Volleybrains.com is just what it sounds like – the intersection of volleyball and brains.
Founded by Matias Raymaekers, a former pro from Belgium whose playing career spanned 16 years, the website offers an extensive collection of his in-depth video interviews with dozens of the world’s top volleyball coaches.
What inspired the creation of Volleybrains?
“For me, it’s about getting the biggest volley brains together, talking to them and seeing what comes out of it as they share their lessons and concepts,” says Raymaekers, who played in Belgium, Italy, Russia and Germany and now works in upper management at Belgium’s biggest construction company. “I’m curious. I like to learn. I’ve always thought that if you’re eager to learn, you will land on your feet.”
For fans of the deep dive, Volleybrains is a virtual treasure chest. Julio Velasco, Andrea Gardini, Giovanni Guidetti, Hugh McCutcheon, John Cook, Kelly Sheffield and Alan Knipe are among the coaches who have done one-on-ones with Raymaekers. The interview list also includes Art of Coaching founders Russ Rose, John Dunning and Terry Liskevych.
“I really enjoyed conversing with Matias because of his knowledge but also because of how well prepared he was to discuss my background, my philosophy, and my coaching methods,” says Liskevych, who coached the U.S. women’s national team at three Olympics. “He has provided a very valuable service to get insights from the top coaches in the world.”
Raymaekers, 41, has a broad understanding of the global volleyball landscape – his wife, Marta Szczygielska, is also a former pro – but Volleybrains interviews stretch well beyond the game. In fact, some of his favorite questions were inspired by a non-volleyball source: Tim Ferris, author of “The 4-Hour Work Week” and “Tools of Titans.” Among them:
What habit in the last five years has most improved your life?
What’s your favorite failure, and how did it lead to future success?
If you could put a message to all athletes in the world on a gigantic billboard, what would it be?
Interview subjects at Volleybrains have mostly coached in pro or college, but Raymaekers says much of the information is relatable for lower levels.
“If you have someone explain how they do their timeouts or how they want their athletes to speak to each other, [it doesn’t matter] if the players they’re coaching are 18, or 16, or 14, or 12,” he says. “A lot of stuff is universal.”
The Volleybrains library also includes videos of practices. Each clip is narrated by a coach who explains things like how they balance team training and skill work, what methods they use to incentivize players, and which skills they prioritize.
“In three hours of watching (practice) video,” Raymaekers says, “you can learn a lot about a coach’s philosophy.”
Volleybrains.com interviews are divided into short videos for each question, so it’s easy to find the information that’s most interesting to you. Here are three sample clips from more than 500 available at Volleybrains.com, one from Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield, another from Stanford coach Kevin Hambly and a third from Art of Coaching co-founder John Dunning:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxXcgA4x1Ss
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BL94kAIKqtw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0pRBI78jBI
For more about Volleybrains and how you can become a member, go here.
Photo: Matias Raymaekers interviews Jennifer Petrie, head volleyball coach at the University of San Diego.
