One could argue that ALL of volleyball is timing: simply being in the right place at the right time to rebound the ball…
When it comes to attacking, how do we get there?
We build momentum but hold our most explosive movement until the last part of the action. This will also let you keep more vision as the ball and the play develop in front of you. The situation (block/defense/ball) will stay in your direct or peripheral visual field for longer.
More information for you = more success
Are you in-system? Out of system?
Your approach and also your attack choices often change based on this information.
What kind of shape is the ball path? Are you hitting an up and down set on the beach? A fast ball coming across your body indoors?
Reading the play and then the ball will help a lot with determining your timing.
This comes down to practice.
But a common way we can develop timing with our setters is based on our 4-step attack approach.
A high ball you probably won’t start your approach until after the setter releases the ball.
A medium ball you might have taken your first timing step: A first or second step timing.
For a fast ball you might be on the heel of your third step already.
For a middle or bic route you might be hard on your third step or even on your fourth and final step of your approach.
High level middles may already be hard on their fourth step or in the air.
Final note:
A huge reason I am a great attacker is that I grew up hitting ALL KINDS of crazy sets from ALL kinds of setters. This is a skill- to as a hitter it is NOT our job to constantly critique the sets we receive, but to kill the ball or find the best solution for that action.
As I went up in the skill level of my teams and the players I was playing with improved, the sets got better and better, but I still kept the skill of being able to adjust to and kill ALL kinds of sets.
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This is another catch phrase that I would hear a lot throughout my career. One stating that our goal is to run our
offense equally through all parts of the court. I took that to mean that I should set everyone the same amount because I was supposed to, because my
offense would then be ‘balanced’.
That thinking would be a mistake. It would not lead to the most efficient
offense.
On the surface, the bigger idea holds some merit, but it doesn’t give us the whole picture. We want to exploit and expose our opponent. That will naturally require us to unevenly distribute the ball since our offensive advantages will not be equal.
Distribution evens out once your opponent has adapted to their weaknesses and exposes new ones (aka they begin hedging to those weaknesses/disadvantages). This is the beginning of layering your offense.
We don’t want to let the blockers off the hook by distributing the ball evenly without intention.
I recognize the sentiment of ‘even distribution’ may be to emphasize that setters should be able to set the ball everywhere and not have tendencies (or should understand their tendencies so they can turn them into an advantage). This I completely agree with, but wanted to clarify that the topic is bigger and more complicated than that.
Dissecting and reframing these concepts was a key factor in me reaching the level I did. My new the goal is to pass along the ones that I believe to be valuable.
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This article was written by Cody Kessel
I get asked by younger players if there are any special weight training programs I can recommend so that they can get their verticals up—fast!
Of course I cringe a bit when I hear that question, because if I give you a program to “quickly add inches to your vert”—you will likely destroy your knees for a short-lived gain in your vertical jump test numbers—for what? It also would not necessarily translate to your long-term health as an athlete, or actually playing volleyball.
As with most things, you get out what you put in, and there’s no short-term hack to having a great leap.
But I can give you guidance on how to become a more dynamic and resilient jumping athlete, so that you can play the sport for longer, with more joy and less pain, and thereby maximize your potential.
So below is a lot of my experience and my longer answer to the more general question of “How can I jump higher?”
When I was a kid I liked jumping and I jumped a lot. I enjoyed seeing how high I could jump, how often.
Here’s a photo of me scoring a goal by jumping across the crease in lacrosse— something I really don’t recommend —because you usually get absolutely CRUSHED by a defender or goalie body check after or before you shoot this kind of a shot. It’s the equivalent of running a crossing route in football in the middle of the field right into the safety….
Anyway—I was super active as a kid growing up in Colorado Springs. I played soccer, football, basketball, handball, tennis, ultimate frisbee, judo, lacrosse, and was also a swimmer and skier. I started playing competitive volleyball when I was 12 with my dad in the Father/Son, Father/Daughter grass volleyball tournament held in Vail, Colorado over Father’s Day Weekend. My dad and I won ski lift tickets by winning our division those next few years, and I was hooked.
I played 8 years of lacrosse from ages 9-17, my other main sport, but I would always play some kind of grass or sand doubles volleyball in the summer.
In general, research in the area of long-term-athlete-development (LTAD) shows many positives that come from playing many sports when you are younger. If you do, you will likely have an athletic career with less injuries, and you are less likely to experience burnout.
This is especially applicable in a sport like volleyball where athletes often compete at their peaks in their late 20s and early 30s.
In 2008 our USA Men’s Gold Medal Volleyball Team had an average age of 31.
In 2012 the average age was 28 across all Olympic Men’s Indoor volleyball players
The average age for our USA Men’s Indoor Team this past year in Tokyo was 29.9.
Our 2021 Men’s Olympic Beach Team included Jake Gibb (45) Phil Dalhausser (41) and Nick Lucena (41)!!!
Hopefully these numbers get you to take a bit longer view in regards to your development as a volleyball player.
The foundation for my athleticism came from playing all these sports, and then I was able to upgrade it later in the weight room, which I was first exposed to at 16 at my local YMCA. I didn’t fully specialize in volleyball until I was 17. Even then, I played a mix of indoor in the winter and spring, and beach/grass in the summer.
Especially as a blocker in doubles, I would often block and try to MAX JUMP (against a real hitter in a game-like way with the right timing) whenever I could. We get good at what we spend our time doing. I spent multiple summers jumping on grass or in sand A LOT.
Much shorter and skinnier me at 17 getting in a couple game-like reps!
My Uncle Damone (pictured below with me at a CBVA tournament in Santa Monica) – first handed me a P90X yoga DVD when I was 18. A Division I football athlete himself, he said “This will help make you a beast!” Following that program in my living room for the first time was a big wake-up call to an area that many neglect: flexibility, pliability, and strength with length. I’m so grateful he handed me that DVD when he did. I think it saved me a lot of future pain points as I began to increase my range of motion and first connect more deeply with my breath and body mindfully.
Catching up with my Uncle when I was 22—still getting valuable sand reps
After high school when I was 18, I took a gap year. In that year I continued to grow, coached junior teams in my area, got stronger, and played any chance I got.
By the time I was 19 at Princeton, I was working my butt off in the weight room to get stronger, and would attend a yoga class a few times a month. And I was still getting a lot of jumping reps on the court. Attacking, blocking, and serving in a specific, game-like way.
As an opposite for four years at Princeton I got to max jump on a lot of high ball attacks and serves, and especially back row balls. Today my favorite play is still the back-row attack, pipe or D, because of the feeling of launching yourself and then flying towards the net to hammer the ball.
When you’re getting all these reps it takes a big toll on your body and joints. You need time not only for your muscles, but also for your connective tissues to adapt to the loads they are experiencing. This requires years of working really hard, and then resting. Both in the space of a given day and week, but also over months and years.
There’s the jump force you need to exert into the ground quickly to jump high but then also the massive LANDING force on your ankles, knees, hips, and low back when you land. I learned one summer with USA Volleyball that elite jumpers are landing with anywhere from 8-14x their body weight in forces. Eccentric work here–especially on one leg– can drop these forces significantly and the total amount of stress that your body experiences during a practice or game. This can be done by simply as landing softly as you can on one or two feet off of a raised box—or a rock. Land as “quietly” and absorb as much of the landing force as you can.
In the forest at my outdoor gym built during the first COVID wave
During summers while I was studying at Princeton, from age 19-23, while many of my friends were getting internships that would later land them investment banking and consulting jobs, I was grinding away in the sand and in the weight room, becoming the strong, flexible, and competitive BEAST that I am today.
I am pictured below at age 23 in the summer of 2014, becoming the youngest player (and team) to ever to win the Motherlode in Aspen, Colorado.
Those photos are also the result of many summers of work and training with my partner Skylar del Sol and others. We organized our lives and lived like professionals before we ever made any money.
True success never comes before lots of hard work.
Genetics and natural build of course play a big role in this equation. My dad and mom were both great athletes and jumpers. I ended up with a lot of fast-twitch muscle fibers available to me. If you do everything I did, and don’t have my 6’5” (197cm) limb levers, you may never get results like mine: my best I have touched is 11’11.5” for a 41” vertical (365cm, 105 cm jump) – though I think I crack 12’ in games sometimes ;)
I was lucky, but I still take pride in the fact that I continue to maximize what I was given.
As far as the weight room goes, I urge you to seek out professional help. Quality coaching here can be one of the best investments you make in your athletic career. Or at the very least follow Functional Training principles. Make sure you are training with the proper end in mind→ maximizing your strength and longevity playing the sport you love, not necessarily just getting aesthetic gym muscles to impress at the beach that don’t serve your game. For everybody (and every BODY) this will be a little different which is why finding a great coach and/or learning on your own is such a valuable part of the journey.
James C. Radcliffe’s books and work: Functional Training for Athletes At All Levels
Blogs, workouts, exercises, and stretching videos on the site Jump Science
Reading the above articles will answer 90% of questions any of you might have :) I’m still happy to provide guidance- but it’s better if you learn it for yourself!
Reid Hall’s volleyball-specific programs and videos.
Knees Over Toes Guy and Athletic Truth Group’s Mr. Infinity– affordable and great athletic programs for jumpers! I incorporate many of these exercises to supplement my main strength lifts.
Bob and Brad “The Most Famous Physical Therapists on the Internet”
Kelly Starett’s online mobility videos (Becoming a Supple Leopard)
Gary Hutt’s app PB Jumps.
These are all vetted resources by me that I have read or used. Many of them are FREE or very affordable. Or worth following on social media to give you reminders.
A huge thank you to all the coaches and trainers (as well as fellow teammates) who have helped me build my body and approach year after year: Keith from Princeton, Brian Swenty, teammate Jordan Richards and Coach Nikolas Buser in Switzerland, Stefan Hübner at Lüneburg [who kept me in great form through 3 professional seasons and exposed me to Michael Boyle’s work], Tim Pelot and Aaron Brock with USA Volleyball, and most recently Timo Kirchenberger with Berlin Recycling Volleys.
Recruit and seek out great mentors and teachers. The best available to you.
There’s also no excuse to not get creative in your movement and strength training. During COVID lockdowns I built my own gym in the forest. You can even get stronger using only your own bodyweight. But, as Taylor Averill dares, “You Won’t.”
There’s also two important technical aspects to speak about when it comes to jumping higher.
1. Footwork
right, left, right, left (for right handed spikers)
slow, faster, fastest (finish of the jump should be the fastest part!)
Taylor Crabb and the Mckibbin brothers have a great video on this: Footwork
And for so many speaking about height, there is never a height limitation ever stopping you from becoming an elite libero or setter.
At outside hitter Taylor Crabb — at 6’0” maybe 183cm— was the most valuable player indoors in 2013 in the entire NCAA for Long Beach, and now is one of the best beach volleyball players in the world
As the great coach Marv Dunphy says, “It’s not how tall you are, it’s how good or how great you are.”
2. Big double arm lift <— can add 3+ inches to your vertical
Here’s a photo I find really beautiful of Poland’s National Team in system with the pins all with great double-arm-lift (If you look closely Brazil’s pin blocker is also using it to perform a dynamic swing block)
Too often I see the double arm lift out to the side, or the arms not being fully extended (chicken-winging) which is taking height off your jump.
Another important side note– all the vertical in the world won’t mean much if you can’t be in the right place at the right time. It’s better to be a great volleyball player/attacker than to be a great jumper. Take dynamism, skills, and vision over “vertical” when it comes to our sport. Riley Salmon and Earvin Ngapeth are just two examples of “undersized” Olympic Gold Medalists at outside hitter who score and play with their other skills, their creativity and range in attack, and all the other intangibles they bring to a team. It’s not a jumping competition. It’s a volleyball competition.
As my dad would add, it’s also a learning competition- how much better can you get compared to everyone else in the world? And how quickly?
Remember to not fall in love with the weight room too much. Hopefully you want to become a great volleyball player, not a CrossFit or bodybuilding star.
When it comes to strength training IN SEASON, Less is Often More than Enough. There is actually no significant difference in regards to maximal strength gain from doing resistance training once a week compared with doing it two or three times a week. I’ll say it again, you can get very similar results from lifting once a week compared to 2x, 3x, or more. The extra session gets you approximately 4% more gain.
Point is– it’s better to get one quality session in, than to force two or three sessions that drain you. You don’t want to make a habit of it if you’re after absolute peak performance, just something to keep in mind that has served my journey well. Don’t believe me or disagree- please Do Your Own Research (DYOR) and reach out to tell me I’m wrong!
Finally I would add that huge gains can come from improving your nutrition and sleep habits– especially if you are embarking on some kind of weight plan and playing a lot of volleyball, too. The better you rest and recover, the better your body can adapt and grow from all the training stimulus it is experiencing. Great sleep also allows for more intense and beneficial work sessions the next day. It is the number one performance enhancing “drug” available to us all. Sleep and nutrition are topics for further write-ups, but they are a key part of the process.
This post also took a lot of work. It comes from many years of experience, hard work, failing, injuries, knowledge and learning.
Struggling to find your groove as an outside hitter? Or are you looking to add to your game and make a big push in the upcoming months? Fill out this 3 minute questionnaire and see if you're ready to work with Cody 1v1.
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There are many different elements that must be layered together to run an effective offense. Having a reliable and efficient middle presence is foundational to mastering the art of setting. Running the middle is special. The reason? Because as you increase your ability to run the middle Running the middle is also quite difficult. It requires trust between teammates, consistency, and speed. These things can take time to develop. With that being said, sometimes we don’t have time. A prime example is switching professional teams each year. Finding efficiency in the middle must happen quickly.
I have three guiding principles that have allowed me to adjust quickly and ultimately create the most efficient offence possible.
1. Consistent release – This is one of the easiest to implement and most difficult to master. This will increase the potency of the trust that you build with your middles. If they always know how the ball will be delivered, they are less likely to second guess the set or themselves. This is important. It is also important because then when the connection isn’t there, it is easier to evaluate and make adjustments.
Quite early on in my development who had a coach with the philosophy that many setters have a ‘fast’ release when setting outside and a ‘slow’ release when setting middle. I took this to heart and began investigating other setters. The highest level of setter never made this mistake, but I was almost ever present in those yet to master the position. Consider why this is the case. When setting the ball to the outside, there is a considerable distance that the ball must go. So, naturally, there is an impulse put into the ball that forces it out of your hands quickly. Now, when trying to find a connection in the middle, we tend to become hesitant and think our way through it. Once this process starts it is vicious. Because not only are we beginning to second guess ourselves, the time (nanoseconds) the ball is spending in our hands begins to become inconsistent which leads to the middle’s timing to become inconsistent and then the middle begin to second guess themselves. I have seen this drama play out many times within teams and programs. The simplest way to assure you will release consistently is to make the release time (and hold) and quick as possible. This means the ball must be in your hands and releasing from your hands in the shortest amount of time. There are a few tendencies to watch out for that prevent setters from being able to accomplish this. The first, the ball ‘recoils’ in the hands. This can sometimes look like a setter with very ‘soft’ hands or like they are trying to place the ball perfectly. This leads to all sorts of problems. The second, the setter is in their final hand position too early. This causes them to lose all momentum and ultimately creates a weak framework to set from. As a setter we must always be aware of our relationship with the momentum we present on court. Finally, not getting to the ball strong and quickly enough. This one is obvious, but worth mentioning. If you find yourself having a great connection in perfect situations and unable to connect when slightly off perfect, this may be the root of the problem.
2. Speed – If a consistent release is mastered, this makes increasing the speed of your set much easier. Speed is a core element to running an offence to any position but is especially important in the middle because it dictates your fastest route. The middle is known as the first tempo. It is what blockers must first be worried about. If you fail to make your opponent afraid of your middle attack, they are in a good position. We never want to put blockers in good positions. One very simple trick that I added in my game to make the first tempo faster was to set on my way up, just before the peak of my jump. This means that my momentum would be going into the ball and ultimately create a quicker release. It is important to note that in doing this you must adjust your timing of the start of the set, since time will elapse differently. Another thing to consider or look at over video is where the peak of your set is. As a rule of thumb, for anything close to your body (51,61,41 in the Canadian lexicon) should never peak. The ball should be on its way up when contact is made. This is relatively easy to spot on video. When running anything away from the setter (31,shoot,7,step) speed will be indicated by how close to peak is to the attacker (or on the way up as well). This is a way to use some simple physics to understand how fast the connection is between you and your attacker.
3. Range – Being able to adapt to the approach of your middle and run them from anywhere is undeniably a useful skill. Keeping a consistent release and speed in your set while being creative will allow you to begin adding layers into your offence. Make it look like your opponents shoes are untied. Being able to force the middle will instantly increase efficiency on all areas of the court, yielding the kind of returns we all want to see. There is another quality that I believe to be worth mentioning. I have no doubt that it will increase your ability to perform and boost your teams efficiency. That is Trust. It stems from being an open, growth mindset athlete and understanding that almost all of volleyball is relational. Once again, this skillset is universal when setting anyone, but its role is heightened when setting the middle because of how quickly decisions must be made. It is crucial as you increase the speed and range of your set. It comes from understanding how your teammates tick. Who they are and what they value. It is worth putting in the time. These are a few ideas and tips to help you develop your own ability to run the middle and increase the efficiency of your offence. Stay disciplined, get creative, and get after it.
Do you or your favorite setter want to learn more about working 1v1 with TJ? Fill out this small questionnaire, so we can learn more about where you are, your goals and if TJ can empower and enrich the clarity and mindfulness that you set with.
]]>So you want to go play professional volleyball?
If you’re an aspiring NCAA or Canadian USports athlete who wants to go play professionally overseas, you would be better served to think about how you came to play at the college you are at.
If you were recruited- you know what kind of a process it was! Maybe years of relationship building, calls, texts, in-person visits, tournaments with coaches scouting you, sending video, looking at different options, and finally deciding. Additionally, you had and needed help because you wanted to find the best situation not only for your volleyball career but for your growth as a human being. Do the same here.
Inform yourself
Have conversations with any current or ex-pro players you know or can get to know.
There are many humans who have done this or are doing this thing you want to do. Make it easy for them to help you.
Read the other articles like the ones at the end of this post
Scour sites like Volleybox, Volleyhead, or World of Volley, to orient yourself (almost all pro leagues also have websites)
Recruit help you can trust (can be difficult with some agents or interested parties maybe not having your best interest at heart–more on that later) remember that you’re entering the professional business world of sport
Keep honing your craft and your process– continue to actually improve as a professional, taking advantage of every training or playing opportunity you get.
Many of the same things also apply to both processes:
How are your skills?
How physical are you? (this was an edge for me)
What position(s) do you play? Is there space for players of your position on that team?
What are your goals? etc.
You should also talk to a BUNCH of different people about it who have been through it. Everyone only has their experiences they can draw from, so have conversations with as many people as you can about the process and take it all as information to serve you and your path. This article should also just be taken as additional information for you.
While you may love volleyball so much you want to be a professional, unless you are a tremendously skilled libero or setter, your height/jump at this final level of play will require you to be a front row player able to touch over 11 feet ( 340 cm) for men and 10 feet (305 cm) for women, and you must be able to play the whole game. You must have a great serve (effective jumper or jump float), good blocking and hitting skills, be able to defend and receive, and at least set out of system balls.
Some USA women face an additional challenge because their substitution rules in high school and college do not match international play. EVERYWHERE else in the world plays under FIVB rules–the same used in international play like the Olympics, where a team is only allowed 6 substitutions (3 in and out–and only once per player, per set.) Not 12 or 14. So even though defensive specialists and serving subs still exist, you likely need to know how to play the complete game. There is no “front row” outside hitter, middles must serve and play defense, etc. Because the level of NCAA women’s play is quite high compared to other women’s leagues around the world, top Division I talent will sometimes graduate early or leave school to join a professional team in December or January after the NCAA season ends. You can find a list of which clubs US players went to in 2020/21 here. The updated list for 2021/22 might be out soon.
If you’re a guy finishing your senior season in April or May, you are already very late to the market for professional players that happens every year. Most professional seasons in Europe run September-April. Many teams begin filling their new rosters starting in January or February now. So this whole process just got a whole lot more difficult for your first season. I understand not wanting to feel rushed into a decision, that’s never a good way to go, but there is some element of time pressure to understand.
(not something Canadian USports athletes must worry about)
There is “debate” as to when you can talk to foreign teams/agents- with many players choosing to not deal with it at all until their season ends (the end of senior year also being a special time socially for many players). I sat through many NCAA compliance meetings that had me scared to touch anything “professional” or “agent” with a ten-foot pole. So I didn’t speak with agents or managers until after my season ended in May (which seems silly to me now). But you CAN speak with anyone, you always can. You can just NEVER enter into ANY kind of agreement or EVEN VERBALLY enter into an agreement that any kind of negotiations can be done on your behalf with any team, coach, or agent to be represented, to negotiate a contract or your professional skills.
Follow the rules and whatever your coach/school says–including the new Name, Image, Likeness guidelines– I just don’t want you to be scared into any unnecessary or unfriendly silence. If you choose to wait just know that might put you a bit behind on information gathering, networking, and potentially on your first contract.
You could, for example, speak with an agent or even go to dinner with them as long as you don’t enter into ANY kind of agreement and you pay for your meal and transportation.
Next thing I will say about agents is to pay attention to how well their network and skills match your goals as a player. I had success in college, but I was still a late bloomer and wanted to continue to develop my skills and be exposed to the best volleyball I could in hopes of playing for the National Team one day. These things take time. Chiara Castagnetti knew how to work with players like me to develop their careers out of college. Not all agents care to even work with these kinds of players. Some of the “top” agents do not care about you at all if you are not a national team starter. For sure they are great agents. But they might not be for you.
Pay attention also to the agencies that have a lot of players. They may not have the time or the resources to truly attend to you.
Also understand the work that goes into it. If you’re starting out with a net salary of 10k (which could be a GREAT contract to start out with!), there is a lot of work, research, and networking across multiple countries over months or years of relationship building that earns these agents maybe $800 (and maybe less or at a loss after European taxes and any costs they incur when doing business). Reaching out to all the teams, writing an airtight contract, checking that things stay professional and on track throughout the season, etc.
Why do you even need an agent?! Technically you don’t – clubs and players sometimes try to save on fees this way, but I would not recommend that- both for your current situation and for your future. Besides the connections, support, guidance, and mentorship they can provide, you are protected in ways you hopefully never have to deal with, and in general have a bit more power and security than you would have without one.
There is an international governing body for the sport of volleyball, the FIVB, who monitors all these player transfers and the activity of the clubs and agents as best as they can. The FIVB-licensed agents are much more legitimate because the FIVB can also bring sanctions (fines or disqualifications) against FIVB licensed agents. There is no control possible against unlicensed agents.
The FIVB also works with National Governing Bodies like USA Volleyball. Luckily, the fees that USA Volleyball takes to process a transfer are some of the lowest in the world (around $500 for non-national team players) + 2000 Swiss francs every season that all must pay to the FIVB.
If you’re not a star player it can be difficult to find a “good” agent. Someone with passion who is working for pennies or doesn’t take advantage of players. When all is said and done maybe 5-10% of the contract goes to the agents, paid by the clubs. And legally they cannot receive more than 10%.
Another thing working against non-EU/foreign players is the foreigner limit. Countries like Finland and Germany have no limit on foreign players, but almost all others do. And most teams will want to have many local players, not only for local sponsors and advertising, but also because they are not paying the transfer fees. COVID times have made these scarce opportunities even harder to come by, as leagues and teams all across the world lose money or close.
And yes, you’re now in a competitive international market for players from all over the world who want the same job as you. Not easy!
Navigating this scene for the first time, I learned I could trust my current agent Chiara Castagnetti who can be reached at chiarac7@hotmail.com. For more on agents, and this process of what you can do to prep a volleyball CV- fellow journeyman Dustin Watten has written it better than I can and you should read his write-up here. Basically, since agents, coaches, etc. can’t come watch you in person, you have to rely on video. Maybe a highlight video to catch their eye, then a couple full matches against good competition. Along with general information about you. These people know volleyball, they can see quality and just want to see how you move, how you play, how you interact, etc.
If you go to a school with “a name” or longer-term legacy— it’s also a plus. UCLA, Hawaii, Long Beach, Penn State, BYU, USC, Ohio State carry more weight internationally still.
Another thing to understand is that if you’ve been playing volleyball at a university or college you’ve already been quite lucky! To be a student-athlete (with support from your school in all kinds of ways on and off the court) is a very unique situation when compared with how the rest of the world experiences school, sport, and volleyball. If you’re leaving from an elite Division I school, especially as a woman, your first “professional” team might feel like a step down in terms of the club environment compared to your experience as an NCAA student-athlete (you might not have an athletic trainer present at every practice, you might not have a specific lifting coach, you might have one assistant coach, you might have a scout, etc.)
Canada and the United States are basically the only countries with school-sponsored sports programs. Some other nations do have government-sponsored sports activities (like those provided by USA Volleyball and Volleyball Canada), but most of the time sports and school are split and have to be navigated on their own terms.
Most foreign volleyball professionals you will play with started their careers at 17, maybe 18 after their equivalent of high school. Some continue school on the side when they can, some don’t.
This late-to-market aspect and joining the scene at around age 21 also contributes further to the need to “establish yourself” in the first season in the professional scene. Prove to yourself and to future teams that you can handle the lifestyle, that you still enjoy it, and you can still compete and perform at a high level when volleyball becomes your job. (I don’t have stats but I would say 60% of players only play one or two seasons before going back home).
My personal (very) simplified path was:
Played well at Princeton (2nd Team All-America)
Leaned on my network and also was helped (saved) by my now agent, Chiara Castagnetti who helped me navigate the professional scene (at first I physically signed a contract as an OH4 in Italy, celebrated personally and with family and friends, but there were “complications”…) eventually I landed my first contract as an opposite in Switzerland at Volley Schönenwerd.
Played mediocre, got injured, missed most of the season but was able to stay and receive medical care in Switzerland and acted as a data volley assistant coach until the end of the season.
Coach Stefan Hübner and Lüneburg took a chance on this “Rohdiamant” (Rough Diamond) at outside hitter for the season 2016/17
Three years loving life and volleyball in Lüneburg at a great club
Now going on season three of loving life and volleyball in Berlin at one of the most professional clubs in the world: Berlin Recycling Volleys
(you can follow the professional path of players–and transfer news/rumors on VolleyBox. An unofficial LinkedIn for the international volleyball world. Here’s my profile.)
I have also contributed to the National Team Gym and competed on a number of USA teams, a highlight was earning best attacker honors in my hometown of Colorado Springs at the NORCECA Champions Cup in 2019.
Other miscellaneous considerations.
Maybe you’ve played 4 or 5 month seasons before. What about 8 or 9 months?
Can you cook? (I had to “learn” again after 4 years of mostly dining hall meals)
Can you drive a manual car? Maybe the club will have an automatic available, maybe.
That’s also if you’re not relying on public transportation. You may also have to share a car or apartment with other players.
You will miss the Fall, Thanksgiving, Christmas holidays, and spring with friends and families. You will miss weddings, births, and countless moments with loved ones.
What will the living situation be like? Remember that if you’re not on our National Team and there are no agents blowing up your phone, you’re probably headed somewhere to work a difficult and demanding job for maybe a little above minimum wage.
For many who earn a college degree, eventually this tradeoff of time and energy does not make sense or become worth it quickly enough.
I was prepared. I knew it would be a struggle. I knew from hearing stories and reading about the scene for years some of the challenges to expect. Going to a place I had never been to, away from my friends and relations, to go all in on myself and take a risk to play the sport I love as a professional.
Luckily for me, I love playing volleyball.
If you don’t like the idea of waking up tired and sore, after a 0-3 loss where you didn’t play well and you got beat by a far better team, to go to the gym early to get extra repetitions on a skill you’re not so strong in, going through a poorly-designed practice with half-motivated players who don’t speak to you in your language, having to stop at the grocery store where you still can’t read the labels yet, to make some food and recover because tomorrow is an 11-hour bus ride across the country to go play an away match…
Then this path might not be for you.
But if this idea still sounds like fun to you; if you can still find, connect, or create meaning, a “why” for all this chosen struggle. If you can channel that passion and drive day after day after day. If you love adventure, experiences, dealing with the best and worst of people, then you’re in for a ride that will challenge your character, drive, grit, focus, passion, interpersonal skills, consistency, resiliency and more.
Your path will include the highest highs and lowest lows. I’ve come back from down 0-2 to win a match in front of a full home crowd that sent us into a Cup Final match with 10,000 spectators. In a similar high stakes match I’ve also been on the receiving end of an upset after being up 2-0 with no fans in the crowd.
And that’s just on the court outcomes of the team. Something that is never in your direct control.
You CAN control your process and how you work, how you compete, your attitude, your energy, your girt, gratitude, and determination.
Another skill that served me well on this path is that I’m a great learner. To just take the last example, I dove deep and dissected why we faced that bitter upset, why we faded against a team that was not as talented as we were. Besides technical and team aspects, as well as the randomness of sport, I learned that they recently had begun fueling themselves with extremely high quality food. The entire team. I have no doubt that that was an edge in this 5-set match. Luckily, I was able to learn from that and incorporate that into my process and my game, and the game of my team for the next season. This is just one way I seek to learn and compete against my past “failures” and opportunities to improve.
I’m a competitor, and in this way and in others I am competing to be the best person and player I can be day in, day out.
When you choose this competitive lifestyle, you don’t always win. But I loved it regardless.
Injured with an ankle the size of a balloon and out for months? Still loved it.
Sitting on the bench even though you were giving everything you had inside you, grinding in the gym and the weight room and in all the other areas of your life, preparing for months to play one point as one blocking sub and you were a centimeter away from blocking one of the best attackers in the world...but you actually got tooled...still loved it and wanted more and stayed hungry to improve.
You’re joining the entertainment industry in one way, because that is what puts butts in seats, eyes on screens, and sponsors interested. But a lot of this business is about winning.
Chasing Olympic success and glory, as Hugh McCutcheon says, is working four years to be good for two weeks, to hopefully be good for two hours. The professional scene is equally unforgiving.
Those who have experienced it know, and that’s why you hear so much talk about “process.” Because it’s the only thing in our control. The score ultimately takes care of itself.
This is a small glimpse into my journey of becoming the best player and person I can be-one which continues. Volleyball has given me so much, and I want to continue to give back to the sport, too.
Volleyball journeyman Dustin Watten on Going Pro (linked above)
https://www.dustywatten.com/blogs/news/so-you-want-to-go-pro-heres-what-you-need-to-know
Finding the right situation (This may not always be overseas)
https://marklebedew.com/2011/04/10/a-guide-to-playing-volleyball-professionally/
Some random reads on the topic at large to get a better understanding of the career path you are considering:
https://www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/spiking-for-dollars/
Satire but also not wrong: http://www.thepathimon.com/blog/job-posting-professional-volleyball-player
The Path to Being a Pro Volleyball Player by Dad (John Kessel)
Bring it USA has been in the space for decades doing travel tours, player exposure tours, and more
Note**: At some point you will need a work visa to go work in whatever country! Sometimes the club can take care of this after you arrive. SOMETIMES NOT! Players have missed months of their seasons waiting on a visa or getting caught in international problems that way.
***Sometimes this is actually also an opportunity: If you can get any kind of European passport—GET IT
****Working holiday programs between countries can also open up opportunities Austria anyone? (if you’re from Canada, Chile, Australia, Israel, New Zealand….etc.) also note that these processes can take a long time but it means that teams won’t need to process the working visa.
“Cody Kessel ‘15 Lives Pro Volleyball Dream in Germany”
Thank you to Julian Moses at Volleyhead who originally inspired me to write this.
If you’ve read all this, and STILL want to pursue professional or semi-professional volleyball, then this path might truly be for you. Please reach with any further specific questions and I can assist you on your journey.
You can follow my journey on social media: @codykessel, read my occasional newsletter, dig into moments from my old blog, or shoot me an email at: kesselcody@gmail.com
Looking forward to hearing from you and reading about your journey soon.
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The exercise was to write a letter to my present self (10 months from now) and to get clear on my grandest version of myself.. to not hold anything back - how great could that version be! From there, my coach and I began to reverse engineer my vision and we began to work more intentionally and purposeful in alignment towards that self. It's the same exercise I have the noezybuckets athletes and the private clients I work with write. The athletes I work with get very clear and very specific on this grandest version of themself, what they achieved, the teams they made, how well they did, individual awards, the routines and habits they committed to, the sacrifices they made to ensure they were prioritizing their goals and if all that work was worth it. To finish the letter, they describe their new goals, aspirations and vision for themselves going into the next year.
It's the best feeling to hear and see them read to me - their vision and belief of their grandest version, while listing all the routines/habits they've committed and the sacrifices they've made on their quest. To evolve, I believe we must first get clear on our goals - it's not necessarily a finish line, it's more of a compass. Regardless of where we are in our journey, we will all have "bad games" dark days and doubts that will seemingly anchor us to port - but with this compass, we can begin our journey with confidence.
One of the things in the letter I wrote, was I wanted to be the best libero in Poland.
Last year I was 2nd best receiving libero
The year before I was 5th best
Maybe I'll finish 1st this year, maybe I won't.
It's not necessarily my ranking that dictates my definition of success, rather, it's the intention, purpose and my ability to reframe the circumstances and situations I find myself in when things don't go my way that will define it. My goal is to work, live and embody the characteristics of the best receiver, every single day. You can access this consciousness too. Only your belief system is holding you back, I know this.. because I held myself back as well. If you want to get clear on your vision of your grandest self and begin crafting the intentional work that will get you there faster - DM me "allin" and me and my team will see if you're ready to work with me 1v1. I'm ALL IN on myself and the next generation of ballers - If I can do it, so can you.
If you would like to know more about the 1v1 partnership with me, email me at dustinwatten@gmail.com and my team and I will get back to if you or your favorite athlete meets the criteria.
Want to read the letter I wrote to myself 2 years ago? Read below
These last 10 months have been amazing as I have not only committed to and grown my daily routine but I have gotten outside my comfort zone to share my message of mindfulness to so many people throughout the world. By making sure the first 90 minutes of the day are spent meditating and writing, I’ve been able to start each day with a clear and intentional mind, soaking myself in the philosophy and mindfulness that I find so beneficial in life. Committing to an early morning schedule of meditating for a hour and writing for 30 minutes has been tough in the past but by being disciplined and getting great sleep, I’ve been able to wake up with a surplus of energy and a decisive plan on what I wanted to write about from the night before.
By writing about philosophy, stoicism, mindfulness and how these topics can benefit the modern day athlete, I’ve been able to feel more confident in my ability to vocalize what I’ve felt on the court and speak to audiences around the USA. Not only has this benefitted athlete around the USA but by committing to my hour morning meditation and writing upon waking, I’ve given myself the gift of mindfulness and strength to deal with the inevitable struggles in training and in games – navigating these challenges with poise and confidence – leading my best season of my career and earning best Libero in the Plus-Liga. My huge year in Poland, translated into an immense confidence as I returned to Team USA, training at even a higher level and traveling with the team in VNL, where I started some games but mostly came into games as a defensive libero, making big plays to help the team win a gold medal in the Final 6 in Italy.
A lot of my success in Poland and with Team USA can be linked to the work I’ve done with my visualization coach and with this success and knowledge, I toured around California speaking about the benefits to different schools and teams. After returning to the USA and leading up to our official training block, I’ve traveled throughout southern California speaking to teams, schools and being guests on different podcasts, sharing my journey of becoming plant based, pursuing mindfulness and the benefits of working with intention on and off the court. After a couple of speeches to schools and youth teams, I was hired by USA Volleyball to speak at their HP camps for $5,000, the first paying job of the summer but not the last, as I spoke several more times to USA affiliated events. During my time in Poland, I began to build my brand, NO EZY BUCKETS – speaking about the grit and resilience which is in every athlete’s power to seek different edges outside the court, mostly through mindfulness practices such as journaling and to look at failures welcoming as their biggest gifts and teachers.
I released my first journal with my PR manager and it was bought by the NCAA. It was first used in a trial run by the University of Tennessee but the trial run went so well, that they increased the test schools by 1,000. We are currently, formulating the 2nd edition of the journal and will be selling them to the public as well. Before I returned to Poland, I made a quick tour around 10 NCAA Schools speaking about the journal, mindfulness, intention and how all student athletes can use journaling as an edge to be a little better than they were yesterday. Each of these speaking gigs earned me $2,000. Back in Poland with my team and I am still enjoying the rush of training, competing and improving. On my free time, I am writing much more in longer formats for my blog. When I return to the USA, my focus will be on touring more campus’ to speak about the journal and I will be making trips around the country speaking about Stoicism and how it has related to me through sports and to others in business and how they can be more productive with how they relate their focus.
Problems
Imposter syndrome
Repetition
Clarity on end game
Where do I even start
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It’s the twitch.
Facebook usage continues to climb with the average user now spending upwards of 50 minutes per day on the site, yet more studies show that the more time we spend on Facebook, the less happy we are. I found that my lowest-energy days, the ones where I felt the worst at the end of the day, were the ones I spent scrolling through social media feeds intermittently as Facebook and Instagram provide a constant distraction from what I could be focusing or how I could be growing. Writer, Anthony Ongaro notes that social media is “like sugar, sure it tastes good and it’s fun to eat, but you can’t live on it. It’s largely empty calories and isn’t intended to keep us healthy and well in the long-term.” This past week I decided to take a break from ‘sugar’ and to go one full week without access to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram while documenting my experience.
The Results:
Day 1: I felt a consistent urge and need to document my day, wanting to post and create stories, rather than just experiencing life, moment by moment.
Day 2: I was more conscious of the ‘twitch’ to document the events throughout the day but today I was able to be more present and just enjoy my day, whether it was the beautiful sunrise to start the day or watching my Polish teammates sing happy birthday to one of my teammates. I was able to observe and enjoy each moment without an urge to capture it. Instead of reaching for my phone, I was present – which brought a deeper feeling of joy.
Day 3: I experienced much more clarity during the mundane tasks throughout the day like reading, cleaning and writing. By not having access to my phone, there were no distractions and more importantly, there were no temptations of escaping the work that needed to be done. Instead of documenting my meal at the vegan restaurant, or flipping through the news feed, I was able to connect and have a long conversation with my teammate throughout the meal and learn more about him.
Day 4: I noticed how much more time I have in the morning, without my usual scrolling and replying to messages. With this abundance of time without any stimuli, I spent catching up on some reading and enjoyed my breakfast with no rush. In the afternoon when I experienced a little discomfort, I was able to pause and ask myself the question “what would be the most beneficial use of my time?” Instead of going on Facebook or logging on Instagram, I spent that time reading a book that I had left on the shelf for over a couple of months.
Day 5: I went to my favorite coffee shop, where I enjoy to reading and writing on my free weekends. Most of my visits, I will sit down and attempt to read but eventually I end up reaching for my phone, sharing what I am doing or scrolling on Instagram. Today, I spent 10 minutes reading until I felt this ‘discomfort’ but without access to Instagram – I observed the feeling, I let it be and then continued reading. I read close to triple the amount I usually do, as I was able to focus on one task without any distractions for the first time in this environment.
Day 6: Saturday nights are usually quite boring for me as I prefer to get to bed early over chasing the night but this night was different as two of my teammates were celebrating their birthday party at a local club and the whole team went out. I went out, got back late and woke up pretty tired, which lead to me to me sprawling out over the couch and grabbing my phone. I opened the lock screen only to remember that I had no access to any social media nor the ability to scroll through my news feed. I closed my phone, then I opened it up again and proceeded to repeat the same thing 4 times!!! After the fourth time, I sat up, asked myself “what would be the most productive thing to do” and I got to work.
Day 7: It’s the seventh day as I write this and throughout the week not only was I able to be much more productive but I was able to commit to deeper work, as I was much more efficient in crossing off my list, filled with micro tasks. (in the beginning of the year, I averaged around 24 tasks left unchecked, before this week my previous low was 10, this past week it was 3!) Without social media, I was able to commit and prioritize reading, writing and meditating (3 sessions of 30 minutes each day) I was able to be present with my teammates, enjoy each moment longer, move from task to task with clarity but most of all, I was able to empower myself, minimizing distractions and doing more of what matters!
So what now?
Social media isn’t all bad is it? I’ve been able to connect with people all over the world, I’ve been able to link up with like-minded people that I am able to have great conversations with, meet other vegan athletes scattered across the U.S. and share the values and priorities that has helped me get to where I am today with the next generation of athletes. I believe social media is a powerful tool, one we can use to create meaningful connections, share useful information and help empower others - we just have to use it properly. Just like a hammer, Anthony Ongaro notes, “you can use it to build something beautiful or whack someone over the head with it. It isn’t inherently good or evil, it just is.” Social media has helped me connect with thousands of athletes, it's helped me create the community over at noezybuckets and share the failures and setbacks I've experience in the hopes to bringing more clarity, insight and confidence to the next generation of athletes.
Does this sound exactly like the intentional work you or your favorite athlete would like to work? I know not every athlete is getting the intentional work and care they would like on and off the court and that's why I began working with athletes 1v1. At first it was with collegiate athletes like Mason Briggs (All American at CSULB) and Zoe Fleck (All American at UCLA) but as of recently, I've opened up these partnerships to High School athletes as well. To see if you or your favorite athlete are the right fit, email me at dustinwatten@gmail.com - at the moment of writing this post, we have one spot open.
Have the best day ever.
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James Clear, author of Atomic Habits writes, “too often as athletes, we convince ourselves that massive success requires massive action.” Whether it is making a team, becoming a starter, or winning a championship or achieving any other goal, “we put a ton of pressure on ourselves to make some earth-shattering improvement that will blow everyone away. Meanwhile, improving by 1 percent isn’t particularly notable – sometimes it isn’t even noticeable – But it can be far more meaningful, especially in the long run. The difference tiny improvement can make over time is astounding.” Clear mentions how “In the beginning, there is basically no difference between making a choice that is 1 percent better or 1 percent worse. (In other words, it won't impact you very much today.) But as time goes on, these small improvements or declines compound and you suddenly find a very big gap between people who make slightly better decisions on a daily basis and those who don't.”
What are Habits, Why are they important?
Habits are a behavior that has been repeated enough times to be performed more or less automatically. They are the compound interest of self-improvement and what I believe we should focus for, in our quest for obtaining any size of goal. The same way that money multiplies through compound interest, the effects of you habits multiply as you repeat them. They seem to make a little difference on any given day and yet the impact they deliver over the months and years can be enormous. It is only when looking back two, three, or perhaps four months later that the value of good habits and the cost of bad ones becomes strikingly apparent. Making a choice that is 1 percent better or 1 percent worse seems insignificant in the moment, by over the span of moments that make up a lifetime these choices determine the difference between who you are and who you could be.
Some habits when performed consistently present clear feedback: like committing our self to a structured, consistent workout plan. We will see the results physically manifest when we look in our the mirror, after a couple of months showing up and pushing our body every other day. Some habits aren’t as clear, like the awareness, mindfulness and stillness acquired through committing to a consistent meditation practice. It may take awhile to feel the difference of the benefit of making meditation a consistent habit. We may experience a ‘negative’ stimuli outside of us – that would of previously initiated a unconscious response (cursing, yelling, shutting down) where as now, we find ourselves taking a deep breath, observing the initial emotional response and choosing the response that best represents our highest self. Powerful!
“Success is the product of daily habits – not once in a lifetime transformations.”
James Clear
To those watching the 2015 World League Bronze Medal match, I was an ‘overnight success’ for Team USA, starting and winning a Bronze medal in my second match ever with Team USA. But for those who really know my story, it was a six year journey in the Team USA gym. In those 6 years, I rarely trained with the top 14 players and I went all six years without making a traveling roster. I did find ways to grow each and every day, investing in intentional and consistent work on and off the court – getting extra repetitions once practice was over, studying film, reading mindset books and training my awareness through a mindful meditation practice. Those six years of marginal gains, made sure I was able to make the most of my opportunity when the starting libero went into the bench, injuring himself. Like Clear writes, “all big things come from small beginnings. The seed of every habit is a single, tiny decision. But as that decision is repeated, a habit sprouts and grows stronger” – allowing you to grow into your best version. This is why when working with our NEB athletes, I made sure that they were ready to commit to a full year of working with me, to be intentional, consistent and to make small gains over a course of 12 months.
If you’re ready to begin investing in yourself and commit to the intentional work each and every day to grow into your best version – maybe I can help. I am currently working 1v1 with private clients, the same way I am working with NEB athletes such as Zoe Fleck (UCLA Libero) Mason Briggs (CSULB Libero) and Eric Loeppky (Team Canada OH). Email me at dustinwatten@gmail.com – let me know where you are currently, your biggest goal and a roadblock you face today. Me and my team will see if you’re right for our program and working with me 1v1.
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2016 Team USA Olympian
CEV Champions League Winner & MVP I NCAA Player of the year
On the volleyball court the setting position is arguably the most complex of them all. The reason is most likely because this position has a lot of variables within it. We need a clear mind, efficient feet, strong core, squared shoulders, fast wrists, shaped hands, know our attackers, be aware of the opponents block, sideout, transition etc. This can make the growth within the position complex and at times incredibly challenging. One of the greatest things though is the reward a setter feels when forging great connections with his/her attackers as well as finding that flow and fun and creativity that comes with running an offense.
Seeking Answers or Trusting our self?
I want to start by saying I think there is a very healthy balance between seeking answers outside of ourselves, while at the same time trusting our own self and believing in what feels right to you. That being said, watching video and studying other setters and having a role model and striving to do things like that one setter we love to watch is A-OKAY! But it’s also A-OKAY to strive to be yourself more and more each day. To trust yourself and your own uniqueness. Saeed Marouf (Iran Men’s National Team Setter) says it beautifully: “As an athlete I think every player in each sport has his own character. I don’t like to be like another person and I also give this advice to other young players. I think everybody has their own character, their own style, so it’s better to play like yourself. So I try to play like myself.”
Saeed is arguably one of the best male setters in the world right now and he encourages other players not to be like him but instead to shine in their own way. I love this message because within it there is a hint of openness. It allows for the differences between setters to be a good thing and not a thing to “fix” or to morph everyone into the same box. I’ve played this position for over twenty years. I have had somewhere around fifty different head coaches and played for and represented teams in five different countries. I have been asked to change and modify parts of my setting so many times that it is absolutely impossible to keep track. Throughout my years of playing and competing, and over the last week of talking to some of the best setters in the game right now, I truly believe there are a myriad of ways to be great within this position. Hopefully within these pages there are tips and tools you can walk away with that will help you be better in some way.
The first piece of setting I want to talk about, and argued by many as the most important single piece to setting, is our hands. The reason this is argued is because where your hands actually finish, the line they finish on, is where the ball will physically end up going. Since our main objective as a setter is to set repeatable and consistent hittable balls for our attackers, it makes sense that we spend A LOT of time working on our hands.
At a young age, the ripe age of 8, I started lifting weights. I bring this up because I’m a firm believer in building strength, in working out, and in focusing some of our attention on the foundational work that strength building can provide us. The stronger we are the more we can do. I remember doing hand specific strength work and forearm strength work, shoulder work, all the way down through my body. I was told early on that this kind of work would transfer to the court and help me be better. 100% truth. At the base of setting we want to start with ball-shaped hands. We want to create a place for the ball to enter and exit so that the ball isn’t sitting too long but also long enough to feel some control over where it will end up. Ball-shaped hands is probably the most common way we hear this.
Here is a cue for our hands that can be very useful: Let the ball come to you. Use that time when the ball is coming down to take in as much information as you can so that you can make a great decision on where to set the ball. What this helps me with is not being too anxious and early to reach for the ball. I want to have a high starting point, slightly above my forehead, arms bent at the elbows, prepped and waiting for the ball…but I do not want to reach and go to get the ball before the ball gets to me. We want to feel in control, we want to feel powerful, we want to feel capable of setting either direction as often as possible. This idea for me to prep my hands and allow the ball to come to me helps me stay neutral and more in control.
Where our hands finish the ball goes.
When I am struggling with locating the ball it usually has to do with where my hands are finishing. That said, I spend time every day reminding myself to make sure my hands are holding a split second before dropping them down and moving onto the next movement of play. This split second finish guides the ball to the spot I’m aiming for. Our hands do this work the most. There are times that our feet may be array or our shoulders may not be completely square and facing where we would ideally like to be…but with a strong purposeful finish - we can still get the ball set to the place we need it to be. Every setter has different sized hands, different strength abilities and different physical statures. I will not say that there is one single best way to use your hands. I for example have incredibly flexible fingers so the ball sits in my hands a little bit longer than other setters. Some setters have very rigid fingers and the ball sort of flings out of theirs. These differences make our setting movements differ and that is ok!
What I will claim though, is that the line your hands finish on is where the ball will go. So having a mindful approach to your finish will do you great good. Watch the greatest in the world. Ask the greatest in the world. The finish is one of the most common topics. Where are your hands finishing? When I was young we called it the Superman finish. Big strong hands set the ball and then my arms and hands were to stay up like Superman until the ball reached it’s peak height on the way to it’s destination. This was an exaggeration at the time but it created a firm memory in my brain that my finish was a really important piece to each and every one of my sets.
Don’t be afraid to build muscle. Work out. Lift weights. May your hands be STRONG. Let the ball come to you and work on having prepped hands that are ready to receive the ball. Finish your set. Hold your hands on the line you wish the ball to travel on and guide it to it’s destination. You are in control.
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To Split or not to Split?
Comment below your thoughts on the Split Step. As I have said in the past and will continue to repeat "there is no right way to pass." There are many schools of volleyball that differ, contrast and produce great receivers. I will be very honest about my journey as a passer - as my life, career depends on me being as simple/optimized/consistent as possible.
Day 1 in the Passing Course is all about the Split Step and the 4 different ways, I see it used at the highest level. If you haven't gotten the Passing Course yet, there is a Free version and there is the full video course - feel free to email me at dustinwatten@gmail.com - I'll create a discount code for you. Click Learn more to get the course, continue reading on the changes I've made this year on my Split Step.
The split step is something I was never taught - I was always taught to be still. But being still, left me getting aced on short jump serves and short float serves alike in my 1st season in Poland - I needed to find a better way, as I wasn't going to increase my speed over night. While writing the Passing Course, I realized that there was another way to split.. the 1 footed Split Step - I had never heard about this before nor seen it before watching Damian Wojtaszek and Michal Ruciak who play in the Polish Plus-Liga (where I am playing now)
I used the 1 footed split last year but only for jump serves with a ton of success - I went from being aced on short serves, to helping my passers on short serves meant for them - WOW! I began noticing in film that I was leaning on floats (with a normal split) - I see now in working with Zoe Fleck (UCLA All-American Libero) but this changed proved to be very difficult to make mid-season due to the difficult balance of grooving in this new approach with my feet and needing to be great for my team (with regards to the quality of my pass)
Fast forward to this pre-season - it was go time! Time to re-wire my subconscious and incorporate a 1-footed split step into my float approach, knowing I had the time to fail, to struggle and to groove in this new technique.
As you can see in the video, having a good, consistent split step that has my legs balanced and primed is great and can help me get to short balls... but we can actually get MORE out of our split by timing it correctly. This game was tricky as Josh's serve is a hybrid - meaning he can spin and float on the same toss. This means as passers, we have to prepare like a jump serves (deeper into the court) even though he was mixing in short floats to our back row Outside Hitter to pull him out of the pipe.
You can see the difference in a well timed split step and a perfectly timed split step in the video.. where both feet don't land, here's how.
1. Approach into the split step as he is tossing
2. Right before he hits the ball, hop (we know that what we see/perceive is a .20th of a second slower that what we believe. Our goal is having both feet in the air as the ball comes off his hand
3. Once we see the line, instead of landing with 2 feet, we only land and push with one foot.
For example: If we see the ball on our left side, we only land on our right foot as soon as we touch the floor, we are using that foot to push and move towards the ball.
The 1st pass (landing on two feet) was good but the other two, where I land on just one, I am able to get more steps and I more balanced upon contact. As we know, the more balanced we are, passing a float, the higher percentage we will have in keeping our intended angle. When I was able to time this right (with both feet in the air - I can (and you) can get an extra step on the ball.
If we are faster, we can cover more court.
If we can cover more court, we can help our team sideout out at a better efficiency %.
In working with both Mason Briggs (CSULB) and Zoe Fleck (UCLA) - I want to push them to run serve receive and as much as possible - give their setters 4 options with a perfect pass.
🗯 What do you think about the Split Step, should it be trained?
✅ What Split Step have you seen have the most success with your athletes?
🗯 I always love hearing alternate opinions on the game - as I am still playing, learning, growing and trying to find how I can be simpler, quicker and more efficient in helping my team sideout.
A.O.B. or Awareness of Breath has made a huge impact in my life on and off the court after discovering the acronym in the book ‘Mindful Athlete’ by George Mumford. Many N.B.A. fans know Phil Jackson as the ‘Zen Master’ and the coach that used mindfulness to as a secret weapon to propel the Championship teams led by Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan. What people don’t know is that it was actually a man named George Mumford who made the connection between mindfulness and the ‘flow state’ peaking the curiosity of both the Laker’s and Bull’s star players, propelling them to practice mindfulness for performance. How was a former college basketball athlete turned mindfulness teacher able to relate to athletes such as Kobe Bryant, Shaq and Michael Jordan who were already at the top of the basketball world?
“The Zone.”
When Mumford spoke in the Lakers’ and Bulls’ locker rooms, before he brought up meditation or mindfulness, he spoke about being in the zone. It’s the feeling when the ball seems much larger than normal, that feeling when the athlete knows what was going to happen before it happens, when they are a step faster than the rest of the competition. He was able to connect with them because they all knew this feeling but didn’t exactly understand how to put it into words like Mumford did and because of this, they bought into Mumford’s message of mindfulness and the power of the breath.
The Breath. What’s the big deal?
For all humans and our four legged companions on land, breathing is central to sustaining life. However, for the athlete, being able to learn to work with the breath empowers us to push past the anxiety of the past, while simultaneously letting go of the anxiety ridden future. For the amateur as well as the professional, these moments of anxiety and insecurity are led by thought and are common roadblocks within training and competition. By returning to the breath, the athlete is able to enhance their focus and confidence by being more centered in the present moment rather than anchored with the past’s insecurities or the anxiety of an unknown and scary future.
With an emphasis on a deep, long breath, we have the ability to create this space between stimulus and response as Victor Frankl eloquently put it. Rather than stimulus and response being mashed together, we are able to step back in a relaxed, alert, receptivity where we can observe things and create space, responding diligently and confidently. Mumford states “in that space, rather than a knee jerk response with no intention than reactivity, we can choose our response. Given whatever situation we are faced with, we can choose our response and the best way to respond. Even if we don’t get it right, we can learn from it but within that space we are able to pause and ask ourselves if how we will respond is skillful or non-skillful, helpful or non-helpful, taking me where I want to go, or going against my values and my morals.”
Eye of the Hurricane
Mumford talks a lot about the strength of being surrounded by the stresses and fear of life, while able to access this quiet space, inside the eye of the hurricane. “There’s a lot of power in the eye of the hurricane, this blue sky and the quiet still, amongst this whirlwind, chaos and turmoil inside of us. This is the quiet place that the athlete is able to act out of, rather than being hung up, dealing with stress, anxiety and fear. We become consumed with fear because we identify with what is happening, instead of realizing what is happening to you is not you. Whatever you observe is not you, it’s just what you are observing, but we identify with a sticky mind as the brain doesn’t know the difference between what we are thinking about and what we are experiencing.” We begin running these old tapes of past failures, shame and disappointment of when we last experienced this same stimulus, we are catastrophizing. Everyone has experienced this on and off the court, it’s the irrational thoughts that something is far worse than it actually is, whether it’s making a catastrophe out of a current situation or imagining a catastrophe out of a future situation.
Here are a few of my past ‘catastrophe’ thoughts, can you relate?
❌ “I’m going to get subbed out if I shank another ball.”
❌ “I can’t pass anything, I’m worthless today.”
❌ “They got 3 points in a row, we are going to lose.”
❌ “We always choke under pressure.”
The Science behind the breath
Awareness of the breath is the controlling or manipulating the breath to promote a state of relaxation, it’s the physiological mechanism through which relaxation is created is the parasympathetic nervous system. On the other side of the coin is the sympathetic nervous system, known as the ‘fight or flight’, which releases a flood of hormones into the bloodstream, activated by short and fast breaths. The parasympathetic nervous system functions with deep breathing, promoting relaxation, and in this relaxed state, the present moment is more available to athletes on and off the court. When we are relaxed, especially in between plays, the mind is much calmer, the body isn’t as tense, we are more attuned to our sensory experience and we are able to think and see more clearly, allowing ourselves to access flow states much more easily. In the context of athletic performance, the now-moment is crucial to success. In high pressure situations, there isn’t any bandwidth for the mind to wander back to a missed attack, a shanked pass, or the anxious anticipation of the next serve. In volleyball, the play happens so quickly that any lapse in awareness can prove costly. With the awareness on the breath, we are able to begin to train present-moment awareness and open the athlete up to entering and sustaining flow states and most importantly allowing us to focus on the most important ball ‘the next one.’
Navigating the Negative thoughts
Mumford offers a couple points of focus: The first is to remain alert to “unwholesome qualities” that may arise. This can come in the form of negative thoughts or laziness. The second is to notice when unwholesome qualities come up, and abandon them rather than get caught in reacting to them. For example, we can notice when a negative, unhelpful thought arises and aim to acknowledge it as such, and then let it go without giving it anymore power. This takes practice and training, most specifically a mindfulness meditation practice. The third is to foster new qualities that are wholesome and the fourth is to sustain those qualities that already exist. An example of how to cultivate more wholesome thoughts would be to write down any negative thoughts that may come up concerning your performance, and then do your best to rewrite them as more wholesome positive ones.
I personally love the medium of journaling, as I created and use my own format, where you can find at dustinwatten.com/selz - where I answer two big questions to end each day: ‘Today’s greatest challenge was’ and ‘What did I learn from it.’
By being honest with myself and the adversity that I face each and every day, I take personal responsibility and become a co-creator in how I would best face this challenge the next time I face it, while flipping the challenging moment I experienced today into tomorrow’s intention.
Awareness of Breath
The path to creating positive qualities and habits is to remain committed to the daily practice of mindfulness, which may appear anywhere from meditation, yoga, deep foam rolling or simply a focus on a deep, conscious breath. As athletes, it’s within our power and our control to be conscious, mindful and recognize that our entire life can be a training ground for presence. As we continue along our journey, this mindfulness can strengthen our ability to reset and to create a new present, a present where our most determined, confident, focused and highest self operates and resides at.
Do you find yourself frustrated, agitated or anxious in matches? Would you like to learn more about meditation and to become more calm and confident in difficult moments? Join the 400+ athletes and coaches who have signed up for the Free 7 Day Meditation Course: https://mailchi.mp/c79673b7e374/intro_to_meditation - 7 Emails, in 7 days straight to your inbox to empower you how to begin your own routine and to keep it going! #BetterTogether
Have the best day ever!
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The Mind Artist has arrived.
At @noezybuckets we are 100% committed to propelling our athletes towards greatness with the framework of building and empowering their headspace.
I'm so pumped to welcome CJ Macias to the noezybuckets Mind Staff.
CJ knows the game from court to sand, as he was an All American at IPFW, played overseas professionally and coached Adrian Carambula on the FIVB Beach Tour until he began a new path in big wave surfing.
CJ has since been back and forth with extended stays in South America, investing in himself and his spiritual growth. I can't wait to tell you more about CJ and how he will be working with our athletes at noezybuckets specifically training them in meditation, breath work and developing awareness to help them respond in their best version in tough moments, rather than succumb to doubt, anxiety or shame.
The Tennis Split Step:
What is a split step? The split step is a little hop that tennis players take to get a quick jump on receiving an incoming serve. This is done by taking a little hop in the air, as they are anticipating the service coming towards them. With a properly timed split step, they may have a quicker first step in moving towards the direction of serve. You can see where this is going as we can learn a lot from tennis athletes and how they use split step for our ability to get a quick read on the incoming serve on the volleyball court.
If you are able to time the split step well, it can help you move much quicker off the mark because your legs will already be bent and loaded at the moment you recognize the direction of the ball. With a properly executed split step, you will be light on your feet, landing on both feet, but softly, as your heels are usually up and your weight is a little bit forward. The split step can be advantageous because it's a way to prevent you from being flat footed when moving towards the serve, allowing you to make a quick decision in whether you're going to end up moving off to your left or your right foot, or if you're just going to shift to your body left or right for the more difficult jump serves.
Finding your style for the Split Step
There are three ways to use the split step to your advantage in getting a jump on the serve but most players tend to initiate the split step from both feet on the ground as they can initiate the move simultaneously. Erik Shoji, (Team USA Libero) in my opinion, is the best passer in the world as well as the best in the world at the two-foot split step. What sets him apart from other receivers is that he is able to perfectly replicate his starting position after his split step (probably because he was and still is a great tennis player). What I notice often, is how athletes naturally widen upon their split step, I do this as well – unconsciously, without the intention of widening my feet.
Kevin Tillie, another World Class receiver, uses what I like to call the ‘approach split step’ I use this currently and just like me, you can see how he widens just a little upon landing on his split step. Once I became aware of my unconscious ability to wide, I would approach into my split step with a narrower stance with my feet, allowing my posture to widen into a natural and balanced position. If we are too wide with our initial posture, we will have a much harder time moving efficiently and I believe it’s very important to each individual athlete to watch video on themselves and to see the truth in how their posture upon landing, as most of us split step – whether we are consciously doing it or not.
1 Foot Hop?
Using two feet? So 2019! There is a new style brewing in the professional volleyball world as a two-footed split step isn’t the only way to prime our legs in serve receive. I am seeing more and more European athletes initiating their split step by pushing off one foot and with amazing results. Currently in the Polish Plus-Liga, (where I am currently playing) two of the best receiving liberos are using this method, Damian Wojtaszek of VERVA Warsaw ORLEN Fuels and Michał Ruciak of Cerrad Enea Czarni Radom. It is something that has caught my eye and I will begin experimenting with it next year as it seems simplier and they are both consistently much more balanced compared to other athletes.
Hop, Jump or Land?
One of the most common instructions in tennis when it comes to split step is that you need to hop/jump as your opponent hits the ball. Just like in volleyball, it is partly true, but you can easily misinterpret what that means and perform the skill incorrectly. Most players will interpret this as first waiting to see the opponent hit the ball. Then, as they see it, they will initiate the split step. - But that’s way too late for us to get a jump on the serve. To use the split step properly, you need to be already pushing off the ground as your opponent makes contact with the ball - as the split step should begin a split second before the opponent makes contact with the ball. Instead of ‘jumping’, the emphasis should be on the landing from the split step. To get a jump on the ball, you need to land exactly when you realize where your opponent’s ball is going, off his or her hand. At that moment of landing, your legs should be bent and loaded (like springs) and help you push off in the direction of the ball very quickly. That’s the whole purpose of the split step – it helps us move much quicker (in contrast to being flat footed) in your first step towards the ball.
Keeping your head level
Athletes in tennis and volleyball alike, who are caught jumping into the split step drastically change their head level, which plays a major key to tracking and receiving the serve. You can see below in the graphic that there will be some change in the head level but our goal is to make it as minimal as possible and we can do this by focusing more on our landing, rather than jumping. Just like receiving a serve in tennis, our landing position will be slightly lower than our position before the serve - in a position to have the most explosive power from our loaded legs, giving us the best foundation possible for our first step towards the line of the serve.
The no Hop, Split Step.
As I mentioned from the beginning of this article, I don’t want to dictate or decide your personal path, I simply want to provide you all of the choices to see what resonates best with you! One of my favorite players from Brazil is also one of the best ball control outside hitters in the world. I've been lucky enough to play against him for nine years now. But as you can see, there's something a little different about his serve receive. He doesn't use any type of split step.
There’s lots of different ways to play volleyball and with this passing course, I want to give you all the knowledge and information I have learned throughout my career of playing and studying great players to let you craft your own style of greatness. With this information, the best thing you can do is experiment. Try it out and really be patient with yourself. Have some compassion for yourself when developing this skill, notice what is the simplest and which split step you can most easily replicate. As we'll talk about a little bit later with contact, we want to push, pursue and fight for the simplest way of putting the ball to the target every time.
Maybe it’s a two footed split step, an approach two footed split step, a one foot split step or maybe you're just like Mauricio and you're just chilling and getting a great read on the ball and moving once the ball is hit. I’m excited to take you on a journey all about reception and how we can be more efficient, balanced and simple.
Did you enjoy reading my thoughts on passing? If you're a coach that loves to geek out on passing, digging and would like to chat more about these two skills, book a call with me. I love connecting with like minded people in the volleyball world who are always learning and striving to be their best. I spent almost half a year studying/analyzing and writing about passing and digging and if I can bring more value and intention to how you understand and teach these two pivotal skills, I would be honored. https://calendly.com/dustinwatten
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Dear Mike,
It’s your first season in Europe I see, you finally made it. The road has been long since that young man first began to day dream about playing professional volleyball for the best teams in the world. From almost playing Division 3 to barely being recruited by the second smallest Division 1 university in the country. From almost transferring three different times to graduating with the most successful season in program history. From playing in just ten matches your freshman year to finishing with three All-EIVA honors and an All-American Honorable Mention. You finally made it, you got your first ever professional contract and here you were, on your first night in Finland, scared, sobbing in a bed without any bed sheets or pillow cases after having a peanut butter sandwich and eggs for dinner. You’re really living the dream.
You have adapted fairly well considering the first night, but there was only one direction to go from there to be honest. “Adapted” is speaking in relative terms of course because we both are aware that there was a lot more to get use too. You will realize down the road that you are where you’re at for a reason, and that reason is simple. You belong there. I know it’s intimidating for you right now, you’re playing with a teammate from the United States in his first year overseas as well, who came from a much better school than you did and had an extremely successful career there as well. Don’t worry, you guys will become great friends, and both of you will always have tremendous respect for each other. And this other American arriving soon, he’s only going to add to the memories that the three of you will never forget and have a life long bond from. If you receive this letter in time I want to tell you this now as my first bit of advice, you do not have to prove anything to anyone other than yourself. I understand you want to try and play on a Ligue B team in France in hopes to one day play in Ligue A. I also understand that you want to show your ability and maintain good relationships in your first season abroad, but you have nothing to worry about. The more you let go of all these insecurities, and the more you embrace who you really are as a person and the more you play without pressure and self criticism over every bad play, the better off you will be.
If this letter doesn’t get to you in time that’s okay, because I know in a few years you would have figured this out. You’re not going to be perfect about it but you’re going to be much more aware and intuitive on making the change. Acceptance is going to be one of the biggest challenges you’re going to face, not just in acceptance of yourself but in volleyball and in life in general. There’s going to be times where things are completely out of your own control, whether it’s a coach’s decision, a player getting signed over you, more rejection from the national team, bad matches, or the endless struggle with your situational anxiety that has brutally escalated since this whole experience started. It will also creep into more sensitive areas of life, such as when the girl you thought was the love of your life decides to end things abruptly over a FaceTime, or receiving a phone call after a practice from your mother, crying hysterically over the sudden death of a very close family friend. All of these things that will happen are things you have no control over and some you can’t even influence in some sort of way. None of these things can be affected by you alone, and that will likely trigger some of the worst feelings for you. Shame and grief. But the gifts you’ll receive from the lessons these feelings give to you are going to elevate your life dramatically. You will learn how to accept the absurdity when it is thrown at you and cast away any shame, and you will learn that love in an energy that can never be destroyed and that love will always heal any sort of grieving you may go through.
I wish I can say that’s as dark as it gets but, it’s not. Sadly it’s not nearly as low as how low you will get in your future years playing abroad. Volleyball will be fine, you’ll most likely start seeing success begin to take its form but you will be constantly struggling to find that happiness, because you’ll eventually find out that it starts inside you, and not from external entities. You know that new thing you just figured out? The whole meditation thing that you’re doing to help with your anxiety? This is the time where that will truly become life changing for you in your journey to find balance within. And you will explore it to every area of your life and the lessons and practices you will learn from it will not only help you but it will begin to be something intriguing for others that you will pass on without much effort. And eventually, other people will be asking you for guidance and you’re going to find yourself helping people more than you will ever know just by passing on the knowledge you will gain. I know I don’t have to tell you this but what you felt in that first mediation the other day was a type of awakening for your true self to finally live freely. Take on this practice whole heartily and never give up on it.
I know by this point in the letter you must be asking yourself “this sounds like I’m just torturing myself pursuing a dream over here, why would I do this to myself? Is this really worth it then?” Yes and I understand, there’s a lot of hard times, but what else would you expect? Nothing in life has ever been given to you or made easy for you, and now you’ve started a very difficult and selective career, when did you think it would start to get easy? Are you not passionate about this game and all the work that goes into it? Is this not what makes you purposeful every morning you get out of bed, and haven’t you already experienced sacrificing nearly everything to get to this point? I wish that I could tell you for once it will be easy, but I’m afraid the higher you climb the harder it’s going to be. This is where your relentless determination to better yourself in every way imaginable will continue to pay off. This is what will get you to where you’ve always dreamt of being, and this is also what is going to put some of the most special people you’ll ever meet into your life, and this is why it’s worth it.
You may be at the beginning now but the heights you are going to travel to are unimaginable. Far past the limits of your own thoughts. You just might go from one of the worst teams in Finland to becoming a Ligue B France champion, under the most unexpected circumstances possible. And you think that’s something, just wait until you experience the Ligue A semi-finals. You’re going to go from having crippling anxiety about many different social situations, to introducing yourself to your idols and creating relationships with them that will send you on the path you’ve always been searching for. You’re even going to go from barely being able to do a podcast to inspiring others about mindfulness, via a podcast. And most importantly you’re going to grow so much as a person and finally come out of that shell of insecurities, and finally live a life through quiet confidence and joyfulness.
So if this letter does get to you in time there’s a few other things I’d like you to try before the end of your first season, and maybe you’ll even surpass me from where I’m currently writing to you from, because I’d like to hope that where I’m at now is still in the early chapters of this whole thing. So, the things are as follows:
If you start practicing these things now, I would like to hope that you would have travelled much farther than I have within this amount of time. Everyone’s journey is different and you should expect yours to be just that. Keep charging along your own path and no matter what life throws at you, trust that it’s all going to work out and you’ll get to exactly where you want to be in the end. This is only the very beginning for you, and I can’t wait to see not only what kind of player you will eventually become, but what kind of man you will also evolve into when it’s all said and done.
Your Friend,]]>
I spoke this morning with the boys and girls of the Australian Junior National Team and I was asked a question that I couldn’t help but laugh at – it was a beautiful reminder how much of my story is hidden through the lens of social media and where I am currently in my career.
2001 - My team placed dead last at Nationals in the lowest division
2001 - The following season, i wasn’t good enough to make the 16-1s team, instead I had to play on the 16-2s team
2004 - I wasn’t good enough to travel with Long Beach State, so I redshirted
2009 – I became an All-American at Long Beach State but I didn’t receive any professional contracts, so I missed a full year of playing overseas and stayed in the states coaching club volleyball.
2011 – After getting a contract and being awarded the best libero of the Finnish League, I didn’t receive any offers and had to return to the same team (The Finnish League is one of the lowest European Leagues)
2013 – After being awarded the best libero of the French B league, I returned home and was told by the new coaching staff for Team USA I was cut.
2013 – I was benched by my Brazilian Team – later I came back as a defensive libero.
2015 – After signing with a mid-level team in France A - the team went bankrupt and I ended up signing with a team who had the lowest budget in the league. We ended up going 3-23.
2018 – I signed to play for the best team in Germany, BR Volleys (I was so stoked!) except I was replaced/benched half-way into the season. The team ended up buying out my 2nd year of my contract.
2018 –Team USA decided to travel 3 setters to the finals of VNL and the World Cup instead of taking 2 liberos - It was my first time not traveling with the team since 2015.
2020 – I received a phone call letting me know I was cut from Team USA (later in 2021, I was asked to rejoin the team)
Failures, roadblocks and setbacks - I’ve had a lot and oddly enough, I am so grateful for them – as they have helped shaped the man and the athlete I am today. I believe these ‘failures’ can be the biggest harbingers for growth, maturation and evolution. These moments present opportunities for us to look within, learn and shed habits, routines and values that don’t align with the highest version of our self we aspire to be.
“Great Dusty, I get it, you’ve failed. What does this have to do with me? What can I do in my journey?”
When you ‘fail,’ experience a roadblock, a setback or anything that falls outside of your personal preference for how sport or life should of gone – I believe we must do 2 things.
1st – We get up: We spend the least amount of time possible complaining, ranting, resenting, venting or playing the role of the victim.
2nd – We reflect, learn and evolve. We must have the courage and discipline to ask ourselves important questions to help us grow from this situation we just experienced. At the very minimum, we should take some added intention into the next week after reflecting on where we weren’t ‘good’ enough.
✔ How can I be more intentional?
✔ How can I be more creative?
✔ How can I be more mindful?
✔ What steps can I take to prepare my body and mind at a higher level?
✔ How can I be more efficient with my time on or off the court?
✔ What can I sacrifice to make room for habits that will help me grow into my best version?
It's up to you.
You can quit.
You can complain.
You can find a scapegoat.
And you can find a family member or friend to sympathize with you.
But none of these will help you grow into your best version. As I concluded my talk with the Australian boys and girls Junior National team, if there is one thing to take away from what I had to say – it’s to get up and continue forward.
Would you like to connect your program, club or team with me? During the pandemic I spoke with over 25 youth clubs and 10 colleges, this past year I met with 5 NAIA teams personally. I love bridging my journey as a current pro with the vision of so many likeminded coaches who.. at times have a hard time getting their players to go all in on the values and priorities they know are important to their team's success. If you would like to jump on a call with me and see if I can fire up your athletes to be more mindful, more intentional and more committed to their journey and your team's success - throw me an email at dustinwatten@gmai.com Speak soon!
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A simple example of feeding the wrong wolf is how we speak and treat our self after particularly bad match or performance. Immediately after a bad performance, we flood our self with regret, disappointment, shame and even self-loathing. But why? As athletes, we have a deep-rooted belief that if we perform well, we get to feel great about this accomplishment but if we perform poorly, we are expected to punish ourselves, to feel shame or at the very minimum to be guilt ridden of such a performance.
This can go on for minutes, hours, days, if not weeks! If we prepared well and compete with our best effort, then why should we feed the wolf with regret, self-pity and guilt? (it’s not always going to go our way!) Instead, we can feed the other wolf with hope, kindness and compassion for one-self, shifting our thoughts to “it just needs work,” “that’s not like me,” “I can learn so much from this match.” Once the game is over, it’s up to use to have awareness and mindfulness in how we want to proceed; do we want to leave the gym debilitated and ashamed, or can we leave empowered and determined to learn from our performance.
As athletes, we seem almost hard wired to unconsciously feed the wrong emotional wolf and as a result those traits grow stronger. Mihaly Czikszentmihalyi, founder and co-director of the Quality of Life Research Center (QLRC) notes “The human mind is programmed to turn to threats, to unfinished business, to failures and unfulfilled desires when it has nothing else more urgent to do, when attention is left free to wander. Without task to focus our attention most of us find ourselves getting progressively depressed. In flow there is no room for such rumination.”
Your task now becomes - how quickly can you surrender to 'what has already happened' - to learn from it and to re-frame your 'lose' towards next week's intention. George Mumford, who teamed up with Phil Jackson during the championship runs by both the Bulls and Lakers suggests that the more we practice mindfulness, getting quit and staying in that calm center space between stimulus and response, the more keenly we’re able to observe our wolves with non-attachment. The challenge arises in our desire to move forward in life while letting go of our attachment to feeling good. Wanting to feel good is the seductive part – that’s what attracts us and pulls us; it’s what triggers the grasping and the holding on. The deeper we are able to observe, the better we are at releasing the charge they have on our lives.
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❌ Nothing’s going to get better
❌ I can never get it right
❌ I am always messing it up
❌ I am always letting the team down in big moments
We have an odd tendency of looking for the worst in ourselves, while telling ourselves that it will never change nor get better. According to Jay Shetty, author of ‘Think like a Monk’ there are three routes to happiness, all of them centered on knowledge: learning, progressing and achieving. Whenever we are growing, we feel happy and free of material yearning. If you’re unsatisfied, or criticizing yourself, or feeling hopeless, don’t let that stall you out.” Shetty encourages to reader to “identify the ways you’re making progress, and you will begin to see, feel and appreciate the value of what you are doing.” Reframe your self-criticism and self-doubt in terms of knowledge and awareness. When you your mind says either, “I suck, I’m not good enough or I can’t do this, respond to yourself:
🔥 It just needs work.
🔥 I am a work in progress.
🔥 I am improving with every rep.
🔥 I am improving with everyday.
🔥 I can and will learn from this moment.
One of my favorite examples is Paul Lotman – a 2012 Olympian with the Team USA’s indoor team, won multiple titles overseas, a CEV MVP, Champion and before that a NCAA co-player of the year. (The other athlete was Matt Anderson) Before that, Paul was a pudgy tall kid – he was so basic that when I arrived to Long Beach State my freshman year and saw him, I was mad. I grew up in Long Beach and I was so proud to be a part of the team and there was.... Paul, a super average High School athlete from Los Al – “How? What? Why is he here?” I was pissed - I was also projecting, as I was also an average High School athlete :)
I thought to myself “How could Long Beach take this kid, he’s terrible – he’s not even worth a redshirt!” Looks can be deceiving – Paul’s true power was his grit, his mind, his relentless nature to compete and his ability to get up, time after time. Paul lost the weight and became one of the best outside hitters to ever play at Long Beach State and eventually an Olympian (shows what I know :) I love Paul’s story and I love Paul as a friend as he showed to the world, the team and himself what is possible with a strong character, when you reframe your failures and if you are truly relentless in pursuit of your goal.
In contrast to Paul there was 3 other players in his class that were much higher ranked coming into Long Beach State and all 3 of them didn’t even make it to their senior year! They were great guys but they gave into the mind’s sabotage and allowed excuses, explanations and pity to reign supreme in their headspace. Wherever you are on your journey, there is a better way and a better way to train your mind – philosophy to help you get up quicker, techniques to spin your failures into tomorrow’s training intention and MOST importantly, we can train your awareness and to catch yourself spiraling in real time.
Do you want to learn more and reframing and possibly work with me 1v1? If you're interested in becoming your best version and want to join a group of like-minded athletes who are growing stronger and more intentional every day in every way... Email me at dustinwatten@gmail.com with the subject line: Reframe and me and my team will get back to you with the details to see if you qualify. What's that?.. You don’t’ want to work in a group setting, you rather go all the way and work with me 1v1? Email me and put in the subject line "ALL IN"
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Pro tip: In my second year, I was struggling on defense, so I created a game to hold my defensive effort to a high standard. If I didn’t go for a ball in training, I ran a set of lines after practice. My teammates were confused, watching me run and dive for balls that were 30 feet away from me. But, it worked. I started to hesitate less and most importantly, dig MORE balls.
2. Play beach
This is my No. 1 recommendation if you want to improve your game. Playing beach can prevent burnout, as athletes can go from 6x6 indoor to 2x2 beach. Playing on the sand challenges you to cover the whole court. The same “NOEZYBUCKET” rules apply: go for every ball. Are you lined up in the sharp angle and the opposing attacker hits an impossible shot to the line? GO! Drive those legs and don’t let any ball hit the sand without you getting sandy.
Pro tip: My first beach partner was my dad, and after too many balls falling and recognizing my fatalistic effort for the attacks, my dad hit me with a mantra that has stuck with me: “you never know if you don’t go.” Go for everything. You’ll be surprised by the spectacular defensive plays you’ll make. By pushing on the sand, you’ll have an even more powerful first step when you transition back indoors.
3. Watch Video
Before you step on the court, you must understand the game. Learn from the best players in the world by watching them and using their techniques. Absorb what they have learned and bring that back to your game. Don’t leave your growth up to chance. According to Timothy Gallwey, author of the ‘Inner Game of Tennis,’ your subconscious will automatically pick up elements of the stroke that are useful to it and discard what is not useful.
I am so passionate about watching video that I created the 7 Day Passing Course, followed by the 7 Day Digging Course.
Pro Tip: My favorite defensive liberos to watch are Poland’s Pawel Zatorski, France’s Jenia Grebennikov and Brazil’s Sergio.
4. Get Extra Reps
Working hard, competing and giving it your all during practice is the minimum for a great defender. The real work begins the moment you wake up, and it will pick up the moment your team training ends. It’s up to you as a high performing athlete to learn about better ways to train, to have an intention each day and to put in the extra work. This is the time when you use your will and passion and funnel it into more purposeful and intentional work.
Pro tip: There isn’t a perfect drill, but I do love the coach x one style, where a teammate or coach just tosses me tips, and I must figure out creative ways with my hand to get each ball up. I talk more about this “Defensive Toolbox” in the 7 Day Digging Course on Day 7.
5. Develop a split step
The split step is a hop players take right before they go to hit the ball in tennis, whether it be on serve receive or during the rally. You will notice it before almost every shot a tennis player hits. Tennis players don’t stop split stepping, either; they are consistently resetting themselves during a rally to prime their body and legs to be balanced and in a position to explode left, right or forward. If you time the split step well, you move quicker off the mark because your legs will already be bent and loaded at the moment you recognize the direction of the ball, giving you the best opportunity to make the most of your first step. The split step is advantageous because it's a way to keep your momentum when you don’t know which way you must head to retrieve the ball. It prevents you from being flat-footed and gives you an extra spring for pursuing a ball off the block, tip or cut shot.
In contrast to serve receive, liberos take multiple split steps as a defender. Hypothetically, if the setter takes the ball in a perfect situation, you should initiate the split step as the ball leaves their hands, timing the landing just as the middle may contact the ball. If the setter sets to the pins, use this initial split step to propel your first step toward your next defensive position. Initiate another split step as the hitter is about to come through the ball. Time your landing as the hitter is contacting the ball. Some athletes are constantly hopping, resetting and re-balancing themselves, some are constantly moving and stepping independently with each foot, and some split step only upon the perceived contact.
Pro tip: Try which style works for you. This has been a big area of focus currently with Team USA, making sure players are consciously split stepping and priming their legs on defense to be as explosive and responsive as possible.
Want to go deeper? Check out the 7 Day Passing Course, or the 7 Day Digging Course where you'll study, analyze and learn from the best diggers and receivers in the world, so you can be have more clarity and confidence when you step on the court.
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How I got to that point in my career as a mindset coach was by using the very technique that I use to prepare my players before their matches. That’s right! I practice what I preach. But it wasn’t always that way. See I was a walk on at BYU. And as a matter of fact I was worse than a walk on. I tried to walk on the team and I didn’t make it. But I had a positive attitude and I went to one of the assistant coaches. I gave him my phone number and said, “if you ever need an extra player give me a call.” A few weeks later I got the call. I became part of the BYU men’s volleyball team and part of our 2004 national championship.
I used to joke that I was the Rudy of BYU volleyball because I didn’t get to play until the very last match of my senior year. That joke became a strong desire to become a motivational speaker. I travelled the world and I spent thousands and thousands of dollars to learn from the best public speakers and coaches. As I was running around in these circles, I met Dave Austin. Dave is a world-renowned mindset coach. He has led Olympians to gold medals, AAA baseball players to becoming MLB all stars and MVPs, and professional tennis players to top 100 world rankings. He invited me to come spend some time at the Chicago Cubs spring training facility to get to know World Series MVP Ben Zobrist. What an experience!
From my time with Dave, I realized that every player that he worked with had phenomenal results. In fact, not just phenomenal results. They had the best results they ever had in their entire careers. To accomplish that, Dave created a signature process that allows anyone to take any coaching or mindset work and put it into immediate action during every game. We call that process The Game Ready. I was so impressed with Dave and The Game Ready that I asked Dave if he would train me on the Game Ready so I could take this method to the world of volleyball. I have an insatiable desire to share life changing, career altering tools with volleyball players. I want to take people who have no hope to high hopes. I want to take high flyers to new heights. We’re not talking just individuals. We’re taking entire teams and entire club programs to the best results they’ve ever seen collectively. My greatest desire is greater than that though. I want to elevate the entire sport of volleyball across the world!
That starts with changing the life of one individual. I want to change your life, whether you’re just a kid who needs to build volleyball skills or you’re a multi time champion and Olympian like Carli Lloyd. No matter where you are at in your volleyball journey, it’s time to hit the next level. But to do that you must be ready and there is no doubt in my mind, you must be Game Ready. Come join our family and learn how to become the best that you can be so that you can be a part of elevating your play, your life, and your sport.
Are you ready to learn more? Email Dusty at dustinwatten@gmail.com to see if you're ready to level up your mental game and begin working with the NEB Mind Coaches.
]]>The place we need to look first is the MIRROR. That’s right. I said it. We need to look at ourselves first. It’s hard at first. Very hard. You’re reading this though. This tells me that you are willing to tackle the hard. You are willing to take time and focus on you. That is seriously one of the hardest things for anyone to do.
Now where do we go from here?
The answer to that question is completely up to you. You get to choose the steps that you take.. You get the opportunity to choose how to intentionally live the life that you want to see. So, I’ll leave you with the same question that I asked above just re-worded….
Where do YOU want to go from here?
Let us know how you are answering this question. To be intentional about how you want to live your life, you first need to know where you want to go. Do you have someone that you think would benefit from hearing messages like this? Forward them this newsletter and have them subscribe. We want to help you unlock the life you want to be living.
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Marcus Aurelius was the most powerful man in the world, with access to everything and everyone but he chose to rule the Roman Empire with Stoic philosophy and he also chose to rule himself, his desires, his actions, his perceptions and his attitude with Stoic philosophy in guiding himself to “living in accordance with nature.” Stoicism reached me in a year when my professional team was 1-19, my long-term girlfriend and I broke up, I had only 1 friend on the team and I hated the weather (or maybe the weather hated me) My perspective was that "everything sucked, everything wasn't fair and that I was the victim." I chose to be a victim and therefore I was. With Stoicism now in my back pocket, I realized that the perception I chose in life, was just that, my choice and just like prescription glasses, it was up to me to choose the one that most aligned with how I wanted to live my life. (hint: not as a victim) I realized my happiness or external circumstances (how I play, the success of my team, living in a warm city, having great teammates, having a partner that reciprocated my feelings back and the weather) was more or less by chance, more specifically – they were not completely within my control.
Yes my actions and attitudes, which were completely within my control, could correlate with my external circumstances being more favorable and more aligned with my personal preferences manifesting, but… It became clear that joy (what's within) was completely within my control and it was now up to me to change my priorities in life and change my course, with Stoicism serving as the new compass in my life: What I put into my body, how I perceived success and failure alike, my attitude, my actions and most importantly my ability to love even those, that out of ignorance or muddled character weren't so loving – all, completely within my control. I’ve learned a lot of lessons in life, mostly through failing, through my setbacks and through experiencing these roadblocks on my own, in a country far away with not one to help nor assist me.
Before my 11 years as a professional overseas, I never wanted anything to do with volleyball, until by chance as my friends from the soccer team were going to try out for the spring sport of indoor volleyball. I thought I was pretty good, we won the Freshmen League title and I was able to make a local club team. Not only that – But I was going to something called the Junior Olympics! With wristbands adorning both arms I was big time, except that I wasn’t. Our team entered the club division (the lowest division) and we ended the tournament in last place, losing to a team from Maryland to seal our fate.
On my way home, I made three realizations – (1) I wasn’t that good, in fact, I was really bad. (2) I loved volleyball. (3) I had a lot of work in front of me because if I was going to play this sport, I wasn’t going to be last, ever again. I didn’t realize it at the time but it a sense, I was lucky that I didn’t have many friends in High School as this allowed me to play beach volleyball every day, without any social interuptions and or obligations to hang out with friends. Every second, of every day was committed to playing beach, teaching my younger brother to pepper with me and when he got tired, bumping the ball off the wall, rain gutter and the many bull's-eyes I drew and stuck to the inside of my room. Fast forward to my senior year and I was lifting up the Junior Olympics 1st place trophy, with a gold medal around my neck, from last to first – but this was only the beginning for me, the highest achievement was quickly substituted for a humbling, as I arrived at Long Beach State, realizing once again – “I wasn’t really that good.”
From last place in JOs, to red shirting at CSULB, to not getting a pro contract, to having to spend 2 years in the Finnish Pro league, losing a contract, wiping the floors for 6 years in the USA gym, losing a contract to another team, being benched, being replaced and the lingering shame that followed me like a shadow after my year in Brazil – it was tough but at the end of the day, there was only once option for me, to get up. I am so excited about connecting with the next generation of athletes! An athlete, who is passionate about the game of volleyball, an athlete who is curious about the next step they can take on and off the court to be more confident on the court, shedding a lesser version of themselves each and every day. My goal is to give you the tools, the foresight to enjoy the ups and downs of your journey, embracing the loses and the roadblocks you will experience, knowing that some of the biggest opportunities for growth will be your ‘failures’ and our setbacks alike!
Better Today. Better Tomorrow. Better Together.
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You probably haven’t heard of Amor Fati but we have all experienced the antithesis, which is to resist, resent and curse the unexpected surprises that go against our personal preferences for how life should unfold. There are many forms of personal preferences we can become attached to as athletes - whether it’s starting and playing well in an important game, winning the game and/or being selected on the team of your dreams! When our personal preferences aren’t met, we typical meet these circumstances with resistance, fighting and resenting “what is.”
“My coach has no reason for benching me.”
“Why didn’t I make the 1’s team, I deserve to be on the team.”
“I can’t believe we lost and the coach didn’t sub me in.”
These thoughts represent different scenarios where we are craving reality to be different than it is. This non-acceptance of the present moment leads to us creating extra stress, caused by resenting the past and the present moment (what cannot be changed).
The term Amor Fati goes back to 19th century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, who said, “My formula for greatness in a human being is Amor Fati: that one wants nothing to be different, not forward, not backward, not in all eternity. Not merely bear what is necessary, still less conceal it—all idealism is mendaciousness in the face of what is necessary—but love it.”
Nearly two millennia earlier, Epictetus, one of the Stoic leaders, had a similar formula for a smoothly flowing life, “Seek not for events to happen as you wish but rather wish for events to happen as they do and your life will go smoothly.”
Why should we accept what is?
Can we accept the ‘good’ and the ‘bad’, the mistaken and the wise with strength and an all-embracing gratitude? If we think about it, acceptance is really the only option, the counter is to oppose everything that happens. Like the parable of the second arrow, a well-known Buddhist story teaching how to deal with un-expected events more skillfully. We are the archers of the second arrow, we shoot ourselves with this second arrow, inflicting the most pain, due to our judgment of the initial situation ( the first arrow) and the avalanche of debilitating thoughts and emotions that follow. By complaining, resenting or wishing it weren’t true, we stack on the arrows, not realizing that this is only multiplying unnecessary suffering upon our self.
1st arrow: The coach takes you out of the game.
2nd arrow: "This coach doesn't know what he is talking about." "Why do I even play on this team anyway, they don't appreciate me." "This coach is so biased against me, I am going to change teams."
These emotions are so common because as athletes we are always taking stock in our errors, regretting, resenting and lamenting the unfortunate twists of fate - so quick we are to judge an event as ‘bad’ or ‘good.’
In volleyball, I seldomly find myself lamenting after a reception, set or dig that wasn’t up to my standards. Even though the play may have ended with my team taking the point, I might me caught in thought, frustrated that reception wasn't perfect, ‘wishing’ my part in the last play was better.
Ending the Wishing, thriving with acceptance
Not: I’m okay with this.
Not: I think I feel good about this.
But: I feel great about it. Because if it happened, then it was meant to happen, and I am glad that it did when it did. I have the control over my perception, attitude and actions and I am going to make the best of it because it has already happened.
Author Robert Greene tells us to “stop wishing for something else to happen, for a different fate. That is to live a false life.” Often the wishing halts the doing – even though it would seem likely a reasonable decision after a difficult moment, simply visualizing a better state distracts us from taking the necessary steps to addressing our current fate. By replacing the wishing with acceptance only empowers and propels us forward our highest self. By accepting our fate (the present moment) it is up to us to make this situation, experience and or moment something positive and active.
With more focus spent on what we control or the D.O.C. (our perception, attitude, action and our ability to set goals) our enthusiastic acceptance of everything that has happened in one’s life. Rather than wasting our energy on resenting and gossiping we can flip that energy towards learning, recalculating, creating and more importantly, growing.
Which Dog are you? Putting Amor Fait to work.
The Stoics used the “dog leashed to a cart” metaphor to explain how to best embrace the unexpected surprises of life as compared to when we resist and resent what is. The wise man is like a dog leashed to a moving cart, running joyfully alongside and smoothly keeping pace with it, whereas a foolish man is like a dog that stubbornly struggles against the leash but finds himself dragged alongside the cart anyway. The moving cart represents all the unique situations and circumstances outside of our control, while the dog represents us.
We can resist, resent, yell, complain or be dragged by these external circumstances or we can create space to pivot, examine, learn and/or use these challenging situations as catalysts for growth. No matter what we choose, the cart will continue and no matter how hard we try, we won't be able to control it's direction.
Which dog has the better life?
1 dog resists, resents and is dragged through the dirt, through the mud.
1 dog runs along the cart, splashing in the mud, laughing and enjoying the ambiguous turns and direction the cart takes.
Both dogs are being pulled, the second dog just enjoys it much more because he doesn’t fight against "what is" which is the present moment, he finds himself in. The situation isn't ideal but having the clarity, the second dog makes the best of the journey the cart driver (life) chooses for you. Even though you cannot decide how people or coaches perceive you, the scenarios that are presented to you or when your preferences aren't met, you have control how you perceive where you are and the choices and actions of today that will shape the events of your tomorrow. Give yourself the space, clarity and confidence to create the best outcome possible by accepting what is, moment after moment as we “love one’s fate.”
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One kind is thinking that the future is going to be all right, which is based on panic and concerned with security. The other one is not living in the future but living in the present. The present situation is open, real and with an appreciation of the richness in the present. It’s the basic trust that the space is there already. The whole point is that we don’t have to get it; we have it.
It’s the same thought when Horace coined the Latin phrase ‘carpe diem’ over 2,000 years ago. “Seize” the day isn’t quite the best way to acquire the essence of the Latin word carpe. Although it doesn’t sound quite as cool, a more precise translation of carpe diem would be to “pluck the day.” As in, pick today off the tree of life—it’s ripe and ready to enjoy. Along side Trungpa and Horace I believe in that there is so much richness already in the present but we have to be mindful to see this abundance rather than the scarcity or lack we mostly operate out of. This is how I developed the ‘Best Day Ever’ mentality, a rich appreciation for the present and the abundance and joy that is right in front of us – finding which we already have, each and every day. It’s not that every day is the best day ever but it’s the ability to saturate ourselves with the abundance and gratitude that is available in this moment. Even if I am tired, I can be thankful for my health, if I am sick, I can be thankful knowing my health will return, even if my life is a mess, I can give thanks for the opportunity to learn from these tribulations.
The 2 wins we got after my breakthrough were the sweetest I've ever experienced.
Best Day Ever Breakthrough.
It wasn’t always the “best day ever” as I have had my fair share of sulking, complaining and carrying shame throughout days, weeks and even months during my career as a professional. Looking back, I was so naive, allowing the wide arrange of external situations and perceptions of others that one will experience living overseas to dictate my happiness or vice versa. Whether it was my relationship going sour, a cold rainy day, a bad individual performance or just waking up on the wrong side of the bed. I was vulnerable to circumstances (that were not completely in my control) and I let life push and pull me as I flourished through the good days and dragged myself through the self-imposed ‘bad’ days. My last season in France was particularly ‘bad’ and I use the quotation marks because it was the season that I owe the most to my growth as an athlete and as an adult to. My team finished the season 3-23 and throughout most of it, I let every possible outside variable drag me down into a grumpy, aggressive and ill-tempered version of myself. I became a sponge, soaking up only the bad, malice and irritable emotions of the year, eventually resulting in a phone call to my agent, where I informed him that I wanted to leave the team and return to California - I wanted to quit.
Luckily, I slept on it for a couple of days, until I woke up and realized I had never been a quitter, nor would I become one (I have my agent to thank for his stillness) After a couple of days I realized that my preconceived thoughts and beliefs on how the management, the team and my teammates should function weren’t serving me, my growth as an athlete nor the person I wanted to be. Falling into this emotional pit was the best thing to happen to me, as once I regained consciousness and the realization that I wasn’t one to quit, I realized the only way to go, was up and I was ready to climb as fast as I could. The team's results nor the external circumstances that previously had carried so much weight and the characters that lead me into this despair didn’t magically change, they persisted. The team only won 2 games (the sweetest in my life.) after my realization that it was within my control to take back and push all of my energy and time to those things that were within my control: ie: meditating, journaling, stretching before bed, arriving early to get extra reps, reading, watching little to no tv and getting to bed early.
Each and every day, I committed myself to waking up early, meditating and moving on to destroy my list, (23 micro tasks that align with my growth on and off the court) completing 100% of the micro tasks each day for the first two weeks. Whether it was meditating, journaling, warming up in my house so I could get extra repetitions as soon as my team got on the court, juicing, scouting 2-3 full games for each upcoming match or getting to bed early each and every night, I took advantage and committed to each of every competitive edge I could think of (which was completely within my control).
With these simple decisions, I was able to wake up with purpose, intention and passion instead of distain, resentment and frustration. I was able to choose a new perspective on my season, finding the beauty and more importantly the lesson in each moment, instead of just labeling everything as ‘bad’ or ‘good’. That summer, I took this attitude to a whole new level, responding to anyone who asked, how I was doing, by replying “Best Day Ever." It was awkward, I was more insecure then confident as the words didn't always leave so boldly but it was another step of taking control and finding abundance in life – giving me the strength and confidence to embrace each moment and challenge throughout the day. It’s not about faking it until it feels right, it’s a commitment to finding abundance, gratitude for what we already have and a deep appreciative of all the miracles life has already presented us. Just waking up each morning can be a cause for celebration. And after celebrating having been given another day to live, we can fill the day with appreciative living, living the ‘Best Day Ever.’
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Still confused? How are some ‘musts’ and equally discouraging, some ‘shoulds’ I’ve experienced throughout my life and journey as an athlete:
To be happy I must make this Team USA roster
To be happy I must always be healthy and strong
To be happy I must have a great practice
I should never make mistakes on free balls
I should pass float serves perfect
I should be able to endure any hardship with equanimity
“We can see that our pain lies between what we think should happen and what actually happens. Then, if we remove the secret demand for this or that to happen, the pain-gap vanishes.”
– Vernon Howard
It’s what we find in Byron Katie’s book Loving What Is on page 1, “The only time we suffer is when we believe a thought that argues with what is. When the mind is perfectly clear, what Is, is what we want.” She compares craving a reality to be different than it is to trying to teach a cat to bark. It is hopeless. Reality is what it is. If our mind is clear, what is, is what we want. Fighting and resenting ‘what is’ will undoubtedly accentuate and root the pain - leading towards more suffering, rather than allowing us the space to find a solution to move forward. Life is guaranteed to be full of unexpected surprises, setbacks, disbelief and roadblocks that we have no control over. The only thing that we have complete control over (Dichotomy of Control) is we can change the way you perceive the environment and circumstances we find ourselves in, mindfully shaping our reality, where we are consistently creating and finding solutions.
2 Ways to Kick the ‘Musts’
Mindfulness is a very popular words these days, something I write about a lot but it varies from person to person. Mindfulness to me, is the ability to look within calmly, objectively and compassionately. It means stepping back a little from our raging, never ending thoughts, powerful impulses and emotions so that you can observe and pause, rather than giving into a knee jerk reaction.
If we can cultivate this ability to ‘pause’ - shaping our reaction to a response. We can access more courage to accept our fate, rather than crafting a story how someone or something ‘must’ be -driving us into a pit of resentment and frustration (only hurting ourselves and our chances of finding a quick solution)
1. Non-judgment
We should not judge events because we don’t know what they mean and where they’ll lead us. Instead, we should simply accept everything that happens as it is – not good, nor bad, but as it is. In 2015, my professional team finished at 3-23 (the year after I won the World Cup) it was the most difficult season I’ve ever experience, leading me to the brink of quitting and going home 5 months into the season when the team was 1-19. By hitting such a low point and by not choosing to escape through drugs, partying or alcohol - I allowed this “pain teacher” to present me the opportunity to go within myself. I had never quit in the middle of the season or in general was I the type to just give up. I had a complete rehaul of my attitude, the purpose I woke up with and full, 100% commitment to completing my list every day for the next 3 weeks.
The team won only 2 games the rest of the season but I had taken back (those things which were completely in my control) and looking back, I sincerely enjoyed each day, once I made the decision to remain with the team. Fast forward 5 years later and I still have this foundation of responsibility, determination and accountability but I am in a great environment with a great team and teammates by my side.
Would I have asked for that situation ever? No!
But so far, it’s been the biggest gift to my life and my evolution as an athlete and a man, realizing that our biggest opportunities for growth won’t always be what we imagined. We don’t know what the future brings. We have no idea what’s coming up next. It could be more problems, or this could be the darkness before the dawn. How should we know? How should anybody else know? Even surrounded in darkness and gloom like I was in France, you don’t know what opportunities will arise from the ashes or from the roots, as Carl Jung was put it: “No tree, it is said, can grow to heaven unless its roots reach down to hell.
2. Non-attachment:
The problem with getting attached to material things, jobs, people, wealth, status, looks, and partners, is that those things are outside our control and choice. How long will we be able to keep them is not in our control and even if they are currently in our possession, the Hedonic Adaptation (the theory that obtainment of what you crave will bring immense joy but will always fade and create more craving) will slowly erode the pleasure and excitement they initially bring into your life. In the spring of 2017, I attended a Vipassana meditation retreat (10-day silent meditation) Besides many things, I felt an immense physical pain from sitting 10-11 hours a day, only for it to dissolve, arise, dissolve and arise again. When I felt the sensation of pain burning throughout my body from sitting 60-120 minutes in the same spot without moving, I reminded myself of the Persian adage “This, too, will pass.” and it did, as all things do.
Moving Forward towards Change
The most important step is to accept whatever happens to you. Once you can accept it, you can try to love it and you can take solace in the belief that whatever happens, happens specifically FOR YOU. If fighting with reality leaves you suffering, then you only have one option: Not to fight reality. Unconditional acceptance is the solution, from there we can have a stronger foundation to access where we are, to find solutions to create a better, more enjoyable future.
When in doubt, you can remember this amazing Stoic rhyme:
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I can't believe how blessed I am, in the middle of my 11th year as a professional and fourth year in the Polish Plus-Liga. I never had a goal to become a professional and even once I signed my first contract, I only foresaw myself playing 2-3 years max but here I am in year #11. Even though the circumstances are very different this time, I’m very grateful to be able to continue my career as a professional athlete, a lifestyle many athletes don’t know exists outside of America. I’m excited to break down the tools and information needed to go pro, with the goal of bringing awareness and value to young athletes who will one day leave America and continue playing the sport they love as a professional athlete.
How can I continue my career as a professional athlete?
This is a question I receive a lot and it’s a question I never asked myself until I stepped into the USA gym, which left me unprepared and in a position where I had sit out an entire year because no one told me the steps I had to take to get a pro contract. My goal in writing this article is to give you the information and tools to make sure that once you finish college — as either an NCAA player of the year, a Division I athlete, a DIII player, or someone with NAIA or junior college experience — you’ll be prepared as possible, so you, too, can continue your career as a professional, overseas.
Before we get deep into the “how to,” I’m going to set the stage and help you begin to envision the many opportunities that await Americans overseas. I’ll clear up some misconceptions about what to look for and help you understand what questions you should ask yourself before choosing an agent and a league. I’ll write about what I know, which is the men’s game, but mostly everything I will speak about is on par and will be of help to women looking to transfer their game from NCAA to pro.Last year, USA Volleyball processed a national federation-record 456 international transfer certificates (336 women, 120 men), allowing United States citizens to compete in foreign professional volleyball leagues for the 2019-20 season. According to usavolleyball.org, among the popular destinations for American men’s international transfers include Germany with 23 athletes, England with 21, France with 11 and Italy with 10. The USA men’s national team has six players competing in Italy.
How much does a pro make?
This is the No. 1 question that I receive with regards to playing professional overseas, but it’s impossible to give one answer, as it varies deeply. Salaries will vary from positions to leagues, to particular teams, to the length of season a league plays, and, of course, skill level. There are a few countries, like China and India, where the seasons are much shorter, allowing athletes to take another contract in Europe after they finish, which is very rare but a great way to make some extra cash and to extend summer (fellow pro Garrett Muagututia has this cycle down!) My first contract in Finland was for a whopping $1,300 a month. But it included free lunch and dinner at a local restaurant.
Salaries depend a lot on the leagues, and unfortunately for other liberos out there, which position you play. Opposites, outside hitters and setters often command the most amount of money, leaving middle blockers and us liberos taking much smaller salaries and more than often, fighting just to break onto a team due to the foreigner limit (much more on that later on in the article). Athletes who aren’t on their national team, or those might have been good college players but got no postseason honors, are looking to take in anywhere from $10K-25K their first year abroad. Athletes who have already been showcased on the senior national team will be looking to pull in $30K-100K for their first contract. Again, a lot of this will have to do with what position you play, with opposites and outsides reigning in the higher end. If you’ve been able to survive and thrive through the darkness and the European cold for a couple years, while climbing leagues, you will be looking to make $25K-100K. If you’re a stud or managed to also climb the ladder as a national-team starter, you are now beginning to have multiple leagues, teams and agents pull at you, putting you in a situation where you will be commanding anywhere from $80K-200K, with the stars on Team USA pulling even more.
Contract Perks
You’re not Matt Anderson or Taylor Sander nor do you see yourself being a national-team starter anytime soon? Don’t fear the numbers or lack there of, as professional teams will be taking care of you, if not rolling out the red carpet to make sure you are settled in and comfortable in your new home away from home. Almost every league and team will provide in the contract an apartment that they will pay for. Some teams and leagues will provide lunch tickets at local restaurants (I survived my first year in Finland with both a lunch and dinner coupon). As you climb up the ladder of professional leagues, you are almost guaranteed to have a car provided by the club. If you’re in Poland, you might even have a car with your name on it. If you have a great agent and find yourself in the French, Polish or Italian league, you will most likely be able to write in a flight for your girlfriend, wife or even mom (Taylor Crabb the legend that he is, wrote in a plane ticket in his contract for his mom when he played in Sete, France)
This goes without saying that the team will provide a plane ticket, to and from your city of choice. If not, you need to get a new agent ASAP. My first professional year in Finland was also Kawika Shoji's first year. When I visited him, I learned that his team set him up with a 250 Euro gift card to the local supermarket . For two guys that were fresh out of college, it seemed as if he was gifted a million dollars. Where I am going with this is that you will be put in a position by the club to save a lot, 70-90% of your money, due to the lack of expenses usually spent on housing, transportation and even food. So don’t stress the number on the contract. The most important thing is to get overseas and to make your mark, allowing more teams and more coaches to see your level and slowly climb the professional ladder.
Do I need an agent?
You definitely do not need an agent, but it helps — it helps a lot. In my first two seasons I didn’t have an agent and it helped me take a little more money in my contract. Most teams have a set amount they can offer a player and their agent, so the theory is: no agent means more money. This only really works for European players that only want to play in their country, where every team, GM and coach is familiar with them, their style and what they can bring to the team. After spending a full season without a contract, my first year as a pro went great — I was voted libero of the month three out of five months and received the best libero award at the end of the season. A coach contacted me right before the season ended with the possibility of leaving and going to France B. I said my goodbyes, believing I was gone and would be in France the next year — except that it didn’t work out.
Without an agent, I patiently waited all summer for a team to find and contact me. I was naive and ended up having to re-sign with my Finnish team, which, luckily, was happy to have me back. I loved my second season in Finland but I missed out in a big way, having to return to a Tier 4 league (later on league rankings). The market is very volatile but I believe it is always within an athlete’s responsibility to be as prepared as possible, to put themselves in the best situation to sign in the highest league. So here are my four tips for collegiate athletes looking to go pro:
Nisse Huttunen (Finland)
Nisse is based out of Finland and has partners in Brazil and Poland (Michalak Brothers) who I currently speak and work with inside Poland. Nisse has been my agent for the past 10 years and has been my savior throughout my career, bailing me out of so many disastrous moments, while always having my back, rather than just taking the side of the club and leaving me out to dry. (That can happen overseas).
This past year was my 10th as a professional and one of my best seasons to date. Unfortunately my club’s president attempted to cut my contract for next year. Luckily, my agents hired a great lawyer, put a ton of pressure on the club and ended up getting my contract back.
Going into my fourth season, my previous agent did the exact opposite, helping the club I signed with. They pushed me away from the contract, as they decided to hire another libero after signing me. Not only did this agent help force me out, but once we agreed with the team for a buyout, he agreed on my behalf, without my permission to forgo the buyout.
If you do decide to work with an agent or agency, this decision has the possibility to make a or break your career and it is incredibly important you can trust your agent.
This is why I am limiting my recommendations to only two out of the hundreds. I know there are other agencies that do great and honest work, but I can only vouch for 10 years of work with Nisse and through the words of every single athlete who works with Chiara.
Chiara Castagnetti (Italy)
Chiara is relatively new to the men’s side but from speaking with American athletes she represents, everyone loves her. She’s done an amazing job for athletes coming out of America, including those who weren’t initially invited to the USA gym, working with them with and placing them in leagues where they can grow and can level up.
This is in stark contrast to other European agents, who represent some of the best players in the world. These agents aggressively pursue and sign as many Americans as they can, with the allure and promise that these athletes will be working with this agent only to be left hanging, and cast aside to work solely with one of their assistants.
Nisse Huttunen: https://www.nissehuttunen.com/
Michalak Brothers: https://www.michalakbrothers.com/
Chiara Castagnetti: chiarac7@hotmail.com
How do the leagues differ?
Each country has their own league and some countries have multiple feeder leagues. In 2012, I played in the second division in France and AJ Nally (a former Team USA member) played in the third division. More on him and his amazing journey later).
These countries differ a lot in a couple categories that are important for athletes to consider before signing.
Level
What is the level you’ll be playing at?
Some athletes like myself don’t have a choice. I didn’t get any offers my first year out of college and when the next summer came, the only opportunity for me to leave the States was in Finland.
What did I find in Finland with regards to the level? It was a lot lower that what I experienced competing on the Pan American Cup team for USA and wasn’t that much higher than what I experienced playing at Long Beach State.
Beggars can’t be choosers. I had no option, so it was up to me to not only be good but to be one of the best liberos in the Finnish league so I could upgrade and climb into a higher league with my next contract.
This was the same opportunity Dan McDonnell, Garret Muagututia and Kawika Shoji found themselves in, great examples of athletes that began their careers in Finland only to move up leagues each year, all of them eventually traveling with the USA senior team and winning medals in major tournaments.
Once again, your first contract should just be a foot in the door. Don’t worry too much about the level or the salary. If you’re dedicated to your craft, you’ll have a lot of opportunities to grow your game, upgrade in leagues and take in a higher payday.
Money
Just because you find yourself in a certain league doesn’t mean you should expect a certain amount of money, but as you will find in the breakdown below, the leagues will vary widely in the amount they can pay out.
Foreign Quota
One of the most unique aspects of professional sports overseas is the foreigner quota, as athletes will find out that their ability to sign with a team has a lot to depend on if the team has enough local athletes already on the roster. Along with money, foreigner quotas vary drastically from league to league, Germany has no quota, France allows six, Italy allows four on the court, Poland allows three on the court, Russia and China two each, and for Japan and Korea, the quota is one foreigner on each team.
This is where it gets tricky for liberos and middles. Polish and Italian teams will usually prioritize wing attackers and setters. I don’t blame them. When I first arrived to Poland in 2016, there were 16 teams and I was the only foreign libero, the year after there were two.
This is why you find the majority of foreign Liberos signing in either Germany or France, since the foreigner quotas are virtually non-existent. The goal should always be to level up (league up) as quickly as possible, as the training environment and playing environment for eight months will have a huge effect on your growth — but sometimes there are too many variables out of your control, so be patient.
Guaranteed money?
One of the worst things about professional volleyball is the lack of guaranteed money when signing contracts. Jayson Jablonski was arguably one of the unluckiest players going three years in a row, where he received less than 60% of his initial contract. One of those years, Jayson found himself in Greece, which for me is an absolute no-fly zone, with Brazil, Turkey, Slovenia and even Polish and Italian teams on the “be wary” list, with teams unable to pay players their full contacts, leaving you high and dry in FIVB court.
The good? French and Finnish governments guarantee the contracts to be paid, even if the club loses their title sponsor or goes bankrupt. When signing a contract, it’s very important to do your due diligence in having a conversation with your agent or reaching out to older players that have either played in the league or that particular team to get a feel for the worst-case scenarios. For awhile, athletes were passing up $60K contracts in France to sign $100K contracts in Greece, only to receive $40K for the entire year.
This one gets a little tricky but most athletes consider this before signing, outside of the $$ attached to the contract. The prime example is guys signing in Russia, even in Siberia!
City?
When I think of quality of life, I first think of where I am going and if it is a city, town or village (you will be surprised the amount of teams that are in villages). There are guys that can absolutely thrive in villages like Chaumont, where there is nothing else to do, but volleyball. However it’s not for everyone and can led to a quick burnout and poor performance on the court.
It isn’t necessary but it’s great to live in a place where athletes can detach from volleyball once in awhile, maybe even create community and a group of friends outside the team, like Ben Patch has done in Berlin.
+1 American?
One of the biggest contributing factors outside of money for Americans is to be able to play with another American. I’ve been fortunate to play four of my 10 seasons with Americans as teammates, five if we count Canadians, which is pretty much the same.
Having the luxury to speak English, connect outside the court, destress, watch sports and take a coffee on a free day, greatly decreases the stress and drama that comes from playing volleyball overseas — where outcomes seem to be the only thing that matter (and something we cannot control).
Having a North American bro overseas leads to less stress, more connection in an environment where you are deprived of family and it gives you a friend who you can hang out, relax and, if you must, vent to, when things get a little out of control.
Language?
Can you learn the local language? Do people in the city or on your team speak English?
Finnish is one of the hardest languages in the world for a native English speaker to learn, but fortunately almost every Finnish citizen under the age of 30 speaks English.
Head over to France and you are going to have to learn French to get around and to understand what is going on. Your French teammates prefer to speak their mother tongue.
Can you live in a Polish town, where most people don’t speak English? A language you aren’t going to pick up — although everyone on your team will use the language. The language barrier isn’t the highest priority when I am viewing a possible contract but it is something we might consider. It can be tricky but it also can be an amazing situation if we fly to Italy where Max Holt and Micah Christensen are fully fluent in Italian. What a cool perk, right?
My 10-year journey has brought me endless summers in Brazil and six-month winters in Finland. Most importantly, it’s brought me so many life lessons and new perceptions on life, reshaping my values and priorities.
Let’s get to the good stuff, what everyone is dying to know, and break down the leagues, the money, the foreign quotas and get a little more specific as I group some of the leagues where Americans are brought in into 4 Tiers.
Tier 1 — Italy, Russia, Poland, Brazil.
Italy $$$$
Italy is the place to be at the moment, it’s where Micah, Max, Matt and Aaron Russell were last year and there is no debate that the top our teams in Italy are the best in the world. With the four-foreigner quoted on the court, Italy has the most foreigners out of the four Tier 1 teams, since there is no shortage of great players to be found.
Recently, a lot of athletes out of college have been signing in Italy as a third middle, a fourth outside, or second setter on Italian teams. I believe Italy is a great place to develop, but I am not sold on the benefit of signing as a clear backup. These athletes will then sign on a much lower league to be a starter for their second year, in essence, losing a year to compete and show their talent. But with that said, there is no clear route to success overseas. Signing in a Tier 1 league, you are more than likely to be guaranteed a comfy first year without much drama that is much more likely from signing in a lower league.
Russia $$$$$
Do you like parka jackets, multiple 7-foot teammates and huge bank deposits? Then Russia is the place for you! To want to play in Russia and to be able to play in Russia is an incredibly different story, as Russia’s foreigner limit only allows two athletes from outside the country. These foreigners are usually unbelievably physical or they have consistently dominated with their respective national teams. You can expect to make $100K-900K depending on your position and the team you sign with.
Poland $$$$
I’ve been fortunate to play in the top Polish League (Plus-Liga) for three years now, living in a curious climate where volleyball is king. Poland is arguably one of the deepest leagues in the world top to bottom because of the immense number of talented Polish players. International volleyball fans got a glimpse of Poland’s depth in 2019 when Poland sent its third team to the VNL Finals and beat Brazil for the bronze medal.
Polish teams, like Italy, have the luxury to sign as many foreigners as they want but are limited to a max of three foreigners on the court at a single time. If you aren’t a starter on one of the top six teams in Italy, Poland is where you need to be. Volleyball in Poland is something to experience as an athlete. This past year the Plus-Liga was viewed more on television than the Polish soccer league.
Brazil $$$$
I’ve also had the unique opportunity to play in the Brazilian Super League. I say unique because Brazil rarely takes in foreigners, due to a couple of reasons: The language barrier, the huge tax teams must pay for foreigners, the intense training atmosphere and the strong level of local players.
Like Italy, Brazil usually has four super teams and in the past it has been Taubate, Sesi, SADA and usually some team from Rio (two teams in the past five years from Rio have gone bankrupt.) Like Poland, the passion for volleyball can be seen everywhere, as the hot and humid gyms are packed to the brim. But unlike the other top leagues, too often Brazilian teams lose funding from sponsors and athletes and teams alike crumble — even in midseason, as was the case when I was there with Rio RDX.
Tier 2 — France, Turkey, Argentina
France $$$
One of the most underrated leagues in the world is France. It’s a hotbed for players that are undersized but unbelievably skilled. Unlike Brazil and Italy, where the talent is top heavy, France is a slugfest, with every week seemingly an opportunity to rise or fall five places in the standings. This is the place to be if you are rising on the national team and where I believe more athletes should look to sign, coming straight out of college as there is a huge emphasis in ball control, team block and team defense. As a libero, France was heaven for me as the Foreigner quota is six athletes and more than other league, French coaches are looking to take foreign liberos and middles.
Unlike a Tier 1 league like Poland, France will sign seven or eight players who can compete, using the other four spots for young, up-and-coming local players who won’t be able to challenge a starter for a spot on the court. Because of how the teams allocate the money, the training environment can be very low compared to the Tier 1 Teams.
Turkey $$$$
A league that has consistently been able to pay large amounts of money to their foreigners but cannot get the best athletes in the world due to the low level in the Turkish league. More often than not, the Turkish teams will pursue and pay extremely physical opposites and outsides with few foreigner setters.
Argentina $$$
A league I know little about, but like Brazil, the Argentina league rarely takes in foreign talent due to the immense local talent. Unfortunately due to Covid, the league in Argentina took a huge hit this year with players fleeing and saturating the European market, making for an incredibly deep talent pool in France, Italy and Poland for the upcoming year.
Tier 3 – Germany, France B, Belgium, Greece
Germany $$
The Bundesliga has been poised for a breakout, but unfortunately Covid has destroyed and bankrupt multiple teams for the 2020-2021 season. There were lots of rumors that the biggest team in Germany, BR Volleys was looking to join its Polish neighbors in placing a bid to transfer and compete in the Plus-Liga.
The Bundesliga will continue this season with two major players, BR Volleys and VFB competing for the championship, with both teams serving as a consistent threat in Champions League with budgets that are two to four times more than other German teams. United Volleys has scratched at the top two teams lately but they are still outclassed in terms of the players they are able to sign, as they compete with Duren and Lunnenburg to round out the top three.
Germany has been one of the most friendly leagues for North Americans, seemingly to have at least two to four Americans or Canadians on each team. It’s one of the best leagues in regards to the quality of life as German teams pay and take care of their athletes. Even though Berlin and VFB consistently field rosters that could compete in the Plus Liga, the teams 5-12 are at a very low level.
France B $$
France B? I know what you are thinking and yes, France B, a second league.
France B is a league with multiple teams that could easily compete and win in the Bundesliga, filled with aging but capable players, whose time in France A has run its course. It’s a league where I spent my third year as a professional and learned a lot (very rare overseas), since France A and France B coaches put a huge focus on team block, defense and tactics.
For a lot of young athletes, I understand the discernment to playing in a “B” League, but if you are able to show a great level and compete in the B league, France A teams will be quick to swoop you up. And as I’ve mentioned, France A is not only a great league to compete in but it is a gateway league to Poland and Italy. Don’t sleep on France B!
Belgium $$
Similar to the Bundesliga in Germany, Belgium features two teams that have a much bigger budgets compared to the rest of the league and compete in Champions League.
Greece $$
The Greek league is a league that has fallen from grace. In the early 2000s, it featured some of the biggest individual talents and fielded some of biggest teams in the world. Since then, Greek teams have been taken to FIVB court more than other leagues in the world, as players have walked away from their teams, receiving 40-80% of payments they signed for. The league has taken a different route of lately, signing athletes for much lower but feasible contracts as they attempt to rebuild the league and trust in international players to return to Greece.
Tier 4 — Finland, Austria, Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden, England
I’ll group these Tier 4 teams together as entry level leagues for collegiate athletes to get their foot into the door, taking a little time to separate in my opinion, the best option, which is Finland, and the lowest option, England.
Finland $
Finland is where I began my career and where countless of other Americans have had their careers ended. It’s dark, it’s cold and it was one of my favorite countries to live in, as it is the biggest testing ground for character in serving as one of biggest culture shocks for Americans, especially Californians.
The league allows up to four foreigners and the rest of the team is built from older Finnish players that may also have another job and younger Finnish players attempting to show their level and leave the country. Play well and you can move up the ladder but as my Finnish agent jokingly once said “one year, two years at most” and you’re done. Finland provides a great chance to show your level, in a great environment, where everyone speaks English, you have the opportunity in Finland to be seen and move up to the Tier 3 category.
England $
England is the most intriguing Tier 4 league as it serves as a last-chance league for low DI athletes and/or DII, DIII or NAIA athletes to get their foot in the door in Europe and get their master’s degrees, while playing “pro ball.”
A couple of friends have been able to get their master’s in England and sign in a better Tier 4 league like Sweden and Finland. The best example is AJ Nally, who was unheard of in college but got his chance in England, grinded his way in the third league in France, then to the Bundesliga before signing in the Plus-Liga from Poland. Tier 4 to Tier 1, the hard way. It goes to show that any and everything is possible once you get into Europe — but of course, not everyone has the character nor the will of AJ Nally!
Bonus Tier Asia – Japan, Korea, China
99.99% of you reading this won’t play in Asia, but we will take some time to go over this very unique but rewarding region in which to be a foreigner. Japan and Korea have been landing big American opposites for years, like Clay Stanley ending his career in Japan, the Great Gaucho, Evan Patak winning a Korean title and the latest to sign, Kyle Russell, was selected to play in the Korean League.
Both leagues are extremely difficult to break into as the foreigner quota is only one and they are looking to take a player who can handle 40-80 attacks a game. Combine this with an relentless training schedule that usually starts at 7 a.m. with a team breakfast and three team trainings throughout the day. if you sign to play in Korea or Japan you are eating, sleeping and living volleyball without much of a social life — if any — but you will be greatly rewarded financially, with a minimum salary around $150K.
China has recently been growing its league and offering large contracts, poaching national-team players like Muagatutia, Scott Touzinsky and Jablonsky. The training regiment isn’t as relentless as Japan’s or Korea’s and the season is four months, allowing foreigners to join European teams half way through the season.
You're Ready to go Pro!
With more than 450 total Americans leaving the States to play pro last year, more than ever there is a path for you to become a professional and continue doing what you love, while experiencing life abroad. Whether it’s a straight shot to Italy A-1 or you take the route of AJ Nally and climb the ladder, it’s up to you and your will.
I believe it’s incredibly important for each and every athlete to put in the work and do your do diligence to put yourself in the best position to begin in the highest league possible as a starter, by getting video up, being relentless in contacting other Americans and speaking with multiple agents to see which agency is right for you.
If you’re going into your senior year of college and you still have questions, you can always contact me. If you’re aren’t a senior, focus on developing your game and enjoying college. I hope you took a lot of value and clarity from this article and I hope you, too, can continue your career after college overseas as a professional.
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How does self-punishment arise? According to Hale Dwoskin, author of the Sedona Method, “first we do something, or think of doing something that we believe we shouldn't do or that is wrong to do. Because we believe that punishment from the outside is inevitable, we punish ourselves in order to prevent receiving it. But since we have no idea of what others, or even our own sense of inner governance will determine is an appropriate degree of punishment, we usually overdo it.” This is exactly what I encountered, a year removed from my year in the Brazil Super League in 2015, with my new team in Ajaccio, France. The environment in France was amazing, as I had teammates who supported me no matter what but I was still quick to punish myself after any mistake or failure. I felt if I didn’t punish myself, someone else would, which I knew from past experiences in Brazil, would hurt even more.
Recognizing Shame
I’ve been blessed to live and compete in America, Europe and in South America. Through my journey, it seems that regardless where I am, most athletes are very quick to verbally or nonverbally punish themselves in an intense, malicious, outburst of their word of choice after an error. It’s this rationale that if “I make an error, I’m going to let everyone on my team and the coach know how upset I am with myself – rather than allow space for someone else to reprimand me.” For others (myself included) self-punishment can also manifest as a silent withdrawal of shame - a deep feeling of disgrace - splintering the confidence and the focus needed for the most important ball – the next ball.
“Freedom from shame means we are free to make better, healthier, more supportive choices.”
How do we move forward?
A mindful meditation practice has been a powerful ally for me to strengthen my mind through the practice of paying deliberate attention - building awareness of my thoughts, emotions, feelings, and bodily sensations. We can improve our mindfulness through consistent training, giving our mind a specific job to do while we sit and meditate. I personally prefer the task of focusing on the sensation of the breath coming in and leaving the nostrils. This consciousness pulls our mind out of its habitual state of constant thinking and processing in order to connect with the present moment and arguably more important – to return to the present moment, rather than being captured by our past failures or the dark, scary and ambiguous future.
By developing our awareness, it will ultimately lead to improvements in many aspects of life, on and off the court, including focus, decision-making, patience, stress-reduction and the space to respond rather than a knee jerk reaction.
Stimulus & Response
Stimulus: Getting aced at 23-23.
Reaction: Cursing yourself for what you should have done.
Response: Staying external, while moving our consciousness away from debilitating thoughts towards the sensation of a deep breath as we move forward to the next serve with as much clarity and confidence possible.
Meditation helps us observe our mind with equanimity and to be present, rather than being consumed by all of our self-deflating and self-debilitating thoughts that naturally arise upon losing a point. Each time we are able to consciously come back to our breath in meditation, we are training our ability to reset and to be as present as possible, not only in difficult moments, like getting aced at 23-23 but also in the middle of sets, where long runs of points are more likely to occur.
Whether the shame stems from a missed opportunity, anxiety about the next server or the pressure felt when the game is on the line, with more mindfulness on our side - we can observe these debilitating thoughts and let them pass, rather than allowing them to engulf and suffocate the focus needed for the next play. A mindfulness meditation practice teaches and empowers to be more courageous and take solace in the present, whether the present moment is viewed as gift or simply a given. We get the opportunity to begin again and to take with us as much confidence, clarity and focus possible towards the next ball, rather than being vulnerable to the external circumstances that we don’t have complete control over.
Taking our power back
There are so many emotions involved with sports but I believe there is no place in sport for the humiliating disgrace and guilt that comes with shame. I believe it’s important to be curious and to go within and to find where it has developed from – whether it’s passed down from our family, a certain coach, team or an accumulation of emotional experiences that now script shameful responses. Most importantly, we must find the courage to navigate shame, rather than allowing this guilt laded script run us subconsciously. We have the power to flip the script and take back as much of our focus, clarity and confidence possible, rather than allowing us to be vulnerable and dependent upon something external in our environment that we do not have complete control over. Ie: playing well, coach pulling you out, winning the game.
It’s been a battle for me, as I still observe traces of shame popping up every once in a while, but I am much better equipped to stay ahead of this debilitating emotion, freer to play the sport I love with as much clarity, focus, confidence and joy as possible. I believe you can too.
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This is how the Merriam-Webster dictionary defines shame, but I prefer the all-encompassing definition that Mary C. Lamia Ph.D. uses, in that shame informs us of an internal state of inadequacy, unworthiness, dishonor, regret, or disconnection. Shame is a clear signal that our positive feelings have been interrupted. Another person or a circumstance can trigger shame in us, but so can a failure to meet our own ideals or standards. Given that shame can lead us to feel as though our whole self is flawed, bad, or subject to exclusion, it motivates us to hide or to do something to save face.”
The seed of Shame.
My shame manifested from my experience in Brazil but for most, shame stems from the family home. According to Barrie Davenport, “If one or both of our parents were bound in shame, they passed that painful legacy to us through their feelings about themselves and their treatment of us. Children are particularly vulnerable to shame because they develop their identity based on their parents' reactions to them. When we are made to feel deficient, inadequate, and unlovable, we begin to see ourselves this way.” John Bradshaw goes even further in pointing out that 90% of the shame we carry doesn’t even belong to us. It was given to us by wounded parents in a process called the inter-generational transfer of shame. Regardless of the trigger, when shame is experienced the deterioration of an esteemed sense of self can be devastating. In addition to the typical emotions that can accompany shame, such as envy, anger, rage, and anxiety, we can also include sadness, depression, depletion, loneliness and emptiness as a result.
This is where shame became an incredibly debilitating and dangerous emotion for me when my team needed me most to perform. When shame results in a self-attack, it is overwhelming, and it overrides how I viewed myself, smothering me in doubt, while limiting my ability to be present, confident and most importantly, perform. As with all emotions, shame requires perspective since it is placed in the context of our environment and current concerns. However, our response to shame is shaped by all of our emotional memories of when it was previously experienced (my experience in Brazil). The accumulation of emotional experiences that reside in my memory scripted my responses when a particular emotion was activated in the present, this was in the form of a missed dig or a shanked float serve.
How do we deal with shame?
Anger, withdrawal, blame, contempt, control, perfectionism, and people-pleasing are all strategies that temporarily alleviate the general pain of feeling inadequate and unlovable. Experienced in an athletic competition, most of these strategies become obsolete due to the lack of time and space to cope with this debilitating emotion. This leaves withdrawal to become the all-encompassing strategy to deal with shame, pulling the athlete away the present moment, from their teammates and away, withdrawing inward to a past full of failure and a future full of anxiety.
“Smile”
This is what our medical trainer would tell me in my 5th year as a professional, playing for GFCA in the French League. I was only a year removed from Brazil, I thought I had escaped the anxiety and insecurity but I wasn’t able to shake the shadow of shame just yet. He could sense the onslaught of doubt developing on my face, you’ve seen it.. a long face, hollow eyes, with an intense internal focus. It was a prelude to the feeling of inadequacy. If I were to experience another “poor outcome” in the form of a poor pass or or a missed dig, I would slowly decent towards catastrophizing into deeper feelings unworthiness, disconnection and shame.
Once this subconscious shaming began, I began burying myself in self-doubt, approaching the next server only with the hope that he would leave me alone.
These limiting thoughts tore me out of the present moment and placing me either in a condensed past of failures of missed opportunities or a future full of anxiety, with plenty opportunities for me to let down my team and myself. With shame in the driver’s seat, I was stuck, I was stalled, I was playing with fear, I was playing with an ambiguous hope, a hope that the game would just end - so that there were less opportunities for me to let down the team.
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Transitioning into my 4th season as a professional in 2012 was without a doubt the most intense period of my career. There was so much drama and ambiguity as I lost the professional contract I signed to play in France, which branched out the possibility that I might also be done with Team USA - but this story is for another time.
Luckily for me, I have a great agent and he pulled off a move of a lifetime, Brazil as a foreign libero. I signed with a day notice to leave the Pan-Am Cup Team and I jumped on a plane to play in arguably one of the most competitive and historic leagues in the world, I couldn’t believe it.
Landing in Brazil, it was clear I had been teleported into a completely different world than I had left but I still had no idea what was waiting for me in Maringa, where I would spend the next 7 months. As soon as I touched down into the Maringa airport I was brought to a building where there were three TV cameras and a plethora of photographers and reporters waiting, “this couldn’t be for me” I thought, but they were - here we go.
This was how Brazilians consumed volleyball, it was and still is one of the biggest sports in the country, and the energy around the sport of volleyball was something I had never experienced before. With the spotlight on volleyball, I experienced many highs but my confidence and happiness slowly suffocated day by day due to my emotional and mental immaturity. My team I signed with was an expansion team and was built with the intention to be a top 5 team in the first season, but we finished in 8th position in the Super League table.
Looking back, I was totally unprepared mentally but there were also 4 major factors that led to my unraveling and a feeling I had never experienced before - volleyball wasn't fun. It had become a source of torment, sadness and a thick shadow of shame, that followed me onto the plane back home to the U.S.
1. Language barrier.
I spoke a little Spanish which laid an amazing foundation for being able to read and understand Portuguese, when spoken slowly. Besides myself, the team had 2 other foreigners, one was Argentinean and had already spent a year in Brazil and the other, was Japanese who had also spent the previous year in Brazil. All of my teammates understood and spoke Portuguese, I was the odd man out and I had an incredibly difficult time understanding the language, even the subtleties. Early on I couldn't differentiate between something as simple as boa (good) and porra (fuck) leaving me completely confused, vulnerable and insecure - not knowing if my teammates were mad at me.
2. Friends.
I had two great friends on the team, two amazing guys who I still keep in contact with but like the rest of the team, they had wives and a family outside of volleyball. Unlike my previous seasons overseas, the team rarely spent time together outside of the court and I never spent time with any of the guys outside of a team setting.
This lack of time spent with the guys outside the court led to me feeling completely isolated as I didn’t know if guys liked me or not. I don't blame it on them (I admit, I was not prepared mentally or emotionally for this environment) I never had a feel of my worth on and off the court or how my teammates perceived me (I now know how someone perceives me or not is not within my control) I slowly distanced myself, convincing myself they didn’t like me as a teammate or as a person.
3. Brazilian sports culture.
American volleyball culture is a very unique, very supportive culture (whether this is the most productive and efficient style, I am not here to debate this) My experience in this culture led me to the perception that my teammates and coaches would support me, lend me a hand when things got tough and only when my character or attitude was really out of line, I could expect yelling, cursing and maybe punishment.
My experience in the Brazilian volleyball culture – was not even close to what I had experienced on the USA National Team or at Long Beach State in college. The environment was extremely tense, aggressive and the coaches and players were verbally malicious when errors were made in training and during games.
Once we started losing, it began to snowball out of control as there was no patience for shanks, attacking errors or serving errors without some sort of yelling, cursing or extreme body language attempting to shame you from ever making the same mistake again. It wasn’t until the end of the season, where my coach started yelling at a teammate of mine, a Brazilian (the nicest and greatest guy on the team) I finally made the realization that the yelling and verbal abuse was for correction and not because they didn’t like the character of the player. Again, I was not prepared for this environment and a lot of this was because of my deep insecurity as an athlete and as a person.
4. My feelings of lack.
It would be foolish to put everything on the environment I experienced in Maringa especially because I am a firm believer that I have complete control with how I perceive my environment and the external stimuli however I want. But during my season in Brazil, I was far from this revelation, as I was extremely insecure and vulnerable at the will of those around me and how I assumed they perceived me.
This is where things got out of control for me mentally. If I error in a certain category in life, it’s to please other people – I strive to make people around me happy, I do my best to perform well and to lend a helpful hand whenever I can.
It’s something that probably stems from my experience in High School, where I didn’t have many friends – and during those times, I was reminded of it, which imprinted these feelings of lack and that I wasn't enough. Those dark, deep feelings of unworthiness that I repressed and suppressed were activated during my time in Brazil and I wasn't able to cope with this overwhelming feeling of not being enough.
"Was my level good enough? Did they like me as a person?"
My deep feelings of insecurity (just wanting to fit in and be loved) combined with a language I really didn’t understand led me to assume the worst - that no one liked me, or wanted me on the team. By not spending any time outside the court with my teammates (once again, I assumed they just didn’t like me) and a very drastic change in sports culture, where corrections where made from yelling and cursing maliciously (I assumed they took this approach because they didn’t like me as their teammate and as a person).
It was the perfect storm, one that I can look back and be grateful for now but the culminated efforts of these 4 factors during my time in Brazil led to one major emotion - shame. An emotion that continue to haunt me and my performance as I left Brazil for my 5th season in France.
According to Anthony Ongaro, of breakthetwitch.com, “the mere presence of your smartphone is reducing our cognitive capacity. Over-dependence on smartphones leads to user stress and is correlated to psychological traits including loss of control, social interaction anxiety, and materialism.” There is no doubt that dependency on technology is becoming out of control and we are only becoming more and more captivated with these alarming statistics.
Arguably the most daunting statistic is the average user touches, swipes, and taps their phone 2,617 times per day (Discout, 2016) drastically syphoning our ability to get into flow state and or ‘deep work.’
Break it
What can we do, to ‘Break the Twitch’ – this seemingly overwhelming urge to touch, scroll and look at our phone throughout the day? What can we do to be more assertive and step away from our dependency of our smart phones, computers and tablets to live a more purposely and intentional life?
I’ve found that the answer is in a tomato shaped, Italian timer, the Pomodoro.
The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s. The technique uses a timer to break down work into intervals, traditionally 25 minutes in length, separated by short breaks. These intervals are named pomodoros, the plural in English of the Italian word pomodoro (tomato), after the tomato-shaped kitchen timer that Cirillo used as a university student.
Originally there were 6 steps, towards the goal of reducing the impact of internal and external interruptions on focus and flow. With the Pomodoro, we are empowered to shut down all technology, giving yourself the freedom to focus solely on the task that you deem is most important at this moment in time.
6 Original Steps of the Pomodoro.
My personal (modern day) version of the Pomodoro technique
Whether it’s a text notification, suddenly realizing you need to check your Instagram, inspiration for a tweet or you’re simply curious to see what’s new on your Facebook feed, there are so many distracting thoughts and events that come up throughout the day. It shouldn’t surprise us as a research has shown that we have over 50,000 thoughts per day!
With the Pomodoro technique we are able to break this “Twitch” through removing any possible external interruptions while leaving no access to our phones or computers, leaving us in a pure task completion state.
Does it really matter?
In my first couple years overseas as a professional, I always felt some level of guilt at the end of the day. Even though I brought my complete attention and focus to training, I knew that I wasn’t working with that same intention off the court, sacrificing tons of time and energy to video games, Netflix and scrolling on my phone.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with playing video games or watching Netflix but my goal was (and still is) to become the best version I can be. This involves growing as much as I can, day after day, through intentional work off the court as well as on it.
The lack of personal growth during my free time overseas pushed me to create “The List” but even with my values and priorities written down in the form of micro tasks, I still found it hard to accomplish them as I found myself consistently drifting back to my phone and the guaranteed dopamine and comfort found in social media and video games.
With the Pomodoro technique, we can be intentional and get to work for what matters to us, a clear intention guiding us, without the thousands of distractions that bombard us throughout the day. With this technique, we can define what matters most to us throughout our day and make it a priority whether it be writing, reading, stretching, working out, learning a new recipe or making time for meditation. The Pomodoro Technique is a tool we can use to reach our own personal objectives and work with the passion, focus and drive each of us are capable of.
Put it into action
There is a great application for the phone now that can helps you set intention while locking your phone. The Forest app helps you beat “the twitch” by planting a seed in your virtual garden.Your ability to concentrate on your work and your discipline to not to use social media sites (while the timer you set is still on) will boost the growth of the tree and ultimately grow it fully.
If you decide to check your email, Instagram or to answer a message, your tree will wither away and die. The longer you stay focused (you can use the timer up to 2 hours) the more the tree can evolve. To hold your accountable, you have a garden that shows your trees that grew fully as well as the trees that died due to you not staying true to your commitment to working intentionally.
Have the best day ever and let me know if you use any other apps or tricks to increase productivity throughout the day.
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