Coach Your Brains Out: A Volleyball Coaching Podcast

Sports Psychologist Peter Haberl talks about what he learned from the study of beach Olympic teams on what makes a successful partnership as well as competition mindset. Part 2 of 2.

On this episode of Coach Your Brains Out, Dr. Peter Habrel talks about an extensive study on Olympic beach volleyball partnerships and what makes a team successful over the long-term. Dr. Habrel works as a sports psychologist for USA Volleyball and I’ve met with him a few times this off-season to talk about my own new partnership. One of the big takeaways from our interview is the idea of having a shared team philosophy and the communication of those values. “You don’t need to have the same personality…but what you need to share is a common philosophy and a common motivation.” It’s common for teams to have conversations about what their goals are but it’s more important to talk about what your values are. What work you’re going to put in day to day in the pursuit of those goals and “How you want to be on this journey.” Compatibility is an important first step in forming a s [...]

The Talent Code Author Daniel Coyle talks about skateparks as the ultimate learning environments: “For flexible skills…the practice space should resemble a really fun skateboard park: lots of self-directed action at an endless variety of obstacles where you make lots of errors and learn a little something from each of them. Most flexible skills ideally don’t require a coach, but rather an addictive space to ‘play.’” What would a volleyball practice look like if it was designed more like a skatepark? Instead of repeating a regimen of drills, players are encouraged to freely experiment within the game. Would it increase skill development? Innovation? Fun? This is part 2 or our conversation with Professional skateboarder Paul Rodriguez and we dive more into practice and perseverance. We discuss this video clip from Train Ugly -

Coach Your Brains Out is a volleyball heavy podcast so it’s great when we can get out of the world of bump set spike and hear from coaches and athletes in other sports. There are always lessons to be gleaned from anyone working to master their craft and handling pressure. It can also teach us to look at our sport in new ways. This interview is with professional skateboarder, Paul Rodriguez. P-Rod has accomplished so much in the world of skateboarding including eight X Games medals and continues to push himself toward new challenges. Check out his Nike commercial.   Listen to Part 1 with Paul Rodriguez at Volleyball Mag.com. Paul’s passion for his sport is clear. It’s also a necessary component. It’s what gets you through the grind of practicing the same trick over and over, taking your scrapes until you get it right. When you find joy in your craft, hours of practice pass by and “time disapp [...]