

Coach Your Brains Out
CYBO and Gold Medal Squared
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!
Episodes
Mentioned books

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

Dec 15, 2022 • 32min
JOE TRINSEY - Part 1 of 3
1:23 - Why does Joe call himself the “Forrest Gump” of volleyball?3:17 - What can readers gain from becoming subscribers of Joe’s blog?Become a subscriber here: https://smartervolley.substack.com/6:10 - Creating a blog vs. publishing it as a book: Billy’s and Joe’s thoughts on the differences and benefits.7:34 - Joe’s experience coaching the Canadian men’s indoor team over the last summer: what he learned and gained as a coach.11:48 - Exhausting traveling experience for the VNL games.14:03 - Joe’s thoughts on “momentum” within games particularly at the juniors level, and how it compares to the college and professional level.21:43 - Identifying the upsides and downsides of building off momentum and/or treating it as a placebo.23:49 - How can coaches destabilize a “bad solution” and give players the tools to create a more effective solution?27:56 - Joe’s approach to stats at the junior level compared to the college or professional level. 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 8, 2022 • 34min
SPECIFICITY AND VARIABILITY - Motor Learning For Coaches
1:26 - Checking up on Harjiv: with the start of the NBA season, how has he been doing?3:07 - What is “specificity” in relation to motor learning and practice design?6:43 - Why should the specificity of practice and the specificity of movement be separated from each other?10:16 - Defining variability and describing its benefits.11:22 - Attributing specificity of practice as the “what” and the specificity of movement as the “how”.13:09 - How do variation and specificity relate to each other?14:38 - How does specificity and variation fit into volleyball given how chaotic it is?17:00 - How does Kasey interact with the chaos of volleyball?19:40 - Can we be specific while also having changes in variability?25:48 - What is the thought process behind increasing and decreasing variability within the baseball setting?27:18 - Are there instances where some kinds of variability may be more or less effective than others?31:09 - One large and implementable takeaway from this episode.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.

Dec 1, 2022 • 21min
COACHING with John Mayer (Part 3 of 3)
Discussion on diverse techniques in volleyball skills, importance of stats in-game, guiding struggling players, explaining coaching style to new players, and book recommendations for coaches.

Nov 24, 2022 • 32min
COACHING with John Mayer (Part 2 of 3)
Exploring coaching strategies in volleyball with John Mayer, discussing synchronistic and antagonistic skills. Addressing challenges with varying skill levels, setting team culture, and fostering a learning environment. Emphasizing the importance of player values and success in unrealistic situations. Delving into tactical decisions and defensive systems in Beach and Indoor Volleyball.

Nov 17, 2022 • 31min
COACHING with John Mayer (Part 1 of 3)
Discover how coach John Mayer gathers his coaching principles, designs practices, and differentiates between performance and learning. Explore his insights on creating effective learning environments, adapting roles during competition, and applying challenge point theory for growth and success.

Nov 10, 2022 • 26min
MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES - with Dr. Matt Jones
1:16 - What has inspired Matt to talk about the topic of mental health services?3:23 - In the late early 2000s how often were mental health services being used in sports departments?5:51 - Why can it be problematic when different specialists with different career names are all categorized under the same umbrella of sports psychology?7:23 - Can anyone with a degree ranging from a high school degree to a PhD become an MPC (mental performance consultant)?10:57 - If a college program could only afford the services of one professional, which one would be the most helpful in NCAA athletics?13:37 - What events have indicated to Matt that there is a mental health epidemic?15:38 - Would researchers consider social media relationships to be a part of “connectedness”?17:12 - What effect has the increase in mental health coaches had on teams that have access to their services?18:31 - What are the most effective ways and settings to implement mental health coaches?21:38 - What is the most difficult but important psychological need for coaches to satisfy, and why?22:54 - What is the zeitgeist of sports psychology in America, and if we are moving in the right direction, what could be still improved?24:04 - Even if many know that sports psychology and mental health are so important, why are they still stigmatized?25:03 - Fun Fact: learn about the impact the Indiana Jones trilogy had on Matt’s pursuit of his doctorate.Learn more about Matt's work at:https://www.extramileinstitute.com/BooksCoach 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 Become a Patron to support the show.


