Patrick is a busy coach. At only 28 years old, he is the Head coach of the Fanshawe College Men’s volleyball team, he is also the Technical Director of the London Volleyball Club, one of the fastest growing club in Ontario. This past summer, he was also involved the Team Ontario and the Youth National Team programs.

Patrick is passionate, energetic  and very knowledgable given his relatively short coaching career. That definitely has something to do with the fact that he knows how to surround himself with the right people. As he likes to say it, “shut up and be a sponge”. That is his motto and that’s why he is always learning about coaching.

In this episode, he shares with us the things he has learned coaching over the past few years. We dig into the challenges of coaching club volleyball in Canada and Patrick talks about the pathway to high performance he has help build within his club. On top of that, he tells us about the way he tracks the progression of his college players. What he does is something I think everyone should do. You guys will want to take notes, I guarantee it.

Patrick is a fun guy and an awesome coach to be around. I hope you enjoy this next half hour in his company. So without further ado, here’s Patrick Johnston.

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Physical Training is an essential part of the development of a volleyball player but unless you are a trainer, it is hard to know when, what and how much you should do with your players in terms of physical preparation. This series is meant to help you ask the right questions to your physical trainer.

This is Part 2 of my conversation with Nicolas Roy. He has been the trainer of the Canadian Men’s National Team since 2009 and recently wrote a book on training the volleyball players called “Defying Gravity: Improve your jump and more for volleyball”. In his book, he walks us through the steps to build the power necessary to play a the highest level.

In this episode, Nico explains what steps follow the acquisition of a good structural balance.  While doing so, he also brings up a couple of misconceptions about hypertrophy and maximal strength, two components of the volleyball player’s training that are very important for the development of power. The best part of this episode is that Nico explains how you can make sure the trainer working with your team is doing the right thing. After listening, you won’t be an expert but you will know what to look for.

Website: www.technicaltimeout.com

Facebook Page: /jumpvball

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In this episode I speak with James Gravelle, head coach of the Windsor University Lancers Men’s Volleyball Team. James played for the Lancers himself many years ago before transferring to the beach and making it on the FIVB World Tour for a few years in the early 2000.  He has been coaching at different levels ever since he stopped playing and he definitely has interesting stuff to share with us in this regard.

Recently, in the summer of 2015, James was named as an assistant-coach of the Canadian Men’s National B Team. That team is made of the extended Senior Men’s A Team players that don’t get to travel as well as young players identified within the Canadian University Volleyball System. So this past summer, James got to work with some of the best players in the country as well as with some of the best coaches, notably, Team Canada’s head coach Glenn Hoag and the B Team’s head coach Georges Laplante.

In this episode, he shares with us what he has learned from spending 4 months with the National Team and how this experience brought him a new perspective on coaching. We also get into how it changed his approach to coaching his university team.

A very few people get to spend that much time coaching at the highest level so I am grateful James accepted to share his experience with us. I think you guys will enjoy this episode. Without further ado, here’s James Gravelle.

Website: www.technicaltimeout.com

Facebook Page: /jumpvball

Twitter: www.twitter.com/lpmainville

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Physical Training is an essential part of the development of a volleyball player but unless you are a trainer, it is hard to know when, what and how much you should do with your players in terms of physical preparation. This series is meant to help you ask the right questions to your physical trainer.

This is Part 1 of my conversation with Nicolas Roy. He has been the trainer of the Canadian Men’s National Team since 2009 and recently wrote a book on training the volleyball players called “Defying Gravity: Improve your jump and more for volleyball”. In his book, he walks us through the steps to build the power necessary to play a the highest level.

In this episode, Nico explains what the first step of physical training for the volleyball player should be. We cover what he calls “Structural Balance” and the basics of strength training. This episode will make you rethink the way you train your players but above all, it will give you tips on how to help your players acquire the foundations of a long and healthy volleyball career.

Website: www.technicaltimeout.com

Facebook Page: /jumpvball

Twitter: www.twitter.com/lpmainville

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Technical Timeout is THE volleyball podcast! This is the show where I talk to the best coaches out there to find out what their tricks and tips are so YOU can use them to improve yourself as a coach.

Patience is a virtue, especially in the world of coaching. It seems like a pretty obvious thing but how many times have you been frustrated with a player having a hard time learning something or with the time it’s taking for your team to get a simple concept like sending the ball on the setter when you are in trouble? It happens all the time. No matter how patience we are as a person, we all experience those situations when we feel like the learning is not happening fast enough. 

Well, the best coaches in the world keep saying it, you have to stay patient. In this short episode, I share a couple of stories about patience and give you a different point of view on why it is so important to be patient. 

Website: www.technicaltimeout.com

Facebook Page: /jumpvball

Twitter: www.twitter.com/lpmainville

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Technical Timeout is THE volleyball podcast! This is the show where I talk to the best coaches out there to find out what their tricks and tips are so YOU can use them to improve yourself as a coach.

“Good effort” is an expression used by most of the best coaches in the world. It seems like a pretty basic thing to say but you would be surprised to see how many coaches don’t take the time to tell their players they are working hard.

Why is it important to say these words? How is this expression related to your players’ mindset? These are questions I answer in this short episode that is meant to be a reflection on volleyball’s best coaching practices.

Technical Timeout is THE volleyball podcast! This is the show where I talk to the best coaches out there to find out what their tricks and tips are so YOU can use them to improve yourself as a coach.

This is the first of a new series of shorter episodes I call "Huddles". In these shorter episodes, I will talk about some of the things I have learned talking to the best coaches in the game today so you can learn too without having to talk to all these people.

“Good job” is an expression used by most of the best coaches in the world. It seems like a pretty basic thing to say but you would be surprised to see how many coaches don’t take the time to tell their players they are doing a good job.

Why is it important to say these words? How can we best use them as coaches? These are questions I answer in this short episode that is meant to be a reflection on volleyball’s best coaching practices.

Enjoy!

Website: www.technicaltimeout.com

Facebook Page: /jumpvball

Twitter: www.twitter.com/lpmainville

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Today’s guest is Laurie Eisler. She is the Head Coach of the University of Alberta Panda’s and she is also the club president of the Pandas Volleyball Club in Edmonton. Beyond her impressive track record, Laurie is well known for her great leadership in developing young volleyball players. She does presentations on the topic and mentors a few coaches from the youth club she is with. Her approach is simple, whatever you do, it needs to be in line with the context in which your players are evolving.

In this episode, Laurie talks about why context is so important. She explains why she thinks a lot of youth coaches sometimes prioritize winning over developing players. She also brings a nuance to all the random training talks we have heard of here on Technical Timeout lately and tells us why there is value in training technique with progressions. If you are into that random vs blocked practice debate, this episode will make you think some more.

Website: www.technicaltimeout.com

Facebook Page: /jumpvball

Twitter: www.twitter.com/lpmainville

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Today, I speak with Josh Nichol, a super active coach in Ontario, he is the Head Coach of the George Brown Huskies, he is an assistant coach with John Child at Leaside, he coaches a couple of high school teams and is involved with both indoor and beach Team Ontario! Josh is a super busy guy so I was very happy that he found time to speak to me because he is also super knowledgeable about the game.

 In this episode, he shares with us how he managed coaching in an environment where all of his fellow coaches had a high level playing background. The way he worked around it definitely set him on the right path. Josh is really big on letting the players make mistakes and he tells me why in the middle of the interview. And as a teaser, I have to mention that the quote he shares with us at the end of our conversation is one of the most profound and funny one I’ve got on this show, both at the same time. 

Website: www.technicaltimeout.com

Facebook Page: /jumpvball

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Kathy has been the executive director of the American Volleyball Coaches association since 2006. She is also the author of Gender in Competition, a book on coaching about how men and women approach competition in different ways. She is a very knowledgeable woman and she shares her wisdom with us in this episode.

Kathy first talks about what the AVCA does for coaches in the USA but we quickly dig into more concrete stuff like random and blocked practice. We go on to talk about the data the AVCA has been collecting in order to create a new tool to help coaches help their players achieve the college level. It is truly fascinating. But my favourite part of this interview is the advice question from the Quick Attack Question Round. She really nails it even though I modify the question and she sheds light on why coaches sometimes get mad.

Website: www.technicaltimeout.com

Facebook Page: /jumpvball

Twitter: www.twitter.com/lpmainville

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