Coach Your Brains Out

1:40 - Helping athletes learn how to handle pressure better (Chapter 15 of Rob’s book)3:18 - Approaching coaches who would rather have “perfect” practices by removing pressure and anxiety within the practices.4:50 - How and when would Rob implement pressure and anxiety?11:41 - Explaining the challenge point hypothesis (Chapter 14), and dealing with obstacles that come with implementing it into practice.12:31 - How can coaches adjust practice activities if they are too difficult/if there is too much failure (especially at the junior level).16:00 - Unique qualities about the volleyball community that have stuck out to Rob.19:18 - What kind of coaching instructions can end up making a player’s vision and serve receive skills worsen?22:21 - How setters and attackers can improve their peripheral vision to improve sets and score more points.25:30 - What inspired Rob to focus this year on interviewing more coaches for his podcast, and what has he learned from them so far?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.

Movement optimization expert Rob Gray discusses topics such as improving athletes' gaze behavior, determining visual perception improvement without expensive equipment, replacing explicit instruction with more effective activities, and the use of overload in promoting change. The concept of attractors and creating new attractors/fluctuators is also explained.

John Mayer, Joe Trinsey, and Kirk Pitman discuss how they plan practice.

John Mayer, Joe Trinsey, and Kirk Pitman talk about how they plan practice.

1:22 - What Dan looks for when he is hiring staff members.4:20 - How does Dan manage the staff when there are multiple coaches that have similar strengths and weaknesses?6:21 - Tips Dan has for effectively communicating with staff members.10:13 - How has Dan delegated work among himself and his staff?19:51 - How does Dan set and implement standards for his team, and how does he communicate with players that don’t meet that criteria?24:33 - How Dan balanced stepping into a new role as a head coach with also becoming a part of a new school with a different culture. 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.

 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.

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.

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.

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.

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