1. Coming from a somewhat small volleyball town, were there any specific  steps you took to get noticed by coaches and recruiters?

The first step you have to take is deciding whether or not you are actually serious about playing in college. Once you come to that conclusion things begin to make a little bit more sense. Playing club volleyball was probably the biggest thing I did to get myself noticed. I was at tournaments where scouts were: invitationals, regional tournaments, things like that where there are lots of teams and thus lots of scouts. Also, my dad played a huge role in this. He was always on my side when it came to recruiters.

There are a lot of rules regarding when you can and cannot talk to coaches but my Dad was always able to talk to them and tell them about who I was. While there are websites you can use to put your information onto, I chose not to do that. I did email coaches asking for information about their schools, as did my Dad.

2. How did you make your final decision for college? What about Stetson was unique?

My answer to this question isn’t going to be all that helpful. At the end of the day, I basically went with my heart, not my head. On paper, going to Stetson was not necessarily the best choice. I was going to be 3,000 miles away from home, and unable to go home very often due to volleyball and school. I was verbally committed to a school in San Diego when Stetson offered me my scholarship.

While some will say I chased the money I don’t think that was really what I did. Yes, the money helped, but at the end of the day I loved Stetson when I visited. I felt that I had a large role I could play on the team and it just felt right. Stetson is a very small school with good academic programs – things that were important to me. Volleyball was really just the vehicle that got me there.

3. Playing a Division I sport is a major time commitment and can really take over your life. How did you balance between academics and sports?

Time management, time management, time management. You have to use your time effectively in order to accomplish what you have in front of you. VB did consume my life especially in the fall, but you have the time to get things done. You just need to focus, prioritize, and stay on top of your school work.

I am of the opinion that school is much more important than sports. And I always knew that if my grades began to fall I would lose volleyball. Another thing you need to take into consideration is friends (not just teammates). Find activities to do that don’t wear you out all the time and spend time with people who are going to build you up. Also, I learned how to study on a bus. It was probably the best thing [that] I did.

4. What did you miss the most during your time away from home?

I missed my family and friends the most. I used to say that I wasn’t actually home sick for the actual place, but for the people. I did really miss the mountains too. But the people were the main parts.

It was hard to transition at first because my parents were always at every game in high school and club and now they were only able to come to a couple each season. But you adjust quickly.

5. How do you train in the off-season?

Well, we sort of have two off seasons- the spring and the summer. In the spring we practiced and lifted weights four days a week. We worked on more on skills and less on playing and we did much heavier lifting. Our goal in the off season was to get stronger and better in specific areas.

In the summer, we were on our own, though our coach would give us a packet to work on. It was much harder in the summer to stay on top of working out but basically I would run 4-5 days a week and lift 3-4 days a week in order to stay in shape. I didn’t play a lot of volleyball in the summer but I enjoyed my time away from it. I think it helped me find a balance to be able to rest from it.

6. What’s one thing that every middle should know how to do?

I think the most important part about being a middle is being able to put the ball exactly where you want it to do. Placement is the most important in my opinion. My favorite shot as a middle was a tip to my right (the other teams left front) especially if they pull their outside hitter to come block with their middle.

However, you don’t want to be known for always doing something specific because teams will begin to adjust to you after a while.

7. How important are passing and defense for middles?

Middles playing defense…in most cases I would say it is not necessary to master that aspect of the game unless for some reason you are going to play all the way around on your team. However, I think understanding how the back row works will help you understand how big of a role you play as a blocker.

I actually really enjoy passing and defense. Another thing to consider is as you get to be a better defensive player you begin to develop a better sense of court awareness which I think helps you a lot as a player.

8. Has transitioning into coaching provided you with new insights into the game?

My transition to coaching really makes me think about how I do certain things in volleyball. After playing for this long a lot of things just become habitual and automatic, but for my JV players they are not habits or automatic at all.

I have to break skills down for them and think about how I explain everything. Why do we do things thing way, what is the best way to do this. Stuff like that. Its been challenging but very rewarding at the same time.

9. What are your coaching and individual goals, both immediate and long term?

For coaching I want to teach my girls as much about volleyball as I can. I want them to love this sport as much as I do, and I want them to have fun as a team. Winning, especially at the JV level isn’t everything. We are going to work hard at practice, work hard at games and have a lot of fun along the way.

Individually, I am on track to get my masters degree in occupational therapy. When I graduate I want to work with kids who have developmental difficulties.

Mark Knudsen is the head coach of boys’ volleyball at Valencia High School (CA). Knudsen has led Valencia to 4 CIF-Southern Section Division II Championships and a National Championship in 2008 (rivals.com). Under his leadership from 2002 to present, Valencia has yet to lose a league game and boasts an unprecedented league record of 102-0.

Prior to joining Valencia, Knudsen was the assistant coach for UCLA Men’s volleyball program under Al Scates, where he helped lead the Bruins to 4 NCAA titles. As a player, Knudsen was the California and National Champion for Beach Men’s AAA in 1990 and for Beach Coed Doubles Open division in 1991.

Knudsen is a 4-time CIF-SS Coach of the Year (2003, 2004, 2006, and 2008), and this season, he is looking to lead Valencia to its 10th straight league title. Let’s take a look at what his thoughts are on the program at Valencia, as well as some of his coaching philosophies and tips for players looking to improve their games.

1) The Boys’ program at Valencia has been very strong for nearly a decade. Do a lot of players come into the program developed or do you often need to teach the basics to bring them up to the level you want them to be playing at?

We get a good mix of experienced and inexperienced athletes at Valencia.  There are more and more young players playing club before starting high school. But in addition to that, we tend to get some of the best overall athletes who are drawn to our program due to our program’s success over the years.

3) Do you teach players to pass overhead or underhand in serve-receive?

I prefer to have players work on the forearm pass, while passing overhead for free balls and lob serves.  Often [times], serves come so fast that forearm passing gives players greater range and accuracy.  Overhead passes for a hard, fast serve tend to be high and less accurate which hinders our ability to run a fast offense.

I think doing lots of reps against the wall is a very simple but effective way to improve arm swing as well as hand-ball contact, wrist snap, and hand-eye coordination.

5) What type of blocking style do you advocate? Swing or stand and jump?

There is a time and place for swing blocking, but I think the times are rare, and the places even rarer.  Most players who start volleyball young learn to swing block to gain a few inches in vertical reach.  But at the varsity level, swing blocking should be abandoned because the costs far outweigh the limited benefit of a extra inches of reach.  The costs include failure to square up and seal the net, failure to close the seam, and failure to execute a solid, predictable block behind which other players can play defense.

We teach our players to stay square while moving along the net.  Get to the hitter as early as possible so there is time to make last second adjustments with the feet, go straight up, and press over with minimal lateral arm movement.  This allows for: 1) the blocker to seal the net better, 2) second and third blockers to seal the seams better, and 3) defenders to line up and be ready to dig.

I encourage to players to be very vocal on the court.  I’ll often participate in drills and try to model loud, enthusiastic communication at all times.  It’s important for all players to be aggressively calling balls in or out, calling out the opponents’ blockers and defenders locations, calling for sets, etc.  Aggressive communication leads to more aggressive play.

I’ve seen outstanding setters who are very tall, and outstanding setters who are among the smallest players on the court.  Size definitely helps with blocking and getting to more digs and passes, but possibly the most important thing is for the setter to be intelligent and able to stay composed at all times.

As a coach, I look to my setters to make the smart play. I’ll often give them information on the opponents’ blockers, or which of our players is hitting a particular set well at the time, but rarely will I tell him who to set.  He needs to know that I have confidence in him to run the offense, and the rest of the team also needs to know that I trust in him so that when the ball is in play, they know they can look to each other to make the play and win the rally.

Our goals are always the same.  We set out to win our league and win our Division Championship.  I expect our successful program that we’ve worked so hard to build will continue to produce teams of the highest quality and athletes of the highest character.

Ryan Jay Owens is a professional volleyball player in Europe. Since 2002, Ryan has played pro-volleyball in Belgium, Denmark, Czech Republic, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Finland, and Greece. An Illinois native, Ryan has played with the USA National Team in 2005, 2006, and 2010 and hopes to compete with the team in 2012 at London. This past season, he was the outside hitter for Iraklis in Greece.

Matt Proper Interview

This week’s interview is on former Penn State star, Matt Proper. He graduated in 2006 and went on to play professionally in Europe for 3 years. His career took him through Italy, Turkey, and Cyprus. Currently, Proper is working full-time as a medical consultant, but he still finds time to coach in a local club. Proper has also launched his own networking website for athletes all over the world, called Skyball. To read more about Skyball you can check out this article here!

Photo by Olympic Academy Volleyball

Name: Matt Proper

Position: Opposite        Height: 6′ 7″
Nationality: USA

Career Highlights:
-NCAA Big 10 Medal of Honor
-Penn State Team Co-Captain (2006)
-2-Time NCAA All-American (2005,2006)
-SGK Turkey (Turkey), Perugia Volley (Italy), Anorthosis Volley (Cyprus)

2)What advice would you give to high school/college players playing the opposite position hoping to break into the next level? What skills, drills, or workouts should players focus on besides uselessly trying to crush the ball at the 3meter line to be a valuable opposite for college?

Haha, funny you mention crushing balls at the 3 meter line.  I could never really bounce balls, even in warm ups.  High and deep scores points.

My advice to players trying to improve on the right side is to work on drills that take you out of your comfort zone.  Being able to deal with out of system balls that aren’t perfect- that’s what separates good right sides from great ones. Oh, and having a heavy, consistent jump serve helps too.

Photo by gopsusports.com

3)What would you say is the main job for the opposite? (i.e. blocking the other team’s outside, terminating plays etc.)

Cleaning up the garbage & siding out.  Great opposites should be able to be able to put all of the out of system balls away, and get the team out of rotations if they’re struggling.  On a good team, opposites should be your highest scorer.  No player I’ve seen has epitomized the opposite position better than Clay Stanley.  Usually someone who bangs the ball hardest, but can having a wide array of shots helps too- like Ivan Miljkovic or Jochen Schops.

4)In line with Q3, should coaches place their best attacker on the outside or the opposite?

Not necessarily.  The opposite position has a different role and responsibility.  A coach should evaluate each player’s strengths and put them in the best fitting position.  If your “best attacker” can pass dimes, then you need to have him or her playing outside. But yes, and opposite should absolutely be a great attacker.

5)What was your favorite play/combination while playing at Penn State?

We didn’t run much in terms of combos at Penn State.  Once in a while I’d come around and run an X2, and that was always fun because we hardly ever ran it.  So most teams didn’t expect it, their middle blocker would pop, and I could swing on an empty net. That’s fun.

6)What was the most memorable experience/moment during your time at Penn State?

Beating UCI in the NCAA semis on our home court was by far my most memorable volleyball moment.  Fifth set, game point- Max Holt went back to serve, and the lights cut out.  They were on a timer set for 11PM.  We had to wait for them to warm back up for 15 minutes, then he went back and ripped an ace to send us to the finals.  Classic.

Unfortunately, we got smoked in the finals by a UCLA team who blew threw everyone in the playoffs after a mediocre season.

But my whole experience was legendary.  I have friends from every other Men’s Volleyball school.  And as far experience and culture, Penn State can’t be beat.  The people, resources, support, and facilities at PSU are the best in the country.

7)Obviously playing for 4 years at Penn State must have had some bumps along the way. How did you manage to overcome personal difficulties, including your journey to the Championship match against UCLA in your senior year?

Honestly, the support system and my faith in God made me feel invincible.  Sure, there were injuries, bad matches, too much school work, but that’s the joy of college.  I was surrounded by so many rock stars on the court and off, and that, combined with my faith, made me feel invincible.

Was I?  Of course not- no one is.  But I held tight to the truth that ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me’.  Repeating that helped me bounce back from vomiting after a crazy workout or sleep deprivation or any super long practice that came through my way.

Photo by Volleyball Magazine

8)Has the game evolved since you started playing? How has serving, speed, defense changed in style/strategies within the past few years?

Well when I first started playing we used side-out scoring.  Yeah, that means I’m getting up there in age.

Obviously hits are substantially harder and defensive players are better now than they’ve ever been.  But I’m gonna have to say it’s way more technicalthan it used to.  When I first got in the gym under Hugh McCutcheon and he started talking bio-mechanics, I knew things were on a whole new level.

The knowledge that’s out there now, along with the increasing accessibility to sports  will continue to advance them.  There wasn’t even YouTube when I was growing up.  I had two or three VHS tapes from the 2000 Olympics that I watched over and over because that’s all the exposure I had to high level volleyball.

9)How important is weight-lifting and nutrition for young players? Are there certain workouts like squats or deadlifts that young players at the HS/college level can’t ignore?

I’m going to make a bold statement that weights aren’t extremely important for volleyball at the younger levels.  I would suggest that young players focus more on plyometrics, flexibility, agility, and core strength.

It’s important to strengthen muscles around common injury areas- like strengthening shoulder muscles and deltoids to prevent shoulder injury or quads to prevent knee injuries. I would suggest to boys, more than girls, to then strengthen more major muscles.  But focus more on fast twitch exercises as opposed to just bulking up.

10)We have a section on shoes and was wondering what pair you wear! What’s your idea on wearing basketball shoes like the Kobe’s for volleyball?

Aaah, well since I haven’t been playing, I can’t recommend any current shoes.  But my favorite pair of shoes I ever played in were Jordan’s.  Most basketball shoes are too stiff for me.  I prefer shoes that flex.

11)How can the sport of volleyball grow further in the US? We’d love your input on the subject!

Connection. Continuing to let tech make the sport more accessible. Unfortunately, the sport is sparsely divided into like four different niches.  Girls volleyball is obviously the most popular, then boys, then maybe recreational beach or grass, then NCAA.  But 90% of these kids playing have no idea there’s even professional leagues out here, let alone can they name a professional player.

That’s something that I would love for Skyball to help solve. But that’s a big vision.  Like I mentioned before, just having videos online of high level volley is great for younger generations.  But to have a platform that they’re already using make the discovery and connection with the higher levels more effective.

Then kids will have life-size cutouts of Reid Priddy or Matt Anderson in their room.

Volleyball is one of the most popular sports in the world.  I mean come on, my Amish neighbors in Pennsylvania played volley.  But until there’s a connection to the higher levels, kids can’t have volleyball heros and we’ll never have an indoor pro volleyball league, or anything else that tons of other countries have but we don’t.

12)Could you sum up your immediate/long term goals in your career?

Skyball is my baby. It may take 10 years, but it’s an ongoing mission of mine to share my knowledge, abilities, and experiences to touch people’s lives. Those happen to be in sports and tech.

There are a ton of great companies that I look up to, like Tom’s shoes or On a Mission or charity:water that have a great purpose for being and really make a difference in people’s lives. Great contributions don’t have to be only through donations though.  Tom’s is a great example of a for-profit company that makes a big impact in this world.

That’s what I’d like to do. That’s what I’d like Skyball to be.  Something much bigger than myself.

Interview with Jeff Menzel (UCSB Volleyball)

Jeff Menzel is a world class volleyball player about to start his first pro season in Spain. A California native, Menzel attended UC Santa Barbara where he majored in sociology and played some Division I volleyball. Menzel dominated the NCAA competition for 4 years from the outside position and was ranked 8th in the school’s history for most kills in a season (530).

In his final season, the Gauchos pulled multiple upsets against top-ranked teams to win the MPSF title. That same year, UCSB advanced to the NCAA finals but came up short in a 5 set loss to Ohio State. Earlier this year, Menzel competed with Team USA at the Pan American Games in Quebec, Canada and also at the World University Games in Shenzhen, China.

2)How did last year’s run at the NCAA finals affect your career goals and approach to the game?

The NCAA run that we had was one for the record books, no doubt about it. It would have been nice to get that last win and end a great season with a NCAA Title but I think that loss made me even hungrier for the upcoming professional seasons. The MPSF Championship was the first League Title I have ever won, in either high school or college in any sport and getting a taste of that success has really made me hungry for more.

3)We’ve seen your vertical but exactly how high is it and how do you train during the on/off season to maintain that?

Haha, it’s around 45″ on my good days or during a big match when I really have some adrenaline pumping. Most of my bounce comes from genetics but my UCSB trainer as well as the national team trainer has had me doing a lot of plyometrics as well as band work and box jumps to keep my body in top shape.

4)How important is weight lifting for volleyball players at the high school and college level and what specific exercises should they never forget to do?

Weight lifting is very important to keep your body in shape, for any sport. Kids have to remember that the real job is done out on the court. It is important to keep your body in shape but since volleyball is not a contact sport, we don’t have to a have a huge frame in order to be successful. I would say the two most important muscle groups are your core and your shoulders. You use both of those muscle groups on every play and they need to be strong in order to prevent injuries.

5)At the pros & at the college level, sets are so fast and blockers are so quick. How do you find a hole in the block or see where the blockers are lined up in that short amount of time?

As you play more and more, you develop your eyes and body to react to make a split second decision. Volleyball, just like any other game or sport, is all about repetition and practice. The more you can play and teach your body the right volleyball muscle memory, the better off you are.

6)The new Kobe’s look slick! But why Kobe’s?

The Kobe’s really are the perfect volleyball shoes. They fit well to your feet and are super light which is good for volleyball where you do a lot of jumping. And of course, I am a huge Kobe and Lakers fan so it was only appropriate.

7) For outside hitters, passing and defense are so crucial. What drills can players do to polish those aspects of the game?

Passing needs to become an aspect of the game that you love. I still am working on that and I’m sure I will be for the rest of my career. I would get as many passing reps as possible. Work on getting 20 perfect passes in a row after every practice. If you have to get a few teammates to stay after with you, then do it. I was lucky to have a group of teammates at UCSB who wanted to win as much as I did and we all put in the time after practice and even on our days off to practice being great. Because volleyball isn’t an individual sport, having teammates that are as motivated as you helps a ton with developing your volleyball skills.

8 ) What do you expect from your time in Spain? And what will you miss the most about home?

I expect to be a part of some great volleyball, try some great food, learn about the local culture and have a great overall experience. I’m lucky I will be spending my time in Almeria with another American, Austin Zahn from USC. Having a teammate that you know and get along with is a huge plus in a place that you’ve never been to and have no friends. I will for sure miss my family. I have a real close relationship with both my sisters and all my nieces and nephews, so it will be tough not being able to see them on a daily basis. The weather is pretty close to Southern California so I will have no problem getting used to that. Lastly, I look forward to getting used to the life of a pro athlete, the traveling, the practicing, and having your life completely focused on this wonderful sport.

Volleyball Coaching Tips by Doug Magorien (Westlake HS)

Doug Magorien is the boys’ volleyball head coach at Westlake high school (CA). Doug has coached volleyball for 28 years. After coaching at Taft for 18 years and leading them to numerous league championships and 4 CIF-City Section Titles (1990, 1999, 2000, 2001), Doug took over the girls’ program at Westlake from 2001 to 2003.

There, he led Westlake to 2 league titles and 2 CIF Semifinals (2001, 2002). He then went back to coaching boys’ volleyball at Westlake in 2004, leading them to a league title that year and the Division I Final against Loyola.

Since then, Westlake has won 7 league titles and competed in the state playoffs for 3 years running. In 2009, Westlake won the CIF title and Doug was named Coach of the Year by the CIF and the Daily News. In 2011, Westlake reached Division II semifinals and the State Final against Corona Del Mar.

1) To what do you attribute for your team’s success within the past few years?

Many of the players on the team, including my Son Travis (CSUN bound) and Keats Stanley (USC recruited) played on my club team (Beach Bones) before high school where they won Bronze medal in USVBA.  A strong desire to improve their skill motivated them to work even harder to be elite players in Southern California. Starting volleyball before high school and practicing at a high level helped them become the players they are today and this experience lets us compete at the highest level.

2) Now that you can train year-round without CIF constraints, do you?

The lifting of constraints is a double-edged sword. A downside is that sports like basketball don’t want to share its athletes. Our team used to have 12 basketball players but now it’s down to 2 players who quit basketball to play volleyball. The pressure for them to stay with the sport was too great. So I think this rule actually hurts volleyball. On the positive side, it makes it easier to share the gym. After JO’s are over, I give the kids a month-long break to rest or to play beach. To peak their performance, I start off in September meeting twice a week with my Varsity players. The workouts don’t include much 6 vs 6. We mostly do doubles and all-around player work. That way middles get a chance to pass and play defense while liberos get to hit and block. It helps them get a better understanding of the game.

Come late November we meet more often and start working on more position drills. Then in February, we are ready to hit fundamentals very hard everyday. By then, the kids can’t wait to work on 6 vs 6 since we have not played too much of it.

3) Do you teach players to pass overhand or underhand in serve-receive and why?

I train them to pass both overhand and underhand because you have to have the right tool for the right job. Underhand passing is much harder to learn and is emphasized on jump serves.  Overhand is emphasized on float serves which means identifying the type of serve is important before passing the ball. It also dictates where players stand in serve receive. For float serves, players step-up and use their hands while on jump serves you are deeper into court positioned for the tail.

4) What drills do you do to fix bad arm swings mechanics?

I use 2 drills to work on arm swing mechanics. One is throwing tennis balls over the net with a spike approach. Sometimes I’ll use a box to break down the mechanics. Many coaches feel using a box is not good because it takes out the vital aspect of timing the ball, but I think that in a short session, using the box is beneficial. The best way to work on the arm swing is to hit sets 10ft off the net. This is great because players have to time the set and swing correctly to be successful. It also prevents players with great verticals from “cheating” to hit the ball with a bad arm swing. It gives instant feedback. Deep court is another great drill for any team.

5) What type of blocking style do you advocate? Swing or standing jump?

For the last 5 years we have predominately been swing blocking with split blocking as an option when necessary. It was a hard conversion for me since I’m an old school player. But since most clubs teach it and Marv Dumpy (Pepperdine) favors it, I switched over to it.

6) How do you inspire players to communicate on the court during practice and in games?

We talk about communicating on the court during our daily meetings which last anywhere from 3 to 20 minutes depending on whether we have a game review. Besides that, I have drills that demand communication to be successful such as: deep court with no set setter, 2 hit volleyball with 3 vs 3 and many others to help incorporate good communication.

7) How do you train your hitters to see the block and hit accordingly?

Again we use a lot of different drills to teach players different shots. One of my favorites is a drill called “ANGLE ONLY’. It’s a 3 vs 3 drill using only the left ½ to 1/3 of the court. Lines are drawn to determine where the ½ or 1/3 of the court will be. In this drill, each team has a set setter who plays right front, and a left front and a left back.

The coach runs the drill on the side of the court with a bucket of balls. Players must attack the opposing team’s left side of the court. This forces the outsides to hit angle. The angle digger thus gets a lot of reps digging hard angle shots. You may have the setter block if you want to add a single block, but touches count.

Any dig that goes over on the court is good so players have to be ready to chase down any digs. Again, balls have to be hit to the opponents’ left side as determined by the sideline and the added line. It’s a continuous drill; as soon as the ball is terminated the next ball is given to the winning team.  To inspire players to communicate, whoever calls for the ball the loudest gets the first one to start the drill. You can play to 25 or whatever works for you. You can vary the drill as well. You can have teams of 2 on each side of the court and rotate off the losing team.

For example, say Side A has a set setter and 3 teams of 2 left side players (OH and a left-back). Side B has a set Setter and 3 teams of 2 left side players. If you lose the rally, you’re off and the toss goes to the winning side and new team goes to the losing side. Score the drill with teams on A vs. teams on B to 25pts, then play again as the 2 setters switch sides.

8) What are your immediate goals for the upcoming season as well as your vision for the program a few years down the road?

After losing two Division I players including a Setter who was the team leader and an attacker who was one of the best in CIF, we are looking to build new leaders and establish a new identity as a team. We want to compete for our 4th straight league title. We hope to be a dangerous team in the playoffs and compete at the highest level.