[00:00:00 - 00:00:45]
Logan Webber:
People always talk about how there's not enough tournaments and there's not enough money in the sport to make it like an actual job. And I think a lot of people say that, but then they're not willing to go and play the small tournaments on the weekends when there's not big year tournaments. So it's like if this is your job and it's your full time job, then you shouldn't have at a normal job you don't randomly have every other week off. You know what I mean, right? Obviously, I have an absolute blast traveling and playing wherever. So that's kind of why I do it. But it's also just like this. In order to make this more professional, you have to have that consistency to it as well.
[00:00:45 - 00:00:48]
Brandon Joyner:
All right. We're live while we're waiting on some people. Tell me about where you're at right now,
[00:00:48 - 00:01:25]
Logan Webber:
we are somewhere just east of Dallas, Texas. I think I left St. Petersburg on let's see. All the days are starting to blend together already on Monday, I think Monday morning and got somewhere in the Panhandle of Florida. By Monday night, I slept at a rest area in my car, decided Tuesday night I was going to get a hotel so I can knock out a bunch of other work. So we drove as far as we could and this is where we landed. So I think I'm between like Dallas and Tyler, Texas.
[00:01:25 - 00:01:54]
Brandon Joyner:
That's probably the most volleyball thing you could have said, sleeping in my car at a rest stop. All right. Today we're lucky enough to have one of our good buddies, one of our good coaches. What I think is the up and coming big blocker on the AVP tour. Mr. Logan Webber. If you guys have ever come to a camp with us before, there's a very good chance that you've seen Logan. Logan, how many camps have you done with us now?
[00:01:54 - 00:01:59]
Logan Webber:
I think five or six.
[00:01:59 - 00:03:51]
Brandon Joyner:
Five or six? Yeah. And then a couple of announcements for me. We have our camp in April, which has actually already sold out. We've got all those spots filled. If you are interested in joining our April camp, we are thinking about expanding because we already have a pretty large wait list. But if you are interested in joining us for April, make sure you email us at [email protected] or send us a DM or something along those lines so that we can get you added to that list. So if we decide to expand, you're one of the first people to hop on that train. And Logan will be joining us again in April. So that will be a little surprise for you, get to know them a little bit more in person. Other than that, a couple of other announcements we have. We are now offering weekend clinics. Logan might be joining us for some of those, but already going to San Francisco at the end of January. We have a couple of other spots like Salt Lake City, I think Westchester, New York, Ox, where we have already booked up weekends. They're interested in coming out to your location no matter where it is. Send us an email and we can get lifts. We're trying to fill up as many weekends as we can leading up the season. We're having a lot of people asking us because the only camp that we have advertised right now is for our camp in April. We are hoping that we will be able to open up more camps, but we're waiting on the ABP schedule. I think just like every other athlete starting to get a little interesting. I think we're all just looking forward to what the season has. And the sooner that that schedule comes out, the sooner that all of us will be able to prepare for our summer. So, Logan, I'll go ahead and start and introduce you. I think I met you four years ago, maybe.
[00:03:51 - 00:03:56]
Logan Webber:
Yeah. We pretty much made the exact same timing of our moves out to California, I think.
[00:03:56 - 00:06:05]
Brandon Joyner:
Yeah. We might have got both gotten into California. I know I got there in 2018, October, and I think you are either just behind me or just before me. And you're actually living with Mark at the time, which was really cool. So obviously that was my first connection when I moved out here. So kind of having you out there already was pretty cool. And one thing that I really enjoy about you is and it's kind of funny, I think this about you and Andy, I think of you and Andy is very similar people, not only because you're big up and coming blockers, but you also both have this quality about you where it doesn't feel like you kind of discriminate on players by any means. I know when I first moved out to California, it was hard for me to find practices. And you were one of those people that every single time I texted you or every single time that we needed somebody if you weren't already playing, you said yes every single time. And so for me to you a little thanks has to go there because you made my transition to California, especially with finding practices a lot easier. Yeah. And then since then, you've been playing pretty much every single day you can. And then this last season, you absolutely crushed it with Evans winning, I think, four AVP next goals, giving you some automatic bursts into some AVP events, which I'll definitely let you dive a little bit deeper into in the future on this conversation. But the first thing I kind of just want to let you introduce yourself and where you came from, where you started, because I think a lot of people who listen to us or follow us are where we were, maybe when we were in our early 20s, where we might have been doing very well in our own little pond that we lived in, but we were kind of wondering if we had the ability to take that step out of it and kind of jump into bigger water. So, Logan, do you want to introduce yourself and kind of let us know where you're from and what that journey looks like?
[00:06:05 - 00:10:04]
Logan Webber:
Yeah, absolutely. So I guess my beach volleyball journey, if you can call it that, began actually with my sister. So I have a sister who is about two years older than me. She started playing volleyball when she was in probably 7th grade or something like that. And I'm from Grand Rapids, Michigan, originally. And in Michigan, we have absolutely no boys volleyball at all, at least at the time we don't. It's slowly starting to grow. It's actually, I think technically a high school sport now, which is cool for me to see and kind of like be jealous of all these guys who get to actually play volleyball in Michigan in high school. That's pretty sweet. But yes, I just kind of started, I guess, learning the game, watching my sister play indoor and being dragged all over the Midwest to go to her club tournaments, which I absolutely hated at the time. But I think that's kind of where I first started. I got introduced to volleyball, at least from there. I think I was maybe a sophomore in high school, and her and I played a couple of juniors, like co Ed, just like little five or six team tournaments on the West Coast of Michigan. And I just never really stopped after that. Those were just juniors tournaments. And we get beat by the same two guys every single weekend because everybody played in the same tournaments up there the next playing with one of those guys instead. And then we would go from juniors to B at the same tournaments and then men's B to men's A at the same tournaments, and then finally men's A or triple A, just kind of whatever the highest level is because that's about the highest level that there typically is in Michigan. And yeah, after that, I was hooked. Every single day I would just wake up and want to play volleyball. So I played two years of indoor club or carpet diem volleyball, which is one of the only club teams in the whole state. So we would drive down to Chicago and Ohio to play our tournaments, and I put a little like 92nd highlight reel together that now I can watch it. It's absolutely 90 seconds I did somehow I ended up visiting Cincinnati Christian University down in Southern Ohio, and coach took me in after a little hour long, I guess you could call it a tryout and offer me a scholarship right there. And I still remember me and my mom were just shocked. You really offered me like volleyball. We were amazed. So I committed right there. I played four years at CCU. We had an extremely small team, but we were a super close team, so it was an awesome four years. It was also a cool experience because it was such a, I guess, relaxed environment compared to most, like, Division one indoor schools, that I was actually able to practice in the sand, like two or three days a week in the middle of the indoor season. Awesome. Did you have a couple of teammates that would do that with you? Occasionally they would come. Nobody that was quite as into it as I was, as you could expect, and also to the Shagram of most of my indoor coaches who didn't necessarily like the fact that I was showing up post sand practice to our indoor practices, but just kind of came with a deal at that point. So, yeah, I was able to do that the whole time. I was introduced to the Cincinnati Beach volleyball community during that time, which has been some of the most influential people not only in volleyball, but also my entire life. And I think that was when I really fell in love with the whole community aspect of our sport. And the ability of our sport has to really bring a group of people who never would have met each other before and bring that group together and give them something to bond over. And then from there, those relationships are able to grow.
[00:10:04 - 00:11:04]
Brandon Joyner:
That's awesome. Yeah. I think the community aspect of everything that's almost in every single volleyball player story, it starts with a passion and then you're introduced to the community and then it's just a game over from there. You can't get out of it real quick, kind of going back to your College days. What position did you play? I was actually a setterrightside, so I was set in a six to my first two years, and I was an outside my last two years. Okay. That explains your ball control, because whenever somebody sees your height, if you guys don't know Logan is, what are you, six eight bordering six nine, maybe. So normally in high school or College, even if you're that tall, especially when you're coming up, normally you're getting stuck in the middle, but like seeing your hands and how you can pass and stuff like that. I was like, I'm not here in the middle.
[00:11:04 - 00:11:54]
Logan Webber:
Yeah. And it was pretty comical. On my indoor club team, we basically had three guys that had ever picked up a volleyball before, and then we had four or five guys that their parents just kind of signed them up for it because their older sister or younger sister played. So our best three setters were also our best three hitters who were also our best three passers. So we ended up running a three set of rotation, which I've never seen before and I'd never seen since. I don't think I've heard of that. Yeah. We just kind of did everything. Whoever was either back right or middle right would set, and then we would rotate and the next person would get to back right or middle right. It was phenomenal interesting, dynamic, and club. But yeah, it definitely made me do everything. So I'm happy for that.
[00:11:54 - 00:12:08]
Brandon Joyner:
That's awesome. So at what point you said you were in Cincinnati? And so was that when you met, like, John Drake and Chris Lewis and those guys, or was it a little bit later?
[00:12:08 - 00:13:05]
Logan Webber:
No, that was it. So I still remember the first time I ever went to play at Grandson, and I was playing like Tuesday pick up. And this was in Chris and John's, heyday, when they would, like win every tournament in the Midwest and they would qualify a couple of times. And I was in awe of playing John and Chris, and it was awesome because Chris kind of sets up and runs kind of like a twice a week training group with just whoever the top players that want to come. So those sessions were really where I feel like I was able to practice certain skills over just like showing up and playing pickup or playing tournaments because he was very into making sure that we actually got through an hour and a half of drills before just getting into side out stuff, which is something in a lot of beach volleyball communities that that kind of discipline. To be able to just show up with six guys and run drills is something that a lot of places are missing. So I'm really grateful for that as well.
[00:13:05 - 00:14:14]
Brandon Joyner:
Yeah. When I hear those two names, I've had the pleasure of getting to know. I met Chris first when I was playing on the NVL, and without even meeting him, he allowed me and my partner Skylar McCoy, who I was playing with that season, to just come stay at his house for like a week. And then when we ran the camps this past, I've known John for a little bit, but I haven't really ever gotten a chance to know him. Know him and getting to know him this past year when we're in Grand Sands running the camp for Better Beach, which you're at, it doesn't surprise me that you fell in love because if you are in the Cincinnati area, if you are in Ohio and willing to drive, those two guys are doing amazing things for that area, and they will definitely do everything they can to kind of help you get set up in the sport. So you're definitely lucky. So when did you decide that it was time to move? Because I think I'm originally from a small town called Chester, Virginia. You were raised in Michigan and then moved to Ohio, which, in case you don't know, are not huge beach communities by any means, but luckily we both found it, and then we obviously have the same kind of journey at the same time. But when and why did you decide to make the jump out to California?
[00:14:14 - 00:15:21]
Logan Webber:
So I knew pretty early that I wanted to move out and try to play. So let's say my freshman year of College, I started as a I believe it's sports management major or something like that. And about halfway through my first semester, I was looking into just, like, job prospects and stuff like that and realized that there's not a lot of remote jobs in the sports management field. And I was taking an intro to accounting class, and I was like one of 100 students that actually enjoyed the accounting process, which sounds really strange, but I was talking with my professor, and he was talking about how many remote and part time jobs there are in accounting. And so I ended up switching after my first semester to major in accounting strictly because I knew that I wanted to go play and have the freedom to be able to play and practice whenever I wanted to. So I would say it was kind of at that point where I was like, okay, I want to set myself up and put myself in the best situation that I'm able to after I graduate. So it was pretty much that this was kind of the path that I wanted to take.
[00:15:21 - 00:16:58]
Brandon Joyner:
That's awesome. And I think a lot of people miss the boat on that. It's really hard. By no means do I want this to come off as being a knock at beach volleyball players. But a lot of us, just because of the funding of the sport, live paycheck to pay. And I think that it is important for people to hear about your kind of story and the fact that you planned for this while you're in College. I think that's one of the things that has really stood out with me about you is that you've found a way to have a job that isn't in the beach volleyball world, allowing you to still chase that dream. For me, it was teaching kind of made sense for me. It allowed me to teach during the summer, sorry, teach during the school year, and then I was free during the summers to go play in all my tournaments and everything like that, and it kind of worked. But even when I moved out to California, it got to be a little tough for me because I was now living paycheck to paycheck. I was coaching as many hours as I could. I was tutoring. I was doing all these things. But especially for people that are moving out to California or moving anywhere, for that matter. The beach volleyball scene is growing so fast that it doesn't really matter where you put yourself now. As long as you're around a good community and you have good practice partners, coaches, and stuff like that available to you, then you can do it. But I think the preparation beforehand as far as a career or some way to make some money so that you're not completely stressing out about volleyball I think that can go a long way.
[00:16:58 - 00:19:01]
Logan Webber:
Yeah. It's pretty comical. Once I get into kind of the actual how I ended up moving there, it's going to put that a little bit on its head, but in the long term, it worked out the way that I thought I did. Right. So my senior year, I had this internship lined up out here in Southern California, and I've had it lined up since maybe May of 2018. I was supposed to move to her mother at the start of October, and about a month before I was supposed to move out, the company, like, reformed itself and got bought out. And I ended up not having my internship that I thought I was going to have for the last, like, a month before I was supposed to move out. So then I was stuck at the end of September or the beginning of September, and I didn't have a place to stay, and I didn't have a job, and I didn't even have a car, actually, to get myself out there. So at that point, I told myself, I think my date was October 1. I told myself on October 1, I'm leaving no matter what, even if I don't have anything set up, and I'm just going to go and I'm going to figure it out. And a couple of weeks later, I bought a car from a buddy of mine for like, $1,000, and it had five Camry with $260,000. I think I saw that car sitting out in front of Marks for like, seven months for a while, but I got rid of it now so Mark can stop bugging me about. And then a couple of weeks later, I saw a posting on Facebook that Mark had a room available at his place. So I messaged him. I had never met Mark before that. So I messaged him just knowing him as the volleyball player that he was and got that figured out. And then on my drive out there, I got a call back on just, like, a random job application that I sent in for a company out here. So everything kind of came together within the last week, and I was on my way.
[00:19:01,390 --> 00:19:41]
Brandon Joyner:
Oh, there you go. Man. I'm glad you made it out. All right. I want to keep moving along because I feel like we could talk for 2 hours on here if I let you, but let's go ahead and get into this. Last year, when I first saw you playing, obviously, your height and your ball control is something that first stood out. I remember you played one season where you qualified with I think it was Christian. Yeah, Christian. And I qualified and then qualified that same year with David Ryan van der Meer and a couple of times with Ben bought as well. Cool. That was your first year qualifying, right? Or had you qualified prior to that?
[00:19:41 - 00:19:56]
Logan Webber:
No. That was the first year David Ryan and I had qualified for the Huntington FIBV four star event. That's right. We had that experience. But in terms of ABPS, I had never qualified before the start of 2019.
[00:19:56 - 00:20:02]
Brandon Joyner:
That's still pretty impressive that you were able to qualify four times and happen to be. So you qualified two times with Dr, once with Christian, and then twice with Ben Bought, or was that what it was?
[00:20:02 - 00:20:19]
Logan Webber:
Ben and I were automatically into the main draw in Manhattan that year, actually. So we didn't qualify, but we played in Manhattan, and then we qualified the next term in Chicago.
[00:20:19 - 00:20:51]
Brandon Joyner:
Got you. That's amazing. And then the pandemic hit, right? So you're probably a little like, oh, man, all this is kind of going away. But then you ended up teaming up with Evan Cory, who is another youngster that if you haven't heard that name before, I'm sure he'll be on a podcast in the future. But he is a phenomenal player. And it seemed like you guys kind of just hit it off right away and not only played really good volleyball, but became like pretty good buddies along the way as well. Kind of let us know how you guys got introduced.
[00:20:51 - 00:22:04]
Logan Webber:
Yes. So Evan and I both we always make the joke that if you take AVP America points, like the cumulative amount of points and you take those from 2020, which is kind of the season that didn't happen for most people. We would have like 5000 more points than anybody because him and I, every single weekend him and I would go and play any tournament that we could break even at basically in 2020 because that was his first season out of College. And obviously not having an ABP was a bummer for him. But we played against each couple of tournaments at Grandson's. He beat me once with I think he's playing with Stephen Roche and then another time with JD Hamilton. And obviously, I knew he was extremely good at that point. And then I think the first time we ever really talked, Tim Brewster and I went and played a tournament in New Orleans, just random tournament in the fall and stayed with Evan and met his family and stuff. And we decided to play a first tournament we played was in Cleveland up at Sandbox. We won that and then played those couple of tournaments down in Clearwater over the winter and just never really stopped after that.
[00:22:04 - 00:23:15]
Brandon Joyner:
That's pretty cool. The thing that stood out to me there, which is something that I've picked up on you from the second that I met you, is that you played every single tournament that you could, which is very difficult to do, not only from a monetary standpoint because of all the travel and all the eating. And I'm sure you guys probably found places to stay because you guys know everybody. But I think that's something that especially as you get older, it's hard to do. I know for me, this idea of playing every single tournament that I can just seems exhausting. But it's also something that you have to do in order to see yourself get better. That's actually one of my goals this year is to play in as many tournaments as I can. Obviously, I'm 33 now. I'm not the young buck that I once was, but my body feels almost younger than it ever has. But I think that a lot of people can hear that and can learn from it, and it's just play as much as you can. So it was really cool to see you guys doing that, and then it was even cooler to see the success come afterwards, too.
[00:23:15 - 00:24:04]
Logan Webber:
Yeah, I think just one quick point as well, to wrap that up is like people always talk about how there's not enough tournaments and there's not enough money in the sport to make it like an actual job. And I think a lot of people say that, but then they're not willing to go and play the small tournaments on the weekends when there's not bigger tournaments. So it's like if this is your job and it's your full time job, then you shouldn't have at a normal job you don't randomly have every other week off, you know what I mean, right? Obviously, I have an absolute blast traveling and playing wherever, so that's kind of why I do it. But it's also just like in order to make this more professional, you have to have that consistency to it as well.
[00:24:04 - 00:26:14]
Brandon Joyner:
And especially I've kind of realized since I moved out to California, if you're not in California and the money in California, like Cvvas and stuff like that isn't very good. But like where we grew up, like Ohio's, Virginia, even Florida's, all of those tournaments are actually pretty decent payouts on a pretty normal occasion. I know in Virginia Beach, every single tournament that they run at TBA, which is where I played, was 100% payout for Open, which it might not be advertised too well. And sometimes you're not getting as many teams, but if you're getting ten teams signed up for that tournament and you win it, then there's a good chance that you and your partner are splitting probably 400, $500, maybe even $600, depending on what the entry fee is. And if you keep doing that, then you're definitely setting yourselves up. I know I had a buddy at one point who now lives down in San Diego, but he used to work for TBA, and there was one summer where I literally played every single tournament I could and he had to write my checks. And at the end of the summer he was kind of joking with me and he was like, dude, he's like, you made more than me this summer and he worked for them. So I do agree with you, especially wherever you are, and you can't complain about how much it costs to travel and stuff like that if you're not putting yourself into those positions, because those little weekend tournaments, if you're able to win them, could pay for your flight, it could pay for your hotel when you're going to play in the Manhattan AVP. So, yeah, it's definitely something to kind of think about, which I'm glad you brought that up, because we do talk about the lack of money a lot, but there are ways to combat it for sure. Yeah. All right. So let's keep it going. So now what did you think about your last season on the AVP, because you and Evan obviously found that success on AVP next Gold, and then you got your first true taste of main draw events. Were you happy? Were you hoping for more? Well, what do you think?
[00:26:14 - 00:28:34]
Logan Webber:
It was kind of somewhat interesting roller coaster, because going into the first Gold series ABP next event, which was New Orleans in June, Evan and I haven't really done anything that's spectacular. Two weekends before that, we played a pretty decent tournament in San Antonio, and I think we've got maybe a third or a fifth. And going in New Orleans, I think we both maybe just thought that it wasn't really meant to be and that we just want a team that couldn't quite get over the hump going into it. We didn't really have any expectations. And I think that's what made that tournament itself so special is that we really had no expectations going into it. And then to be able to come away with that win, especially in New Orleans, was pretty amazing. And then, I mean, after that, every time we would win one, we just looked at each other and we really just do this again. I'm not sure how we Paco is awesome for me because that's been a tournament that I've gone to for a lot of years, just being kind of like the Premier Midwest tournament. So to be able to win that and play Tim and Brian Bongren in the finals was pretty special moment for me. And then Seaside was an absolute roller coaster because we got in the Atlanta qualifier on Thursday and Seaside started on Friday. So to make a long story short, Evan was still in Phoenix, Arizona at 07:00 A.m. On Friday when we had a noon game in Seaside. But, yeah, we somehow ended up pulling it off. I think the coolest thing about all those ABC, the semis and the finals are such big events, and all the people there are there because they've been to this tournament for year after year after year, and they're so knowledgeable about their volleyball that it makes those finals, like, so much fun. I think that the Seaside final is one of the most entertaining, just awesome experiences.
[00:28:34 - 00:30:11]
Brandon Joyner:
The only AVP I played in this year was Manhattan, but I was able to go to Seaside and Wapaka for my first time at both of those tournaments, and I'm telling you, these ABP next Gold events are these big tournaments that have been running for years, decades, even are amazing. When you talk about the volleyball community and falling in love with it. Those are the tournaments that will make you do it. Last year I was lucky enough I played Potstown, which is one of the biggest grass tournaments you can play. I played Wopaca, which I think it is known as the biggest outdoor tournament in the US. And then Seaside is just unreal it's in this beautiful beach in Oregon where you have these coasts that make you feel like you're in Jurassic Park. And then they build up the Sandburn like the big Stadium with the sand. It was a pretty cool experience to be there, and it was really cool to watch you guys win it too. I'm not going to lie, I was happy to see it as the tournament went on, but when I saw you and Evan walk onto the strand, onto the sand that first thing in the morning, I was a little mad. I was like, Dang it. They actually hated. Part of me was hoping that it would be one more team that didn't show up so that I selfishly might be able to take this thing down. That's cool. But Logan, real quick, I know it's already 1134. We've been kind of cruising through, but what does the future look like for you? What are some goals that you have for the upcoming season or maybe for you down the road?
[00:30:11 - 00:32:42]
Logan Webber:
Yeah, well, this upcoming season, I'll be playing all of the AVPs with John Heiden. So everybody watching you're somewhat the first to know that. There you go. Pretty exciting for me to be able to play with somebody who has that much experience, and hopefully it'll just take that. Obviously we won't have to be hopefully. I'm not sure what the main draws will look like, I guess. But if there's anything like they have been, we shouldn't be in the qualifiers to start the season. So it'll be awesome to just kind of have a different mindset, I think going into the main draws, because a lot of times when you come to the qualifier come from like a wildcard bid, it's easy to get in there and then just be like, okay, well, hopefully we can win a match and now we kind of have to evolve that mindset into like, I want I'm here to win this tournament, not just get in the main draw and maybe win a match. So, yeah, it'd be awesome to learn from him. I'm hoping to play in as many Friv events as I can. John does not want to play any Fib events, which kind of considered that going in. But yes, I'm looking to just build up those Fib points. So that way when 2023 comes, which seems like a long way out, but I can put myself in the best possible position to grab the best partner and try to make more of a full time run on the Fib. I like it. And then I guess along with that, I guess the main goal would probably be Olympics if everything works out. Yeah. We've seen especially obviously in the last couple of years, like, how quickly people can go from having no Fib points to being one of the best teams in the world. I think it's really funny. In 2018, they had that Huntington event. It was like an Fib collaboration thing. And Casey Losak and Garrett West. No, not Garrett Westbrook, Garrett Wilson. They ended up qualifying, and we were eating dinner with them before, and they're like, yeah, we play some young guys from Norway. We don't really know who they are. Two years later, they've won 15 those guys from Norway, 15 FiVB tournaments. So, yes, I would love to love to get to the point where I'm able to play on that top level FIVB.
[00:32:42 - 00:32:53]
Brandon Joyner:
This is a little off topic from you, but do you know what the current FIVB point system is now? I know they got rid of the star system, so I'm not 100% sure how these work now.
[00:32:53 - 00:33:23]
Logan Webber:
Yeah. So basically there's three different tiers now. I think there's an elite, a Challenger, and a Futures. So Elite, it's 16 teams, no qualifier, just the top 16 teams based on points challenger, then I think, is the next 32 teams, which are kind of like your three star level tournaments. And then Futures is, I guess, everyone else, but they haven't really announced how that's going to work yet. So there's a lot still up in the air.
[00:33:23 - 00:34:02]
Brandon Joyner:
Cool. And so assuming because you played one Fib last year, right? Yes. And then so you at least have some points moving in. And it's crazy, from what I've heard in the past, it's crazy how just some points can be super valuable. So it's good that you got a head start. That's amazing. I know it's already 1138. I think some people have been leaving a couple of questions.
All right. One of the first ones that I saw is from one of our most consistent listeners. His name is Mark, and it says at this stage in your career, what three things are you wanting to improve in your skill set?
[00:34:02 - 00:35:25]
Logan Webber:
I think just overall consistency, I think, is my biggest key right now. I don't think there's any overall glaring part of my game that I think I couldn't dramatically improve. I think it's just getting to the point where I'm having my best day more than I am right now, because I think on my best day, I think I'm right up there and can play with just about everybody is just making sure that those good days are happening at a higher percentage than they are right now. Do you have anything that you've done that you've found has helped you have those good days? More than not, I think the biggest thing we already talked about is just playing volleyball as much as you possibly can because you learn then kind of how to get out of those ruts faster and what can be like, okay, I'm not having a good day. Here's my absolute go to like, here's my go to swing. This is my one big focus when I'm setting, and this is my one big focus when I'm passing. I'm just trying to have, like, one big thing to fall back on all the time and not trying to be like, I'm not signing out. I need to do something that I've never done before to try to sign out. Just finding that one thing that you do best, and then if the other team is able to beat you and take away what you do best, then so be it. Move on to the next game.
[00:35:25 - 00:36:35]
Brandon Joyner:
That's a good point. I like that. And I think Mark, to kind of go in a little bit more than that is at the level that Logan and myself are playing at. We're always working on the same skill sets that beginners are working on our preseason that is happening right now. It's a lot of passport and then drills that are helping us get better at those specific skill sets. Very rarely will you see people who are training right now just go out and play. I think a lot of people, especially in California, you see it sometimes, but it's more just to keep the fun in the game. Training every single day and just training can get a little monotonous at times. So sometimes if we do go out, we'll just set up matches. We're just playing today. And maybe it's in a King of the court or a King of the beach format where you kind of flop partners and it's just meant to get out there and have fun. But I would say, for the most part, we're all still working on those skill sets quite a bit. All right. James Hartney, are you planning on returning to West, Michigan over the summer?
[00:36:35 - 00:37:14]
Logan Webber:
Yes. Not full time, obviously, but I'm actually going to be working a lot this upcoming season with West Michelle and with Steven Vanderberg and Pete Goers. They do an awesome job running tournaments up there, certainly come back, help them with some of their clinics, get back and play some of their tournaments as well. Any big stuff there's, hopefully there'll be a couple of bigger tournaments that I can get up there, too. And I also have a little two month old nephew that I need to get back to some of the summer. So I will be back there as much as I possibly can.
[00:37:14 - 00:37:51]
Brandon Joyner:
Congrats on that, too. That was pretty recent, right? A couple of weeks old, yes. Oh, that's awesome. Happy for you. This is Pam Brandt. She said I'd love to include you, Logan Weber, in my who's, who and Volleyball Digital magazine. That will be coming out monthly soon, so it seems like a cool opportunity for you to talk with her. So, Pam, if you don't already follow Logan on Instagram, make sure you give them a follow Pam. I would suggest reaching out to him on Instagram if you want to set up an interview or something. All right, let's see if we can find one more question for you.
[00:37:51 - 00:37:55]
Logan Webber:
I see this volleyball videos question about Phil down here.
[00:37:55 - 00:38:14]
Brandon Joyner:
Okay, is Phil Dozer's favorite up and coming player, Logan Weber? I've heard Phil ask about Logan several times. What kind of relationship do these studs have? I mean, I know that you've gotten a chance to play with them, and I'm practiced against them and I'm envious, so I think that's a pretty cool story for everybody to hear.
[00:38:14 - 00:39:57]
Logan Webber:
So I spent about four or five months living in St. Petersburg, Florida area this past well in 2021, and I was fortunate enough to get lumped in through kind of a mutual friend into Phil's training group over in Orlando. So myself and whoever else, whatever defender I could grab, it was typically Caleb Queckel would drive over to Orlando probably three or four days a week and train just with Phil, Nick and their coach, Jason Lockheed, who is their coach at the time. And it was one of the most spectacular experiences I've ever had. I had never really met Phil or Nick before that, and their coach Jason as well. Like, just some really incredible people. Extremely welcoming and extremely grateful. They would always thank us when we were leaving for driving the hour and a half to train with them, and Caleb and I would look at each other and be like, Why are you guys thanking us? We would drive 5 hours to come here, but experience, it was cool to kind of get to know them in such a personal way. As well as being able to train against guys like that on a consistent basis, I think definitely helped Caleb and I both improve our game a ton. It was pretty special. Those two guys are awesome, and I'm huge fan of them. Yeah, I've gotten to hang out with both of them a little bit off the court. When I was living in Virginia, I used to go down to Adam Robert's house, and those guys would be training down there every now and then and then.
[00:39:57 - 00:40:22]
Brandon Joyner:
It's kind of funny last summer when Adam texted me and he was like, hey, are you free to train tomorrow? And I was like, yeah, for sure. What time? And he was like, It's going to be 10:00 at the Pier. He's like, It's going to be me and you and then two buddies from the East Coast. He was like, they're a little bit older, but they can still hang. He didn't tell me who it was, and then I show up to the beach and it's Nick and Phil.
[00:40:22 - 00:40:34]
Logan Webber:
Like, right before Manhattan last year as well, this old buddy coming from out east who just might jump in and train with us a little bit. And it was Nick.
[00:40:34 - 00:41:40]
Brandon Joyner::
Yeah. So funny. But yeah. Logan, man, I appreciate you hopping on here. It's about time to wrap things up. I loved here. I think it's the first time I've heard of a couple of the stories that you told. So I appreciate you, Sharon. And once again, if you guys don't already follow Logan, I suggest it. I do think that you have a very bright future ahead of you. It's been cool to kind of get here right around the same time as you and meet you as a person and see the success you've already had. And I look forward to seeing what you can do on the court this year. Yeah. Thank you, man. It's been cool for me as well. Like being so close with you and you and Mark, see what you guys have been able to do with better beach and the community that you guys have been able to grow. So it's been awesome to watch. Thanks, man. I'm happy you're a part of it, too. So once again, if you guys want to get coached by Logan, if you want to hang out with them, I promise you, despite his calm demeanor here, he's opening up at our camps and having a lot of fun. So it's definitely worth getting to know them. But yeah, Logan, I appreciate you, buddy. If you want to go ahead and hop off, you're more than welcome. And everybody else will stick around and answer a few more questions. If you guys have anything, I appreciate your buddy.
[00:41:40 - 00:41:41]
Logan Webber:
Absolutely. Thanks, guys.
[00:41:41 - 00:47:29]
Brandon Joyner:
All right. I'll see you soon. All right. That was pretty cool. Kind of funny. Logan and I are actually going to be roommates here soon, so I'll get to know them a little bit better, but I will go through I think I saw a couple. What skill set do you wish you focused on first? As a high school student, especially when we're talking about young athletes that are learning how to play the sport, I truly do think it's important to focus on ball control first. If you're talking about females, then this ball control is completely necessary because definitely a more ball control driven game. And if you're talking about males, I think we rely too much on athleticism at a young age. I know for me, specifically when I was playing in high school, I was able to bully people just because I was 65 in high school and knew a little bit about the sport. But when I got to College, it was a huge headache my first semester. To be honest, I barely made the team even though I was recruited. And a lot of that had to do with the fact that I just didn't have the techniques that I needed in order to succeed at the next level. And those techniques mainly came from my passing and my ball control. So I think don't be scared to spend a ridiculous amount of time on ball control. I know when I was coaching my middle school girls team, which I only saw them for about nine weeks, and they were already pretty good when I got them. I focused a lot on the ball control aspect of the game because I knew they were going to grow. I knew they were going to get bigger in there, and when they got bigger, they were going to be able to be stronger with their attacking. But if they didn't have this idea of accuracy first, whether it was passing setting or hitting serving, then they weren't going to know how to control their power. So I think starting with accuracy goals and everything is definitely a good place to start. And then Pam, is it important for younger players to play more than one sport? This is a tough conversation, but I think yes, I think mainly for the burnout. I see a lot of these kids that start playing volleyball at eleven or even younger six because their parents played. And my only worry about that is that once they get to a point where the level of their play actually matters, their heart might not be in it anymore. So I know when I grew up, I spent my young years swimming and playing soccer, which I think helped me a lot with my endurance, my foot movement, or whatever you would call it, my balance by speed. Then I went on to play football, which kind of helped me with my eye sequence. I was a quarterback. And then I also realized that I did not like getting hit very much. And then by the time I got to volleyball, it was this new sport that just really blew my mind. So I didn't start playing until I was a sophomore in high school. And now I'm 33 years old and I still love this thing more than I probably should. So I think it's just important to let kids do what they want. Don't force them to stay in one sport. If they want to try soccer, let them try soccer, and then their true passion will come out in the end. Okay. Not really seeing any more questions. I'll let anybody if you have one more last question that you want to pop in here, then you can. The last thing Pam said was no matter what level you play at, improving the basic building blocks is a great place to focus. Yeah. I've been having this conversation a lot recently with people who are trying to get better. And unfortunately, especially if you're an adult, if you're an adult, then you have these built in ideas of how you operate as a person that's mainly mechanically. Right. So we start to bring our own touch into the game more than technique. And volleyball is such a technique heavy sport that you kind of have to put your ego aside and learn how to be more technical. I look at a lot of players and if I see that they are struggling in a sense of passing, setting, attacking most of the time it comes down to the fact that they don't have proper technique. We see people like Adrian Karambulla and a lot of Florida players actually who work on their touch so much that they become very touchdependent and it could put off some bad technique styles. So if you are a person that's learning look at our videos get coaches to look at your technique and become the best technical player you can because in my opinion it should be about 80% technique, 20% touch but especially with adults we start seeing that number switch a little bit and if you're working on like 50% technique and 50% touch then that's where when you get tired that 50% touch is going to start to fail you but technique won't so I think whenever you're training get help concentrate on your technique perfect that first and then you can figure out your own individual style of play. All right, I think that is all we have time for so hopefully you guys enjoy that conversation with Logan. I have to say hats off to him. He is a phenomenal human being, a very, very good player and I would not be surprised to see him in the category of one of the top blockers in the US within the next couple of years so we're definitely lucky to have them on here today and appreciate you guys tuning in we will see you guys next week.
