Coach Your Brains Out

Coach Your Brains Out: The Art and Science of Coaching Volleyball

The Inner Knight: Train and Compete Like a Champion

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-Practice Planning

-Deliberate Practice

-Warm Ups

-Competitive Games

-Scripting vs Improvising

-Reflection

Books

Coach Your Brains Out: The Art and Science of Coaching Volleyball

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• 1:35 - What are some of the goals J.P. had in mind when writing his most recent book The Culture System?
  • Learn more about it here: https://www.tocculture.com/myculturesystem
• 5:28 - Clarifying the roles of a coach vs. the roles of a mentor in an athlete’s life.
• 6:50 - What are some of the differences between “goals” and “visions” that J.P. also explores in The Culture System?
• 8:57 - An example of a coach who implements a vision statement, and how they do so.
• 10:50 - What are some of the problems that arise when coaches focus solely on the process and not on the results/goal?
• 12:28 - How can coaches ensure that the goals and visions they created with the team are making measurable effects?
• 15:25 - Are the principles that J.P. mentioned the most valuable when implemented during times of adversity?
• 19:30 - How often does J.P. find that it is valuable to go back to the original mission statement and tweak parts of it?
• 21:50 - How J.P. changed his coaching based on feedback from the parent of an athlete on his team (also included in his book).
• 25:07 - How and why has the basketball coaching scene shifted from more passive coaching and sitting down to being more active and standing up?
• 27:51 - How active are coaches at the junior and club volleyball level?
  • Does this also change with the age of the coach?

Coach Your Brains Out: The Art and Science of Coaching Volleyball

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• 1:19 - Moving into the topic of Coach Development, what are values that Jamie emphasizes when developing coaches?
• 2:47 - Are there common traits that coaches have, or does Jamie treat each coach on a case by case basis?
• 5:07 - When Jamie observes coaches develop, what are some of the most common mishaps or mistakes that occur?
• 10:46 - Should coaches who are interested in improving their coaching read strictly research based books?
• 12:01 - What are the main skills or values coaches should focus on improving to become more effective?
• 14:13 - When trying to implement reflection into a coaching routine, what is the most effective schedule to make the most out of the exercises?
• 15:29 - Some of the questions that Jamie has found to be the most effective to reflect on.
• 17:50 - How would Jamie structure reflection exercises?
• 19:40 - What are some common themes that occur during reflection?
• 21:15 - What are qualities that separate good coaches from the elite coaches?
• 22:36 - Explaining the term “pracademic”.
• 23:50 - Should coaches also have an academic background in their field?
• 26:59 - Exploring the informational processing aspect of motor learning.
• 37:33 - Introducing shared mentor models.
• 43:08 - Are there specific scenarios when developing a player that Jamie would focus on an ecological dynamic or constraints led approach vs. an informational processing approach?
• 45:01 - Explaining the effects of differential learning.
• 47:15 - Why Jamie is not entirely sold on prescriptive coaching methods.

Coach Your Brains Out: The Art and Science of Coaching Volleyball

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• 1:24: How Jamie ended up working with coaches through his journey as a health and human performance professor.
• 2:17 - Given that Jamie is currently balancing teaching and “coaching” coaches, would he like to eventually transition into a role where he would just focus on working with coaches?
• 3:20 - High-performance sports has a history of applying ideas like growth mindset and grit (that are used in the context of another field of study like education). Why does Jamie think this is problematic?
  • You can read this article online here: https://www.readcube.com/articles/10.3389/fspor.2022.823488
• 8:19 - Have Jamie found an effective way to apply growth mindset concepts (like the implicit theory) to sports?
• 10:09 - What are common ways that Jamie has observed coaches apply growth mindset concepts to their coaching?
• 11:54 - How does Jamie define the concept of psychological safety?
• 13:47 - Where has most of the research regarding psychological safety been done?
• 14:11 - Jamie’s thoughts on common ways that psychological safety has been applied in the sports world.
• 22:10 - How does the concept of “safetyism” differ from psychological safety?
• 23:18 - Has Jamie observed coaches mistakenly apply safetyism when attempting to implement psychological safety?
• 25:06 - Could the implementation of psychological safety make a difference in the worldwide struggle with mental health in athletes?
• 26:45 - Can high levels of psychological safety negatively impact motivation and effort levels?
• 28:11 - Explaining the concept of “driven benevolence”.
• 29:02 - What are the most worthwhile components of psychological safety to apply to high performance athletics?

Coach Your Brains Out: The Art and Science of Coaching Volleyball

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• 1:37 - How have Andy and the Pirates held up so far, especially through the hottest part of the summer.
• 3:12 - After accepting and validating the struggles that athletes and coaches voice during the toughest parts of the season, what are the next steps?
• 4:20 - Checking in with Kasey - how has the beginning of the season gone for him so far?
• 5:55 - Traditionally the beginning of the volleyball season consists of “double days”, but what does Kasey do instead?
• 9:24 - Introducing the topic of this episode: “challenge point”
• 13:09 - Is there an appropriate level of the ability to complete certain skills at which athletes can be considered successful ?
• 16:15 - How can emotional responses be used to gauge the challenge point?
• 17:56 - When addressing teams based sports, should coaches consider the entire team’s challenge point focus, or each individual’s?
• 20:41 - Comparatively, how is the previous idea applied in baseball?
• 21:37 - Should coaches be pushing athletes slightly out of their comfort zone and at the edge of their challenge point?
• 22:46 - At what times should coaches push athletes to the edge of their challenge point vs. below it, and why?
• 25:49 - What are the downsides of constantly pushing players to the edge of their challenge point?
• 28:05 - Using a volleyball example, with limited resources and the challenge point constraint, how can coaches make their players reach the highest level of play at the sweet spot of their zone?
• 33:23 - In a similar, but baseball oriented scenario, how can coaches achieve that same effect as described in the previous example?

Coach Your Brains Out: The Art and Science of Coaching Volleyball

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Topics:

Teaching rotations

Coaching mixed skill levels

Balance winning and development

Teaching technique

Handling "unmotivated" players

Punishments and consequences

Playing time

Parent Issues

Coach Your Brains Out: The Art and Science of Coaching Volleyball

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Topics:

What are kids looking for in sports?

Teach the most fun skill first

Scaling the game for kids

Foundational skills

Planning practice

Coach Your Brains Out: The Art and Science of Coaching Volleyball

The Inner Knight: Train and Compete Like a Champion

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• 1:26 - How can coaches use mindfulness to alleviate the pressure and stress that athletes struggle with?
• 2:43 - Circumstantial effects of mindfulness exercises (different feedback/reception).
• 3:45 - Describing mindfulness practices that Shane has found to be helpful and effective.
• 4:58 - Why is it so important to acknowledge mindfulness and how we respond to certain emotions, especially those that are caused by failure.
• 7:25 - When Billy is writing, is he aware of his thoughts when he wants to write what he wants vs. his thoughts when he is being conscious about what readers might think.
• 8:20 - Billy’s thoughts and feelings when he fully focuses on writing.
• 8:59 - Can Billy feel a physiological difference between the two states, or when he changes between them?
• 10:45 - Similarly to writing, how does Billy manage those two states when he is playing?
  • Being conscious of the crowd vs. returning to just his play.
• 13:50 - Was Tom’s approach of learning about the already existing team culture rather than changing it effective in the long term?
• 15:08 - How has Covid changed the way that Shane trains athletes and approaches team culture?
  • 16:41 - Tom’s thoughts on the same idea.
• 17:32 - Why Shane thought it was worth investing into working on mindfulness.
• 21:40 - Describing the retreats Shane takes athletes on.
• 22:11 - Since the last interview, how has Tom worked on addressing vulnerability as a coach.
• 23:00 - What the actual essence of mindfulness is.

Coach Your Brains Out: The Art and Science of Coaching Volleyball

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• 1:44 - How would the key ideas of coaching fit in with a constraints led/ecological approach?
• 3:31 - Explaining Frans Bosch’s idea of “attractors” in as a guide for achieving specific skills in athletes.
• 7:11 - If athletes are too knowledgeable of the checkpoints involved towards a key, does that take away from the variability that allows for greater stabilization?
• 10:37 - Why does Shane allow his players to fail?
• 13:39 - What qualities does Tom dislike in athletes, and does failure fit into that?
• 15:46 - How does Tom approach scenarios where his players are engaged, but aren’t successful in creating momentum in game?
• 17:34 - Do weak performances in practice correlate lead to successful competition in real games?
  • Failures in practice as a sign of learning
• 24:05 - Over the last couple years, have Tom and Shane started to implement differential learning in their coaching models?
• 29:05 - Explaining deliberate practice vs. changing the focus of practices.

Coach Your Brains Out: The Art and Science of Coaching Volleyball

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• 1:48 - What has changed for Shane since the last CYBO episode he was interviewed in?
• 2:34 - How did Shane adjust to coaching different positions?
• 3:59 - Has Shane’s experience within the last few years coaching different positions allowed him to gain a perspective of football that benefits his capability as a coach?
• 4:43 - What has changed for Tom in the last few years since he was last interviewed for CYBO?
• 5:21 - What have Shane and Tom been chatting about over the last few years?
• 6:54 - What do their discussions look like?
• 8:51 - What kind of tactics does Shane employ to make meetings run smoother?
• 10:48 - Since the last episode, how have Shane and Tom further explored the topic of dynamic systems?
• 13:09 - Why does Shane put an emphasis on the psychological side of motor learning?
• 18:47 - How have Shane and Tom’s practices and interactions with athletes changed over the last few years given the pandemic and other factors?
• 24:06 - Has the balance of process and result become established well in the volleyball world over the last five years?
• 25:26 - What has Tom changed in the University of Georgia volleyball program that has had an effect understanding what failure means?
• 26:32 - Dissecting the motor learning components of the changes Tom has made.

Coach Your Brains Out: The Art and Science of Coaching Volleyball

The Inner Knight: Train and Compete Like a Champion

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• 1:22 - What kind of traits define the most effective leaders?
• 4:54 - What kind of traits are more “myth” than actually useful for great leaders?
• 7:02 - How do leaders successfully build trust from their coaching staff and their teammates?
• 8:55 - Given Sean’s belief in having a solid vision for a team, how can leaders clarify their thoughts or plans for the future?
• 10:57 - How can leaders adapt to different situations while still staying true to their original vision?
• 13:58 - Can decision making be trained or taught?
• 17:20 - How to ignore influences that may blur your ability to make your own or the best possible decisions?
• 19:42 - What leadership qualities made Chris Marlowe stand out as the captain of the 1984 men’s volleyball Olympic team?
  • Amazon link to the book that Sean and John mention: https://www.amazon.com/Captain-Class-New-Theory-Leadership/dp/0812987071/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1660193975&sr=8-1
• 28:00 - How was Karch Kiraly able to maintain the same leadership qualities as Chris while balancing being the star of the team?
• 28:36 - Were there signs that Karch would be successful as both a leader as a player and also as a coach?

Coach Your Brains Out: The Art and Science of Coaching Volleyball

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• 1:26 - A little bit about Sean’s background and how it connects to the story of his recently published book.
  • Find his book on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/If-Gold-Our-Destiny-Mavericks/dp/1538154854
• 6:28 - Describing Sean’s father’s profession and how it differs from modern day sports psychology.
• 9:09 - Explaining the backstory of the “Outward Bound experience” as mentioned in Sean’s book.
• 16:19 - Sean’s tips for coaches looking to replicate a similar experience and create a stronger team bond.
• 17:58 - Despite not being friends, how was the men's volleyball team of the 1984 Olympics able to come together and win the gold medal?
• 20:21 - Separating talent and commitment, and why that distinction was important despite the public’s opinions on the organization of the team.
• 23:36 - How do the qualities of Doug’s quote “We weren’t afraid to look foolish” tie into the important skills needed for leadership.
• 27:40 - Besides the two person serve receive format that Sean described, what were other examples of experimentation and exploration that the 1984 team tried out?
• 31:28 - Alongside the players, how did the coaching staff overcome their differences despite struggling to find common ground?
• 34:08 - How were practices structured close to the start of the 1984 Olympics?

Coach Your Brains Out: The Art and Science of Coaching Volleyball

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• 1:39 - Outlining the benefits and drawbacks of specialization and generalization in sports.
• 4:28 - To prevent the physical and mental “burn out” of a dedicated athlete, is it beneficial to try spending time playing a similar sport to their main one? (e.g. volleyball and tennis, basketball and soccer).
• 6:05 - Even at the college level is there a benefit to practicing a “donor” sport in the offseason?
• 8:43 - While certain physical skills and movements would not be transferable to the main sport from the donor sport, are qualities like mentality and other non-cognitive skills easily transferable?
• 11:06 - Even with the variety of gameplay within sports, would solely playing one sport still be considered specialization?
• 12:52 - How would Joe implement specialization/generalization in a youth club organization?
• 14:43 - Introducing the German system of “Ballschool” and why Joe thinks highly of it.
• 15:37 - How effective is the ballschool system?
• 16:45 - Why Joe thinks that enjoyment, autonomy and intrinsic motivation are the key components of skill acquisition?
• 17:25 - How can coaches inspire qualities like intrinsic motivation?
• 21:10 - Should autonomy be more emphasized in youth athletes or in elite athletes?
• 22:28 - How should autonomy be implemented in an ideal practice setting?
• 23:29 - What should enjoyment look like in elite athletes?
• 25:27 - What should coaches do to raise “enjoyment” in youth sports.
• 27:14 - Key motor learning principles that coaches should implement in their own styles and practices.
• 28:35 - Are there drawbacks to taking an ecological approach to sports?
• 30:36 - Where to reach out to Joe.
  • Twitter : @bakerjyorku
• Joe’s book: The Tyranny of Talent.

Coach Your Brains Out: The Art and Science of Coaching Volleyball

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• 1:17 - Introducing Joe and explaining how he started becoming heavily invested in the fields of skill acquisition, talent identification, and athlete development.
• 3:22 - Why do coaches and scouts as a whole struggle with talent identification?
• 4:47 - Why is it important for coaches to recognize and acknowledge that because humans lack the ability to map out long term decisions, identifying successful athletes will also be difficult?
• 6:42 - Do most coaches think that either they or others are skilled at talent identification?
• 8:13 - Consequences of making mistakes or poor decisions when picking and choosing which athletes are projected to be successful.
• 11:16 - Are successful athletes successful solely because of inherent qualities like height and body type, or also because they might have been “chosen” to receive development and training at an early point?
• 13:28 - Examples of “soft skills” like aggressiveness or other mentalities that coaches should look out for.
• 16:00 - Given that the ability to identify soft skills is linked to improving talent identification, what can coaches do to improve that ability?
• 19:56 - Should a quality like technique also be highly valued, or do coaches often overvalue what they believe is the “ideal” technique when scouting athletes?
• 21:55 - What Joe has found to be the most common “blind spots” of coaches.
• 24:20 - Where in the world has Joe identified an effective talent identification system, and what are some of its core aspects that makes it so successful?
• 26:16 - Given the limitations of being able to fully watch or analyze potential players when scouting, how should coaches go about effectively picking the most talented athletes?
• 29:02 - When interviewing or talking to a player, how can coaches identify if the player has the soft skills they desire?

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• 1:23 - Thoughts on what the basis of in-game feedback should be (based on what the coaches think their players need vs. based on what the players want).
• 2:04 - Should feedback be given based on past success?
• 3:42 - Defining “guided discovery” and what role it should play when giving feedback.
• 9:41 - Will forcing athletes to describe concepts and techniques in their own words create a better understanding?
• 10:57 - Reflecting on Jamie Morrison’s episode on storytelling, how often does Andrew find himself using stories within practice, and has it been effective?
• 13:14 - Creating intriguing names for drills to make it seem more exciting.
• 15:13 - Balancing the “silliness” of naming drills with the actual competence of a certain drill to keep it fun, but also maintain its credibility.
• 18:04 - Using the components of internal, external and holistic feedback, how would John structure his practices?
• 20:37 - The most effective external feedback drills that coaches can implement into their practices.
• 25:40 - Should coaches change internal ques or keys based on the athlete they approach (e.g. “slow to fast”)?
• 29:31 - Are keys more so a tool for the coach or a solution given to the athlete?
• 30:35 - Major feedback for coaches with regards to communication with their players.
• 36:30 - A little bit about Nils’ new job working as the head coach for Baker University.
  Books

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• 1:56 - Introducing today's topic: Feedback (Chapter 4 of the CYBO book).
• 2:08 - What is effective feedback?
• 2:59 - In terms of feedback, does “guiding” imply that the athlete is guided to only one solution? Or is it more flexible?
• 3:36 - How can coaches determine if an athlete is ready to receive feedback?
• 5:45 - Are TV’s and other video playback devices valuable in giving effective feedback?
• 7:04 - Should athletes be intentionally directed to watch video feedback? Or should coaches put less emphasis on it?
• 8:25 - Should coaches direct athletes to certain aspects of technique in video playback?
• 10:22 - In John’s experience, have his players consistently requested feedback?
• 11:17 - In general, have the players that request feedback consistently demonstrated improvement?
• 11:54 - Dealing with athletes who constantly request feedback.
• 15:04 - Should coaches encourage their athletes to give each other feedback, and what does that look like?
  • Specifically in terms of beach volleyball partners.
• 21:05 - Is it valuable to the player to have a fired up and encouraging coach?
• 24:08 - Giving “non-cognitive” affirmations at a constant rate.
• 27:04 - Balancing giving effective informative feedback while also being a lively coach.

Books

Coach Your Brains Out: The Art and Science of Coaching Volleyball

The Inner Knight: Train and Compete Like a Champion

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• 1:24 - Applying “directness” to communication between Russ and his players.
• 2:56 - In Russ’ experience, has being direct with his athletes ever backfired?
• 4:51 - Has there ever been a time where Russ has avoided being direct?
• 7:48 - Does Russ communicate differently with a group of athletes compared to individuals? And how does he adjust?
• 10:05 - What kind of messages should coaches communicate to their athletes when they are successful (e.g. winning streak, defending champions).
• 14:06 - How did Russ address his program’s 109-match winning streak?
• 17:02 - Describing Russ’ approach to the recruiting process.
• 18:13 - When communicating with recruits, how directly involved was Russ?
• 21:37 - How did Russ cultivate the key components/characteristics of his championship teams?
• 23:12 - What statistics does Russ value and why does he value them?
• 27:29 - Russ’ advice for new and aspiring coaches.
• 29:31 - Would Russ want to work with coaches outside of just volleyball?

Books

Coach Your Brains Out: The Art and Science of Coaching Volleyball

The Inner Knight: Train and Compete Like a Champion

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• 1:06 - Introducing Russ, and his legacy as former head coach of the Penn State women's volleyball program.
• 1:27 - What Russ will miss the most about coaching volleyball at Penn State.
• 5:33 - Russ’ thoughts on if the strong desire to win can be a developed quality, or if it has to already exist in potential recruits.
• 7:05 - What can coaches do to develop competitiveness in their players?
• 9:13 - How can volleyball players and coaches find and develop a balance of being competitive, but also enjoying the sport?
• 10:44 - Differentiating the players that say they want to win and the players that show they want to win.
  • What does that look like?
• 14:55 - Even if he knows he is going to win a match, does Russ still prepare in the same way?
• 16:40 - What kind of practice environment has Russ cultivated, and what made practices successful in his eyes?
• 20:32 - What does Russ mean when he wants his players to “go hard” in practices.
• 24:39 - In challenging scenarios, does Russ believe in actively guiding his players, or letting them figure out a solution?
• 26:14 - In a team with a smaller roster, how would Russ address a lack of effort among the players, or individuals?
• 29:02 - Did Russ adjust his practices based on the physical or mental state of his players?
• 34:21 - Is there anything Russ changed in his coaching strategy across his entire career that made a significant difference?
• 35:51 - Russ’ travel story about a trip to Washington, and how it reflects his coaching strategy.

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• 1:30 - Based on what Andy has seen so far, what are his expectations for the Pirates this season?
• 2:41 - Will Andy travel with the players this year, or continue working with the coaches on the mental side?
• 3:18 -  What are environmental constraints, and how can they be used?
• 6:56 - Explaining the differences between “task” and “environment”
• 11:43 - Using the example of a high net vs. a low net to explain these ideas.
• 16:49 - In baseball practices, are environmental constraints used purposefully?
• 18:14 - What environmental constraints can be observed indoors?
• 22:46 - Should athletes (particularly college athletes) practice at the same time that their games would usually take place at?
• 26:33 - Other factors besides the task, the organism, and the environment with respect to environmental constraints.
• 28:57 - Is it important for coaches to know and recognize the differences in the aspects that they are constraining?

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• 1:04 - What are pre-mortems and post-mortems and where did they come from?
  • Note: this idea is also referenced by Angie Akers in this previous CYBO episode: https://www.blog.goldmedalsquared.com/podcast/episode/3c92044d/preparing-for-the-olympics-with-angie-akers
• 4:05 - John’s thoughts on what the most important principles coaches should understand or learn before implementing pre-mortem exercises.
• 9:38 - Given the maturity needed to properly execute pre-mortem exercises, at what age group can be considered the starting point or cutoff at which these exercises can begin to be implemented?
• 13:50 - How can coaches tell when players have developed a strong relationship with their teammates and reached a point of maturity where pre-mortem exercises can be implemented?
• 16:40 - Should pre-mortems be changed or implemented in a different way based on the skill or success of teams?
• 19:14 - How to encourage players to open up to coaches and their teammates and communicate their feelings and thoughts freely.
• 25:54 - How to determine which idea should be prioritized among the others
• 29:03 - Have there been common themes that emerge when implementing pre-mortem exercises across different sports?
• 33:22 - After identifying the initial issue or focus, what is the next step to be taken?
  • Using the A-Team and the problem of humidity when competing as the example
• 39:30 - What kind of changes did John Mayer’s implementation of pre-mortem exercises make by the end of the season?
• 43:18 - John’s book recommendations for coaches.

Books

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• 1:09 - Segwaying into this second part, John dives into the second scenario, and explains how it contrasts the scenario with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
  • Showcasing autonomy within the team huddle
• 2:43 - John’s thoughts on what the coach’s role should be in terms of creating team support and raising morale.
• 4:24 - Benefits of giving the players/team more autonomy in situations like the Cavaliers and Warriors scenarios.
  • “Players play the game”
• 8:16 - Based on Steve Kerr’s method of supporting the Warriors, how would he have reacted if he was coaching the Cavaliers during their mishap with the J.R. Smith situation?
• 11:20 - Analyzing a scenario that took place during a timeout from the U.S. women's national water polo team at the London 2012 Olympics.
  • Context: U.S. were winning in the very last seconds of the game in a game against Australia
• 14:18 - What was running through Adam’s head during the end of the water polo game?
• 17:06 - How were Adam and the team able to effectively respond?
  • Past mistakes allowed for the opportunity to grow and respond more effectively in similar situations that they were not able to overcome in the past
• 21:01 - Recurring themes or qualities of coaches that are able to effectively overcome adversity in close matches.
  • Importance of being more personal and connected with your players
• 26:44 - How to effectively control or manage situations where players are slacking off, and how to set high expectations without yelling or freaking out.
  • What kind of language should be used?

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• 1:30 - John’s role in the Olympic process, and which teams he is currently working with.
• 3:27 - Common themes or occurrences John has noticed within high level teams that he has worked with.
• 8:24 - How and why do these themes occur in these scenarios?
  • “Beginning with the end in mind” - determining the purpose of and goals of the team
• 10:46 - Diving into specific scenarios, particularly one from when LeBron James was playing in the 2018 NBA Playoffs with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
  • Specifically analyzing the body language and communication between the team.
• 16:39 - John’s beliefs and thoughts on what part of the Cavaliers’ situation was the most detrimental to their play. 
• 18:04 - John’s thoughts on what a much more effective response to the situation would look like.
• 19:50 - Regardless of the consequences of destroying the morale of the team, is it still reasonable that LeBron was recognizably upset at J.R. Smith?
• 22:50 - Addressing the need for someone to step up and raise the morale.

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• 1:14 - The most important recovery principles that coaches should understand.
  • Building blocks of recovery
• 3:36 - Why sleep is so important in the recovery process.
• 7:56 - Given a 10 minute daily period spent focused on recovery, what are the most important principles that athletes should prioritize.
  • Geared individually - the most effective recovery methods are different for each person
• 11:43 - Beau’s recommendations for recovery tools.
• 14:39 - Beau’s issues with most “healers” and “gurus” in the sports world.
  • Dependent on the situation and their intentions
• 16:46 - Should coaches push athletes to work hard when they are still sore from previous workouts and practices?
• 18:05 - Beau’s thoughts on training specific to volleyball.
• 19:33 - The most effective methods by which coaches can keep their athletes “injury free”.
• 21:13 - Should strength training be specific to the sport?
• 23:49 - How did Beau get where he is now?
• 25:12 - How coaches should best support athletes with a fear of failure.
• 27:12 - Beau’s takeaways from his experience losing to Hawaii in the NCAA national championship game.

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• 1:25 - Describing Beau’s experience winning the Super Bowl as a chiropractor for the Los Angeles Rams.
• 2:53 - Recalling how Beau started working with the Rams. 
• 5:02 - Describing Beau’s “three week tryout” period with the Rams.
• 6:36 - Beau’s perspective and observations about the Rams’ culture that helps them be successful. 
  • “We not me” culture
• 9:36 - Examples of the “we not me” culture implemented in the Rams.
• 11:00 - How does the Rams’ coaching stand out from the rest? What is done to make it be considered “elite”?
• 12:49 - What both volleyball coaches and players can learn from the structure and training of football.
• 15:19 - After working with the Rams for the last six years, how would Beau restructure practices or his coaching style if he were to return to coaching volleyball?
• 18:01 - On the flip side, what can football coaches and players learn/take away from volleyball?
• 20:33 - From Beau’s experience and perspective being coached by Marv Dunphy at Pepperdine, what makes his coaching style so effective?
• 22:43 - Describing Beau’s memorable takeaways and stories from when Marv was coaching him.
• 26:14 - Does Beau think Marv would be successful coaching a football program regardless of his knowledge of the sport?

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• 1:11 - Exciting news for Kasey.
• 1:56 - Trying to keep ecological dynamics as a part of Kasey’s coaching style.
  • Guiding set of principles
• 3:45 - Introduction to visual occlusion.
  • Anticipating faster
• 7:51 - Explaining Gaze behavior and how visual occlusion is used to help develop it. 
  • Active v. passive gaze
  • Intercepting objects
• 10:08 - Why should athletes take time away from studying and visualizing patterns of movements?
• 11:32 - Finding better information by occluding everything else besides a specific habit or skill.
  • Can also occlude one specific thing, and leave the rest available to be focused on.
• 12:47 - In the scope of baseball, how can coaches implement occlusion training to develop faster reactions.
• 14:56 - Explaining the infrared beam, and how Andy uses it.
• 16:14 - Implementing occlusion training with a low budget.
  • Techniques that Kasey has found to be effective.
  • Strobe goggles..
• 22:04 - John’s application of the strobe goggles in practicing serve receive and defense.
  • Kasey’s clarification for the listeners.
• 28:16 - Specifying the benefit of using occlusion training to give athletes up to date information

Read Billy's new book! The Inner Knight: Train and Compete Like a Champion

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• 1:58 - Convincing younger athletes to be open to taking the longer, but more self-fulfilling route of discovery Lauren described in the last episode.
• 4:43 - Why is impostor syndrome so common in even successful athletes?
  • Explaining it in the context of athletics
  • Possibly American athletic culture contributing to it?
• 7:32 - What does Lauren mean by “examining the value of your work” and why is it important for athletes?
  • Performance = connection and ease
• 10:24 - How coaches can effectively guide a player who struggles with bringing their success in practice to real competition.
• 13:45 - Lauren’s guide to opening questions for athletes - finding the best way to communicate.
• 16:49 - Rephrasing “anxiety”.
• 18:15 - Techniques coaches can use to help improve their players’ mental game.
• 22:34 - Lauren’s one biggest takeaway from her career that she would want to tell herself in the past.

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• 1:20 - A little bit about Lauren’s swimming career.
• 2:53 - Lauren’s breakthrough moment, and how she transitioned to help athletes with their mental game.
• 4:12 - Describing the first conversation/meeting with an athlete.
  • Getting athletes to open up
• 5:48 - What aspects do athletes tend to need the most help with?
• 7:10 - Where does confidence come from, and how does Lauren instill that within other athletes?
• 8:53 - How Lauren helps athletes find their identity and also maintain it steadily throughout competition.
• 11:53 - Do both world-class and amateur athletes struggle from the same mental challenges?
• 16:46 - How athletes can build resiliency, and how coaches can assist them.
• 20:39 - Dealing with feelings that a medal was not deserving of your performance.
• 24:04 - How athletes can recover and decompress.
• 26:43 - Handling the changing context or importance of pressure moments in competition.

Read Billy's new book! The Inner Knight: Train and Compete Like a Champion

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1:26 - Diving into Jon’s idea of WIPs (weekly improvement plans) that were introduced in Episode 1.

Are they always 1-on-1 or are they group meetings?

6:08 - Whiteboard where Jon’s players write their two mechanical or technical skills as well as their mental skill.

8:23 - Example of an effective practice focus suggested by players compared to one that is less coachable.

10:24 - Particular stats that Jon prioritizes in meetings.

12:56 - Spending time with starters vs. spending time with non-starters.

15:26 - Diving into Jon’s three tenets - particularly his belief in striving to be “1% better”.

Always working hard towards bettering yourself

What kind of qualities are needed to be a part of the program?

18:07 - Explaining Jon’s second tenet: “be a scientist”.

What does it mean for an athlete to be a scientist?

19:24 - Example of how an athlete can be a scientist

20:28 - Coaching like a scientist.

21:34 - How does Jon want his players to approach his third tenet: “challenge the status quo”.

23:25 - What do Jon and his players do differently from other programs that are outside of the status quo?

25:20 - What does Jon’s staff do that challenges the status quo?

26:35 - What Jon has done to create an environment where his staff feels comfortable to challenge him.

27:51 - What Jon has done to be a more “open” coach.

Keeping authority while also maintaining a certain level of humility

Being straightforward with athletes

29:12 - Explaining the “illegal moves”.

33:48 - A little bit about Billy’s book (the link to buy it is below!)

Listener Questions

34:31 - How Jon took everything he has learned from his mentors and created his own style of coaching

37:44 - What has been the biggest change in Jon’s relationship with his players since becoming the head coach of the program?

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Newman (episode 1)

• 1:26 - A little bit about John’s experience in the last 3 years as the 10th head coach of the women’s volleyball program at The University of New Mexico.
  • Originally an assistant coach - transitioned into a bigger role
  • Transitioning from specializing in a certain skill area to having a role in every aspect
• 3:24 - Important takeaways from the recent season where UNM had a record of 20-10.
• 4:55 - Will the beach volleyball program be reinstituted?
• 6:10 - Improving individual skills while also maintaining a clear direction for the entire team.
• 7:50 - Trade-offs of focusing mostly on individual development.
  • Difficulty maintaining the team-centric mentality
• 8:49 - Benefits of focusing on individual development.
• 9:54 - What kind of balance has Jon developed between team focused development and individual development?
• 11:47 - Drawbacks of focusing on only developing one aspect.
• 13:38 - Looking at individual development holistically rather than just technically.
• 16:11 - What goes into the planning of team focused practices?
• 18:49 - Adjusting to physical and technical variation of athletes when planning the IDP.
• 22:44 - How does the assistant coaching staff operate during practices?
• 25:10 - How are IDPs created and what role does the coaching staff play in their creation?

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• 1:28 - Andy’s primary focus of study, and what he has his PhD in.
  • What he does for the Pittsburgh Pirates
  • Motor Learning + Sports Psychology
• 2:45 - What is part vs. whole practice?
  • Interconnected technique and skills
  • Breaking down the parts of Beethoven’s 5th Symphony
  • Connecting sports and musical analogies
• 7:06 - If you mess up the first part, can you continue with the rest of the parts?
• 8:20 - How to emphasize certain skill areas without making whole practice too overwhelming for the athlete.
• 12:20 - Will part practice actually help you improve, or does it have a placebo effect on the athlete?
  • Ineffective simulations for volleyball drills in young ages
• 17:18 - How to implement whole practice into our warmups.
• 21:01 - Are the different parts of motor learning connected, and if they are, how are they connected?
  • Some gray areas in between
  • Some aspects to take from each part
  • From an academic standpoint, it’s hard to mix
  • Trial and erroring + measuring the effects in practices to find the best approach
• 29:03 - Summary of the topics discussed.

Read Billy's new book! The Inner Knight: Train and Compete Like a Champion

Get Coach Your Brains Out the book! 

Support the show through Patreon. 

• 1:30 - When asking athletes open-ended questions meant to stimulate their own thought, how important is it to leave them time/space to answer it?
• 2:34 - Guidelines for what kind of questions to ask.
• 4:33 - Effectively phrasing your questions.
• 5:30 - What can and should coaches do with the feedback from their questions.
• 7:04 - Examples of reflective listening.
• 8:42 - Working in listening techniques into daily conversation.
• 12:25 - Why is punishment not effective in the long term?
• 17:29 - When to keep pressing athletes and when to stop.
• 18:58 - How to approach following up with athletes after motivational interviewing.
• 22:44 - Explaining strength lenses.
• 25:12 - Is there a way to efficiently implement motivational interviewing without distracting from reps in practice?

Dr. Fader's Book

We're excited for you to read Billy's new book for athletes and coaches! Get the Inner Knight on Amazon

Contact Billy to order copies for your team

• 2:50 - Introducing Dr. Fader and the topics of this episode.
• 3:46 - Becoming a better listener.
• 4:22 - What Dr. Fader hopes to accomplish with his book.
• 5:38 - Why many already existing programs are ineffective with helping people struggling with addiction.
• 6:10 - How to actively engage with people with feelings of ambivalence.
• 6:40 - Making trust and communication a skill that is actively taught to athletes.
• 10:04 - What kind of athlete would motivational interviewing be the most effective with?
• 12:49 - Affirmation in moderation (treating it like salt).
• 13:32 - Putting heart rate monitors on coaches and having them be mic’ed up.
• 14:26 - Explaining the concept of the writing reflex.
• 15:30 - Natural inclination to look for what is wrong or not working.
• 17:22 - When and when not to correct mistakes.
• 18:40 - Example of an “ask offer ask”.
• 21:25 - Making an effective transition to becoming a more guiding and listening coach.
• 24:09 - Always having a purpose when presenting.
• 26:40 - Making sure it’s about the athlete - using “You” as opposed to “I”.

Dr. Fader's Book

We're excited for you to read Billy's new book for athletes and coaches! Get the Inner Knight on Amazon

Contact Billy to order copies for your team

Filled with lessons on practice, competition, and mindset, The Inner Knight is a powerful tale for athletes, coaches, and anyone who wants to achieve greatness.

Meridian Kay dreams of becoming a champion knight. But when her one passion in life is threatened, she flees home to prove herself in England’s Tournament of Champions. Alone in a foreign land, Meridian meets the one teacher who can help her achieve the impossible.

“The Inner Knight is the best thing on learning I've ever read.” –Tom Black

“The Inner Knight is the most entertaining way to learn the mental skills it takes to be the best version of yourself. Athletes, coaches and learners will love this book!” –John Mayer

“The Inner Knight is everything a modern-day high performance manual should be, disguised as a charming medieval story about knightship, mentorship, and pursuing one’s passion at all cost. If you want to learn how to consistently perform at or near your best when your best is needed, this story’s for you!” –Bernie Holliday

Get it on Amazon

Contact Billy to order copies for your team

1:22 - Why Jamie prioritizes out of system attacking and how he uses storytelling to improve it. 

3:34 - Common problems that teams face when out of system.

5:26 - Changing the mindset to be more explosive and aggressive attacking out of system.

6:48 - Prioritizing hand sets by having all back row players being able to set out of system.

8:12 - How Jamie teaches the “slow to fast” footwork using stories.

10:37 - Has Jamie’s stories stuck during the competition?

12:16 - What elements of out of system play does Jamie focus on during practice?

15:22 - Why and how Jamie implements tape into his practices.

17:30 - Explaining the “ball is a clock” story and how it can help develop out of system attacking.

19:23 - Using bands to improve arm swings.

22:20 - How to prevent athletes from reverting back to their old technique.

27:21 - Preparing athletes for their futures.

Read Billy's new book! The Inner Knight: Train and Compete Like a Champion

1:48 - How Jamie sets up successful presentations like he did at the AVCA Convention.

3:11 - How storytelling can teach skills effectively.

4:39 - Are analogies similar to stories, and are they equally effective?

4:47 - Confusion to “aha” moment in athletes.

5:50 - Going into depth on Jamie’s presentation about setting at the AVCA Convention.

7:16 - Explaining how Jamie used med-balls as part of his storytelling.

9:45 - Will stories still be remembered even months later?

11:00 - Why Jamie believes storytelling is more effective than verbally communicating tips and advice.

12:53 - Cases when Jamie doesn’t have a story planned.

16:04 - Explaining Jamie’s “train track” story.

17:34 - Similar to how the med-ball story can be physically manifested, can the train track story also be tangibly implemented or is it just a cue?

19:32 - Implementing stories in practice.

22:06 - Will Jamie use stories on what not to do, as opposed to what to do?

23:10 - Will Jamie use stories in matches as well?

24:56 - Balancing practice time with verbal feedback and storytelling.

26:05 - Jamie’s tips on coming up with stories and how he personally comes up with them.

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• 0:55 - What Harjiv has learned from working with the Orlando Magic.
  • Learning about basketball
  • Working with data analytics + coaching staff
  • Biomechanics
• 2:40 - Periodization of what we do, how we do it, and when we do it.
  • Will practice really reflect game performance?
  • Tracking specificity
• 6:58 - To develop an effective practice plan, start from “why are we doing this
  - finding the purpose.
• 7:47 - Combining skill acquisition with strength and conditioning.
• 8:27 - Compared to the traditional methods of strength and conditioning, why is periodization so new for developing skill acquisition?
• 10:57 - Considering variables of time, how coaches should manage the load of practices and the amount of skill acquisition development.
  • Balancing it out
  • Building confidence closer to tournaments
• 14:41 - From a skill acquisition perspective, should coaches simplify development closer to tournaments?
• 19:52 - Do coaches and should coaches adjust practice depending on the physiological load of strength and conditioning before practices?
  • Meeting with coaches to adjust practice plans
  • Synergy or balance between practices and strength and conditioning
  • Possibly using the load as a constraint?
• 24:55 - Planning practices and strength and conditioning workouts together.
• 27:43 - Being aware of the complexity of confidence.
• 29:01 - Figuring out a way to know if all the work being put into practice planning is fostering actual development within athletes.

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Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/coachyourbrainsout

-Mindset and preparation

-Focusing on what you can control

-Mindfulness practice and self-talk 

-Training and trusting mindsets

-Lessons learned from Coach Your Brains Out

-Writing

Check out Billy's books! https://www.amazon.com/Billy-Ketch-Allen/e/B07JCJ9Z9T

Within The Game Podcast https://www.withinthegame.com/

• 0:46 - Travis’ approach to blocking practices.
  • Physicality is a big part of blocking.
  • Training blocking technique to make up for lack of physicality.
  • Maximizing the capabilities of your individual blockers.
• 3:16 - Effective blocking games Travis uses in practice.
  • Eye sequencing.
  • Verbalizing.
• 7:08 - Identifying the cause of errors through verbalization.
• 8:06 - “Late and right rather than early and wrong”
• 8:54 - Why Travis sometimes doesn’t want his pin blockers to swing block.
• 13:34 - Important technical aspects Travis focuses on.
• 17:56 - Why Travis has his setters change tempos during blocking practice.
  • Train blockers - only the setters and attackers know the tempo that they are running.
• 18:45 - Common characteristics of the best blockers.
  • Variability - Travis’ best blockers were good at blocking for different reasons.
• 21:47 - If a blocker isn’t as physical as some others, how can they make up for that lack of physicality?
  • Keeping things simple and trying to get good touches.
  • Pressuring the attackers rather than trying to completely shut them down.
• 24:12 - Time spent working on blocking during practices.
  • Depending on the time of the season.
• 26:01 - Training competitiveness in blockers - what Travis believes to be one of the most important characteristics in good blockers.
• 28:39 - Why Travis spends time with Western Kentucky fans, teaching them volleyball and the rules.
  • Growing the volleyball fanbase.
• 33:21 - Foreseeable challenges to Western Kentucky’s success.

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• 1:31 - What Travis does in between seasons to sustain coaching success.
  • Experience playing two seasons in one calendar year.
• 2:22 - Did playing two consecutive seasons bring about more injuries or physical issues?
  • Not as much physical difficulty, but struggled with mentality.
• 3:39 - How Travis tackled mental health issues with his players.
  • Ramping up communication, reducing stress.
• 5:04 - What team culture and coaching aspects has Travis implemented to have such a successful program?
  • Truth, respect, and trust - only two people in the history of the program have left.
  • Admitting the weaknesses of the program to find the right people.
• 9:40 - Convincing athletes to join a smaller program.
• 10:58 - Travis’ thoughts on the importance of team culture in his program.
• 13:37 - Key components and people that have helped shape Travis’ team culture.
  • Being truthful.
• 16:28 - How Travis makes “10, 11 and 12” players/backup players feel important.
  • Being straightforward with them.
• 19:13 - What parts of Travis’ culture has changed since he first started to create it?
• 23:17 - Are there any unique aspects of Travis’ team that stands out?
• 24:49 - What does Travis do off the court to establish an effective team culture?
  • Developing athletes as strong communicators.
• 33:02 - Travis’ advice for coaches struggling to come up with their own team culture.
  • Finding the right fit for you and your team.

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-Scouting your own players
-Embracing your role
-Passion as a coach
-Having hard conversations
-Learning from Karch

Get CYBO the book! https://www.amazon.com/dp/1098630904

Support the show https://www.patreon.com/coachyourbrainsout

GMS+ https://www.goldmedalsquared.com/cybo

-Tokyo experience
-Scouting philosophy
-How much time he spends scouting
-What he looks for
-Making scouting accessible to players

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Support the show https://www.patreon.com/coachyourbrainsout

GMS+ https://www.goldmedalsquared.com/cybo

• 1:04 - The guidance hypothesis: the dichotomy of implicit and explicit learning.
  • Generally well developed and researched.
• 1:49 - Rich Masters and the role of implicit and explicit learning on the effects of pressure and stress on performance.
• 2:54 - Defining explicit and implicit learning.
• 4:52 - Using golf putting as an example of studying the effects of implicit and explicit learning.
• 6:00 - Tendencies to believe that implicit learning is drastically superior to explicit learning.
  • Both implicit and explicit groups in the golf putting study improved.
• 6:32 - How the introduction of pressure and stress changed the results of the study.
  • The implicit group found little to no decrease in performance while the explicit group had detrimental effects to their performance.
• 7:14 - Combating “choking” from a motor learning perspective.
• 8:46 - Defining choking and its causes.
• 10:15 - Rich Masters methods to induce implicit learning.
  • “Dual-task learning”
• 13:25 - Creating an effective environment for implicit learning
• 15:16 - Balancing explicit learning and implicit learning: how much time should athletes spend in each environment?
  • Depends on the athlete’s skill level.
• 20:58 - Despite having a heavy emphasis on implicit learning, does Kasey still debrief with his athletes or give them direct instructions?
  • Overlapping elements.
• 26:39 - Using the theories to also guide communication with athletes.
• 30:13 - How coaches can know if they have actually established an effective implicit learning environment with benefits to their athletes’ performance.

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• 0:40 - Can perception action be observed in examples of limiting constraints?
• 1:39 - Discussing the efficiency of constraints: should they be used to develop certain movement patterns, or to move athletes away from undesired movement patterns?
• 3:20 - Rob’s ideal timeframe: when to change constraints.
• 7:24 - How coaches can recognize when certain coaching strategies are actually effective and worthwhile.
  • 7:40 - “Not all variability is good variability”.
• 10:22 - Importance of accepting mistakes and letting them happen.
• 11:20 - How would Rob organize the type of games within an allotted time frame during practices?
  • Constraint based games vs. straightforward/traditional games.
• 12:55 - Forward vs. backward movement study example: how the results of corrective treatment can be overshadowed by results of overemphasizing technical errors.
• 19:27 - Approaching the mental side of sports.
• 21:18 - Importance of explicit positive feedback from coaches to their athletes.
• 22:15 - “Holes” in the ecological dynamics approach of coaching.
• Where can people find more information about Rob and his new book?
  • https://perceptionaction.com

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• 0:28 - Introducing Rob.
  • Where to find Rob’s podcast + his new book, How We Learn to Move.
    • https://perceptionaction.com
• 1:51 - Describing what Rob calls the “Coaching Revolution” + what this means for coaches.
• 3:40 - Rob’s thoughts on John Wooden’s philosophy of repetition.
• 6:14 - Do laws of learning really exist?
• 7:50 - Changing constraints or purposes changes the results.
• 10:58 - Principles of Rob’s self-organization model.
• 13:05 - Taking the constraints led approach to be a “masterchef” in self-organization
• 14:58 - What constraints should be used to coach young athletes?
  • Letting them trial and error techniques
  • Letting athletes figure out solutions: giving the goals and intent of practice, but not giving them the answers
• 16:28 - First approaching a college level team: what constraints would Rob use + what would his process be like?
• 18:45 - Approaching situations where coaches might like to change technique (using the example of launch angle).
• 19:15 - Traditional approach vs constraints led approach
• 21:16 - When dealing with an athlete with a deeply ingrained technique, is it worth it to change it, or try changing something else (TIm Tebow example).
• 23:36 - In what situations should constraints be more extreme to effectively train athletes?
  • 23:49 - Deliberately using wrong technique to understand better technique.
• 25:04 - Should coaches help athletes understand the method to succeed, or just help them achieve the right technique?
• 26:23 - Describing the “connection ball” constraint.
   

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• 0:29 - How Mike adjusts games in practice based on skill level or age group.
  • Very similar across the board.
  • Based on the principle of “keeping everything together”.
  • Simplifying everything for beginners.
• 1:47 - How Mike used half court Queen of the Court to teach younger players the 6-2 rotation.
• 3:20 - How Mike is able to still develop Volleyball IQ while emphasizing a 90% playing practice philosophy.
  • Organization is key to an effective practice (example of making sure every coach and player knows their rotations).
• 5:28 - How Mike’s players have reacted to his ecological dynamics based approach compared to a more traditional approach to coaching.
• 8:46 - How parents have responded to Mike’s ecological dynamics based approach to coaching.
• 10:38 - Keeping parents engaged with the club.
  • Answering questions, explaining the club’s philosophy.
• 11:34 - Dealing with both gaining and also losing players.
• 13:00 - Studying and implementing movement patterns of athletes in a realistic environment.
• 15:39 - Simulating realistic situations compared to more unlikely and unrealistic perfect scenarios.
  • E.g. at the highest level setters are not using perfect technique, but situationally are able to adapt and execute effectively.
• 16:39 - “You’re either a setter, or you’re someone that just plays the setter position”. 
  • Instilling both confidence and identity within players.
• 18:01 - Does Mike include ques in his instruction and feedback?
• 20:03 - Why is the pre-game warmup so important, and what Mike’s looks like.
• 22:03 - Mike’s one piece of advice for coaches looking to try an ecological dynamics based approach to coaching.
   

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• 1:32 - Mike’s YouTube channel + videos he would recommend viewers/listeners start with.
  • Ecological Dynamics (Eco D).
  • Practice design
  • Link to his YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwdLRsJvwBV_UC3iANsHpng
• 2:17 - Introducing Mike: how he got into Eco D, and his experience as a club director for the North Pacific Juniors volleyball club.
  • Dealing with limited practice time.
• 4:05 - Mike’s original coaching approach/philosophy in comparison to Eco D.
• 6:23 - Determining that new coaching approaches have a direct correlation to athletes’ performance.
• 8:16 - Important things to consider in practice design.
  • Realistic drills (not necessarily framing it as “game-like”).
• 9:40 - The “Tennis” drill, and how it differs at different skill levels.
• 13:26 - What would Mike’s typical practice look like?
  • Playing 6s and competing in games.
• 15:41 - If Mike had more time, how would his practices look? Would they be more realistic, or would it be broken down more by skills?
• 17:05 - The typical time breakdown of a 4-hour practice, and what skills Mike usually works on.
  • Dynamics, serve and pass/Queen of the Court, playing 6s.
• 22:31 - Creating constraints in practices, particularly in 6s.
  • Developing communication between players specifically by restricting communication with coaches.
• 24:56 - Are there go-to constraints that consistently work?
• 27:05 - Team constraints vs individual constraints.
  • “Low-ceiling” constraint
• 29:36 - Does Mike explicitly give his players the purpose/intention of his drills/games?
• 31:12 - More examples of constraints Mike has used regularly in practice.

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Support the show: 

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• 1:03 - Drawing from his own experience, how Joe has tried to develop skills within young and beginner players.
• 3:22 - Eliminating unforced errors in high school volleyball.
  • Coaching a mentality of making the setter’s life easier.
• 7:55 - Without stats available in the early parts of the club season, how should coaches approach the triangle?
  • Focusing on transition primarily.
  • 8:41 - When first ball becomes a much more important part of the game.
• 10:07 - Joe’s experience coaching the national team at NORCECA + its importance to players involved.
• 11:04 - Difference in practice time between the national team and highschool/club, and even at the collegiate level.
  • Maximizing practice time
• 13:11 - Focused coach = focused players
• 16:45 - Breaking down the women’s national team’s win against Brazil in the Gold Medal match in relation to the triangle, and Joe’s biggest takeaways.
• 18:48 - With little time to prepare, focusing on covering up weaknesses rather than expecting a quick change in an athlete’s ability.
• 20:14 - Breaking down the men’s finals in the Olympics, and how Joe would implement the triangle in the ROC/Russia’s coaching.
  • 20:55 - Russia’s missed serves + resulting in only one ace, balancing aggressiveness with practicality/tacticality.
  • 24:05 - Making the decision to serve with the purpose of blocking + defending, or serve with the purpose of getting aces.
• 26:54 - Joe’s thoughts on + takeaways from the beach in comparison to indoors.
  • 28:01 - Increased possibilities + strategy.
• 35:56 - What Joe is looking forward to in the upcoming season.
  • Another link to his blog: https://smartervolley.substack.com/

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Support the show: 

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• 1:49 - Why Joe has been taking a break from social media and the internet + what he has gained from it.
  • 3:45 - Freeing up time to focus on his own thoughts and opening up time to write a new book/training manual.
• 4:20 - Joe’s blog (what he was originally planning on writing in a book format)
• 5:00 - What Joe thought he gained or missed by taking a break.
• 6:20 - Value of being bored + value of also taking breaks from educational resources.
  • Fostering great ideas from boredom.
• 7:14 - Joe’s blog (what he was originally planning on writing in a book format)
  • Read Joe’s blog here: https://smartervolley.substack.com/
  • Extra resources on his blog (some film, stats, etc).
• 10:59 - Joe’s triangle connecting terminal serves, first ball, and transition aspects.
• 12:36 - The extent to which the “Terminal Serves” aspect has an impact on matches from varying age levels.
• 13:55 - Putting terminal serves in the context of stats.
• 14:19 - “Our aces + opponent’s service errors” vs “Our service errors + opponent’s aces”.
• 15:16 - Measuring first ball attacking/putting it in the context of stats.
• 18:48 - Understanding transition win percentages.
• 22:25 - What to work on if one point of the triangle is successful, but another is lacking.
• 26:27 - What the standard would be in indoor volleyball + how high school volleyball practice can be structured to meet that standard and potentially go beyond it.

Get CYBO the book! https://www.amazon.com/dp/1098630904

Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/coachyourbrainsout

• Introducing Kasey, Andy, and Harjiv + why they think motor learning is important.
  • 0:42 - Kasey’s thoughts.
  • 2:00 - Andy’s thoughts.
  • 3:46 - Harjiv’s thoughts.
• 6:16 - The Guidance Hypothesis in relation to feedback.
  • 6:22 - The only law in motor learning: Fitts Law.
  • 7:19 - Using the analogy of bowling balls and bumper lanes to demonstrate the importance of removing dependence in athletes.
  • 8:30 - Information and feedback is better processed when given in a concise form + why coaches should put in the extra effort to do so. 
• 11:29 - How coaches should approach giving feedback to their athletes.
• 13:25 - How much of feedback should revolve around the athletes thoughts + using open questions to elicit feedback from athletes.
• 14:51 - Limiting feedback to avoid overloading athletes with information, while also effectively sharing information with them.
  • 15:00 - Evaluating the influence of the coach’s ego + pushing it aside to better develop athletes.
  • 17:11 - Finding the right time to offer feedback to athletes.
  • 18:32 - How the institution of self-regulated learning within athletes during practice can also be used as a constraint to main focus during matches.
• 19:43 - What do players actually benefit from becoming less reliant on coaches?
  • 20:51 - Including a step-by-step process instead of overloading athletes with information all at once.
    • Identifying critical points of tasks.
    • Correlating it to success to improve the mentality of athletes.
  • 21:56 - Precise feedback is not always the most effective feedback.
• 25:06 - Targeted feedback vs. “untargeted feedback”.
• 27:01 - Feedback is ultimately a constraint.
• 30:15 - Studying the effects of giving more feedback.
• 33:51 - Why youth coaches should hold back on giving vocal feedback without the backing of data, spreadsheets, film, etc.

Get CYBO the book! https://www.amazon.com/dp/1098630904

Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/coachyourbrainsout