#21 - ToppVolley Norway - An Inside Look with Leon Lauvland (Unique Volleyball School)

Already well known within Norway, but maybe popularized or at least brought to attention to the rest of the beach volleyball world by the Beach Volley Vikings video released a few years ago (https://youtu.be/tcPPemwQUL8?si=XKJlHYtRu1EZ2UOU), is the "Hogwarts of Volleyball" aka ToppVolley school in Sand, Norway.

A number of weeks ago I happened to meet and play beach volleyball with Leon Saltbones Lauvland, a recent graduate from the very same school and an interesting guy overall (who had also partly worked for the school and has his own Youtube channel), so I proposed that we'd record a podcast episode as a bit of an "inside look" of what it's like going to probably the worlds most famous volleyball specific highschool…

#20 - Olympic Lessons, Smart Attacking, Longevity, and More with Björn Berg

In this episode I take a walk around the lake with 2 time Swedish beach volleyball Olympian Björn Berg, picking his brain about all sorts of things beach volleyball that I find interesting and helpful!

Feel free to take a walk and listen at the same time, I can almost guarantee you'll learn a thing or two that you can apply to your own game in one way or another!

Topics covered are: Collaboration with your playing partner, smart attacking (and what it is), sports psychology and the mental game (both as an individual and within the team), longevity (how to play the game at a high level for a long time), confidence and serve receive, and more!

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This same episode on Youtube (if you want to find the comments section!) : https://youtu.be/HnOHsNIpffk

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Björns Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/berg_beach/

Björns sons Instagram (sorry Viggo you didn't get to join this interview, maybe one day I'll have to make it up with interviewing you??!) : https://www.instagram.com/viggoberg11/

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During the "smart attacking" part of the episode, Björn talked a fair bit about the power of being able to control the ball with one's wrist. I can't guarantee Björn would agree with everything I personally tend to teach about using the wrist, but if you want to dive deeper into the topic, here's at least one very well liked video that I have made about using the wrist when attacking: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZd-UMM6is8

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#19 - Becoming a "Complete" Player (Is it even possible?)

Should we aim to become complete players that have no weaknesses in the game? Is that even realistic? Should we aim for something else?

This quick episode discusses this in a way that could lead to career-strategy-altering insights, hope you enjoy!

The Kent Steffes Facebook post that inspired this episode: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=7176543665706885&set=a.149107955117193

The Youtube comment section for this episode: https://youtu.be/IqGTGBsFysw

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Also check out:

http://www.learnbeachvolleyballfast.com
https://www.instagram.com/learnbeachvolleyballfast/
https://www.learnbeachvolleyballfast.com/podcast

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#18 - Making podcast listening work better in your life (Podcast listening series part 3/3)

This is the last part of my podcast listening series, which includes all my in depth tips on how to get the maximum benefits from your podcast listening. Find it in your favorite podcast app (episode 18 of the Learn Beach Volleyball Fast Podcast) and listen to it the next time you take a walk, commute to work or beach volleyball practice or maybe eat food - you won't regret it!

Part 1 of the series can be found here: https://youtu.be/agpA6Ao43-E or by finding episode 17 of the Learn Beach Volleyball Fast Podcast in your favorite podcast app!

Part 2 can be found here: https://youtu.be/O7nxoeHuE5o

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My recommended podcast listening gear: (AFFILIATE DISCLAIMER: Note that by buying any of the products below from Amazon.com or any other product on Amazon within 24 hours of clicking any of the links below, you end up supporting the Learn Beach Volleyball Fast-project with a small percentage of the purchasing price, without the products costing anything extra for you. This will help developing the Learn Beach Volleyball Fast-project further so that it becomes even easier for me to create insightful and world class beach volleyball content for you in the future.. Win-Win is the name of the game here!)

Bluetooth speakers:
JBL Clip 3 (waterproof): https://amzn.to/43OkGzL
JBL Clip 4 (waterproof): https://amzn.to/3r0moQ6
JBL Flip 6 (waterproof and bigger): https://amzn.to/3CIkciO
JBL Charge 5 (waterproof and even bigger): https://amzn.to/43UZMz1

Bluetooth headphones:
Sony WI-C310 (my absolute favorites for workouts etc, and you won't lose one of them! I put the cable inside my hat so that it doesn't dangle around): https://amzn.to/3PuxgQs
Jabra elite (my girlfriends favorite bluetooth earbuds, for people who don't like cables): https://amzn.to/3CJ83dm
Waterproof headphones (100% transparency I have personally never tried any waterproof headphones!) https://amzn.to/3NONS4g

Traditional headphones:
JBL T110 (my absolute favorite non-bluetooth earbuds, cheap, amazing sound and no unnecessary bluetooth signals around your body): https://amzn.to/3NLIWgp

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Link to the Learn Beach Volleyball Fast Facebook community:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/362021664252243/

Also check out:
http://www.learnbeachvolleyballfast.com
https://www.instagram.com/learnbeachvolleyballfast/
https://www.learnbeachvolleyballfast.com/podcast

#BeachVolleyballCareerHacking
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#PodcastListening
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#17 - Podcast listening and beach volleyball - the most important tool for becoming better? (Podcast listening series part 1/3)

Becoming better at beach volleyball is a goal many of us have, and the better and sharper tools we have for making that journey more efficient, the easier it will be to reach that goal. Regardless of if your problem is in passing, setting, attacking, defense, blocking, serving, the mental game, career strategy or anything else that is relevant, I believe podcast listening can be a crucial tool for gaining those skills.

In short, my claim is that podcasts can give you crucial in depth understanding of nuances of the game that you actually won't reach in other ways, all while costing you no money, practically speaking no time, and even making your life more enjoyable in the process.

Sounds too good to be true? I'm sure it might, but I believe this video will change your mind and give you efficient pathways towards mastery that you might never have thought of before.

If you feel that you don't have time to watch this video, you can listen to it "on the go" instead. Find it at https://www.learnbeachvolleyballfast.com/blog/2023/6/24/17-podcast-listening-and-beach-volleyball-the-most-important-tool-for-becoming-better or at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/17-podcast-listening-and-beach-volleyball-the/id1485342736?i=1000618204114 or by finding episode 17 on the Learn Beach Volleyball Fast Podcast in your favorite podcast app!

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Links to the 2 other parts of this podcast listening series:

Physical tools you should know (Part 2/3): https://youtu.be/O7nxoeHuE5o

Making podcast listening work better in your life (Part 3/3): https://www.learnbeachvolleyballfast.com/blog/2023/6/24/18-making-podcast-listening-work-better-in-your-life or https://youtu.be/Xi2G-ybLi9M or by finding episode 18 of the Learn Beach Volleyball Fast Podcast in your favorite podcast app!

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At 7:30 in this episode/video, I talk about how much payoff listening to for example 100 minutes of in depth, very nuanced discussions about certain aspects of the game has. I hope the point gets across in this episode already with what I said in the video, but I was debating whether or not to add more arguments for why investing this time is worthwhile for you.

Here is the script for a part of this episode that I ended up not adding, but it's here for you to read if you need/want more arguments:

"The thing is, 100 minutes of listening to theory might seem like a waste of time, but let’s say you decide to not do that and continue believing you should always square up when setting.. And one third of your sets end up being bad because you focus on squaring up instead of focusing on things that actually matter in the situations where you shouldn’t square up.

What’s going to happen?

Well, you will be frustrated because you can’t set well. So you’ll probably go and practice setting and squaring up even more. Let’s say you on average end up practicing setting and squaring up for 15 minutes per week because of your frustrations… One year has 52 weeks, which becomes 780 minutes.. Let’s say you do that for 3 years, that’s over 2300 minutes that you will end up practicing the things that actually won’t make you better! Now that 100 minute theory lesson that would save you from all this wasted practice doesn’t sound too bad right?!

The real cost of believing in false ideas about beach volleyball technique and information is one of many podcast episodes I will create in the future also, but for now, I hope this gives you some food for thought.

(And by the way, let me know in the comment below if you want me to make this in depth episode about squaring up or not when setting sooner rather than later!)"

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Link to the Learn Beach Volleyball Fast Facebook community:
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Also check out:
http://www.learnbeachvolleyballfast.com
https://www.instagram.com/learnbeachvolleyballfast/
https://www.learnbeachvolleyballfast.com/podcast

#BeachVolleyballCareerHacking
#LearnSmarterNotSlower
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#16 - David Åhman on Jumping up the ranks and Setting up for success

The Learn Beach Volleyball Fast Podcast is here again! This time I am interviewing Swedish jumpsetter David Ahman, we discuss defense, attacking, running systems like the jump set and quick sets, becoming better at beach volleyball, keeping working on a plan even though it doesn't necessarily produce results immediately and much more!

Youtube comment section: https://youtu.be/AerQ-9TD2Wk

Stuff mentioned during the episode:

Video with Eric's attacking style: https://youtu.be/DjpZRKM4lsM

David and Jonathan's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ahmanhellvigbeach/

David's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidahman/

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Link to the Learn Beach Volleyball Fast Facebook community:

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Also check out:

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https://www.learnbeachvolleyballfast.com/podcast

#DavidAhman

#BeachVolleyballPodcast

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#BeachVolleyball

#SandVolleyball

Figuring out your beach volleyball level with the Universal Beach Volleyball Rating (UBVR) charts

There is (or at least has been) a problem in the beach volleyball world - explaining your skill level to other players, especially when traveling to new places or attending camps/training sessions with a coach/group you haven’t met before.

This is why I decided to create the Universal Beach Volleyball Rating system - a system that describes common characteristics of players at different levels, so that all players can relatively quickly figure out their “rating”, which then makes it easy to communicate this rating to other people.

No need to try to describe yourself with vague or regional terms like “intermediate”, “sort of advanced” or “East coast AA” anymore, just figure out your UBVR number (between 1.0 and 9.0) and tell other players “I am a level X player according to the UBVR-system” and it will be easy to make relatively good match-ups even if you have never met before.

The existing rating charts (2 main versions) as well as future official versions (translations etc) of the charts are to be used freely (also by businesses) and shared in various beach volleyball communities. The more people that use the system, the more useful it becomes for everyone. High resolution downloads are provided to be shared online, or printed if one wishes so.

For more info about the system, tips on using the system as a tool to help you become a better player, and ways to help make this system even better/useful worldwide, go check out the official UBVR-system page.

Reimagining a more entertaining form of beach volleyball?

Just before I start, I want to be upfront about something: This post could potentially be interpreted as “stepping on some toes”, even though that is not my intent. What I will do below is that I will first highlight a problem that I believe exists in beach volleyball. After that, my wish is to start an “investigative process” into both if the problem is worth solving, and also how to solve it, if solving it is a worthwhile mission. If you decide to read this blog post thoroughly, and consider what it says (and participate in the discussion if you want) you would become a part of this investigative process.

What I do not want is to throw out ideas that would change the nature of the sport too much if implemented. What I do want is to investigate if there are some tweaks we could make to our sport that would make it both more fun to play for the players, as well as more entertaining to watch - which I believe would make a better product for fans to be watch, and therefore attract more money.

If the above was possible, we would all win in the end. We’d all be having even more fun and the sport would grow more/faster. The mere potential that this could become the result sometime in the future, in part because I decide to write and publish this, is what drives me to write this blog post.

Ok, enough of the pre-talk, here we go:

I believe basically all beach volleyball players would like it if we were able to “grow the game”, which to me means more players around the world, more courts, more competitions…

The dark ages of volleyball coaching

What I'll talk about in this post has been on my mind for years, but I have not gotten around to creating any sort of content (blog post/podcast/video) around it, but a little occurrence the other day got me inspired to finally start putting these thoughts onto paper (or well, screen!)

The reason I want these thoughts recorded is at least two-fold: Partly for my ego because I want to be able to point to this post a few years/decades down the road if/when my prediction turns out to be true/widely accepted, and partly because I have some hope that this could get some people out there to think a little bit deeper, possibly reconsider their convictions and look further into the matter. This again could in the long run lead to a healthier volleyball community as a whole, producing better, happier, and healthier players as well as coaches, which in the long run could even grow the sport, make it more engaging for fans, have more money circulating and all that good stuff.

And just for clarification, even though I mostly coach beach volleyball and at this point not much indoor volleyball at all, this opinion piece of mine applies to both main versions of our sport, as well as probably many other sports in the world as well.

Ok so for the timestamp part, today is the 21st of November 2022 as I am writing this. I've had thoughts like these for some years now, it was probably around 2018 when I mentioned "the dark ages of volleyball coaching" in a discussion forum for the first time.

What inspired me to finally write this

The other day I was on a long bus ride and decided to once again kill some time (while educating myself in my profession) by reading around a bit in my favorite volleyball coaching discussion forum.

I found a post, that for the millionth time went something in the style of: 

"I saw this coach do this type of drill, which I learned in my coaching course is unscientific and will not be good for the learning of the athletes."

Sometimes I reply to posts…