
Coach Your Brains Out
Coach Your Brains Out is founded by professional beach volleyball players and college coaches John Mayer and Billy Allen. The primary goal is practical, useful education that will help you become a better coach. Our podcasts are released every Thursday, so set your notifications accordingly!
Latest episodes

Feb 24, 2023 • 32min
COMMUNICATION with Dan Fitzgerald (1 of 2)
1:24 - Introducing Dan, as well as his big takeaways from recently becoming the head coach of the baseball program at Kansas University.3:15 - What were some difficulties Dan experienced transitioning into a larger role as a head coach, as well as moving to a new university?6:29 - Dan’s experience with communicating with athletes, and how coaches can become better at this skill.7:52 - With so many players on a roster, how does Dan organize 1-on-1s or other methods of personal communication?11:41 - How the way Dan communicates with his players changes depending on their personalities.16:16 - How does Dan communicate with role players, or bench players that generally may not receive as much attention?20:56 - How Dan as a coach manages pressure that athletes may feel to perform well, and have a successful season.22:23 - Dealing with pressure to succeed from the players perspective.28:35 - Compared to beach volleyball where there are only two players who learn all skills, how do coaches and staff manage sports like baseball where there are so many more positions that specialize in different skills?Coach Your Brains Out: The Art and Science of Coaching VolleyballThe Inner Knight: Train and Compete Like a ChampionBecome a Patron to support the show.

7 snips
Feb 16, 2023 • 32min
CHAMPIONSHIP BEHAVIORS with Hugh McCutcheon (2 of 2)
1:30 - How Hugh manages to maintain a healthy lifestyle despite all the craziness that comes with being a coach.3:12 - Does Hugh allow himself to set aside free time for things like watching a TV Show.6:11 - Explaining the idea of being a woman and a warrior that Hugh emphasized to his players and in his book.9:36 - What is coopetition, and how does Hugh incorporate it into practices? 11:47 - How does Hugh create a team mentality rather than one focused on individual results?15:27 - Differences between outcome goals, task goals, and daily goals.19:48 - Fostering a mentality where once practice starts, athletes switch into a different mode where they are focused and attentive.22:24 - Explaining the nuances of role clarity and communication with athletes.24:56 - The biggest influences Ken Ravizza has had on Hugh as well as his team.Coach Your Brains Out: The Art and Science of Coaching VolleyballThe Inner Knight: Train and Compete Like a ChampionBecome a Patron to support the show.

6 snips
Feb 9, 2023 • 28min
CHAMPIONSHIP BEHAVIORS with Hugh McCutcheon (1 of 2)
1:56 - Hugh’s “retirement” and what his new upcoming role will look like in the next few years..4:55 - Will Hugh ever make a comeback to being involved on court as a coach?9:10 - Should there be more barriers between coaches and players (especially young athletes) in terms of influence?Plus, check out Hugh’s book titled: Championship Behaviors: A Model for Competitive Influence14:25 - How Hugh first navigated the evidence-based approach for coaching and education, and ways that new coaches can implement it.17:13 - Describing the distinction between “what you are” and “what you do”.19:20 - How do we improve our “salesmanship” as a coach?20:43 - Hugh’s strategies for convincing athletes that don’t initially buy into his ideas.22:05 - How to get chips in the “emotional bank account”?23:47 - Is salesmanship an important skill with coaches to develop?27:19 - The downsides of using sarcasm as a coach.Coach Your Brains Out: The Art and Science of Coaching VolleyballThe Inner Knight: Train and Compete Like a ChampionBecome a Patron to support the show.

Feb 2, 2023 • 33min
CUEING ATTRACTORS - Motor Learning for Coaches
1:32 - Despite the losses, where does Andy see success in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ development?2:15 - Andy’s predictions for the upcoming season.2:44 - Diving into the idea of attractors and cuing, and how do they fit into the way we interact in our sports?6:29 - Are attractors universal within all athletes when they start, or do they develop from coaching and instruction?9:28 - Examples of attractors in volleyball.17:35 - Andy’s thoughts on constraining with fluctuators in mind vs. with attractors in mind.19:44 - How would Kasey cue or constrain a fluctuator?28:00 - How can coaches learn about attractors to increase their awareness with how they interact with their sport?28:50 - Final thoughts.Coach Your Brains Out: The Art and Science of Coaching VolleyballThe Inner Knight: Train and Compete Like a ChampionBecome a Patron to support the show.

Jan 26, 2023 • 51min
ECO-D FOR YOUTH VB with Loren Anderson (Part 2 of 2)
1:13 - What is something coaches can do to easily incorporate ecological dynamics for the first time?Giving more authority to the players10:06 - Loren’s thoughts on the belief that “fundamentals need to be taught first” before there can be any variability in practice.17:51 - More insight into practice design that uses the constraints led approach.34:05 - Attributing a reason for doing something to a specific habit or action.42:05 - Benefits of encouraging players to start a donor sport.Coach Your Brains Out: The Art and Science of Coaching VolleyballThe Inner Knight: Train and Compete Like a ChampionContact us for bulk orders: coachyourbrainsout@gmail.com Support the show by becoming a Patron

Jan 19, 2023 • 44min
ECO-D FOR YOUTH VB with Loren Anderson (Part 1 of 2)
1:50 - How has Loren explored ecological dynamics in the past?2:50 - What originally pushed Loren to start learning about ecological dynamics?9:47 - Have there ever been instances where Loren has questioned the effectiveness of certain aspects of the ecological approach?13:31 - Does Loren think his teams would have won more if they followed a traditional approach?15:28 - Differences between ecological dynamics and the traditional methods of coaching.Explaining within the lens of junior club volleyball28:89 - While coaching in his old club, what pushback did Loren face when he tried implementing ecological dynamics, and how did he face it?32:23 - Scenarios where just sticking with the traditional methods may have worked more effectively than implementing ecological dynamics despite the research.38:07 - How does Loren respond to players who ask for more direct feedback from their coaches?41:30 - Explaining the usage of principles of movement vs. prescriptive changes to parts of techniques.Coach Your Brains Out: The Art and Science of Coaching VolleyballThe Inner Knight: Train and Compete Like a ChampionContact us for bulk orders: coachyourbrainsout@gmail.com Support the show by becoming a Patron

20 snips
Jan 12, 2023 • 27min
DIFFERENTIAL LEARNING with Wolfgang Schollhorn (Part 2 of 2)
1:26 - Despite research that shows that it’s not as effective as an external focus, how can internal focus still encourage learning in differential learning settings?4:54 - What timing is best for maximizing the effects on the athletes?6:44 - Are there any scenarios where athletes can have errors that are too extreme to be considered “bad errors”?12:53 - How to successfully encourage elite athletes to move out of their comfort zone?16:04 - Would the same improvement that took place when novice players were the subjects also occur with elite athletes?19:58 - What would two hours of practice look like if Dr. Schollhorn was designing it?Coach Your Brains Out: The Art and Science of Coaching VolleyballThe Inner Knight: Train and Compete Like a ChampionContact us for bulk orders: coachyourbrainsout@gmail.com Support the show by becoming a Patron

23 snips
Jan 5, 2023 • 44min
DIFFERENTIAL LEARNING with Wolfgang Schollhorn (Part 1 of 2)
1:46 - Dr. Schollhorn’s journey through sports during his childhood and how it guided him towards studying the differential approach.5:09 - When and how can coaches effectively use differential learning?The importance of effective communication12:32 - Breaking down Dr. Schollhorn’s recent study on serving and passing in volleyball.Three main groups: Control, traditional (repetitive drills), and differential approach16:29 - Dr. Schollhorn’s response to people doubting the actual usage and effectiveness of differential learning in sports.21:48 - Why corrective feedback isn’t a particularly effective form of communication. 24:47 - Describing the relevance and differences in usage between pedagogy and andragogy.28:33 - Going back to the previous volleyball study mentioned, why were there significantly greater results in the retention phase for athletes in the differential learning group when compared to the other groups?31:37 - Given that the differential learning group didn’t do the same exercises as the athletes in the other two groups, what exercises were done?35:28 - Would Dr. Schollhorn focus at one part of the motion/technique at a time, or mix up other parts in between (eg. focusing on the toss first - arm bent, left arm or right arm, etc).38:07 - How important is it to Dr. Schollhorn that when focusing on changing parts of a technique, the athlete is still focusing on the goal of the drill (eg. serving to a certain spot).Coach Your Brains Out: The Art and Science of Coaching VolleyballThe Inner Knight: Train and Compete Like a ChampionContact us for bulk orders: coachyourbrainsout@gmail.com Support the show by becoming a Patron

Dec 29, 2022 • 21min
JOE TRINSEY - Part 3 of 3
1:22 - Explaining “archetypes” and how they can be useful when scouting athletes or teams.Similar to Jamie Morrison’s idea of storytelling6:42 - How adding variability and “noise” can strengthen the defensive and offensive system rather than break it.7:41 - Beginner players run into variability while advanced players create variability. Why is that?9:52 - The added benefits of linking archetypes with experiences that players have (e.x. drills in practices, or even plays).11:41 - How John related players he encountered for the first time in the World Tour to players he had already played before in the AVP in scouting reports.12:33 - As a highschool or youth coach where time is limited, what would be the Number 1 idea to present to the players?14:40 - What avid blog readers can look forward to in the upcoming months (a lot of the posts that Joe mentions are already uploaded!).Read Joe’s blog here: https://smartervolley.substack.com/15:39 - Joe’s pick for winning the NCAA Finals at the time the podcast was being recorded.17:02 - How advanced is the statistical analysis of Beach Volleyball at this point?Coach Your Brains Out: The Art and Science of Coaching VolleyballThe Inner Knight: Train and Compete Like a ChampionContact us for bulk orders: coachyourbrainsout@gmail.com Support the show by becoming a Patron

Dec 22, 2022 • 34min
JOE TRINSEY - Part 2 of 3
1:48 - What are some specific games/drills through which Joe enforces this idea of “making the other side play”?7:47 - Balancing freedom of play and potential development at the younger ages with increasing competition and competitive success.15:27 - Joe’s thoughts on scoring games/drills where there is a “minus” component.18:39 - Explaining the idea of “game teaches the game” and its role in development.25:08 - When it comes down to smaller techniques and motions, leaving the athletes to self-organize specific constraintsCoach Your Brains Out: The Art and Science of Coaching VolleyballThe Inner Knight: Train and Compete Like a ChampionContact us for bulk orders: coachyourbrainsout@gmail.com Support the show by becoming a Patron