then there is the part about rules. **I want the group to be self-regulating**. So in the past, I have asked my team to compose their own set of rules. It happened to me, for example, last year, to give a lot of freedom to my players. ### In the end, **the only real rule I ask for is respect for the team**. If I arrive late and you arrive on time, I am disrespecting you because you got up earlier, you got in the car before me, said goodbye to your family before me. You arrived at practice 15 minutes early instead of at eight o'clock and one minute late. So I try to stimulate that, respect to what is the essence of being a team. But if you're late because there was an accident in front of you, what justice is there in bringing pastries if that happened, compared to bringing pastries if you overslept? Since the player can make up whatever they want, **I prefer that they themselves make up their own team rules**. That it is their own internal thing because I think many situations are easier to solve while managed internally. I ask a lot from the key players inside of my team - who is not always just the captain, sometimes they are also key players who maybe never play; however, inside the team they have authority. When they open their mouths, they are respected. So I try very hard to give this kind of power to the team, to self-regulate. Clearly, when I see that disrespect is reiterated, if it repeats itself, it is no longer a question of 'with a rule it wouldn't have happened'. It is an individual matter of a single player, which is then treated in an individual matter - individually together with the club, individually together with the captain, individually in front of the team. This I believe is more useful and more functional. ### Like that, the player perceives that they are empowered, they perceive that they can have confidence in managing being the professionals that they are. If they mess up once, in my opinion, they'll probably carry that guilt themselves. We had a player, last year, who was late and felt so bad that he had disrespected the team. He knew he didn't need to bring pastries or whatever, but he looked bad in front of his team. **That's the entire concept: team respect is more powerful than bringing a few pastries or paying 50 euros.** And that's the way to go about this, in my opinion. So about rules: either the team wants them and they create their own rules, but I prefer to trust in my athletes and getting it wrong once in a while. ### **I would rather give trust and be betrayed**. I'm able to handle that situation best. I gave my trust, and you messed up. Now it became a card I can pull on you. Starting out with a set of rules just shows that I don't trust them and that they have to prove to me that they are an adult, that's not the way to go. **What habit has most improved your life in the last five years, and what do you do when you feel overwhelmed or unfocused?** I see a lesson in there of something I learned thanks to working in sports, something I didn't have as a player, the ability to be more serene. Not that I live serenely through difficult times, no. But I live them more peacefully, compared to some time ago, when I really suffered. In the past, as a player. I was physically feeling the stress, the fear of failure, defeat. I was really physically sick. I didn't go to dinner with my teammates. I went home because for me losing meant that I deserved to be punished. ### So I had to learn not having to be perfect all the time. **Embracing fallibility has given me much, much more serenity.** The ability to ask for help is a very important achievement. I thank volleyball for figuring that out. Also letting go of things over which I have no control - if there are things I see not working, where I perceive that I don't have any possibility to intervene, I learned not to go crazy there. My experiences abroad taught me that. So many things were happening but they were out of our control. This was about the president's affairs of my former Turkish club. There I learned to let stuff go. Because if they don't depend on me, if they don't depend on us, however it goes, we cannot affect those things. **And it whouldn't become a burden on the other things where I can act have an impact, on which I can intervene, improve, choose, decide.** That's an achievement of mine. Then about imperfection, fallibility, call it what you will - everything is improvable but nothing can be perfect. There is someone who is stronger than you, there is someone who plays better. Not always everything depends on you. So the tendency to always achieve something, the challenge, the improvement, to be a better person, player and coach every day - with the knowledge however that we could never be perfect. And the asking for help. These are the things that in my work, in my career became important. Not being blind to difficulty, but confronting a player with something, trying to find a solution together. That is the exact opposite of failure, figuring stuff out together. Doing it together doesn't mean you'll loose authority. But it is a very powerful thing, it's a very strong thing if approached with the right person in the right way. These are the things I had written down: To seek advice. To identify a person who can lend you a hand, give advice, with a different point of view, who can clear up your current situation where you are maybe losing sleep. They show you a different way, with a different perspective. Even maybe a perspective completely out of this world, but someone who can give you a push in your back. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2024/10/soli25.jpg) Because the tendency of us coaches is to always focus on the same things, right? You always see them the same way. That's why for example, I really like to have every year a new person on our staff. ### Don't go around with the same people all the time, because then eventually their eyes become yours. And so I like to change, even walking into the unknown sometimes. Last year I got an assistant coach who I had never worked with. I think I have that small talent of being able to sync up with people quickly. When I get that feeling going, I know we can achieve something - they with me, and I with them. And together we can do something important. Because otherwise I would have had a staff who had already been here for a long time, where everything had stayed the same. **I am convinced that something new is needed regularly.** _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### The Practice Database is LIVE. URL: https://volleybrains.com/the-practice-database/ Last updated: 2024-10-20T15:35:12.000Z Dear VolleyBrains Members, I’m excited to announce the launch of our brand-new [**Practice Database**](https://airtable.com/appw6eDejj0Amy9AC/shrpQcSEXk5JHZoDq?ref=volleybrains.com), designed to make your learning experience easier and more efficient! Whether you're a **new member** diving in for the first time or a **long-time member revisiting your favorite sessions**, this database will help you quickly find exactly what you're looking for. As you know, our practice video collection is extensive, featuring nearly **20 practice video articles** and over **30 individual practice sessions** by top college and pro coaches. I know that can be a lot to navigate, that's why we’ve streamlined the process for you. With this [new feature](https://airtable.com/appw6eDejj0Amy9AC/shrpQcSEXk5JHZoDq?ref=volleybrains.com), you can easily filter practice videos by **skill category**, **country**, and **level**. The search results will display the relevant **timestamp**, a brief **description of the exercise**, and both the **URL** and **name of the clip**. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2024/10/image.png) For quick access, you’ll find a **‘Practice Database’** button now available in the menu at **VolleyBrains.com**. While it’s best viewed on desktop for an optimal experience, it works on mobile too. To help you get started, I’ve put together a short clip, with 2 examples, on how the database works. Be sure to check it out below! I hope this new feature makes your VolleyBrains journey even more enjoyable and effective. Happy learning! Enjoy your day, Matias *Please note, access to the featured clips* [*requires a VolleyBrains membership*](https://volleybrains.com/#/portal/signup)*.* ### 84. Fabio Soli: Embracing Player Creativity (Part 1) URL: https://volleybrains.com/fabio-soli-part1/ Last updated: 2024-10-06T10:55:50.000Z In May 2024, Trentino Volley, under the masterful guidance of coach Fabio Soli, clinched the European Champions League title with a commanding 3-0 victory over Polish powerhouse Jastrzębski. This triumph in Europe's premier club competition, where the world's elite teams clash, marks a pinnacle in Soli's coaching journey. Since embarking on his coaching career in 2011, Fabio has steadily ascended the ranks to now helm one of the world's top professional volleyball clubs. Our conversation with Fabio delves into the core of his coaching philosophy, exploring: • The crucial role of decisive coaching, even when facing potential missteps • How the fear of errors stunts player growth in volleyball • Striking a balance between tactical structure and player autonomy • The enriching impact of diverse mentorship in coaching • Nurturing players' game intelligence and on-court decision-making • Fostering a team culture that harmonizes individual and collective growth • Pursuing relentless improvement for both coach and team We have 41 minutes of transcribed and subtitled interview with coach Soli in this article. Enjoy! Enter Fabio... --- **Fabio, why did you commit to being a professional volleyball coach? What pushed you towards that decision?** My story is a fairly straightforward one. I was a mediocre player, which I think is very helpful to a coach. It allows you to accept that it's okay to start from the bottom, and that's where I started from. I took my first coaching certifications in Italy because I had the opportunity and just took the courses, almost unknowingly. Then I spent two years as a pro player in Milan. I was very young and got homesick, so I came home and started playing in fairly low categories. I hadn't enrolled in college, having only finished high school, so I was working. I was playing and working, playing and working. This gave me, in my opinion, a great opportunity **to understand what things I loved to do in life.** I realized early on that by playing and working, I wouldn't be able to push either my sports or my professional career forward. At some point, I was faced with a choice: **doing my passion, which was volleyball, poorly, and failing to achieve something important in a working environment.** ### That was putting me in a state of mediocrity that I couldn't stand. So I asked myself: What is the thing I like to do? This is a great lesson that, even as a coach, I find myself trying to pass on to my players. What do I really like to do? What is my path? If I have to throw away the opportunity in volleyball or in working, what do I throw away? I decided to throw the work away. So I quit my job, enrolled in the university, and studied Sports Science because I knew my life was in sports. At that point, it wasn't clear to me that I was going to be a volleyball coach. I just knew my life was in sports, my world was sports. I've always liked to try different sports than volleyball as well. Even in enduring physical fatigue, I found great pleasure. I basically oriented my life toward sports. I graduated with a master's degree after five years. That's when I started looking for opportunities in soccer and other places where I could find a chance to squeeze in. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2024/10/soli-champions.webp) This moment in my life coincided with an opportunity to help out Modena. They had [Silvano Prandi](https://volleybrains.com/silvano-prandi/) as their coach, and Modena needed an extra assistant coach. Silvano had [Camillo Placi ](https://volleybox.net/camillo-placi-p41821/clubs?ref=volleybrains.com)as his second coach. Between the two of them, they were missing somebody younger in the gym. They were very skillful in everything that was game preparation, but they needed a helping hand in the gym. I was young and still playing when they made me this proposal, and I took advantage of it. I no longer had the physical freshness to continue my commitment to play, so I quit playing and started a coaching career in my favorite sport: volleyball. The choice to focus on sports was not a choice to focus directly on volleyball initially, but from there, I had the great fortune of working with Modena and Silvano. After that, I ended up in Turkey with [Daniele Bagnoli](https://volleybox.net/daniele-bagnoli-p41695/clubs?ref=volleybrains.com). When they exonerated Daniele, I became the head coach for half the season. The next year, [Daniel Castellani](https://volleybox.net/daniel-castellani-p1976/clubs?ref=volleybrains.com) came, and I stayed there with him. I was fortunate enough to be in the game and watch great masters. This gave me so much from a curriculum perspective - all that knowledge and experience from three completely different people. This is a piece of advice to those who ask me what they should do: ### If you can, learn from capable people, but choose mentors who are different from one another. This way, you'll see different approaches and different worlds with different eyes. Then the desire grew to start as a head coach. I had been an assistant for several years for all these very capable people. And I said to myself, "I want to try it." Just like when I chose to quit my job, I put everything on the scale and asked, "What do I want to do? Do I want to be a head coach?" I didn't look at the economic conditions or at being away from home. I launched myself into following my pure instinct. When you work in a field that you are passionate about, instinct is a little voice that should always be listened to. I listened to it and did two years in A2, then went to Ravenna, then Monza, then Cisterna. After being exonerated from Cisterna, I rebooted again. And now I'm at Trento. **What you said about decision-making is very important. Having the ability to decide. Being able to make your own decisions. Because you don't see things as they really are.** It is complicated. I consider myself a fairly pragmatic person. I like to live by emotions, however, I think I have a fine critical capacity. Choosing between things on either side of the scale between the things that are worthwhile and things that are not worthwhile, it's something I can do quite well. One thing I'm learning still however is **the actual ability to choose**. Choosing even at the risk of not getting the result. That is a skill that I am still slowly developing and acquiring. To be able to not only make the accumulation of positive things, the accumulation of the negative things and say okay, then let's go toward that direction. Since what I have chosen, what I have examined takes me that way. That I can do. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2024/10/soli8.jpg) That special ability to actually choose, to say okay, given these things here, let's go that way, it's something that in my opinion is learned through experience. Much more than just by talent. The ability to actually choose in my opinion is something that is acquired. The talent of sniffing out what things are, so evaluating what are the positive or negative things, in my opinion, are more of a talent. ### The actual ability to choose is something I think is so fundamental. Not only for those who are coaching. Also for the players who train in the gym. Or for the work that you do. Even if it means that you'll fail. But that capacity is most important. Much more than the result you'll get. Which can be negative or positive. And it may not even depend on you. **What advice would you give yourself as a starting coach? An advice that is so clear and logic for you now, but that you had to develop over the years.** Make your own choices. Make your choice and make mistakes. Learn from your mistakes. But make your choice with great serenity, because our role requires that. 'Not making decisions' has a high cost, not only for ourselves but also for the group we're leading. The inability to choose, standing still without making a decision is not the way to go. ### **Not making a decision is exactly the same as always making the wrong choice.** In a guidance role towards players who are much younger - I'm not, however, there's starting to be a generational gap of 15, 20 years between me and the guys I coach - it puts them in a position of not recognizing themselves in you anymore. Therefore, they go and look elsewhere to find another reference point. Trentino winning the Champions League So the most important advice I'd give myself is to make the choice. Choose. Make a mistake. Be okay with it. Know that there are always a wide range of possibilities, counter-analyses, and other choices to counterbalance perhaps a less-than-perfect choice you've made before. Also, always put a question mark behind your ideas. This isn't the same as being insecure, but it's about your willingness to change. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 83. Practice videos: Konstantin Bitter - Allianz MTV Stuttgart URL: https://volleybrains.com/practice-stuttgart/ Last updated: 2024-09-15T06:58:07.000Z ## 🔍 Intro We've already featured 16 practice video articles with pro and college coaches, and today it's time for **our 17th Practice session article** here on volleybrains.com. At VolleyBrains, we bring you inside practice gyms worldwide to see **how top coaches develop their teams**. 💡 Navigate to our [practice videos page](https://volleybrains.com/tag/practice-videos/) for an overview of the featured practice videos. ****Be sure to leverage this unique resource**. ## 👊 The coach who's guiding us today In this practice video session we feature **Konstantin 'Konsti' Bitter,** the head coach of [MTV Allianz Stuttgart](https://www.stuttgarts-schoenster-sport.de/?ref=volleybrains.com). Stuttgart is one of Germany's leading club programs, highly respected across Europe for its strong presence in numerous European Cup competitions. In the 2023-2024 season Stuttgart won the German Supercup, the German Cup and became German Champion, acquiring **an illusive 'triple'** in the VBL, the Volleyball Bundesliga. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2024/09/stuttgart_team.jpeg) 'Konsti' advanced through various roles at multiple European clubs, developing his skills as **a scout and assistant coach in Switzerland and Germany**. In 2023, he took the reins at Stuttgart, succeeding the legendary head coach [Tore Aleksandersen](https://volleybrains.com/tore-aleksandersen/). Konstantin is surely one of a few young (born in 1989) and talented European coaches to keep an eye on. Next to being the head coach of Stuttgart he also coaches **Germany's talented U23 National Team.** ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2024/09/stuttgart1.jpg) ### ⚡ What's inside the practice video clips? In this article we show 2 practices at the end of Stuttgart's 2023-2024 season. Both practices are from Stuttgart's play off final series. (against [Schwerin](https://www.schweriner-sc.com/?ref=volleybrains.com)) This gives us an interesting look into how teams prepare for a single opponent, during **the hottest moment of their season**, and how they regulate player fitness and technical abilities. In the full video Coach Bitter will **go into detail on:** - Optimizing time for technical and tactical drills. - Adapting training methods based on the team's needs and the specific stage of the season, highlighting the importance of structure and routine. - Building familiarity and confidence among players. - Observing players' tactics and readiness, providing insights into their adaptability - The critical role of communication between coaches and players - Empowering players to select their own warm-up routines to optimize their readiness for practice and games. - and so much more... Enjoy! ### Practice clips preview 1. Super Mario: 6 on 6 game 1. Chaos: Warmup game --- ### VolleyBrain Members only sessions 49 minutes of narrated practice video with Konstantin Bitter This recording wasn’t just the typical **'show and explain exercise'** format. Konstantin and I occasionally diverged onto related coaching topics. It's a blend of a Masterclass session and a practical video recording. That's fine...for once. 😄 💡 ****Quick tip:** The videos are timestamped. Use the chapters to quickly navigate through the video for later reference. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2024/09/preview_stutt.jpg) _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 82. Jerritt Elliott: People, Dedication and Excellence URL: https://volleybrains.com/jerritt-elliott/ Last updated: 2024-08-25T14:01:46.000Z The University of Texas won the NCAA national championships in both 2022 and 2023, making them **the defending National Champions in this year's competition.** What I (personally) find fascinating are **the similarities** between top college programs such as Texas, Nebraska, Wisconsin, and others, and some of the world’s top professional club teams. But...many more differences exist and **we'll hit on some of these in this conversation.** In this Masterclass, **Coach Elliott talks about:** - The journey of building the University of Texas volleyball - How he learned to create an environment that fosters athlete growth - Why focusing on core values is more effective than enforcing rules - How to build trust and understanding with your players and their parents - How they handle and navigate current player opportunities (NIL, etc) - What he wants the USA pro leagues to learn from the international game - What can be done to enhance creativity and skills in women’s volleyball - How he counts on and what he expects from his coaching staff - ...and so much more. We've got 18 video clips (35+ minutes) in this article. Enjoy! *And of course, a big thanks to coach Elliott for his availability.* --- **VB: Why did you decide to commit to being a professional volleyball coach? What pushed you towards that decision?** I played at [Pepperdine University](https://pepperdinewaves.com/sports/mens-volleyball?ref=volleybrains.com) and the [University of Hawaii](https://hawaiiathletics.com/sports/mens-volleyball?ref=volleybrains.com). When I graduated, I became an elementary school teacher. I was coaching my high school team and teaching elementary school. I had some success—we won the city championship in my first year. Parents started asking me if I would start a club volleyball program. Here in the US, that’s where all the juniors play. Within a year and a half, I had about 18 teams, and we were going strong. ### I was still teaching elementary school when some college coaches saw what I was doing and said, "Hey, you should really get into the college game." As an elementary school teacher, I taught all these cool little courses, but I didn’t see the kids develop like I could in volleyball. Then I came across a tape of Ari Selinger training. I became obsessed with it, watching it probably 250 times, focusing on every movement and biomechanical issue. At that point, I knew this was my passion, and I needed to switch roles. I worked my way up, and once I started coaching more and more, I knew this was something I always wanted to do. **VB: What advice would you give yourself as a starting coach? An advice that is so clear and logical for you now, but that you had to develop over the years. (Can be about anything)** As I age now, I'm 56 years old, I think to be successful at any kind of profession, you have to dive in 100 percent and be committed to it. ### For me, all I was doing was coaching and training and working 24/7\. Time went by so fast. I didn't make a lot of time for myself. So for myself now, that's a lot of the questions that I'm fielding on myself every morning, journaling and figuring out where I fit into this equation, and making sure there's some balance in my life. I lost that balance for a long time, but I don't regret it. I was completely committed to elevating my program to an elite level, and in the process, I think I lost myself while giving everything I could to the sport. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2024/08/texas_volleybrains8.jpg) **VB: Do you account that to a certain kind of restlessness? If you're restless but it's directed, some kind of restlessness can be beneficial to achieve your objectives. So is that character trait a part of being successful?** I believe so. Anyone who knows me would say that I have a crazy brain—I'm super ADD, constantly having a million thoughts a second. However, I think this has contributed to my success because when I hear 'no,' it fuels me, almost like a superpower, to keep pushing forward. It drives my creative thinking, helping me find ways to achieve success or at least discover solutions at the highest level possible. **VB: What are bad recommendations you hear, still today, about coaching or training volleyball?** First I'll say that I think the younger coaches just want to move up the ranks instead of really investing time and being committed to what it takes to be a successful coach. I think there's a lot of studying that needs to be involved. I think there are a lot of new metrics that you need to understand. Also, the understanding of how to use the body has become a new focus in the last five years that we've really delved into. Years past, it was always about training and repetition, thousands upon thousands of repetitions. It's gotten into more of a team play, more **"teaching them through six-on-six play"**. And I think that's where the game has really developed. ### Obviously, in practice, you're analyzing your numbers, creating situations for the athletes without them realizing it. You're crafting an environment where they can feel free and creative, enabling them to thrive and succeed. But I would say the old adage of just repetition, repetition, 70 percent of practices—I think that's outdated. Many coaches still focus on training in system versus out of system. The game has evolved to emphasize out of system play significantly. One of the biggest areas of growth is in the out of system setting. Fifteen years ago, we weren't training every player on how to set a ball up, like we do now. **VB: It's a bit of a cliché that people say women's volleyball trails men's volleyball by three or four years. That's not true in all aspects of the game. But I think integrating creativity is crucial. To me, that's a major driver of how the women's game will futher evolve.** If you think about the game, it's 25-23, or 15-13 that we just lost. *(Matias here: the game coach Elliott is referencing is the Olympic men's semifinal USA-Poland, we had this recording scheduled, coincidentally minutes after the USA lost to Poland in a 5 set tiebreaker)* I mean, in a game to 25, that's 4%. ### So if you can, as a coach, find some kind of systematic thing where you can win one or two more points, it's really what elevates you to overall success. One thing that's really fascinating to me right now, especially watching the Olympics, is the fist blocking that the men are starting to use. I don't know if you've noticed in the pictures, but with the improvements in TV technology, touches are becoming a huge part of the game. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2024/08/jerritt_volleybrains6.jpg) Players have really developed this aspect. For instance, if you saw Japan, they've started to use fist blocking a bit more. It's starting to come in. I'm really curious to kind of throw that in and try that a little bit as the season progresses. **VB: Obviously, when you expose your fingers, and they get hit, you won't be able to block effectively, and it results in the ball going out of play—behind the court, to the side, wherever. But a question there is, do you need your fingers to be able to direct the ball effectively?** You eliminate the low shots and the bad swings, but the question remains: are you getting more touches, or are balls just hitting the fist and deflecting out? Those are the numbers you need to study, **over thousands and thousands of opportunities**, to really understand how this technique plays out. **VB: Do you have a particular goal? Maybe a goal that you already reached or a goal that is so hard to reach that it gives you daily motivation?** Obviously, in the U.S., it's different. We have long contracts. I usually have a five or six-year contract. We've won three national championships, and I think we've been in 10 out of the last 15 or 16 Final Fours, something in that ballpark. So, I've had a lot of success, which means I have a lot of security within my program. ### In the U.S., it's certainly about winning a lot, but it's equally about taking care of the athletes and developing them into well-rounded individuals. We don't have the option to simply cut players and move on. It's about helping them understand life both on and off the volleyball court. We're involved with them off the court as well, which creates a different kind of dynamic. I really dislike attention being directed towards me. My wife displayed my trophies around our house, and I was so embarrassed. I don’t even want them out; I’d prefer to put them in a closet. It's never been about me. It’s always been about the people. I've obviously achieved three championships and had the opportunity to coach with USA Volleyball. **I'm not sure if winning another championship would make me a better coach.** You asked about my defining moment. We had been working hard to develop our program, and the journey was intense. In 2008, we made it to the Final Four. The following year, in 2009, we lost 16-14 in the fifth set. We returned to the Final Four in 2010\. Then, in 2011, one of my best players tore an ACL a month before the tournament, and we lost in the final eight. After that match, I went to a back room, and my Athletic Director, my boss, followed me in. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 81. Al Scates: You need to enjoy yourself. URL: https://volleybrains.com/al-scates/ Last updated: 2024-08-11T09:17:06.000Z Under his leadership, the team secured **19 NCAA championships, making him the winningest coach in NCAA history.** Under coach Scates, **UCLA holds 27 NCAA men's volleyball team and individual records**, including consecutive victories (48), consecutive home court victories (83), consecutive NCAA tournament victories (15) and most undefeated seasons (3). No other program boasts an undefeated season. Through his program, Scates has coached 78 All-Americans, 44 U.S. national team members, 27 Olympians, 7 players that were chosen as NCAA Player of the Year, and **launched dozens of coaching careers**. In this interview, Al shares: - his unique approach to team preparation - how he kept on focusing on the future - how he sought after international play to enhance skills - how he thinks about internal competition and player discipline - how he was influenced by early coaches and mentors - why we need to prioritize player well-being - how he used losses as motivation for future wins - and so much more... We also dive into his favorite pastimes, including his love for golf and the camaraderie he shares with his friends and former players. **Enjoy this insightful interview with Mr. Al Scates.** Thank you for your time, Al. --- **Reflecting on your extensive coaching career, I've gathered insights from various online sources, particularly from former UCLA players who are now coaches themselves. These sources frequently highlight aspects of your coaching style, leading me to identify the "Al Scates' coaching fundamentals." These principles can seem universally acknowledged, yet perhaps their obvious nature makes them challenging to implement consistently.** **With each fundamental, I have two questions. First, how did you, in your early days, come to understand these fundamentals? Secondly, for a novice coach, why would you emphasize the importance of adhering to these fundamentals?** **To clarify with an example, many described your demeanor during practices and timeouts as calm and confident, occasionally marked by a reassuring laugh. Did this composure come naturally to you, or was it a trait you developed? Some coaches might struggle with maintaining their composure, what advice would you offer them?** In the beginning, I was still playing when I started coaching, so it was very difficult for me to coach without getting excited. In fact, I had problems—I was getting an ulcer. When I went to the UCLA hospital to get treated, I decided I was going to be very calm and take care of my blood pressure. If I noticed my pulse rate was going up, I would calm myself down. It was easy to do if you just thought about what you were going to do next to combat whatever the opponent was going to do next. ### **By thinking ahead, I never worried about what happened in the past. I only focused on what we were going to do next.** So during the timeouts, which I took early after the opponent scored a couple of points, I would tell my team what we were going to do because the opponent was usually serving at that time. If I called the timeout, I told them what we were going to do and then how we were going to score on the next play, depending on the matchups, their rotation versus our rotation. I told them two things: how we were going to win the side out or the next point in the modern game, and what they were going to do on a good pass. If I needed to change blockers, I told them all that. You only had a minute in the beginning, and then you had more time later depending on TV timeouts and stuff like that. ### So I had a lot to tell them, and I didn’t have time to be excited if a player made a mistake. He knew that. I didn’t dwell on that. I didn’t try to teach him anything or how to correct his error; that would have been a waste of time. If the opponent called a timeout, then based on what I knew about the team and the coach, I knew what he was going to tell his setter to do next, so I just focused on scoring. Of course, I told our server where I wanted him to serve the ball. That’s how I stayed calm. I had a lot of information to get to the players, and if I didn’t know what I was doing, I felt unsure myself. I just looked confident. And since they believed me, whatever I told them generally worked anyway, even if it was the wrong thing. **You've already touched on why it's not good to show anxiety. Why waste your energy and shake up your players' confidence by looking nervous? It's better not to dwell on mistakes or scold players about what they shouldn't have done.** Absolutely, if a coach lacks confidence, the players will sense it, and it can cause stress and impact their own confidence. Take, for instance, a game in 2006 against USC, which is just 12 miles from our campus. It was a televised match and a major one at that. We were behind and it came down to our last timeout. The season really depended on this match because if we lost, we wouldn't make the league playoffs. At that time, they only took the top eight teams, and we were close to being the ninth. We had a strong record against other teams, but our league performance was weak. ### It was a crucial timeout because the whole season depended on us winning this match. I did my best to appear very calm, which was a stretch because I wasn't. However, appearing calm was important. We went on to win the next 16 matches in the NCAA championship. But if we had lost that match, we would have been out. It's tough to appear calm, but most of the time I really was calm. However, you must appear confident to your team. It's very important. **Over your coaching timeline, it seems that adapting to changing standards, particularly those that evolve with each Olympic cycle, has been crucial. Volleyball rules have shifted over the years, and you've been notably quick to grasp these changes and consistently stay ahead of the curve.** **Could you confirm if that's accurate? I'm interested in understanding how you've managed to continuously evolve your coaching strategies to maintain a competitive edge.** What I did was, we were dominating volleyball in the United States, so I needed to go to foreign countries because some of their teams were better than ours. I needed to play against national teams and strong teams from other countries, but I had no budget for it. In the seventies, the Japanese were very strong. So, I went to Nippon Newspapers in Los Angeles and offered them exclusive rights to our trip to play Japanese teams if they would sponsor us. They agreed, and in 1979, I took my team to Japan. We played five matches there, and Nippon Newspapers covered all the expenses. I had just become a full-time coach at UCLA the previous year, we could never cover those costs ourselves. Experiencing the Japanese style of play, their speed, and their defense, I incorporated some of that into our program. The next year, USA Volleyball wanted me to coach a team for an international tournament in Taiwan. I told them my UCLA team was better than the national team, and I would coach only if I could take my team. They agreed, and that was another free trip to play against international teams. If they were doing something we weren’t, I took note to improve our team. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2024/08/scates1_volleybrains.jpg) Then the National Collegiate Athletic Association made a rule that we could only travel to a foreign country every four years. No other college teams in the United States, including basketball, were traveling abroad, so the rule was meant to stop us. However, Puerto Rico is a commonwealth of the United States. So, for the next three years, I took my team to Puerto Rico to play their national team. There were no pro leagues, so the best players stayed in Puerto Rico, providing excellent competition. We continually went to Western Europe every four years, the last time I won a championship before I retired was in 2006, I took my team to Italy. Where we played ten matches against players making, perhaps, a million dollars. And we found out we could compete with those teams, and we usually won after a foreign trip. Coaching the U.S. team in 1971 and 1972 without a salary, I had to borrow money to coach the team, I told them I wouldn’t coach anymore and would focus on growing college volleyball. I didn’t return to coach the U.S. team until 1997. ### In the meantime, I concentrated on UCLA, took my team around the world, learned from others, and used their best stuff. That's what I did. **Instead of chasing every new trend, coaches today could maybe really take the time to try out their own ideas and see what actually works. It’s about not getting lost in the noise. How would you go about that?** Here's what happened. The first innovation I used was extremely quick sets in the 1960s. We set the middles as fast as they are getting set today. This was the 1960s, and nobody else was doing it. Unless they commit blocked, which nobody did back then, they couldn't stop us. For years, this strategy was good enough for us to win because other teams couldn't practice against it and couldn't stop it when they saw us. Eventually, I had to innovate again because others caught up. I'll tell you how that all happened. In 1969, we had a tryout, and I was teaching in Beverly Hills to afford coaching at UCLA. Our school newspaper had published we had a tryout that day. When I walked into the gym, there were a hundred people there for the tryout, and I had only one assistant. We had to filter through all these people, and there was this little 5'7" Asian guy. I asked him what he did, and he said he was a setter. I gave him a volleyball and told him to jump set against the wall. I got distracted and returned 15-20 minutes later. This kid was still jump setting against the wall. I told him he made the team and to come back. This player, Toshi Toyota, who was actually Korean, had transferred to UCLA from Japan, where he was a team captain and a setter. His dad took a Japanese name to get a job in Japan because Koreans weren’t hired there. Toshi set the ball so quickly that I built a new offense around him. I had a middle attacker, [Kirk Kilgour](https://uclabruins.com/honors/hall-of-fame/kirk-kilgour/246?ref=volleybrains.com), who was left-handed. I had the players pass the ball to the left side when Kirk was in the front row so he could hit with his on-hand. When Kirk was in the back, we passed to the right side for the right-handed quick attack. We ran gaps, back ones, front ones – everything nobody else had seen. ### Usually, when we faced other teams, their middle blocker was still on the floor when we were hitting the ball. There was no video back then, so they didn’t get to see us until we played them. We only started exchanging videos much later, in the 1990s. I just took advantage of things I saw. Anything new was pretty good. When I played for the Hollywood Y in the 1960s, we tried to run a quick attack, but the coach was terrible. He spent about 20 minutes on it and then gave up. I was a middle hitter and left-handed, but everything was so slow. We were running sets that gave the middle attacker time to jump, get off the floor, and block. In the United States, everything was slow until I started coaching at UCLA and sped it up. **Moving on to the third coaching fundamental, the "meritocratic approach," which emphasizes objective player evaluation and maintaining active competition. You maintained a professional distance from players, decisions were never personal but always about performance and team dynamics. What factors do you consider most important when deciding who deserves to play?** At UCLA, I initially had about eight players and didn't need assistant coaches. We'd often bring in players who were football or basketball athletes, but they hadn't played volleyball before. There was no high school volleyball; the only place volleyball was played was in college. Club teams existed, but only for adults, and volleyball courts were usually available at YMCAs or city gyms for a few hours a week, dominated by basketball players. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 80. Practice videos: Nicola Negro - Minas (Part 2) URL: https://volleybrains.com/practice-minas2/ Last updated: 2024-07-21T07:13:50.000Z ## 🔍 Intro We've already featured 16 practice video articles with pro and college coaches, and today it's time for **our 17th Practice session article** here on volleybrains.com. At VolleyBrains, we bring you inside practice gyms worldwide to see **how top coaches develop their teams**. 💡 Navigate to our [practice videos page](https://volleybrains.com/tag/practice-videos/) for an overview of the featured practice videos. ****Be sure to leverage this unique resource**. ## 👊 The coach who's guiding us today In this practice video session we feature **Nicola Negro,** the head coach of [Minas](https://minastenisclube.com.br/esportes/volei-feminino/?ref=volleybrains.com). Minas is **South America's strongest club team** and the home of **many world class players.** Under Nicola's guidance Minas won **3 Brazilian Superliga's, 3 South American Club Championships** and many more titles and cups. Nicola started his journey in professional volleyball nearly 20 years ago and coached in Italy, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Slovenia, Poland, Romania and for the last 5 years in Brazil at Minas. *For more on Nicola and his coaching journey, check out* [*the Masterclass interview*](https://volleybrains.com/nicola-negro/) *we had the pleasure to do with him.* ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2024/07/nicola_minas_volleybrains.jpg) ### ⚡ What's inside the practice video clips? In this article we'll feature the concepts and exercises of **2 afternoon team sessions**. 💡 Part 1 of Minas' practice video sessions, with 2 morning and 1 more afternoon team session is [over here](https://volleybrains.com/practice-minas/). In the full video coach Negro will **go into detail on:** - Also on this level block technique needs attention - Where the OH's need to impact the ball in an in-system situation - The setter - libero dynamics needed to play an uptempo transition game - His standard (Minas standard) scoring system for 6 on 6 exercises - The attention they put on serve efficiency and serve trajectory - One of his favorite 6 on 6 exercises - "Double Way Out" - and so much more... Enjoy! ### Practice clips preview 1. Practice preview clip 1: Setting Standard + Position OH In Transition 1. Practice preview clip 2: Transition play: Setter - lib connection 1. Practice preview clip 3: Net reference points ### VolleyBrain Members only sessions - 22 minutes of narrated practice video with Nicola Negro - An extra 15 minutes of 6 on 6 'rolling tape' of Minas' Double Way Out exercise 💡 ****Quick tip:** The video is timestamped. Use the chapters to quickly navigate through the video for later reference ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2024/07/content_minas2_volleybrains.jpg) _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 79. Practice videos: Nicola Negro - Minas URL: https://volleybrains.com/practice-minas/ Last updated: 2024-07-07T09:17:59.000Z ## 🔍 Intro We've already featured 15 practice video articles with pro and college coaches, and today it's time for **our 16th Practice session article** here on volleybrains.com. At VolleyBrains, we bring you inside practice gyms worldwide to see **how top coaches develop their teams**. 💡 Navigate to our [practice videos page](https://volleybrains.com/tag/practice-videos/) for an overview of the featured practice videos. ****Be sure to leverage this unique resource**. ## 👊 The coach who's guiding us today In this practice video session we feature **Nicola Negro,** the head coach of [Minas](https://minastenisclube.com.br/esportes/volei-feminino/?ref=volleybrains.com). Minas is **South America's strongest club team** and the home of **many world class players.** Under Nicola's guidance Minas won **3 Brazilian Superliga's, 3 South American Club Championships** and many more titles and cups. Nicola started his journey in professional volleyball nearly 20 years ago and coached in Italy, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Slovenia, Poland, Romania and for the last 5 years in Brazil at Minas. *For more on Nicola and his coaching journey, check out* [*the Masterclass interview*](https://volleybrains.com/nicola-negro/) *we had the pleasure to do with him.* Gerdau Minas 2023-2024 Championship moment ### ⚡ What's inside the practice video clips? In this article we'll feature the concepts and exercises of **2 morning sessions and 1 afternoon team session**. 💡 Part 2 of Minas' practice video sessions, 2 more afternoon team sessions, will come up in our next article. Live in 2 weeks. The featured practice sessions were recorded in different parts of the season. In the full video (VB members only) coach Negro will go bit deeper into **how this brings training modifications into play.** In the full video coach Negro will **go into detail on:** - Minas' 'high up' receiving style - How they handle conflict zones in receiving - Why their receiving net point is in the middle of the net - How they train their aggressive uptempo offense - Different variations of receiving exercises - How they handle load and volume - Nicola's favorite warm up exercise: the 6 stage 'Braziliano' - How new players adapt to their playing style - and so much more... Enjoy! ### Practice clips preview 1. Practice preview clip 1: Uptempo Attack Game 1. Practice preview clip 2: Never move back 1. Practice preview clip 3: Play phase - Minas Standard --- ### VolleyBrain Members only sessions 45 minutes of narrated practice video with Nicola Negro 💡 ****Quick tip:** The video is timestamped. Use the chapters to quickly navigate through the video for later reference. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2024/07/training-phases_Minas.jpg) _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 78. Francesco Petrella: Between Stimulus and Response, The Space to Lead URL: https://volleybrains.com/francesco-petrella/ Last updated: 2024-06-16T19:16:27.000Z Quickly advancing through youth coaching roles, coach Petrella became the assistant coach of Modena's Superlega team in 2016. In 2017 coach Petrella joined sides with Italian master coach [Angelo Lorenzetti](https://volleybrains.com/angelo-lorenzetti/) at [Trentino Volley](https://www.trentinovolley.it/en/?ref=volleybrains.com). This was the start of a **6 year-long mentor-mentee relationship** with one of the most respected coaches in the game. Together they won the Italian Championship, the World Club Championships, the CEV Cup, and more... In the 2023-2024 season, Francesco became **the head coach of his hometown team of Modena.** In this Masterclass coach Petrella talks about: - What living the pro coach life really means - The crucial elements that go into becoming a winning team - How standards, not rules, are necessary for team cohesion - How standards are monitored and upheld - Which roles and positions are needed in today's game - The focus on truth and clarity of reality inside a team - Rule changes that would benefit our sport - and so much more We're grateful for Coach Petrella's effort to share his expertise in English, not his first language, it makes us able to share his expert experiences with even more volleyball lovers (and learners) You can choose to watch the video clips or read our edited transcripts, which maintain the conversational style of Coach Petrella's message. Enjoy this Masterclass. --- **Francesco, which advice would you give yourself as a starting coach? An advice that is so clear and logic for you now, but that you had to develop over the years.** One thing I always try to remember, especially in such a competitive environment, is the reason behind choosing to be a coach. **It's crucial to remember that it’s more about pursuing your passion than focusing on the immediate outcomes of your career.** Another important aspect is **not to rush decisions**. Coaching is a long process, and each season, you must reaffirm your commitment to this profession since it’s not guaranteed. Unlike other professions, where you might remain in the same role for decades, professional coaching requires more adaptation. You might coach professionally for a few years, then find yourself without a team, and then start over with a new team. ### It's essential to view your coaching career as a marathon, not a sprint. In a marathon, your pace at any given moment is important, but not as crucial as your overall endurance and strategy. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2024/06/petrella6.jpeg) *Matias: The differences between coaching professional teams in Europe and the collegiate system in the U.S., it's clear that the European system poses unique challenges. The huge emphasis on results-driven coaching, which is different from other environments where you might have more stability and control.* *The only real decision you have control over at the end of each season is whether you want to continue being a professional coach the following year.* I recall reading a chapter in [Carlo Ancelotti](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlo%5FAncelotti?ref=volleybrains.com)’s book, "Leader Calmo," where he discusses his experiences getting fired and how he navigated his career trajectory differently as he matured. Ancelotti mentions that earlier in his career, he took firings personally, but with more experience and several trophies later, he learned to detach and not to dwell too deeply on the ups and downs, **recognizing them as part of the game**. This approach helps conserve energy—**energy better spent on daily coaching duties** rather than fretting over every high and low. **What are bad recommendations you hear about coaching or training volleyball?** For me, it's not about one specific aspect of the game. I believe you can achieve success in many different ways, which is why the game is always evolving. For example, in professional volleyball, the importance of serving has increased significantly over the last decade. This change has forced adjustments in reception tactics to counteract the evolution of service strategies. This is why I don't believe there's only one way to play volleyball or one way to win games. Certain aspects are undoubtedly crucial, but there is no single, definitive method. As coaches, sometimes we assert that our approach is the only way, which isn't correct. We tend to do this because players often need to feel that sense of decisive leadership, and **it’s a way for them to feel secure behind the coach’s decisions.** There’s an Italian saying, **"pensiamo alla prossima,"** which means "just think about the next ball." This concept can be frustrating because it suggests always moving on without considering the importance of the present moment. The reality is that not every situation can be overlooked; some moments require immediate and thoughtful decisions based on the current context, not just what’s next. In coaching, instilling the importance of focusing intensely on the present can increase pressure, not only on the players but also on coaches and clubs. However, I am convinced that teams which maintain this level of intensity consistently are the ones that achieve success. ### So, you have to decide what you aim for. If you aspire to be a winning team, you must embrace and sustain this intensity. If comfort is your preference, that's also a choice, but it won't align with achieving significant success. **What is the most important key factor in creating culture to you?** I believe that the most essential word in team sports, particularly in volleyball, is "responsibility." In Italian, "responsabilità" - abilita a rispondere - means the ability to respond effectively to a situation. This is crucial because it places the emphasis on the need to take charge at pivotal moments. In individual sports, it's simpler; you're by yourself and can only blame external factors, such as the referee in tennis. But in team sports, assuming responsibility is optional, you can hide yourself in a team setting. Yet, in my view, a true champion always chooses to shoulder this responsibility. ### When true champions face defeat, their reaction isn't to dwell on the loss; instead, they're prepared to immediately try again, much like inserting another coin into a slot machine after a loss. This resilience sets apart the real champions from merely good or average players who might shy away from taking responsibility due to the emotional weight it entails. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2024/06/Petrella2.jpg) If players continuously move from one moment to the next (which is what you instill if you say 'next ball') without processing their emotions—whether it's anger from a personal mistake or frustration due to a teammate's error—these emotions accumulate. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 77. Practice videos: Mark Lebedew - Friedrichshafen URL: https://volleybrains.com/practice-mark-lebedew/ Last updated: 2024-05-26T10:21:33.000Z ## 🔍 Intro We've already featured 14 practice video articles with pro and college coaches, and today it's time for **our 15th Practice session article** here on volleybrains.com. At VolleyBrains, we bring you inside practice gyms around the world to see **how top coaches develop their teams**. 💡 Navigate to our [practice videos page](https://volleybrains.com/tag/practice-videos/) for an overview of the featured practice videos. ****Leverage this unique resource** to enhance your coaching tactics and boost your team's performance. ## 👊 The coach who's guiding us today **Mark Lebedew** has been a professional volleyball coach at the international and pro club level for over 25 years. With the Nationals teams of Australia and Germany, Coach Lebedew has been a participant in **all the major international events** \- Olympics, World Championships, VNL. In 2012, 2013 and 2014 he coached Berlin Recycling Volleys to the **German league title**, afterwards he moved to Poland to coach Jastrzębski Węgiel and Aluron Virtu Warta Zawiercie. For the last 3 seasons Mark has been coaching the German powerhouse Friedrichshafen and that's also the team we'll feature in **today's practice session.** A big thanks to Mark for giving us a peek into **how he works and thinks.** *In the early days of volleybrains.com we already had the pleasure of featuring Mark. That article can be found* [*over here*](https://volleybrains.com/mark-lebedew/)*.* ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2024/05/Mark_volleybrains1.webp) ### ⚡ What's inside the practice video clips? In the videos coach Lebedew will **go into detail on:** - How he communicates during practice, which maybe differs from other coaches - How load and practice structure looks like for his pro teams - Why he puts a lot of attention on 'highball management' - The importance of real-time problem-solving in our game - Why practice doesn't need to be perfect - Blocking organization and the philosophy and flow of block tactics - and so much more ### Practice clips preview 1. **A reminder**: NOT a block movement drill 1. No 2-man pepper needed ### VolleyBrain Members only sessions 40+ minutes of narrated practice with Mark Lebedew 💡 ****Quick tip:** The video is timestamped. Use the chapters to quickly navigate through the video for later reference. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2024/05/clip_overview.jpg) _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 76. Dan Fisher: I just want to win the day. URL: https://volleybrains.com/dan-fisher/ Last updated: 2024-05-05T06:44:52.000Z Under coach Fisher's leadership Pitt volleyball captured five ACC Championships and made four runs to the NCAA Elite Eight (2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023). And he led the team to three consecutive NCAA Division I Women’s Final Four appearances in 2021, 2022, and 2023. Beyond the collegiate courts, Dan has also been the head coach of the U.S. U21 Team, he guided them to back-to-back gold medals at the Pan American Cup in 2022 and 2023. **In this Masterclass Dan talks about:** - How training volleyball would change with significant rule changes. - Prioritizing personal growth over following a predefined path. - The fine line between embracing failure and being indifferent to it. - How volleyball will further improve. - Safer conditions under challenging gameplay situations. - Focus on stamina over grit. - How better listening and questioning can improve relationships. - Offering affirming feedback, not just praise. - And so much more... We've got 15 video clips (35+ minutes) in Coach Fisher's Masterclass. Enjoy! Before we get this started, a big thanks to Dan for his availability. --- **Why did you decide to commit to being a professional volleyball coach? What pushed you towards that decision?** This is a while ago now, I was studying to be either a teacher or a counselor. After that I played professionally for five years, and I think about halfway through year two or three, I started considering: “When this is done, do I want to try being a university coach?” So in that process, I started working at some university camps in the summer. I would talk to former coaches and I decided to give it a try. For the first three years I was still an assistant coach, I was learning, and in the back of my mind, I was wondering if it was always going to be volleyball for me. Is this really what I'm always going to do? And I would say probably around year four or five is when I fully committed to this profession. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2024/05/volleybrains_pitt4-groot.jpeg) It's changed a lot, but volleyball has given me everything. So I'm happy to still call myself a coach. **What advice would you give yourself as a starting coach? An advice that is so clear and logical for you now, but that you had to develop over the years.** Maybe I was naive. I was still thinking like a player, I thought, "I like my experiences with my head coach, I like being part of the team. I like player development." I just had no idea how much the business of volleyball would change. I would tell myself to be ready that, the business of volleyball will not stay the same. But with that, I would also probably remind myself that there's something very deep in humans who want to be part of a team and a group. ### So I think no matter how much the business or the league changes, there's always going to be a desire to be part of a special team. No matter what happens, there's a chance that your connection with the players and that group can still be very fulfilling. So in a way, putting less value on the changing of the landscape, but more putting it all in on the sport that you love and the connections that you get to create. Because if you get caught up in, "Well, it used to be this way". Ok, but we're living in 2024 and we have to coach in these modern times. When you're with a certain group, it can still be special. **What are common mistakes you still see in our sport or coaching today?** My answer will be specific to coaching in the U.S. A lot of young coaches ask me about my path or how I got to be working with the national team or the head coach at Pitt. ### Probably young coaches should be less concerned with the path and more concerned with just learning and growing and becoming good. Our sports psychologist talks about **getting good versus being good**. So, I think we should put all our focus on just getting better at what we're currently doing. Then the path usually presents itself to you. Another failure. This, I think, applies to any business, but a lot of coaches, when they take over a program, start talking about ‘when I get my people in’, or ‘when I get my team in’. I think the best leaders make the best out of the team they have. Yes, of course, any business is going to make changes. But I think the best coaches **get the best out of the players that are already there.** The final point I have is that I look at failure a bit differently than others. I think failure has become very vogue. Everyone talks about how great it is to fail. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2024/05/volleybrains_pitt2-groot.jpeg) ### But there's a difference between not being afraid to fail and not caring if you fail. A lot of coaches in America talk a lot about failure, and I'm not scared to fail, but I don't want my athletes to spend the whole day failing. I don't think it's good for their self-confidence. I want to set up drills and practices where they can get a lot of wins throughout the day. And if they fail, we'll analyze it and try to make it better. But, yeah, I don't like to set up my practice gym where we're failing the whole day. **Do you have a particular goal? Maybe a goal that you already reached or a goal that is so hard to reach that it gives you daily motivation.** The real answer is I just want **to win the day**. I want to have the best practice I can today. Over the last couple of years, I've been trying to **ask better questions and become a better active listener.** Those are two goals that I've had for myself. But in terms of the big picture, of course, I would love to win a national championship. I know it wouldn't change my life a lot, but it would be nice. And I think, with my involvement with USA Volleyball, I love international volleyball, so someday I would like to be in the Olympics. I wasn't quite good enough as a player; I was a kind of a national B-team kind of guy. I wouldn't have to be there as a head coach, but I would love to just be part of a staff that was in the Olympics someday. **How do you handle the periods of 'figuring out' during the season? What are team values you want to instill?** In the gym, the word I use a lot is "try." I’m not asking someone to change. So if I suggest, "Hey, try this, try that. Why don't you try this?" it feels lighter. Then, if we try something new and it doesn't work, we just go back to what works. So, especially in season, we have to be careful with this. Asking someone to change something they trust **typically means they'll get worse first**. ### But if they try something new and they like it better and it feels right, then the change can happen more naturally. In terms of managing the team, I have very few team rules. We have what we call standards, and we do a lot of contrasting. We talk about the behavior of the average player **versus the behavior we want**. Typically, I'll divide my season into four parts. At the start, the coaches lay out a document stating the cultural values we want and the technical focuses we believe we need to reinforce or improve. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 75. Practice videos: Dave Shondell - Purdue University URL: https://volleybrains.com/practice-dave-shondell/ Last updated: 2024-04-21T09:47:15.000Z ## 🔍 Intro We already featured 13 practice video articles with pro and college coaches, and today it's time for **our 14th Practice session article** here on volleybrains.com. ## 👊 The coach who's guiding us today **Dave Shondell** is the head coach of Purdue University's volleyball program**.** For more on **Dave's coaching journey** and how he shapes **his players and program**, go over to [our Masterclass](https://volleybrains.com/dave-shondell/) that we recorded with him a while back. In the 2023 season, the Purdue Boilermakers finished among the top 15 for the fourth time in the last five years with its No. 13 American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) poll final ranking. As a team, the Boilermakers finished among the top 15 in kills, blocks, and assists on their way to finishing the year **third in the Big Ten standings** with a 23-9 (15-5 Big Ten) record. A big thanks to Dave for giving us a peek into where Purdue wants to improve and **what they are focusing on to start strong** in the coming BIG10 season. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2024/04/shondell_volleybrains2.jpg) ### ⚡ What's inside the practice video clips? In the videos coach Shondell will **go into detail on:** - The process and difficulty of implementing new exercises - Purdue's focus on serving reps and serving into the outside seams - How to get better at spiking on the right side of the net - Their focus on the number of competitive reps to get into a 2-hour time block - Getting the right space between the first tempo front and pipe/bic attacks - Wanting to get more couples and real serve reps in serve receive - and so much more ### Practice clips preview 1. Shots I want my OH's to take 1. Out of system gameplay cues 1. Out of system sets + 1 tempo/ pipe tandem 1. Why we want to be a better serving team ### VolleyBrain Members only sessions 70+ minutes of narrated practice footage divided over 2 video clips 💡 ****Quick tip:** The videos are timestamped. Use the chapters to quickly navigate through the video for later reference. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2024/04/image-1.png) _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 74. Practice videos: Luka Slabe - NC State University URL: https://volleybrains.com/practice-luka-slabe/ Last updated: 2024-05-10T10:10:29.000Z ## 🔍 Intro We already featured 12 practice video articles with pro and college coaches, and today it's time for **our 13th Practice session article** here on volleybrains.com. This article is **part 2 of our 2-article video session** with [Luka Slabe](https://volleybrains.com/luka-slabe/). ## 👊 The coach who's guiding us today **Luka Slabe** is the head coach of North Carolina State**.** Of course, Luka is also known as Team USA's former assistant coach. His journey with Team USA started in 2018 and ended with **an Olympic gold medal in the summer of 2021**. 🥇 In our [last VB article](https://volleybrains.com/luka-slabe-whiteboard/) coach Slabe explained how he uses **his whiteboard** for practice prep, team organization, team communication, and goal setting. In this article, Luka narrates that **entire practice session**. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2024/04/ncstate-game-volleybrains.jpg) ### ⚡ What's inside the practice video clips? In the videos coach Slabe will **go into detail on:** - Which blocking philosophy he is pursuing with his players - How he wants his athletes to approach serving - He goes over 2 randomized (but also very goal-orientated) 6 on 6 drills - How he promotes his athletes to be ready for specific in-game moments like Challenge calls... - The importance of being detailed in their practice debriefs - How he uses various forms of coach involvement in his practices and why - and so much more ### Practice clips preview 1. Handling tie situations and developing responsibility 1. How Team USA transfers information during TO's 1. Taking it step by step ### VolleyBrain Members only sessions 70+ minutes of narrated practice footage divided over 2 video clips The whiteboard and weekly plan can be downloaded in [the previous article](https://volleybrains.com/luka-slabe-whiteboard/). 💡 ****Quick tip:** The videos are timestamped. Use the chapters to quickly navigate through the video for later reference. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2024/04/luka_yt_overview.jpg) _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 73. Practice videos: Luka Slabe - Whiteboard session URL: https://volleybrains.com/luka-slabe-whiteboard/ Last updated: 2024-05-04T10:59:59.000Z ## 🔍 Intro We already featured 11 practice video articles with pro and college coaches, and today it's time for **our 12th Practice session article** here on volleybrains.com. This article is **part 1 of a 2-article video session** with [Luka Slabe](https://volleybrains.com/luka-slabe/). ## 👊 The coach who's guiding us today **Luka Slabe** is the head coach of North Carolina State**.** Of course, Luka is also known as Team USA's former assistant coach. His journey with Team USA started in 2018 and ended with **an Olympic gold medal in the summer of 2021**. 🥇 In the early days of volleybrains.com we already had the pleasure of featuring Luka. That article can be found [over here](https://volleybrains.com/luka-slabe/). Our next VB article will be part 2 where coach Slabe narrates **the entire practice session explained in today's video**. *(that will be a huge one)* ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2024/03/ncstate-game-volleybrains.jpg) ### ⚡ What's inside this article? In this article, Luka gives a very detailed, 30-minute overview of how he organizes his practices and sets expectations. And how the whiteboard is an integral part of that. Luka also goes deeper into certain specific team and practice aspects. Aspects like: - **What are our focus areas?** Which are the 3 important areas we need to be 'rock stars' in? If we underperform in areas that are not our focus areas we don't need to panic, we need to stick with what we know is important. - **What are our non-negotiables?** We pinpoint a limited amount of non-negotiables, and we stick by them every single second of our season. - **What is our general practice concept?** There are no surprises. Practice details are shared at the start of every week. You will get different cues, different constraints, and different scoring. The drills will feel different, but they don't need to change often. We don't want to be in a situation where we change the format of the practice regularly and athletes (and coaches) need a lot of adaptation time. Obviously, Luka goes over a few **Team USA practice insights** and a lot more ways of how he keeps his program organized and his athletes focused. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2024/03/NC-state-squad.jpg) 💡 ****Quick tip:** The video is timestamped. Use the chapters to quickly navigate through the video for later reference. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2024/03/scnrshot_ncstate_volleybrains.jpg) ### Whiteboard session ### VolleyBrain Members only *For better visualization and comprehension you can download the whiteboard and practice schedule files below.* 👍 _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 72. Keegan Cook: We are what they learn. URL: https://volleybrains.com/keegan-cook/ Last updated: 2024-02-25T15:04:12.000Z Under Keegan's leadership, Washington's women's volleyball team clinched four Pac-12 conference titles and had an impressive final-four appearance in 2020. Coach Cook has been recognized with multiple accolades, including the Pac-12 Coach of the Year in 2020 and was the AVCA Board President throughout 2022 and 2023. **In this Masterclass Keegan talks about:** - Advice that’s crucial to coaches starting out - Your ability as a coach to handle issues and problems - Why it’s important to increase the speed of information in your program - How the transfer portal is a mirror of the underlying decision-making - How simple rules lead to complex and intelligent behavior - Being redundant with your communication - The benefits and the created new danger of lean second contacts - The simple, but powerful effect of compound interest in volleyball and life - And so much more... We've got 17 video clips (55+ minutes) and over 8400 words in Coach Cook's Masterclass. Sit back, relax and soak it all up. Enjoy! Before we get this started a big thanks to Keegan for his availability. **Why did you decide to commit to being a professional volleyball coach? What pushed you towards that decision?** The most impactful moment was when I was in university. As a university student, I was coaching and I got connected with a coach named Rob Browning, who was with the men's national team. He was a technical director. He got hired at my university, St. Mary's College of California, I was friends with some of the players on the team and had helped out at times in the gym, shagging balls. I was a math major at the time, an aspiring math major, and Rob had a very high technical background. Data Volley was still relatively new back then. And he met me, handed me Data Volley, and said, "This is Data Volley, we'll see you tomorrow at practice." He just gave me the program, and I started playing around with it. ### Something about it connected with me, tapping into the analytical side of who I am. I was probably in my 3rd year of university, coaching youth club on the side, and working with the university team. I was struggling with my upper-division math courses, such as linear algebra and abstract geometry. They were no longer tangible but very theoretical, writing proofs. One day, one of my professors, who I was close with, said, "Keegan, I don't really think you're a math major. I think you're an arithmetic major," which was a bit of a joke slash insult, implying this was not what I was meant to do. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2024/02/Minnesota_volleybrains3.jpg) I was already too far ahead. I finished my degree early and started taking as many sports management classes as I could because that's where my passion was. I was coaching all day at university and then all night I would coach youth club teams. As I prepared to graduate, I graduated on a Friday and started work on a Monday at my university because they had a position open up. Here I was, a 22-year-old coaching 21-year-olds. I couldn't have started any earlier. I originally wanted to be a math teacher coaching youth volleyball, but then I realized I didn't want to be a math teacher or coach high school volleyball. I did want to teach, and I was going to teach volleyball. This was going to be my medium. And I just started very quickly. **What advice would you give yourself as a starting coach? An advice that is so clear and logical for you now, but that you had to develop over the years.** That's a good question. It's easy to give advice to other coaches, but when you frame it that way, what advice would I give myself? Probably not to worry so much. I think as a young person, you've got a good degree of anxiety about the future and what's next. I've probably spent an inordinate amount of energy worrying about the future. It made me passionate about the work I was doing. I tried to do a great job, but I probably lost more nights of sleep than I needed to. Things have worked out okay, professionally and personally, but in those years of your life, from 22 to 30, there's a good degree of anxiety and worrying as opposed to just settling in and doing the work. Not being so future-oriented with your mindset. I think that's advice I would give to any coach or myself because it did work out alright. ### Being more present "where I am, when I am" is advice I give to young people and young coaches all the time. Thankfully, as you get into your thirties, I think some of that anxiety goes away, and you get a sense of what really matters. But that's what I remember about those early years. *Matias: That knowledge came to you through experience, or did it also come from people close to you?* I always think the most important wisdom, if you want to call it that, comes from really difficult moments. One important moment for me, I remember, was when I was talking to Marv Dunphy, someone I greatly respect. I was following [Jim McLaughlin](https://volleybrains.com/jim-mclaughlin/) at Washington, which was a big jump, and things were not great in the first six months. Players were failing classes, there were rumors about players leaving, and some players were being difficult. I was sharing these complaints with Marv, and he said, "Ok, you know you're paid to get bad news, right?" It was a very transformative moment for me in terms of how I looked at what a head coach or anybody in a position of leadership's job is. ### Their job is to receive bad news and respond to it well for the athlete, for themselves, and for the program. In that moment, when difficult things would happen or bad things would happen, I no longer viewed them as failures on my part but just opportunities to respond. I think that was a very formative moment for me. Receiving bad news well is a very important skill for people in positions of leadership. That was something really helpful for me. Then I stopped worrying about bad things happening. Adversity will find us in a million different forms, and how we meet that adversity each time and what it says about us in the way we respond to it has been important. *Matias: Stoic literature became mainstream over the years. This is exactly that. Focus on everything that is in your control, but also be great at spotting what isn't and let it go from a total bandwidth point of view.* It's funny you bring up stoicism. It relates to the question you asked about what book I've been reading most, and I've been reading more of Marcus Aurelius and Seneca than ever before. Just how we respond to unfortunate events and what really gives meaning to our work, I've found myself reading more of that in recent years than ever before. There is one part of receiving bad news well that I think coaches need to know, especially when athletes come to you, young athletes with a problem. That experience is very intimidating for them. Athletes sit with it, and they imagine the scenario and how you're going to react. It takes them one day, two days, one week, one month to finally come talk to you. And in that moment, if it goes well, if you receive it well, then the next time, it'll take them half the time to bring you the problem, and the next time, half the time again. ### All of a sudden, you have a team and an organization where information moves very quickly. But if the first time they come to you with a problem, your reaction is a negative one, the speed of information is going to slow down within your organization. It doesn't mean bad things are happening; it just means it's taking longer to reach you to find solutions. So, that's something that I think is really important for any head coach working with young people. We're used to getting bad news, but for them, it's such an intimidating experience that if it doesn't go well, they might never come back. And now you're in some big trouble, I think. So, that's another important aspect of it. **What are common mistakes you still see in coaching volleyball?** There are two mistakes that I think exist on the same spectrum. The first one being, young coaches, young people are very eager to get the next job or do the thing that they're not doing. They have these delusions of grandeur about, "Oh, I'm the second assistant, but the first assistant gets to do the recruiting," or "I'm the first assistant, but the head coach gets to make the decisions." And so, they're always looking to what they're not doing and they want to move quickly through the coaching ranks. They're very ambitious, but what happens is they eventually find themselves in a position where they can't do the job they've been hired for. They move too quickly. And it's amazing, there's been a lot of opportunity, a lot of change in NCAA volleyball. And there are a lot of assistant coaches who have never coached as a head coach even in the youth system. They've never had to manage a roster or do tryouts or make cuts or deal with parents. We love us some mic'd up footage They may have deep playing experiences, but they haven't actually coached very much, and they're in very high-level positions, it amazes me. So, I think that's a mistake I worry about for young people, that they try and advance too quickly instead of building their own skill sets. Then, on the other end of the spectrum, I see a lot of very talented young people with good character, good integrity, good work ethic. They'll say things like, "Oh, I'm just not ready yet. I'm not ready to do this." ### You're never ready for the job you don't have. You're never ready until you're in that job. I just see those mistakes being made on both ends, right, where people are advancing too quickly or thinking about advancing too quickly, or they're advancing too slowly and they're not pushing themselves outside their comfort zone. So, to find yourself in the middle of those two things, I think, is a skill that young coaches need to find. **Do you have a particular goal? Maybe a goal that you already reached or a goal that is so hard to reach that it gives you daily motivation?** One thing that attracted me to the position at Minnesota is the opportunity to do something that had never been done before in terms of winning a national championship at this university. It was maybe the only thing about my previous position that I couldn't say, you know, [Jim McLaughlin](https://volleybrains.com/jim-mclaughlin/) had won a national championship at Washington, so it had been done. Minnesota has a tremendous coaching pedigree, in [Hugh McCutcheon](https://volleybrains.com/hugh-mccutcheon/) and Mike Hebert, but there was something left to be done. I think that's attractive to anyone, the concept of doing things that haven't been done is special. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2024/02/Minnesota_volleybrains2.jpg) But really, if you've won enough, which I'm sure you have, you know that not all wins carry the same meaning. ### Just winning a certain way with a certain kind of person, giving a student-athlete a certain kind of experience that is transformative for their life is the greatest experience that coaching can offer. To get a phone call from a player five years later, or to see them succeeding professionally on the court or off it, there's just no substitute for that kind of accomplishment. The more of those relationships I have with players, the more of those experiences where they feel and I know that we've impacted the course of their life in a positive sense, there's just no comparison to that in coaching. But it's hard to have that kind of experience with a student-athlete in just four years. **In four years, or less even. This is a nice segue to spend a bit of time on NIL and the transfer portal and how this changed and is changing college sports.** No, it's a topic that everyone has talked about, and it's one that I've reflected on. In my time at Washington, talking about things changing fast, I spent eight years at Washington. I never had one player transfer or quit. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 71. Practice videos: Liam Sketcher - VK CEZ Karlovarsko URL: https://volleybrains.com/practice-karlovarsko/ Last updated: 2024-02-11T11:00:45.000Z ## 🔍 Intro We already featured 10 practice video articles with pro and college coaches, and today it's time for **our 11th Practice video article** here on volleybrains.com. This article will review a full practice of Australian head coach [Liam Sketcher](https://volleybrains.com/liam-sketcher/). ## 👊 The coach who's guiding us today **Liam Sketcher** is the current head coach of VK CEZ Karlovarsko, one of the Czech Republic's powerhouse teams**.** VolleyBrains members will remember Liam from [a Masterclass article](https://volleybrains.com/liam-sketcher/) where we featured him back in 2021. Liam has built a commendable coaching resume **across Europe and with the Australian men's national team**. For the 2023/24 season, Liam took the helm as the head coach of VK ČEZ Karlovarsko. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2024/02/LIAM_VB4-1.jpeg) Australia's former coaching staff Volleyball fans who follow the VNL (Volleyball Nations League) competition might recognize Liam from his commentary or appearances courtside at the final stages of the VNL tournament. **Today's practice video** with Liam is another example of coaches who we want to bring back for a second round to VolleyBrains.com. It's fascinating to me (and hopefully to you:-))to deeply explore a coach's approach in our interviews and then **see their strategies come to life in the gym**. [Kevin Hambly](https://volleybrains.com/practice-stanford/), [Dan Friend](https://volleybrains.com/practice-lewis/) and [Lauren Bertolacci's](https://volleybrains.com/practice-nuc2/) practice sessions and Masterclasses are other examples of where we moved **from conversation to action.** **Way more to come in 2024.** ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2024/02/liam_VB3-1.jpg) ### ⚡ What's inside the practice video clips? In the videos coach Sketcher will **go into detail on:** - How he goes about managing the 'mid-season' pro season break - How to make well-known and simple drills challenging - How he goes about expanding a player's technical and tactical knowledge of the game - His pursuit of consistently improving his communication skills - Coaching cues and ways to communicate during practice with minimal interruptions - What his game preparation looks like with midweek games and longer periods of preparation - and so much more ### Practice clips preview 1. **Teaching moment & assistant coach awareness** 1. **Goal based butterfly** 1. **Huddles & performance** ### VolleyBrain Members only sessions 1. Full practice session part 1 and part 2 2. Clip on game preparation 3. Clip on player development concepts (total viewing length = 65 **minutes**) 💡 ****Quick tip:** The practice videos are timestamped. Use the chapters to quickly navigate through the video for later reference. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2024/02/karlo.jpg) _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 70. Andy Inveiss: Pro Volleyball, Beyond the Fine Print. URL: https://volleybrains.com/andy-inveiss/ Last updated: 2023-12-31T13:58:03.000Z Going over **the ins and outs of pro volleyball** is something we never did before on volleybrains.com. We are aspiring to be a great coaching educational platform, so you could say **the 'business' side of pro volleyball** doesn't really have a place here. There are so **many connections and intricacies** between coaching a club team, a college program, or a 'real' pro team, that we wanted to shine a light on the **'pro world'** for at least one time. (many talented athletes dream of becoming pros, their coach should at least know what goes into that) We really couldn't have anyone better than **Andris 'Andy' Inveiss** to guide us through **the maze that is pro volleyball.** ### **Andy's background** [Andy](http://www.tidlaw.com/attorneys/inveiss.html?ref=volleybrains.com) is a **San Diego-based attorney and the founder of SportsNet International**. He has represented volleyball coaches and players since 1987, and has negotiated **500+ pro contracts and 100+ contracts for U.S. national team players.** Andy is the representation of many college coaches and TeamUSA coaches **Karch Kiraly and John Speraw**. And on the players 'side: **Jordyn Poulter, Jordan Thompson, and Dani Drews**...to just name a few. ### Venn diagram *If you ever read* [*our About page*](https://volleybrains.com/about/) *you will know that VolleyBrains.com is run by 2 former pro players who are also active in athlete representation.* This all creates an intriguing intersection in the Venn diagram of Andy's extensive experience, both Andy's and our passion and interests, and our background as professional volleyball players. It sets the stage for a fascinating discussion where we can **freely explore any topic.** 🫣 VolleyBrains is all about sharing the insights of the best coaches around, in an objective manner. I(Matias) am very deliberate in never publishing my personal opinion. In this article and for reasons just mentioned, this all went out of the window, for once. ### Topics There is something in this for everyone. Even if you'll never be in contact with pro volleyball. As a coach at any level you'll definitely take something away from this interview. **Big topics** of our conversation with Andy were: - The role of the college coach in the transition to pro life - Athletes understanding the transition and the expectations - Contractual necessities for pro athletes and college coaches ### How to watch **Absorb it all** in one sitting or skip through the chapters (in the video timeline) which tickle your interest most. Don't miss out on **Andy's intro** though! ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2023/12/image.png) --- A big thank you to Andy for his availability. --- ### To our VolleyBrains Members: Our next article (probably a practice video) launches in the last weekend of January. We are taking a short break from pushing content out...really excited about everything 2024 will bring. Have a wonderful start to 2024! ### 69. John Kessel: The coach who knows why, beats the coach who knows how. URL: https://volleybrains.com/john-kessel/ Last updated: 2024-01-14T07:35:51.000Z When someone is great at telling stories, you've got to let the man tell his stories. 😊 John Kessel's name is **synonymous** with helping coaches become the best teachers they can be. Teachers who become ambassadors of our game. A game that's played for life. It's impossible to give full credit to John's career in a few lines, John served and is **serving all facets of our sport for over 5 decades.** As the USA Volleyball's director of sport development, as a board member for World ParaVolley, as a FIVB Level IV instructor, having conducted thousands of seminars and clinics all over the world, and so on... What John covered: - The importance of the present moment during timeouts. - Advocacy for positive language in coaching. - Discussion on the role of confidence and character in players. - Insights into the development and pipeline in volleyball. - Importance of nurturing all-around skills at younger levels. - Stressing the joy of playing and long-term athletic development. - Strategies for engaging inclusive training methods. - Perspectives on nurturing talent and the future of volleyball. - And many more subjects and stories, ... There are 13 video clips in this article for **over 80 minutes of video**. At the bottom of the page, you can find John's definite list (it's a long one :-)) of ultimate coaching resources. Enjoy! ### **On timeouts** I have a couple of thoughts on this, a little stream of consciousness about timeouts. First, it's really important for coaches to understand that every situation, it's got a past, present, and future. ### But since you can't control the past, forget about it. I remember Marv Dunphy in our gold medal match against Russia in Seoul. Timeout at 7-13, he pulls them together and says, "Hey, one point at a time, this point, Karch, I want you to..." And he was very specific about that point. As a young coach, I was worried about all the things that might happen down the road and all that had just happened or whatever... Now, I'd say, look, focus on what you can control, which is this next point. Forget about the other stuff. And you also need to be pretty positive. There are words I want to get rid of in the gym, and **one of them is 'don't.** My timeout story, some of my Italian friends remember me doing this in the early '80s. Long story short, we're playing this big match, we're winning for the first time against them in 17 years. It's an away match, and we're up, old score, 13-5\. So it's pretty much over, because we're up 2-0\. My setter and my middle blocker serve the bottom of the net, then we rotate, and I go back to serve. My coach yelled: "Non battere la palla nella rete" - "Don't serve the ball in the net" I said okay, and in front of a few thousand fans, I served the ball backwards into the crowd. Still 13-5, then we got another point, I think I hit a pipe, and we won. And in the locker room, my coach goes, "Che cazzo fai!" - "What the \*\*\*\* are you doing!" I said, "I think you told me, don't serve in the net." He said, "That's exactly what I told you." I said, "I didn't." I brought in a couple of players and I said, "Tell him what you're thinking when a coach says, don't serve in the net." They all said, "We're thinking about serving in the net, coach." And I said, "You're a good coach, but incredibly negative. **Get rid of 'don't.**'" ### Tell us what you want, not the 10,000 things you don't want. But tell us the one or two things you want us to do. Focus on that. And then, you know, you go out to dinner until 2 a.m. and celebrate the win. And the next Monday in the gym, you know, he almost overnight stopped using the word 'don't.' That's a word that should be outside of our gym. Words matter. And that's one of the biggest ones, especially in a timeout. It's kind of funny, in a timeout, you can see if the team is doing well, they're really tight. And when they aren't doing very well, they expand out like a flower to stand further away from the ranting and the yelling that's going on. It's really important for new coaches, and even experienced ones, to **understand that nobody's making a mistake on purpose**. Stop treating it like they are and start discussing with them as leaders how to lead the team out of the situation. Starting with that next point. Because that's all you can control. *Laurent Tillie talked about character. Once the players are in the court, it's more about the character they convey. It's about being confident, not about boasting or being aggressive. Mistakes are part of the game, but seeing players confident in their actions, that's all you can ask for. If a player isn't confident, the only thing to do is get him out of the game as quickly as possible.* Well, and I think we need to help athletes that come from other sports realize that in our sport, everybody's looking at everybody all the time, essentially. At least during the breaks that you're talking about. Because when I'm guarding you in basketball the whole time, I'm just looking at you, you know, and I don't see the body posture, the lack of confidence of other people. You don't see it in the vast majority of sports, but in volleyball, you're sitting there on the smallest thing around, a volleyball court with 12 players, making it pretty population-dense, looking at each other through the net the whole time. And you see one person a bit weaker, like the coach said, and the other five may be confident, but everybody gets to see the one whose body posture is given up, **and boom, that gives them strength.** In a timeout, you're kind of six starters against six starters with a head coach. But if the head coach starts to be an ass or, you know, thinks that chewing me out is going to help me play better, it's now eight on six, not seven on seven. And you know, **don't give them that strength**. Don't give them any of that power. ### Be part of my team and trust that your practices have helped us be as good as we can be right now, because it's a journey. It's a process. Bill Walsh wrote this great book, and the title of the book is the most important. "The score takes care of itself." If you do all these pieces of the journey, you're more likely to win. ### **Development and pipeline** It's important for your people to know that in 1995, I did a research study for the FIVB as part of being on the technical and coaches commission. We studied every match played since the sport began. It took years, but we finally got all the data together. The number one thing we learned about our sport is that, yeah, 50 percent of the teams lose. First off, we didn't do that study. That's just a storytelling joke, but the fact in our sport is, you don't tie, you either win or lose. In a million matches played all over the world today, half of the teams lost. That's just the facts. **Yes, we want to work on the process that lets the outcome take care of itself.** But even there, if I think about our two situations between Rio and Tokyo for the women's team. Karch had a great team, they swept their pool, that whole side. And everybody in our pool beat every other team in the other poule. Four beat one, two beat three, three beat two. We were on track for clearly a gold medal, but our number one hitter, statistically, and in the entire Olympic Games, hurt her knee. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2023/12/johnkesse_volleybrains3-1.jpeg) The player that came in was not as strong as we needed for that next match. And we lost, I think, 15-13 or something. And then we went on to win the bronze. But where I saw Karch do so much processing from 2016 to 2020/2021 was he continued to build a really deep team so that in 2021 when the injuries occurred, we still won a gold medal because we had more depth. That's harder to do at the younger levels. It's easier to do at the 2 percent level, but at the 98 percent level that I live at, you have to take your 12 and get them to play all the positions because at the younger levels, you never know who's going to go out. Or who can't be there because of homework or a funeral in the family or other reasons. They're not pros. **They're learning to love the game through your messages and how you work with them.** You've got to have much better all-around players when they're younger, and then that feeds the pipeline upwards to get them to be more specialized if that's what they choose to do. As we talked about that, the 98 percent that feeds the 2 percent. *Let's talk about this huge funnel or pipeline, that you should have if you want to arrive at that 2 percent, if you want to arrive at that gold medal. There can always be luck, there can always be whatever, but you need a huge funnel to start with, to end up at this elite international level.* At least in the six on six! That's the beauty of smaller-sided rugby, three on three basketball, and two on two doubles volleyball. Latvia can win a medal where they're not going to get into it in the six on six world, but Olympic volleyball doubles helps that pipeline be smaller for smaller nations. I was doing an FIVB course and helping develop the athletes from Vanuatu who have come so close to getting to the Olympics, but Vanuatu is a tiny island. I mean, it's 180 islands as their country, but they don't have that many players and they don't have many kids. But they can do doubles. So the pipeline is still incredibly important. In fact, it's more important to do it well there because you don't have as many players. You know, the whole throwing a basket of eggs against the wall and picking out the three that don't break. That's not good development. **You want to keep everybody healthy as long as possible and in as safe an environment as possible.** ### **The future of our sport** One of your questions is about the future of the game and what changes I would make. Working with the sport for over half a century as a coach, **I love the rule changes that keep the ball flying.** When I played in the Olympics in '84, you could serve and block. So, there was no rally there. But you also got called for a double hit on reception all the time. The ball would shank, the rally would end, and it felt unfair. The problem was the shank, let us chase it down. They made that change. The hands were so tight, but they loosened them up, while maintaining a standard of excellence. **What's important for kids and for the Olympics is that every spectator loves the rallies, not just the jump-serve kills.** Sure, if you're trying to win you're excited about those kills, but they don't showcase much volleyball. In the IVA, we had all the '76 Olympians. For example, Skorek was our setter. Mikasa attempted to make a ball that wouldn't fly as fast, giving players a better chance to dig the ball and keep it flying. I see similar developments in tennis and even baseball. What I admire about your country and Europe is that you don't have sports like baseball and American football, which attract top athletes. There is this photo of an engineering building with a sign that says 'Facts, not opinions.' A picture that Carl McGown always shared. I love that phrase. When we play our sport, the rallies is what makes volleyball fun at every level. If you want to make your son love volleyball, play balloon volleyball with him over a string. The more he plays at his age, the more he'll love the sport. ### One of the most intense matches I've ever seen was Steve Timmons against Karch Kiraly before the '84 Olympics, playing balloon volleyball over a table. I think it was at Bill Neville's house. It was very intense. I'll just leave it at that. It was intense because they were desperate to win with this damn balloon, **which made it harder to stop the rally**. It's those kinds of modifications to the game, to keep the ball flying, that I think we need more of. And I love the rule changes that do allow that. Again, in '96, we passed that big rule about the whole body being playable, because up until then, it was waist and above. Probably when you played, it was waist and above. You'd be digging, and it'd rocket off your leg or foot, and they'd call it, making the below-the-waist signal. Get rid of that rule. He's almost exactly where he should be, and he dug it. Let him keep playing. Let's keep the ball flying. That's part of the joy of what we need to bring to our sport, for sure. ### **Possible reasons for Team USA successes** Yeah, it's amazing how, I mean, in your case, you're creating these opportunities for VolleyBrains to share. In my world, it was somewhat happenstance. My friends and I, we wanted to play volleyball, we loved outdoor doubles, so we started a men's team. That was back in 1970, together with friends I'll see 50 years later at our college reunion. And a gal named Marla Borowski from Kansas, she came up and said, 'Would you start and coach our women's team?' _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 68. Practice videos: Dan Friend - Lewis University URL: https://volleybrains.com/practice-lewis/ Last updated: 2024-01-20T14:27:34.000Z ## 🔍 Intro We already featured [30+ hours ](https://volleybrains.com/tag/learning-path/)of edited practice videos with pro coaches, and today it's time for **our 10th Practice video article** here on volleybrains.com. This article will review practice excerpts of Dan Friend's [Lewis University](https://lewisflyers.com/sports/mens-volleyball?ref=volleybrains.com). ## 👊 The coach who's guiding us today **Dan Friend** is the head coach of **Lewis University.** Dan is the 2015 AVCA coach of the year and our loyal VolleyBrains members will remember Dan from [a Masterclass article](https://volleybrains.com/dan-friend/) we did with him a bit over a year ago. In his Masterclass Dan put a huge emphasis on **the personal development of his athletes.** Today we'll take a deeper look at **the technical and tactical side of things.** Dan has served in various roles for [USA Volleyball](https://usavolleyball.org/?ref=volleybrains.com). Supporting USA Men's Volleyball for the VNL and coaching the USA Volleyball Youth National teams. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2023/11/Team_Lewis.jpg) **Coach Friend** is the current NCAA Division I/II men’s representative for the [AVCA](https://www.avca.org/?ref=volleybrains.com) and last summer's Head Coach of **USA Volleyball Beach Collegiate National Team.** Myself, I find it very interesting to first get to know a coach very well **during our deep-dive interviews**, to then get our sneakers out and see what they are doing in the gym. ⚡ 'How do coaches translate their coaching style and frameworks to the court' as you will. *Coach Hambly's* [*practice sessions*](https://volleybrains.com/practice-stanford/) *and* [*Masterclass*](https://volleybrains.com/kevin-hambly/) *are another example of that.* ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2023/11/DanFriend_lewis1.jpg) ### ⚡ What's inside the practice video clips? Most of the volleybrains practice video sessions are a literal run down of a full practice day or one single session, drill by drill. In today's clips, due to court rotation and camera setup, we cover the second (the 6 on 6) part of Dan's practices. Those probably are also the most interesting parts as Lewis has **nearly 30(!) athletes in the gym running drills.** We went deeper into that aspect of the (men's) college game as well, how to value and activate a large group of athletes at different skill and developmental stages. Enjoy! In the videos coach Friend will **go into detail on:** - Engaging a large group of athletes - The differences between preseason and in season - How they evaluate redshirts - Personal receiving activation methods - What their specific focus is on during this part of the season - Being attentive on running a smooth transition game - The differences between his and pro athletes - Many intricate details during drill overview - and so, so much more ### Practice notes An overview of coach Friend's whiteboard. *Dan covers his whiteboard in the 2nd VB Members-only video below* ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2023/11/2023_11_13-Practice.jpg) ### ### Practice clips preview 1. **Transition Excellence** 1. **Receiving Activation** ### VolleyBrain Members only sessions (total viewing length = **44 minutes**) 💡 ****Quick tip:** The practice videos are timestamped. Use the chapters to quickly navigate through the video for later reference. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2023/11/Lewis_YT_overview.jpg) ### Part 1: 6 on 6 session _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 67. Practice videos: Steven Vanmedegael - Knack Volley Roeselare URL: https://volleybrains.com/practice-roeselare/ Last updated: 2023-11-12T13:13:01.000Z ## 🔍 Intro We already featured [25+ hours ](https://volleybrains.com/tag/learning-path/)of edited practice videos with pro coaches, and today it's time for **our 9th Practice video article** here on volleybrains.com. This article will review a full training day of Belgian's champion [Knack Volley Roeselare.](https://knackvolley.be/?ref=volleybrains.com) Roeselare is a very well-known European team with a strong historical presence in the European Champions League. ## 👊 The coach who's guiding us today **Steven Vanmedegael** is the head coach of **Knack Volley Roeselare.** Coach Vanmedegael worked up the ranks from being the assistant coach at Roeselare and was appointed Roeselare's head coach **in 2018**. Since Steven is head coach Roeselare won 4 Belgian Cups and 3 Belgian Championships. In the 2023 edition of the CEV Volleyball Cup Roeselare was the runner-up, winning their away game against **Italy's powerhouse Modena**, the team of Bruno Rezende and Earvin Ngapeth, with 3-0\. But losing the rematch and the golden set at home. **Nonetheless an epic result.** Next to his job at Roeselare, coach Vanmedegael was also appointed as the **head coach of Slovakia's men's National Team.** ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2023/11/Vanmedegael_3-1.jpg) ### ⚡ What's inside the practice video clips? Together with Steven we went over the footage of **a double practice day**. A **serve-receive training** in the morning with a specific emphasis on increasing overall serve velocity and **an afternoon team session**. Enjoy! In the full edits coach Vanmedegael will **go into detail on:** - Expecting perfect execution from the 1st ball touch onwards - The advantage of having experienced athletes 'co-coaching' - The importance of using and being able to defend power tips - How he recreates game-like stress situations during practice - How Roeselare goes about serving error management - and so, so much more ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2023/11/Van-Medegael-2-1.jpeg) ### Practice notes Coach Vanmedegael's notes for the afternoon practice session. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2023/11/Roeselare-practice-notes.jpeg) ### Weekly schedule Below you'll get an insight into Roeselare's training schedule. Showing their work load during single game or double weeks. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2023/11/Weekly-schedule-Roeselare.png) ### The spiking window You'll hear coach Vanmedegael mention **'the spiking window'** in the practice video footage. Probably not something that needs clarification for most coaches, but it's never a bad thing to clarify: **The spiking window is the area where a spiker will be most successful in passing the block or spiking a block out.** *Let's not get lost in definitions though, volleybrains isn't participating in volleyball definition turf wars. :-)* ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2023/11/spiking-window-good.jpg) ### Tools used Some of the tools that are being used by **Roeselare's coaching staff.** - 'Always on' [radar guns](https://pocketradarsports.com/pages/volleyball?ref=volleybrains.com) and monitors from both sides of their center court. - Active LED wall showing a Datavolley feed with 5-7 seconds delay depending on the exercise. Sometimes zoomed in for specific themed practices (like for blocking) Otherwise the LED wall shows the full court view. - Both Datavolley and VolleyMetrics are used for data analysis. ### Practice clips preview 1. **Serve velocity.** Baseline serve velocities that Roeselare is aiming for. 2. **"Power tip" 6 on 6\.** How Roeselare incorporates the weapon and solution that is the power tip. ### Full practice sessions (total viewing length = 63 minutes) For our **VB Members only ->** the full edit of the **2 training sessions.** 💡 ****Quick tip:** The practice videos are timestamped. Use the chapters to quickly navigate through the video for later reference. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2023/11/video_overview.jpg) ### Full practice sessions _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 66. Practice videos: Alessandro Lodi - VC Bitterfeld URL: https://volleybrains.com/practice-lodi/ Last updated: 2023-12-20T19:54:54.000Z ## 🔍 Intro We already featured [24+ hours ](https://volleybrains.com/tag/learning-path/)of edited practice videos with pro coaches, and today it's time for **our 8th Practice video article** here on volleybrains.com. In this article we will go over a training session of the German developmental team VC Bitterfeld. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2023/10/Lodi_vb_japan.jpg) ## 👊 The coach who's guiding us today **Alessandro Lodi** is the head coach of **VC Bitterfeld.** Coach Lodi has 26 years of coaching experience **across all levels**: juniors, college, pro men's, and women's club teams. He coached in **10 countries** among which Italy, Poland, Japan, USA, Finland, Switzerland and now Germany. **For our readers in the United States**, coach Lodi cooperated with **Carl McGown** (in Switzerland) and with **Jim McLaughlin** (at Washington University). *Check out Jim McLaughlin's Masterclass* [*over here.*](https://volleybrains.com/jim-mclaughlin/) ### ⚡ What's inside the practice video clips? Alessandro shared the footage of **what his typical practice looks like**. Defining 'typical practice' as, if he would just be able to structure his practice in one way, this would be it. Expect coach Lodi to put a lot of focus on creating **drills that are as effective as possible**. And running drills and situations that have **a very high carry-over to actual game situations.** *Coaches will have many different influences. (that's what VolleyBrains preaches, and how it should be) That being said, Dr. Carl McGown's methodologies and inspiration will be felt going through coach Lodi's complete practice session clip.* Enjoy! In the full edit coach Lodi will **go into detail on:** - Why running ('football') patterns is important - The importance of pivot setting (for any level) - How to efficiently organize a serve and pass warmup - Why implementing 'trick plays' is valuable - How to warmup your spikers in a deliberate way - Why he never lets athletes repeat after an error - 6 on 6 competitiveness: mixing teams, scoring system - How to handle serve errors in different parts of the practice - and so much more... ### Practice notes Coach Lodi's notes for the practice session that he'll talk us through. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2023/10/Practice-plan.jpg) ### Practice clips preview (10 minutes) 1. **Attack work 6 on 6.** First 6 on 6 drill of the session (with trick plays) 2. **"Live" serving.** The importance of high volume serving in practice 3. **Slide attack.** Why slide attacks should be used in men's volleyball ### Full practice session (79 minutes) For our **VB Members only -> 79 minutes** of **full edit from the training session.** 💡 ****Quick tip:** The full practice video is completely timestamped. Use those chapters to quickly navigate through the video for later reference. ### Full practice session _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 65. John Dunning: My team is a reflection of me. URL: https://volleybrains.com/john-dunning-2/ Last updated: 2023-10-08T09:28:35.000Z This is part 2 of our Masterclass with John Dunning. [Last week we featured part 1](https://volleybrains.com/john-dunning/). **In this Masterclass John talks about:** - John's concept of continuous improvement - Why we need to improve the 3 weakest skills in US volleyball - Which are the 5 most important player characteristics - The number one thing John excelled in and helped remove other coaching weaknesses - Why thinking you know it all is an expensive mistake to make - and so much more, ... There are **14 video clips** in the Masterclass with **over 30 minutes of answers by Coach Dunning.** Before we get this started a last and big thanks to coach Dunning for his availability. Enter John. **When preparing a new game (next weekend), how does your general approach look like and did you ever change your approach? Why did you change and was the outcome beneficial?** In the States college volleyball seasons are maybe four months long. That's from starting practice to end of play, before the playoffs. If you're one of the better teams, you're going to play a little longer. Let's say it's 16 weeks long. Four months. Something like that. My number one goal in my mind and when I talked to my staff was that **if we can really accomplish the goal of improving every week, we will be better than almost everybody we play.** Because it's almost impossible to do. No matter what happens. Injuries. Games. Whatever the thing that might cause it to get off track. Because they will happen. But you still have to find a way to get better every week. Or someone else caught up with you. Because they got better that week. ### So we tried to be the team that even through the playoffs, even through that last week, we were getting better. In whatever way we could. That's really, really hard. But one of the things that interferes is preparing for opponents. If you prepare for an opponent, you're raising your IQ. You're learning more about the game. That's for sure. But if all you do for a week is prepare for an opponent or opponents for the weekend, well you don't continue the process. When you're working on things in practice, you also have things you have to practice for that opponent. You also have things you have to cycle through your practices. Because if you don't do it once a week, you get worse at it. It's not ingrained yet. You have too many new people. You don't know the system well enough. Your connection with your offense isn't there yet. There are things that, you've got to practice. If you get distracted with just game preparation and drop those. You're not going to get better that week. We were very careful to say: Our process is: we're going to prepare for this team. But the more important thing. Almost every week. Not every week, because some games are way more important than others. **Is to get better this week.** And what are we doing to make sure we did? ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2023/10/dunning_VB3-1.jpg) So we have to have weekly staff meetings. Where we're talking about: what just happened. What's coming up next. What do we do to get better this week? And what do we do to get ready for our opponents. The next thing is, how we study the game. I grew and changed over the years. Most of my career coaches did the bulk of this job. They watched video constantly. They prepared scouting reports, hours was put into all that stuff. Think of football. I hear stories about football. About the ridiculous hours that everybody puts in to prepare. Only...the athletes don't. So what I decided to do is change the process. And do everything I could to have a process that engaged the athletes in their preparations. We got smart people. They all have phones and computers. They can sit in class, if they want to; or sit at lunch on their phone and study the opponent. They can do it whenever they want to. Not that I wanted them to do it instead of paying attention in class. But they can choose to do it how they would want. And that's the life they want. They want to make that choice. If the choice is, I am (the coach) going to do it. They're not making that choice. They are not making a full commitment to learn this opponent. **And they won't learn it as well, if I tell them.** As they would if they saw it and made the decision themselves. It could be a middle blocker group got together. Or they did it on their own. Or the seniors got together and the juniors. We came up with different ways for them that week to study the game. But by a certain time, every kid had to send in their game plan for their position. Cause it's different for each person. Then what my staff would do, we all had jobs divided. They gave me information that they thought was important for what part of the game they paid attention to. We usually had someone who's in charge of our offense. They had to study the other team's defense. Who's in charge of the other team's offense, because they were in charge of our defense. The 'serve receive' serving game and so on. I had my general overview of what I looked at, and they would all have a timeline, they had to give it to me by. I would put the game plan together. ### Most of the game plan was what the athletes said. So that they would know I read it. I paid attention. That I thought it was important. And that would hopefully motivate them to work hard at this part of the game. Because when you're studying and trying to come up with a game plan, it makes you a better player if you look at it seriously enough that it gets in your head. Because that helps teach you how to play the game. I believe. But it takes reps. It takes time. You got to do it over and over and over again for you to go: Oh, I've seen this before. I know what to do here. That's a sign that your IQ has gone up. So for me game preparation changed. I tried to put the bulk of it on the athletes. So that they would learn more about the game and thereby learn more about their opponent. And be ready to play. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2023/10/dunning_VB1.jpg) The other thing is. In terms of approach. Is having the program learn that if you want to win the big game, you have to learn about staying in character. That if you're going to play a match at this part of the season and then play in what we call our final four. In this part of the season, no one's paying attention. This part of the season, everyone's paying attention. And the pressure grows. All of a sudden ESPN is all over you. If you're not careful, you're out of character over here. Because there's too many distractions going on. And that's why bad performance happens at that point. Compared to over here. ### Throughout the whole process, we have to teach them how to stay in character. I was even so extreme about it that at the key points of the season I would have pick one of my coaches and they'd have to watch me. I was their job that week. So that as the pressure grew, they were supposed to tell me if I was staying in character or not. And if I wasn't, they were supposed to tell me to change my attitude. Which is kind of threatening for an assistant to do that to the head coach. But that was their job. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 64. John Dunning: Only do things that show respect. URL: https://volleybrains.com/john-dunning/ Last updated: 2023-10-01T09:39:18.000Z Coach Dunning came to the sport of volleyball as a high school coach. Later on he spent 32 years in collegiate coaching. First at the University of the Pacific and from 2001 til 2016 at Stanford University. Coach Dunning continues to support our game through [the Art of Coaching Volleyball](https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/?ref=volleybrains.com) together with [Terry Liskevych](https://volleybrains.com/terry-liskevych/) and [Russ Rose](https://volleybrains.com/russ-rose/). **In this Masterclass John talks about:** - The one coaching skill that overshadows all others (listening) - Why teaching any skill must be based on science/ biomechanics - What his goal is and how it could help anybody's journey - What the most fundamental team rules should be and why - The 2 things any successful team needs to possess - and so much more, ... Our call went over 2 hours long and resulted into a 14.000 word article, so we chopped things up and will feature part 2 next Sunday. In part 2 we dive **even more into the technical side and the future of our sport.** Before we get this started **a big thanks to coach Dunning for his availability.** Enter John. **John, Why did you decide to commit to being a professional volleyball coach? What pushed you towards that decision?** I grew up playing basketball and golf in high school here in the States. I tried to go to college to play, went to junior college and played both. But probably wasn't good enough to play beyond that. I had never seen volleyball ever. Either seen it or played it or been in the gym with it. Never. But I never thought about being a coach either. I became a high school math teacher. I love mathematics, just fits my brain for some reason. I don't know why. And I became a high school basketball coach. I loved it. But I got tired of it, because it was all year round. And a miracle happened in the United States. They started something called Title IX. It was a dictate from our government that said we have to treat female athletes respectfully. And here's some rules to follow. So they started women's sports at my high school and some of the kids already were playing volleyball. They came to me and said: "Would you coach the team?" ### What I didn't know is they'd already asked three other people on our staff. And they all said no. So I was their fourth choice. So I said, yes, and I loved it from the first day. I love coaching women. I love the sport of volleyball. I'm a very logical, very disciplined person. So I got into it really quick, even though it was impossible to find information to help me. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2023/10/dunning_volleybrains7.jpg) I found one book, Al Scates from UCLA, his book. They hadn't invented video yet, so I didn't have that. I had to teach myself. And I had a friend who played in the service and he helped teach me. I was 10 years in as a high school teacher and I had two children by then, when I got to know Terry Liskevych, who coached at the University of the Pacific here in California. He liked me for some reason. And he asked me to start coaching at clinics with him. He did clinics around the country. When he left to become the USA coach in 1984, end of 84- 85, he helped me get the job at University of Pacific. Even on the day that I got the job, I didn't know if I wanted the job. But my wife said, who is an amazing person, her name's Julie. > She said: "Your job is teaching. Your hobby is coaching and volleyball. And you are so busy running camps and coaching a club and coaching high school and teaching that you don't have time for your family. So make your hobby, your job. Or quit your hobby." And she's a very strong person. So that's the reason I became a professional volleyball coach, a college coach. I kind of had to. And I did not know what I was getting into. I mean, I know Terry, so I followed the game as best you could back then. I had players who were recruited to play in college, but I didn't really know what I was getting into. Then I did it for 32 years. And I enjoyed most of it. Recruiting is challenging for anyone. The ups and downs of coaching and the constant pressure. The small town focus on our sport, where I'd walk into a store and people would want to talk volleyball with me. I wasn't geared for that to start with. I don't like attention. But I got it. There's tough stuff about it. But most of all, I love coaching generally. I love the thought of it, how to work at it and improve. So that's my path in a quick little bit. **What advice would you give yourself as a starting coach? An advice that is so clear and logic for you now, but that you had to develop over the years.** I think we all get caught up in competition. In wanting to be really good. Really living the idea of coaching for life, rather than victory. Is really, really a key. ### It's so easy to get caught up in coaching for the victory. I know I was like that for a long time. At times anyway. I like people. I liked being a teacher. I was probably a better math teacher than a coach. And all the time I wasn't committed to this. And I would say those were my worst moments. My best moments were when I was fully committed to the idea of coach for life, not for victory. Yeah, I do have another piece of advice. I'm a mathematician. So I'm a problem solver. That's what you do in math. You solve problems. And for a long time, I thought that was my mission in life. And when you're dealing with people, especially young people. At first 14 to 17 years old. And for 32 years, 17 to 22\. They have things that happen in their life. They don't play in games. They get hurt. They're not happy with me because I'm trying to push them. Whatever it might be. But I was always trying to solve the problem. So an athlete might walk into my office and look like they needed something. As soon as they sat down and said anything, my brain was calculating how I could help them and solve their problem. It took me a long time to become a listener. My wife is actually a really good listener. My view of coaches generally, maybe people generally, is there aren't very many good listeners. ### There are lots of people who can solve their own problem. If they can just tell someone what the problem is. So just to sit and listen. Maybe ask a question to encourage them to say more. I think is a really, really good skill. To be a great coach. I think it's a necessary skill. If you are not a listener, I think you put serious limits on yourself. And so for me, I care. I think I wanted to listen all along. But there was this 'problem solving' itch in me. That as soon as I started to figure out what I wanted to say to them. I stopped listening to them. And that was a mistake. And the longer I coached, the better I got at it. And the more it helped. So listen, don't assume you know what's going on. Listen and let people tell you things. And encourage them to keep talking, you're going to find out so many ways to help their life be better. *Matias: The funny thing was. You were listening so intentful at the start of our call here today. That I was like. Do I have to continue talking about why I'm doing this?* *I was unsure if you were just really listening very good. Or you were just like:" Okay man, you can stop talking now. I know why I'm here." So that's the negative side of listening.* ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2023/10/dunning_volleybrains.jpeg) Yeah, it is and it can make people uncomfortable. I just grew to the point where I could outwait them. I would just sit and look at them until they continued. I still do it now, because I still coach a little bit. My granddaughter plays club volleyball here. She's 16 years old and she plays high school. So I help coach her club team. First time I've ever been an assistant. It's a totally different job, than the head coach. I'm appreciating that right now. I don't want to be a head coach anymore. **What are bad recommendations you hear about coaching or training volleyball?** I think the thing that I would bring up, that I don't think is good about our world is: we are going to look to other people to help us learn. Since when I began coaching there were lots of people where I said yes to, I will do that. Who didn't have the right reasons for why they were teaching, and what they were teaching. I think there's a lot of ego involved in saying, this is my way, I'm going to tell you, I think you should copy me. I don't have good reason for it, it's just what I think. I remember going to a national clinic here in the States one time. This very highly recognized coach was talking about blocking, saying this is the footwork we're going to do. Say you're going to your right to block. What you're going to do is land on your right leg. And as you're landing from blocking, do an air step and begin to turn as you land so that you can transition quicker. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 63. Practice videos: Kevin Hambly - Stanford University URL: https://volleybrains.com/practice-stanford/ Last updated: 2024-01-20T14:26:57.000Z ## 🔍 Intro We already featured [20+ hours ](https://volleybrains.com/tag/learning-path/)of edited practice videos with pro club coaches, and today it's time for **our 7th Practice video article** here on volleybrains.com. In this article we will go over a double training day of one of the top ranked American University programs, [**Stanford Cardinal**](https://gostanford.com/sports/womens-volleyball?ref=volleybrains.com) **Women's volleyball.** ## 👊 The coach who's guiding us today **Kevin Hambly** is the head coach of **Stanford University.** More on coach **Hambly's story, his international experience, national championship victories** and just how he sees our game and thinks about it can be found in our [previous extended Masterclass](https://volleybrains.com/kevin-hambly/) with him. If you want to get the full **'Stanford immersion'** you can go back, take a deep-dive into [that article](https://volleybrains.com/kevin-hambly/) (it has 17 video clips) and come back here afterwards... *For the European coaches, catch a quick highlight of Stanford's 2023-2024 athletes in this highlight reel.* ### ⚡ What's inside the Stanford practice video clips? Kevin shared the footage of a **double practice day** of their second preseason training week this August. It's obvious that in that period a lot of emphasis is put on integrating freshmen, being clear about tactics, fine-tuning hits, overall technical work and so on... In the clips below Kevin will **go into detail on:** - Spiking solutions he wants his outside hitters to use and 'why' - The decisions that his blockers need to be able to make - How they manage loads and use technology for that - Instigating decision making in every part of practice - How he puts short pocket drills into his practices - A few ways to improve tempo setting - How he thinks about receiving - and so much more... ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2023/09/practice_stanford_cover-1.jpg) There are 4 **video clips in this article.** 1. **Two in a row scoring.** Outside hitter scoring exercise. 2. **First to BIG point.** A 6 vs 6 exercise. 3. **Calls and traps.** Putting blocking responsibilities in place. --- And the 4th being **the full edit of the double training day** with access for our **VB Members only.** Clips 1 to 3 are all part of the full edit. So you can **go straight into clip 4 if you are a VB Member.** *You can scroll the play bar to find the parts of the full edit you enjoy the most.* ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2023/09/screenshot_stanford.jpg) --- Before we get this started, a big thanks to coach Hambly for **his availability, his willingness and his openness to share.** 💡 By fostering a culture of shared knowledge, we pave the way for innovation, inspiration, and the collective elevation of volleyball. *Yeah, that quote just came to me...I'm amazed myself.* Enjoy! ## Clips 1. THE HITTING LAB: 2 Scores in a row 2\. First team to win the 'big' point. 3\. Calls and traps. ### FULL VIDEO FOR VB MEMBERS _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 62. Gianni Caprara: Never stop improving yourself. URL: https://volleybrains.com/gianni-caprara/ Last updated: 2023-08-23T17:35:51.000Z Among his biggest feats are winning the **World Championships in 2006** as the head coach of Russia's women's national team. Winning the World Club Championship, **5 time Italian champion, 3 time Italian Cup winner, 4 time Champions League winner**, and more. Gianni's [trophy chest](https://volleybox.net/giovanni-caprara-p41826/indoor%5Ftournaments?ref=volleybrains.com) is filled with impressive victories, being very successful in both Turkey and Italy to just name 2 of the most important league's where he coached. He is renowned for his deep understanding of the game and his ability to **bring out the best in his players**. The list of internationally renowned players he developed and coached over the years is very, very impressive. (Check out the videos for more insight into that) Thank you Gianni for the great talk There are **23 translated and subtitled video clips in this Masterclass**. Sit back and enjoy. Enter Gianni. --- **Gianni, why did you decide to commit to being a professional volleyball coach? What pushed you towards that decision?** I started to train teams when I was 20 years old. The first reason was that I wasn't a great volleyball player, but I wanted to stay anchored in my social environment, which led me to devote myself to coaching. The second reason was my desire to help the little club where I lived, in the city where I was born. I wanted to help it grow and reach higher levels. For about 15 or 16 years I did it like this. Yes, it often takes a lot of time for me to understand stuff. ;-) After those years, I began to venture out of my city more frequently to engage with other coaches. ### This provided me an opportunity to grow, improve, and meet others. From that point on, my career started gaining momentum. **I can imagine that in those times, it wasn't easy to contact and talk to other coaches. How did you manage to do that? Did you go out to meet them?** Good question. It really wasn't easy because we didn't have the technological advantages we have now. What I did was, I began attending summer volleyball camps. ### These camps were like massive volleyball clinics, offering an invaluable opportunity to engage and compare your skill with everyone. At these camps, there were many high-level coaches. Yet, the environment was relaxed because we were essentially on vacation at the beach. I frequented the Eurocamp in Cesenatico. Many top-tier coaches would gather there, sharing their experiences and opinions. Between practice sessions, we'd sit, enjoy a beer, and have in-depth discussions about volleyball. This gave us a chance to ask plenty of questions. Our routine involved practicing in the morning and early afternoon. After the practices, we'd seek for an explanation: Why are we executing a certain drill in a particular manner? What's the rationale behind our training methods? ### These experiences were so valuable in improving everyone's volleyball knowledge. Additionally, they were perfect for connecting with high-caliber coaches. In fact, I met Marco Bonitta at one of these camps. Later on, he invited me to be his assistant at Bergamo. That opportunity, in many ways, marked the start of my high level coaching career. **These camps seem like a very worthwhile environment to be in. Let's take this call for example, maybe I'll forget to ask an interesting question and now that opportunity has passed.** **During these camps you're in a learning environment. Things pop up that you otherwise wouldn't ask or see.** What you're saying is so true. I consider these camps to be the most formative moments for coaches. I haven't been to them in a while. However, I do something of my own on an individual level. Even right now here in Croatia, I am coaching two 15 year olds. They asked Irina and me to work on their technical skills. We are helping them in their development. So during these summer camps, you'll be exposed to really important developmental opportunities. You have the opportunity to talk to a lot of coaches in a very relaxed environment. ### You'll come up with a lot of new concepts. They are the greatest developmental period in time for any coach. Whenever I have the opportunity, I'll invite my junior colleagues to attend these camps. These are very important moments. I don't want to take anything away from official coaching courses. They have their importance. But the real experiences on the court are clearly more educational. For our growth, they are so much more important. **I can also imagine that even for the expert coach, it can be very interesting. Asking themselves: Where do these specific questions that I'm getting originate from? How come these questions weren't answered before?** **It could even make you reconsider the way we teach coaches to coach. How come these young coaches have these questions that no one until now has answered?** Yes, but there is also another thing. The expert coach who goes to these summer camps and has to teach junior girls to spike, who are surely less talented than a champion athlete that we train during the winter months. ### These coaches have to start asking themselves questions about: How do I actually teach them this? Why am I saying this? I have had the opportunity to coach great champions who have won World Championships. And also players who played in A2, or who struggled being in A1\. Believe me, it is significantly easier to coach the great champions than players of a lower level. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2023/08/volleybrains_gianni5.jpg) Because with those great champions, the only problem you have, well there can be only two real problems: managing them and understanding the moment of the match, what do I have to do as a coach at that precise time in the game. ### With players of a lower level, you not only have these 2 elements (both of them remain, of course), but you also have to teach them a lot of technical skill. They are lacking certain essential fundamentals. They don't possess every building block, the coordinative skills, reading the exact situation, how to manage and solve situations. So right there, the coaching task becomes a lot more complex. **What advice would you give yourself as a starting coach? An advice that is so clear and logic for you now, but that you had to develop over the years.** Undoubtedly, it's this: To move way sooner out of my city and my country. To go explore. Not to be scared to make mistakes. ### Because the only certainty we have as a coach is that we'll make many mistakes. We need to learn from these mistakes without worrying too much about their consequences. Only with an open vision, with a willingness to share, with the desire to face the world and open yourself up. That's how you can really develop. This is the only message I would love to tell to the Gianni of 40 years ago. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 61. Timeouts: Effective communication Part 3 URL: https://volleybrains.com/61-vnl-timeouts/ Last updated: 2023-08-06T15:11:08.000Z ## ⚡ What's inside this article? The VNL Finals were a nice place to be. **10.000+ spectators, a great crowd, (playing in Poland never disappoints), 2 world class teams** and what looks like a great organized event. With VNL broadcasting we're also able to listen in on what the coaches of the best teams in the world are saying during their timeouts. They aren't all equally comprehensible though. But with some audio tuning, looking at the previous in-game actions, and rewinding the same piece of audio over and over (and over 🙃) again they do **become an interesting source of knowledge.** The **fully subtitled clip of every single TO from the VNL Final** can be found at the bottom of this article.👍 (VB Members Only) ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2023/08/poland_vnl_volleybrains.jpeg) ## 💡 What do we look for? In our previous VNL time-out articles we put an importance on the 3 C's. It's important during a timeout that a coach is... - **Concise**; time is very limited, use it wisely - **Clear**; fuzzy messaging destroys confidence - **Considerate**; 'putting yourself in the shoes of your players' We are of course missing context on what was said during game prep, in the practice gym, in 1-on-1's and a 100 other things. 🙂 *The clip is a look into what is going on during the TO's, not/never a critique on what was said, why and how.* Let's dive in. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2023/08/grbic_poland_volleybrains-1.jpg) ## Poland 🇵🇱 - Team USA🇺🇸 ➡️ 3-1 To give more context to the timeouts, you 'could' first go through **the stat sheet and the official VolleyballWorld highlights of the game.** ### Stat sheet: ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2023/08/image.png) ### Game highlights: ### Timeouts: **Coach Grbic** for Poland does his timeouts in English. On Team USA's side all coaches had their input (**coach Speraw, Weber and Fuerbringer**) but unfortunately due to improper mic placement not every TO was completely picked up. Still a lot of value in these interactions though... Enjoy! _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 60. Kirsten Bernthal Booth: My 'why' in coaching is to help women grow. URL: https://volleybrains.com/kirsten-bernthal-booth/ Last updated: 2023-07-23T10:53:03.000Z Under her guidance Creighton reached 11 of the last 12 NCAA Tournaments and has won an unprecedented eight straight BIG EAST regular-season titles. We had an extended and insightful talk with coach Booth. Kirsten goes over a lot in this Masterclass: - How she had to develop her own coaching demeanor - What her ultimate goals are in coaching - How her program goes about developing a tight knit team - How she handles herself before, during and after games (wins and losses) - The use of visualization and mindfulness during their season And so, so much more. There are 18 video clips and over 7000 words in this article. Sit down, grab a coffee and go through all of it at your own pace. Enjoy! Before we get this started a big thanks to Kirsten for her availability. --- **Kirsten, when did you decide to commit to being a volleyball coach? What pushed you towards that decision?** Yeah, I don't think it was a conscious decision of: this is what I'm gonna do. I played Division II volleyball out of college. And still loved the game. So I went to University of Iowa as a volunteer and was getting my master's degree. I actually thought I wanted to be on the academic side of higher education, a dean or a president or something. ### And I just kind of fell in love with coaching. I finished my master's and I helped at Iowa for a year, I'd done some high school coaching on the side. And then when I was done, I started looking for coaching jobs. So I guess it must have been during that timeframe while I was finishing up my master's degree that I decided I did wanna coach. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2023/07/Kirsten-Booth_volleybrains141-2.jpg) But I always tell people, I mean now I'm in it, and it's definitely been my career. But there were many years that I thought, well, I'll do this for a while and we'll see what I wanna do. I thought when I got into coaching that I wanted to be an administrator. And that I'd move into athletic administration at some point, maybe I will down the road. But I've loved coaching. And I always say this to people. I think a lot of times people think you either can do it or you can't do it. ### I feel like I really have developed over the years. I made lots of mistakes and things that I would do differently now. And will sometimes talk to former players and say, gosh, I didn't handle that well, and things like that. But I think if you hit a point that you figured it out, it's about the time you should get out of it. **What advice would you give yourself as a starting coach? An advice that is so clear and logic for you now, but that you had to develop over the years.** I think a big thing when I was young was... I tried to emulate other coaches. A lot of coaches go through that. You saw a coach that you respect or maybe you didn't even like the coach all that much, but that's all you know. And I did that a lot early in my coaching. And that could be from how I trained. I did the exact same thing my college coach did until someone said, Hey, why are we doing this? And then demeanor. What I learned was, a lot of college coaches yell and scream a little bit and that was really tough for me. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2023/07/Kirsten-Booth_volleybrains41-2.jpg) That's not my natural demeanor to do that. So I try to do that a bit and some of my old players will say, yeah, we'd laugh at you whenever you tried to yell at us. Because we knew you couldn't yell. ### So I had to figure out other ways to be who I am. But still hold players accountable. Because obviously accountability is gonna be big. But maybe it would be, a ball drops on the floor and rather than yelling at them, the team knows that we run to the wall and back or something like that. So there's still accountability, but it might be in the vein of what feels comfortable to who I am. **What are bad recommendations you hear about coaching or training volleyball?** Well, I'm a believer there's lots of ways to train, there's lots of ways to coach. What I don't like is when people think the way they're doing it is the only way it can be done. I can train someone's blocking footwork and they can be successful. And then you can come in and train a totally different way and they can be successful. So I think being open to having different ideas. The same way with your demeanor. We've got coaches here that are beloved by their athletes and they're volatile. But you know what? They build relationships with their players and be there consistent. ### I think regardless of what your personality is, what players struggle to handle is when they don't know who you're gonna be. So if I go into the gym this afternoon at practice and suddenly start attacking a kid. But maybe our basketball coach could do that any day of the week. Because his players know that's how he communicates. It's totally different. ### So again, I just think consistency is key. And then being open to recognize the way you do it is not necessarily the way everyone does it. And that's okay. **Do you have a particular goal? Maybe a goal that you already reached or a goal that is so hard to reach that it gives you daily motivation?** Well, I think there's on court goals for sure. The best we've done here at Creighton is we've made an Elite Eight. And that was several years ago. So from an on court perspective, we wanna go further in the NCAA tournament. That's the big thing here. The Big East is really a good league and we kind of duke it out with Marquette. And we've been fortunate to win it a lot of years in a row. We shared the title this year and so that's always a goal. ### And then for me, my 'why' in coaching is developing women. So I never wanna lose sight of why I'm doing this. It's about the journey. It's about doing things the right way, working hard, taking all the right steps. And then this year for instance, we go in as a 13 or 14 seed in the NCAA tournament and our all-American setter gets a concussion. We find out the day we are gonna play, that she can't play. That sucks. Right? And we lose in five against a good Auburn team. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2023/07/Kirsten-Booth_volleybrains61-1.jpg) I was in a depression for a long time. But we actually just had our banquet last week and I said it was one of my favorite journeys. And at some point, that's what it's about for me. ### It's about taking a group, trying to get them on board, people buying into roles. Thinking about the team more than themselves. All these things that I think make a great team. And then sometimes things go your way, and then sometimes things don't. And this was a year that at the end it didn't. But it doesn't take away from what my ultimate reason of coaching is. To build these young women. And we had just a phenomenal group of young women. So I never wanna lose sight of that 'why'? I think if I get too preoccupied on the winning side. I could lose that. Right? That's when you could start to cheat or you start not caring about them as humans. It becomes a transactional relationship and I never want that to be part of the Creighton program. **In one of our more recent Masterclasses with [Kevin Hambly](https://volleybrains.com/kevin-hambly/) we talked about how he wanted to integrate their freshmen as quick as possible. What are some things that you guys do?** Well, I think the low hanging fruit that we do is, we've got something that we've developed over the years called the Jay's Way. And that evolves every year. We read it with the team, we go through it. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 59. Practice videos: Alessandro Orefice - Paris St-Cloud (Part 2) URL: https://volleybrains.com/practice-paris-part2/ Last updated: 2024-01-20T14:26:41.000Z ## 🔍 Intro We already featured [16+ hours](https://volleybrains.com/tag/learning-path/) of edited practice videos with pro club coaches, and today it's time for **our 6th Practice video article** here on volleybrains.com. In this article we will go over more practice sessions of the French 2nd ranked team after 2022-2023 regular season play...[Paris St Cloud Les Mariannes](http://les-mariannes.fr/?ref=volleybrains.com) ## 👊 The coach who's guiding us today **Alessandro Orefice** is the head coach of **Paris** and the **head coach of the Estonian women's national team.** More on coach Orefice in [the first part](https://volleybrains.com/practice-paris-part1/) of his practice sessions. A positive side note: Under Alessandro's guidance Estonia's National Team has just won the **2023 European Silver League.** *According to their European ranking Euro teams play in the Silver or Golden league during the summer months. The winner and the runner-up of the Golden league qualify to the FIVB Challenger Cup and can gain access to the VNL.* ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2023/07/WhatsApp-Image-2023-07-08-at-10.58.34.jpeg) ### ⚡ What's inside this article? Today we'll **go more into detail on:** - **setters footwork** depending on where the reception is coming from on "!" receiving - emphasis on the **platform and the shoulder blades** in receiving - positioning in the court and **footwork of the receivers** - the **'4 block' progression** of coach Orefice's covering exercise with various insights - how they time **the slide attack** - and so much more... There are 6 **video clips in this article** (total viewing time = 58 minutes) 1. The **'backspin'** warmup receiver exercise 2. The **'shoulder blade'** receiver exercise ### And for our VolleyBrains Members 3\. Full individual morning session (26min of edited video) 4\. 6 on 6 alterations, continuing on the concepts in [part 1](https://volleybrains.com/practice-paris-part1/) (11min of edited video) 5\. Coach Orefice going over their 'standard' weekly schedule (8min) 6\. Coach Orefice tells us how the cooperation with a new athlete starts and how he follows up with them (9min) ## Clips 1. The 'backspin' warmup receivers exercise 2\. The 'shoulder blade' receivers exercise 3\. Full individual morning session (setters/ middles + receivers) _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 58. Jim McLaughlin: The game is the game. URL: https://volleybrains.com/jim-mclaughlin/ Last updated: 2023-06-18T12:15:27.000Z Jim took over the Washington program in 2001, the year before they were last in the Pac-10, and turned them around into a winning program winning the Pac-10 in 2004 and the NCAA Championship in 2005. In his 13 years at Washington Jim has coached and developed 31 All-Americans, and turned Washington into a national powerhouse. Even more on coach McLaughlin's career can be found [over here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim%5FMcLaughlin%5F%28coach%29?ref=volleybrains.com). In this Masterclass Jim talks about: - How he thinks about learning and transferring knowledge - The importance of proper beliefs, methods and structure - Why the World Championship final of 2018 was so important to him - What he wants to transfer to young coaches - His insights into player development... But honestly, this list could go on and on, and even the descriptions above don't even scratch the surface of this in-depth conversation with Jim. This Masterclass counts 8000+ words and 20 subtitled video clips. Chop it up into a couple of sittings and soak it all up. Before we get this started a big thanks to coach McLaughlin for his availability. Enjoy! **Jim, why did you decide to commit to being a volleyball coach? What pushed you towards that decision?** Maybe I got a little lucky. I remember I was finishing up my eligibility as a player at UC Santa Barbara, and I had to finish school. So my college coach, Kenny Preston, asked me to stay on, be in the gym and help the team. And I loved it. It could feel I loved it. It was something I really enjoyed doing. I felt like I could help. There were a lot of benefits to it. And then I graduated and I got a job in Hollywood, believe it or not. I was putting sound on motion pictures. It was a good paying job. But that night, after they called me and said: "Hey, you got the job". I got a call from Rod Wilde and Marv Dunphy. And they said: "Can you come to Pepperdine and help us?" Just for you to know that it would make me barely any money. I remember I was sitting with my dad and my dad said to me: "Hey, don't close any doors. You're too young. Go check it out." I always listened to my parents. And I went there. Just in two days, watching practice, looking at the activities, feeling the vibe, the players were good, well, I just thought, wow, it took everything to another level and I thought this is the road I want to travel. It was that day that I thought, I want to coach forever. I ended up calling the CEO for this film company and I said:" Hey, I'm gonna be a coach". And he wished me well. ### So to think back on it. I'm just thankful for volleyball, on too many levels. It's taken me around the world, all the people I've met. It's been unbelievable. I can't remember what year it was exactly, maybe it was 1984 or 1985\. It is a long time ago. **What advice would you give yourself as a starting coach? An advice that is so clear and logic for you now, but that you had to develop over the years. (Can be about anything)** The advice I'd give, and you gotta be careful giving advice. I remember Carl (Carl McGown) telling me: "Be careful of who you listen to and be careful what you read." I would give the advice he gave me, and that was to become a better teacher. You know, Matias, I didn't understand that initially. I didn't even understand what that meant. But I understood it more and more, as I learned more about it. I kind of acquired this ability as a teacher, and it's an acquired ability for sure. It was the greatest advice that he ever gave me. And I'm most thankful for that advice. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2023/06/JIM7.jpeg) You know, there's so much going on as a coach, and coaching can be divided into many different things. But teaching for me became the biggest and most important part. And in order to become a better teacher, I had to understand about teaching. I had to understand learning. And I had to acquire this ability. Now, over time, I started to acquire some knowledge and it was this content stuff, this task side of coaching that was important. Maybe my education as a coach started through my education as a player, but those things are different. I learned some things and I started getting knowledge and then I just wanted to continue to learn. ### But then the key to it was, I had to learn how to apply that knowledge. There's lots of people that know stuff, but that don't know how to do stuff. I'm helping coaches now, and I'm blown away by their knowledge. But their teams don't do the stuff they're telling me. So I had to really get into a process. For me, that was really the key to coaching. And then, over the course of a career, you learn how to make better choices and decisions. I really think that separates people. Because teaching is about a lot of things. To me when my teams played the best, they were making really good choices and decisions in these different situations. Hitting the right shots, who takes this ball, all the different things. And they were aware, and they were smart. ### And I think a coach teaches their players how to do that. When I was at USC, I coached men and I inherited a really good team. Bob Yoder was the coach before me. He was so good. I was with Marv Dunphy and Rod Wilde, so I copied some stuff. I didn't really understand why, but I was doing some things that they had done and I had good players. I was placing people. And we had a really high level of success. So then it was that next year or two years down the road where I had all these young recruits and I really struggled. Now I had to develop their foundation, their skill level so they could run all the plays that I wanted to run or that I could run with these older guys. So that really impacted me. That's when I started asking coaches these questions about teaching and learning. And I learned a lot from Carl. Carl was at BYU when I was at SC. He was recruiting these players that I didn't think were that good. I wasn't recruiting them, but they were becoming national team players in four years. I took notice. And I could see when we played this team, how much pressure I felt, you know, during the game. His defense and his offense just pressured us. So I called him and said, Carl, can we sit down and talk? And he became one of my best friends and he became my greatest mentor. Then there was Mike Norman, who I played for.,Those two guys were a lot alike, but they were really different. ### What I learned from both of them was. They knew exactly what they wanted to do. They knew how they wanted to do it, and they knew why. They taught us why it was so important for us to do it that way. They both had a different philosophy. And they did different things, but their leadership as a coach was really kind of neat. And then one thing, just a personal thing that I would truly encourage coaches do, and I didn't do a good job of this and I wish I had. Just to encourage 'em to take more time to enjoy what they're doing. To smell the roses, if you will. I wish I had done a better job of that. We celebrated little successes and motivated people and that was important to me as a teacher. But we moved on real fast when we accomplished something very good. I was on to the next year if we won the national championship or whatever. I just wish I had enjoyed it more. It's the only thing I would do a little bit different. --- *Matias: Great answers, Jim. Last week I talked with Velasco, also for VolleyBrains. And I asked the same question to him.* *And he told me, the first thing that you have to do, for sure for coaches that were pro's or that have had college careers. You have to kill the player that you have within. That player persona that you have inside. Because otherwise you'll tell your athletes: Yeah, but this is easy. Let me show you. You take the ball and you show them, how it should be done. But it's easy for you.* *And the more easy, and then that connects to the teaching, the more easy it is for you, the more obvious it is to you, the more you have to work at it to conceptualize it. To find insights, to explain everything and to know how to make something being felt to your players. The more easy it is to you, the more you have to work at it to be able to teach it. And that was something so obvious to me. And so logical that I was like, yeah, that's a great insight. Not only true in sports, this is about everything you do, for sure.* --- Well Matias, that guy is brilliant. There are a lot of good coaches, but he's one of the few that are brilliant. I studied him and I learned a lot. And as I coached more, I started having a greater awareness and understanding what he was about. One thing he said was: to be the coach your players need you to be. And you could write a book on that. He was amazing. There's so many things about him. He's a special coach. He is like Beal, McGown, Dunphy. Those guys. **Do you have a particular goal? Maybe a goal that you already reached or a goal that is so hard to reach that it gives you daily motivation?** It's a good question. I think I've gone full circle. What I mean by that is, when I started coaching, it was pretty pure in terms of I just wanted to develop people. I wanted to enjoy the improvement process. I wanted people to become more confident. I wanted people to really work harder and give greater effort every day. I wanted people to become what they wanted to become, not what I wanted them to become. What they wanted to become and help them through that. ### But when we started getting a return and we started winning, it became about meeting these expectations with great regularity. And it got so much harder. It's hard to explain, but as you know, expectations can become unreliable, almost volatile. Now I'm at a point where, you gotta have a balance there where, you gotta have some expectations. Because if you don't, well, you gotta be careful what you ask for. I'm back to really helping kids improve, helping a volleyball player becoming a better volleyball player. Whether they're young, they're old, they're mature, people can get better. Human potential keeps growing. It's just way more fun now to just sit back and really get into teaching and help people figure it out. Help them become more aware of themselves, more aware in the moment of learning and all those things. I'm back to that simple process and when the wins come, yeah, I'm stoked. It's a good thing. We need to win. But I'm not focused on that at all. **What are bad recommendations you hear about coaching or training volleyball?** *(Jim was very adamant to answer this question...I had skipped over it for some reason during our call and we came back to it at the end, hence the references to earlier moments in our call)* You brought this up earlier and it was really nice what you said. You talked about structure. And I just want you to think about this. I thought more about this question than any other question. We started out saying, there's a lot of opinions and you gotta be careful of those opinions. We wanna study facts. So I thought about this. I hear people say all the time, you've gotta play and you've gotta play. And it's true. If you follow motor learning and greater transfer, and the appropriate regulatory stimuli. Yes, we're gonna play. So we have to play. Most of our practices should be about playing. But in order to take your game to another level, there's gotta be some structure. Because the bigger the game, the fewer the reps. So can we put some people, in some situations where it's a smaller group, we're controlling the environment, we're regulating the feedback, we're still on the court making the same move with the same speed. There's some transfer, but there's also gonna be some return quickly. And they start to understand. The way the brain works is they now can dial in and be mindful about what their body's doing. ### They can be mindful of the situation, they get to repeat it over and over, for 15 or 20 minutes. And then we go to the game. And now their brain works differently. They start to understand situations, early cues, how to respond, oh, I'm inside against one blocker, what do I do? And I don't worry about what my body's doing. But at some point when you become an expert, it all converges. You know what your body did in this situation. And what it has to do to respond to this situation. So I heard this thing that Kobe Bryant said before he passed away about how you have to have structure. You just can't play street ball. You've gotta have structure to elevate your game and then plug it in. It was exactly what I believed. If we're teaching people how to move. And then teaching them how to see. Then we can have some very explicit methods where we map it out and define everything. And go into the implicit where we're kind of guiding them in their mutual discovery. So it also increases the speed of learning. And it helps them retain and recall at a faster/higher level. Now, I hear coaches and club coaches say, we don't have much time. So we just have to play. But you can still divide up your minutes in a way that helps accelerate the learning process. I just wanted to say that to you because you brought up structure. ### And then the other thing is. The game is the game. We can learn so much by studying the game. I'm doing a study right now on recycling and I'm learning a lot about the men's and the women's game and how it's a little different right now. But you gotta study. You just can't make things up. You gotta test these great ideas, these great intuitions. And see if they're valid or if they violate some of your principles. That to me is a big deal. It was my favorite question. It goes deep into the teaching process, defining your methods. Getting better at your methods. **Because your methods influence everything you do.** ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2023/06/jim2.jpeg) The most important thing as a coach, is to become a coach that believes in their methods. And of course, you gotta do it the way you need to do it. **But make sure they are sound methods.** And they're supported and defended by some science and some of the things we believe. But anyways, I could go on and on about that, but you brought it up so I wanted to respond to it. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 57. Timeouts: Effective communication Part 2. URL: https://volleybrains.com/57-vnl-timeouts/ Last updated: 2023-06-04T18:55:11.000Z ## ⚡ What's inside this article? The VNL started again! And that means that we're able to listen in on what the coaches of the best teams in the world are saying during their timeouts. We were busy taking notes on most of last week's games, and we chose to dive a bit deeper in the game of June 1st, Poland versus Italy. The **fully subtitled and translated clip of every single TO (9 of them) from that game** can be found at the bottom of this article.👍 ## 💡 What do we look for? In our previous ['VNL timeout' article](https://volleybrains.com/40-vnl-timeouts/) we put an importance on the 3 C's. It's important during a timeout that a coach is... - **Concise**; time is very limited, use it wisely - **Clear**; fuzzy messaging destroys confidence - **Considerate**; 'putting yourself in the shoes of your players' We are of course missing context on what was said during game prep, in the practice gym, in 1-on-1's and a 100 other things. 🙂 *The clip is a look into what is going on during the TO's, not/never a critique on what was said, why and how.* Let's dive in. ## Poland 🇵🇱 - Italy🇮🇹 ➡️ 3-1 To give more context to the timeouts, you could first go through **the stat sheet and the official VolleyballWorld highlights of the game.** ### Stat sheet: ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2023/06/image.png) ### Game highlights: ### Timeouts: Coach Lavarini for Poland does his timeouts in English, so we just tweaked the subtitles here and there. Coach Mazzanti's timeouts are in Italian and have translated subs. As the subtitles appear at a pretty fast pace (that's Italian for you 😀), you should **rewind and reread them a few times to really get into it**. Enjoy! _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 56. Practice videos: Alessandro Orefice - Paris St-Cloud URL: https://volleybrains.com/practice-paris-part1/ Last updated: 2024-01-20T14:26:23.000Z ## 🔍 Intro We already featured [14+ hours](https://volleybrains.com/tag/learning-path/) of edited practice videos with pro club coaches, and today it's time for **our 5th Practice video article** here on volleybrains.com. In this article we will go over a practice session of the French 2nd ranked team after 2022-2023 regular season play...[Paris St Cloud Les Mariannes](http://les-mariannes.fr/?ref=volleybrains.com) ## 👊 The coach who's guiding us today **Alessandro Orefice** is the head coach of **Paris** and the **head coach of the Estonian women's national team.** Alessandro's first contact with high level volleyball was in the 2012-2013 season when he was an assistant coach for Forli Bologna, an Italian Serie A1 club team playing at the highest Italian level. **Between 2016 and 2020** he was part of the French Pro clubs of **Saint Raphael and RC Cannes**, winning 2 Supercups, 1 Cup and 1 French Championship. **From 2020 to 2022** Alessandro was the **head coach of Venelles**. (where Alessandro won the France Cup once more) ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2023/05/orefice7.jpg) ### ⚡ What's inside this article? **Alessandro shared 2 practice sessions** and we went through both of them with great detail on a video call. Today we'll highlight the **1st training session** where Alessandro goes more in detail on: - the importance and implementation of **cover practice** into their schedule - the compounding exercises he uses **to improve second touch efficiency** - how he scales up **his spikers warming up** with a limited training time frame - the various **in's and out's of their playbook** ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2023/05/orefice9-1.jpg) There are 3 **video clips in this article** (total viewing time = 61 minutes) 1. **'Cover exercise + rally play' clip,** Paris St Cloud's hybrid exercise to get a lot of high quality reps in their transition game without executing a vast amount of block jumps. 2. **A 'Libero work' clip,** where Alessandro explains how he wants his libero's to defend line hits (slides, etc) and works his setters on 'exclamative' receiving. **And for our VolleyBrains Members** **3\. The complete, narrated practice session** (54 minutes of edited video) ## Clips 1. **'Cover exercise + rally play'** 2\. **'Libero work'** 3\. **Complete practice session (members only)** _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 55. Jennifer Petrie: Be kind to yourself. URL: https://volleybrains.com/jennifer-petrie/ Last updated: 2023-05-07T14:14:23.000Z San Diego reached their first Final Four ever in 2022\. The Toreros reached a 31-2 overall record, their lone two losses in 2022 came at the hands of the teams that played for the national championship — Texas and Louisville. Jennifer goes over a lot in this Masterclass: - What her philosophy on building team culture is - How to handle team dynamics and conflicts within the team - What she recognized and improved upon after previous failures - Advice to coaches starting out - And so, so much more There are 21 subtitled video clips in this Masterclass, enjoy! *If you have the chance for sure check all the clips, fun intersections don't translate that well to text, but they are all there in the clips.* 🙂 **Jennifer, when did you decide to commit to being a professional volleyball coach? What pushed you towards that decision?** After college I wanted to get a master's degree. I really didn't know what I was gonna do with my life. But volleyball had been such a large part of who I was. So I took an assistant coaching job at Indiana State. I'm from San Diego and I went to school at William and Mary. So Indiana was a pretty large departure from anything I was used to. But they hired me site unseen, I didn't go out there to interview or anything. So I went there and I spent one season coaching there and decided that I was not good in the cold. The next season I was very fortunate to be able to go to the University of North Carolina and work with Joe Sagula. I got my master's there in sports administration. I really knew that the athletic world was something that I wanted to stay in. I wasn't sure that it was gonna be coaching at that point, but in some capacity, I wanted to be around sport. (I'm a extremely competitive person.) So after four years at North Carolina, I knew that I couldn't live a life that was just gonna be behind a desk doing the same things over and over again. I needed the highs and the lows of competing. At that point I was really fortunate to be hired at the University of San Diego, which is my hometown. It's just an unbelievable blessing to be able to coach and live in the same place that you want to live the rest of your life. Together with your family So when was the exact moment? When I got this job at USD and got to do what I really love and in this sport. And be in the place where I wanted to raise a family and be with my family. There was pretty much nothing else that I wanted to do after that. **What advice would you give yourself as a starting coach? An advice that is so clear and logic for you now, but that you had to develop over the years.** One of the things that I always come back to is that it's so important that you surround yourself with people that do things better than you do. And that can be intimidating. My first hire here at USD, as a full-time assistant was Brent Hilliard. And he is a very decorated player. An Olympian and National Player of the year here at Long Beach State and he has just so much volleyball knowledge. ### I knew that in my program, I needed somebody that had that kind of volleyball knowledge and that could come in and help train. But it was definitely a scary proposition to think I'm bringing in somebody that knows more than I do, clearly. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2023/05/petrie7.jpeg) How can we manage and live together when, I'm the head coach and maybe this person is going to make me feel inferior. But as my career progressed, I just really leaned into that knowing that I'm gonna surround myself with people that do things better than I do. We can collaborate and I can learn. It's so important that you don't stop learning. **What are bad recommendations you hear about coaching or training volleyball?** I mean, the big part of what I do here at San Diego is just really promoting balance. So when people are talking about quantity over quality. I think that that is a mistake. I like to give my players a lot of time off. I'll often be in practice and say we shouldn't go on Monday, that we need to step away. I know there's a lot of talk about having coaches in the gym in the summer. I don't think that's a great idea. ### People wanna train more, because more is gonna be better? I don't think always more is better. We're really fortunate because our season ends in December, but at USD we don't start school until almost the end of January. So we have six weeks in between our fall and spring semester and I'm like, just go do something outside. Because when you come back, you're gonna be eager to be back in the gym and excited to practice again. So have some other experiences out there. I think balance is so important. As coaches, we just feel like sometimes the more reps, the more time I spend in the gym, the more invested they are, the more film they watch, the more team meetings we can have, that means that I'm working hard and it's not always working smart. **Do you have a particular goal? Maybe a goal that you already reached or a goal that is so hard to reach that it gives you daily motivation?** Yeah. For me it's just sustained excellence. I mean, I'm shocked that I've been here for 25 years. I feel like that's impossible. And every year I'm like, I gotta sustain this. Every year I wanna be able to match the level of success we've had in the past. We're only good as we are tomorrow. It doesn't matter what I did in the past. How long can I keep this up? So my goal every year is that, we gotta raise the bar. We have to do something better. When I first took the job back in 97, I was the assistant for Sue Snyder, she was on the national team for a while and we won back to back conference championships under her. I was very fortunate to get the head coaching job. I was very young. In my late twenties. I just thought, I hope I don't like tear down this empire right now because I could destroy all of our work within a matter of two years. Then as the years kept going on, it drove me to continue to be successful. Even with the success behind you. The challenge is; where are you going to progress? What's next? 2022's regional finals pushing USD towards the National Final four **In one of your post game interviews you talked about 'the culture work' that you do. About the vision, about pillars, about the foundation of the program. From a practical POV, new players coming in, integrating players; how do you go about structuring all that.** Well I can say that last year. We really, really invested ourselves in trying to establish some really strong culture. And it started in January. I look at your volleyball season as a year long process, right? And a lot of people think, oh, you start in August, that's when your season starts. No, this whole run starts in January. And we really spent a lot of time, we devoted at least one hour a week out of our eight hours of training just to talk about what our culture's gonna look like, what our pillars are gonna look like. I could probably talk a lot just about the foundation of our program. How we're gonna establish trust, how we're gonna become resilient, how we're gonna be unified. We spent a lot of time in developing our pillars and then talking about, well you can talk all day long about, we wanna stay brave, we wanna protect the team. ### But you have to actually put those into action, right? You have to actually be accountable for what we're saying. So we would get in small groups, we talk about what it looks like, what it doesn't look like. And then how we're gonna resolve when we get off track. One of the biggest areas is, we can all say what we want, but what happens when it's not? And how are we gonna move forward? So we spent time talking about conflict resolution, how we're going to address people when things go south. And you need to have a serious conversation with somebody about, you know, you're not on board with us right now, but we really need you. So you have to listen to them with the intent that they care about you, right? We work a lot on conflict resolution. How we're gonna manage each other. We learned how to talk in a circle. The team knows that if there's an issue on the table, they can go to our council. The council has been voted on by their teammates. It's usually three players. Doesn't matter, if they're starters or how old they are. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2023/05/petrie5.jpeg) We want some different opinions and outlooks, perspectives for the council. The council's in charge of making sure that everybody's okay and that the pillars are being upheld. Players can go to the council, talk to them if they have an issue. The council could decide, okay, we're gonna meet in a circle. Once they meet in a circle, the topic comes up and then they pass it around and everybody speaks. Coaches are not typically in that circle. But if there's something that the council or a player feels like it needs to be addressed on a higher level, then of course my door is always open. Each player knows that they can come in and can come talk to me at any time. But there's a lot of things that happen in teams that don't have to be addressed by coaches. ### They have to be accountable and have some autonomy over what's happening with your program and you have to trust them. That's the one thing about the transfer portal, that's been a little bit hard because we're replacing people from the top now instead of allowing them to develop in your program. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 54. Julio Velasco: Be a happy and energetic coach. URL: https://volleybrains.com/julio-velasco-2/ Last updated: 2023-04-10T12:20:16.000Z Julio covers possible rule changes to our game (also check out '[The Experiment](https://thevolleybrainsweekly.beehiiv.com/p/experiment?ref=volleybrains.com)'), how he regains his focus, and he talks about The Jungle Book, Socrates and Plato. Enjoy! **Julio, according to you, what rule change is necessary? And why would you want to see this rule implemented?** I think that the double touch must be eliminated. It's not advantageous to our game. And for junior volleyball it's a terrible thing. They aren't playing. A serve mistake, another mistake, another mistake, they never play. Our sport is already challenging to play. We have to let them to play. This it's not solved with refereeing. We just have to eliminate that rule. This is one thing. Something else is the challenge system. We need less interruptions in our game. I mean, you make a challenge, no problem, but you'll lose the opportunity to take a time-out, for example. Otherwise it's just too many interruptions. ### And for men's volleyball. The game will be nicer to watch if we had more defense. There are a lot of people who prefer high level women's volleyball. Over men's volleyball. I hear more and more people say that they like the women's game more. Just because they defend more. It's not that easy to resolve this problem. **This was my next question. How can we resolve the problem?** Many years ago I wrote to Acosta about just this. It's not fair to apply the same rules to men and women. There must be a distinction. For example. Middle blockers should stay on the court, in the backrow. But only to defend in second line. You can make a rule that they cannot attack after reception. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2023/04/velasco121.jpg) But you must also put in the rules, what the concept is of 'reception'. Because that doesn't exist right now. 'A first touch', is not the same as a reception. But the middles should stay on the field. So you defend with seven. Which will give you the opportunity to be more tactical in defense. You can put a player three meters out of the field, for the balls that touch the block. Or one guy for the tip balls. Or 3 people digging the diagonal. ### Now every team plays exactly the same. That is not good for our sport. They play exactly the same. We need more variability of tactics, especially in defense. The spiking is already nice and will get quicker and more spectacular. But we need more defense. But **not** in the women's game. If you put another player in defense there the ball will never go down. But for the men's game it will be great. I think that we can improve a lot. Eliminate interruptions and get a better defensive game in the men's game. **Best game you've ever seen. What recent or game from the volleyball vaults did validate once more that volleyball is the greatest sport on the globe.** Just the overall quality of the game is now higher than in the past. In any sport. But the semi-final between Italy and Brazil in 1990 was the most emotional for me. ### With 20.000 Brazilians screaming. That was a fantastic match. Even more amazing than the final. Of course, we won the final and became World Champions for the first time. But the atmosphere was incredible during that match against Brazil. The tiebreak ended 3-2\. That is all extremely 'easily remembered.' **When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, or have lost your focus temporarily, what do you do?** Putting my problem next to the 'big problems' helped me a lot. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 53. Julio Velasco: This is an art. URL: https://volleybrains.com/julio-velasco/ Last updated: 2023-04-02T11:44:35.000Z Julio currently serves as the sports director for the Italian Volleyball Federation. (*You'll read about his future objectives inside this Masterclass)* His innovative training methods and tactical genius have set him apart as one of the most influential coaches in sports. In ANY sport. Julio was inducted into the Volleyball Hall of Fame in 2005. In this Masterclass article, we're honored to feature Velasco's insights on leadership and coaching. Whether you're a volleyball coach, player, or simply a fan of the sport, Velasco's wealth of experience and expertise is sure to inspire and enlighten. This is part 1 of 2\. Part 2 will be featured next weekend. Enter Julio. **Julio, why did you decide to commit to being a professional volleyball coach? What pushed you towards that decision?** I became a coach somewhat by accident. I was a university student majoring in philosophy. I didn't want to be a researcher; I wanted to be a teacher. I also participated actively in the student movement against a military government of ours. In Argentina, there have been numerous different military governments. After that, democratic elections were held. Then there was another military coup, and there I had already lost my job. I was working in a high school and I also studied at the university. I had to start doing a little bit of everything, including cleaning in a bank while employed by a cleaning service. And since I had always played volleyball before, I also took a coaching course. I really enjoyed it. ### My first coach was a significant figure in my life, who made a lasting mark on me. An impression that has stayed with me to this day. A club gave me a kids team with players to still fully develop. This wasn't in a club where I had played but in another club. In Argentina we have all these multi-sport clubs, and it happens to be that I was a soccer fan of this club. I started out together with Raul Lozano, by the way. The following year, I moved to Buenos Aires, because the circumstances in my city were intolerable. They were extremely risky for me. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2023/04/velasco2.jpeg) And I continued coaching in a smaller club in Buenos Aires. While I was doing other things. Where I could, I was also teaching a little bit of everything. Speed reading, study methods, and the like. The following year, a larger club hired me. There I went to train kids in the summer. You know these activities in the summer where parents can send their children there during the day. And in 1979 I made the decision to study physical education and devote myself entirely to it. All this of course without considering the possibility of becoming a coach in Italy or elsewhere. I was only considering working in a gym or doing that summer project. Because it was too difficult to find a good teaching job. I just coached my volleyball team. A year later I went to another important club where I coached another team of kids and teenagers. All of this began in the year 1977, but I had already decided to become a pro while coaching in 1979\. ### I wanted to try to make a living off of volleyball. I completed this physical education course when I was 27 years old. The course in and of itself was a bit awkward also because my classmates were between the ages of 18 and 19. But I decided to go for it, believing that having this diploma would be beneficial. That it would open up some opportunities, such as becoming a physical preparation coach. I already had a child to support, so I had a family to care for. Years later, they called to ask me to be the assistant coach for the Argentina national team as well as being their physical preparation coach. So maybe they wouldn't have called if I didn't have the two diploma's? And all that paved the way for me to get to Italy. So it all was a bit of a coincidence. However, I made that decision at a specific time. I devoted myself to it because I enjoyed doing it. I enjoyed teaching a lot. I simply changed the topic (from psychology to volleyball) of what I wanted to teach. But I made that decision right there. In Argentina, you could coach children and be a professional. You could survive on that. We have an extremely well-developed youth system. It was a very simple life. But we could survive on that. **Maybe good to dive deeper in the structure of Argentinian sports. These 'polisportivi' or multi-sports clubs had an incentive to take care of developing youth teams, right?** We didn't have a national league back then. It was the league of Buenos Aires and its environment, including La Plata, my hometown. This federation's president, which was the federation with the most clubs and players, had instilled a rule. ### He made it a requirement for every senior team to have a youth team. The amount of youth teams increased depending on the level at which your first team competed. We competed in the fourth category, so we only needed one youth team. That is why there were coaches who would go out to find children to join these teams. They couldn't play otherwise. So that's how I began as well. You played in the Serie A? Okay, you needed every youth team in every category. There was no fine to be paid if you did not have these teams. ### You simply had to have them. So a mechanism was devised in which you had to go find players. Because you couldn't play in Serie A if they weren't there. This significantly increased the number of practitioners and it also placed a high value on the youth coach. Because if he doesn't find any players, those on the first team were unable to play at all. As a result, we were properly compensated. It wasn't a large sum of money. But certainly not like in Italy, where youth coaches are underpaid. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2023/04/velasco14WC.jpg) It was a good wage, you could live on it. You could get by if your wife also worked. Everything began with that single decision. And until today in Argentina, every Sunday morning at 9:00 a.m., the youngest children begin to play. The seniors play at 13:00\. In between, all age groups compete. As a result, it becomes a big event, with all of the players and parents present. There is a lot of youth activity. **If you have that 'rule' even for a short period, the effects will be felt for many years to come. Coaches get more recognition, they know they need to improve their own skillsets. Very interesting.** People were saying at the time that many clubs would close as a result of this requirement. That, however, was not the case. In fact, it provided a significant boost. ### And it's one of the reasons that there are many excellent Argentinian coaches in the world. Some were players, such as Castellani. Others, however, have been formed in the same way that I was. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 52. Practice videos: Lauren Bertolacci - Viteos NUC Volleyball (Part 2) URL: https://volleybrains.com/practice-nuc2/ Last updated: 2024-01-20T14:26:06.000Z ## 🔍 Intro It's time for **our 4rd Practice video article** here on volleybrains.com. In this article we will go over 2 afternoon practice session of the 2022 Swiss Champion and 2022 **Supercup winner**...[Viteos NUC Volleyball](https://www.nucvolleyball.ch/index.php/?ref=volley-brains) ## 👊 The coach who's guiding us today **Lauren Bertolacci** is the head coach of this Swiss powerhouse and the **head coach of the Swiss women's national team.** Lauren has coached **both male and female pro club teams** and has previous international experience being a coach for both **Australia**'s male national team and **Canada**'s women's national team. **More on Lauren, her story and frameworks** you can read [over here](https://volleybrains.com/lauren-bertolacci/) in Masterclass 11 which was launched in June of 2021. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2023/03/winner_nuc_volleybrains.jpeg) ### ⚡ What's inside this article? **Lauren shared 4 practice sessions** and we went through all 4 of them with great detail on a video call. Today we'll highlight the **2 afternoon - gameplay training sessions** where Lauren goes even more into detail about how she implements her playing style over at Viteos NUC Neuchatel. The morning practices and whiteboard sessions can be found over [here](https://volleybrains.com/practice-nuc/). ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2023/03/image.png) There are 5 **video clips in this article** (total viewing time = 55 minutes) 1. **'Pressure Side Out',** a 6 on 6 side out exercise where Lauren explains the in's and out's of. (5 minutes) 2. The conclusions of the study Lauren made on **'pressing' in your block actions**. (2 minutes) 3. **'Setter Better',** a serve receive exercise putting an extra layer of emphasis (or pressure) on the quality of the set. (2 minutes) **And for our VolleyBrains Members** 1. **Complete afternoon session 1** (18 minutes of edited video) 2. **Complete afternoon session 2** (30 minutes of edited video) ## Clips ### 1.'Pressure Side Out' ### 2\. The importance of 'pressing' in blocking ### 3\. 'Setter Better' _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 51. Kevin Hambly: It's all about the players. It's all about them. URL: https://volleybrains.com/kevin-hambly/ Last updated: 2023-02-19T17:50:57.000Z Having been part of Team USA's coaching staff and having coached players toward pro careers, he also has a great insight into international volleyball's past and present. Kevin goes over a lot in this Masterclass: - How he instills team culture at Stanford - How he stays ahead of the curve of where the game is going - What his biggest failures were and what he learned from them - His view on recruiting, past versus present - and so, so much more 17 edited and subtitled clips in this 7350-word Masterclass. Enjoy! **Kevin, why did you decide to commit to being a volleyball coach? What pushed you towards that decision?** When I first knew I wanted to be a volleyball or a coach, period... was when I was 16 years old. I played basketball. And I was working a little clinic with 12, 13 year old boys. Teaching 'em how to shoot, teaching 'em how to play. And I just got hooked on teaching and watching people progress. I love that. The reason I got into volleyball was, I decided late to not be a basketball player, because I knew I wanted to be a volleyball coach. I chose the school that I wanted to play for very, very carefully. I wanted to make sure I was around a really good teacher and someone that I could learn the game from and was willing to take that on. And so I chose Carl McGown, who is regarded as one of the great trainers in the United States. He was a motor learning professor, this is way before Gold Medal Squared, at that point, he was just a motor learning teacher. When he talked about teaching, it really resonated with me. And I ended up coaching club right after my freshman year of college. I was coaching 16 and under as a freshman in college. So kids just two years younger than me, and I even ended up playing with a couple of those guys in college. So right away, once I had an opportunity to start coaching, I started to get reps. ### I started to go out to as many camps and clinics as I could, and I started to get reps. I kind of knew, kind of inherently, that that's just what I wanted the minute I hit college as an 18 year old. I started to play pro, but once I got into it, it didn't have as much value to me like teaching and coaching did. Having played on a collegiate team, the professional ranks just seemed like everyone was out for themselves. And that just didn't resonate with me. I wanted to kind of get back to coaching. So I turned down a contract in Argentina. Started coaching at 23 years old, and I've gotten a paycheck from coaching volleyball ever since. So coaching little kids is what set it off. But then the more I got into it, the more I loved it. My motivations for coaching have changed, obviously. But that's why I got into it. **What advice would you give yourself as a starting coach? An advice that is so clear and logic for you now, but that you had to develop over the years.** This is never about you. This coaching profession is never about you. I think when I was young, my identity as a coach was wrapped up in the performance of the players. If the team was not doing well, that meant I was not doing well. And the problem with that is then: my response to them not performing well was about fight or flight. There's some players that I coached when I was young that I, every time I see 'em, I still apologize because my behavior wasn't okay. I was trying to control them instead of guiding them. Instead of inspiring them. Instead of creating a level of collaboration. And I am not embarrassed to admit it, because I think a lot of coaches go through that. But I'm embarrassed of those times because I think, I knew nothing about what I was doing. **A lot of coaches say that same thing. Then the next question is of course. When did it click?** I think one of the things I have been pretty good about. It's hard to say this. But I think a part is self-reflection. Not just self-reflection, but like, Hey, are you doing a good job? And never feeling like I am a complete product. That I still have more to learn. And still need to learn from every season, every moment. I'll go back and watch this conversation even to see if I can be better at communicating. ### I'm just constantly trying to be better. So I think I was pretty good about that even early. I just paid attention to what was going on and how the team was responding. And if they weren't responding how I wanted, why was that? I started evaluating my own behaviors. But when it really clicked, was when I was with the USA women's team. When I was with the team from 2001 to 2004\. You're traveling and you're talking to the athletes. Talking to 'em about their college experience. Cause I had a feeling that I wanted to get back into that and not go professional. I liked that age group a lot. So I was curious what their experiences were like. And what they liked and disliked. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2023/02/team_stanford.jpg) Many of 'em just felt like it was about the coaches. Many of 'em felt like they were being used up. That they were just a product. That it was very transactional. They're players of the year, all Americans. And they're pretty miserable in their whole time in college. ### And I'm like, we can do this better. I can figure this out. I can solve this. So I just asked 'em a million questions about what they liked and didn't like. And then from there I really started to, in my mind, shape who I wanted to be. Especially as a collegiate university head coach. But that was what kind of shaped my coaching philosophy at that point. I'm not sure it was that solidified. But at least the concepts of what and how I wanted to approach coaching. **What are bad recommendations you hear about coaching or training volleyball?** I think what's really interesting to me is that there's people that are teaching things because they were told "this is how it should be taught". But they've never actually looked at it. And paid attention to actually are the top players doing these things? They went to some clinic or they heard some coach talk about it and this guy has taught it because he's heard it. And historically that's just been passed down. And they've never really evaluated that. They never even watched the top players. And a lot of 'em will even reference, this is what the top players in the world are doing. And they'll tell me that. And I'm like, are you watching the top players in the world? I see them doing nothing like what you're talking about. I see quite the opposite in some cases. ### You need to reflect on the game and put time in to pay attention to what the top players are doing. What are the innovations in the game. Where's the game moving. The techniques have evolved because the game's evolved. I think passing's changed a lot. Serving's obviously changed a lot. I think blocking and out of system offense has been drastically changed in the last 10 years. But I hear people talk about the game and they're still saying the same things that were said 20 years ago. And referencing it, like it's what the top players in the world do. So I think that's a dangerous way to go about it. Or there's things that they're teaching that they've heard that are not even bio-mechanically sound, that are actually dangerous for athletes. Dangerous, that they're gonna have overuse injuries. I heard one coach say, "drive your elbow up like this". And anyone that understands arm swing mechanics knows if your scapula comes off your spine like that, that you're putting your shoulder at risk. But there's still people that are teaching that. And that's being passed around without a question, without a thought. Because I heard this coach who's supposed to be this very good coach in this area, or this college or this, whatever, say this. And they've never questioned it. Because I'm not gonna challenge authority. So I don't know if that's exactly what you're asking, but that's something that frustrates me or bothers me a great deal. **Do you have a particular goal? Maybe a goal that you already reached or a goal that is so hard to reach that it gives you daily motivation?** I guess I have two kind of goals. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 50. Nicola Negro: 'The game teaches us how we need to coach.' URL: https://volleybrains.com/nicola-negro/ Last updated: 2024-08-21T19:13:14.000Z Nicola started his journey in professional volleyball nearly 20 years ago and coached in Italy, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Slovenia, Poland, Romania and for the last 4 years in Brazil at Minas. In this Masterclass Nicola talks both about his own journey, how he sees our sport evolving over the next years, how the game itself is actually a great yardstick to know how to improve your coaching and so much more. Also some important messages in here about the randomness of being a pro club coach and how Nicola goes about being a professional in those types of situations. Enter Nicola... **Nicola, why did you decide to commit to being a professional volleyball coach? What pushed you towards that decision?** Okay, let's return to the 1990s. I was an athlete in my youth. I was fortunate to grow up in Italy. During a time when our volleyball was the best in the world. Late 1990s and early 2000s. ### In Italy, at that time, we simply had the best coaches and the best players. And every weekend I had the chance to see these incredible athletes. Stork, Kiraly, and Timmons. All the Brazilians: Giovane, Tande, Mauricio. The Italians, as Italy dominated men's volleyball during that time period. And simultaneously I made that initial contact with women's volleyball. I recall taking the train to Bergamo in order to watch the Cubans play. In that era, the level of volleyball in Italy was astounding. Why did I choose to become a coach? Because of my height, I did not have great prospects as a player. I've always wanted to compete on the highest level of volleyball. As a player, it was not possible to do so. That is why I decided to switch careers and become a coach at a young age. I began coaching when I was 19 years old. I wanted to live volleyball at the highest level. And thankfully, it worked out. **What advice would you give yourself as a starting coach? An advice that is so clear and logic for you now, but that you had to develop over the years.** I will tell you the same thing I told myself when I first started out. My family didn't play volleyball. So I had to look for everything and figure it out on my own. My first few years were very important to me. I wasn't a professional coach yet at that time. I was working. So, I remember that every time I had a day off or a holiday, I went somewhere and tried to get in touch with the best volleyball players. Twenty years ago, things weren't like they are now. Today, it's a lot simpler. If you go to the internet, YouTube, or another website, you can find a lot of videos, podcasts, and other kinds of information. It wasn't like that 20 years ago. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2023/01/nicola2.jpeg) Minas at the World Club Championships in 2022 ### Twenty years ago, it was a real treasure to have a VHS tape or video of a national team practice. It was a very rare thing. And I remember that for 3 or 4 years in a row, I didn't go to the beach for my vacation. Instead, I went to Montreux. In the month of June, this important event took place in [Montreux](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreux%5FVolley%5FMasters?ref=volleybrains.com). It was one of the few times when the world's most important national teams were playing near where I lived, in Switzerland. I spent those 3–4 years of vacations in Montreux. Like a clinic and a time for me to grow. I thought of it as the "university of volleyball." The first time I ever got to see a practice of the USA national volleyball team. Or a Brazil training with Ze Roberto. A Japanese training. I mean, talking about it today doesn't have the same effect because it's so easy to do these things now. But things were different 20 years ago. I think I invested a lot in myself and this was important for me in the beginning. And it would be the same advice that I would give myself today. Invest in yourself. Minas' Superliga 2022 championship point! **Do you have a particular goal? What drives you today?** I have a daily objective. The goal is to do the best possible job. And strive to improve as a person, and as a coach every day. That is the daily objective. Then there are some lofty objectives. And, of course, like any athlete, the ultimate goal and dream will be to compete in the Olympic Games. This is a dream that may one day come true. And I believe that, even if it is a pipe dream, it should be the goal of every athlete. My more concrete goal is to be able to return and work with a national team. Being the assistant coach of the Turkish national team for four years was a life-changing experience for me. However, this was 12 years ago. I haven't worked in a national team environment in 12 years. And this is something I feel I am missing professionally. So I'm hoping to get back to working with a national team one day. --- \*At the beginning of 2023 the Mexican federation put Nicola in charge of their national women's program (supported by the [FIVB's Empowerment Project](https://www.fivb.com/en/development/volleyball%5Fempowerment?ref=volleybrains.com)) [México: Nicola Negro dirigirá a la selección femenil de voleibolEl entrenador italiano Nicola Negro es el nuevo técnico de la selección mexicana femenil de voleibol.![](https://puntodincontro.mx/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/cropped-logo-per-WordPress-270x270.jpg)PuntodincontroPuntodincontro![](https://puntodincontro.mx/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/nicolanegrocomp.jpg)](https://puntodincontro.mx/es/2023/01/05/mexico-nicola-negro-dirigira-a-la-seleccion-femenil-de-voleibol/?ref=volleybrains.com) --- **Team management. Sometimes managing completely different teams year over year. Do you have any methods that you reach back to?** My approach has evolved significantly over the years. . In my early years, especially as an assistant coach, I had to work with a lot of rules, fixed rules, and limitations, both on and off the court, as well as in and out of the gym. But, over time, I changed my approach significantly, influenced in part by watching and talking to other coaches. ### The rules that I want to be followed now are all within the dimensions of the court. I mean, the real discipline for me is about what happens on the court. This is my approach at the moment. I'm not interested in rules. I want a few rules and that the players respect the group. I enforce these rules only when I see situations that do not respect the group. But, I prefer to give people freedom and not impose too many rules. **The future of volleyball, from a technical point of view, how will the game evolve according to your opinion?** It's a question I enjoy answering. Because, as a coach, I am constantly trying to monitor and analyze today's volleyball. And trying to figure out where volleyball is heading. I'm always talking about women's volleyball. I'll give you an example. Seven or eight years ago, I predicted that the slide, the one-leg attack of middle blockers would vanish in a few years. Because you could see important opposites entering the game. I was studying the game and the numbers, and I was predicting that the significance of this ball would decrease. And some people told me, you're crazy, this is the main attack in women's volleyball. Someone said to me, ah, you pay so much attention to men's volleyball, but that's not true. I only watch a few men's volleyball games a year. And I'm not particularly interested in men's volleyball. It was just a feeling I had. And, in part, this feeling was confirmed years later. In some ways, it wasn't. This type of attack is still widely used by some teams. ### However, some important teams today play almost entirely without this type of attack. Giving more emphasis to the back row attack. This was just one example. Today I'm concentrated a lot on the use of the serve that is developing a lot in women's volleyball in the last years. And there are some new blocking techniques that we had not previously used in women's volleyball. And it's something that remains unclear. After speaking with a few coaches, I'm still not sure if it's a real technique or just an adjustment. So I'm trying to concentrate on this. To determine where we can improve our game at the highest level. This relates back to my coaching approach. When I first started studying, I was convinced that everything is fixed. It's always been this way and that's why we don't need to change." ### Today I'm taking a completely different approach. We must keep an eye on the game and the level of play. And it is there that we will find the solution to coaching the technical aspects. I mean, more than any other sport, volleyball has gone through changes, rule changes, and technical changes. As a result, we must improve our middles and adapt their technique to the current state of the game. And this, I believe, is the most difficult challenge for a coach. Today's fast-paced game necessitates new types of training. And if I think back to how I used to coach passing or blocking 10, 15 years ago, I've changed a lot. I've changed drastically. I did take some risks there, and I occasionally experiment. But I believe it is always based on what I see happen on the court today. The game's speed introduces a different technical execution in some fundamentals. It demands a different 'technical answer'. **You mentioned blocking. Specifically what do you mean about blocking? You're talking about the movement of the block in general, or you talk about the individual style of blocking.** **The second thing is on receiving. I think you also want to talk about receiving in the female game cuz it's changing so much. How you see that today.** Technically, you went exactly where I wanted to go. First, let's talk about reception. When they invite me or ask me to speak about volleyball, I always begin with the same video. It's a video in which I compare the serves of Russia and Cuba in the Olympic final in 2000\. With the second-to-last Olympic final in Rio, China vs. Serbia. Thanks for sharing, Nicola! And you'll get the point in less than 30 seconds. The jump float did not exist in women's volleyball 20 years ago. Standing floats from 5 to 6 meters behind the baseline were common. The ball's path was very high over the net, and it usually flew for more than two seconds, 2.4, 2.5 seconds even. Everything has changed since the introduction of the jump float serve. Because today's key players hit the ball one meter inside the baseline with a very low trajectory. And the ball often flies less than one second or 1.2 seconds. You can imagine that in this really short time, the receiver has to evaluate the trajectory of the ball, try to prepare and execute the reception. As a result, it became extremely difficult. Previously, the reception technique in women's volleyball was to move a lot and stay behind the ball. ### Instead nowadays, you see some key players who hardly ever use their feet. They work all in anticipation of the trajectory outside of the body with their arms. And this is the main concept that I had to discuss a lot with important coaches over the years. When I arrived in Brazil, the same thing happened. It is the main difference that I found when I arrived, technically I mean. Because this old method is still in use here. But don't misunderstand me, it's not incorrect.Whenever I speak with the coaches here, or when someone asks me. Sometimes they think I'm saying, 'What I'm saying is correct, what you're saying is incorrect.' That is not the case. It's just that the current level of serving does not allow you to use this technique. As a result, we must completely alter our method of practicing reception as well as our reception technique in light of the new type of serve that we have. Concerning blocking. Also there, the speed of the game and the trajectory of the attack are drastically different today. And, for example, let's now discuss middle blockers. I always taught them the cross step, the cross movement to move along the net. And when I talk here with the youth coaches, we are still insisting on teaching it in that way. Then we go watch a tape in which I show the 10, 12 best middle blockers, that I believe are the best in the world. And they're mostly moving lateraly rather than crossing. Or they're doing this, which we'll call a basketball jump. They jump with one leg and only a half cross. Something we'd already seen in men's volleyball. This is also beginning to be seen in women's volleyball. Is it just a passing fad? I'm not sure. ### I believe it is more of a situational adjustment due to the game's speed. And right now, I'm concentrating on analyzing this situation. **According to you, what rule change is necessary? And why would you want to see this rule implemented?** I try to strike a balance between the pursuit of showtime and the enjoyment of the technicalities of the game. We also must safeguard our game. I have a lot of distinct ideas about this. There are a few situations that have gotten out of hand for me in recent years. And they are causing a great deal of confusion. The first one is the disrespect for the rotations. We are seeing something that, in my opinion, is out of control. Because if we talk about the setter that slightly anticipates her entrance, that is one thing. But when I see a huge faul of rotation, I believe we are violating one of our game's fundamental rules. If it has to be that way then just allow everything and move on. But, in my opinion, it must be stopped. The second point is more technical. It began in men's volleyball and has now made its way to women's volleyball in the last two or three years. And it's the third touch's valuation. Let's call it the tip, that power tip, these pushed balls, whatever you want to call it. And I'll give you an example. Last year, prior to the start of the season, the Brazilian federation distributed a brochure containing various video clips to all clubs. Warning us to be cautious because the referee's intent is to sanction according to the examples they showed us. And there were numerous examples, to make all of it crystal clear. We started the season and for the first month or two everything was sanctioned. The ref's decisions then completely changed during the season, and everything became free again. And there was a lot of confusion because you were previously sanctioned for doing it, but now it's legal. So I think that this must be regulated and for the protection of the game, I think that also this must be solved. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2023/01/Nicola1.jpeg) ### Meanwhile, I'd like to make the game more enjoyable and fun. I believe we can do away with one rule. And it's the libero's second touch inside the three-meter zone. Today, the men's game has progressed to the point where they use the second touch from six with the spiker, attack directly, or set to two or four. In women's volleyball almost all teams are organized with the libero's second touch to take over the set. Where the libero, in my opinion, became a second setter on the court. Especially during the transition game. This is fantastic. I enjoy seeing some libero's play in the same manner as a setter. Why not allow the libero to make an overhead second touch inside of the three meter area. This will enable a quick and aggressive transition game. That rule is something I'd like to see implemented. **Best game you've ever seen. What recent or game from the volleyball vaults did validate once more that volleyball is the greatest sport on the globe** It's difficult to choose from so many games. It's extremely difficult to decide. I mean, I remember every single Olympic or World Championship final. But let's talk about the last few years. There are a few games that, in my opinion, express the best club volleyball level in the women's game. The Champions League final in Verona two years ago. Between, Conegliano and Vakifbank. Which resulted in a 3-2 match. But there is another game, still in this saga between Conegliano and Vakifbank. A game with even more agonistic and technical content. That was the Club World Championship 2019 semi-final. If I recall correctly, Conegliano won the tie-break 23-21\. With a great comeback from 10 to 14, I believe. And, in my opinion, these two games between these two incredible teams helped raise the global level of women's club volleyball. *\*crazy comeback. Crazy, crazy comeback.* **If you would have the ability to put together the world's most performing volleyball player. Which (5) characteristics would he/she have.** Yes, perhaps my response will be obvious. But I'd like to highlight these five characteristics. The first is, of course, a player's physical characteristics, or athleticism. Second, the technical abilities and skills. Third, I believe that attitude is extremely important. The fourth point is leadership. A player's ability to lead on the court. Leadership that is more than just being a captain or a team leader. But leadership also in the meaning of taking decisions in the court. And the fifth, and most important to me, is the vision of the game. ### It is not only knowing how to do the things, but also knowing when to do them. So the game's vision is really the meaning of being a player for me. **If you can make the strongest 'starting six' in the world, right now. What would your team look like? You can go all-time, current, whatever you want.** I'll choose the players based on what they represent today. Not over the course of their career, but today. Setter, Joanna Wołosz, the Polish setter of Imoco Conegliano. Today she's the setter who's expressing the best volleyball. She's a player I watched develop into what she is today. When I was coaching in Poland, she was a young girl of 18, 19 years old. And I always followed her career. And I saw how she steadily improved her game year after year. I believe she really exploded around the age of 25 or 26. Her playing style has completely changed. And today, she's the best player in my opinion. She is the world's best setter. Opposite, Paola Egonu. I believe she is the best attacker, the best spiker, and the only player today who can truly influence a single game more than any other. Position 4, outside hitters, Gabi, Gabi of Vakifbank. Technically, she is the most complete player for me right now. All that experience, her vision of the game is astounding. What I was referring to earlier. She's yet another incredible player. Zhu Ting, also. Zhu Ting is another expression of what women's volleyball is today for me. A tall player with excellent technical skills. Gabi and Zhu Ting are the outside hitters. Middle blockers, Thaïsa is a player I've had the pleasure of coaching for the past four years. She's a fantastic player. Every day, I am surprised by her approach and attitude in the gym. I believe she is the best example of a 'complete' middle blocker. Because she has a powerful serve. She has a powerful attack. She has a significant block. And for the other middle blocker, let's go with another player I had the pleasure of coaching for a few years. Which is Eda Erdem, the Turkish national team's middle blocker. The Turkish national team captain. As a libero, Monica de Gennaro. In Conegliano, I worked with her for a few months. And I remember this story. I believe we're talking about 2004, which was 18 years ago. Monica was a youth player, and I was a starting scout man. We were both working and playing in Serie B, Italy's third division. On a Saturday night, I recall a manager from the club in Vicenza driving us to the city where the Serie A team competed. Vicenza's first team. I vividly remembered this story when we met again as she a player of Conegliano and I'm the head coach of Minas, during the 2019 World Club Championship. I had this flashback when I saw her there. Wow, we were two young people, a young player and a young coach, and look where we meet again after all these years. That implies our volleyball journey was interesting. And, Monica, I believe, represents the best version of the libero today. **What is an advice that you would want to give to today's players?** Being a professional player or coach already comes with a lot of pressure. It's a necessary part of our job. It will always be a part of what we do. But there's something out of control these days. And I believe it is due to social media. I believe we have arrived at a perilous point. I see some players more concentrated, more interested, about the opinion that the fans and the media have on social media about them than what they are actually expressing on the court. And that, to me, is something dangerous. Of course, it is natural for the ego to be influenced by these opinions. However, all of this disrupts the life of a player. I'm referring to a player's daily life and goals, real goals, concrete goals. My recommendation is to pay less attention to this and focus more on the real job. **What has been your biggest lesson. Or what did come out of your most favorite failure?** Yes, there was a moment when I suffered greatly. It was a period even. A period, not a single moment. There were a few key moments that caused me to suffer greatly as a coach and as a professional. ### Looking back today, however, it has given me the motivation to do better. To strive to become a better coach. As an assistant coach, and later as a head coach in Dobrawa, Poland, I always experienced positive seasons and good moments. Then, in 2014, Imoco Conegliano called. I was coaching in Poland. I was happy in Poland. I had a good team, the club agreed, nay, insisted, on my going to Conegliano. So I broke my contract in Poland. I relocated to Conegliano. Which is only ten kilometers from my hometown of Treviso. I went in with high expectations. But I was let go after six or seven months. We also lost our setter, Alisha Glass, at the same time. So, right when I expected the club's support, the decision to fire me was made. Of course, this caused me a great deal of pain. But that's okay; it's part of our job. You know you'll have to pay if there are no results. A coach pays when there are no results. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2023/01/nicola41-1.jpg) Then I returned to Poland, this time to Wroclaw. And I learned an important lesson because, as I previously stated, it is normal for a coach to pay for his inability to achieve results. But it's less common that when you get results, you have to pay again. What happened? We had a difficult start to the season, with some injuries and some players arriving back from the national team who were not in peak condition. We get back in a decent shape and win seven straight games in the Plusliga. Christmas arrives, and the club informs me that, while we are winning, the team is not performing well. They are not happy. So they need to make a change. The market for player transfers was closed. So the only thing we can do is replace the coach. At that moment, I thought that a "big name coach" will arrive to help turn around the season. Instead, the president who fired me took control of the team the next day. He became the head coach. ### And it was there that I learned a valuable lesson: there is something in our job that is beyond our control. Even if you get the results, you are not always protected. As a result, I began to pay less attention to things over which I had no control. And I resumed coaching at a lower level. I took a step back. And I began to focus solely on my coaching. That was a valuable lesson for me. And I returned to work in the gym with a clearer mind. I had another experience, that wasn't easy after Poland. But then coaching in Trento was crucial for me. I had two seasons where I could focus solely on coaching. And to return to feel at ease again as a coach. Then there are the years in Brazil. They are, of course, the years of success. People can see my success, titles, and caps, but for me, it's all about what happened in the past that allowed this to happen. **Do you have a book that you like a lot? Which lessons did you get out of it?** I mostly read books that aren't about sports. But there is a book by Pete Carroll, an NFL football coach, that has had an impact on me. The book is called "Win Forever," and it is an autobiography. It goes on to discuss his philosophy. With the Seattle Seahawks, he won a Super Bowl. Prior to that, he twice won the NCAA championship with the Trojans, USC. And in the years of being in Southern California, he developed this philosophy of coaching called "win forever". And it is something that has influenced me and is a reference to me. Of course, I observe other volleyball coaches, as well as coaches from other sports. But Pete Carroll is a huge inspiration for me. And this book is something I'd like to recommend. **What do you do or tell yourself when you are overwhelmed?** That is also something I learned over time. In the past, I was full-time, with my head in the job, in volleyball. Taking a break was extremely difficult for me. I learned how to separate these things today. And I can certainly manage the negative feelings and moments better. I can look at it from a distance and with different eyes. This, I believe, aids in analyzing the situation. You can only make a great decision when you have a clear mind. But when these moments would still happen and I'm back settled down; I always think the same thing. That is, I keep telling myself that I am a lucky person, a lucky man. Because volleyball was my great passion. Volleyball was my great hobby. And I consider myself extremely fortunate to do this profession. And I think about all the people who did not have this opportunity. Perhaps they have a passion or a hobby that they are unable to make a living from. So I believe that I, as well as everyone else who works in professional sports, art, or these other areas. That they are extremely fortunate. I'm grateful for it every day and will never forget it. Minas last game, solid opponents lib action! --- Thank you Nicola. ### 49. Practice videos: Lauren Bertolacci - Viteos NUC Volleyball URL: https://volleybrains.com/practice-nuc/ Last updated: 2024-01-20T14:25:48.000Z ### Quick message before we start. Next to[ our paid membership](https://start.volleybrains.com/?ref=volleybrains.com), which gives you **complete access** to our in depth Masterclasses and training sessions with the best in the game(350+ videos available🔥); *we're launching...* **The VolleyBrains Weekly**, a free weekly email with volleyball and other coaching greatness inside. Every Sunday you'll receive an email that is short but **packed with coaching value**. Our clips on Instagram will have a better home in the email format plus there is so much other great coaching content we want to share. The VolleyBrains Weekly will do just that. If you're **digging this** (no pun...*we're attackers*) drop your email below and you'll be in the loop. First one drops **on Christmas day**.🎄🎄 Enter Lauren... ## 🔍 Intro It's time for **our 3rd Practice video article** here on volleybrains.com. In this article we will go over a practice session of the 2022 Swiss Champion and 2022 **Supercup winner**...[Viteos NUC Volleyball](https://www.nucvolleyball.ch/index.php/?ref=volleybrains.com) ## 👊 The coach who's guiding us today **Lauren Bertolacci** is the head coach of this Swiss powerhouse and the **head coach of the Swiss women's national team.** Lauren has coached **both male and female pro club teams** and has previous international experience being a coach for both **Australia**'s male national team and **Canada**'s women's national team. **More on Lauren, her story and frameworks** you can read [over here](https://volleybrains.com/lauren-bertolacci/) in Masterclass 11 which was launched in June of 2021. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/12/TO_Lauren_volleybrains.jpg) ### ⚡ What's inside this article? **Lauren shared 4 practice sessions** and we went through all 4 of them with great detail on a video call. Today we'll highlight the **2 morning training sessions** and Lauren goes over the whiteboard that she uses every single day to go over the **current spotlight, key points that need specific focus and their general practice overview.** Early 2023 we'll come back and go over **the afternoon - gameplay training sessions** and go even more in detail about how Lauren implements her playing style over at Viteos NUC Neuchatel. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/12/NUC_practice_volleybrains-1.jpeg) Whiteboard session (top right: 1 of 2 video screens that review realtime footage with a 3 second delay) There are 3 **video clips in this article** (total viewing time = 40 minutes) 1. A **12 minute review** of a morning practice focused on receiving. Lauren talks a bit more about their **serving philosophy** and the importance of **being consistent with your messaging** towards your players. 2. A **17 minute review** of a morning practice focused on receiving and individual skills. Lauren talks about how structure, timing and a competitive aspect is also important in these sessions and how they handle improving on random gameplay situations. 3. A **9 minute clip** with a **Whiteboard overview.** Where Lauren talks about the **importance of being aggressive in your attacking game** and how she instills that in her players. 1. **Morning practice 1** _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 48. Terry Liskevych: 'There are no shortcuts.' URL: https://volleybrains.com/terry-liskevych/ Last updated: 2022-12-04T14:37:34.000Z In this Masterclass [Terry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry%5FLiskevych?ref=volleybrains.com) discusses how he believes coaches should approach their own development and careers. What he sees is critical for the continued growth of volleyball in the United States. He also highlights the many people that influenced him and the biggest lessons he learned along the way. Terry is such an eclectic person that every conversation with him just brings out tons of value. This Masterclass is stacked with valuable resources, be sure to also go over all the pdf files that Terry shared with us (they are available as downloads) Let's dive in! **Terry, when did you decide to become a volleyball coach? What drove you to make that decision?** My initial entry into volleyball was late. I was a tennis player and a soccer player, and then, at the age of 17, I became the player-coach of my team. But I knew nothing about volleyball. So I started looking at different books that were written, and there were very few books about volleyball in the mid-1960s. ### I had a talent for learning and transcribing it into: What does my team do? How do we train and practice, and how do we perform in games? While working with another team, a younger team, they kept telling me, "Hey, you're good at this. You're really good at coaching." So that boosted my interest. I was still in college at the time, majoring in biology and pursuing a pre-medical career. Then, late in my fourth year of college, I began playing for the Olympic coach's Club team; [Jim Coleman](https://www.volleyhall.org/dr-james-coleman.html?ref=volleybrains.com) was the Olympic coach in 1968\. Kennett Allen was the name of his Chicago club team. And I began playing on that team while attending medical school. And then one day Jim said to me: "if you're not going to stay in medical school (because he knew that I was kind of debating) you could come and help me out." He was going to become a coach at a college outside of Chicago where he was teaching chemistry, at George Williams College. And so, after a year, I decided to leave med school, and go work as his assistant coach. While getting my master's degree in physical education, despite never having taken a physical education class as an undergraduate. So that was my entry point into coaching. At the time, I was coaching men as a player-coach at George Williams College, and then I started coaching a very good women's team in the Chicago area with four national team players. The Chicago Volleyball Club was its name. That was my first foray into coaching women. I coached men as an assistant at George Williams before moving on to coach men at Ohio State from 1974 to 1976. So that's how I got started as a coach. It came later, but it was something I enjoyed and was good at. **What advice would you give to yourself as a new coach? A piece of advice that is so obvious and logical to you now, but that you had to develop over time.** Well, I believe there's a two-pronged advice: 'hey, failure is okay,' whether it's losing a match or not performing a skill correctly. That is 'the learning process'. ### So I've always said to people, failure is tuition for the future. You need to understand that early on, because you may become frustrated, but there are many things in life that we want but don't get. That's fine as long as we stay on track. And the second part of that, which is somewhat related to it, is that "hey, everything takes longer than you think, and nothing in life that is worth doing is easy." Whether it's relationships, parenting, coaching, playing as an athlete, or business. ### If somebody says it's easy, that means they haven't done it. You need to learn that it's a process, and everything takes longer. So be patient and stick to your plan. And if you don't reach your goal, it's fine to reset it or even change course. We've talked about it before: 'hey, you have to enjoy what you do.' And if you don't enjoy what you do, even if it's very difficult, you must stay the course because there are a lot of boring, mundane things that you may have to do in order to become accomplished. **Do you have a specific goal in mind? Perhaps a goal that you have already achieved or one that is so difficult to achieve that it provides you with daily motivation?** Knowing myself, I'm a developer, which means that I'm good at taking things from zero to good. Whether it's teams, I've had teams that were a year old like when I arrived at the University of Pacific, and in four years we went to the division I final four and went to five final fours. The same is true for the national team. When I took over in 1985, they were a very successful silver medalist in 1984, a bronze medalist and World Championship winner in 1982, and one of the best teams in the world in 1980, despite not going to the Olympics. But then everyone retires. And I always tell people that when I was the head coach in 1985, our first competition was against the number three Korean 'club team'...not even the national team. We played seven matches. We didn't win a single set. We didn't win a single set or a match. And in ten years, we became the world's number one. So I'm a developer. Similarly in business... I've started several companies: Total Sports, Inc., ARK Digital Technologies, Paragon Marketing before this one, and Total Sports Art of Coaching. We started Art of Coaching 12 years ago as a live clinic event series with three top coaches, two top collegiate coaches who have won the most national championships in American Women's College. Penn State's Russ Rose, and Stanford's John Dunning, formerly of the University of Pacific, and then myself as an Olympic coach. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/12/AOCcrew_volleybrains.jpg) The AOC Volleyball founder crew! But it morphed into something else, I wanted to create a website. And I wanted to create a website with really good content that is also updated every week with new content. And I wanted to do it not only in volleyball (Art of Coaching Volleyball), but also in softball, baseball, and football (Art of Coaching American Football). We expected it to be much faster, but we've stuck with it; this is our 12th year. And we made it through the pandemic, which was difficult because everything shut down for our live events. In 2020, for example, we had 7 volleyball clinics planned and 2 softball clinics, but we only held 1 volleyball clinic. That's all. That was difficult for our company because these events accounted for 35% of our gross revenue. But we made it, and we're planning to reinvest more in the Art of Coaching Softball. In volleyball, we will stay the course. We may reduce the number of live clinics and increase the number of virtual clinics. Third, we're launching the Art of Pickleball, which is big in the United States. It's similar to how padel has taken off as a sport in Europe. So, in my mind, my philosophy is: Hey, I want to develop something, take it to a certain level, then have other people like my partner here, Mark Tilson who is very good, be the CEO. Succession is therefore set up. My life goal right now, Matias, is simple. I enjoy mentoring coaches and business people. I like mentoring coaches and people in business, and I like doing that, not necessarily for financial gain. ### But because I've learned so much about how not to do things that I can help people cut down on some of the errors that they seem to be making. Even though, yes, it's better to make errors yourself, better to have failure, because you're gonna learn better that way. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 47. Learning Path 2: Culture by design, not by default. URL: https://volleybrains.com/team-culture/ Last updated: 2023-06-25T10:04:06.000Z ### ### ⚡Culture by design! Our [video call](https://volleybrains.com/alan-knipe/) with **Alan Knipe** planted the seed for this Learning Path. Coach Knipe spoke at length about **his efforts to shape and instill a culture of trust and accountability**. About creating an environment in which **his team could thrive**. But most importantly, to not allow circumstance **to dictate your culture**. In today's Learning Path, we'll discuss various perspectives and motivations for designing your team's or club's culture. 💪 On volleybrains.com, there are countless practical and organizational **examples of instilling team culture and culture** as a whole. The excerpts in this learning path are meant to serve as a starting point. ### ### 🏐 Featured coaches. **Alan Knipe:** Long Beach state head coach, former USA men's national team head coach **Hugh McCutcheon:** University of Minnesota's head coach, former USA women's and men's head coach **Dan Friend:** Lewis University's head coach **Terry Liskevych:** former USA women's national team head coach, entrepreneur and driver behind [the art of coaching volleyball.](https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/?ref=volleybrains.com) **Laurent Tillie:** Panasonic Panthers head coach, former French national team head coach ### ⚡Let's dive in! --- ## Alan Knipe **You touched upon the importance of team culture, let's talk a bit more about what you're instilling with your team, with your players.** We spend a tremendous time on our culture. The really enjoyable part of being a college coach in the men's game is that our season starts in January and you get your team in in August. So you can spend that entire fall academic semester of building your team, both as athletes in the strength and conditioning and in the weight room. And also in what we call **our "retreat"** that we have every Monday of the entire fall semester, where we're spending time on what we believe in. And there's lots of levels to that. Obviously we can talk about our blocking and our defense and all the technical parts of the game, but there's also things that are super important about our culture. ### Because I'm a big believer, if you go back to what I said earlier about sustainable success, then you have to make sure that your culture is by design, not default. The culture that I played in as a player here, albeit that it turned into a national championship and some very, very good teams, and I loved my time here, but it was very much by default at that time. We had a very good collection of players, some very good coaches at the time. And then from year to year, it could change dramatically. So it was a little bit up and down, but the bad part about that is really quickly, if you're not careful, the culture by default can go bad in a heartbeat to. The wrong coach, the wrong players, not enough attention to the behaviour within the locker room within the classroom, how they interact off the court with one another. There's lots of different things that can change it. ### So you have to be able to address these early things that will come up, not if they come up. Especially in this age of social media, where people can disappear from reality and just communicate with their thumbs all day. That becomes a little bit of a problem later on in life when they have to work within a unit with a team and they have to be able to communicate with the coaching staff... So teaching them communication and teaching them how to be open and honest with their communication and direct with one another **so that we can get buy-in.** If a team doesn't have good communication and they don't trust the fact that they can communicate with one another, they can communicate with their coaches...you're going to have players that are silenced **and when they're silenced, there's not going to be buying into what you're trying to do.** ### And if you don't have buy-in, you're not going to get to the level of having any trust with one another. And obviously trust, as we all know, is an enormous part of team success. Trusting to make the right play on the court, trusting that they'll make the right decision on Saturday night, trusting that they'll do what they're supposed to do academically to still be able to play. Lots of trust is broken by the fact that communication hasn't been established as a foundation. And once you get the trust, and once you develop the trust with one another, **you can now hold each other accountable.** Because you trust that the other teammate and the other coach or your head coach, or whoever it might be is **totally invested into this culture** and is communicating each step of the way and building trust each step of the way. You're going to be more apt to trust that when he talks to you about accountability, like even volleyball related: 'Hey, that tip was yours. You have to get it.' Or I'm asking you to do this offensively or set this kind of offense as a setter. ### You trust him more when you've had good open communication and lots of contacts. And then now the accountability to holding yourself to the level of what the coach wants or what the players want, or your teammates want **is easier for everybody because of that trust.** ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/12/knipe6.jpeg) And once you have the communication and the trust and the accountability. Now we can start getting to the point of **getting the results that we all wanted from the very beginning.** So we spent a lot of time talking about our culture being by design being intentional. And once again, going back to the idea of being able to write it down, we use kind of like, in a corporate world, a job description. Everybody has a job description, but in a team, there is no such thing, even though we imply there is. So what we do a lot is **we'll take our team and we'll divide it by position**. And after we're deep into our retreat, we'll have the outside hitters get together and the opposites get together and everybody...the groups, get together and write their job description. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 46. Practice videos: Sir Safety Perugia - Andrea Anastasi URL: https://volleybrains.com/perugia-practice/ Last updated: 2024-01-20T14:25:04.000Z ## 🔍 Intro It's time for **our second Practice video article** here on volleybrains.com. In this article we will go over a practice session of the **current leader in the Italian Superlega** (the most balanced league in the world...imo) and the **newly crowned Italian Supercup winner**...[Sir Safety Perugia](https://www.sirsafetyperugia.it/?ref=volleybrains.com). ## 👊 The coach who's guiding us today **Andrea Anastasi** is the head coach of this Italian powerhouse. Over **Andrea's 28 year coaching career** he has been coaching Italian club teams, the Italian National Team, the Spanish National Team, Polish clubs, the Polish national team and Belgian's NT. After many years of coaching in Poland Andrea now returned back to Italy. **More on Andrea, his story and frameworks** you can read [over here](https://volleybrains.com/andrea-anastasi/) in one of the first Masterclasses we ever posted. 💪 Andrea made the time to finish these recordings last Wednesday (02/11), a few hours after arriving home after Perugia's Supercup victory. ****Thanks coach for the availability!** ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/11/volleybrains_anastasi.jpeg) ### 🏆 Perugia's 2022 - 2023 objectives **'In it to win it'**...that's probably the best way to describe **Perugia's ambition**. This season they will compete on these '5' fronts: - Italian SuperLega (the Italian competition) - European Champions League - Italian Supercoppa (✅; checked off last Tuesday) - Italian Cup - Club World Championship Perugia's team is the home of **many of the world's top class players**. Outside hitters **Kamil Semeniuk, Wilfredo Leon and setter Simone Giannelli** to name just 3 of their most well known players. It would be very shortsighted to stop with these players though...**this team is filled to the brim with world class talent.** ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/11/roster_perugia.jpg) volleybox.com ### ⚡ What's inside this article? **Andrea shared a practice session of his team.** We **pulled that session apart** and during our video call we went deeper into the following fundamentals; **What are you specifically training on, which are the key points of the exercises and what are your objectives with them.** ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/11/volleybrains_anastasileon.jpeg) There are **4 video clips in the article** (total viewing time = 45 minutes)...best to go over them in order. 1. A **10 minute sneak preview** of Andrea going over the first part of his practice 2. A **25 minute video going over the other parts of the practice** 3. A clip where Andrea talks about the **importance of training with physically and mentally prepared players** and where the difficulties lie for a team with world class players that compete year round. 4. A **10 minute clip** with questions and answers about: - How to handle **player's expectations** with a roster where the players coming in are (in really almost every position) at the same level as the 'starters' - How Andrea as a head coach handles **the expectations of the 'club's objectives'** that were described above. He himself, the players and the club know that they are targeted as the 'team to beat'. He explains how he goes about all that. ## > Supercoppa Final Match Highlight: [@SIRVolleyPG](https://twitter.com/SIRVolleyPG?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=volleybrains.com) 🆚 [@VolleyLube](https://twitter.com/VolleyLube?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=volleybrains.com) > > Congrats to Perugia for winning the 2022 [#SuperCoppa](https://twitter.com/hashtag/SuperCoppa?src=hash&ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=volleybrains.com) last night in an epic 5 set match against Civitanova! > > 🏆 This is their 4th Supercoppa title. > > 📺 Full match replay on VBTV. > > 🏐 [#Volleyball](https://twitter.com/hashtag/Volleyball?src=hash&ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=volleybrains.com) [#Pallavolo](https://twitter.com/hashtag/Pallavolo?src=hash&ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=volleybrains.com) [#SuperLega](https://twitter.com/hashtag/SuperLega?src=hash&ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=volleybrains.com) [pic.twitter.com/iAYTWQ3oGL](https://t.co/iAYTWQ3oGL?ref=volleybrains.com) > > — Volleyball World (@volleyballworld) [November 2, 2022](https://twitter.com/volleyballworld/status/1587716139223842816?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=volleybrains.com) ### 💡 Diving in! You can jump through the clips using **the chapters on the video timeline**. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/11/perugia_volleybrains.jpg) **1\. 10 minute sneak preview (practice of 27/09/2022)** **2\. 25 minute video going over the other parts of the practice** **(practice of 27/09/2022)** The first 2 minutes of this clip are to be skipped if you saw the previous video til the end. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 45. Silvano Prandi: 'Not doing things well doesn't give me satisfaction. And without satisfaction it's useless to do things' URL: https://volleybrains.com/silvano-prandi/ Last updated: 2022-10-16T16:41:50.000Z From Turino winning national and European championships, he went on to coach the Italian men's NT to a Bronze medal at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. For the next 25 years [Silvano](https://volleybox.net/silvano-prandi-p41804/clubs?ref=volleybrains.com) became a household name in the top clubs of Italian volleyball, being the architect of many successes. In 2008 he became the head coach of the Bulgarian men's NT and from 2013 on he's coaching French pro club teams. From 2015 on and still currently he's coaching the French powerhouse Chaumont. We had a great and long talk with Silvano. Regular readers will know that we are fans of **'real' coaching talk** but we also don't shy away from some **coaching and life philosophy**. This Masterclass with 'mister' Prandi is filled to the top with both of those. Enjoy! Enter Silvano. **Silvano, when and why did you decide to become a professional volleyball coach?** I was born a coach. Years after I started, I began to examine my own path. So I figured out that I was born with this predisposition or with this passion. I started playing volleyball, when I was 14 years old. When I was 16 years old, I liked to go and watch the practices of those who were a year or two years younger than me. I would go to watch their practice and the coaches would tell me: Do a bit of setting with that guy or hit some balls on this other guy. And I liked that stuff. Other situations gave away my affinity to coaching. In high school I figured out that one guy could become a decent player. He attacked well, he was tall. He had some good physical qualities. So I told him, come and play with me on my team. At a certain point I studied to become a chemist. I was specialising in industrial chemistry. However when I became 19 years old, I chose to go to the university and study exercise science at the Institute of Physical Education. Why? Because it was the school where they teached how to be a better coach. When I went to do my military service, because when I did it, it was mandatory in Italy. I chose to go to the military school. Why? Because they were teaching how to manage people. I was interested in understanding how from a military point of view people were managed. And it was an experience that in my opinion fit in well with the life that I had created for myself. I was a setter, all these things helped me out. Then, at the age of 25, when my club went to A1, the best Italian league, they got a great setter, a strong Bulgarian player. I instead of going to play in a smaller team in my city or my region, I preferred to quit playing and start coaching young kids. Because I liked that much more than going to play in other teams for no or little money. Slowly all these things developed. So I simply followed what was my passion. An important moment took place when I became 28 years old and my club asked me to be the first team coach. And that was the first team I coached in the so called Serie A. That's what became the Serie A1, back then it was called Serie A and Serie B. And another important moment was 12 years later when I decided to become a professional because up to that point I divided my time between, teaching and coaching on the side. I was a teacher because I had become a teacher in physical education. I taught physical education at school. All this took place in my city which was in Turin. And I could do these 2 things at the same time, go to school in the morning and in the afternoon I was a coach. So at that point I had to choose whether to continue my teaching profession or leave school and go to another city where I had an offer to coach full time. ### And I chose the second thing. I chose to leave school, I was a teacher employed by the Italian state. But I resigned. I was the first Italian coach who made that choice. That was in 1988. I made the choice to devote myself full time to volleyball with every possible risk connected to that choice. At that time there were no professional coaches. At least in Italy there were no Italian professionals. There were some foreigners who did that and who then went back to their own country. ### I made that choice, because I followed my passion. And so from that moment on I became a complete professional. Which has certainly helped me to be more present in many things and choices from that point on. **You coached the Italian national team and years later the Bulgarian national team, all while combining it with club volleyball. Nowadays some federations want year round availability and don't want that these coaches train club teams in winter...** Never have I ever only coached a national team. I'm convinced that the one job helps the other. One thing helps the other. If you stay 9 months without doing anything and then you get 3 months where you have to give it your all, but you lack being a trainer, you lack the habit. You lack the habit of the work. That's not okay. The sports federations that do not want coaches to also coach club teams, in my opinion have it wrong. That is my idea at least. If anyone has a small disadvantage it is the club, because the club gets the coach back when the European Championship is over or when the World Championship is over. The Olympics in general are done pretty early, so there's no problem there. The World and European championships are usually in September. So the coach only joins his club team a week before the start of the club competition. So there you have to be well organised. You have to have a staff that knows you well and who can carry the season's preparation during those first one and a half months. According to your ideas of course. ### But the club also receives subsequent benefits because a coach who has done international competitions is more sure of him/herself. They had experiences that the others on a beach by the sea can't have. 🙂 They coached the VNL, the European championships, they maintained their connection with the world of volleyball, they increased their knowledge. They know all of the players, in case that they need to contact a certain player. What the club initially loses, they'll earn back later on. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/10/volleybrains_silvano12K.jpg) So in my opinion it is an advantage for everyone. The federation gets the biggest advantage, their coach is a 'well trained' coach who went all winter without going to play tennis and without doing things that don't have anything to do with our game. Even if these coaches go and watch a game, that's more of a passive job. Because when I go to watch a game, there are always 20 people who want to talk to me. So I don't see anything anyways.🙂 **If you would be able to give one advice to your younger self or to any young coach out there, what would it be?** The advice that I always give everyone, not just referred to volleyball, it's a general advice... ### When you need to make an important choice in your life, you must follow your own gut feeling. You should not seek and follow the advice of others, not even from your parents. If I had followed the advice of my parents I would not have become a coach because my parents and my dad in particular, had sent me to that school for chemists because he wanted me to become a chemical engineer or a doctor in chemistry. And when I said I'm going to be a teacher, he was offended and for a long time he didn't speak to me. It was a terrible thing for him, but my good fortune was that I hung in there. I told myself that his is the right education to pursue. ### Because if I am wrong, I am wrong and I will work hard to find an alternative way. But if I make a mistake because I followed someone else's advice, I will always have the idea that they were to blame. I wouldn't try to figure it out and look for my own alternate solutions, because I would be thinking that it is all their fault, right. We all have to follow our passions, our own preferences, that what we enjoy doing. Whatever it is, if we have pleasure doing it, it will definitely be a success. Hindsight is of course always 20/20\. But life doesn't work like that. **Which goals do you have? What is it that drives you?** My goal. There is always this one objective. To always win. Saying it like that it's simple, trivial even. Your goal is to win when you're in pro sports, that's clear. I know that to win you have to walk a certain path. The path is always that of improving myself, I must always grow. ### And even now that I am almost 75 years old, I have to keep growing if I want to keep doing what I do. Because if I don't do it well, it doesn't give me satisfaction and if it doesn't give me satisfaction it's useless to even do it. So I have to keep improving. I have to keep on studying, studying the players, studying the opponents. A month ago I was the instructor at the 3rd degree course (the last course before getting your coaches diploma) of the Italian Volleyball Federation. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 44. Davide Mazzanti: You are born a champion. URL: https://volleybrains.com/davide-mazzanti-talk/ Last updated: 2022-09-25T09:07:20.000Z _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 43. Dan Friend:'No fear of failure. Go after it.' URL: https://volleybrains.com/dan-friend/ Last updated: 2023-01-20T11:57:39.000Z Both in the 2019 and the 2021 season Lewis arrived in the semifinals of the National Championship. Dan has served in various roles for [USA Volleyball](https://usavolleyball.org/?ref=volleybrains.com). Supporting USA Men's Volleyball for the VNL but also coaching the USA Volleyball Youth National teams. And he is the current NCAA Division I/II men’s representative for the [AVCA](https://www.avca.org/?ref=volleybrains.com) (American Volleyball Coaches Association). In this Masterclass Dan goes very deep into how he goes about **integrating his incoming freshman** into both the new athletic and the academic environment that they need to adapt to. He goes into great detail how he goes about the **athletic and personal development** of his players, he's also very specific about the intricacies that go into **match preparation** and so much more... Enter Dan. **Dan, why did you decide to commit to being a volleyball coach? What pushed you towards that decision?** I always knew I wanted to be involved in college athletics or athletics. I got my undergrad in sports medicine or physiotherapy in terms of my degree. When I was in college I played club ball. There were way less programs when I went to college than what there is now, so I didn't play at an actual university. It was very different. I grew up in the middle of the country and there was no boys volleyball. So I kind of got involved a little bit different. Some people showed me how to play. And then when I got to college, played some club volleyball, so kind of fell in love with the sport and had the opportunity to help out our women's team at the university. I got my undergrad finished, was working for a doctor doing some rehab, but I was still coaching at the university where I got my undergrad at. ### And I decided...I wanna coach. At that time I was coaching women's. I enjoyed the sport and was still playing a ton, like outdoor beach stuff, things like that. I went and got my master's because I knew I had to have my master's here to coach in college. So I went to do that. And when I was done, I was 25 and there was a school that wanted to start a men's program at a university in Wichita, Kansas, which I was close to. So I went, I got that job, started the men's program from scratch coaching the women at the same time. And that's kind of how I got into it. Was there for about 3 years running both programs, had some success there and ended up at Lewis and have been here 19 years now. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/09/volleybrains_dancover-1.jpg) ### It certainly flies by. I think the reason I probably stayed and gravitated to the men's side was the physicality of the game. I really enjoyed that and the fact that I came from an area that didn't really have men's volleyball and was lucky enough to, you know, get to Lewis. ### We built a pretty good program here, I enjoy seeing young people mature and thrive and get better and not only in volleyball, but just become better people. And I'm fortunate enough to have a lot of guys that are married now and have kids. So that's pretty cool to see. More than anything, that's important to me, seeing them become successful hopefully on the volleyball court, but more importantly in life. **Do you think that men's college volleyball can piggyback on the popularity of the women's game? And would you have stayed a women's coach if you knew about the meteoric rise women's college ball would undergo?** Yeah. I think it's tough. I certainly think there are certain areas where you try to use the popularity, but I don't think men's volleyball is ever gonna catch up in that realm. Women's volleyball is the equivalent of like a football, they are able to take these resources and kind of really push it. Men's volleyball to some point is just trying to hang on. I think we've had more growth in the past 5 or 10 years than we've had in the 30 years previous. So that's been a good thing. And that's because there's a few handful of actions that have really helped push it, whether it's [AVCA](https://www.avca.org/?ref=volleybrains.com) or [First Point](https://firstpointvolleyball.com/?ref=volleybrains.com) or some of these other things. But I don't think you're ever gonna see that. ### I think for me, when I got into volleyball I had the opportunity to coach men and I kind of fell in love with it. It wasn't like I didn't enjoy coaching women. I told you before what I enjoy is the athleticism that the men bring. If I were ever to move to the women's side, it would probably have to be that division I, top 20, because I enjoy that physical component of the game so much. I've had some chances. I've had people come after me and say, Hey, do you wanna come here or do this? ### But the idea of being able to kind of help the men's game grow and continue to grow is pretty important to me. And we have a pretty good synergy going on here. My wife played division I, but she coaches here and it's a division II school and she really enjoys that level. It's not as like as 'grind out'...kids are already back in school. There's a balance with it. And she can recruit in four state areas. And then on my side I get to coach the highest level with the men. And so we have this nice synergy in terms of what we both want to do. And there's also something to be said about being at a program for a long time. You don't see it as often as you used to where somebody's at a program for 30 years. As I've been here longer and longer, it's a pretty cool legacy to eventually leave behind and a lot of kids that you've helped in the same spot. So there's a lot to be said for that. So I think all that stuff kind of matriculated to where I am mentally now in terms of continuing to be on the men's side of the game. **What advice would you give yourself as a starting coach? An advice that is so clear and logic for you now, but that you had to develop over the years.** Be patient. Don't try to fix everything right away. I still try to do it at times now, but when I was younger, I was always...I gotta fix this problem **now**. 🙂 _This post is for subscribers only._ ### 42. Practice videos: SC Potsdam - Guillermo Naranjo Hernandez URL: https://volleybrains.com/potsdam-practices/ Last updated: 2024-01-20T14:24:40.000Z ## 🔍 Intro We have been going deep into the coaching lifestyle and mindset with the world's best volleyball coaches. Our **Masterclasses** are and remain **the foundation of Volley | Brains**, the first leg we stand on. It's time to add **the second leg** today...and **get you balanced out.**😊 ## 💡What is actually happening in the training gyms around the world? What are the best coaches in the game doing on a day-to-day basis to prepare their teams to be successful. **Starting today we are going to add actual practice videos to volleybrains.com...** **With the pro coaches explaining how they are practicing and why they are doing it in that way.** ## 👊 The coach who's guiding us today **Guillermo Naranjo Hernandez** is the head coach of German top female pro volleyball team [SC Potsdam](https://www.sc-potsdam.de/volleyball-bundesliga/?ref=volleybrains.com). He has been coaching pro club teams in **Germany, Poland and Romania** and was the head coach of the Greek national team. Currently, next to coaching SC Potsdam he's also guiding Romania's national team to the European Championships. As mentioned SC Potsdam is one of **Germany's top teams.** In the 2021-2022 season they battled it out with [Allianz MTV Stuttgart](https://www.stuttgarts-schoenster-sport.de/?ref=volleybrains.com) in a best of five final series all the way to the fifth and final game, becoming the runner up of the German Bundesliga. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/08/volleybrains_potsdam.jpg) 👊 ****Coach, a big thanks for being available and for wanting to share.** ## ⚡ What's inside this article? **Guillermo** shared over 4 hours of recorded practice material, which was edited down to 3 separate video clips for a **combined 50 minutes of total watch time,** covering: 1. An **individual practice** session with setters, libero's and receivers 2. A morning (no jumping) **team practice session**. 3. An afternoon **team practice session**. *(had to mention that everything was recorded in a Romanian hotel room with spotty wifi...that's dedication right there.* 🙂 *The video quality is great, Guillermo had a 2 second lag on what happens on the screen)* ## 💡 Diving in! The video clips are self explanatory; you can jump through them using **the chapters on the video timeline**. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/08/volleybrains_scrn.jpg) **All 3 clips go together**, for full comprehension of certain details you should watch them all. But we weren't doubting you wouldn't. 🙂 ### Go through all of it, pick some stuff up and enjoy! ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/08/volleybrains_guil.jpg) ### Potsdam's Playoffs 2022 practice plan Circled in **green** the dates of the featured practices. This schedule gives you an overview of the playoff practice scheduling of SC Potsdam and an inclination on training volume. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/08/volleybrains_schedule_potsdam-1.jpg) Enter Guillermo... ### Potsdam's Team Morning Practice - 04/01/2022 _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 41. Learning Path 1: Self-Awareness URL: https://volleybrains.com/self-awareness/ Last updated: 2022-08-23T07:59:22.000Z ### 🤔 What is a 'Learning Path'? ⚡ **Next to the individual Masterclasses, we're adding 'Learning Paths'. They collect valuable concepts and insights out of the numerous coaching interviews.** Each learning path will feature a specific subject related to the art of coaching. ### Each Learning Path will be a true reference document. ### 🔥 Objectives? 1. Provide a straightforward way to absorb expert knowledge from previous Masterclasses. 2. Programs, clubs, schools and federations can use these Learning Paths to offer a condensed and specific way of valuable coaching education. 3. The learning paths are an entryway to dive deeper into the various Masterclasses. ### ⚡First topic! In this first Learning Path we'll go over the many clips and conversations we had about **self-awareness** and in particular about the answers to a question we've asked to mostly all of our interviewed coaches: ### *"What advice would you give yourself as a starting coach? An advice that is so clear and logic to you now, but that you had to develop over the years. "* This is a very important topic, **that's why it came first**. ### 🏐 Featured coaches. We selected excerpts and video clips out of our previous Masterclasses AND we also added new clips with **Kelly Sheffield, John Cook, Tommi Tiilikainen and Giovanni Guidetti** which weren't previously edited. **How much time do you need to go through this?** The Learning Path contains 12 video clips with 20+ minutes of video content and another 4500 words...don't be stressed with going through this, take in all of the available insights. ⚡ **Learning Paths are a collection of countless decades of experience in coaching, use it as the reference document that it actually is.** **You'll keep on coming back to this one.** ### So which coaches are in this Learning Path? 17 coaches out of 8 different countries: - 🇺🇸 *Russ Rose, Alan Knipe, John Cook, Kelly Sheffield, Dave Shondell, Craig Skinner, Tama Miyashiro* - 🇳🇿 *Hugh McCutcheon* - 🇫🇷 *Laurent Tillie* - 🇮🇹 *Giovanni Guidetti, Angelo Lorenzetti, Marco Mencarelli* - 🇨🇦 *Glenn Hoag, Shannon Winzer* - 🇸🇮 *Luka Slabe* - 🇦🇺 *Lauren Bertolacci,* - 🇫🇮 *Tommi Tiilikainen* ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/08/volleybrains.com_giovanni_-Small.jpeg) ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/08/volleybrains.com_glenn_-Small.jpeg) ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/08/volleybrains.com_shondell_cover-Small.jpeg) ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/08/volleybrains.com_hugh_-Small.jpeg) ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/08/volleybrains.com_tillie_-Small.jpeg) ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/08/volleybrains.com_rose_-Small.jpeg) ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/08/volleybrains.com_knipe_-Small.jpeg) ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/08/volleybrains.com_kelly_jpeg-Small.jpeg) ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/08/volleybrains.com_tiilikainen_-Small.jpeg) ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/08/volleybrains.com_John_-Small.jpeg) ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/08/volleybrains.com_craig_-Small.jpeg) ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/08/volleybrains.com_tama_-Small.jpeg) ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/08/volleybrains.com_lorenzetti_-Small.jpeg) ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/08/volleybrains.com_Luka_-Small.jpeg) ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/08/volleybrains.com_shannon_-Small.jpeg) ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/08/volleybrains.com_lauren_-Small.jpeg) ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/08/volleybrains.com_menca_-Small.jpeg) Featured coaches in Learning Path 1: Self-Awareness Thanks to the **availability of all the coaches** (featured and not featured in here) we were able to produce this Learning Path. This first topic **truly grasps the essence of why we started out with volleybrains.com.** ### Let's dive in! _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 40. Timeouts: Effective communication. URL: https://volleybrains.com/40-vnl-timeouts/ Last updated: 2022-12-22T18:24:11.000Z ## ⚡ What's inside this article? We edited the timeouts out of this year's Mens VNL semi finals. Of course we only used those where you could figure out what was said by the head coaches. Ending up with 2 video clips which we subtitled or translated and subtitled. ## ⛔ What we shouldn't do... ### Coaching greatness can only be achieved when being effective in your communication. (read that again while I pat myself on the back for writing it) This article is **NOT** about pinpointing who's the 'best' communicator out of the 4 coaches in these matches. Culture, individual understanding between players, the coaches and their players, internal rules...**we lack the entire context**. But there is always something to be learned from the highest level of matches in the world. **So let's zoom in.** ## 💡 What do we look for? Effective communication during a timeout is reached by being: - **Concise**; time is very limited, use it wisely - **Clear**; fuzzy messaging destroys confidence - **Considerate**; 'putting yourself in the shoes of your players' We could throw in more 'C-words' here...completeness, concreteness, etc. But I think we can agree that hitting the first 3 would be considered a win. **Let's dive in!** ⚡ **Below you'll find a short recap of the game, the basic stat sheets and the edited clips. Up to you to watch and analyze!** ## Poland 🇵🇱 - USA🇺🇸 ➡️ 0-3 ### Game recap semifinal 1: Poland had difficulty maintaining their lead(s). Depending heavily on an **outstanding Kurek** in set 2. **USA's serving game became more letal** while the match progressed. In set 2 they managed to target Poland's OH Semeniuk very, very well. Set 3 became a **serving showcase** with 8 serve aces. Christenson was running a very tight distribution. A quick look at the 'points by set' in the picture below also shows that. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/08/volleybrains.com_VNL_USA_POL.jpg) --- ![volleybrains.com VNL timeouts USA serve](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/08/volleybrains.com_DeFalco_aces.jpg) 8 aces (in set 3 alone) on 19 serves! ### Timeouts: **Notes:** *At 16 - 13 in the 1st set coach Grbic of Poland mentions 'just keep the ball exclamative'. Meaning to keep the ball up, focussing less on 'perfection'.* *He references the '*exclamatory*' input in Datavolley concerning the score (and therefore quality) of a receiving action.* *Datavolley (2019) has 7 receiving inputs: perfect (AE#), positive (AE+), *exclamatory* (AE!), negative (AE-), poor (AE/), error (AE=)* --- ## Semifinal 2: Italy 🇮🇹 - France🇫🇷 ➡️ 0-3 ### Game recap: France missed 7 serves in the first set, but that wasn't nearly enough for Italy to get in the game. You can even say that Italy never got into their side out groove **because** France didn't give them the chance to receive. (While watching the game it seemed like a tactic even) With France having a **block - defense game which is second to none** Italy never stood a chance. The only moment in the game where Italy had 2 outsides being efficient in spiking was in the 2nd set. **France their side out game was excellent**, their opposite Patry had an attacking efficiency of 40%, the other hitters where around 50% or **way, way over**. (picture below) ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/08/volleybrains.com_ITA_FRA.jpg) --- ![volleybrains.com VNL timeouts France spiking](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/08/volleybrains.com_France_spiking.jpg) Just this; spiketown! ### Timeouts: --- ### 39. Laurent Tillie:'The right attitude is everything' URL: https://volleybrains.com/laurent-tillie/ Last updated: 2022-08-15T09:08:27.000Z For sure winning the Olympic gold medal in 2020 in Tokyo was the pinnacle of his work with the French national team. After winning the Olympic Gold, Laurent retired from the national team. He is now coaching the Japanese club team, the [Panasonic Panthers](https://panasonic.co.jp/sports/volleyball/en/?ref=volleybrains.com). Of course this Masterclass is filled with great insights, what the most important factor for success is for Laurent and his coaching, how he coached a 'new generation' to success, where he based his coaching on while starting out, how his concepts evolved and so, so much more. There are 19 exclusive video clips in this Masterclass. Enjoy! **Laurent, why did you decide to commit to being a professional volleyball coach? What pushed you towards that decision?** When I started playing volleyball, there wasn't a professional league in France, we were amateurs. I had a bachelor degree to teach physical education, but I didn't like the actual job. I started to study physiotherapy after that and became a licensed physiotherapist. When I finished my career as a volleyball player, I had a physiotherapy office in my city, on the beach in Cagnes-sur-Mer (South of France) on a very nice location working together with a very good friend of mine. I played for 20 years - 21 years in pro leagues. I played in Italy and in many places in France. And when I stopped, I stopped because some questionable things had happened with my former club and it felt like time to stop. While I was on holiday the president of Cannes asked me if I wanted to become a head coach. And I had all my degrees to be a pro coach because I hated wasting my time during my career. So I said, 'Hey, maybe I can try it for one year.' It would be a nice challenge. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/07/tillie_volleybrains3.jpeg) And then and there I decided to start to become a coach. And during that first period of 3 years I was both a coach and a physiotherapist. So it was a really busy time, but very interesting. And after those 3 years I decided to become a full time coach. But before all that happened, I already had some ideas or things going on in my head about coaching our game. When I still was a player in Paris, we had played a tournament in Lausanne. Over there I had visited the Olympic museum, the IOC museum. After that visit, I went to the library, looked for volleyball books, I found maybe 2 or 3\. I took one of them, it was Carl McGown's 'Science of coaching volleyball'.. I read the first page, then the others... ### Damn, I now know why we've always lost against the USA, it was so, so eye-opening. Their methodology of practicing, the way of thinking about the game and the skills... everything was so different than what we had done for so many years. So I think that after reading that book I had found a reason to become a coach, to do it better. I think that's why I started or that I had the will to become a volleyball coach one day. **What did those American coaches do differently?** Well, it was Carl McGown and of course Marv Dunphy and Doug Beal. ### They changed the game. They changed...volleyball. As a player many times I had the chance to play against them in 1982, 83, 84, until 88-90\. They changed the concept of the methodology of practice. In France we were practicing a lot...a lot. But we were doing always the same things, skills, skills, skills, physical, skills, physical, skills. We almost never played the actual game. Only during the friendly games we would play and of course in the official games where we had to. :-) So when you read Carl McGown's books, he'll say that the best drill for receiving is serving, receiving, pass, set, attack. The best drill for setting is serve, pass, set, attack... I'm exaggerating a little bit here but that's the concept. But it's a really concept. If you commit to this concept you'll find your own way inside of it. My 'first sport' was swimming. Swimming is a sport where skill is very, very important. But you don't learn to swim while laying on a table. You learn to swim in the water, in the actual environment. So first you learn to not drown and then to breathe in the water and then to finally actually swim. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/07/tillie_volleybrains4.jpeg) Also as physiotherapists, we use some techniques in rehab. When somebody had a stroke, for example. You can't yell to them and say, 'Hey, raise your arm, raise your arm. You are stupid or what? Raise your harm.' It's not about being stupid. The patient simply can't do it. But I still see many coaches do that, thinking that after they gave a basic instruction their player can simply go out and execute on it. To help your the patient you put some pressure on his arm, you let him push and so on and in the end, the patient is able to raise his arm. That's the actual concept which will make you ready for playing. ### My concept of coaching is putting you in the right situation so that you, the player, will find the right answer. I don't want that the player thinks too much. So create the right situation with good stimuli to get to the right answer. And skill is important, but skill is not the goal of the practice. The first thing to do is to play and win. And if you play and you have some trouble, then we will have to work on the actual skills, but you have to know why you train those skills. When I was a player we did the exact opposite of that. We were practicing skills. 'Nice pass, nice set', but when we were playing ...mistakes and errors piled up. We weren't prepared to play. So that's why I had the insight and why I was ready to change my way of coaching and practicing. **In preparing our call I watched a video wherein you describe that the current game of volleyball is a game that's all about implementing a few well trained reactions on the right moment. Because the game doesn't allow you to think.** Yeah. I think this is really important and it's even more common now. But when I started to coach in 2001, the players or people around me told me. 'What are you doing? You are too American.' No, I'm not too American. I just have the same opinion as them. I tried to explain why I was convinced of this... And in fact, there is a French poet and he said the following, which is one of my preferred sentences or quotations... ### "Agir en primitif et prévoir en stratège." You try to be prepared for all kinds of situations, but when the action starts, act like an animal, without thinking. And I really like that, because I think our players need to be ready to do exactly that. When you are preparing the players or the team, you try to find and define every different or possible situation. But when the game starts, don't think play, play, play. Because you will only be able to adjust one or two different things at max. And that's why that is my creed. Olympic Gold Medal point! **In the same video you mention the importance that you give to 'having the right attitude' on the court. You mentioned having the attitude of a boxer in a ring. You don't care if a player makes a mistake if his attitude and body language is on point.** It's exactly that, it's exactly that. Because attitude is everything. I really think that with your body language, I mean your attitude, you can even change your state of mind. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 38. Dave Shondell:'High expectations demands tremendous responsibility' URL: https://volleybrains.com/dave-shondell/ Last updated: 2022-06-27T09:34:50.000Z We at volleybrains thoroughly enjoyed our conversation with Dave, you'll find out that he is a true promotor of our game. 💡 A quick head's up, if you're a European reader or from anywhere else on the globe that is not the USA. Or if you're more accustomed to pro or international volleyball. Well, you need to know that a lot of the true educators of our game can be found in the US college game. Dave is a prime example of just that. Enjoy this one! Dave talks about the future of male and female volleyball, how he goes about making recruits feel a part of Purdue's program, how he changed as a coach over the last years and why, how he goes about preparing his team for the next game and so, so much more. There are 17 subtitled video clips (45 minutes in total) in this Masterclass. Enjoy! Enter Dave. **Dave, why did you decide to commit to being a professional volleyball coach? What pushed you towards that decision?** Well, I grew up in a volleyball family. [My father](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%5FShondell?ref=volleybrains.com) was one of the real pioneers of the game in this country. He started the men's volleyball program at Ball State University. Ball State and UCLA were the first two men's programs in the United States. He was also a professor of physical education. So I grew up around all these teachers and coaches. I watched my dad be so positive and enjoy life so much. And then I had an older brother who was three and a half years older. Who also was in teaching and coaching. They made it look so easy and it just seemed like it was such a great occupation, great career choice. I didn't know if that was what I was going to do, but I just kind of fell into that. When you have an older brother, like I had, you follow him. And I did a lot of that. Played a lot of the same sports that he played and eventually got into teaching, in coaching right out of Ball State. I played at Ball State University for my dad. And when I graduated there, I began teaching physical education at the elementary and middle school level and coaching. But I really didn't think a lot about it. I was around so many great coaches and so many tremendous teachers that it just seemed like the thing for me to do. ### They all had purpose in what they were doing. And I was just blessed that I was around so many of them that I think a lot of that rubbed off on me. I was able to go out and have some success early that led to more success down the road. But originally I wasn't a professional coach. I was a teacher and then the coaching was just kind of on the side. I was coaching volleyball, basketball, track and field. I was coaching baseball. I was coaching softball. So I was doing a lot of different things while I was teaching in my early years. But my goal, my dream, was always to coach Division 1 volleyball. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/06/shondell7.jpg) I felt like that was, the dream job. And after 22 years of teaching and coaching, I finally was able to get the opportunity. I never thought it would go like it went though. I went straight from high school, coaching high school and club, to coaching in the Big Ten conference. And a lot of people second guessed that decision by Purdue to bring in this coach who had never coached at the collegiate level before, and then come to the Big Ten. ### But I've always believed coaching is coaching. There are tons of coaches at the high school and club level in America that can coach at the Division 1 level. I think that there's a misconception that, just because you haven't been in college, you're not a great coach. Some of the best coaches in the world are not coaching at the college level or the pro level. They either don't wanna do that or they just haven't gotten there yet. But I always knew once I started teaching and coaching that this was where I wanted to go. I was just very fortunate that an athletic director in the Big Ten had the guts to make that decision and allowed me to come to Purdue. **What advice would you give yourself as a starting coach? An advice that is so clear and logic for you now, but that you had to develop over the years.** ### It's not about me. When I was working with the Munciana volleyball club, which is one of the better clubs in our country. You'd have all these guys that were coming out of Ball State, out of the university there. It was all about how well 'they' could do and as you mature as a coach, you realize it's not about you. ### It's about developing players and developing people. I've been coaching for about 44 years and it's absolutely all about the athletes. And sometimes I have to remind people on my support staff of that, because they get upset about something... And I say, we're not here if it's not for those 17 players. We're not at Purdue. We don't have a job if it isn't for the student athletes. I've always felt like I was coaching and teaching for the right reasons. But the competitive juices sometimes takes coaches and makes them feel it's all about how many matches 'they' win or how many championships that 'they' can win. And what do they look like to the crowd. If they're there coaching at those particular, important matches et cetera... And so as you get older, you get over that. And young people, the sooner you do get over that, the better coach you're gonna be and the better teacher of the game and the better mentor you'll be. Don't worry about those type of things, just do your job. And you can learn more from the players sometimes than anybody else. You need to listen more to your players. ### Again, I didn't do a lot of that when I was young. I do a lot of it now. This is a relationship business. You're coaching at the college level, these are grown women, they want to be respected and they want to have relationships. And if they feel like, there's a trust factor between you and them, you're gonna get so much more out of them and their experience is gonna be so much better. So I think understanding that what we're doing is to try to develop people, develop in our case young women to be able to go out, whether it's to go like Annie Drews and play on the USA Olympic team and win the first gold medal. Super. If they're gonna go be the best nurse they can be in the Indianapolis hospital system. Great. But our job is just to get them to where they can have a great career and they can love life, the way that we do. **How do you go about building that relationship with your freshmen? There is so much going on, putting high expectations on themselves, new inputs, new environment.** It's an absolute process that I think you start well before they get here. You're communicating with them and trying to help them get ready and developing that relationship. Sometimes my assistant coach, who's my recruiting coordinator, who does a great job, Kathy Jewell, she doesn't like me to go out and spend so much time watching the players who are already committed to Purdue. ### To me, that's the most important thing, to let them know that just because they committed, they're not on their own. I'm still gonna be there. And I'm getting to know them, by watching them play and then obviously once they sign the national letter of intent, we can communicate with them. And once they get to a certain age, I can talk to them when tournaments are over and I can get on the phone and call them as they're driving home. Those things are huge. You don't spend your 80 days of recruiting, that the NCAA gives you, always chasing players. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/06/shondell2.jpeg) You've gotta make sure that you're building the relationships with those players that have committed to you and to your program. And it's always a lot more fun, of course, watching players that you've already got; than going out sitting next to 15 other Division 1 coaches and trying to figure out how you're gonna get the next one. But there's a blend of what you have to do of course. But I think it's important that those players become more and more comfortable before they get here. Otherwise it is gonna be a difficult situation for them once they arrive. **In preparing our conversation I watched an interview where you talked about recruiting and your efforts in finding that player which isn't yet that 'All American', but a player with the right amount of talent and grit who could potentially grow or be developed into that All American college status.** How many people can get those All Americans to their school or to their program? I mean, it's not gonna happen that often. I'll just be honest with you. If I'm out recruiting and I walk on a court where there's the kid from California or Texas or Florida, some place that's not as familiar with West Lafayette, Indiana. And I see, I won't name names, but I see 4 or 5 of the top programs in the country on that court... I may not waste a lot of time because that kid's getting way too much attention. She's too popular with the top coaches, she's already proven what kind of an athlete, what kind of a player she is. ### I've gotta go find the same athlete but that nobody knows about. And then just have the confidence that we can develop that player, when we get them. And looking for other things too, like you mentioned... is she a baller? I mean does she just play her heart out all the time? Does she understand the game? Some of these things that can take a really good player to become great. Where a really great athlete may not have some of those tendencies or skills and they never get there. We take a lot of pride in who the person is kinda like what you talked about. Who are they? What makes them special? And then we just have to get to the gym with our staff and do a better job than what most of the rest of the country's doing. *VB: And it's also not black and white. Of course. At 18-19 you still develop so much, but somebody that's gritty at 18, they will stay that way.* Yeah. And the other thing is, right now, we're having to make these decisions on these players so fast. In America, they changed the recruiting process to where you can't talk to a player until June 15th before their junior season, their junior year in high school. And so you may start making these phone calls with these players on June 15th, you might have a list of 15 to 20 players, you're gonna talk to. You've watched them play, you've talked to their club coach, their high school coach. But you've never talked to them before. But many of them are expecting to get an offer from you when you talk to them on the phone the first time. How do you know what you're getting? And how do they know what they're getting? ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/06/purdue_hall_volleybrains.jpeg) Holloway Gymnasium; home to the Purdue volleyball program In some ways I love the fact that we don't have to recruit 14 year olds, which is what we were doing before. That was really sketchy. Now you can watch them mature and develop, but you still have to make those decisions too soon. And they're making their decisions too soon. Some of them don't even go on two visits, they go on one visit and they make their decision. So it's interesting, you know, trying to get this right is a really important part of developing a program. ### Getting the right people on the bus is, is still the number one concept. You've gotta get the right people in your program. **As a complete outsider it's interesting to see what is happening with recruiting, the transfer portal and NIL all in the mix right now. For you coaches, being a representative of an institution and trying to recruit players, it must be a hot mess.** Well, the NCAA has to get control of that situation very fast. In women's volleyball, it hasn't become a big deal. The NIL, name image and likeness, has not become huge like it has in football, in men's basketball. But it's a matter of time before it starts really being a factor. I've not had a single recruit ask me about NIL, not one. I think that the Big Ten institutions are in an ideal spot for women's volleyball to be able to enhance their experience with NIL. Because it's the most popular game for women in our league. The Big Ten is just a dominant conference. We're really in a good spot. And with the success that our program has had in the last 10 to 15 years, we're gonna be able to do okay on that. I'll tell you a funny story. I have a new lake house not too far from here. And I just invited a bunch of people over for a social function. I've smoked a couple briskets and my wife had some side dishes and everything, so we had probably 30 people over there. And they're all having a good time... > And so then I said, 'oh, wait a minute, the real reason you're over here is we're starting the Purdue volleyball collective.' :-) And what a collective is, it's this group of big money people, that are gonna start dropping money into the program, by dealing on their own. And obviously they all thought I was serious and I was not. But that's what's going on. In men's basketball, they're starting these collectives, but yet the coach is not supposed to be aware of what the people and the collective are doing. So how are they gonna know even which people they want to give the money to, if they haven't had, you know, some kind of communication with the coach? So the whole thing screwed up. I know the NCAA is now finally starting to try to talk about it and figure out that you just can't give somebody $50,000 without them doing somewhat $50,000 worth of work for it. What is $50,000 worth of work, right now? Nobody knows. I think what you'll see in sports like volleyball is, they're gonna do charity work, they're gonna do camps. They're gonna do something to get that money. In sports like football and basketball, you may have to look really hard to find out what they're doing to receive those pay checks. **I read that the Purdue women's volleyball program only had a couple of transfers happening in the last 15 years, also that speaks to the program's intention of course.** I hope the world doesn't change completely with the transfer portal. It's looking like it is. It's becoming a free agency very, very quickly. ### But I still think that places like Purdue...we'll generate loyalty. We'll generate the desire to stay. That won't change overnight. That's a result of the culture of your program. Everyone will talk to you about, 'our culture is family oriented', well, prove it! Prove it by how long you're gonna stay there and prove it by do your people staying and by you taking great care of them. And there's times where, you know, there are some coaches that would've probably encourage people to leave, if they were in my shoes. I'm not doing that. I don't think that sends the right message to the next player that wants to come to Purdue. **Do you have a particular goal? Maybe a goal that you already reached or a goal that is so hard to reach that it gives you daily motivation?** It's a simple question, but the answer is complex. But I think the simple version would be, I want to create the best volleyball program for college women in America. And people will say, well yeah, you haven't won a national championship and they'd be right. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 37. Cesar Hernandez Gonzalez:"Focus on winning 3 sets. You don't need to focus on winning the match." URL: https://volleybrains.com/cesar-hernandez/ Last updated: 2022-08-03T07:07:49.000Z This Masterclass will partly be an interview, but the most extensive part of this Masterclass will be about how Cesar approaches data analysis. Cesar can be called one of the biggest experts on data analysis in worldwide volleyball. (Yes, a real volleybrain!🙃) There is a lot to learn here today. Maybe not all the 'data handling' practices are that easily transferable to your own team, but the specific insights do translate very, very well. #### Some of the 'data' topics... - What are the key data points that make pro teams win? - How does Vakifbank score opposing teams' setter rotations according to their own. How do they gain an advantage here? - How do they evaluate player performances (a libero can be an MVP) - How do they go about recruiting for their specific or desired line up? - and so much more, there are 50 minutes of 'data talk' in this Masterclass **This season Vakifbank managed to go 5 for 5.** 🥇🥇🥇🥇🥇 Winning the Turkish Supercup, the Turkish Cup, the World Championship for Clubs, the Turkish League and the European Champions League. Our call was recorded 2 days after winning the Turkish League (with a lot of inside info about how they needed to play to get that job done) and before winning the Champions League against [Daniele Santarelli](https://volleybrains.com/daniele-santarelli/)'s Imoco Conegliano. Enjoy. Enter Cesar. **Cesar, when did you decide to become a volleyball coach? What pushed you towards that decision?** I started in volleyball because of a teacher of mine in university. I was not a volleyball player. There was no volleyball in my city. I was playing football, basket. I did many sports. I was always involved in sports. When I arrived to the university we had volleyball lessons, because I studied sports sciences it was part of my curriculum. I remembered the first day that we had to train and I thought... volleyball? I don't know anything about this. Not even the rules, nothing. But my teacher had been a player in the Spanish national team. He was the head coach of the national team. He had been the captain of the national team in the 70's. And he was a great teacher. So I discovered volleyball that year. And to me it immediately became clear that this sport was amazing. Technically you have to be super precise. Tactically, there are many options. So in my third year, I have to choose between 11 sports to further specialize. I had to choose 3 sports out of those 11 and in the 4th and 5th year, I had to specialize in one sport. > And for me, after that second year, it was pretty clear that it should be volleyball. When I entered into the university, I had planned to become a teacher, because I liked to teach a lot. So I thought, okay, would want to work in a high school as a teacher, even if I liked sports, but I never considered the professional coach route ever. For me high-performance sports was something that was far away from where I was at. I never thought that I would arrive here. **Do you have a particular goal? Maybe a goal that you already reached or a goal that is so hard to reach that it gives you daily motivation?(and some healthy stress :-))** When I finished my university, this was in 2000, I said, I don't know how, I don't know with whom, but I want to go to the Olympics. > I want to sit on the bench during the Olympics. I didn't know how to do that. I don't know anything or anybody. But I want to reach that goal. In that moment, nobody knew me because I was not a player. So I was a complete outsider in the volleyball scene. Nobody knows of me, nobody, not even in my city, in Madrid. There were many volleyball clubs in Madrid. I went there and asked them, 'Can I come to see the practice?' Yeah. But who are you? I'm in the university. So nobody knows me. 😁 But my dream was, I want to be in Olympics, I want to be in an Olympics. And I can tell you when Tokyo arrived in 2021, even with all the difficulty and them wanting to maybe postpone the games. I was thinking maybe they will cancel the Olympic games for the first time that I qualify.(Cesar was the assistant coach of the Korean team in 2019-2021) And this is also something that I like a lot in sports, because sometimes you say, okay, you made your dream come through...and now? ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/06/cesar_troph_volleybrains.jpeg) European Champions League dumbell And now I wanna win the champions league. Now I will start with South Korea in the head coaching position. Et cetera, ... So when you finish one dream, there immediately will arise another one. That's what motivates me... I want to work out my 'probability concepts', I want to check more data sets, I want to put more data together. I want to collect more team data, I want to perform well with Korea, I want to develop the national team in Korea. There are many things in front of us. > Keep going, keep going and the experiences that are coming because all of this, for me these are the most valuable things that I possess. **What recent or game from the volleyball vaults did validate once more that volleyball is the greatest sport on the globe for you? For sure share your opinions about this matchup, what you took away from it.** The match of the other day against Fenerbahce. The matches in the Olympic games with Korea. Even without any spectators being there. How we went to the semifinals of the Olympics with Korea. If you would have told me beforehand, you will go to Tokyo and you will play the semifinal against Serbia. I would have said, 'Impossible, impossible.' But we did it. The match in the World Championship of clubs of this season where we finally won against Conegliano after we had lost in the World Championship of clubs in 2019 and we had lost against them in the final of the European Champions League in 2020. So we were like, 'We need to beat them.' Just for one time, we need to do it. We had arrived in the 5th set against them before, so we were there again head to head in the 5th, but in the end we won. So we now now that we can win against them. It will be super difficult. But the probability is 50-50 now. My experiences, all the people that I know, all the places that I went. All these experiences. If I had to repay for all the traveling that I did because of volleyball, I cannot repay that amount, that's impossible. I'm really grateful for volleyball. I travel around the world. I know people everywhere, I'm in contact with many people that I've never even seen, we are talking by WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, we are talking, but we've never met each other. These are people who share with me what they are doing in their clubs, with their statistics... So all these things for me are the most valuable. *Superfinals Conegliano - Vakifbank 2022 Top 5 plays* **Can you tell us more about your job at Vakifbank?** I try to find the connection between the numbers which come from the analysis. From what happens during our practice, how we have to adapt. What will happen in the games. We try to predict as much as possible. Afterwards I always say that the data is like when you open up a small bag of sugar and you pour it over a table. Now, if you do this with 100 different bags of sugar, the pyramidal shape of the sugar will always form itself. You'll always get the same picture. Because this is the normal distribution, so it will be always the same. So if I analyze a hundred 'pours', I would say, oh, all one hundred of them must have been the same. But if I check only one piece of sugar in each hundred pours, it will always be in a different position. So when I analyze the 55 matches that we have played with Vakifbank this season, that will give me an idea "about Vakifbank". If I check a 'single match' of us afterwards, that single match will every time be in a different 'position'. Because it's not that we always play the same. One day we will be better in passing, one day we will better in attack, one day we will be struggling a little more in defense, one day in block we are doing a better job with the middles than with our position 4's. So each piece, each point and each match is in a different position. My job is the know where we are compared to where we want to be, to figure out what is missing to arrive where we want to be and to figure out what our opponents game looks like and how we with our style of playing have to approach our opponents to come out on top. So when I was checking Fenerbahce, for example, for the last match of this final series. I told Giovanni([Giovanni Guidetti](https://volleybrains.com/giovanni-guidetti/) Vakifbank's head coach), because I tried to convert the data into 'what will happen'... So I told Giovanni, for me, the thing that Fenerbahce can do is serve like crazy, even if they know that they will make way more mistakes, because that is the only way that they have to break our side out and they will try to attack more with the middles. Because our idea was to not follow their middles too much, because they were not playing too much with them and they were not performing that great. Because the 'feeling' with the setter is not great with their middles. So I told Giovanni, they can serve like crazy, they can push more with the serve. And the only way out that they have in attacking is to play more with their middles, because if they keep playing with Fedorovtseva and Vargas (outside and opposite), we will control them. Sooner or later we will have control over them. Does that mean that we have to change our idea to not follow their middles? No, because even if they start attacking more with their middles, then we can touch and we can defend them. > So we have to keep doing the same, because if they want to win they will need our mistakes. If we don't create mistakes, they won't have a possibility to come out on top. The numbers are telling me that they don't have any other option. It's clear that each time when we make a mistake ourselves, they are making their side out at a 100 procent. They don't have to pass. They don't have to set. They don't have to attack. And they are struggling in passing. In setting they don't have a good feeling with the middles. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/06/vakifbank_volleybrains.jpeg) ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/06/bite_cesar_volleybrains2.jpeg) ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/06/vakifteam_volleybrains.jpeg) ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/06/vakif_volleybrainsteam.jpeg) So at the end, they are playing with Vargas and Fedorovtseva and we are more or less controlling them. Of course they will make their points. Of course these sets will arrive at 25 - 22\. Of course there will be one moment where emotions can change the match. Of course...because it's not that we are playing a video game. But if we play according to our standard. That means Gabi attacking, I don't know, at 50% and receiving at 65%, Bartsch is struggling a little more in attack, but she gives us more options in defense, working with the middle blockers, working with Bella. If we play according to our standard and we put our level of service mistakes one step lower, instead of making 20 mistakes, we make 15... We will win or our probability to win will be higher. We don't need to do anything 'else'. Of course, Vakifbank is one of the best teams in the world. So we have Gabi. Of course, if Gabi has a bad day, because she didn't sleep well or any other reason...yes, we maybe won't play according to our standard. But a player can come off the bench and put our level back towards our standard of play. So we have to do a substitution. No problem. So I tell all these findings to Giovanni before the match, in the morning. It's like this. After we have to play and we have to check in realtime if this adds up. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/06/cesar_volleybrains.jpeg) So we have to be focused. Because our standard is to win the Turkish league. That's not an easy feat. It's not easy for Gabi to attack at 50% with Vargas and a middle in front of her blocking. It's not easy, but it's Gabi. Of course if I have to play soccer like Cristiano Ronaldo, I can't. Why can Cristiano Ronaldo play like that? Because he's Cristiano Ronaldo, he's the best player in the world. For Gabi it's the same. She can do it because she is Gabi. If I ask the same performance from Tugba, maybe Tugba can not play at Gabi her level. Because if Tugba can play the same as Gabi, Tugba will be in our starting six. So when we put another player inside the system, we need to balance that maybe with putting in another player or maybe we need to change our way of playing to keep our standard. Sometimes there are players which are performing over our standard. That's what happened in the 3rd match of the finals series when Tugba entered in the match and she performad at 70% in spiking . That brings us back to the story of the sugar. If she would have played every game, would she have performed at 70%? No, but she did a great job. We work all the time for that to happen. We work every day, every single day for that. It was one piece of sugar and Tugba was performing at 70%. But if I check the performance of Tugba during the entire season, we'll arrive at 45%. Because the picture of Tugba in Vakifbank during the season is not just one piece of sugar, it's all the pieces that come together and that will show us the normal distribution. > For me the key is that you put the data inside the court. To tell our head coach what we have to practice. Now for example we play against Conegliano which is totally different...totally different. We have to face the match in another way. Because Conegliano has very different characteristics. They play quicker. They play more with their middles. They are better in passing, which makes them more balanced in side out. So we have to try to put them in trouble, it's up to us to do that and to approach that game in different way than we did with Fenerbahce. ## Data analysis chapter 🔥 *VolleyBrains:* You've arrived at the part where we'll turn the volleybrains dial up to 11\. We've got 5 video clips ready for you and it will take you close to one hour to get through all of this. Put the clips on full screen mode otherwise you'll miss out on some annotations and visualisations. (fancy words for random squares 🙃) So sit back and take the time to soak all this up. Let's go! ### Game flow Questions answered: How do we picture our game flow and what can we learn from it? Do you have to score points to become an MVP? Why does Vakifbank control so many variables? The game flow chart mentioned in the video clip. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/06/gameflow_volleybrains.jpeg) The game flow chart of the Champions League final against Conegliano. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/06/vakifbank_conegliano.jpeg) ### The quality of the first contact Questions answered: Is there a correlation between the first touch and our attack performance? How did we gain an edge over Fenerbahce using this analysis? _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 36. Giuseppe Vinci:"We need to professionalize volleyball." URL: https://volleybrains.com/guiseppe-vinci/ Last updated: 2022-06-10T14:52:44.000Z Hudl is a global leader in sports video analysis and analytics. Giuseppe's Volleymetrics got acquired by Hudl in 2017. Let's also not forget that Giuseppe was an assistant coach for the Italian national team, the USA indoor and beach Olympic teams and [BYU](https://byucougars.com/?ref=volleybrains.com). How Volleymetrics came about, real world use cases, the future of volleyball and sports tracking and analytics that is what this Masterclass is about... But we also go deeper into Giuseppe's idea's about professionalizing our game, talk about his grass roots, the importance of coaches empowering their staff and much, much more... Enjoy! Enter Giuseppe. **Giuseppe, how did you get started in volleyball?** It's a little cliche, but volleyball chose me. I started playing a bit in junior high. And in my school you couldn't take down the net poles, they were just there. So we would always end up playing volleyball during our physical education classes during the school hours. Lots of my friends, because of that, played volleyball. So I got close volleyball in that way. In the second year out of three of middle school, I hurt my ankle. I had a surgery, it was a bad injury. The doctor basically told us, 'Look, if you want to walk when you're 50 or 60 you better stop doing sports.' I developed early physically. I was ahead of my classmates. Everything would come easy. I was very coordinated. So sports were fun for me, it's not that I would win easy, but it was fun to win and to try to get better. And it was the same with volleyball. But because of that injury volleyball became the sport where I found a space that would allow me to stay in sports. Without having to compete. I started helping volleyball teams early on, I was 14, either shagging volleyballs and putting them in the carts or doing the score sheet. > And that's why I say in a way volleyball chose me, because it was perfect for me at that moment in time. It kept me in a world that I loved with people that I really liked. Even though I was in a difficult situation with my ankle. I eventually tried to play even after my surgery for a few years, I played in high school for my team and all of that, but it didn't take me long to realize that my ankle didn't really like it. And so I focused more and more on coaching. I got my coaching license when I was 16\. So I was sitting on the bench when I was 14, 15 and then got my coaching license when I was 16. I stopped volleyball just for one year. I had a one year break from volleyball to pursue another dream(music), but then soon after I got back to it and I've been in volleyball ever since. **As an aspiring coach and scout man you were, at a very young age, part of pro teams and soon thereafter the Italian national team. How did all that come about?** For me, stepping up to the pro level was the consequence of the injury that I had as a kid. So my mom she is an accountant. And when I had that surgery, that injury, she took that very seriously. And I don't know how, but she saved up money to purchase a computer. I didn't have a computer and my mom used a computer at work, but she bought a computer for the house so that I could get started to use the computer. Because again, my perspective was: I need to take care of my ankle if I want to walk when I'm older. So I need to find a desk job and all of that. So having that computer is what kind of got me started in taking the next step. I started using Excel a little bit because my mom would use it. I started keeping stats. Again, I was 14\. I wasn't even an assistant coach. 'Officially' I was the club representative, because you can not have a coaching license until you're 16\. So I would be on the bench as a club representative. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/05/vinci-1.jpeg) Rio Summer Olympics 2016 with Kerri Walsh I didn't know a thing about coaching yet, so I would tally the stats or whatever, because the coach asked me to. Just so we knew how many serves we missed, things like that. And because I had this computer, I just started putting it in Excel and would create the seasonal stats and things like that, just because I wanted to keep track of that over time. And eventually my small club which had four or five teams, right. They purchased me a basic Datavolley license. So they spent all this money to buy me this entry-level Datavolley license and I just devoted myself to analyzing our performance and bring reports back to our head coach. And from there I started taking the coaching courses to be certified as a coach. And from there again, gained trust and got more involved in the full planning of the practices, the season and the player development. And so over time, pretty quickly, I got into studying the game in. I found that connection between the numbers and brought something useful back to the coach. Naturally, when you're at the lower levels, you don't have so much available time with your athletes. For me there was all this other time because I just had school and volleyball, there was all this other time that I devoted to studying the game and figuring out what could make us better. And so over time, the teams in my area of the country heard what I was up to. They saw me with the computer at the end of the match. And eventually the top team in my area, called me up and said, 'Hey, would you like to come do this job for us?' And that was my first step into professional volleyball, just making the decision to go from the club that I had grown up in, where I had all my friends that I was devoted to and be like, 'Oh yeah. Okay. Then I'm going to go do something else.' I mentioned earlier that I took one year sabbatical from volleyball at one point in life. I'm a musician. I studied piano for many years and I played the piano in concerts and such with both classical music and rock music. So I took one year to just focus on university and music. At the end of that year, the top team, that pro team reached out and it was like, 'Hey, would you consider coming to us?' I had turned them down the year before, because I was committed to trying the music route at least one year. But when they came back and it was like in the second division of Italian women's volleyball, I was like, okay, I gave a shot to pro music, I know what could come out of it. Let's give a shot to pro volleyball. And from then I've always been in it, from there I moved around to a couple of teams, and got into the national team for Italy, the men's national team. That's a whole story right there and eventually ended up in the USA just so that I could finish my university degree while still keeping up my passion for volleyball. **What is starting to be obvious here is that the focus on 'one thing' is a bit of a storyline from where you started til where you are today.** Focusing on one thing and really go deep, it's something that is easier to do when you are 14, 15, 16, 17 years old. In your early twenties then things get more complicated because you have more responsibilities. I have ideas on how I managed to be so focused and dedicated to something. And I think sports are what taught me to. If you focus on one skill, on an aspect of the game and you focus on just that to improve, you'll see improvements, but you have to really focus and know how and on what you want to get better at. You cannot just practice for the sake of practicing and you'll get better. You have to have objectives, you have to have goals. And so that's probably what got me into the mindset where, 'Okay, I'm going to do this and focus and get better'. And in those years, you can do so much, just so much because you don't have as many responsibilities as you have later on. **Can you tell a bit more about the founding story of Volleymetrics?** So I mentioned that my mom was an accountant, right. Even though she was an accountant with lots of experience, very good at her job, she would have to input all the data into her accounting system by hand. And 'she' had to do it, because she didn't have a bunch of people helping her out. And I would do that oftentimes for her as a 11, 12, 13 year old. So I could input all the invoices and the records in the system without any accounting training whatsoever, except for my mom explaining me the basics. And that to me, when I got into volleyball at the high level, it was the same parallel. I would see all these people getting into the data analysis, focus so much on the data gathering piece and fixing the data and having everything perfect to then just hand over reports and stats to other people. And kind of, in some instances, missing the point of what we can do with this data. Like I would see my mom enabling other people to make more money and be more respected because she was willing to do the busy work that others weren't willing to do. And then she wouldn't get the recognition just because she was investing less time in the interpretation of the business financials versus gathering the data, inputting the data. And I saw that also in volleyball where there were plenty of people like me. I got my in into pro volleyball because I was good at manipulating the data, gathering the data and all of that. > But what really got me moving along was the fact that I wasn't willing to focus only on gathering the data, correcting it and giving it away. I wanted to study. I wanted to be there to learn how to interpret it. And that's what I did from early on as a kid just about to get my coaching license. So that's what pushed Volleymetrics to start. By then I had gone to the 2008 Olympics with the Italian national team and the coaches themselves, when they learned that I had this opportunity to go to the USA and study and coach, they were like, you're going, don't even think about it. I had the opportunity at that time to be the second assistant to Radostin Stoychev and Sergio Busato in Trento when they had Kaziyski and Juantorena. With that team they won three world championships. They were the best team in the last two decades. **VolleyBrains:*"That team came together during my second season playing in Italy. I remember vividly. So thanks for bringing that pain back."*😀 Yeah. And I had the chance to go there, but I also had the chance to go to the USA and Anastasi, Gardini, several people in the volleyball world were like, 'No, you're going.' And so I came to the USA and the USA gave me the opportunity to delegate the busy work, the data gathering work. I could completely delegate that busy work to the students. So I had a couple of students, I taught them how to do it in a couple of months and they were doing it very well. And I would just take care of the in match while I was on the bench with the head coach. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/05/7-28-12-Team-USA.jpeg) Team USA at the 2012 Olympics I was gathering my data so that I could use it. But the rest of the time, I was able to study the game, interpret the data and help plan practice, plan matches, scout opponents, decide what type of players we had to recruit. And also a lot of this time on the side, I started working with the statistics department of the university to really work on a lot of academic papers on volleyball, skills importance, all sorts of things, all sorts of studies in the volleyball space. And yes, I had a lot of data, but there were a lot of limitations. And as I started using a lot of these studies, teams simply reached out. I was always open about it, it wasn't like my secret to keep to myself. I started working with the national team because of some of this work. I started working more and more with other teams to see what would come out of it. I studied volleyball nationwide, rather than just my league and my competition, when I was with Brigham Young university. And eventually that drew a lot of attention where coaches would ask me, can you do these reports for us? I would like to know in our league, what are the most important skills? What are the most important parts of the game? What are the areas where there's the biggest return on investment? If we train, this or we're better at that, etc. > And I quickly realized that unless you had very standardized data, accurate data, not necessarily precise, but at least consistent and accurate, it was going to be impossible. And so that's where I realised, okay how do I do this? I told teams, 'You can use my students, pay them to gather the data for you and now we can run these reports. You don't have to pay me.' But eventually it became so many more requests that I was like, oh, what if I create a standard where everybody doesn't have to worry about the baseline data gathering. Not that the data that I will provide will be perfect, but if I take that time off of everybody's plate, all the sudden the coaches that want to study, get better, learn, analyze, prepare. They will very quickly beat and get better than the coaches that have just been there because of their experience because they've been there 10 years and they just learned over time, but all of the sudden the ones that really are willing to put in the work and have the skills they can catch up and show that, 'Hey, I'm dedicated, I'm good at what I do.' So that's how it came to be. And once I started having to invest money into gathering data nationwide in the US and eventually internationally, it had to be a business because it's just too big of an operation to, to just do it for fun. I was still a student and a coach, I didn't have the money to keep 10, 20, 30, 40 people on payroll. **Eventually the success and the scale of that operation also meant that you needed to revolutionize how that you gathered all that data.** I was able to develop a system, on how we gather data, that allowed us to create consistency and that will allow for future steps which are going to be really interesting. If the reception is perfect or if it's an error or if it's an attack, if it's good or bad, the computer does all of that. So ultimately all of the evaluation is done by a computer and it's always the same. Maybe it's not correct, from your point of view, from my point of view or whatever, but I can guarantee that it's going to be the same. There's going to be some mistakes here and there, but the percentage of them on the whole is just so small that it's not relevant. Naturally, if you're analyzing two matches to prepare for the Olympic games Gold medal match, you'll go through and change things the way you want them to be. But that's a different kind of approach than what Volleymetrics has in mind. > So that's how Volleymetrics ultimately came to be. It was again, the mindset of 'How do we raise the bar?' I wanted to allow everybody to get better and experience what I was able to experience in freeing up time to really study the game and go in depth. **What's interesting in all this is the continuous improvement process where you were (and are still) on.** I understand more kind of what was driving decisions now, looking back at it. Because I'm like, oh yeah, I totally did this because I lived through this pain. > And it took very good coaches, that understood how managing a staff works, to really empower me to make a big difference. And that is a big deal. A big thing about coaching for me is really empowering the entirety of the coaching staff and distributing responsibilities. And they also reminded me all the time of analyzing the big picture, what is applicable. Before you go down a rabbit hole to analyze something, that is really important. That's something that I wish I did more when I was younger. Because you can go down a rabbit hole and learn something and study something for 3, 4, 5, 6 months, and then realize, wait, but how do I use this information? How is it actionable? Then all of a sudden you go to your head coach or to your sporting director. And they're like, 'Oh yeah, we already knew that. Yeah, you demonstrated it empirically through research, but okay, thanks for confirming it.' Rather than, 'Oh let's look into something where we know little of or something that if we learn, we can apply to our coaching to our planning directly.' Analyzing the big picture and what is applicable before you go after something is definitely important. **VolleyBrains:** *We talked before about managing your inputs, knowing what kind of output you're aiming for and what kind of measuring tool to use. In the end, it's always about that. You mentioned something really particular, not really particular for the States, but really particular for Europe.* *And that's something also that caught my eye researching for Volleybrains and watching more college games, more female games in this case. Is the matter of how a head coach is also manager of his coaching staff, empowering them, et cetera.* *Of course for a European watching those games, there's a timeout, you see the coaching come together, the first thing that you think is okay, that's a bit much.* *But then in the end you realize, talking to those people, like my first conversation was with [John Cook](https://volleybrains.com/john-cook/). I'm like, oh, this is actually great for the game because they are empowering people, giving people responsibilities, letting people grow. And of course this main figure, this captain of the ship will stay there for many years, but the other people, okay, they run through the system, they get educated and they can do their thing somewhere else with all that gained experience.* **Giuseppe:** And all of a sudden there are more opportunities to demonstrate your work and there's more motivation to actually do quality work. And that's the baseline I think of professional volleyball is 'professionalize volleyball'. > I don't want to say 'professionalize pro volleyball' because we need to 'professionalize volleyball'. A good example that you used with John Cook in the US, but there are many others aside from John, it's about roles and responsibilities. And all the people that need to be accountable to it. I'm not saying that European coaches do not do that, but most clubs do not put them in a condition to be able to do that. Because the general feeling, many times is, 'Oh, you should be grateful to even be a head coach for my team.' Rather than, 'I want you to be the head coach for my team so that you can make it grow into something even better than it is now.' That's why I chose you. Therefore let's make sure that you have, not necessarily the best people in the world working with you, but people that are willing to learn, that you can help grow. And over time as more coaches come through, if you professionalize volleyball, the club is left with more knowledge and a better structure and better human capital. And that is part of professionalising volleyball, which in Europe is not happening as much as it could. **That's a good conclusion. It's not happening as much as...it could.** **If you would have to pinpoint a few examples of where Volleymetrics really stands out. Where you personally see the 'real world ROI'. What would those examples be?** We made a mistake of wanting to analyze super in-depth things, right. And with Volleymetrics you can analyze a very, very in-depth and there's a time and place for that. But reality is that the best use cases for Volleymetrics, in my mind, are the following. Imagine an 18 year old player, either on a pro-team starting his young career or on a college team in the US or wherever in the world, having access to Volleymetrics and being able to go and look at Osmany Juantorena or Bednorz, or being able to go look at Kaziyski from years ago and from today or on the women's side to be able to go look at a Jordan Larson or to look at a Lo Bianco the setter of the Italian national team, or being able to look at good volleyball. And really understand what good looks like. For an athlete that is unbelievable because hopefully it matches with what the coach is trying to teach in the gym, hopefully. > And it just motivates them. It gives them a benchmark and it gives them somebody to look up to. Oftentimes you see players, young players that are trying to get better with the people on the other side of the net in their little league. But if you go in football or in basketball, the young players are like, I want to be LeBron James or I want to be Messi. And in volleyball it happens, but on a much smaller scale. So I think that is one thing, having athletes gain access to that content and being able to really develop a love for the game and an understanding of what good looks like, that's is very big. And I've seen it over and over with many athletes. There's some players who talk to me and they're like, oh my gosh I watch at least one match a day, one full match a day of high level pro volleyball. 'These days I'm looking at Trento because they're playing with three outside hitters.' And that was not possible when we were young, right? No way. But the same is true for the coaches. And we talked a little bit about it. Just being able to do that, watch all these resources, it's huge just to grow as a coach. Being able to go and study players, 'Oh this is the best passer in the world. Okay. Let me go look at him or look at her and see why.' When does she start tracking the ball? Does she make her moves early? All these things. And there are many ways. Many different techniques, but seeing these images just gives you a much better approach to study. And then the third piece, and we barely touched on it, is recruiting players, building your team. Sporting directors being able to go and search for talent and understand what fits within the playing style of their own team, their playing philosophy and being able together with the coach to get quick feedback on one player or another. These are all things that can professionalize the game over time. So even just these three simple use cases are really big. Then naturally the next step is, I think, the creation of a good feedback loop, right. We can train athletes 3 - 4 hours a day. But nowadays I feel like both coaches and athletes want to train less and less, because of injuries and overall load, it makes sense, we understand the science better and that's the evolution we're on. But there's so much time, outside of the time that we spend in practice, that can be used. And for coaches to use this technology be able to communicate with the athletes more actively and provide feedback...well, it impacts the game and the organization you may be working for in so many ways, because you are investing in talent that is owned, let's say by your club. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/05/vinci1.jpg) And therefore it's going to gain value. When it matters and you need some help, that player is going to be ready. You're establishing a growth mindset. And you are empowering, enabling people to really feel committed to a common goal of growth and improvement. So Volleymetrics helps a lot with that feedback loop. By being able to comment and give feedback to athletes. And so these things, you see, they are not related to stats and numbers at all, it has been only about analysis til now. So then there's all that stats and numbers world which you can dig deeper in... But to me, those 3 are the biggest use cases. Then as you are at a more professional level where you have time and space to really go in depth on numbers of course there's all sorts of things that can be done there. But a lot of people are surprised by how much I really focus on the subjective side of the analysis. On the technical execution of skills versus just the statistical analysis. **As with any software as a service, the technology is ever evolving. Where do you see sports analysis or Volleymetrics in specific move towards over the next years.** Right now I'm working on player and ball tracking. Because I think that that data is just the next step. I built Volleymetrics in a way that it is built to have that data in it. We just weren't able to gather it reliably and consistently yet. What we just talked about the mindset of studying the game, focus on coaching, the feedback loop and all that, I hope that that is clear to coaches that had access to our content. But I think there's still a next step in analytics of the game, right. There needs to be an improvement, an innovation in that area where we're going to start studying the correlation between the location of the players and the location of the ball just to be able to evaluate and understand the game better. For example, the moment that I have the location of all the players at the moment of the contact with the ball, when an attack happens, I'm going to be able to start evaluating on tens of thousands of events, the defensive range of a player, and how certain blockers kind of limit the offensive range of a player. And all the sudden we will have such a better understanding of, not necessarily of how you should defend because we have played enough volleyball to know, right, but to really understand, 'Hey, where can we go innovate the game and make tactical decisions or develop players in a way that is going to allow us to gain a better return on investment in practice.' So that is something that I'm really, really excited about after building a platform that enables coaches and athletes to improve their understanding of the game and identify areas that they should focus on to kind of level up the data. > An important thing that we have to get better at is simplifying the access to every physical sports science type of data available, adding assistant coaches that can leverage and are technical enough to use the data to study and plan and analyze a season or training and to do that job together with strength coaches. That is something that I figured out is the next step in the high level analysis of the game. In understanding the game even more in depth. But yeah, little by little, it's something that I'm just working on for awhile. It's finally starting to be more real. **In [Masterclass 26](https://volleybrains.com/on-the-court-26/) with the S&C coach of Vakifbank, Vanny Miale's interview, we also went a bit deeper on sports performance data gathering. Vakifbank is moving the goal posts there, it's great for the game and athletes that they are gathering this data and more so, using it in an effective way.** **Where do you see these tracking systems moving towards?** In football. People have gone at it with devices on the players mostly. The reality is that that gives you data on your own team and usually only when you play at home.*(Volleybrains: The Kinexon system needs courtside antenna's to be installed)* But if you go on the road or if you're hosting another team, you don't have your or their data. The tracking technology through cameras, even normal cameras has become good enough to be able to do that. So to me, that's where it's going, right. It's optical tracking rather than everybody having devices. Not because those devices are not good. That's what is good now, but because then you can have all of your opponents tracked and you can have it on anybody, as long as you have the video. So that, to me, that's where that's going. And once you have that, you can start looking at the accelerations, decelerations and all that. With higher and higher accuracy over time. **Are there other use cases where performance tracking would benefit overall player performance?** The other thing that I was thinking about is everything involving working with your medical staff. If you start logging all of the treatments that you do to your players and you can overlap them with the performance of the athlete in practice and in match. You're going to start having a good idea how optimal the players physical form needs to be to really perform at the highest level, right. Which practice intensity leads to the best match performances. As a coach, you can really start planning practices with taking that into account. And maybe you decide, you know what, I'm going to pull this player out 10 minutes before practice is over, because I know that we don't want to go too intense during the week of an important match. And I'm going to manage it with how I plan my practice. Things like that. They seem hard to achieve, but like we were saying, it's one Google form per day and a spreadsheet. *Check the analytics spreadsheet mentioned in [Masterclass 26](https://volleybrains.com/on-the-court-26/) by Vanny Miale. All this data gets captured by athletes' daily auto valuations.* ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/05/image.png) **Zooming out, how to make volleyball not a more global product, but a more mainstream product. What do you think is needed for that?** I truly think our sport is great. I often go to volleyball matches with people who do not know volleyball and they tell me, wow, this was awesome. So our sport is good. It's spectacular. There's physicality. It's fast-paced, you win a point every, whatever, 40 seconds on average or 30 seconds on average. I think we have a great product, right. Yeah, there can be things that you could change maybe to make it easier to manage it for TV, but let's not get into that. > What I think we need to do to make it more fun for the fans and to get more global reach is just professionalize it, professionalize it. As long as we're okay keeping the status quo of what volleyball is today. And we don't challenge it. As long as we keep doing that, volleyball is gonna stay more or less the same. If we, as people who work in the sport, coaches, performance analysts, medical staff, players, and such as long as we don't commit to changing that status quo and professionalize volleyball by being more professional in what we expect, in what we do for the team in how we approach it in having a long-term vision, the status quo will remain. And the worst thing that can happen to volleyball will happen, which is that all these companies investing in volleyball, private equity, you mentioned and such. They will reap the benefits of what the players, coaches, medical staff, performance analysts and such are doing. And that's to me something that we have to really think long and hard about. Because if now at this time we just settle for the status quo. Because, 'Ah, it's okay for me, I'm a player they're paying me well enough. It's okay.' And I don't expect the team to invest in the coach or I don't allow them to spend what is really that the market can bear as far as not having the ownership put 100, 200, 300,000 euros every year to just level it up. If we just keep being just okay with that, that's what will keep volleyball from professionalizing and have a global outreach that really people will get behind. That to me is kind of the vision, what I hope to see volleyball do over the next years and is what I want to contribute to do, is getting away from the status quo as much as we can so that we can professionalize this sport on the indoor side and on the beach side as well. That's the opportunity we have, but we have to take it because oftentimes we just sit back and relax. 'Things are good. I'm going to get on a different team next year.' We have to raise our expectations for everybody around us so that we can professionalize and get out of the status quo that has been, what it has been for the last many years. Not everywhere, but in many places. **Hey, you're doing a big piece of that, I'm doing my attempt of a tiny sliver of that.**🙂 **No, what I'm seeing is that the game develops at widely different speeds, depending on where you look. Do you think that's due to circumstance or is there another reason?** I'll use an example in my Volleymetrics' specific experience. And I have other examples, but this is a good example. So in Europe performance analysts or scoutmen, however you wat to call them, they make little money. Okay. They make very little money. And very often the ownership of the club looks at them as they are like the very bottom. And it's not fair because they do a lot. When I got to the USA in 2008, there were five or six performance analysts in the US. Now there's over 80, maybe 100\. And why is that? Because they are just not only a data gathering person. I have these data, I touch it up a bit and then I provide you with value. Right? And that is an example of professionalizing one role. It brought so much growth in that area and so much investment from the organizations because they saw the return on that investment. If we do that across the board, the growth that we can experience is huge. And then with what is now available with [volleyballworld](https://en.volleyballworld.com/?ref=volleybrains.com) and many other things and the internet we can really boost volleyball's global reach. **Before we leave, let's go 'fantasy volley' here. What would be your world's best starting 6 formation. You choose decades, gender etc.** So I will want Jordan Larson for sure. The other outside....I will probably want somebody like Juantorena, but there's Karch, Karch Kiraly, so that I can watch him play live, because everybody saw the videos, but I want to see him live. 🙂 Middle blockers, I probably will go Hubner and Gustavo, the fact that they played together on a team, it's just crazy. Unbelievable. Then opposite, who would I want opposite? The first name that comes to mind is Miljkovic, but I'm getting all players from the same kind of decade, that's when I got into volleyball big time. But then Giani is out , Gardini is out. 🙂 So I would have Corsano as a libero. And as a setter, well Lo Bianco was just unbelievable to me. But I still have no opposite. So do I go Zorzi, do I go Miljkovic? I'll probably go Giani. Giani, I think played opposite at some point, because Giani is just, oh my gosh, he played every position you can think of and all the other ones. So that will be my six, seven players. The first ones that come to mind. --- Thanks Giuseppe! ## 😇 Here goes the shameless plug Volleybrains.com offers exclusive access to 1 on 1 talks with the best coaches in the game. 🌎 Our video calls get squeezed into extended, deep dive 'masterclasses' like the one you just read. **But as always, YOU still have to do the work.** Sit down, soak it up, put to use what speaks to you. We can just offer the convenience. Become a "volleybrains member" and get full access to every article and **every upcoming article** for the next 365 days. 35+ articles and 180+ exclusive video clips are available to our members...TODAY. Press the button below to become a paid member.👍 [Yes, I Want Full Access!](https://volleybrains.com/#/portal/signup) ### 35. Davide Mazzanti:"Respecting yourself and those around you, that is the key." URL: https://volleybrains.com/davide-mazzanti/ Last updated: 2022-06-10T14:55:36.000Z For the last 20 years Davide has been coaching at the highest Italian level in club teams or worked for the Italian volleyball federation. Next to the successes with the national team he also obtained 3 Italian Championships with his club teams. In this extended interview you'll find Davide talking about his coaching framework that he is continuously improving, about what he changed in his coaching over the last few years and why, about changing his way to set objectives for his athletes and about so much more. You'll find 13 original video clips in this article. Enjoy! Enter Davide... **Davide, why did you decide to become a professional volleyball coach? What pushed you towards that decision?** Before I wanted to be a coach, I wanted to become a teacher. I had enrolled in engineering and wanted to teach electronics because it was a subject which I wanted to pass on to others. Electronics was what made me fall in love with teaching. I had a very good professor during high school, who made me fall in love with that subject and I told myself I wanted to do the same with my life. Soon after I understood that the thing that I loved was making someone fall in love with a certain subject matter. 🙂 And as I was struggling a bit with the actual mathematics. Probably it wasn't my greatest talent. One day I went to see a practice of the junior national team, in a place near where I grew up. And there I saw a coach, [Angelo Lorenzetti](https://volleybrains.com/angelo-lorenzetti/), coaching this group of juniors, kids that were all my age. And there I understood two things; that I could never play at the highest level because I could recognize the gap that existed between my own qualities as a player and what I saw there. And that I should start my coaching journey. I bought all the instructional videotapes of all these coaches, I studied a lot but I had convinced myself of one thing; that I would never be able to reach the level of these top coaches. Because I could see that my way of doing things, was very different from what most coaches were doing and therefore as I saw them as my rolemodels, I thought I had no hope or at least no way to reach their level. I did however get many opportunities to confront myself with the highest level, so in a way my career progressed very quickly. I met people who brought me immediately in the Serie A and from there also immediately in the national team, but it still wasn't that obvious to me even when I became the assistant coach of the national team that this was my calling. > My question still was: "But why me?" In the sense that I still felt inadequate. And then I arrived at a moment where I saw that I had many insights, lots of new ideas, and that those ideas kind of worked. Well at that point I saw that it could work, it could work even with my own style, with my way of working. And so let's say that it's not like I decided to become a head coach. I slowly discovered that I could do it, I really had no idea I could actually do it. Euro champion winning point against Serbia! **What advice would you give yourself as a starting coach? An advice that is so clear and logic for you now, but that you had to develop over the years.** The advice that I would give myself is not to ponder too hard on 'why things happen'. For example when you are younger you'll have people that see something in you and they choose to invest in you, but you are not able to realise why they do that or what it is that they see in you. Asking those questions to yourself is useless. I would tell myself to question less and to live in a more sound an natural manner. **Do you have a particular goal? Maybe a goal that you already reached or a goal that is so hard to reach that it gives you daily motivation?** In the end my goal is to empower people so they can express themselves in their best way possible. I have focused a lot on the things I need to be able to put the people in these conditions. And then in my system, which is very organized, I have more precisely defined what the aspects are that I want to improve. I have created my own system of organizing my job and I took the word 'S.P.O.R.T.' as an acronym for the five elements which are strategy, priority, order, results and theory. And for each of those I have defined their specific environment. And let's say that after the Olympics and after the European Championships I have made it more clear what the actual priorities are, because I think that's where a big part of my job is actually situated. So I'm trying to better define these priorities. And the other thing I'm working on is the theory of things. For me in the "theory" all values are collected. And I believe that from a cultural perspective us Italians we are very good at everything that is a reaction. When we are struggling, we are great at creating "something". We are less good, in my opinion when we have to somehow confirm ourselves on things or performances that we achieved in the past. And so I'm trying to figure out what are the elements that lead me to be as effective as possible in maintaining that level. And so I'm working on the level of my own competencies, the ones I need to keep with me and the ones that I need to have in the gym. These are the two elements I work on the most. **No, a great and a profound answer. You made me think of at least 10 new questions though.** **The 5 points that you mentioned, where do they come from? These are subjects which are of great importance to yourself? If you have found these 5, let's say you could also find 8\.** From a lot of different inputs actually. They are the result of the synthesis that I have made over time and over time I have tried to organize: "what to do", let's say the rules that you want to give to your team. And in my opinion there what is important are the **priority** and the **order**, the "who does what" in your team. And how do you want to organize your team from a rules perspective. But also what then becomes the actual planning of a season. And in my opinion these first two elements here, are the two elements that are necessary, but not sufficient to win. But without these you don't go anywhere and so let's say that these here are; if we take a pyramid, they are the foundation of the pyramid. So that was "what to do". Then **strategy** and **results** are the "how I train". So in the pyramid they are in the middle and they are about both the whole idea of strategy, so how I want to make the team play. But also managing all that is called "data", concerning the results, regarding what each athlete's goals are and how I want to make them better. So this is the section of "how I want to train them". And then there is the top of the pyramid, which is the **theory.** And that's "the why", why do we do it. > And without this structure, it's hard to have direction, because very often the most important thing to have when you are struggling is to keep your focus on keeping the right direction in mind. And over the years I've seen that I was able to better synthesize these five points, to enrich my pyramid more and more. The rule is that when I'm in a state of grace when I have good insights, well then I can enrich the system. When I'm struggling, I will just read it, I will try to make the choices within the entire strategy. And I figured out that with a system as organized as this one, that it is easier to add something, to add new input, new behaviours. Maybe on how to manage the communication with the staff, on how to improve the communication with the athletes... I think this framework is helpful to have. I think that every coach has a system, maybe a bit more or a bit less defined than mine. The way I am though, the more I can define it, the more in check I will feel. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/05/Italia-nazionale-femminile-Europei-premiazione-2.jpeg) _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 34. Tore Aleksandersen: "Knowledge is power." URL: https://volleybrains.com/tore-aleksandersen/ Last updated: 2022-06-06T08:29:48.000Z In this Masterclass it will become very clear that his pursuit for knowledge has never stopped. During this season (2021-2022) Stuttgart has won the German Cup, became the runner up in the European CEV Cup competition and right now they are participating in the play off semi finals of the German league. There are 17 original video clips and 7000+ words in this article. Enjoy! **Tore, why did you decide to commit to being a professional volleyball coach? What pushed you towards that decision?** With coaching, I started really early. I was around 18 years old and coached a team of my home island in Norway and we went up from the juniors to the seniors level and eventually we played in the first league. At the same time, I was the national team coach for the Norwegian girls team. Yeah, so it kinda went on and on, but at one point I found out that I wanted to be a professional coach. And also until the day today, I'm the first Norwegian guy who has worked abroad as a professional coach. We have a Norwegian assistant coach now in Schwerin and my assistant coach now here also in Stuttgart but both of those guys I took with me at one point. I started to kind of contact clubs at that time. I'm so old so at that time it was not over the internet like it's possible today. So I used the telefax and phone calls. And I wanted to go abroad because, we'll maybe speak later on about philosophy and so on... > But one of the things that I wanted to do was; starting to travel around the world to visit the best coaches to see what they were doing, because I felt that this was the only way that I could get the knowledge. The knowledge I wanted or that I felt I needed. And I went to the United States where Arie Salinger was preparing a kind of professional league, they practiced and prepared the league at 'Sports Performance' in Chicago. So I was there for two, three weeks to prepare. And they were making that league there, with only four teams, but still it was some kind of league. And they asked me if I would apply and I applied and I got one of the head coaching positions there and that was kinda my first job abroad. That professional league was called the [USPV league](https://chicagoreader.com/news-politics/a-league-of-their-own/?ref=volleybrains.com) and that was in 2001\. So it's 20 years ago now already. We had some good players there. I had Lindsey Berg on my team, she was my setter and Hugh McCutcheon's wife, Liz Bachman was one of my middle blockers. There were 4-5 American players in my team that made the national team in the following year. It were only 4 teams in that league, but it was really interesting. It was fun. **What advice would you give yourself as a starting coach? An advice that is so clear and logic for you now, but that you had to develop over the years.** In Norway, we had a soccer coach some years ago who was taking our national team to European Championships and World Championships and I was at a coaching clinic with him and he said that "knowledge is power". For me, what I also would say myself and what I would advise to all younger coaches now is that they should go and learn from the best coaches around. Because it's there where it all happens. It doesn't happen behind a table in a school. You can take a formal education about sport and stuff. But if you want to really learn the game and understand the game you should go to the best coaches in the world, travel there, sit at their practice, watch them, talk to them, watch as much volleyball as you can, because this has helped me so much. If it was Lang Ping or if it was Ze Roberto. Whoever it was... Arie Selinger, I've been many times to him. You go and you watch and you learn. Because for me in volleyball nowadays the teachers of the game have disappeared. Tore's team of Stuttgart picked up the 2nd spot in the 2022 CEV Cup! Maybe we have more 'statistic guys' who go from maybe an assistant coach spot to a head coach position. And I don't say, they are not good coaches, but the real kind of teachers of the game, how to do things properly, technically there aren't that many of them around anymore in my opinion. I know more about the women's side of our game than the men's side, of course, but for me for example, [Giovanni Guidetti](https://volleybrains.com/giovanni-guidetti/) is a good friend of mine and he is like that kind of guy who knows how to train his players. There's a reason why he can stay in the same club ([Vakifbank](https://www.vakifbanksporkulubu.com/?ref=volleybrains.com)) and continue winning year after year. It's not only about their budget because in the end you just need one bad run and the team management says, okay, it's just not good enough for us anymore, you're out. > So that is my kind of advice, go and learn from the best ones. It can start locally. You can have someone who is better than you locally, even in your own country. Then start to watch internationally, you take can take small steps and then step by step you learn to develop your own kind of philosophy. The more knowledge you get, the more you will put things together and you understand where things should be and how you would like things to be. And then you probably choose to learn from coaches that maybe follow the same philosophy that you're developing and sometimes maybe a totally different one to mix it up a little bit. **Do you have a particular goal? Maybe a goal that you already reached or a goal that is so hard to reach that it gives you daily motivation?** Yeah. I think a goal for me is like this. I really don't like to put goals on my team that for example we say when the season starts: Oh, now we have to win. We have a good enough team to win or we should win the cup and the league and stuff like this. Because that, for me, puts a very unnatural kind of pressure inside the whole team environment. Because, if you're going to win, you need a lot of different things to go well. You need to play good of course. You need a good team. You need to practice well, but you also need to have a portion of luck, if that serve drops down on the right side of the net or not, when it hits the net. You need to have as less injuries as possible, so you can play with your best players most of the season, you know. And some of those things you cannot control. So in some situations you can even end up being number 2 and you still had a great, great season. And if you have then voiced out that winning is the only thing that counts you are kind of also saying that, okay, the season was a fiasco, that it wasn't good enough. > Of course, we go out for every game and in every situation to win and do the very, very best we can. But for me, it's more about the kind of process we are working on. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 33. Anders Kristiansson:"Dare to challenge." URL: https://volleybrains.com/anders-kristiansson/ Last updated: 2022-05-28T12:45:07.000Z Since then he coached in the Italian Serie A1 in the early 90's leading the teams of Bologna and Treviso. Won 15 National Championships with Belgian's Noliko Maaseik taking them to 3 European Final Four tournaments. (played 2 finals!) Following his term in Belgium, Anders won 3 National Championship titles with Greece’s Iraklis Thessoloniki and Olypiacos Pireus. In 2013 he was named head coach of Toyoda Gosei Trefuerza in Japan’s V-League becoming one of the first foreign coaches ever in Japanese volleyball. His impact was immediately felt leading Toyoda to a National Championship, and the National and Emperors Cup Titles. Anders has been and is an example for many European coaches. Our dedicated readers will have seen Anders' name pop up in the Masterclass with Dutch Olympic Gold Medalist coach [Joop Alberda](https://volleybrains.com/joop-alberda/) and [Tommi Tillikainen](https://volleybrains.com/tommi-tiilikainen/)'s Masterclass 💡 Joop about Anders:"But it was his personal attitude towards playing volleyball, what it means to be part of a team, the importance of everybody on that team having the same goal...for that day and age(late 80's), it was really a new way of thinking. It really impressed me." **Anders, when did you decide to become a professional volleyball coach?** It's not like a day where you say: 'Now I become a professional coach.' I was working for club teams in Sweden. I was a player and I was a player-coach for many years. And then I started to train junior national teams for the Swedish federation. Swedish national teams offered me a half-time job. I was teaching at school and then eventually I could quit that teaching job. So that could maybe be called professional, but I did also a lot more than just coaching. So it was something that grew gradually. I worked many years like that with the national team and club teams in Sweden. But I was full time for the Swedish Federation, so to speak. After many years working like this, I had many requests to go to professional clubs here in Europe. So that was in 1988, I think, after already having many good results with the national team and at that moment I went to Italy to coach there. I guess it's like this for most of the coaches around, that it's something that is growing and you start out and see that this is interesting and that you want to further pursue this course. **What advice would you give yourself as a starting coach? An advice that is so clear and logic for you now, but that you developed over the years.** I must have been only in my early twenties when I started to coach. And back then I was probably quite sure about everything. What was the right thing to do. And like always youngsters should use the experience of older people or more experienced coaches. But in my case, there was nobody to listen to. Because Sweden had no volleyball culture. They had no generation actually before me playing volleyball. So I didn't know who to listen to. There was no internet, there was nothing about volleyball that I could find. > So I had to make up my own truth. Maybe I should have taken it easier a little bit to take it step by step and make it simpler for myself? But again, there was nobody to talk to, no volleyball press or books or anything like that. Maybe you could go to a European championship to watch a few games. I don't know if you realize that you're speaking with somebody who started in the mid 60's.:-) So it's, it's hard to say what I should have done differently, but today, of course, there are many, many, many better possibilities. To meet people, to look stuff up, to Google the things. To get information and form your idea of what you want to do for a certain time. Building a base of what you want to do or do on a little bit longer term than the next training. **Do you have a particular goal? Maybe a goal that you already reached or a goal that is so hard to reach that it gives you daily motivation?** I always have trouble with the word 'goal'. > For me, a goal is something that you can measure. As long as I can remember, I have been thinking like this. And what can you measure? That is how good your passing has to be? How good does your attack have to be?How many errors can you allow? Or can you allow any errors? It goes for every fundamental from serving, passing, blocking, attacking, defense, or whatever, try to measure as much as possible. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 32. Dani Busboom Kelly:"All of my players need to have a great experience, I take that very personal" URL: https://volleybrains.com/dani-busboom-kelly/ Last updated: 2023-01-20T12:06:34.000Z To find a team that played an undefeated regular season we have to go back til 2013! Louisville finished their run against Wisconsin in an epic [Final Four game](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg8huOQ%5Ffik&t=447s&ab%5Fchannel=NCAAChampionships&ref=volleybrains.com). (Wisconsin went on to become the National Champion). Which means Louisville remained undefeated for 32 games straight! In this Masterclass Dani talks about: her own experiences as a player and how these made her a better coach, her goals and objectives with the Louisville program, how she trains her setters, which failures she has built upon, what she wants her players to become both as an athlete and a human and so, so much more... This article features 17 video clips and counts over 5000 words. Enjoy! Enter Dani. **Dani, what made you want to become a volleyball coach?** When I was at Nebraska as a player, I switched positions my senior year. So I was a setter for 3 years, and became a libero in my senior year. And I think that switch really shifted my mindset. I felt that I had a lot to give back to the game of volleyball. And also [John Cook](https://volleybrains.com/john-cook/), who was my coach at Nebraska. He was like, you should be a coach. And we never really talked about it before. But when he said that, I was like, maybe I'll do it. I knew that if I didn't try to get into the volleyball game that I would regret it. And so I got a job at Tennessee, it was my first assistant coaching job. And I've been in coaching ever since. > But it's funny. I knew I would regret it if I didn't get in it, but I also knew in the back of my head, once I got in it, I would never leave. It's been a good journey and I obviously had many great stops before coming to Louisville as a head coach. **What advice would you give yourself as a starting coach? An advice that is so clear and logic for you now, but that you had to develop over the years.** I think when you start out as a coach, especially when you've been a player, it's tough to find your voice. And typically at your first job, you're going to be around veterans who have been coaching for years and that have a lot of experience. I would tell myself that I should speak up more and have more of a voice. And you know, to say what I'm feeling or seeing more and not being worried that it might not be perceived well. > I also always tell everybody that one of my biggest regrets is when I was at Tennessee, I never sat down and had a conversation with Pat Summitt. Who's, you know, one of the greatest women's coaches in the history of any sport, one of the greatest coaches, period. And most coaches, like that, they want to help and they want to help other coaches grow. I also definitely recommend to take advantage of those opportunities with the people that are around you in your athletic department. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/03/coach_squad.jpeg) And, you know, when I left Tennessee, that was one of the first things I thought. I was like, man, I never had a conversation with Pat Summitt. I know she would have been open to doing it and it's definitely one of my biggest regrets, but I've also learned from that and do a much better job now. And hopefully people I've told that to do the same. **What are bad recommendations you hear about coaching or training volleyball?** That is a tough question. I would say a bad recommendation I hear is just 'specialization' in general. We have a player coming in who has to set for her club team. I think that's great. Even though she's probably not going to be a setter here, it's just going to help her overall volleyball IQ. > So I don't think you should specialize in a position at a very young age at all. If for a long period, if you're capable of playing multiple positions, try to do that. I also think that at the junior level we could teach some more volleyball IQ stuff. That would really help when players transition into the college game. Rotations, for example, don't let players get comfortable, understand why some teams have difficulty to get out of certain rotations and why we mix it up and why we can do different things in each rotation. I don't know if that's like a recommendation, but it's something that I think could be improved on. **Do you have a particular goal? Maybe a goal that you already reached or a goal that is so hard to reach that it gives you daily motivation?** Right now I think I have a lot of different goals with different reasons or different 'why's'. To continue to grow the program here is definitely one of them. I think a fear of mine would be that last year was just a flash in the pan, or we just had one good year. I never want our program to be viewed that way. I want us to be continually in the top 20 and always pushing sweet 16's and elite 8's and in the hunt for the ACC championship. I know we're not going to achieve those goals every single year, but as long as we're in a position that we 'can' achieve them, I think that's really important. So continuing to grow there and now the next step is to win a national championship. > We've made the final four and that wasn't even on my goals board when I took the job at Louisville, but now it has to go on. So that's pretty exciting. But also in the community of Louisville, just growing the game and making sure fans are continuing to come and that it's a big deal to be a part of Louisville volleyball in whatever way that is, whether it's a player or a coach or a fan. We've laid down a great foundation that goes along with, you've gotta be consistent, you got to win and get those fans here. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/03/venue_Louisville.jpeg) I always want our players to have a great experience and when they don't, I take that really personally. This year we had 6 seniors and I think they all could say we had a great experience over those last 4 years. > And so the goal is that we continue that and make sure that whether they're starters or All Americans or they never play, that they have a great experience and that Louisville volleyball made them a better person and player. So those are pretty big goals. And for sure the ones that take work on a daily basis. **Continuing on laying down that foundation, broadening that base that was created is definitely the way to go. Aren't you guys also organising the final four tournament in 2024?** Exactly. That would be incredible because last time it was here, it was in 2012 maybe...with 17.000 spectators and Louisville wasn't even in the hunt to be in the final four. So just imagine if we're there with the buzz of the city, it would be incredible. And you know, I got to experience that at Nebraska as a player and a coach when Omaha hosted the final four. But this is even on another level because it's 'in' our home facility. We don't play all our matches there, but we'll play some. So it'd be a pretty big deal. The Yum center is big, it can hold 22,000 people. It's massive. So you would really lose the intimacy of volleyball if we would play all our matches there. When you're far away, you don't really see how hard everybody's hitting the ball and how fast they're moving. But we want to play some games in there to grow the game. There's a lot of people that want to see us play. Last year we sold out pretty much all of our games at home and it got really rowdy and hard to get a ticket. So I also want to make sure we're giving the opportunity for everybody who wants to, to see us play at least a couple of times a year, but it's going to be hard to get a ticket in our arena next year, that's for sure. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/03/yum.jpeg) Sold out Yum Center (huge!) **Team rules. Are there some fixed rules that you put in place?** We don't have a lot of rules here. But it evolves and can change. Teams are going to change so you might have to develop more specific rules. But our rules that we do have fixed are 'be on time' and 'person to person'. So if you want to talk to somebody we're going to do it face to face. I think that's really hard nowadays because texting is so easy, but we don't ever want to go there. And then follow the *golden rule*, treat others how you want to be treated. Do we know the bus driver's name? Are we saying, thank you. That's what 'follow the golden rule' looks like to me, that's just one example. So those are really our 3 rules in and out every single year. And then we might do some changes or the team will come up with some of their own, but those are not year to year. **How do you go about developing a performance culture and being transparent and open about the individual and team's objectives.** One thing that we do, that's really unique and difficult, but has really paid off is, we have role meetings, but we do them in front of the team. So we talk about every individual in front of everybody else. I think that really helps build trust because we're really transparent. And then it allows them to hold each other accountable so they can hear us, what we say you need to do, whether it would be more playing time or what you're doing well. > So it's also an opportunity to call out the things we want to see repeated in front of the whole team and to make sure that our players know that that's valued. But also a way for them to hear about their play in front of their peers. And it's sometimes probably the most awkward for me because I'm the one leading the meeting. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/03/dani_coach-2.jpeg) And saying 'negative' stuff about a player in front of everybody is kind of hard, but I think it's really been great for our program and something we're going to continue to do. And that doesn't mean we never talk behind closed doors because that's unrealistic. We have to sometimes, but mostly we don't, I just don't want anybody to think we're hiding something or trying to keep info, I don't want somebody coming out of our offices going down to the locker room saying or thinking something, that isn't true. That's why we try to do everything together as a group. **When preparing the next game, how does your general approach look like and did you ever change your approach?** We've been pretty consistent. We've definitely condensed our scouting reports and made them simpler. We've gotten feedback from our players about what they like. For example there was this simple thing you don't think about that we changed. So when we're out recruiting, we know all these players by name and so we were using their names during our scouting sessions and our players didn't like that. Especially the young ones. They wanted us to use numbers. That's difficult for me because I just know the face and the name, but it wasn't helping them learn. > And I think it also puts opponents on a pedestal, well, we know their name, because we recruited them and we know what they can do, instead of just, everybody's an equal or they're just a number to us. So that's one thing. And then we try to keep it really short. I don't agree with long scouting sessions. I think it's our job to help the players in the match remember the scout and to keep coaching them and not be like, look, we talked about that in the locker room. > They're not going to remember in the heat of the moment and anybody that's played knows that. They'll remember some, but they're not gonna remember everything. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/03/team_louisville-1.jpeg) But other than that, you know, it's been really consistent and we just tweaked a bit here and there, but we prepare on the court very consistently. And luckily I have two assistants that played at a pretty high level, so they can be 'other' players. I think that really helps us a lot. And then we typically have a couple of red shirts that we watch film with of the players that they're going to be in practice. So they kind of know how to look and act and what the strengths and weaknesses are. **I'll link an interview that you did with Terry Pettit at the end of this Masterclass...there you mentioned that the focus on your own team's strength is way more important than looking at how great the opponent is.** **That is a universal sports cliché by now...but it became one because it's true.**😄 Focusing on the other team, you just lose sight of your strengths. And so one thing I learned from [John Cook](https://volleybrains.com/john-cook/) and I'll never change is when we talk about starting different rotations, it's like, no, we're going to make them beat us in our best rotations. And so we're not going to start in a different rotation for a certain matchup. And I've thought about that so many times. I mean, I've thought about it the other day. Like maybe we should work on that this year. So that we feel comfortable starting anywhere. But I'm probably always going to start in what our best rotation is.😄 ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/03/dani_john2-1.jpg) **You talked earlier about your 6 seniors. You had a very reactive, dynamic and effective team on the court last season, how did you go about recruiting?** You can't really say like, I'm just going to go out and recruit these players and they will fill that void perfectly. > It's more about what can we do this year, how should we think about our game, what kind of style do we want to play and how do we create that team. So for example, we know we're going to lose a lot of points from Anna Stevenson, one of our middles. We can't expect from a freshman middle to be able to score that much. So is it running more back row? Is it being more creative with our back and not using a DS? So we're thinking about all those things and working on them now to prepare us for next season. **How will the female college game further evolve in your opinion?** I definitely think it's going to be fast. I think teams are trying to go faster. You see international teams going fast, USA goes really fast. So typically American teams start to train or do things like the national team. I also do think a lot of coaches will lobby for less subs. So I feel like that could change. But then there's also rules here in the States about title 9 and opportunity. Whether that's a volleyball thing or not, all of that could get voted down for reasons outside of our sport. So we'll see, I think that's always going to be up for debate. I do think that you'll continue to just see 'bigger, faster, stronger' and probably eventually maybe have to raise the net. They haven't changed anything for women's basketball, but it seems like for volleyball, they could raise the net a little bit and make it even more competitive with longer rallies, but who knows? I could also see things staying the same because the NCAA just really does not like 'change'. **And if we look at it from a volleyball technical perspective, what could help our sport to progress there?** I think the double contact has been a problem in NCAA volleyball and they should get rid of it. And I'm not for allowing double contacts, but I'm for not letting the refs make decisions where it's impossible for them to be consistent with. > So I think if we just gave them an easier rule to follow that that would change and it'd be more consistent, which would be huge. Like I was talking about before, I don't know about the subs. I think that'd be great and it would help players develop. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/03/_big_CM_VBC2021_22vGEORGIA_TECH_2_0003.jpg) But we also like to use DS's, not that we will every year, but I think it gives a lot more people the opportunity to play and have a great experience. So I go back and forth on that one, but the double contact for sure in my opinion, should go away. If the ball's going in the direction of the hitter, you shouldn't really call doubles unless it falls between the setter's hands obviously, but the refs cannot stay consistent as it is. And what I can't stand is when they call a non setter for a double, when the setter's doubling at the same time, it should be the same rule for everybody. **Another one that should be up for debate, and that we saw being used by the Texas middles for example, was throwing down the ball 'powertip' style (over the shoulder to position 1). Which at their height and with that angle becomes a ball that you basically can't defend once it passes the block.** I agree. I don't think it should be allowed. And I think it's like with the double contact. If you just say that it's not allowed, well we won't do it. But right now it's like, well, did your hand follow through or did it not? And you can't challenge it and it's all over the place. So that'd be great if they just picked if it is allowed or it's not. And in that way everybody knows. Cause we trained it because [Pitt](https://pittsburghpanthers.com/sports/womens-volleyball?ref=volleybrains.com) was really good at it. They had 1 player who would kill us and we got really good at it. And then in one match we got called for it like 3 times. And so we stopped doing it. But you kept seeing it over and over throughout the season. So that's the same thing. It's frustrating because you don't know what will happen during the match, it all depends on the ref, who you'll get. **Best game you've ever seen. What game did validate once more that volleyball is the greatest sport on the globe. For sure share your opinions about this matchup, what you took away from it.** That's a tough question. I started going to Nebraska games when I was really young, but I wasn't really analyzing the game. It was more like, I want to be a part of this program because of the fans and how powerful the athletes are. I wanted to represent that program. But a game that sticks out to me is a national championship game between Texas and Penn state. And I don't even know what year it was. I just know it was Destiny Hooker's senior year. > And I remember watching that game thinking how good it was. And it's the first time I felt like on TV, that college volleyball looked so good. So that sticks out to me just cause I was watching it on TV thinking, man, this looks so impressive. And I think volleyball, up until the last few years has kind of gotten a bad rep because it's not great to watch on TV and that's changing. And I think that game really clicked for me. If games were like this we'd have big TV audiences. And there were just some really impressive athletes in that game also, like Destiny Hooker, I'm sure Megan Hodge was on the team for Penn state. It was just such a great match. **If you could have a gigantic billboard anywhere with anything on it — metaphorically speaking, getting a message out to every athlete on the globe — what would it say and why?** The first thing that comes to mind, this is with no prep on a really hard question is just: be authentic. And we really preach that in our program. So that's what I would put on a billboard. And you know, I think it's so easy to not be authentic nowadays with Instagram and social media, where you can really be whoever you want to be. But I want our players to feel comfortable and feel safe being themselves, but at the same time being able to grow in the right ways. **How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success? Do you have a “favorite failure” of yours?** When I switched positions at Nebraska, after we lost in the national championship game in my junior year, well I knew that I would never set again, even though I had no conversation with my coach about that. But I knew I had failed and I just knew that whether I liked it or not the team and him, he needed something different in that position. > And so I considered that a failure. And then I became a libero and I think that really projected my career into coaching and just made me have a lot better perspective. So that would definitely be a very good failure for sure. And another one intertwined with Nebraska is when I was at Tennessee, 2 assistants left in the same year, and I thought I would have a great chance to get one of those 2 jobs. And I didn't and I ended up getting the job here at Louisville instead, and over here I probably learned more than I ever thought I would. And obviously made great connections and now I'm the head coach here. And so if I hadn't come to Louisville, I don't think I would be, before in Nebraska as an assistant, I don't think I'd be sitting here today. I also don't think I would have been nearly as well prepared to be a great assistant coach and then to be a head coach. **Having had those experiences as a setter, learning from that situation and now being a head coach. How did that have an impact on you coaching your setters?** At Louisville, we have it broken up into positions. And so the setters are my primary position. And I think the way I was trained good and bad has really taught me even more about the relationship side between a coach and a setter. And I take a lot of pride in that. And I think it definitely made me a great setter coach because of that. Because I quote unquote failed at that position, the way I view it, as a player, but I think it has made me a great setters coach and even more so with the relationship piece of it. > I also don't train every setter the same because they're so different. And I don't think you can. So even if we have different setters in our program, they're not getting the exact same feedback because they're very different setters. Making sure that they're comfortable and they understand 'why'. I think a lot of it is just telling them 'why', and that then they can trust you. I don't think as a player I was always told 'why'. It was more like, you have to do this and this and this. I think if I would've known 'why' maybe I would have been better or done things a little differently. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/03/louisville_champ.jpeg) **Do you have a book, a podcast or another resource that you like a lot? Maybe something that gets shared with the team?** I don't have a specific podcast I always listen to, but I really like [Anson Dorrance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anson%5FDorrance?ref=volleybrains.com). He's the soccer coach at North Carolina, the women's soccer coach. So I like listening to his stuff. > I kind of pick out coaches that I can relate to no matter what sport. I try not to be obsessed with volleyball coaches. I try to be more into what other coaches are doing in other sports. We read a couple of football books when I was at Nebraska and I've referenced the Pete Carroll book('Win Forever: Live, Work and Play Like a Champion') quite a bit. As far as our players go that's more on an individual basis, we don't have required reading. Our sports psychologist helps a lot of our players. And so they'll be reading different things all the time, which I think is great because what one player likes the other player might not. So we don't have anything that we specifically reference. But most of our players are reading something. So I think it's cool that at our level, we do have a resource that can personalize all that. Because as coaches you probably don't have time to personalize that, but she can, and especially with the ones that do find value in that. *Did some light digging on 'Anson Dorrance', check this clip if you want to know what a 'lovable screamer' actually is.* 😅 **What is one of the most worthwhile investments you’ve ever made?** That's interesting. And I think there's a lot, I would say, but I think working USA camps is one of them and it doesn't even involve the national team. Really. It always takes a lot of time, it would be 10 days in the summer when recruiting's over. And it's like, do I really want to do this? I would always be on the fly. I would think to myself, why am I doing this? I need a break. 😄 But I always found value from it. And I still do. > Just the conversations you have with other coaches, I've had met some of my biggest mentors at those camps. So I feel like that is very undervalued. And my assistants always have that same attitude. Like man, it's so long? I don't know if I can do that. And I'm like, you should though. > I've never walked away from a situation where I'm around coaches for that long, that I've thought that was not worth it. That's the first thing volleyball related that popped in my head. But I did just go on a trip with my husband for his work. And I think it put things to perspective too, supporting him and learning what he does. So that was something I need to do more of. Just making sure it's just not about volleyball and me and the program. I learned about the relationships that he has and sales is also so relatable to athletics. Because you're always recruiting or you're recruiting boosters and donors. It was just really good for me to take the time for it, even though I almost didn't go because we had just started practices here. I was like, I can't leave the team. And it was very last minute, but I decided I needed to do it anyways. And I'm thankful that I did it just like the USA stuff. You're always like, oh, should I really be doing this? And then you come home and you realize that was one hundred percent worth it. **When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, or have lost your focus temporarily, what do you do?** I'm pretty much an open book. So if I was feeling overwhelmed, I'd probably tell my assistant: 'I'm feeling overwhelmed and this is causing that. So we need to take that out of the equation.' But I'm thinking more on a volleyball related aspect here and how it is during matches. And we can communicate really well as a staff. That takes the heat off. But just in life, honestly, if I'm feeling overwhelmed, usually I just need to take some time off with my husband and just not think about what's overwhelming me and he's very, the way to put it lightly, he's good at leisure.😄 He's a very, very calm human being. So usually just being around him is like, okay, I'll calm down a little bit just because that's his nature. --- Thanks a lot for your time and the conversation, Dani. *Extra:* 1. Down below you can find the interview that got mentioned above. 2\. For our European readers that are new to female college volleyball, below you can find the 2021 National Championship semi final of Dani's Louisville team against [Kelly Sheffield's ](https://volleybrains.com/kelly-sheffield/)Wisconsin squad. --- ### 31. Glenn Hoag:"It is my responsibility to help my sport to grow" URL: https://volleybrains.com/glenn-hoag/ Last updated: 2023-04-30T07:34:01.000Z He has been coaching Team Canada since 2006 til the summer of 2021\. (with only a short break in 2016-2017) In this Masterclass Glenn talks about his passion for developing players, what his goals are with the team's that he coaches, what some traits are that young coaches should develop, how he evolved his coaching style over the years...and much much more. There are 14 video clips in this Masterclass, check them all out. Glenn, thanks again for your availability and your time. Enter Glenn... **Glenn, why did you decide to commit to being a professional volleyball coach? What pushed you towards that decision?** So that evolved. I always loved sport. Since I've been a small boy, I don't know why I was so drawn to sport, hockey, track and field and everything. I followed sport and I participated in sport. I was always very passionate about it. I was going to become a teacher with my physical education degree if I was not going to pursue my volleyball career. But I pursued the volleyball career and became professional. And I remember being in Europe in the different leagues and always writing down and taking notes what have happened in practice. Even with the national team I wrote down things about what the coaches that I had were doing. So I always had that kind of perspective. Initially I wasn't going to become a coach, but an opportunity came in 1993 at the end of my professional career at the university of Sherbrooke. I was 34 then, and it was a great opportunity for me to stay in sports, to become a volleyball coach which is the sport that I loved. But the only thing though is that I needed to learn about coaching because I was a player then. I have had some useful education from my university years and I 'knew' volleyball, but coaching was a different thing. So there was a whole process that was going to kick in then. > For sure passion drives you somehow somewhere, just something that triggers that choice and adventure, but for me it was just like, first things first I need to become a coach now. I needed to leave that players role because there's a transition there that's not necessarily easy to do. Luckily, I had a mentor that really, really was a huge influence in my coaching life. So we started that process, but I would say that that transitional process took about 4 to 5 years. I needed that time where I stopped becoming a player gradually and started to become a coach. **Do you have a particular goal? Maybe a goal that you already reached or a goal that is so hard to reach that it gives you daily motivation?** Well, I would say that the complexity of developing an athlete is a goal as such. You need to profile the athlete and see where they're at. Doesn't matter the age, the sex, the level of development. You make the profile and decide, okay, what's the strategy to develop this player? I can set a goal, but then I have to establish a strategy, you know, what drills am I going to use? Or what means of communication are we going to use so that person can fulfil that goal? And when do I implement and how do I measure this? Because the person, once you set the goal, will need to have a set of measurements so that they can relate to something. And you also need to be able to explain all that to them. > I love seeing when the learning kicks in, sometimes it takes a year for a young athlete or they come back the next season and it's clear:" Oh, boom, now he's got it." This will always be the goal in the end. It's a team sport, so kind of getting the team to play, not in perfect harmony, but to reach a level of harmonisation as a group that's so pleasing to watch win or lose. It's so much fun to watch the group perform and execute the skills as a group and respond to cues as a group. That for me is the ultimate goal. --- 💡 **Enjoying this Masterclass?** Become a "volleybrains member" and get full access to every article and **every upcoming article** with a yearly subscription for the next 12 months. 50+ articles and 400+ exclusive video clips are available to our members...TODAY. Press the button below to become a paid member.👍 [Yes, I Want Full Access!](https://start.volleybrains.com/?ref=volleybrains.com) --- **How do you go about the individual development of the athlete?** The way I like to look at the game is well, you look at the court and you take the skills. If you take the different skills you got: setting, serving, receiving, blocking, attacking, defending, and you take the 6 spots on the court. And now you can valuate efficiency per position, skill and player. Obviously a setter is more of a setter, but if your setter is only a setter, if he doesn't defend, doesn't block, doesn't serve well. Well he's executing just one skill and will likely cost you in the other skills. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 30. Hugh McCutcheon:"It's about committing to a standard of competitive excellence." URL: https://volleybrains.com/hugh-mccutcheon/ Last updated: 2022-05-28T12:45:43.000Z Resulting in an Olympic gold medal on the men's side and a silver medal and 3 Grand Prix wins on the women's side. Hugh is leading the Minnesota Gophers women's volleyball program since 2012 and became a volleyball Hall of Fame member in 2018. I hope you enjoy Hugh's answers to our VolleyBrains' questions. And if you didn't already also check out [his Ted Talk](https://volleybrains.com/hugh-mccutcheon-tedtalk/). **Hugh, what pushed you towards becoming a professional volleyball coach?** Yeah, I think originally coaching was a means to an academic end. I was going to graduate school and I could coach at the same time, I ended up doing two different master's degrees. One was in exercise science and statistics and one's a master's in business administration. And while I was going to school, I was thinking, okay, I can do this master's degree and then maybe get into a PhD program. As I was doing it, I was like, academics is fine, but coaching is actually a little more intriguing. And that's why I did my business degree because coaching is a fickle business to say the least. I thought, at least if I have a real world qualification, then you could get into coaching and have something to fall back on. I think the parallels between coaching and management are pretty strong, but that's another discussion. > So at no point was I ever, Hey, I'm going to be a coach. It was more like, Hey, coaching is interesting. And it was leading me to have these really unique experiences. And it was the experiences that were driving these decisions for a long time. It was never about, Hey whatever, trying to make money and do all this stuff. It was like, Hey, I can go to an Olympics or I could be the head coach of this team or now I could coach women or now I can do something different and try to apply these principles in a different way. So yeah, that was really the motive. **What advice would you give yourself as a starting coach? An advice that is so clear and logic to you now, but that you had to develop over the years.** I'm going to answer this in two ways. I think if I was talking to my younger self, I would be... One, a little more patient. I think there's a tendency when you're young to want stuff to happen immediately. And then two. Understand that the coaching life is a little more in the gray than it is maybe necessarily black or white. And I think when you're young, you're afforded the naivete of conviction, you know, like, Hey, this is the way we're going to do it and every other way is terrible.:-) You know what I mean. These opinions tend to be very polarizing and I think just being open to listening to everything and forming your own opinions about things is an important part of the coaching process. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/02/gophersarena.jpeg) Packed! But the most important part of that process...and so this is why I'm saying that I'm going to answer it two ways is... As a young coach, you really need some guiding principles that are gonna help you to...well kind of have evaluative criteria for all the stuff that's out there. > Because there is a lot of stuff out there and not all of it is based in any kind of scientific rigor and much of it is based in tradition or opinion. > So you need some way to separate the wheat from the chaff as it were. **Do you have a particular goal as a coach? Maybe a goal that you already reached or a goal that is so hard to reach that it gives you daily motivation?** Sure. I think the goal for me and my current job is to help these people become the best they can be on the court and to help them be the best they can be off the court. To help them develop at a pretty important formative time in their lives so that they can leave us and go on and play professionally or go to the USA team or go to a company or start their own business or do whatever they want to do. But go on and give them a good launching pad for their next phase in life. Hey, every time we step on the court, we want to win. Of course we want to win, right? We're going to work hard and we're going to compete. We're going to do everything we can to win, but it's not about winning and losing. > It's about, let's commit to excellence and then see what that gets us. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/02/hugh7.jpeg) **"Tradition is never the right reason to do anything. Unless it’s the right reason." In researching for our call that is a quote that came back a few times...** I think that's a really important thing that people have to understand. True. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 29. On the court: Championship Behaviours with Hugh McCutcheon URL: https://volleybrains.com/hugh-mccutcheon-tedtalk/ Last updated: 2023-01-01T10:37:32.000Z 💡 This short article spotlights Hugh's excellent Ted Talk and the process of creating and delivering it. ### Not a recap This post will not talk about the message that Hugh delivered...there just isn't anything to add here. 🙂 **Seriously**, if you're a parent, teacher or a coach and you didn't listen to the talk yet. Stop reading and start watching! ### This isn't easy Being able to communicate well and confidently is undeniably a major part of being a great coach. Being able to deliver your message on a consistent basis or being great at asking the right questions...that isn't an easy feat to accomplish. I'm an avid podcast listener, in the field of health and sports I listen to a lot of these Ted Talks and here at VolleyBrains, we did a decent amount of video call interviews with top performing pro volleyball coaches. I highly respect and think there is a lot to be learned from skilled communicators. Myself, I do know that I still struggle a lot with trying to be a great 'interviewer'. The excuse of not being a native English speaker is an easy out. 🙂 ### Mount Olympus I like to dig a bit deeper after having listened to something that hits...of course there is this proximity bias playing up - me liking this talk 'more' because it's a **volleyball coach** delivering it - but even then, it hit home. Doing a public talk is like reaching 'the top of Mount Olympus' of message transfer. - An audience that doesn't always know you - You have limited time to make a real connection with your audience - You need to set up your message well; brief but comprehensive - You need to deliver your message even better; witty and sharp - Hit it home and end with an overarching and clear conclusion ### Call with Hugh For VolleyBrains we had an interview set up with Hugh (will go live next weekend) and I couldn't let the opportunity go to waste to dig a bit deeper into the preparation of the talk he had delivered. In this clip Hugh goes over the process behind his Ted Talk. --- 💡 See you next week for Hugh McCutcheon's Masterclass --- VolleyBrains.com is a digital indie volleyball publication. Becoming a member gets you FULL access to all our Masterclasses with world renowned coaches. ## Our masterclasses will help you refine your own coaching ingredients and improve your coaching capabilities. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/12/cook.jpg) ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/12/russ.jpg) ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/12/kelly.jpg) ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/12/daniele.jpg) ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/12/tuomas.jpg) ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/12/joop.jpg) ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/12/gardo.jpg) ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/12/knipe.jpg) ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/12/gio.jpg) ## Learn from the world's best. The lessons to be learned are plenty. Some surprising, some very logical. Some very practical, some more heady... But always tried and true methods used by the highest performing pro volleyball coaches in the world. ## Every coach in every interview mentions that they are constant learners and want to learn from the very best. Because of VolleyBrains you don't need an impressive international network anymore to have access to the pro coaches of our game. See you on the inside! [I want access!](https://volleybrains.com/#/portal/signup) Most questions about volleybrains.com are answered on our [start page](https://volleybrains.com/about/), BUT also feel free to just email me at matias@volleybrains.com. I love hearing from coaches, so email me and introduce yourself. ### 28. Michal Winiarski:"I have the same attitude towards coaching as I had towards playing, I want to be the best I can be." URL: https://volleybrains.com/michal-winiarski-1/ Last updated: 2022-08-09T12:35:19.000Z All of that combined with numerous individual awards and to be considered one of the **best outside hitters** in the world in the 2007-2014 period. (I'm eyeballing that period a bit, but I got a close look, pretty sure of these dates 👍) Since 4 years Michal is working hard to become an expert volleyball coach. Currently he's coaching the Polish club team of [Trefl Gdansk](https://treflgdansk.pl/?ref=volleybrains.com). 💡 Here on VolleyBrains we already talked a lot about the **'world class player - head coach transition'**, I remember [Russ Rose](https://volleybrains.com/russ-rose/) and [Alan Knipe](https://volleybrains.com/alan-knipe/) mentioning Karch Kiraly's process and excellence and [Giovanni Guidetti](https://volleybrains.com/giovanni-guidetti/) talking about Lorenzo Bernardi. Michal is for sure an example of somebody who's investing time and effort into making a successful transition into the 'coaching field'. **Michal, what pushed you towards becoming a volleyball coach?** It was an entire process. When I was a player, a young player, let's say til I was 25 years of age, I just loved to play volleyball. And it was amazing, I just had to think about how to be the very best player that I could be, how to help the team, how to improve as a player and a person and everything was 'easy'. Growing a bit older I started to have more injuries and I understood that I wouldn't play volleyball all my life. > But I also knew that volleyball was the best thing ever and something that I love. So I decided that I had to stay in this sport. That's how I cultivated a passion to become a coach. When I became 30 years old, I thought to myself:' okay, now try to start to develop yourself as a coach, keep your eyes open, try to learn from your head coaches.' But all and all I thought that I had got it figured out.*(laughs at himself thinking of that period)* I became the assistant coach of [Roberto Piazza](https://volleybox.net/roberto-piazza-p41685/clubs?ref=volleybrains.com) in our team in Belchatow, where I had played for a lot of years. And my own belief or concept was that, okay, I had experienced a lot of coaches. I was the captain of our national team, I played in Italy for the world's top teams. I played in Russia. So I thought that I knew a lot about volleyball > But when I became an assistant coach, a completely new and different world opened up and it 'had' to open up. It was a big pleasure and a big advantage for me as a 'new' coach to work with Roberto. He's really amazing, especially for his individual work with his players. He was the perfect mentor. Now in my 5th year of coaching I can really say that I kept the passion that I had for the game. I really have the same feeling. I have the same attitude towards becoming a better coach as I had back in the days, on the court as a player. There is so much to improve upon.:-) ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/01/20211114_0205_GRZJ7141_JED.jpeg) Trefl Gdansk's home arena. **Having somebody by your side that has been through it all like Roberto is of course a great opportunity to start out with..** Yeah, as I said earlier, when you were a player and you played at a high level internationally, Olympics, World Championships...it's impossible NOT to think that you know it all. But it's a completely different job. Volleyball occupies a bigger part of my life right now than before, even though we were playing all the time and travelling for 12 months more or less. As a coach "everything" is important, it's a huge responsibility. That brings me to the running joke that we had with Roberto. "If you want to have a lot of free time, just become a volleyball coach." You never stop thinking about your team, how your team is playing, changes you can make, changes you shouldn't make... And it's a process in and of itself to try to separate the coaching life from all the rest. > Coming home to my family, I'm trying to tell myself, 'ok now it's time for your wife and kids, please don't think about your team'. But it's really difficult. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2022/01/piazza.jpeg) Roberto Piazza and Michal Winiarski at Belchatow **What is an advice that you want to give to any coach that is starting out? A lesson or way of thinking that was helpful to you?** That's a good question. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 27. Alan Knipe:"Our culture is by design, not by default." URL: https://volleybrains.com/alan-knipe/ Last updated: 2023-06-25T15:44:29.000Z What we like most about Alan's story is that he's had a broad set of experiences that made him into the coach he is today. From being a college player, to playing 'overseas', to coaching at his Alma Mater, to coaching Team USA and finally getting back to big successes at Long Beach State. During all that time continuously working on his craft. Even though 'buy-in' and culture will be overarching topics in this masterclass there is so much more that we talked about. How our game should be positioned as a sport, possible tweaks to our rulebook, what style his ultimate starting six should be playing, why his time away from college coaching was fundamental into his current style of coaching and so much more... There are 17 video clips in this masterclass (15 from our video call) and over 11.000 words. Take your time getting through all this, split it up if needed. 🙂 *You could start with clicking the clip below, that will get you to the press conference minutes after Long Beach State became the 2019 NCAA National Champion and will be a perfect warming up for Alan's entire masterclass.* *(our first 2 clips have some sync issues, sound is on point though)* Enter Alan... **Why did you commit to become a professional volleyball coach? What pushed you towards that decision?** Well, I don't ever think that I should've become a coach, to be honest with you. I actually tried probably not to become a coach. I grew up in a coaching family, not of volleyball, but of soccer actually. So my parents moved to the United States from Northern Ireland in the sixties. And I'm the youngest of three boys. And we were a big, big soccer family. So my dad coached soccer and started a soccer club. So I was around, you know, coaching a lot. I was the son of a coach. On most of the teams I played on, I was the captain. ### And what I didn't realize when I was young, is that I was kind of grooming myself without noticing to probably get into coaching. When I finished playing, I actually got offered a job coaching at a two year junior college, I had never coached at any level other than coaching some young kids. So I did that and I really enjoyed it. I did that for two years, we had some pretty good success. Then the position of assistant coach opened up at the university that I had played at Long Beach State, where I coach obviously now. So I took that job to see if I liked it. And I also took it because it was going back to my school, my Alma Mater and I had passion about that. I really did enjoy it. And then at that point, really, it just took off. I don't really think I ever made a decision. And what's funny is I tell people this all the time, I've never really tried to get a coaching job. I've never sought out a job and really applied to go get it without knowing anything about it first. Most of the time the contact came to me and asked if I was interested in it, whether it was the two year college or the assistant job at Long Beach State or the head coach job at Long Beach State or the USA team. So I didn't take the normal path that most people did. So I find myself very fortunate to kind of have the upbringing I did and then take advantage of the opportunities that kind of came along. **What advice would you give yourself as a starting coach? An advice that is obvious now, but that you had to develop over the years.** I think going off of kind of the last answer of how I got into coaching, it also put me in a situation where, because I wasn't trying to get into coaching, so I wasn't seeking assistant coaching positions or to be around incredibly high level coaches all the time and maybe have 5 - 6 different experiences with different coaches and mentors. I feel like I put myself in a situation that I had to work extremely hard to find that help and to find growth and find a way to continually commit to the idea of getting better all the time. Because I found myself consistently, from a very young age, in the head coaching position. So because of that, I didn't have a tremendous amount of mentors around me. I had to go out and search for them. So my advice would be; Sometimes the quickest route to the head coaching jobs is not necessarily the best route. The best route is being around the best coaches and the best programs and culture you can immerse yourself with and really invest in relationships. Good coaches, good people, good organizations and learn why they're good. Without having to be the person, making the call all the time at the top. Because a lot of times you learn, not only what's the good, but a lot of times you learn things that *you* would never do. If you're a smart young coach and you're on a staff, you're not going to agree with everything every head coach does or how he handles a player, he handles a situation. But you learn from different coaches, what you like and what you don't like. And that's how you kind of build your toolbox as a coach. So I would push two things. ### Spend as much time around the best coaches and the best organizations you can be part of. ### And the other one is be a constant learner and find ways to get better... whether it's investing in professional growth opportunities, even like what we're doing today, listen to some of these interviews and being part of conventions and coaching clinics. But also finding time to read, there's lots of great books out there by wonderful people, whether it be coaching or leadership or biomechanics, but constantly find time within a day, within a week, within a month, within a year that you're going to set time aside to try to continue to grow. Because too many young coaches, specially that were good players, know it all too early. At least they think they do. And they have to learn the valuable lessons as they go along, but they really don't and they have to kind of learn to learn. They need to open themselves up, kind of let the ego go. Especially if you were a good player and understand that coaching is very different; open yourself up to the idea that you probably don't know nearly as much as you think you do. And I think it will be a much smoother introduction into the coaching world than maybe some have. **The former pro or superstar athlete that becomes a coach and all steps involved or needed is for sure something that already came up in other articles we made.** It's a very difficult thing sometimes for the exceptional player, to be able to relate to the ordinary athlete. So you brought up TJ. *(Volleybrains: in our talk before the interview)* So I'll use TJ as an example. One of the best things about TJ is not, you know, you could look at his arm, you can look at all the things that he can do on the volleyball court. But one of the real special things about TJ and a lot of really special players is his ability to read the game faster and anticipate what's going to happen quicker and process the information quicker than most players do. And from a very young age, in our program, he was able to do that. Reading what was about to happen next, just because the opposite passed the ball close to the 10 foot line, he's not going to be available or the bic hitter is out because he moved to his right and he's not able to get into his pattern and hit a bic or what it might be. You know, really, really early on those things were glaringly obvious to TJ. And so when you are that special, as an athlete, and you have that ability to process information very fast and apply it to the game, it's very difficult then to become a coach and ask why your players don't understand what was very easy for you to understand. I gotta imagine Karch went through the same thing, obviously, he's done a tremendous job coaching our women's national team. But he spent a lot of time not coaching and he was a little bit older when he came back to get into coaching. So I just wonder what it would have been like for Karch, if he had started to coach, as soon as he retired. Would he have had the same patience level that you see him have today? I think he probably would. Because what I do know about Karch is he's an exceptional committed coach OR was that also as an athlete. If he's going to do it, he's going to give a hundred percent and he's going to be very good at it. Cause he's going to make himself be good at it. But my point is when you come out of being an exceptional player, I think it's very difficult to understand the common player. And most of our players are not on the exceptional side of reading the game or even with their size or athleticism. A lot of them fit into that 80% of the group. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/12/knipe11.jpeg) So I think it's a very difficult part of the game. And players, I don't care if you're Karch or TJ, whoever you want to say. All players who finished playing and start coaching, you're almost coaching your team, like you're their captain, or as you said, the player coach, which is never good in the long run. Cause you're very emotional based. You're not tactical, you're not level headed. It's not where you're showing composure to your players, because you're reacting a lot of the time as a current player, as a captain would. And I found myself doing that for years. I acted very much like a captain when I was a young coach. ### And I feel like... maybe it's just cause I'm older now, but I think that everything slows down a little bit and you get away from those days that everything's so emotional and physical and it becomes more cerebral and forward thinking. The process of the big picture. You have a tough time seeing the process when you're a young captain. **Do you have a particular goal as a coach? Maybe a goal that you already reached or a goal that is so hard to reach that it gives you daily motivation?** I kind of divide my coaching career in college into kind of two equal halves. Cause I coached Long Beach for nine years before I took over the USA team for the London Olympics. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 26. On the court: The Strength and Conditioning Experts. URL: https://volleybrains.com/on-the-court-26/ Last updated: 2022-05-28T12:46:31.000Z We are back with the second part of this weeks 'On the court' series. We sent out 3 questions about physical development in volleyball to 3 top experts in the field. The questions were: 1. Do you have a particular idea of ​how a volleyball athlete should physically prepare? Having different age groups in mind. 2. What stages of physical preparation do you go through during the season. Total body preparation, specific strength,...? 3. What do you think 17-20 year old athletes lack the most? And how would you improve that? 💪 **Vanny Miale**: Strength and Conditioning coach of Turkish powerhouse Vakifbank *Vanny forwarded me the following document (he really went for it)...but as we were very interested in the performance tracking systems he mentioned we also had a long videocall last Monday evening to go over Vakifbank's data collection, best practices and day to day use of these numbers. Some screenshots of their worksheets with an explanation you can find at the bottom of this article.* **Enter Vanny:** "Before talking about, discussing and analyzing the work needed for our young promising volleyball players, we should monitor collect and analyze data that make us understand what really happens on a volleyball court, both during an official match(dictated by federal technical regulations), in a non complex game between friends and above all what happens in training. With the current regulations the game of volleyball has undergone significant changes, the introduction of new rules and technology had a significant impact on the change in the conditional aspect of the sport itself. The introduction of the 'Video Challenge', for example, inevitably conceded much longer breaks during high-level official matches both nationally and internationally. The result is very clear: currently in an official volleyball match, active playing time is split up by long pauses. A recent study came to the obvious result that the 'time played' during a game is far inferior to 'no-play' time. In this regard the FIVB, which regulates our sport, is constantly looking for the winning formula, constantly making changes to the regulations, which can improve this aspect of the game and make volleyball more suitable to the needs of the viewer and the media. Having said that, it is clear that "professional" volleyball is in some ways very "different" from youth volleyball, where the interruptions in the game seem be far less. Since 7 years I am part of the technical staff of the Vakifbank Spor Volley Klub in Istanbul as responsible for the physical preparation of the elite team that plays in the top Turkish league and in the European Champions league. I am fortunate to work in an environment completely dedicated to women's volleyball, from our mini volleyball teams (youngest teams) up to the elite team, the facility where we carry out our training sessions and official matches allows us to work at the highest level. We take advantage of all the most popular equipment, state-of-the-art monitoring systems including a Local Positioning System (LPS) which allows us to capture, archive and analyze every single movement of each single athlete in every single workout. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/12/PHOTO-2021-12-13-20-48-27--1--1.jpg) All this data has allowed us over the years to create our own database, every single player has a real time updated dataset. The analysis and study of this data has allowed us to constantly monitor, control and modulate the workload to which the athlete is subjected during the course of their daily training and official matches. The system uses chips that detect data in a fully covered network environment. It doesn't only monitors the jumping ability of the athlete but also the mechanical stress to which the athletes 'structure' (joints) gets subjected, plus the speed and direction of movement with the relative acceleration and deceleration data added to them. All this data is used to keep the training load under check. > Coming back to my own initial question, with all this data an important fact emerges: game time and training time have similar characteristics but there are different nuances at play. ## So do we have to physically prepare for the training or for the game? I still struggle to answer this question because I believe the real answer is somewhere in between...but personally I would abolish the obsessive study of the athletic in-game performance as the right answer, there is much more happening than just that. What happens in a match hardly ever happens in training, not only from an emotional point of view but above all from a conditional point of view. Let's go into detail and see what happens: 6 athletes share a playing field of only 81 square meters, the ball cannot be touched twice by the same player and can not be stopped. It's a quick game with a lot of variables that follow each other up at extreme speed and delivers a high mental load and asks for remarkable concentration. And since we have no physical contact in our sport, technical excellence plays an even more important role. Therefore the athletes will have to be prepared physically and mentally to release a quick and effective response when needed and in the meantime delivering varying but mostly very high outputs of strength and acceleration. > Execution ​​and efficiency at game speed will represent the two main and essential qualities for an athlete in volleyball. During the game, if we analyze what happens in an official match we will immediately notice the numerous breaks that follow each other up: - very short actions, some not lasting more than 4-5 seconds - very few actions per set over 15-20 seconds long (true, here we find a substantial difference between volleyball male and female) - substitutions, time outs, video challenge requests, very often interrupt the game -> favoring a decent recovery time between game actions. All this means that data that we are used to use like following up the athletes Heart rate, VO2max and lactate have less significance. > Instead there is a new very significant data set to observe and that is the density and intensity of both the individual jumps AND the accelerations. The accumulated acceleration load. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/12/PHOTO-2021-12-13-20-48-27.jpg) ## The Accumulated Acceleration Load This dataset provides the accumulated load of the player/athlete during the entire training session or game. This metric adds up the differentials of accelerometer data in a single number, providing an overview of the load of the player produced by 3D-motion, jumps, impacts, etc. This metric is analogous to metabolic or conditioning work, but it is calculated from accelerometer data instead of position data. So this dataset will tell us how intense the game or training was or was not. *(more on how the Accumulated Acceleration Load is measured down below)* As an example. **Training session:** 456,01 measured Accumulated Acceleration Load with 115,79 accelerations = a differential of 3,93 **Game:** 477,63 measured Accumulated Acceleration Load with 109 accelerations = a differential of 4,3 After all this we have deducted that the recovery of ATP and CP is fast, the oxygen debt is practically irrelevant and therefore, the work will be purely neuromuscular rather than metabolic! *(Volleybrains: not our goal to be a scientific journal here, but basic proficiency is good to have...this [YouTube clip](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRlQvOrjYYo&ab%5Fchannel=KevinPetti&ref=volleybrains.com) will give you a quick overview of ATP production in skeletal muscle, it's 4 min long, you'll need another 15 min to finish this entire article, do the work* 🙂😉*)* ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/12/PHOTO-2021-12-13-20-48-26-1.jpg) ## But what is happening in practice every single day? In daily training, the coach requires a high number of repetitions of different technical gestures of the players, in order to improve the various individual and team technical or tactical situations! Therefore a large amount of jumps and accelerations will be performed daily to be able to increase the amounts of contact with the ball and we try to reproduce the various technical tactical situations that could happen in the game. Mostly aiming for more than double the amount of these situations compared to a game. Thereby in practice subjecting the musculoskeletal structure to a stress most of the times equal to double of what happens in a game. In conclusion, as a physical trainer we should therefore be able to prepare our athletes to cope in the best possible way, to resist long and stressful workouts. And to collaborate in the best way possible with our coaches to be able to moderate the load and intensity of work with the ball according to the daily, weekly, monthly and yearly requests. ## So how do we measure the Accumulated Acceleration Load? The [Kinexon System](https://kinexon.com/technology/player-tracking/?ref=volleybrains.com) has allowed us to learn a lot of what actually happens on the playing field. Again going back to the importance of not only the height and amount of jumping, but for sure and mostly the acceleration and deceleration of the athlete in the plain of our court and the loads accompanied by these loads. The data that comes out of our continuous measuring highlighted a significant difference in terms of quantity and quality of accelerations between training time and matches. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/12/KINEXON_anchor_gymnasium.png) *One of the courtside RF antennas to enable precise position tracking. A lightweight (14gram) sensor is carried by the athletes between the shoulder blades to track the individual athlete.* > [ View this post on Instagram ](https://www.instagram.com/p/CKTkCJICDC6/?utm%5Fsource=ig%5Fembed&utm%5Fcampaign=loading) > > [A post shared by Prof. Miale Vanny (@vannymiale)](https://www.instagram.com/p/CKTkCJICDC6/?utm%5Fsource=ig%5Fembed&utm%5Fcampaign=loading) ## What stages do we go through during the season? With the current international calendar, in recent years I have not had the opportunity to program well in advance. It is always necessary to adapt to the athlete's summer season where they are engaged with their national teams and competing internationally in various tournaments, plus the extra stress of being exposed (from next season once more)to a large amount of international travel so they arrive at the club conditioned in a certain way. Working in a club with many players who play in their national teams makes it practically impossible to program, as I have never had more than 3 max 4 athletes in pre season...consequently the programming gets continuously updated throughout the season. In addition, each athlete comes back to us from a period of 4-5 months where they have used different methods, training styles and exercises by different S&C coaches. So every year in October we are faced with the same situation: having to organize and modulate work that can meet the various individual needs of our athletes. In a way we try not to change their acquired conditioning and performance habits too much. We try to merge their habits with our protocols. We for sure also have to take care of the athlete's psycho-physical recovery and not change protocols 'to change protocols'. Of course this is also true for our technical volleyball coaches. ## Better to prevent than to cure. More quality, less quantity. At Vakifbank we have specifically structured the physical performance work to accommodate the development of our youngest female athletes in preparation for a possible and eventual spot in our 'first' team. Our young volleyball players follow a path that will hopefully lead them to a future as an elite volleyball player. From our youngest of age groups we try to create all the prerequisites for a young athlete to be able to eventually participate in training sessions with the first team without any noteworthy physical deficits. That is a huge goal, but we are structured in that way. Every coach of every age group is connected with each other. Personally, I consider the Olympic lifts and all related exercises to be of considerable importance in our sport. From the youngest of age groups, but with respect to their growth curve, we teach the girls the correct techniques combined with a constant improvement of joint mobility. So when and if the athlete is ready to join the first team the coach will be able to start a specific strength program from a solid foundation that was formed in the years before. > [ View this post on Instagram ](https://www.instagram.com/p/BeC5JqTHuto/?utm%5Fsource=ig%5Fembed&utm%5Fcampaign=loading) > > [A post shared by Prof. Miale Vanny (@vannymiale)](https://www.instagram.com/p/BeC5JqTHuto/?utm%5Fsource=ig%5Fembed&utm%5Fcampaign=loading) *Vakifbank's and Turkish National team setter Cansu Özbay with a power clean at Vakifbank's gym* Personally I prefer to work a lot on quality rather than quantity. I prefer that a young female athlete performs 1 repetition of a push-up correctly from a physiological point of view, instead of performing 10 push-ups performed in a bad way or even worse as a punishment in practice. Those 10 badly executed pushups will only accentuate the imbalances already present as a result of technical movements that weren't established yet in the athlete's motor patterns. So I would highly recommend to all the coaches of youth players to insist on correct execution and to completely stop shooting for a 'total number' of reps required. > Even today with our top athletes I prefer to put more attention to the continuous search for the correct execution technique with their personal maximum range of motion instead of paying attention to the weight that is lifted or the number of reps or sets. Because of bad fundamentals, I have very often found myself with adult athletes that for that reason perform basic exercises in a completely wrong manner. All this starts a chain of compensation in the joint that in the long run inevitably leads to injury or if you're lucky 'just' to a functional overload. All of this causing the time allotted for physical preparation to be diverted more towards the athlete's recovery than in the pursuit of maximum performance! And unfortunately that's exactly what happens today in many high-level clubs. ## So why not take action now? Why aren't our youth players taught to correctly perform a perfect squat or lunge with just their bodyweight? I am especially referring to the younger age groups. Why is the retraction and protraction of the shoulder blades not taught? Reduced scapular mobility is one of the main causes of professional volleyball players' shoulder pain and poor posture in general with young people. Why aren't adolescents taught to move the pelvis in all its planes? Kyphosis, hyperlordosis and limited mobility in the coxofemoral joint is one of the causes of varus and valgus in young adolescents and these are very common dysfunctions present in 80% of volleyball playing adults. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/12/1.-varus-valgus-normaal.png) I strongly believe in physical work done with quality from a young age, because unfortunately, correcting a kyphosis or a varus in an athlete who is already an adult is very, very difficult. > So my advice to coaches helping out athletes in those late adolescent years (18-20yo) is to keep the quality up in the weight room, technical execution far outweighs stacking up the weight being used during the lift. 💪 **[Nicola Giolito](https://volleybox.net/nicola-giolito-p43092/clubs?ref=volleybrains.com):** Assistant coach of Italian Men's NT team and of Polish club team Jastrebsbi Wegiel (and S&C expert) ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/12/nic1.png) **Nicola, do you have a particular idea of ​how a volleyball athlete should physically prepare?** I am one of those coaches who do not believe much in the variability of the stimulus. There are obviously many theories about it but I believe that evolution teaches us that it is the repetition of the stimulus that creates modifications to the homeostasis of our body. Repetition of the stimulus means that if you want to achieve results on a physical level, you have to choose what the goal is and train it repetitively. In my opinion, the physical (non-technical) goals to be sought for the volleyball athlete are maximal strength and mobility. > Maximal strength: with different methods and loads it the techniques can be taught immediately. Teaching maximal strength means first of all having the technique to be able to lift loads, so the first step to train strength is not "loading" but "teaching the technique to load" and adapt the body to gradually increasing loads. For example, often the limit in training the maximal strength for the legs is the weakness of the trunk. So before increasing the load for the legs you need to be sure that the trunk can support the weight, so it is necessary to strengthen the trunk even if we are talking about maximum strength for the legs. Therefore, starting from the technique, even with only a wooden stick to do squats, without any load, we can begin to teach at 10yo already the correct technique to work on maximal strength in the future. Obviously with low loads, many repetitions and long contraction times, in order to touch the first parameter necessary in the construction of the maximum force, we'll increase the foundation for all of that which is the resistant force. > Mobility: the various disciplines of gymnastics (artistic, rhythmic and all their deviations) teach us that mobility can be taught from a very young age. Now, without having to start at 3 years of age to do the splits as they do in gymnastics in Eastern countries (they are among the best in the world), I think you should start working seriously on mobility from an early age, even before the age of 10\. Because it is in that period that the best and most long-lasting results are obtained. There are an infinite number of pathologies in professional and non-professional athletes of the knees, back, shoulders and hips that could be avoided with having good joint mobility, built at a young age. A good range of motion at a young age allows you to learn both weightlifting and volleyball techniques better. Think of a lunge that a receiver makes in reception or a libero in defense: does it make a difference whether the mobility of the hip, ankle and hamstrings allows him to have the entire sole of the foot on the ground, or only the tip of the foot? Does it increase the athlete's overall stability? Anyone who has played knows...it matters a lot! **What stages do you go through during the season?** I don't believe in the periodization of loads in volleyball. In volleyball, and not only on the highest level, there are no "in season" periods where you can train heavy loads or unloads for prolonged periods. The strength of a team lies in the ability to train together, with high quality, as many times as possible. Your physical work must allow this: be ready to train with as few physical problems as possible. Volleyball is a technical sport, where the technical component dominates over the physical part. Many volleyball players are excellent players, but very bad athletes, sometimes fat, sometimes not very mobile, sometimes weak in terms of strength... but nevertheless excellent volleyball players. In season in my opinion the load of physical work changes by + or - 20%, not a lot, based on the volume of training agreed with the head coach. The discussion on injuries deserves a separate book 😊. The concept is to try to maintain and improve strength levels, through exercises that don't increase the physical problems that of a lot of pro athletes have. Let us remember that in the end, it is almost always the training with the ball that increases problems in the knees, shoulders and back. So in the weight room we try to solve (when possible) or just "put some band aids" (when not possible) on the chronic problems of each player. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/12/6431848_n.jpg) **What do you think 17-20 year old athletes lack the most? And how would you improve that?** Like I answered the first question ..Strength and mobility. Power is certainly very important in a jumping sport like volleyball. So in the gym that needs to be trained, but with a lot of moderation. During the technical training the players already produce a huge amount of explosive force and maximum dynamic force ("Power") I do not think, in order to avoid overloads, that I have to train a lot even in the weight room. So, I know this is getting boring, but, maximal strength and exercises with maximal range of motion to improve mobility. A young player, if his body allows him to train, set, jump, attack, block and receive with quality, every day for 365 days a year, well that should be the goal. He does not become a great player if he trains 182 days a year but can lift 300kg in squats. So my goal as a trainer is to make his physique strong enough to handle the technical workload. 💪 **Sebastiano Chittolini:** Strength and Conditioning coach of the Italian squad of Sir Safety Perugia (Matt Anderson and Leon's current club team) ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/12/chitto1.jpeg) **Sebastiano, do you have a particular idea of ​how a volleyball athlete should physically prepare? Having different age groups in mind.** Working in a high-level environment like mine, everything goes to it's extremes, the more the athlete is evolved, the more their training must be specific. It's useless to let a marathon runner run the 100 meters to improve their sprinting in the last 100 meters of the marathon.🙂 I do not think there are precise periods to train the various and varied aspects of physical performance, all this depends very much on the individual characteristics of the individual athlete. Having said that it is always a good idea to start from multifaceted disciplines for children from ages 7 to 12 and then start targeting more specifically. In general I would say start building the right motor patterns, mobility and flexibility, increase the static strength and ultimately add on some explosive strength training at a later teenage age. **What stages do you go through during the season. Total body preparation, specific strength,...?** Always starting from the assumption that we are talking about professional athletes of the highest level, I have 2 main objectives. The first is to maintain a good state of health and the second one, building on the first one, is to the increase specific strength required in volleyball, most importantly the explosive strength and fast strength resistance. Evaluation and relying on objective data will be the key to understand if the work is done correctly, to simplify things I perform skinfold measurements and jump tests. During season preparation, the work will focus more on the construction of a good physical condition which aims to minimize or eliminate various in season tendon discomforts and on functional overload. Gradually increasing the loads and the speed of execution of the movements. All this must be tested, I use as you have seen in by "La Gazzetta dello Sport" the [Vert system](https://www.myvert.com/?ref=volleybrains.com) as a reference, but we also still use specific tests with the Vert. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/12/chitto2.jpeg) **What do you think 17-20 year old athletes lack the most? And how would you improve that?** This question is one to which I feel I can give an answer that will be generic and rather political even. In Italy the real "center" for the development of motor skills of our children was the schooling system, nowadays everything is limited to the personal decision of parents to enrol their children in private sports centers, therefore this foundation, the development of motor skills has been lacking or highly dependent on choice and not because of our sports culture. Movement and learning to move should start from being in nature, children should play outdoors, climb trees etc. The few Italian volleyball talents that appear on the scene arrive ready and they were developed in private clubs or by our federations programs. I haven't been working in Italy in the previous decade so I believe I can't give a good answer on what is lacking the most in that age group. In any case for young athletes, the main thing is to build a physical foundation that allows you to support the workloads of the future. A healthy body will be able to support the training dynamics of volleyball, which despite not being a contact sport, is an exhausting sport because we have an elevated repetition of the same technical gestures over and over again. **A big 🙏🏼 to Nicola, Sebastiano and Vanny for their cooperation.** --- We end this article with an overview of some of the worksheets that Vanny uses at Vakifbank. With every screenshot we'll add a short note at what you are looking at and what is important. For privacy reasons we blanked out the players names. (of course) ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/12/wellnessreport.jpg) - Every morning the athletes fill in a Google form. They score their level of recuperation, mood, quality of sleep, soreness, fatigue and stress levels from 1-10\. The spreadsheet fills itself up. Before the athletes hit the morning practice the coaching staff already has a sense of today's individual and team wellness score - In the middle of the graph you can find the 'Team Wellness Index', the goal here is to arrive at an overall score around '4' on game days. (yellow is a game day) If you want to take something with you out of this article, this would be a good one. Start to gauge your players overall wellness. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/12/weeklyreport-1.jpg) - General stats come together in this weekly report. We see the Total RPE load here also. This number gets calculated out of the aforementioned Accumulated Acceleration Load...we need to note that there is a conversion unit that gets used for every activity NOT being performed in the home gym of Vakifbank. (of course only the home gym has the proper network to measure the acceleration metrics) - On the 3rd row you can see that this player has a total RPE load of 3930, even though they performed an average amount of jumps. Indeed, we're talking about a libero/ setter here...(not gonna show or tell 🙂) ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/12/loadvsjumps.jpg) - at the top of the graph that is visualised we can read 'Training load and Training Duration and Jumps'. You can find a decent amount of days with an average amount of jumps BUT with a high output of Total RPE Load. Going back to the point made by Vanny at the start of this post, charting the variations in acceleration and deceleration will get you closest to the actual training load/ output delivered by the athletes and that isn't always correlated to the amount of jumps. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/12/events.jpg) - Chiaka's jumps in that specific training session are charted here. X axis is the training time, Y is the height of the jump. We marked the event with a green ellipse. Under that selection tab you can select way more options, again acceleration etc... ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/12/chiakajump-4.jpg) - On this last slide you can see the same jumps as on the previous slide, but charted out on the court. There will be an update of this software next season. The 'touch height' will get accurate (you'll be able to add the standing reach of every single athlete, right now it measures your 'touch height' relative to your own height) - Jumps can be filtered out here, same goes for accelerations, there is another screen with the movement in the plane of the court without the 3rd dimension etc. To end; in our video call with Vanny we talked at length about the use cases for those acceleration and deceleration data sets. And more importantly about the difference between both stats in the individual athlete. Most of the initial insights in how to use this data comes from the Juventus Lab (soccer) and they experienced a greater amount of injuries in athletes IF there was a big difference between both stats. If there weren't issues with aches or other injuries (an athlete landing in an inefficient manner) mostly posterior work for the lower body was needed to decrease the difference between the acceleration and deceleration stat and therefore decreasing the occurrence of injury. Enjoy your day.🙂 --- 💪 For our subscribers: Get ready for an extended Volleybrains Masterclass with former Team USA Men's head coach and current Long Beach State head coach **Alan Knipe.** ### 25. On the court: The performance tools used by Italian pro teams. URL: https://volleybrains.com/on-the-court-25/ Last updated: 2021-12-12T15:49:03.000Z We at volleybrains are fans of staying in our lane, that 'inch wide and mile deep' kind of thing. Don't get distracted, just keep on pumping out interviews with the brightest and best pro volleyball coaches on the globe.😀 BUT! But, once in a while an idea for an article comes along that sticks. This one did. We'll be calling this one and eventual similar posts our '**On the court**' articles... Today we'll cover... 💡 2 translated 'La Gazzetta dello Sport' articles about the latest performance tools used by Italian top volleyball teams As we are a **"coaches' educational platform"** (*shameless plug = go and [signup](https://volleybrains.com/signup) now!!*) everything that has to do with performance, recuperation, training volume and training intensity are topics where we have an interest in. And that's why volleybrains is sharing this today. You don't have a limitless budget and you for sure don't need the latest 'training tech' to be a great coach. But we wanted to give extra attention to the importance of measuring and for sure balancing training volume and intensity with athletes of ANY age. These articles are a little look into the tools that get used by the best teams in the world. But they are for sure mostly tools to improve those last percentiles. So...together with these "cutting edge performance methods" we also wanted to shine a light on foundational best practices in physical performance for young(er) athletes... ## Next 'On the court' article Well. We sent out 3 questions about physical development in volleyball to 3 top experts in that field. This **Wednesday** we'll be launching that article(originally part of this one, but it became too long 🙂). We'll feature these S&C coaches: 1. **Vanny Miale**: Strength and Conditioning coach of Turkish powerhouse Vakifbank 2. **Sebastiano Chittolini**: Strength and Conditioning coach of the Italian squad of Sir Safety Perugia (Matt Anderson and Leon's current club team) 3. **Nicola Giolito**: Assistant coach of Italian Men's NT team and of Polish club team Jastrebsbi Wegiel (and S&C expert) Don't miss out. Best way to be reminded is to follow [our Instagram page](https://www.instagram.com/volleybrains%5Fcom/?ref=volleybrains.com). 👍🏻 [![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/12/IG-screen-4.jpeg)](https://www.instagram.com/volleybrains%5Fcom/?ref=volleybrains.com) --- ## The articles Thanks to Gian Luca Pasini, Valeria Benedetti, Pierfrancesco Catucci and Davide Romani from Italy's number 1 sports newspaper 'La Gazzetta dello Sport' to enable us to feature these articles. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/12/pic11.png) --- ## 🏋️‍♀️ Pro teams use innovative tools to improve in the gym. "Screens, sensors, augmented reality, statistical surveys on everything, from the technical gesture to the physical values, ​​to monitoring the overall health status of the athletes. The frenetic evolution of technology has also changed the face of professional sports. If thirty years ago statistical surveys of matches seemed an exceptional process, now it's the norm for a Serie A team. The standard scouting reports that get made during the matches are something we've been seeing for over 2 decades. Now we've added new tools to analyse the efficiency and readiness of the athletes and the team itself where the main goal became to keep the athletes' health under control. An almost daily evolution (which goes hand in hand with the exploration of the potential of innovations) of the tools available to pro teams to get the most out of the team. A trend not only Italian, however: many innovations are used in the national and club teams of other countries also. We take you on a fascinating journey behind the scenes of pro volleyball" --- ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/12/Pic1-1.png) ## ⚡ **Spikes from the future.** "Davide Mazzanti shows up on training with a special pair of goggles. Surprising the women on the Italian national team with stroboscopic glasses to be used by their receiving players. "I got the idea from Diego Nargiso, a former tennis player who had collaborated with an A-1 Italian club team. They are being used in tennis for many years. Essentially by means of an electric frequency that goes through the lenses of these glasses they become black and switch back to being transparent with a certain amplitude. While receiving the athlete doesn't see the complete trajectory of the ball, just parts of it. This intermittence of vision produces a challenge for the athlete. The exercise that we use this for involves three receiving reps with these stroboscopic glasses on and as many repetitions without goggles, so with their normal vision. The theory behind this is to destabilise the normal hand-eye (hand-brain) coordination. Also while we increase the input with these kind of glasses, we avoid an overload of repetition during training. They are a fun addition to an otherwise not challenging but highly technical exercise. Davide Mazzanti also has a player database in use for each player of the Itlian women's national team, it's a platform where they input their own data during club season. All this to have extra data points on each player who is part of the Italian national team roster." ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/12/pic3-2.png) *Foto caption. 1\. Nimir Abdel Aziz being monitored. 2\. Realtime reporting on the amount of jumps being made in Perugia. 3\. A report of the player by player overall workload at Conegliano.* 🏎️ **Formula 1 technology** "Allianz Milano has been collaborating with the Venetian [Mind Room Lab](http://www.mindroomlab.com/?ref=volleybrains.com) for the last three years. Mind Room Lab has been working together with Formula 1 teams like Ferrari and Red Bull. The company has developed a training system that involves the use of virtual reality goggles with which you can do different workouts to improve your reflexes, attention, concentration, peripheral vision etc. So more broadly said on cognitive performance specific to sports while using the latest in neuroscientific knowledge. The advantage here is the total immersion into the virtual reality setup, which makes distractions almost impossible and allows you to perform the same number of stimuli that an athlete would have during a full game (estimated between 200 and 400 reps during a game of volleyball, including attacks, defense, receiving ...)in a shorter time frame. During the training, which lasts about 20 minutes, the athlete sees a series of images in the viewer and, from time to time, must move or interact with the two controllers he holds in his/her hands according to the instruction that appears on the screen. The system includes a series of specific volleyball exercises calibrated to actual game situations (although the system is in no way a simulator), but also a fair amount of generic exercises that serve to improve cognitive performance in the absolute sense. In the Italian Superlega, Allianz Milano is the only club team that uses the Mind Room Lab training system. But it is also used by Guidetti's Vakifbank (btw one of the most advanced club teams when it comes to using tech solutions) and Sergio Busato's Russian women's national team." ## 🇵🇱 **From abroad** "These technological use cases don't only get used in Italy. Sebastiano Chittolini, today a physical coach for the SuperLega team of Perugia, coached club teams in Poland, Russia and Turkey for a period of 13 years. «There is a lot of focus on new technologies especially in Poland, where volleyball is as famous as soccer and therefore attracts the interest of many companies that want to invest in innovation and bring products to market. We use a detection system that monitors every individual jump, in training and during the matches. Imagine it being a USB stick that ties into your belt and records every jump higher than 40 centimeters(approx 15 inches) of height. And records them individually. Then in connection with my iPad it processes everything for me in realtime. You can find out how much the athlete jumped in that particular workout, the load, the average height etc. You get a very rich database that also lets you know what the physical condition of a particular player is. But it also tells you when certain jumps were made, in the initial, middle or final part of the training. I think the most interesting part is the backlog and the large amounts of data you have at your disposal. Of course the motivational aspect here is also fundamental: between our training and the match there is a clear improvement in the performance of the individual." ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/12/pic4.png) ## 💪 **Also at Conegliano** "The Venetian club which recently set the [World Record](https://www.cev.eu/articles/club-volleyball/imoco-volley-conegliano-is-the-new-world-record-holder/?ref=volleybrains.com) of most consecutive wins in a row by a pro volleyball team(74!!) has been tracking the jumps of it's athletes since the 2018-2019 season. Head coach of Conegliano [Daniele Santarelli](https://volleybrains.com/daniele-santarelli/) uses a technology very similar to the one used by Chittolini at Perugia. A technology introduced by trainer Da Lozzo in Santarelli's second season as head coach. In addition to this, they have an interactive whiteboard for their tactical study of the opponent and like many other clubs, an 'always on' video screen during their training seasons with a delay of a few seconds. Marco Da Lozzo: «In Conegliano everything is archived. Training and matches. With the Vert we detect various information: we go from the number of jumps, to how many jumps are performed above a certain threshold. We measure the height, the impact the player suffers upon landing. We continuously test the performance of our athletes and we are able to understand their individual level year after year. This mapping allows you to understand if the work you do has the required effect or not." ## The big screen ### "Players immediately become aware of their actions" ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/12/pic5.png) 💡 Monza and Novara record their training sessions and have them reviewed. "A giant TV on the sidelines, the big screen of the Monza Arena and a scouting program, these are the 3 tools that we use every day. Vero Volley Monza tries to innovate by adding something new. Our scouter does the input for the data during training with Data Volley and uses a personalized spreadsheet on various fundamentals and with different parameters, the training session is projected with a few seconds of delay on the big screen and the statistical data appears on the TV. "For each exercise we choose ad hoc data - explains Massimo Eccheli, head coach of Monza who implemented the idea of ​​his assistant coach Francesco Oleni -. It helps athletes understand how work is going». We are able to make immediate corrections. «Both through the data and with the replay it is possible to review and understand if changes are necessary. This way of live feedback training keeps the boys on track." The same tools are also used by the women's team with Marco Gaspari. «Innovation is at the foreground in this club - he says -. These tools allow us to emphasize important situations. For example, when we practice our serve-receive we are able to offer a complementary degree of data through these spreadsheets projected on the TV, we feel that our players are more engaged in practice having these tools at our disposal. With the Champions League that will start in a short period from now also comes the use of a different type of ball for us. With the use of our tools we can actually see the difference that makes and if the numbers tell us to get an extra training in to further adapt or not. The girls realize what they are doing at every moment of the way. The athlete gains awareness." Multimedia support is also used for specific situations at Kioene Padova. «I use delayed video screening in our individual technical sessions in the mornings - says Jacopo Cuttini -. Especially the receivers and setters review their technical gestures». 💪 Modena keeps an individual physiological mapping of their athletes to program their peak form. In Modena, since a couple of seasons, great importance has been given to the physiological mapping of athletes to study their physiological growth path that is then useful to the technical staff and above all to the Strength and Conditioning coach to study the workloads according to the performance peaks the team is aiming for. These peaks are presumably, one in January (Coppa Italia) and the other one in April (playoffs). "At the beginning of the preparation, a metabolic mapping of each athlete is carried out - explains professor Massimo Milani, CEO of Alea, spin off of the University of Reggio -. The anaerobic threshold, lung capacity and HRV are defined to study the fatigue threshold of the individual athlete. Through this mapping we want to determine the maximum tolerable training load. And from there, on a weekly basis, we check the evolution of the individual athlete. The mapping is enabled through sensors that the athletes wear under their shirts». There is a twofold advantage says trainer Oscar Berti. "We are able to monitor the current state of the athlete at all times and while having their workload in check we can prevent overuse injuries to a great extent." Also in Novara they work with a review system that sends the training phases onto a video screen. Assistant coach Luca Baraldi takes care of this. «Filming is done both for individual technical sessions and for team sessions. It is an important time to study - he says -. For athletes it is very useful, they can correct certain situations such as their own movement on court, in receiving or in serving. In addition to the big screen, we can also see the session on the tablet " --- Stay put for next Wednesday's article with **3 top volleyball S&C experts**. 💪 And for our subscribers: Get ready for an extended Volleybrains Masterclass with former Team USA Men's head coach and current Long Beach State head coach **Alan Knipe.** ## ### 24. Marcello Abbondanza:"Even after being successful, what we do will change. And it will change again." URL: https://volleybrains.com/marcello-abbondanza/ Last updated: 2023-03-09T09:57:49.000Z Every year, between 2009 til 2018 Marcello reached the respective national championship finals with the teams that we has coaching. All this while coaching in 4 different countries, Italy, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Poland. Currently Marcello is the head coach of [THY Spor Kulübü](https://www.instagram.com/thysporkulubu/?hl=en&ref=volleybrains.com) in Turkey, THY just started their first European Champions League tournament and should be able to get a solid result. Most of our European readers will know THY as the Turkish Airlines team, our US based and other readers will probably better know some of the players on [Marcello' team](https://women.volleybox.net/turk-hava-yollar-sk-t5656/players?ref=volleybrains.com), like Lauren Carlini, Madi (Kingdon) Rishel and Tetori Dixon. In this Masterclass Marcello goes deeper into how he thinks about team composition, the lessons he learned along his coaching journey, how an apparent failure actually defined his entire coaching and family life and so much more. This article is nearly 4000 words long and features 9 video clips with English subtitles. Enjoy. Enter Marcello. **Marcelo, why did you decide to commit to being a professional volleyball coach? What pushed you towards that decision?** Well that's a rather funny story. I came 'late' into volleyball, I didn't even know about it til I was 23 years old. I was born in an Italian town called Cesenatico, which is located by the sea and I loved playing beach volleyball. I wanted to become better so at 23 years old I tried to join a local indoor volleyball team to craft my skill. But of course, nobody would take a 23 years old guy without any previous indoor experience on his team. At that time I was studying at the university in my 4th year of 'agraria' (environmental studies) and I found a lower level team that would let me train and play. But being the person that I am, I decided to follow the 'national volleyball coaches course', I'm not the person that would believe anything that this coach would tell me, I wanted to know if all of it was true. 😀 A bit later I decided to leave my 'agrarian studies' and enter the 'Instituto dello Sport' and become a coach. So my story really is that I wanted to become a good player and wanted to train in the best way possible. Having these questions, this healthy curiosity, about my coaches' methodology I became a coach myself. **What advice would you give yourself as a starting coach? An advice that is so clear and logic for you now, but that you had to develop over the years.** That sometimes it's NOT important to know everything about volleyball. I probably had to be a little better at communicating to people. *Volleybrains: People? Players, your team, coaches?* Management, coaches, staff, with all of them. I should have been a little more open to dialogue in general, I only held on to my own opinions, my own beliefs. Probably at that time, thinking back now, I was lucky to be able to get ahigh level coaching job at a relatively young age. I started when I was 23 years old, but at 26 I was already the assistant coach at Ravenna, at 28 I won the first Italian championship as an assistant coach, at 31 I was already a head coach in the Serie A1. So let's say I managed to grow very quickly through the minor league's. > Not being very communicative was also a form of protection, because I was so young, I had players of my own age on my team so that is probably why I did that. > But over the years I've realized that 'the dialogue' would help me in a lot of situations. Another thing is that I thought the best medicine as a coach was to win and to train well. But actually in the female world, I don't know about the male volleyball world, but in the female world it's not like that. Sometimes it doesn't matter how great you are as a coach, but how well you sell yourself. That is something that stays a disillusion to me. I believe that 'meritocracy' should be more recognized both at the level of the players, at the coaching level and at the executive level. Instead I think there are still some dynamics whereby sometimes 'merit' takes the back seat. And that's a pity. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/11/195022_LPSL0441.jpeg) **What are some personal goals where you aim for. Can be personal, on a team or club level, or all of those.** Honestly I still have many goals I want to reach. The European Champions League trophy is one that til today I couldn't raise above my head. With 3 different teams I had the chance to go to the last 4 in the Champions League and we arrived 2nd, 3th and 4th in the end...it looks like my destiny that the number 1 spot is around the corner. 😊 Like with many things in sports it's not only about having a great team, sometimes luck also plays a role there. We'll see. That would be my first objective. Another one would be to finally win the Italian Championship(the scudetto) as a head coach. We had lost 3 championship finals in a row with Villa Cortese...2 of them because of injury issues. But also that is part of our world. Both goals aren't easily obtainable, but that's why they are goals, right. I see myself doing the first one, the second one will probably never happen. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/11/-.jpeg) **Do you have fixed team rules that you take with you to every club that you go? These can be technical/volleyball related or just organisational**. No the rules, in my opinion, the rules are the strength of the group. But the group must have the intelligence to interpret or understand them. Most of the time, I don't even set rules. It depends on the group. It's a matter of education in my opinion and of respect to your conditions to work and live in. So if I don't need to set rules, I don't. In the sense that we try to live together as best as we can. But unfortunately, working with a large group can create issues, so every now and then rules need to be set. > Otherwise the independence of one person goes to compromise the freedom of another. So these things sometimes need to be discussed. We talk about it and then very often the solution is found. When I still coached in Italy I **did** always set fixed rules. Now I talk and listen before setting rules, it's best to wait and see if things work out or not. In the meantime, however, something needs to be said. Then there are occasional situations not to name names...but if the game is over and people get drunk on the bus while driving home from an away game. Well, of course you'll need a rule about that. That's clear. But it's not even supposed to get there. Things like that are considered to be part of normal intelligent behaviour. But if they don't get it, I need to fix it and I'll become, as always, the one that's too strict, but that's part of the coaching life. 🙂 **When preparing a new game (next weekend), how does your general approach look like and did you ever change your approach? Why did you change and was the outcome beneficial?** It changed, it changed. Everything has changed and everything will change again. There is a continuous evolution that's part of our job as coaches. What I was doing 5, 6 years ago, 8 years ago even though I won, it makes me sick to remember how I used to do and say some things. 🙂 So in my opinion everything changes because people change, the game changes, the needs change, everything changes. You realize that some things have to be maybe seen in a different way. Perhaps the basis, the attention to my job is more or less the same, in the sense of controlling and checking what's happening but what I communicate to my players, that has changed. Also the people that work with me and the staff that I had have taught me a lot of things. Seeing things in a different way, you accept them, you enrich yourself and then you change accordingly. I really enjoy preparing the games, to go really deep into the weeds of my data and video. I used to be very maniacal, analyzing all the rotations, preparing every possible adaptation, what happens in this situation, if the ball comes at us from an angle, if the ball comes from another side. But then you realize that all the requests or info you hand over to your players are not executed. So you might want to explain maybe 2,3,4 main points keep 2, 3 for yourself and pull 1 or 2 of them out as a wild card at a certain situation in the game. Like that you create a situation where everybody can execute the information that you have collected. **The future of volleyball, from a technical point of view, how will the game evolve according to your opinion?** Women's volleyball, in my opinion, is 10-12 years behind of men's volleyball, we are now seeing in women's volleyball what we saw, let's say in 2002-2007 in men's volleyball. I'm talking both about the technical and physical aspects of our game. I think women's volleyball has always been like this. And unfortunately, what I see is an impoverishment from a technical point of view in recent years. A quite heavy one actually. To find technically well prepared players is getting harder and harder. Good receivers and great setters are hard to find. I hope there's a chance in the future to develop these great players once again. We were talking about great players before and while mentioning all these names, well we weren't talking about any position 4 player. We're only talking about players that are very talented but extremely physical, not at all the most technical gifted players. > The last great technical player level that just hung up her shoes was 'la Picci' (Francesca Piccinini) and finding players of that type and level now is very, very hard to do. How do you raise them? As long as our clubs insist on paying 'due lire'(two cents) to our coaches that train our youth teams. It's going to be hard. They are actually the ones that are supposed to develop talent and there is no one who recognizes the 'profession' of these youth coaches. Fortunately our federations still find some players. Fortunately some federations created decent programs. Club Italia, for example is one, there are more than one. But the pool to choose players from became smaller. All of these schools and clubs that we used to have, there are way less of them these days. So it's difficult from that point of view. Furthermore we have to recognize the global crisis and the pandemic. In our current situation it's obvious that the funds for youth coaches won't be deployed very easily. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/11/245497757_3095907373967395_2918656847939310377_n-1-.jpg) **Best game you were ever part of. Very simple, what recent or game from the volleyball vaults did validate once more that volleyball is the greatest sport on the globe for you.** The last title that I won at Fenerbahce. At mid season we were having a hard time. Eczacıbaşı had eliminated us from the European Champions League. We played the semi final of the Turkish league against Eczacıbaşı in a best of 2 series with the golden set system. *(Volleybrains: As this isn't a global thing, the Golden set = you play a best of 2 series but the sets don't count, only the game W or L counts. If it's 1-1 in games, you play one set til 15 in the normal rally point system...winner takes all)* We had lost 3-0 and were 1-0 down in the first set of the second match. We end up winning the match 1-3\. So we had to play the golden set. In the golden set we were down 7-13 and won 16-14 in the end. It was 5 minutes of PERFECT volleyball while having the best players in the world on court. After winning in that manner we played the final of the league and won 3 consecutive games with a 3-0 result. I know that that entire situation will stay very special to everybody that was part of it. *Next clip starts at Fenerbahce being down 10-14 against Eczacıbaşı.* **Talking about these games with world class players. What kind of characteristics does a player on your team need to have?** For me first of all the character. Especially in the female volleyball world sometimes it's better to contract a player that's a little less brilliant, but somebody that is way more ready for the team or stronger mentally. The character is the first thing that I look at. Logically, I like the players that give balance to the team, so I'm a fan of great receivers and great offensive players. But when it comes down to it, I prefer to have balance, a great position 4 gives me balance. I like the concept of balance. **Having said that and talking about team composition. What are important traits that you look for there?** The setter, in my opinion, is the player who, as we all know, is the one that completely determines your team and your game. The most important trait of a setter is to enable your team to have the best performance possible. This is enabled because they're great at distribution (setting the right player at the right time) or/ and preferably with a high quality of the set itself. The setter is the one who needs to raise the level of the team. There are a lot of players now, that I would prefer to call 'distributors' instead of setters, they have the right amount of physicality, but they lack the quality needed in our game. The setter role is, still, the role that fascinates me the most. Then logically you must have people who score the points. It could be the opposite and in the women's game we have a lot of great opposites, but I prefer position 4's who are stronger in attack, while trying not to have a detrimental outcome in reception. Middles...Of course they're always the 'poor ones' completely sacrificed because they are dependent on everything else. But the first feature for a middle must be the block. > And to this day if I must tell you the two roles that right now will have you make the biggest leap in quality, that's your setter and your libero. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/11/204647_LPSL0651.jpeg) **If you can make the strongest 'starting six' in the world. What would your team look like?** My strongest starting 6 in the world, at the setter position it's a difficult choice between Lo Bianco and Kirilova. The opposite. We have 2 great opposites like Egonu and Boskovic, you won't find others at their level. Let's put Paola (Egonu) because she's Italian. Position 4, Kim Yeon(-koung). After having trained Kim I strongly belief that she is one of the most strongest outside hitters I've ever seen and I also put up Mireya Luis. In the middle there have been many players but Gaby Perez del Solar would be my choice there. I had the good fortune to work with her in Bergamo. She really was a great player. Libero, I worked with Brenda Castillo and Paola Cardullo, so you know I can say that that went flawless. :-) Different players but I'll probably take Brenda because she's a more creative player, Paola is a controlled machine, Brenda is more chaos and fantasy. **If you could have a gigantic billboard anywhere with anything on it — metaphorically speaking, getting a message out to every athlete on the globe — what would it say and why?** I don't know what I can recommend because the truth is that everything changes all the time, every generation is different the generation we have now if we compare them with the one from 15 years ago, they want completely different things. But if you wanna become a great player right now... And this Italian expression works great for this, 'ti devi fare un culo COSI!!' > 'You need to work your ass off' and be silent, work, work, work, work and suffer, suffer, suffer. The end. Then it will come. Everything will happen if you do that. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/11/Ey8anecXEAE2zui.jpeg) **As a coach do you have some unusual habits, a superstition or an absurd thing that you do a lot?** I did, well I used to have them. But fortunately I realized that it's all a huge waste of time. You know the socks, the underwear, all of that stuff. 🙂 Right now, the only thing I do and it's part of my 'getting into the game' habit... What I do is, before every game, I shave my head to 'ZERO'. I think about the game, I prepare mentally and after that I'm 'game ready'. 😉 **How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success? Do you have a “favorite failure” of yours?** My biggest failure was never winning the Scudetto(national championship) in Italy. Like with every failure you should be able analyze it and you'll find your own explanations for your own specific situation. But at the same time, I'm very thankful to have never won the Scudetto in Italy. > I probably never would have found the strength to drop everything and go abroad. These opportunities enriched and changed my life completely, both as a coach and as a human being. I've been to many countries since I've left Italy. I met my wife and we have two beautiful children, we live in Istanbul. What I've seen and experienced in Canada, Poland, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Turkey are things that probably if I've had won the 'scudetto' I would have never seen. It would have limited my career, my world view, my view on life. > Confrontation is the thing that makes you grow. Another failure was this one. I was without a team after my second year at Jesi. I was about to sign a contract in Spain at Icaro Palma de Mallorca and because of the crisis of 2007 2008, that opportunity disappeared and I found myself without a team. I had broke the contract in Jesi because I was close to sign and everything...at the last moment, everything fell apart. And at that moment there, I asked permission to go to Angelo. I went a month and a half to see the training sessions of Angelo Lorenzetti at Piacenza and that changed my entire way of looking at things, certain team dynamics, technical stuff, ... [Angelo](https://volleybrains.com/angelo-lorenzetti/) is a phenomenon that is clear. > So just the fact of wanting to see things and opening yourself up to see other situations. These are the things that make you grow. *(Below you can find the full game video of last month's 3-0 win of THY against Fenerbahce)* **What is one of your most worthwhile investment that you’ve ever made?** I created a beach volley club, which a friend of my took over. It's called "Beach Volley University" and it's located in my home town of Cesenatico. We had a few international level beach volley players coming out of our club. You know that beach volley was my first passion, I'm proud of that. Over the years we supported 4-500 players at the amateur level, also from a social point of view and developing a good amount of coaches it is and was a great investment of time...not in terms of financials, but that's something else. For many years I attempted to get a Serie A1 team in my town also. It didn't happen yet, maybe we can make that happen in the future. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/11/Abbondanza-1.jpeg) **In the last five years, what new belief, behaviour, or habit has most improved your life?** A very easy one, since the last couple of years we have our kids. And my work life changed, no more watching game tape during the evening...but crashing in the sofa and watching movies together or doing some other stuff. I wake up early to do all my work. When I'm with them, I not watching anything, I don't pick up my phone, no volleyball is allowed. 😊 **When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, or have lost your focus temporarily, what do you do?** I go to the sea, I shut my phone off, listen to the sound of the water and enjoy walking on the sand. Like that I rejuvenate myself. One of the advantages of coaching in Istanbul is that we have 5 different sea's over here. So I'll always find a good spot. 😀 --- Thank you, Marcello. ### 23. Tama Miyashiro:"You always have to be looking for ways to be a better teacher." URL: https://volleybrains.com/tama-miyashiro/ Last updated: 2022-05-28T12:46:56.000Z ..having had a successful college career and the Team USA experiences since 2017. Ow yeah and grabbed that Olympic Gold medal last summer. 😉 (Our video call was recorded before the Summer Olympics) In this article Tama talks about the importance of different inputs for different players, take away's from the evolution that she sees happening in international volleyball, how she thinks about failing and learning, what some of her favorite resources are and so much more... Enter Tama. **Tama, when did you decide to become a pro volleyball coach? What pushed you towards that decision?** I played at the university of Washington. So when I started to go to school there, they were like: "Hey, you're pretty good. But I think if you did this, this and this you can become better." And this mentality I thought was super helpful for me as a person and as a player, because what happens when you get recruited for college, they tell you everything you want to hear, you know, because they obviously want you to go there. That makes sense, but this was the first school, the first staff that told me, what I needed to hear already in their recruiting process. What I needed to improve to become a more complete player. And so that difference, it made them stick out. So I ended up going there. And then once I got there to, you know, in Hawaii, you don't really have a system when you play, you just train for hours. And you just play a lot of volleyball, which is great also of course. So when I got there. To become a better player. I had to learn some technical things, just for the speed of the game. But within that, the staff really helped me as a person. Like they helped me grow up, because you know, I wanted to leave this small little island. :-) The first thing I realized was how much they helped me as a person. And so I think that was the start it. I felt that if I could have the same impact as they had on me on somebody else, then I would love to do that. So I think around that age was when I first thought about it. But I grew up around a lot of coaches. My parents were coaches, my cousins were coaches. I played for my sister. I don't know that I was like, yes, I'm going to coach. But for sure when I got to college, that became...I thought about it a little more. **What is advice that you could have used yourself, something you're learning along the way.** Yeah, I think I have a lot of them. First is that you always have to be aware that people don't necessarily learn like you do. So things that worked for me are not going to work for everybody else. Drills that work for some groups are not going to work for all the groups that you coach. I think some people are going to be like, of course, but you don't realize...it is very natural to coach how you were taught and how you learned. "I learned a lot when they taught me like this and so let's see if it works." And sometimes it does. And I think that's an interesting thought about players who become coaches, right? Some people say:" Oh, you did it, so you know, so much about it." I understand that and I think it does help. But then at the same time, that's a super common, but easy trap. > You have to always be looking for ways to teach better. You have to always be looking for ways to deliver instruction, to give feedback, because for sure no queue works for everybody. And I think the best coaches, at least the ones I've played for and I've listened to, can do that in many different ways. And so kind of looking at that in my young coaching career is, you know, I can have a plan to try to coach someone in some specific situation or skill. And in my head it's so clear, yes, we're going to get it. And then you tell them and they give you the blank look. And you're like, okay, that didn't work, time to move on. Next one, next attempt. And not to give praise to myself, but I had this personality where if you told me one time that you don't want me to stand here, that's all you needed to tell me and I will do it. But not everybody has that and that's okay. So realizing that our ability to process information for all the athletes that we work with is so different. Always taking that into consideration. > I think another thing would be that commitment looks a little different for people. I've been around groups that, you know, the question is, well, how come we're not all doing the same thing if we're in it. It looks very different for people and their understanding and the way they process, what's important is so different. So that "culture" part is always, it always needs to be talked about or revisited. But I think it's important to not assume that we all love volleyball 24/7 because 'we' did, you know, I think that's one thing that I see a lot and I've coached kids in high school and some college players and awesome professionals. It's always a work in progress. I think that is maybe the bigger lesson. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 22. Craig Skinner:"If you stop learning, then you're doing yourself and your team a disservice." URL: https://volleybrains.com/craig-skinner/ Last updated: 2022-05-28T12:47:12.000Z Coach Skinner is the current [AVCA National Coach of the Year](https://ukathletics.com/news/2021/4/22/volleyball-craig-skinner-named-avca-national-coach-of-the-year.aspx?ref=volleybrains.com). An award that is a culmination of all the deliberate and hard work put into the Kentucky program. *'Last season, Skinner guided the Wildcats to a 19-1 overall regular season record, and a fourth-straight SEC Championship, something that has never been done in the history of Kentucky Volleyball.* *They went on and played a big NCAA tournament and won the finals against the Texas Longhorns. Becoming the 2020 NCAA National Champions'* We are fans of great volleyball. And for sure enjoyed seeing Kentucky play their low error, high % scoring in 'out of system', up tempo off the net - plays...last spring. We went over a lot in this interview with coach Skinner. Also check out the 'extra' at the end. Enter Craig... **Craig, why did you decide to commit to become a professional volleyball coach? What pushed you towards that decision?** I coached while I was playing in college. I played at Ball State University. Played as an outside hitter and started coaching a JV, a high school team and a club team and just fell in love with it. I just really appreciate and respected the way the right information can help people get better. > And when you see someone do something they've never done before and they're better at something, improve at things, that just really motivated me. I would say just as I got more into coaching...I was questioning whether that was the thing I wanted to do, because I had an accounting degree and I could go into business and probably financially, at least for the first half of my career, do better than I could in coaching. But I talked to a basketball coach here in the States and I asked him why he coached. And he said, coaching is the only thing in my life where I feel like I can be an artist or be creative. I feel the same way. There's not a lot of things I'm very creative or artistic at. Coaching seemed to be something where I could put some artistic value into. So for me those two things are the reason why I coach. **What advice would you give yourself as a starting coach? An advice that is so clear and logic for you now, but that you had to develop over the years.** I probably wasn't very patient when I was younger. I was trying to get to the next thing faster and trying to get to the next skill quicker. And, you know, I think you need to spend more time, on whether it's teaching a skill or teaching a system for your team. I was doing drills all over the place... and I think you have to have a core set of drills that you feel are important for your particular team. And you need to do them over and over and over again. For two reasons, one to improve, but secondly, to develop confidence in your players. And if you do different drills every day in practice and there's no continuity between days and weeks, then it's harder for players to get better. And it's harder for players to develop confidence in themselves and the team. So I was just pretty impatient. Both as a coach and then also professionally, I just wanted my career to go a little bit faster than it was. **What are concepts or beliefs where you put more importance on over the years. What changed about your coaching style over the last few years. And why?** Yeah, I'd say that we spent more time talking and trying to implement more of the mental side of the game. And getting them to understand, what being mindful was and why it's important. And that when you're trying to win at the highest level, that it's more than just volleyball. If it's only about X's and O's, and only about volleyball, people get bored of that, there needs to be a bigger purpose to what we're doing. For the players to be more motivated, to want to do it for others, not just because I'm going to get better at attacking or I'm going to get better at receiving or I'm going to get better at serving. > Why am I doing this and who for and what is the bigger purpose? And volleyball specifically, something that we started working more on is..well everyone talks about being out of system and you have to be as good out of system as you are in system because 50% of the game is out of system. So during training, prior to the last few years, we'd spend a lot of time really trying to be good at defending teams in system. Defending when the ball is passed perfectly, that we need to be really good read blockers and to defend 'this' we need to be in this position 'here', we need to be in that position, there. So repeating over and over and over again, running certain plays at our defense and trying to get really good at defending those plays. And some plays that we know our opponents would run at us and also plays that we would run just so we would get better offensively at those plays at the same time, trying to work on them defensively. We would go for four balls and then we'd rotate blockers or rotate defense. And we do three or four of them all in system. And then the last couple of years we did two of them...half of them in system, then half of them we'd go out of system. So I felt not only did that help us become better at defending when the opponent is hitting out of system, whether that's a high ball to the left side or a high ball to the right side or a high ball to the back row, that we also in turn got better at attacking those balls. Being better offensively in those situations. So I'd say those would probably be the two biggest things that we evolved over the last few years. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/10/Natl_Title.jpeg) **When preparing the 'next game', what does your general approach look like.** Well, typically we probably have two good days of practice before we play our next game, once we get into our conference schedule. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 21. Andrea Gardini:'For every player you'll need a different key, your job is to find that key.' URL: https://volleybrains.com/andrea-gardini/ Last updated: 2022-05-28T12:47:24.000Z Don't get used to these Volleyball Hall Of Fame interviews now.:-) Andrea got inducted into the Volleyball Hall Of Fame in 2007 and this excerpt was part of Andrea's induction biography: 'Gardini, a two-time Olympic medal winner and key component of the FIVB-crowned "Best Volleyball Team of the 20th Century," was a tough, effective and popular middle blocker for the "Squadra Azzurri." Few teams in the world of sport have been as dominant as the Italian Men's Volleyball Team of the 1990s. Gardini and the Italian team were the first-ever to win three consecutive World Championship titles (1990, 1994 and 1998). The Italian team won the Silver Medal at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta and the Bronze at the 2000 Summer Games in. During the 1996 Olympics at Atlanta, Italy and the Netherlands played what some call the “Greatest Volleyball Match Ever” for the gold medal.' 'Gardo' went on to become a successful volleyball coach and at the moment he coaches the current Polish champion of [Jastrebski Wegiel](https://jastrzebskiwegiel.pl/?ref=volleybrains.com). (oh and a small caveat, we want you to check out the various videoclips in this masterclass, there are some curse words though, this is European volleyball, everything goes to make your message heard.;-)) Enter Andrea... **Andrea, when did you decide that you wanted to become a volleyball coach?** During the 2006-2007 season I was the general manager of Sparkling Milano, a club team in the Italian Superlega. I had some serious health issues going on so I stopped working for them to take a break and fix my health. I was out for a couple of months. In that summer Andrea Anastasi won the European Championships with the Spanish national team. Me and Andrea, well 'Nano', that is his nickname, we go back a long time of course, we are like brothers...he called me immediately after winning and told me: I will be the head coach of the Italian national team and I want you to become my assistant coach. I told him: 'Nano, I really never thought about this, I don't know if this is such a great idea?' He told me: 'I know you, it's going to be perfect for you.' So I started to work as Andrea's assistant. We worked together in the national team til 2012, until the Olympic games in Beijing. After that we worked for 3 more years together in Poland, if I remember correctly. We really did spend an amazing time together, he really teached me a lot. How to get the best out of the players, how to handle a group of players, how to handle the ever changing composition of your team, because year after year our teams do change a lot. Us working together was automatic. Towards the end of our time working together we didn't even have to discuss a lot, we just looked at each other and knew what the other one was thinking. After that I thought, why not, I love this job, let's do this. I spend a few years in Olsztyn(Poland), in Zaksa Kedzierzyn Kozle, where we won the league and the cup, I went back to Italy after that and now I'm in Jastrebski again in Poland. I love to coach, love to work with my team and even more with the individual...I don't want to fight or convince them to do something, I want to show them what they are capable of. Every day there is a new challenge. I love this. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/10/GetImage.jpeg) **You took over the team of Jastrebski at the end of last season, coming into a team that has been playing for more than half a season is a strange situation, how did that go?** They were a great group of people and I was lucky that I 'found' the key to unlock them. We solved a lot of problems, they worked very hard and in the end we won the Polish League, while winning against Zaksa(the current Champions League winner). This last season really has been my best experience since I started to coach. A coach has many ideas or concepts, but not a lot of times it happens that they all seem to connect, that is however what happened last season. Til the semi finals we were struggling, but after that the pieces of the puzzle fell together. Even while Zaksa was leading a couple of points in some sets, we were executing what we had discussed, we were doing the things we discussed...even being down those couple of points, I didn't need to take a time-out to help them tactically or technically, I just used them to take the momentum out of the game a bit. For the rest we were like a machine. Some parts of that final series, I could just stand there and admire our own play, that doesn't happen a lot to a volleyball coach.:-) I'm really forever grateful to these guys, we really did something special. **What advice would you give yourself as a starting coach? An advice that is so clear and logic for you now, but that you had to develop over the years.** When I started out as an assistant coach, I had a lot of ideas about how to build a team, how to manage certain situations, how to work day in and day out. Most of them based on how we had worked in the national team in the late 80's and 90's. But I had to throw nearly all of those concepts away, I was a teenager 40 years ago, the way people think now is totally different. So I will have to say to myself, look at what is going on around you, open your mind and adapt. It's impossible to tell somebody to just do something in a certain way, because you are the coach and that's the reason why they have to do it. There is needed more than that, more input, in the end it also keeps you sharp as a coach, you need to be ready for these questions that you players have. **Probably not the best to generalise, but can we say the current players are smarter(or at least, less naive) than before...maybe more self centered even. Which maybe is not that beneficial in a team sport.** I spoke about this with my players, there is a problem about this. Sometimes the great, the best players are great players because they are a bit egotistical. You know what I mean? They score all the important points, they feel that they have all the responsibility. So to convince a player like that, to stay in a fixed system, to help the team to win...and maybe also creating a more beneficial situation for their own career. Well, that's not so easy because they became good players, because they had this big focus on their own play, their own growth. 'I'm the best. Give me the ball. I will kill every ball.' So in their mind it is a complicated balance because they know that stuff happens because they are like that. So they think: 'why do I have to change for this team? With these weak players around me.' > Because maybe these weak players can help you win something, something more. And this is the key. **You have a lot of experience in this over the years of course. My own feeling is this; only 0.01 something % of pro players reach the absolute top of our game, most of these have this... 'healthy' focus on themselves.** **Being able to get there and realising that there is something to give back, that is where you can really start to make a legacy for your team and yourself of course.** In the early 90's at Messaggero Ravenna I played together with Karch Kiraly. And Karch is, in my opinion, the greatest player in the history of our sport. But if you remember him, he wasn't an amazing spiker, he wasn't that tall. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 20. Joop Alberda:'Success is all about communication and trust, not having success...also.' URL: https://volleybrains.com/joop-alberda/ Last updated: 2022-05-28T12:47:59.000Z For this masterclass we start out with 2 excerpts that we copied from Joop's [induction](https://www.volleyhall.org/joop-alberda.html?ref=volleybrains.com) into the International Volleyball Hall of Fame. 'The architect of the highly successful Netherlands Men’s National Volleyball Teams of the 1990s, Joop Alberda soon became a legendary figure within the program and the sport. Even in his early years coaching, Alberda always had a sense of the system of training and coaching style necessary to be successful on the volleyball world stage.' 'After his golden mission, Alberda was approached by the Dutch Olympic Committee to serve as its Technical Director. Serving in that role from 1997 to 2004, the visionary Alberda was responsible for all sports-related issues such as innovation, coaching, Olympic facilities and programs. His direction of “Performance 2000” led to a record 25 Dutch medals at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. He later served as the technical director for the Dutch Volleyball Federation from 2006 to 2010.' Also in the last few years(Joop announced his retirement just days ago...more on that below) Joop was the technical director for the Dutch Volleyball Federation setting them up for even more future success. Over the years Joop has been putting a lot of effort into various national and also smaller scale projects concerning the broader context of sports in the Dutch society, focusing on long term societal improvements in terms of movement and health. Enter Joop... **Joop, tell us, how did you become a volleyball coach?** I was a gymnast and a soccer player and played a little bit of tennis. So I did a wide range of different sports. At one point I had to make a choice and I made the wrong choice. I went into gymnastics, to find out that I was too tall and not strong enough. Then at 17 years of age I entered my physical education studies in Groningen(Holland). I played some recreational volleyball and when I entered my studies, there was a possibility to become a member of a volleyball society. Over there someone developed a way of looking at talent and made me become a volleyball player. I got addicted to the sport because of my fondness about statistics, the reproduction of the game and the sequence of the game. In 1983-1984, I was selected to go to a certain conference in Båstad in Sweden. The speakers there were Carmelo Bosco, Anders Kristiansson and Doug Beal. I don't think I slept any time at all, if I recall it correctly. It was one of the most exciting and thrilling experiences in my life. We were discussing with them until four or five o'clock at night. And when I returned, I knew what my vision would be about volleyball and that I wanted to learn even more. Volleyball was at that moment just starting to become a bit less recreational. Some Dutch teams, like Brother Martinus with Peter Murphy as a technical director were starting to get into serious volleyball. I became the junior coach of the national junior team in 1980-1982\. And my fascination with the game increased and increased. I wanted to become a coach because I knew pretty fast that I was not going to be a good player. I was addicted to the game. But I knew that I was not tall enough. I was motivated by heart. In the early days we practiced maybe more outside of the gym and outside of the club facility, we always went for an extra four or five workouts, by ourselves we would hire small venues to be able to do that. So that's my basic story about becoming a head coach. **Knowing what you know now, which advice would you give to your younger self?** Everything is related to everything. I have trouble to see volleyball only as the skills and the team. It's the skills, it's the people in the context of the society, in the context of their nature and their maturity. It's in the context of communication, it's in the context of what does sport mean in your society? That's what fascinates me. In my mind a team's interest is far more than what happens in the club. It's not only the team, it's also their individual education. It's the long-term vision for how you look at people as people. How is your approach as a coach towards your players in general. This is something that changed in the late eighties because of a more 'positive behavior' coaching approach. Not looking at the players and what they're doing wrong, but telling them what they're doing right. It took me about four or five years to get that shift in my mindset. To me, mindset is the most crucial thing at the beginning of your coaching career. After that you have that foundation you can pay attention to the crucial parts of the game, different strategies and not worrying about your own skills as a coach. In the beginning you need to develop your skills. As a coach for example you have to know how you have to coach someone who's 20 years old, and that that is completely different than coaching someone at 32 years of age. Developing different policies for different players and handling the day to day of it for example, that's a thing that some coaches struggle with... **In your opinion is there a plan or a vision to being a successful coach?** _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 19. Russ Rose:'You can't get too high when it's good and you can't get too low when it's not good.' URL: https://volleybrains.com/russ-rose/ Last updated: 2022-11-24T17:36:26.000Z In our call we went all over the place. I should've been a better 'interviewer', but it is fine to loosen the reigns and go with it with coach Rose and just... talk volleyball. So we will hop around a lot and that is fine, there is a lot of content here. (5999 words and 7 clips of video edited answers for a total of 25min - the video quality is a bit lower due to bandwidth issues, but the audio is perfect) A great intro to the interview(so our European readers get a grip on coach Rose's legacy) is this clip that was made a few years ago. Enter coach Rose. **Coach, tell me more about how you want to coach your team?** I love the men's game and the men's game to me is the highest level of the game being played. It's the purist game to me as it maintains a more aggressive emphasis on serving and attacking. I don't care that the length of the rally is short, it's demonstrating the game at its highest level. When we had our best teams at Penn State... I don't exactly recall which stretch of time that was, but I know we won four championships in a row and had a wonderful run. More to the point I coached that team like a men's team. We trained like a men's team. Systematically I wanted to do things more like a men's team. I remember a number of years ago, we had come back from our team’s tour in Brazil, when the Brazilian men's team was recognized as one of the top in the world. Bernardino was still coaching the men's team and he allowed us to watch a practice. Some of the drills that we took from that practice, I brought back and implemented with our women’s. They were different than what people would assume one should be doing with a college women's team. We adapted a drill where our attackers were hitting balls with no block with good pace at the libero to initiate the drill. Not just to 'develop' range in the defensive player, but just to say, this is how we're starting the drill. We know that in a lot of sequences in the women's game, coaches don't put that much pressure to get the ball over the net, throwing the ball to start the drill is in some cases way more realistic. That is just one small example. In the end it boils down to having high quality players of course, if you don't have the quality of players to do things, you just can't do some things. My college coach Jim Coleman use to say to not try to do something tactically that you can’t do technically. Circling back to the men's game, I watch a great deal of men's volleyball and I mainly watch it to still the hunger I have for our game, I miss some of the parts of the men's game in our women's game, it reminds me of different things that I could implement when I coached men and reflects on the talent base that I have in the gym at the present time. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/09/rose5.jpeg) **From our talk before the interview and seeing your passion for the game, is there something that stood out to you about your international experiences?** Before the 2008 Beijing Olympic games I was consulting with our men's National team. We participated in a six nation tour in Italy with three matches a day. The teams were Italy, Russia, Brazil, China, USA and I don’t recall the final team. I was basically recording all of the serves by the players and recorded the velocity and location of the service area as well as where the ball was served. The fact that I was recording all the matches I was present for all of the matches from start to finish. What stood out to me was that Brazil differed from the other teams during introductions in that every night before they played, when they were introduced....to just see the passion of the players, hugging and kissing each other on the cheek. That was so unbelievable, that intangible. That’s something that's really hard to replicate. But that is the beauty of our game, it's such an international game, there are all these influences, things to learn, things to observe. We as coaches all want our players to get along but it is near impossible when it is forced. **The last few months we saw a lot of International competitions all with a high quality live stream, also one of the first times we could really check out the time outs...** Yes, the time-outs are interesting. When coaches talk about training a team and developing a team, I always say: Hey, you don't know how your team is going to play because you can't replicate the stress of an event. You can't replicate pressure. You can't replicate certain things. And you also can't replicate the emotion and passion of people that really care for each other, that Brazilian cultural thing. What they're saying in these minimal time outs. Is it substantial? Is it meaningful? Or are they just giving the players a breather, a chance to relax or are they things saying specific technical/tactical things. Is it positive? Is it negative? Is it neutral? Is it fluffy? What I picked up was that all coaches are different and their timeouts reflected that in a short time frame. Now I understand that as a coach how you talk and think about the sport is specific. As a player, you're going to respond better to a coach who talks to you in a similar way. I was a Phys Ed teacher and wasn’t that good of a player in college, I would respond to a coach better who says to me: Hey, you're playing shitty, get in the game and focus on what you need to focus on and stop staring at the chicks in the crowd. So I wouldn’t need somebody to talk to me about my angle of approach. Coaches are going to be in different camps as well, how they prepare and put things together. And that's why for me listening and watching is really interesting because it's so different everywhere. It's very interesting watching these different countries. I think it is even funnier that some coaches had translators and who knows what was lost in the translation. I'm a student of the game making up for the fact that I was a weaker player of the game. :-) Like the different national teams have their cultural differences, the same goes for how it is in different pro leagues and even specific pro teams, it's a constant adaptation, that is what our job is really about-trying to get the group of individuals to play as one. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/09/rose7.jpeg) **I'm sure you have some great stories around your international experiences also. What is one that stood out to you.** Back in the day, I coached professional men's volleyball in Puerto Rico, I'm talking about 45 years ago now when I was 22. I went to Puerto Rico because it was wintertime in Chicago. And it was sunny in Puerto Rico. And I had never been there. :-) I didn't speak a word of Spanish and it was a wonderful experience. Well, I mean, to me it was great. It was coaching. I remember matches where people were throwing mangoes onto the court and yelling: 'Gringo, go home'. And me saying in a timeout, which one of you guys is named 'gringo'. It's a ridiculous story, but it's one that will always be part of who I am. > I think coaching is a long experience. And as I tell my children, not all experiences are good, but they're all valuable. That is in essence how I look at coaching. **If you needed to describe your style of coaching, with the vast experience that you have about developing your team, how would that sound like?** I always say to them, listen, you have a very small window of time in which you try and be good while you're here. Everything matters and everyday matters. But it's not life and death. > There are always more important things, but you must be focused on what you're doing on the day that you're doing it. That's all. And if you have issues that prevent you from being focused on that day, I just need to know ahead of time, because otherwise my assumption is going to be that you're going to come in and give a hundred percent and be ready to go. If we were going to put coaches in different boxes, you, who is more than qualified to be a coach, it sounds like you would be a technical coach. I'm an attitude coach. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 18. Daniele Santarelli:'If I knew what volleyball would look like 10 years from now, I would start to adapt already' URL: https://volleybrains.com/daniele-santarelli/ Last updated: 2022-05-28T12:48:27.000Z Since Daniele became the head coach of Imoco Conegliano they have played 14 final games of the 15 various championships that they have taken part in. Conegliano won an astounding 10 of those 14\. Them being: 3 Italian Championships, 3 Italian Super Cups, 2 Italian Cups, 1 World Championship for clubs and 1 Champions League. Making Daniele one of the most 'winningest' coaches in Italian volleyball...ever. *This was the 'easy', popular media introduction, but volleybrains goes deeper than that. We had a great talk with Daniele, went over our questions and more, Daniele delivered a lot of great advice.* While reading this article and watching the clips you will get to know Daniele's way of thinking, how his struggles as a player parlayed into being an advantage as a coach and how he sees his own growth process over the last few years. Furthermore we talk about the 'ultimate player' characteristics, the future of volleyball, his favorite coaching resources and much much more. Go ahead and enjoy the masterclass. Enter Daniele... **Daniele, why and how many years ago did you decide to commit to being a professional volleyball coach? What pushed you towards that decision?** I tried to make a career as a high level player. I tried to get to the Italian Serie A and play at the highest level. I never succeeded though, probably because I didn't have the skills both physical and especially mentally to play at those levels. (I overthought too much, which is never a good thing) I always had the vocation of teaching (I was coaching smaller teams from when I was 18 years old) and at 27 years old I had the opportunity to get a coaching job in Pesaro following Monica De Gennaro, my wife. I felt that there was no more opportunity to reach the highest levels as a player and this opportunity felt important enough to commit to. Initially I worked for the second team of Pesaro, but I for sure felt that I was in the right place. Pesaro at that time had won 3 consecutive Italian Championships. From day 1 it was obvious to everybody that my ambition was to be able to join the first team. So yes, at that moment in my career I received that 'coaching spark' that made me say enough with playing volleyball, I will miss it but I have to try to do 'something' as a coach. I realised that I didn't succeed as a player so I absolutely had to try to become a great coach. **Interesting, you mentioned that especially mentally as a player you carried a big burden, can you elaborate on that?** I thought a lot before, during and after the games about 'everything', well especially 'the during' and 'after' for me was dramatic, 'the before' not so much. Especially after the matches, I came home and I tortured myself about everything that happened. Remembering all the negative things and very few positive ones. I was trying to keep a clear head and focus on the positive aspects of the game but the negative aspects were inside of me all the time. This was very limiting to me. I realised that I was 'living' every single mistake I had made. It wasn't an issue I had with appearing a good player to 'other people', I only did it for and to myself.:-) I don't think that the role of libero helped me in this because the role of the libero is very 'statistical', very limited...of course you're not attacking, there isn't another part of your game that you can use to lift yourself up. Like a goalkeeper in soccer, you touch few balls but those must be perfect. > Thinking about my 'thinking' led me to be open for the coaching profession. > When I played this was a limitation maybe coaching would make my personal disadvantage into an advantage. This is happening to me now, I am thinking a lot and many people acknowledge the fact that I live 24 hours a day with volleyball. I was telling you before, with my first week off, yesterday I was talking to someone and he said: "You only talk about volleyball." I said yes, even on my days off I only talk about volleyball. > Only now I do it with more freedom because now if I think too much it is part of my job while before I was ruining my ability to be a player with a clear line of thoughts. I see it with my wife who is completely the opposite of me, she doesn't dwell on errors or negative situations and that is why she has reached very high levels. Once something negative happens she puts it next to her and continuous to perform. All the things I suffered for have zero impact on her. I, on the other hand, was carrying the wrong thing around with me. So this is a huge PLUS to have as a player and I'm happy for her. **Great answer, your analytical 'superpower' for sure is beneficial towards your club, team, your work...but probably you've still got some work to do.:-)** You are completely right. Many people have told me this, I should enjoy life more, take more free time and go out every now and then, I can't do it. I have to do this, I have to study, work and think for the good of myself and the team. Unfortunately I am made like this; I have this defect. I also happen not to rest too much and I sleep rather badly during the competitions. I think that with a little more experience and going forward with the years I will acquire more self-confidence and I will be able to live the stress of these long complicated seasons with many competitions in a freer way. Now I am doing it with less freedom and I am enjoying everything way too little. Even this season, for example, which has been wonderful. I never really celebrated. But at least I know that I have some work to do here.:-) ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/09/002715_20210501-AE4I2944.jpg) **Probably having this video call in your 'free week' isn't helping you recovering from a long season cause again we are again talking about volleyball.:-)** No, no, it's a drug...it's perfectly fine like it is.:-) **What advice would you give yourself as a starting coach? An advice that is so clear and logic for you now, but that you had to develop over the years.** The things that I wanted to happen were not coming quickly enough to me but the path I decided to take (when I decided to start to coach at 18 years old) was the right path. So I had to simply be more patient, sooner or later that day when I would have the opportunity to coach at a high level would come. So maybe just having more patience because the path that I was on was the right one. I think I've tried to capture and took all the advice of the greatest teachers I've had. So I'm happy with that. Now that I look back I tell myself that the sacrifices I made led to something good. > I just should have had more patience. **Do you have a particular goal as a coach?** There are two goals. One is more personal. I simply want to continue to grow. I want to always have that curiosity that has always distinguished me. Every year I want to try to learn something more. Right now being the head coach of a high level team with a lot of competitions, a high work load, well it isn't as easy as it was before. But I'm actively putting aside time to learn about our game and evolve as a coach. I will keep having that curiosity, so there will come many more opportunities to learn. Before it was reading books, following courses. Right now it's more looking at other National Teams, talking to other coaches etc. The second one. I think it is the goal of almost every coach in the world and it is the most obvious. Try to win the Olympics. That would be the top. *(This next clip is the full length recording of the final of the 2021 Champions League, the 2 best club teams in the world competing against each other.)* _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 17. Tuomas Sammelvuo:'Your best players are the ones that make the culture, they are the foundation of your team.' URL: https://volleybrains.com/tuomas-sammelvuo/ Last updated: 2022-05-28T12:48:37.000Z Tuomas Sammelvuo had an extensive and successful playing career both on club level as with his Finnish national team. In 2013 he started to coach and became the head coach of the Finnish national team, soon afterwards also club volleyball in the Russian Superleague. From 2019 he's the head coach of the Russian national team. Won the VNL in 2019 and just won a well deserved Olympic Silver medal at the Tokio Olympics Enter Tuomas... **Tuomas, when did you started to coach? What were the first lessons that you learned?** I started to coach the national team of Finland immediately after my playing career. You coach the guys that you lived with for 10 years in the same room. And I think authority it's just not something, that is giving to you. You have to earn that respect. You have to earn that authority. You have to show that you care. Because I might know everything about volleyball, but if I can't make you to execute, it means nothing. I like to also put the players in different kinds of categories, I'm thinking that the average players, normal players, they don't want to be coached too much. Good players they want coaching. They want you to help them. > And great players. They want to be told the truth. I think when you start to coach, you use the methods from the coaches that you liked, and then as a beginner coach, you want to speak **too much**. You want to show that, you know something and you want get that knowledge out. Sometimes nobody's just listening to you. :-) My first half year was not easy to say the least. We watched our time outs and what I was saying, what kind of reaction I got from the players? God, there's a huge learning process. You have to be open to learn, be humble to learn. I think everybody's saying the same things, but really, that is also my experience. And this never has to end. And also your players are so very different. Like I'm explaining something very detailed to somebody, and he's sleeping already and somebody else just wants more details. Somebody else just can't stand those details. :-) This is a fantastic job. Yeah, I'm still a very young coach, but if I think how was I on those first days? I hope I'm different. Every day is a different day. Even if the schedule is the same. Yeah. It has been really great and fascinating, difficult, hard. I love this. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/08/tuomas-3.jpeg) **Exactly what you mention about the time outs in the VNL we saw a broad range of different styles of time-outs. Some great ones, other more questionable. But a lot of different coaching styles to say the least...** You also have to take the different cultures into account here. In Russia for example there needs to be one leader, the system is build like that, that’s what the people are used to...the USA time-outs, you see 4 coaches, interacting with everybody. I’m not saying that one is better than the other, but they are all different, that's for sure. Over here they would say, you are the coach, you have to lead, keep the full responsibility otherwise you are not a ‘strong’ leader. These different cultures make our sport so very interesting. **You can for sure get more done in a time out if you can take the setters to yourself and you still have 2 other coaches talking about offense and receiving lines, for example. But it needs to be something that players except. Otherwise it doesn’t work.** An important one in time outs is also not to ‘say something to say something’. You also don’t want to over analyse, you have to give your players some freedom also. > Don’t be all over them all of the time. Then again, we are all human, I remember one time with the Russian national team I was really angry, screamed at them even...also that can work. You could need that reaction, they get angry on you and they react towards the opponent. But it’s for sure not a tool you try and use sometimes. It needs to be genuine. It’s all about being genuine. If you try to be somebody that you are not, everybody will immediately (or eventually) recognize that and it won’t have any effect. **The short term effect isn’t worth the long term damage.** Controlling these emotions is important. Not being able to execute your game plan is an issue, but it happens. When you play the game the preparation is long done. You had a week to train, to adapt to your opponent, to get ready for the game. During the game it’s possible to react, find alternative solutions, some extra details...**but the players play.** **You can redirect the direction of the boat, but the players will still have to row, exactly.** And that’s where internal leadership comes in. How do the players interact with each other. When you’re crushing your opponent, players start to loosen their attention...well a few balls later the opponent is already there. That’s how the rally point system works. You can really see in our time-outs who the leaders are, that’s very interesting. **You have a rather young team, with some more experienced players, but on average very young. All playing at a high level. How do you see that internal leadership working in your case?** Yes, that’s a big chapter and it of course differs team by team. You can have quiet and experienced players that don’t talk a lot but when they open their mouth everybody listens. In my case it’s about responsibility. I’m wanting a lot from my best players, there are 3-4 guys where if things are not going I will be very direct or strong with. I expect a lot from them, like they expect a lot from me. It’s easy to get angry or strict with your youngest players, the easiest victims, but those ways never worked in the past and never will work in the future. > Your best players are the ones that make the culture, they are the foundation of your team. Those players are golden. **They hold the dressing room together.** Everybody is different though, so it’s for sure all easier said than done. In the national team I had a lot of talks with our players… They must be able to except a different kind of role in the national team than they have in their club. Nearly always they are on the court, no matter what, but in the national team it's not like this. You can be a player that has to come in from the bench. You have to accept that role. In general talking about leadership, maybe in your club you have the support that you don’t find in the national team or vice versa. Our players have to be highly adaptable. The VNL was very useful. Of course, volleyball wise, you see the technical things to improve, but the bubble for sure brought a new kind of synergy in between our players also. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/08/tuomas-1-1.jpeg) **The top contenders for the Olympic medals rotated and experimented a lot during the VNL. For sure you, Russia, did the same, but there was also a lot of structure to be seen. Same couples starting, same starting 6’s for some games. Are there some takeaways there?** I think in the Olympic year, you can do a lot of things. Every player of our roster wants to be in the Olympics. And we had 16 players in the VNL from those 12 go to the Olympics. Of course you can see that there was a lot of anxiousness about making it or not. > Every game is an exam. So maybe you are a little bit more worried about your mistakes. Of course we rotated a lot and played more ‘fixed’ towards the end. We had to do that in my opinion, because now after the VNL we don’t have anymore games. In the same time, you don’t want to kill the players physically, because it's a very hard tournament and you still want to get some practices in also. The good thing was that the Russian Volleyball Federation decided to finish the league the 10th of April, especially for our preparation. So we got almost one month off for our players. Glad, we could do that. Anyway, I don't know what is right or wrong way concerning the player rotations etc. We did it like this. You could see Poland rotating a lot of players, Brazil played more or less with the same starting six, France rotated a lot... We'll see in the Olympics, I for sure liked this kind of preparation. Even having some stuff not working out, having doubts about some situations isn’t a bad thing, you should experiment a bit. Evaluate possible problems and outcomes. Once you hit the Olympics you also have to be ready for that. Of course, it was a long tournament in quarantine. But a nice experience. I think a better preparation than that in conditions of COVID weren’t possible. We for sure used the VNL to give playing time to everybody, but also to define the team for the Olympics. **How did you go about selecting your Olympic players. Having 16 players in the VNL, only taking 12 to the Olympics so 5, maybe 6 players aren’t sure of their participation.** I know that some players know that they will go. But the players that don't know they want to do so much on the court to show themselves, but in the same time, they have to have that confidence that positivity and calmness to play. Also being a substitute instead of playing all the time, like in the club is a different thing. So also to find those players, that to be in the six, you play all the time, then if it doesn't go, comes the substitute, but that guy needs to change the game. > It is a huge role is a very important role. And the VNL also for that was interesting to experience. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 16. Tommi Tiilikainen:'I try to break and take off all limitations.' URL: https://volleybrains.com/tommi-tiilikainen/ Last updated: 2022-05-28T12:48:46.000Z Hi readers, this article features [Tommi Tiilikainen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommi%5FTiilikainen?ref=volleybrains.com). Tommi is a 34 year old Finnish volleyball coach who has coached in Europe, just had a 4 year stint in Japan and is now coaching the South Korean champions Incheon Korean Air Jumbos (btw the team that [Roberto Santilli](https://volleybrains.com/roberto-santilli/) coached last season) Tommi isn't a coach who chooses the common path. But he very meticulously tries to understand, debunk and reframe the coaching of our game. This will become clear while you read the article and watch the clips. Of course communication is also a big chapter today, as coaching in Asia needs some initial adaptation. Enjoy this one. Just this...when you watch a video clip you can skip the text til the next question, because that will be the transcription of the video.(but reread if you like) Enter Tommi... **Tommi, what pushed you towards coaching volleyball?** Well, my father was a coach and my both parents were PE teachers. I did basically all the sports there are while I was growing up, not just volleyball. I was starting volleyball at a really early age, probably somewhere in the backyard with my dad, you know, starting out with pepper. Volleyball was something I would do throughout my youth years. My plan was to become a player. That was super clear to me already as a kid. I got injured when I was 18\. And after that I just could not figure out a way how to stay and be healthy and still play volleyball. I had a bad back and that basically sidelined me forever. I could play some recreational volleyball after, but basically when I was 18, I needed to figure out what was next? And then, well, long story short, I came back to volleyball after trying different things. Probably like three, four years later. At that moment in time I decided that coaching was what I wanted to do. Yes, it took a long time for me to figure that out. It was not a clear thing. I was not thinking: 'I'm going to stay in volleyball'. But I was happy I found my spot as a coach. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/08/WhatsApp-Image-2021-07-27-at-04.06.54.jpeg) **So you went from coaching a Finnish team to Düren in Germany. How did that come about?** I was working for the Finnish Federation for different youth national teams for a couple of years. Then I got the opportunity to take over a team in Finland when I was 25. You know the Finnish league isn't a professional league but that team ran like a full pro team. So I was four years there. Then I got the chance to go to Germany. After Düren **[Anders](https://www.volleyhall.org/anders-kristiansson.html?ref=volleybrains.com) (Kristiansson)** gave me a chance to come check out Asian volleyball with him. So I did four years in Japan and now I'm in Korea. **The German league to the Japanese league, that is an uncommon jump, how did that come about?** The connection came like this. I was looking for a libero for my team in Finland and Anders was helping one of the Japanse libero's (Taichiro Koga)to get connected in Europe. In the end Taichiro came over to play for us for one season and the connection with Anders got made. **Here on volleybrains we have an interview coming up with [Joop Alberda](https://www.volleyhall.org/joop-alberda.html?ref=volleybrains.com), now head of the Dutch volleyball federation, but for sure even better known for winning Olympic gold in Atlanta 1996 with the Netherlands.** **When asked for his main 'mentors' in the early days he answered that both Doug Beal and Anders Kristiansson were big examples for him.** **The jump you made to Japan was that influenced a lot because you could work together with Anders?** Both were equally positive. It was a super win-win. Already years back, one of the things I wanted, was to work in Asia, I wanted to work in Japan. Plus Anders was there to teach me everything he learned over decades and decades of coaching volleyball. So it was a really fantastic combination. Every two, three weeks, we have a two or three-hour call. We always stay in touch. He became a really good friend for me. We have a great connection. And about Japan, you know, it was a great opportunity whatever way you look at it. My wife and me, we like to travel, we really liked the idea of going to a different country, getting to know a new culture. Also now in South Korea, that's what we like, these new adventures. **Asia is not Europe, of course, what jumps out the most while coaching over there?** Obviously communication is difficult. You work through a translator most of the times. It's really difficult to connect with people the same way like in Europe or in general if you have a common language. So that's a difficult part, **but it's also a nice challenge.** If I work in Europe, I would say that communication is one of my strong points. But working in Asia, it just basically becomes my weakness. That's a tough one. But things like the facilities, the whole setup for training playing volleyball. That is amazing. It's just unbelievable. It's like being in a volleyball heaven, basically. It's fantastic. How great all the gyms are and how everything works well. You can just focus on working. One big difference to European volleyball is that when you play home or away. It's exactly the same. There is no advantage in Asia, everybody is very polite. :-) If I would put everything on a paper, there are SO many positive things. My wife and me, we love it here. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/07/Ez9hbF8UUAATl55.jpeg) **Japanese volleyball can be considered 'company' volleyball, what are some of your insights there?** In my understanding there's three 'setups' of volleyball. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 15. Kelly Sheffield:'We're trying to max this thing out.' URL: https://volleybrains.com/kelly-sheffield/ Last updated: 2022-05-28T12:48:57.000Z In this article we feature [Kelly Sheffield](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelly%5FSheffield?ref=volleybrains.com), head coach for the women's volleyball team at the 'University of Wisconsin'. We covered a lot of ground in our videocall. There is a lot of great content in this article. Covering coaching concepts, what Kelly looks for in his players, continuous improvement, the use of data, etc, etc. For sure check out the YouTube clips that are available; they do a great job at putting an emphasis on what Kelly cares about. Consider this entire article (with the bonus material) as a masterclass on Kelly's and Wisconson's idea's and concepts. You're a champ if you go through this in one go. I urge you to come back to this article though...that will be the best way to further understand and maybe, hopefully implement it's content. To end this introduction: Wisconsin has been a serious contender for that national championship title. **Next season they will be once more.** Enter Kelly... **Kelly, why did you decide to commit to be a professional volleyball coach? What pushed you towards that decision?** I lucked into coaching, I coached at really young ages, 13, 14, 15, 16 year olds. I did some junior high and high school coaching. Did a lot of club coaching, age 16 and lower and I just did every camp I could. I did college camps all over the place, I'd be in the gym all the time, with my notepad and I would just write everything down of what the coaches were saying, where they positioned their players, the progressions and how they would organise the structure of their practice. For years I just couldn't get enough of it, I absolutely loved it, but never thought about having that as a career. It was just something I was passionate about. I was in that space probably for about seven years or so. And then finally, a collegian coach, I had been working her camps for a while, well she said: "You're pretty good at this. And you obviously love it. Have you ever thought about coaching in college'? I had never thought about that. And she said:" If I get you a job, what would you think?' > Well that was like telling a little kid: 'would you like to go play on The New York Yankees or Cincinnati Reds', I just thought that would be the coolest thing ever. So she helped me get my first job at 27 years old. I vividly remember the first time I walked into that practice gym. I just couldn't believe it. I never played volleyball in high school or college. And to walk in that gym and see the level of athletes and the level of coaching, that just blew me away. That's been my journey. I've been fortunate enough to be around a lot of elite coaches. > I've been curious along the way, not afraid to ask questions and now it's 30 years later and here I am in Wisconsin. This was never a grand plan. Every job that I've been at I just thought it was so cool that I would sit there and say: 'Man, I could be here for the rest of my life and be happy'. My first college job, I made $12,000, that's not a lot of money. I was living in Houston, Texas, and that doesn't go very far. But I remember thinking: 'I would pay $12,000 to have the job that I'm having.' The next job I was at the university of Virginia. There would be times that I would just be laying in bed, it would be one o'clock in the morning and I couldn't sleep...I was just thinking about volleyball. I would just get up and go the office. Still couldn't believe they gave me the keys to do this. And I just sat there and watched film on the old VHS tapes, all night long. To me it was like going to Disneyland. It was so much fun that I just felt like that at some point somebody would just walk into my office and say: 'All right, play time is over. It's time for you to go back home.' :-) So I've been really appreciative at every step step of the way. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/07/kelly2.jpeg) **What advice would you give yourself as a starting coach? An advice that is so clear and logic to you now, but that you had to develop over the years?** > When I look back as somebody that age; I didn't know what I didn't know. You think you're a good communicator, but then you look back and you find out that wasn't true.:-) The effort was there and I tried to do the right thing. But I probably wish I would've done things a little bit different in how I was communicating. > Communication is critical as is getting to know people. Get to know what motivates them. **Try to help them get to where they're wanting to go. It's all about that.** Early on I was probably talking to them, through...**what my goals were**. Rather than trying to understand what their goals were and trying to help them get to where they're wanting to go. Another advice is about learning. I was always a lifelong learner. And I think that's a really important thing. Curiosity. I think that's important for any young coach, well any coach, to ask a lot of questions, to be curious, to learn along the way. But personally, I think I've always had that in me, so probably for myself the best advice must have been to try to get to know our players better, where they're from, what their idea's about the game are, what their goals are. **Do you have a particular goal as a coach? Maybe a goal that you already reached or a goal that is so hard to reach that it gives you daily motivation?** There are lot's of things that we're still wanting here.:-) We're trying to max this thing out. I want to help our players max out their talent, max out their potential. It's really about them. How do we help them get to their dreams, their goals. So there's a certain responsibility on us as coaches to be able to help them do that. And that's why it's critical to continue to learn. How do we help them academically? How do we help them technically? How do we help them win by being better tacticians? How do we be better communicators? How do we help them mentally and emotionally, and give them the resources to be able to do that? But also how do we grow the sport? Get more fans in the stands. > We're wanting to be great at everything we do. And that's a driving force. We're going to have summer camps. And we want those to be the best experience that any of these young campers have had at a young age. So we also want to be great at that. So maxing out is really important. We're in the BIG10 conference, which is a pretty gnarly league and we want to continue to challenge and compete and hopefully win BIG10 titles. We won the last two. We feel like we're an elite program, but we haven't won a national championship yet. So that's something that we're wanting to do for our players, that drives us every day. But also for our fan base and our alumni we want to be one of those exclusive few teams. There's 330, 340 Division 1 teams and I think there's been 11, maybe 12 of them that have ever won a national championship. We're working hard to try to join that club as well. **According to you, what rule change is necessary in the future? And why would you want to see this new rule implemented?** Obviously when you're talking about the rules, there is a difference between the international rules and the rules that we have here in the States, at least on the women's side. Internationally, there's six substitutions. We have 15\. I would probably like to see something more in the middle of those numbers. In the States of course we are playing amateur volleyball. Participation is really important. So I think that's a big reason why there are so many subs, there are just so many kids that are playing the sport here in our country. And if you cut the number of subs down, then you're probably shrinking the team. And if you're shrinking the teams either there are some people that aren't participating or they're moving to a lower team and all of those have a bit lesser experienced coaches, which can be detrimental for the sport also. So there's probably a balance there that's happening. But yes, for the game it's better to have fewer subs than what we have right now. Especially with the juniors, there are some kids that just never learn how to pass a ball because they're not asked to. And then they get to college or they get in the international game and they don't have that skill set. And we all know that that's a very critical skill set. So I'd like to see that number, or at least over here in the States go down, maybe to 10 substitutions or something like that. I do like the fact that the libero serves over here. I know they can't overseas, but I like that element. But I'd also like to see some 'six rotation outside hitters' a little bit more than what we're seeing over here. :-) About 'calls', I think we're heading in the right direction of calling a lot less double contacts, for sure about what the setter can and can't do. The game at the net is another one, well there are some crazy calls when the ball is up above the net and probably too many of them are wrong. I would want to see that a little bit more open, get the officials out of that call a little bit more. Let's say if you don't dig the ball off the net or if you dig it off too far, then the setter maybe not have as good of a contact. Just let that go. > Getting the officials to stop blowing whistles in the middle of rallies that would be a positive thing. *Matias: 'I would like to see what would happen when we experiment with a game with no tips, just rolls and hits?' (like[ Vital Heynen also mentioned in his interview](https://volleybrains.com/vital-heynen/))* I'm glad you said that. I'm okay with the tipping. But I think the middle blockers that are throwing the ball, that one is really tough to defend. Especially on the quick sets, those throw downs, I'd probably rather get away with it. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/07/kelly8.jpeg) **Why not ask a silly question also, we had so many serious ones. :-) So, you are Dr. Frankenstein and have the ability to put together the world's most performing volleyball player. Which characteristics do need to stand out for you?** I'm not sure I'm going to come up with anything original on here or something that hasn't been said before. :-) > I think the longer I'm doing this, that a quality that seems to be jumping out at me more than maybe when I was younger is, the ability to learn, players that can learn quickly. That's probably not something, when I was recruiting early, where I spent a lot of time on. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 14. Marco Mencarelli:'Never stop improving yourself, your team and your work environment.' URL: https://volleybrains.com/marco-mencarelli/ Last updated: 2022-07-13T14:53:09.000Z In today's article we feature [Marco Mencarelli](https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marco%5FMencarelli?ref=volleybrains.com). Marco has an extensive experience coaching and developing the training programs of the Italian Female Youth teams, he has international experience with the Italian Seniors national team and until recently he was coaching in the Italian Serie A. From this spring Marco became **the Technical Director of the Italian female National youth teams and development teams** (he also covered this role from 2007-2013), which covers all the work needed to convert talented Italian players into athletes that are ready to compete on the international stage. In the article you'll understand how both experiences (seniors and talented youth) gave him particular insights on how to think about coaching and developing players in general. With most of the coaches we do videocalls, others prefer to write down their own responses. Marco gave very well written responses to me in Italian, I hope to have translated all of them correctly, it was a challenge :-). If you are an Italian speaker, you can contact me [here](https://volleybrains.com/contact/) if you would want to read the Italian written responses he gave. Ok, let's go! --- **Marco, why and how many years ago did you decide to commit to being a professional volleyball coach? What pushed you towards that decision?** I started coaching after studying at the Higher Institute of Physical Education. At the beginning I was mostly involved in Athletics. After a couple of years I switched to volleyball. I had been playing volleyball in my youth(low level). I had the idea of ​​becoming a professional in 1992 when I was called to join the staff of the Italian Junior Men's National Team together with [Angelo Lorenzetti](https://volleybrains.com/angelo-lorenzetti/), I remained a part of his staff until 1999\. This experience and opportunity convinced me to invest even more in my professional future as a coach. And truth be told that at that moment in Italy it was a very stimulating endeavour to become a volleyball coach. **What advice would you give yourself as a starting coach? An advice that is so clear and logic for you now, but that you had to develop over the years.** The advice I would give myself when reviewing my career can be summed up in "grasping the essence of people before skills": I consider this important both in the choice of players and in the members of my staff. However, at the beginning of my career I believed that skills were the main determinants: they are certainly important but they can be developed at any time. The personality, the character and the ability to stay balanced make the difference in succeeding in any competition and in developing your own skills. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/06/menca1.jpeg) **Do you have a particular goal as a coach? Maybe a goal that you already reached or a goal that is so hard to reach that it gives you daily motivation?** A goal that has always accompanied my projects as a coach is to develop the context where I go to work so that the environment I leave is, in some respects, better than the environment I found when I arrived. This objective can concern every detail of my work: it can concern the team, the individual players, the organization of the club that needed to be more focused on the team's goals, etc. **The future of volleyball, how will the game evolve according to your opinion? Or what are you hoping for that the game will look like in a couple of decades?** The game of volleyball, at this moment, is completing an evolution in a very evident direction: an increase in the speed of the actions and an increase in the speed of the rhythm with which the various situations follow one another. I don't think there will be a further increase in the speed of the actual plays in the future: I believe it will be more and more important to excel from a technical standpoint both timing wise and to be able to select or use the correct techniques; that combined with the use of many different kind of touches/hits, for sure as a spiker, will be essential to develop into a high performing player. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 13. Lauren Bertolacci:"You can’t beat teams better than you by playing it safe, you need to score points." URL: https://volleybrains.com/lauren-bertolacci/ Last updated: 2022-05-28T12:49:19.000Z In today's article we're featuring Lauren Bertolacci. Lauren is the head coach of Swiss powerhouse [NUC Volleyball ](http://www.nucvolleyball.ch/?ref=volleybrains.com)(Neuchatel), the current Swiss champion and she's an assistant coach with Team Canada currently competing in the VNL. Lauren is a former pro player, has coached both female and male pro teams and gained international experience with the Australian national team. With her answers Lauren touches on some very clear but often overlooked concepts of coaching the game of volleyball. Find them out for yourself in the article below. --- **Lauren, why and how many years ago did you decide to commit to being a professional volleyball coach? What pushed you towards that decision?** I was a fairly mediocre professional volleyball player who often disagreed with the ideas and styles of my coaches. I wasn’t outwardly critical but if something didn’t seem logical to me I would spend quite a bit of mental energy and time thinking about it. When I look back now, without really knowing it I was formulating a lot of ideas and opinions throughout my playing career. As with many things, luck and timing had a big influence on the start of my coaching career. You just need to be ready to take advantage of breaks that you get. When I arrived at my last club in 2013, I was approached to take a men's Head Coach position in a team that just moved up into the second division. It took me a while to say yes as I thought it would be difficult to focus on my playing career as well as coach a team, I had only coached in the junior ranks and I hadn’t taken much notice of men's volleyball. Thankfully it was the best move I ever made, coaching is far more enjoyable to me than playing, and it felt more natural. We immediately moved to the top of the second division and after two seasons in the second division we were promoted to League A. A chance for a female to Head Coach a men’s team in the top division in any league doesn’t come around often, so it was a no brainer for me to retire from playing. As a player I constantly felt angry, stressed and frustrated. > As a coach I am quite calm, curious and constantly learning. Some things are just meant to be. **What advice would you give to a starting coach? An advice that is so clear and logic for you now, but that you had to develop for yourself?** Never waiver from who you are and what your vision is as a coach. Work backwards from the big picture and constantly improve and innovate on how to get there. I developed a strong philosophy regarding the style of play I wanted and who I am as a coach. This has been refined as I grew and the process to get there continues to improve, but the big principles stay the same. > You can’t beat teams better than you by playing it safe, you need to score points. I worked backwards from there and realised my goal must be **to equip the players with an excellent toolbox in all aspects of the game,** an ability to understand when to use what, and make sure they are in the right mindset to take risks. We want to play a really aggressive, creative and risky style of game. It’s easy to feel embarrassed when you go for it and you fail spectacularly, but if you don’t do that you truly can’t take the next step. Don’t underestimate your actions, words and body language on a players mental state. If you want them to play an aggressive game, they must feel free to do it. Players can have all the tools available to them, but their mental state needs to be good enough to execute it. We play within a set of rules that are defined by the sport itself, but human nature dictates that we play with restrictions put on us as well. Those may be things the coach is telling us, the traditions of the game or what we learned growing up through the sport. I want to encourage players to think different, and as coaches we don’t want to limit our players. Many barriers we face are real, but some are just expectations. We want to teach the players how to take risks and how to get better at executing those plays. The second big thing is **creating relationships**. I jumped into Head Coaching without a lot of experience in the field, so people around me were very quickly my biggest resource. Those that you work with are immensely valuable and to succeed you must be able to get the most out of every individual, player or staff. Be vulnerable, it builds trust and enhances communication. > The moment you believe you know everything, is the moment you close yourself off from people that can help you become a better coach. Have a big picture, work backwards to get there, and continue to improve your processes. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/06/162166659_3698808443676649_6608129350600437449_n.jpg) **Do you have a particular goal as a coach? Maybe a goal that you already reached or a goal that is so hard to reach that it gives you daily motivation? Can be a personal or a team or club goal?** I aim to be as transparent as possible. I want to be honest and direct. I would like people to join a program I am in, grow their game and their mentality, take value from the environment provided and eventually move onto bigger and better things. If I am not honest and direct, I can’t provide that. In the traditional sense of a goal, for the moment I get to do great work at NUC. We compete for championships but at the same time we do a lot of work developing young local players, and it’s very satisfying work. Ultimately my girlfriend is from the USA and we would like to move back there eventually, so my future will hopefully be coaching some good volleyball in the NCAA. **The future of volleyball, how will the game evolve according to your opinion? Or what are you hoping for that the game will look like in a couple of decades?** The men's game overall is more innovative and creative. I believe women’s volleyball is often over coached, and the game lags behind the mens because of it. After coaching in both domains and playing for a long time on the women’s side, I believe that coaches in the women’s game are unknowingly putting restrictions on their players, and it’s holding the whole game back. I won’t delve too far into the reasons why but I believe it’s a combination of perceived characteristics of women and simple traditions of the game. Watch a men's game at a good level in the last 5 years and you will see direct balls, wipes, power tips, hybrid serves and a bunch of different and creative ways to play. **This has been there for a while.** It’s beginning to creep into the women’s side and the game is developing as it becomes more mainstream, but it takes time. Structure is important. If you don’t have simple systems then it’s difficult to perform as a unit, but those systems cannot be restrictive, our coaching shouldn’t limit the players and we must encourage creative solutions! In the future I hope to see (and drive) this progression on the women’s side. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/06/162415775_1646778392175902_1044320561870535035_n.jpg) **According to you, what rule change is necessary in the future? And why would you want to see this new rule implemented?** I don’t get overly involved in these discussions, I tend to focus on how we can push the boundaries and work within the rules that already exist. Similar to my answer to the last question, men and women are typically coached differently, I think they are judged differently as well. At least in the mid level leagues, ball handling errors on the set are quicker to be called in women’s, throws and carries on random plays or attacks are called more frequently. I think the game should be judged the same. I’m not here to debate the rules just to make sure they are enforced the same over both genders. Otherwise it halts the creativity and innovation of one half of the volleyball population. **Why not ask a silly question also, we had so many serious ones. :-) So, you are Dr. Frankenstein and have the ability to put together the world's most performing volleyball player. Which at least 5 characteristics would he/she have.** Resiliency. Creativity. Ability to read the game. High Risk. Vulnerable. **When preparing a new game (next weekend), how does your general approach look like and did you ever change your approach? And if you did, why did you change and was the outcome beneficial?** I change little things all the time, I’m constantly learning and I like to experiment with things. However one concept doesn’t change (remember overall guiding values are very important to me), you must keep it simple. As a player I was on teams where we were given 10 pages of scouting notes, had to memorise them and got tested on it. I was a bit older and more experienced and sat there crossing out all the things totally irrelevant to me helping my team succeed, but I watched everyone around me get paralysed in game situations. What we present to the players should be simple and actionable, should follow what our basic systems are and what we teach, rather than changing what you do based on apparent tendencies. As a coach I like to watch a couple recent full games, I have a few spreadsheets of data that I like to sift through and we have set videos that we create to show to the players. We do very short small group video (passers, setters, middles), which is mostly player led and guided by us. We will do a team video of around 30 minutes where we will show the hitters main tendencies and some heat maps. My staff have their own parts, one assistant prepares and presents the individual block defence portion, another is working with the middles, and I run the setter portion. Throughout the week I may add some concepts into the practise that could help without really specifying that we are doing it to prepare for a particular game or player. Those don’t usually differ from what we normally do, simply a little refresh of something we may not touch on frequently with a large focus. For example, if we are facing a spin serve (which isn’t super common) we won’t go into the game without receiving some. We often play teams which do a very specific block system against us to double block two of our players, so those players will see more set up doubles rather than just facing our normal system. Something I try to remember: We are more aware of what we focus on in practise. If the focus needs to be on a particular thing for that game (or simply to get better in the long run), then we probably need to practise it. > Things that we don’t practise as much get less mental focus from the players, and consequently will probably get worse. Seems obvious, but I have often been frustrated when something wasn’t going well, checked back on my practise plans and realised it had been of lower importance to us… and it showed. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/06/162413687_465694324581305_6894924193769846996_n.jpg) **How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success? Do you have a “favorite failure” of yours?** Small and large failures are inevitable, they are a part of the game as much as small and large successes. The bigger the failure the bigger the lesson. This year we played the Super Cup, the first final we have lost since I have been at NUC, and we lost in spectacular fashion. To say that there were a lot of lessons we took from that game is an understatement. We had to confront the fact that we weren’t ready in terms of our style of play and values in a big game, but ultimately, if you are resilient and can self reflect, these moments can shape what happens going forward. If you are at the point of confronting big failures then you are also at the point of realising big wins. You cannot have one without the other. Resiliency is an absolute necessity, and pushes those failures to lead to growth. **If you can make the strongest 'starting six' in the world, right now. What would your team look like? Why did you choose these players? Female or Male depending on your expertise.** I have a mix of male and females here: Kubiak (Poland) Outside Hitter, his creativity and solutions are the best in the world. Zhu Ting (China) Outside Hitter, her physical ability, control and all round game is unmatched. Bozkovic (Serbia) Opposite, she is an absolute powerhouse with a huge serve. Wolosz (Poland) Setter, her speed and accuracy is best in the world. Ogawa (Japan) Libero, he covers so much space in reception and his setting is creative and precise. De Kruijf (Netherlands) Middle, she is an excellent slide hitter and very strong blocker. Simon (Cuba) Middle, he’s so physically dominant and runs a lot of creative plays. **Do you have a book that you like a lot? Which lessons did you get out of it?** Chop Wood Carry Water by Joshua Medcalf: An excellent fable about mindset. An easy read and something I pass around to every player, regardless of their level or experience. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni: Another book with leadership lessons. Great examples from the business world, really resonated with me in terms of running a staff and team. **What is one of the best or most worthwhile investments you’ve ever made?** As I am sure many others will say, the people around you are your biggest resource, there are so many great coaches out there with different training styles and philosophies and I believe you can always take something positive from these different ideas. I try to be in as many gyms as possible asking as many questions as possible, it feels time consuming, but in the end it’s the best way to help develop your own ideas. During the first COVID lockdown I spent a lot of time on zoom calls with different coaches I hadn’t met before and it was another good reminder on how valuable simple conversations with our colleagues can be. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/06/162574237_1100602803772516_8007001800799092689_n.jpg) **What advice would you give to a smart, driven young coach about to enter the “professional coaching world”?** You don’t know what you don’t know, so stay curious. You can’t succeed without the people around you. Your players, staff, board, volunteers all play a vital role. Spend time on those people, create relationships and understand how to get the most out of those that work with you. > Don’t overrate the importance of being a good strategic coach, and under appreciate the effect of your own behaviour on players. These effects impact performance on a team and individual level. **A follow up to the last question. Maybe even more important, what advice should they ignore? What are bad recommendations you hear about coaching or training volleyball?** I find this hard to answer, because I believe we can take value from all different opinions and philosophies, we just have to make sure it fits into who we are as a coach. However if I can say something that I encounter often enough that it still concerns me is the mentality of “more is better”. From a coaches perspective, will that one extra training before the game really help you win? I believe there are times that you need to trust your overall coaching and preparation and know that that is enough, rather than over stressing or overloading the players. From a players perspective, you need to make the reps count. Reps for reps sake will not always be helpful. They need to be mindful, intentional and worthwhile. At the same time, rest and recovery is of equal importance. You can’t perform at your best if you aren’t fresh, more isn’t always better. **If you could have a gigantic billboard anywhere with anything on it — metaphorically speaking, getting a message out to every athlete or coach on the globe — what would it say and why?** On the top of our whiteboard everyday is 'Dream Big'. When I arrived we were a team that was constantly finishing 4th or 5th, but had the capacity to compete with the top. If you don’t aim for the top it’s hard to reach your potential, so we are going to give everything to win everything. It sounds obvious but we need to have constant belief in our teams standards and values and pursue them relentlessly. If we fail, we just get back up and do it again, it’s sport and life, you have to be able to confront failure and use it constructively. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/06/163281302_1363250114056152_698523431844650629_n.jpg) **I**n the last five years, what new belief, behaviour, or habit has most improved your life?** My dog! I am quite sure most coaches will say the same, but this is an all consuming job. It is hard to turn your brain off when you aren’t in practise or the office. Most coaches I know are people who immerse themselves in the game. If I wasn’t forced to do something else I can sit and watch volleyball all day, take notes and come up with new ideas. My girlfriend moved to Switzerland last year, and brought her dog with her. Simply having to get outside everyday and make sure she gets exercise has really helped me take time away from the screen, the game and keeps my mind rested. ****When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, or have lost your focus temporarily, what do you do? (If helpful: What questions do you ask yourself?)** I come back to my values and vision. I usually need to check in with “the big picture”. Most of the time this check in shows me that I am on the right track and it just pushes me to continue trusting the process. If stress is causing me to forget our style of play, or I am acting in a way that isn’t true to myself and how I want to coach then it’s just a quick little reminder of what is important! --- Thank you, Lauren. *Readers, for sure go and check out some of that VNL action,[ the streams](https://www.volleyballworld.tv/?ref=volleybrains.com) are pretty sick, of very high quality. Don't miss out on having the exclusive chance to have a listen in at what goes on during time-outs and in between sets.* *You can check out Team Canada with Lauren and [Shannon](https://volleybrains.com/shannon-winzer/). Check out Poland with [Vital](https://volleybrains.com/vital-heynen/), Turkey with [Giovanni](https://volleybrains.com/giovanni-guidetti/) and Team USA's [Luka Slabe](https://volleybrains.com/luka-slabe/).* *And you can enjoy [Mark's](https://volleybrains.com/mark-lebedew/) expert commentary during the games. 👍* *Enough with the 'volleybrains.com - VNL' name dropping. More is coming in the next weeks. Enjoy.* *Matias* ### 12. Emanuele Zanini:'Every day is an opportunity to write on a new blank page' URL: https://volleybrains.com/emanuele-zanini/ Last updated: 2022-05-28T12:49:31.000Z In this article we feature Italian coach Emanuele Zanini. [Emanuele](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emanuele%5FZanini?ref=volleybrains.com)'s career as a head coach in the Italian Serie A1 started in the year of 2000, coming fresh of an Olympic Bronze medal at the Olympic games of Sydney as the assistant coach of the Italian national men's team. Over the last 20 years he coached on various Italian teams and all over Europe. Congratulations are in place btw, because he just got qualified for the European Championships of 2021 in his current job as head coach of the Croatian national men's team. Thanks Emanuele for wanting to do the interview in English so we are able to share more video content(as requested by many readers) *There are over 2000 words on this page and 5 video clips for a total of 37 minutes. I tried to keep the clips 'bite-sized' but to go over everything that's here, you'll need more than one go.* Enjoy. --- **Why and when did you decide to become a pro coach?** In this first clip below Emanuele talks about how he started out as a physical trainer to later develop into a head coach. All this by an accidental meet-up with [Andrea Anastasi](https://volleybrains.com/andrea-anastasi/). He goes over their early successes together. First World League Gold in Argentina in 1999, European Championships Gold in 1999 and Olympic Bronze in 2000\. **What advice would you give yourself as a starting coach? An advice that is so clear and logic for you now, but that you had to develop over the years.** _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 11. Giovanni Guidetti: 'Listening is more important than talking' URL: https://volleybrains.com/giovanni-guidetti/ Last updated: 2022-05-28T12:49:41.000Z Hi kind readers, in today's article we feature Giovanni Guidetti. Giovanni is for his 12th year the head coach of Turkish powerhouse Vakifbank. We had a nice videotalk last March which laid the ground for this article. I won't go over Giovanni's CV, it is long and full of emotions AND the highest level of volleyball that is played on this globe. (You can wiki it yourself;-)) In our call we covered many interesting topics about how he sees the position of the coach in a club team, what leadership really means, where his love for volleyball comes from, the real difference between current male and female volleyball...and much much more. There is a lot information in here. I mashed 2 video's together, there are some written word answers also. Take your time, listen to everything when you can and if you want...there is a lot of usable advice in here for any coach! And as always you can give feedback over [here](https://volleybrains.com/contact/). 👍 The first clip is about rule change proposals and male vs female volleyball. Down below we have a 23 minute long video where we talk about his own growth as a coach, the biggest leadership key, how to manage a team, ...etc Plus a written Q&A about Giovanni's volleyball roots. Yes, from here on the article is 'locked' to new visitors, but simply putting in your email address will unlock everything and will get every new article to your mailbox. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 10. Roberto Santilli:'Inspire the individual and allow them to be the best that they can be.' URL: https://volleybrains.com/roberto-santilli/ Last updated: 2022-05-28T12:49:51.000Z Today we feature Roberto Santilli. Roberto just won the 2020-2021 South-Korean KOVO V-League with the team of Incheon Korean Air Jumbos. Congrats! But Roberto's experiences go much further than this recent victory. He has coached for over 2 decades in Italy, Poland, Russia and was coach of the Australian National mens program. He for sure has a very rich coaching experience. Enjoy his answers to our questions. --- **Roberto, why and how many years ago did you decide to commit to being a professional volleyball coach? What pushed you towards that decision?** It was 1978\. I was 13 years old and in my hometown, Rome, I went to see the world volleyball championship final, Italy v Russia. There were 15,000 spectators in the stadium and I couldn’t conceive all the types of emotions I felt. This experience really had a deep impact on me and I fell in love with the sport. I’ve spent the rest of my life chasing my love all around the world. Choices in life are made because of the models we find in our life and I had a real role model in my father, even though he didn’t coach, he always enjoyed gathering the children of our family and instructed them how to play sports, get better at kicking a soccer ball, ... He really instilled that coaching passion in me. **What advice would you give yourself as a starting coach? An advice that is so clear and logical for you now, but that you had to develop over the years.** When I was young I was thinking to organise the people around me, my way, but overtime I have realised the job of the coach is to understand the individuals that make up the team and inspire and allow them to be the best that they can be. **Do you have a particular goal as a coach? Maybe a goal that you already reached or a goal that is so hard to reach that it gives you daily motivation?(and some healthy stress :-))** The goal is usually aligned to the club, the place where you coach, but my personal goal is to always enjoy doing my job. It’s important to me to have a happy life. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/04/roberto3-copy.jpg) **The future of volleyball, how will the game evolve according to your opinion?** In the last few years the game has become very physical and I think we lost a part of the technical skill that really make a difference at the highest level. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### 9. Mark Lebedew:'Focus on the single thing that will do the most to help your team win.' URL: https://volleybrains.com/mark-lebedew/ Last updated: 2022-05-28T12:50:01.000Z Hi everyone! In this article I'm happy to feature Mark Lebedew. Mark is the former head coach of the Australian men's national team. He has coached at many high level European teams and is for sure a mindful coach when it comes to all aspects of our game. You'll learn that in this article but even more when you check out his [own blog](https://marklebedew.com/?ref=volleybrains.com). Enjoy! --- **Mark, why and how many years ago did you decide to commit to being a professional volleyball coach? What pushed you towards that decision?** I decided to be a coach when I was 21\. I really loved volleyball and couldn’t imagine doing anything else with my life. I tried studying at university but was just not interested. I was not a great player, I didn’t want to be an administrator so the only choice left was to be a coach. If I knew now what I knew then, I don’t know if I would have made the same decision. *Matias here: ok, an open ended answer, makes the readers excited haha ...we'll get back on this, maybe during a video call?!* **What advice would you give yourself as a starting coach?** > Trust yourself, and you don’t have to shout. **Do you have a particular goal as a coach? Maybe a goal that you already reached or a goal that is so hard to reach that it gives you daily motivation?(and some healthy stress :-)) Can be personal on a team or club level, or all of those.** My only goal from the beginning was to be the best coach I could be. To do that I have to understand the game how it really is, not how we imagine it to. That is the background of everything I have done. I haven’t reached my goal yet, because I never can. It is incredibly frustrating to keep moving and the end point is never closer, but that is the way it works. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/04/mark2.jpeg) **The future of volleyball, how will the game evolve according to your opinion? Or what are you hoping for that the game will look like in a couple of decades? Will the speed of the game increase? Will the game become more technical?** _This post is for subscribers only._ ### 8. Shannon Winzer: 'Don’t fear failure, fear regret. ' URL: https://volleybrains.com/shannon-winzer/ Last updated: 2022-05-28T12:50:12.000Z Hi readers! In this article we're featuring Shannon Winzer. Shannon is the Head Coach of the Canadian Women's National team. She's a former player that developed herself into a world class coach. A lot of great advice to be picked up in the article below. Enjoy! --- **Shannon, why and how many years ago did you decide to commit to being a professional volleyball coach? What pushed you towards that decision?** I always knew I’d coach at some level and was coaching a bit of club while I was still playing but I hadn’t seriously considered doing it full time as a profession. Even when I finished playing and started coaching in the Australian National League (AVL) I worked full-time in community development while coaching part-time. We didn’t have a professional league in Australia and I already had two young children (soon to have a third) and at the time I didn’t think that raising a young family suited full-time coaching. I didn’t think it was possible because I didn’t see many women doing it. But then there was an opportunity to assistant coach with the Australian National team and my eyes were opened to high performance coaching. > There was so much I didn’t know about the profession and I started to feel the same drive that I felt as a player; to get better and to know more. In 2016 I became Head Coach of Team Australia and moved up to the Australia Institute of Sport to set up their women’s full-time training program while also coaching the national team. I liked the challenges; I have been told a lot of times that we can’t do something or why it is too difficult to do. For me, that challenge has been a driving force throughout my career and it continues to push me in my work with Team Canada. **What advice would you give yourself as a starting coach? An advice that is so clear and logic for you now, but that you had to develop over the years.** I would tell myself that it’s okay to not have all the answers right now. That I will find the freedom to coach true to myself as soon as I accept that I will forever be learning and challenging my current way of thinking and doing things. I will make mistakes, a lot of them actually, but those mistakes in the end will make me a better coach. So sit with those mistakes long enough to learn from them. Then let it go. > This process will not be easy, it is extremely important to surround yourself with good people who have good intentions and want to be a part of that process. Get rid of those who don’t serve the program and team. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/03/149446241_2875697782665625_8931064419111209819_n.jpg) **Do you have a particular goal as a coach? Maybe a goal that you already reached or a goal that is so hard to reach that it gives you daily motivation?(and some healthy stress :-))** To coach Canada at an Olympic Games and see our athletes stand on the podium while hearing our national anthem play, that is the ultimate goal! But in the process, I want to be able to look back on my coaching career and know that I had a positive impact on the athletes and coaches I work with. It’s the connection to people that I value the most and I hope that part is what is remembered. **The future of volleyball, how will the game evolve according to your opinion?** I think the game will keep getting faster and we are only now scratching the surface with how physical women can play. Speed and physicality will keep getting better with time and there will be more and more women and teams who can play an aggressive multi-zone offence high above the net. **According to you, what rule change is necessary in the future? And why would you want to see this new rule implemented?** _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 7. Jan De Brandt: 'There is no elevator to success, there are only stairs.' URL: https://volleybrains.com/jan-de-brandt/ Last updated: 2022-05-28T12:50:22.000Z Hi, this week on volleybrains we're featuring Jan De Brandt. Jan coached all over Europe: Belgium, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Turkey, Italy, Hungary. He's a coach who has an infectious enthusiasm for the game and he gave some interesting answers to our questions. Read all about it below. Enjoy. (there is a form at the end of this page, check it out if you would like to give some feedback) **Jan, why and how many years ago did you decide to commit to being a professional volleyball coach? What pushed you towards that decision?** When I was 36 years old after my second year as a coach for volleyball club Zonhoven (a mens team in Belgium), I took the decision to become a full-time coach and leave my other half-time job as a physical education teacher in a school in Ternat(Belgium). My father called it a crazy decision. But I was convinced and determined not to go back to school! I made the choice because in my head there was only volleyball. Not that I didn't like to teach P.E. but training and coaching professional volleyball players was so much more fun and I felt that that was what I wanted to do. Trying to make a job out of my passion. Afterwards it seemed to be the right choice. Till now (I'm 61 years old) I never regretted my decision and I am happy to say that I've coached volleyball all over the world. ****What advice would you give yourself as a starting coach? An advice that is so clear and logic for you now, but that you had to develop over the years.** Follow your own road, believe in yourself, believe in your ideas! Open your eyes and listen to your players and to more experienced coaches. > Learn every day! ****Do you have a particular goal as a coach?** My biggest goal was always to make every play better, to create a 'real' team ( together everyone achieves more) and to play an attractive volleyball that is nice to watch. Volleyball for me should be fun and emotional , showing an incredible passion and drive. > Every chance you have to play or coach, give it the best you have. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/03/94253059_10158272734474798_1758546291735920640_o_10158272734464798.JPG) ****According to you, which rule changescould benefit our game in the future?** _This post is for subscribers only._ ### 6. Luka Slabe:' We make sure we do a good job on our side of the net, before we worry about the opponent.' URL: https://volleybrains.com/luka-slabe/ Last updated: 2022-05-28T12:50:31.000Z Hi readers, this week we have Team USA Women's Assistant coach and NC State Head Coach [Luka Slabe](https://usavolleyball.org/coach/luka-slabe/?ref=volleybrains.com) on volleybrains.com. Luka has coached many different levels and teams. Slovenian Champions League teams (I met Luka in 2012 while he coached ACH Volley Ljubljana), the Slovenian Men's national team, assistant coach of the BYU Men's program... Many different experiences that he didn't let go to waste. Enjoy his answers below. (and check the clip at the end of the article) --- **Luka, why and how many years ago did you decide to commit to being a professional volleyball coach? What pushed you towards that decision?** I was very fortunate to play for some outstanding coaches at Brigham Young University (USA) in my college career. Carl McGown, Hugh McCutcheon, and Troy Tanner all Olympic gold medalists. It became like an addiction to observe these coaches, how they have approached the game, taught, and analyzed the game. Their unconditional love for the game and sharing their passion with people surrounding them, players, and peers are the most intriguing things. Once I got infected, I realized I also could impact and help volleyball players get the best out of themselves. **What advice would you give yourself as a starting coach? An advice that is so clear and logic for you now, but that you had to develop over the years.** Take a deep breath before you speak. Surround yourself with loyal people and people who are smarter than you are. Never go to bed with a pain in your stomach. **Do you have a particular goal as a coach? Maybe a goal that you already reached or a goal that is so hard to reach that it gives you daily motivation?(and some healthy stress :-))** Calling my job a passion is the biggest achievement of all. Not even one day in the last 25 or so years that I have spent playing volleyball or coaching volleyball has felt like a workday. Every day is a big challenge though, and getting just a little bit better every day is a winning hand for me. Maintaining the urge to keep learning is essential to me. These are the reasons that keep me at peace, keeps my sleep at ease, and keeps my body healthy. > Winning a gold Olympic medal in Tokyo would be a testimony to a successful path I have chosen to follow with my family and all ebbs and flows we have endured together so far. More to come! ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/03/image1.jpeg) **The future of volleyball, how will the game evolve according to your opinion? Or what are you hoping for that the game will look like in a couple of decades?** _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 5. Andrea Anastasi:'A coach must follow his own path, make up his own plan.' URL: https://volleybrains.com/andrea-anastasi/ Last updated: 2022-05-28T12:50:41.000Z Andrea started to coach in Brescia in 1994, other Italian clubs, the Italian National Team, the Spanish National Team, Italy again, Polish clubs, Belgium...now we are 26 years later and Andrea coaches the team of Verva Warszawa in Poland. At lot to look back at. A lot of lessons for any coach in his answers. Enjoy. **Andrea, why and how many years ago did you decide to commit to being a professional volleyball coach? What pushed you towards that decision?** I was studying physical education in Bologna. And already while studying I decided I wanted to become a volleyball coach. For sure I enjoyed being a player for many years. But with volleyball not being that professional in the 80’s and the early 90’s, I thought I had the biggest chance of 'living my sport’ if I would become a coach. > During my playing years I already started to think like a coach. I was playing as an outside hitter while being 1 meter 83 tall, I don’t have to explain to you that that wasn’t an easy job.:-) When I became 30 years old I figured out it was time to transition into becoming a coach. For me it really felt like a natural thing to do. I really wanted to test and show my concepts. I was very motivated to show that I was capable of doing that. Being a young coach has many advantages. Younger coaches have amazing energy and that is something that I like to ‘use’ even today. I, myself, really get energised from working with young coaches that are very motivated to learn and break out. **What advice would you give yourself as a starting coach? An advice that is so clear and logic for you now, but that you had to develop over the years.** To do the same as I did in that period. :-) No, what I did was develop ideas about the game, taking notes of every practice that I was in. When I was playing in Modena (1980-1983) those notes were mostly coming from Gian Paolo Guidetti’s practices (Giovanni Guidetti’s uncle). > Also while playing with the national team(1981-1991), under Julio Velasco, I was doing everything to absorb information, I must have been very annoying to him.(laughing) Taking notes, asking questions, I really wanted to start out my coaching career with the advice from the best coaches around. The continuous development of yourself as a coach is so important. You must be able to grow your own skills before you’re capable of ‘growing’ or improving players. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/02/-velll.jpg) Andrea with Julio Velasco **The future of volleyball, how will the game evolve according to your opinion? What kind of improvements can be made?** _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 4. Liam Sketcher: 'You can’t “fix” players, but you can help them improve.' URL: https://volleybrains.com/liam-sketcher/ Last updated: 2026-05-16T05:46:42.000Z Liam Sketcher has been part of the Australian Men's Senior National Team since 2017\. On a club level he's currently coaching in Switzerland with one of the top teams over there, [Volley Schönenwerd](https://www.volleyschoenenwerd.ch/?ref=volleybrains.com). Volley|Brains is really focused on delivering articles of coaches with a clear opinion about player development but also about their own. Liam's point of views fit in perfectly. I hope you pick something up. **Liam, when did you decide to commit to being a professional volleyball coach? What pushed you towards that decision?** There was never a concrete plan to become a professional coach, it kind of snuck up on me. I loved coaching, so if someone would ask me about a good coaching opportunity I would usually say yes and figure out how to make my life fit around it later. I kept making more and more time for it in my life until it made sense that it became more than a hobby. I was offered an opportunity to leave my hometown and move to the national training center in Australia, so that was probably the tipping point. > That experience of being able to work every day with the same group was what confirmed that the development of athletes was where my heart was. In Australia there are very limited options to work full time as a coach, and once I reached a point where I was as full time as I could be in Australia to find more opportunities meant I had to leave and come to Europe. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/02/PHOTO-2020-12-08-16-47-00-1.jpg) **Do you have a particular goal as a coach? Maybe a goal that you already reached or a goal that is so hard to reach that it gives you daily motivation?** _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 3. Angelo Lorenzetti: 'Study the game because it never stops teaching you something new.' URL: https://volleybrains.com/angelo-lorenzetti/ Last updated: 2022-06-14T07:38:21.000Z Hi Volleybrains readers, My first memories of following Italian Serie A1 volleyball are the finals of the 2001-2002 season. Daytona Modena versus Sisley Treviso, one of the truly classic battles. That finals race was won by Modena in 4 games. At Modena were playing legendary players like Andrea Giani, Lloy Ball, Roman Jakovlev and Luca Cantagalli. Treviso had Bas Van De Goor, Lorenzo Bernardi, Samuele Papi, Alessandro Fei and Alberto Cisolla. Modena's coach at that time was [Angelo Lorenzetti](https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angelo%5FLorenzetti?ref=volleybrains.com). Angelo is the current coach of Trentino Volley and he was very willing to answer our Volleybrains questions. You can find his answers below. Enjoy. **Why and how many years ago did you decide to commit to being a professional volleyball coach? What pushed you towards that decision.** I was coaching in my hometown. These players were trained by me from a very young age. Eventually together we reached the second national series, the ‘serie A2’ While I was coaching them, I was also working in a bank. The idea to become a professional volleyball coach had never crossed my mind. One day, while I was working in the office, Julio Velasco called me. He asked me if I was willing to bet on myself. I could start out working for the youth national teams of the Italian Volleyball Federation. But I had to quit my job because both jobs weren’t compatible. I thought about it for an entire day and I decided to change my life. Sports has always been my passion. A passion that my father passed on to me. Every weekend we would go to any sports competition that took place in our city. **What advice would you give yourself as a starting coach? An advice that is so clear and logic for you now, but that you had to develop over the years.** > Dear Angelo, remember that the players are the main actors of the show. You are at their service. You have to help them to bring out the best in themselves. **Do you have a particular goal as a coach? Maybe a goal that you already reached or a goal that is so hard to reach that it gives you daily motivation?(and some healthy stress :-)) Can be personal on a team or club level, or all of those.** My goal as a coach is to be a happy coach. I am a happy coach when: The relationships I have with my players are optimal. I see and feel that we all got on the same train to reach the same destination When, I understand that gym work makes sense. That the work and effort we are putting in every day helps the team to improve. And of course, I'm a happy coach when we win! ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/02/Lorenzetti-e-Giannelli--1-.jpg) **The future of volleyball, how will the game evolve according to your opinion? Or what are you hoping for that the game will look like in a couple of decades? Will the speed of the game increase? Will the game become more technical?** _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 2. John Cook: 'Be A Lifelong Learner' URL: https://volleybrains.com/john-cook/ Last updated: 2022-06-17T13:07:51.000Z During the Christmas holidays I had the pleasure to get on a video call with coach Cook. **[John Cook](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John%5FCook%5F%28coach%29?ref=volleybrains.com)** is the head coach of the Nebraska Huskers volleyball program. Under John's guidance the Huskers went on to grab 4 National Championships. This current season is his 21st straight season at Nebraska. I hope you enjoy his answers below, there is something in there for everybody. **Why did you decide to commit to become a professional volleyball coach? What pushed you towards that decision?** So for me, I grew up in California, Southern California, I did not play volleyball. I was actually becoming a teacher, and was coaching high school football(American Football). Back then you had to first become a substitute teacher to get into a school, or a school district to even be eligible to get a full time schedule as a teacher. I was a substitute for three years just trying to get in. Finally a school hired me. But there was one caveat. In the 80's, women's sports were just starting to take off so they were looking for people to coach women's sports. > Let me be clear. I did not want to coach women's sports. (laughs) The school told me: ‘you're going to coach women's volleyball, women's basketball and women's track’. I didn't know any rules about volleyball at that time. But I took the job to get a contract, while thinking the whole time as soon as I could, I would get back into coaching football. I do believe that fortunately sometimes the stars just line up. All this happened in San Diego, California, and at that time the USA teams were based close by. And the top club program in the country for boys and girls was also nearby, just 90 minutes North of San Diego. It was a club called [Orange County](http://www.ocvbc.com/about.html?ref=volleybrains.com) ran by Charlie Brande. I started to go up there and watched him practice. I would also go to the USA practices with Doug Beal, Bill Neville and Terry Liskevych. That’s what I meant with the stars lining up. It was a great learning environment for me to be in and start coaching volleyball. My initial coaching style? Well, I just coached those young ladies like football players. Which was very tough. I really wanted to teach them how to compete, this was all new to them. I can tell you there was a lot of crying, a lot of emotion. We just trained fundamentals and we trained really hard. I did beach runs with them, really tough six mile beach runs, just trying to toughen them up. And all of a sudden, we're winning. (laughs) Both the focus on the fundamentals and the mental fortitude really gave us an edge over any other team in the San Diego area. And that's how my career took off. For sure I’ve had to make a lot of adjustments over time to develop my current opinions and ideas about training and coaching volleyball. > The focus on the fundamentals of course has stayed. I really made a series of steps from high school to college to USA Men in the Olympics, back into Division One college volleyball. And of course, I'm in Nebraska now, this will be my 21st year coming up. **That period in time, your location and the focus on the toughness, that screams ‘Arie Selinger’ to me.** [Arie’s book](https://www.amazon.com/Arie-Selingers-Power-Volleyball-Selinger/dp/0312049161/ref=sr%5F1%5F1?dchild=1&keywords=arie+selinger&qid=1611749374&sr=8-1&ref=volleybrains.com) was the first volleyball book that I read. It had a lot of science in it (for that time) a lot of analytics and studies of arms swings et cetera. It was very interesting. I remember going to a clinic that Arie did with the USA women's team. I remember seeing these women move, how they went to the floor, the tempo they played. Of course they were a great team (winning the Silver medal in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles) but I was still really blown away by what these players could do. So that pushed my expectations even higher. I really had high expectations for my own team. So again, I was in a hotbed for volleyball as a developing volleyball coach. You can for sure say that I was very lucky. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/01/cookge.jpg) **What advice would you give yourself as a starting coach? An advice that is so clear and logical for you now, but that you had to develop over the years. (Can be about anything)** To be a lifelong learner. I just signed up for an online course platform about sport psychology, I just ordered two new books. One about how to understand and coach our current generation of players and then another book about mental performance. I'm constantly studying, reading, learning, you just have to as a coach. That would be my advice, to be a lifelong learner. And the story I always tell is that during my first year at Nebraska(in 2001), we went undefeated and won a national championship. So I thought, okay, I got this figured out, this is pretty easy. > I can tell you now, 20 years later, there's days I go into that gym, and I'm like, I'm not sure about this, is this the right thing? Or, am I saying the right thing? Are we training the right way? So really, never stop learning, that is key. It doesn't matter exactly what it is, but keep on doing it. And there's so many ways to learn now, books, courses over Zoom, other webcasts, you name it. I signed up for the AVCA webcast. I've listened to Luka (Slabe - *Luka's interview is coming up in a few weeks*), I listened to Hugh (McCutcheon). My entire staff is doing this also. Maybe there are a couple things we pick up that's going to help make us better. That’s why we need to do it. We need to do it for ourselves, but most of all for our team. **Do you have a particular goal as a coach? Maybe a goal that you already reached or a goal that is so hard to reach that it gives you daily motivation?** I have several goals. For my team, I want to ‘max out’. I really want to have the whole team performance be better than the sum of all parts. > Looking back, my greatest performing teams did not win a national championship, but they ‘maxed out’ to their full potential. And that's when I get the most satisfaction out of coaching. My second goal is to be a better version of myself every year. That's making sure I'm working out, that I'm learning, that I'm working on my mindset. Really trying to be the best version of myself to lead our program. Another goal is to make sure that at the end of the year, we don't have any regrets. Did we do everything possible to be the best we could be? As a head coach, I'm looking over the entire program, is there something I wish we would have done better or I wish I'd said something sooner. I’m responsible for turning every possible stone over to be the best we can be. And then I think the other goal is what I've learned in the last, I'd say 10 years, is **figuring out how to build relationships with our players.** I think that is very, very important, and again, I came from a coaching background where it didn't matter whether you cared about your players, you talked to them or not. > With this generation of players we are coaching, if I'm going to push them to the limit, and ask them to try to go to another level, there has to be a level of trust there and some kind of relationship. And this also goes for our staff. The coaches, our director of Ops, and our grad managers, everybody that is part of our program. I really want to be building those relationships. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/01/VB_vs_Penn_State_IT0844_2.jpg) **I’m sure you’ll have some sort of feedback mechanism that you use. Could you elaborate on that?** Well, there's two things. One: every day, after practice, we debrief as a staff. We come together, we talk about everything, and everybody has a voice. In my early years of coaching, I used to do it all by myself. Now I really rely on my staff, and I've got great assistant coaches. The coaches that have come through here are mostly not here for a very long time as they're getting hired to be head coaches or get other interesting offers, to me that is a sign that we do a good job getting them to that level. I really trust my staff, I listen to them, we discuss all sorts of things. We really enjoy those moments and sometimes it'll go on and on, we'll sit here for two hours. Two: the ‘eye test’. As I’ve gotten more experience, I watch how our team plays and how they interact. I need to know where this team is, are they playing well together, **are they playing with each other or for each other**. You can't measure that. And it's not always measured in wins and losses. But it's a feel of how the team plays. **I know your home games have been sold out since 2001, a long stretch like that must for sure mean that the crowd really enjoys the volleyball that Nebraska brings.** It’s for sure something we talk about with our players. We have a responsibility to inspire the people that pay money to come in here. It's expensive to get a ticket. And right now there are over 1000 people on the waiting list to buy a season ticket. We really tell the players that the crowd wants to see you play inspired and play as a team. The crowd is good with winning and losing as long as they feel that the team went all out. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/01/52fa7e488c7c0.image-1.jpg) **The future of volleyball, how will the game evolve according to your opinion?** We spent a lot of time watching how the men play. Everybody will say the men's Olympics is much more competitive, top to bottom than the women's side. We feel like the men’s game is evolving quicker than the women’s game. I really believe that a highly competitive environment creates creativity and breeds progress. In America, a lot of the colleges are kind of doing the same thing. In the end we are copying each other. I feel that there is a lot to learn from the men’s game and that we can get a competitive edge from that. Already 20 years ago we had great women’s teams, but there were only a handful of really good teams. There was a substantial gap between the top and the bottom. I think now you're seeing 25 teams that can potentially get to the final four, so the overall level is getting better. And that's forcing coaches to evolve and figure out how they're going to keep up and try to get ahead of some of these teams. So just putting the focus on doing what we’ve been doing or what other women’s teams are doing won’t cut it. **What rule change is necessary in the future? And why would you want to see this new rule implemented?** The rule that I would change in America, we wouldn't have to change this in Europe, is the use of substitutions. We have the availability of 15 subs plus a libero per game. I would immediately change to international sub rules. The only reason it exists, I guess, is to get more people in a match. I just think it really, really hurts American women’s volleyball. It's hard to find great passers, right now if you're tall in club volleyball in high school, you don't play back row because probably you're not coordinated enough yet, you'll just get subbed out. Which means that you can’t develop. > But we know physicality is really important and on an international level even more so. What you get is that our physically gifted players don’t get the chance to develop their back court game. Men's volleyball in the US plays by the International sub rules, so they really develop outside hitters to become very good passers. We, the women’s side, we became too specialized. Not having this rule I think it would help coaches become better coaches and you would have to develop everybody to be an all round volleyball player, starting already at the younger ages. So I applaud European and international volleyball for doing that and I think it makes it hard for America to develop a lot of champion all round players. (‘We get players that come to Nebraska who have never served in a match. Never.') This rule chance would really help the sport and help develop better volleyball players and make it more fun for everybody. Not becoming that specialized at an early age will probably reduce a lot of overuse injuries also. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/01/5f3446adb8317.image.jpg) **Why not ask a silly question also, we had so many serious ones. :-) So, you are Dr. Frankenstein and have the ability to put together the world's most performing volleyball player. Which at least 5 characteristics would he/she have.** We were actually talking about this the other day with my staff. When I look back at all the players, and I've coached men and women so I have a general overview of all the talent, I think the best all round player must have been Jeff Stork. He was setting for the USA team for a couple Olympics (won Olympic Gold in the Seoul Olympics in 1988, Bronze in Barcelona 1992) First of all, I think he could have played any professional sport. That's how good of an athlete he was. He was left handed, which gave him an advantage as a setter, he could probably have hit internationally also. He was 6ft5 or 198cm, so he was a good blocker. But he was also a great defensive player. He had a great serve. He did everything. The most important thing however, he was really competitive and really tough. He played with Karch, Ctvrtlik, Timmons and that entire generation, he was able to lead those talented players and in the meantime control all those egos. So to me he had these four of five important assets. The four things are lefty, athletic, perfect size. And this lethal arm for serving, taking on the second ball, or even hitting a high ball if needed. But the fifth one is the mental part. To be a leader, making a great team out of all these great players and just understanding the game. He was a very intelligent player. > And he just had that great vision of what was going on and understanding what was coming up. If you look at the great American athletes, Michael Jordan, Tom Brady, Wayne Gretzky well they see things differently than other athletes. Stork is one of those guys. **Best game you've ever seen. Very simply, what recent or game from the volleyball vaults did validate once more that volleyball is the greatest sport on the globe.** I got 2 answers. On an international level, the 2012 London Olympic Final is one of the greatest men's matches I've ever seen. Russia being 0-2 down in sets against Brazil. The Russian head coach switched Muserskiy from the middle to the opposite position, well that was one of the gutsiest coaching moves ever. Making that decision, coming back and going on to win the Olympic Gold in 5 sets. Doing all that AND being on the biggest stage possible, that must be one of the greatest men's matches I've ever seen. In college, the greatest match for me was Nebraska playing Penn State in the 2008 final four. We had Jordan Larson and nobody else. (laughs) Just even getting to the Final Four was a major, major accomplishment. Penn State had not lost a set that entire year. In that game we went head to head till 10-10 in the fifth in front of 18,000 people in Omaha, Nebraska. It was the loudest match I've ever been part of and probably one of the greatest sporting events I've ever witnessed. Penn State ended up winning that game. But just the fact that it went down to that. It really cemented Jordan Larson's legacy as one of the greatest USA female volleyball players ever. And I think if you ask coach Rose of Penn State which was[ his favorite game](https://www.ncaa.com/news/volleyball-women/article/10-years-later-penn-state-volleyball-lost-two-sets-2008-national-championship?ref=volleybrains.com) he’ll probably give the exact same answer. > That 2008 Nebraska team played better than their dreams. I won’t get into every background story that went on in that season. But there were so many things that went on, due to injuries that season at certain times there were 3 walk on players on the court. Jordan's mom was going through cancer treatment. There were just so many things that were pulling all that together that it was just incredible. And that Penn State team was, there's no question in my mind, the greatest volleyball team ever in American college volleyball, nobody can deny that. They had four future Olympians Megan Hodge, Christa Harmotto, Alisha Glass and Nicole Fawcett on that team. The only two sets they lost in that entire season was that match and they went on the next night and won 3-0 to Stanford. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 1. Vital Heynen: 'Our game has to become even more dynamic, more play, less breaks.' URL: https://volleybrains.com/vital-heynen/ Last updated: 2022-05-28T12:51:18.000Z Vital Heynen is the head coach of Sir Safety Perugia in the Italian Serie A and the Polish national team coach. Read his answers to the Volley|Brains questions below. **Why did you decide to become a professional volleyball coach? What pushed you towards that decision?** I remember that while I was in my last years of being a player I didn’t always agree withthe ideas of my coaches. I was coming up with different concepts about the game, both technical and tactical. At the same time I was also thinking of trying to be a coach for just one year. When I finally stopped playing I did start out as an assistant coach and started to study the game and develop my concepts even more. After about 4 months I became the head coach. Every season from then on I had doubts if coaching was the thing I really wanted to do, it was not a definitive or ultimate goal for me. The main thing for me was to be able to test and show my ideas around coaching, around handling players, handling a team and so on. ![](https://volleybrains.com/content/images/2021/01/vital-perugia-1.jpg) **What advice would you give yourself as a starting coach? An advice that is so clear and logical for you now, but that you had to develop over the years. (Can be about anything)** > The expression that comes to mind is: ‘Follow your own feeling’. As a young and inexperienced coach you are somewhat afraid of following your feelings. It really doesn’t mean because you can’t prove your own concepts with numbers or other facts that they are not true or not worth to be tested. So it can be worthwhile to follow your feelings. Talking to a psychologist it came up that your feeling is already a combination of a certain kind of logic and other inputs from your past. Often when you take a decision based on your feelings, the logic behind it will show up after a couple of days. Of course, if you don’t take time to study, read, watch many games etc I doubt that your feeling will get developed. **Do you have a particular goal as a coach? Maybe a goal that you already reached or a goal that is so hard to reach that it gives you daily motivation?(and some healthy stress :-)) Can be personal on a team or club level, or all of those.** _This post is for paying subscribers only._