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Billy Allen:
I've tried multiple things.
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Billy Allen:
You can either wait, be patient, and you can start farther back.
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Billy Allen:
There's a lot of different things you can try using serve, receive.
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Billy Allen:
I'm already taking my step before they accept contesting the ball, my first date, my fourth step.
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Billy Allen:
If I do a four step approach, my first step off of trans, my queue would be more after I see the set before I make that first step.
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Billy Allen:
So as far as timing, that would be a little bit of a change to give myself more time.
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Billy Allen:
And that step is almost like a skate where I'm shifting across the top of the sand.
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Billy Allen:
Or if you think of an animal prowling.
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Billy Allen:
I'm not like just sprinting in.
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Billy Allen:
It's like this really slow push off.
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Billy Allen:
I'm prowling in, not like a commitment step
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Mark Burik:
My name is Mark Burik and today we have a really cool treat. Billy Allen is going to be with us.
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Mark Burik:
Billy Allen is a long time AVP and FIVB pro.
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Mark Burik:
He has contributed socially and in terms of the knowledge base and in terms of the entertainment value of the game.
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Mark Burik:
Contributed from things back in the day, like Danny kind of was a character where if you don't know or haven't seen the videos, I recommend it out if you need a good volleyball [email protected].
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Mark Burik:
Billy is also an author.
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Mark Burik:
He's a husband, he's a father, and in his blood.
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Mark Burik:
I know that both of his parents have owned a volleyball club together and he's been playing for a long time and doing it successfully to pick his brain and see what knowledge we can get from him.
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Mark Burik:
He also is one of the co hosts of another podcast which if you are listening to a volleyball podcast, it's called Coach Your Brain's Out.
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Mark Burik:
It's also the Gold Squared podcast that I listened to religiously for a few years when I was getting started.
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Mark Burik:
Super highly information.
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Mark Burik:
Make sure that you go and you check that out.
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Mark Burik:
It's in the show notes, it's in the description.
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Mark Burik:
So make sure you subscribe to their podcast as well.
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Mark Burik:
But welcome and thanks for coming, Allen.
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Billy Allen:
Hey, Mark, thanks for having me.
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Billy Allen:
I appreciate you bringing up.
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Billy Allen:
I think most people don't remember that.
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Mark Burik:
It's sad when I know that people don't remember it.
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Mark Burik:
You get the new, like, I don't know, new generation or people who are Neos because it spread like wildfire as soon as you guys started videos, YouTube influencer kind of stars before it was a thing, before it was popular and they were so good and so like perfect inside jokes for volleyball players.
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Mark Burik:
He has crushed it.
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Mark Burik:
And I do miss seeing those.
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Billy Allen:
Yeah, we were too early.
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Mark Burik:
We could have made money if we got a little later with better cameras, some audio.
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Mark Burik:
But no, I went through your Instagram profile and I just clicked on a couple of videos and my wife started laughing at me, laughing so hard.
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Mark Burik:
So the highlight of your career, I want to go into something kind of interesting that I just saw.
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Mark Burik:
And I don't know if you treat it as you're proud of it, not satisfied with it, but I looked at your BBB info profile and difference that you played were in 2004 and your first win, first Championship, first place was in 2016.
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Mark Burik:
So going at it and going at it successfully, consistently good finishes, and then twelve years into it, you get your first title, and I think it was the next year, maybe two years later, you got another AVP title.
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Mark Burik:
Could you talk me emotionally through how that felt? Like as somebody who's been playing almost as long, I've got one third.
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Mark Burik:
Thanks.
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Mark Burik:
I want an AVP title, too.
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Mark Burik:
But to play that, to play for those many years, is that an absolute pump up moment or was it kind of a sigh of relief of patting yourself? Yes, I am one of the world's best volleyball players.
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Mark Burik:
How do you think about it when you look back on it?
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I think it's two fold like one. I wish I would have won earlier for sure, but no, I'm definitely proud of sticking with it.
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Billy Allen:
I think if you look at my career, there's never like a big breakthrough moment.
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Billy Allen:
It was just kind of like you said, a steady climb.
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Billy Allen:
And I'm definitely proud of the perseverance because there were a lot of players better than me for all Americans in College who jumped in the beach game and suffered losses like we all did, and they gave it up and I stuck with it.
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Billy Allen:
And yeah, it just slowly got better every year.
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Billy Allen:
I think if you look to BBB like, yes, it's like slow climb.
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Billy Allen:
And then as far as the get closer, I got a couple of thirds, make a final.
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Billy Allen:
And then I think that moment of winning was I don't think I got to enjoy it too much because we were actually heading to the airport to go to Hamburg, Germany, for an FIVB, and we were so stressed that we weren't going to make it that we went to the airport before the final and dropped, checked our bags in, and then I drove back, didn't even warm up like showed up.
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Billy Allen:
We won a match in three.
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Billy Allen:
We had a really good comeback in the third.
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Billy Allen:
I think we were down 8 2 or something against the Crowd brothers.
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Billy Allen:
And as soon as they won, we ran back to the airport.
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Billy Allen:
So yeah, I don't think I was ever had a chance.
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Billy Allen:
I think a week later when I got home, I kind of let it sit in.
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Billy Allen:
But by that point, it was kind of back to work training for the next tournament.
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Mark Burik:
It's huge, you know that the USA has some of the best beach volleyball players and to win and you could, at least for that moment, even though you're not playing with the full FIVB tournament, but you get that satisfaction of like, you know, what this weekend, maybe I am was the best volleyball player, essentially, in the world, especially if we're competing the average teams that are doing that on a consistent level.
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Mark Burik:
It's a feeling that I'm envious of that since I know that after my highest finish, I fulfilled because I didn't have what you had.
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Mark Burik:
I couldn't get to the airport.
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Mark Burik:
I had my partner for FIVB waiting in China.
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Mark Burik:
We won this match.
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Mark Burik:
We didn't win the match.
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Mark Burik:
Stafford forfeited because he had to, because we hit him in the eye and detached retina.
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Mark Burik:
And then I was like, okay, sucks to win that way.
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Mark Burik:
But now I'm sitting on my third highest finish, and then I couldn't play in the semi final or I wouldn't play.
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Mark Burik:
It was a choice that I made because I knew Ian had already flown to China.
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Mark Burik:
I had an agreement with Russ Marks, and I was like, listen, if we make it this far, which neither of us have, I have to go.
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Mark Burik:
That was a kind of celebratory but kind of really sucky moment and time.
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Mark Burik:
And then when I got, like a fifth, which was another high finish, I had to sprint literally on my bike to go coach a beach class, like for my beginner's class, because that's how that actually went.
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Mark Burik:
It's funny when you get a point where you reach some of your highest satisfaction moments and you don't actually henity to celebrate, but would you tell other players and maybe coaches earlier that they should take that time to celebrate? Or is it when you have a new high, say, get back to work immediately?
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Billy Allen:
I think with both losses and wins, you should definitely give yourself space to sit in it for a little bit. Even if you have a bad loss, it's hard just to tell a player, like, I just get over it, move on.
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Billy Allen:
I think you need some room to greet you and let whatever emotions are coming that are natural happen take their course.
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Billy Allen:
And the same with the win.
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Billy Allen:
I think we play so many volleyball tournaments, and most of those you don't win.
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Billy Allen:
You're not Phil Dalhouser or whoever end with a loss.
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Billy Allen:
Yeah, I think you should definitely cherish and celebrate the moments you do do well, as long as it doesn't linger too long and stop you from training because you think you've got it.
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Billy Allen:
Now, I know I enjoyed my second one more because I had a little bit of time to think about it.
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Billy Allen:
But also, it was Stafford who I played with his first win, and I was just like, kind of relief.
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Billy Allen:
I didn't blow up for him, and I was just happy to celebrate with him and enjoy that for sure.
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Billy Allen:
But then once you get there, then you just want to win more.
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Billy Allen:
You tasted it, and you think, oh, we can do this. And so how do we do it again?
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Mark Burik:
Reaching the finals that you could consider that a turning, or is there a turning point that you felt or a season that you had or a partner that you had that propelled you to that next Sunday level?
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Billy Allen:
No, I think making a semi felt similar to making a final. I mean, a little different because it's like, I don't know, you're still on Stadium for a semi.
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Billy Allen:
Usually you're still a huge crowd, so a big moment.
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Billy Allen:
So I think at the time when I made my first, like, a third, it felt similar to, I think I made a final in Manhattan with Brad Keenan.
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Billy Allen:
It was like, open or Clairville.
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Billy Allen:
I forgot what it was called.
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Billy Allen:
Maybe I felt a little bit more.
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Billy Allen:
For me, it's more of the teams you beat along the way.
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Billy Allen:
So I think I felt bigger breakthroughs.
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Billy Allen:
If I beat a top team, beat a Phil and Rosie or beat a Jake and Casey or whoever, then it's like, oh, I got to be the top guys in our sport.
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Billy Allen:
I can compete against anybody.
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Billy Allen:
And whether that happens with, like, a fifth or a 7th, I think that was one that gave me a more breakthrough of, like, I have the ability to beat anybody if I'm on.
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Billy Allen:
And I think those were the bigger moments where I thought I could do this then just, like, having a good fit.
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Mark Burik:
Your measuring sticks are.
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Mark Burik:
Do you remember early on, like, year by year, which teams were on your target list for this is the guy or this is the team that I want to be this year.
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Mark Burik:
That took you off for me a long time ago.
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Mark Burik:
You and John Meyer Hayden just wiped the floor with me for a very long time.
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Mark Burik:
Can I even touch him? And when you press with him and he sides out ten balls and you literally haven't touched one of them, you're like, man, maybe I just don't belong to get that win.
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Mark Burik:
You'll push this, but do you remember your list of hits?
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Billy Allen:
Yeah, I think at the time, it was so many guys, the list was so long that it was like, oh, if I beat anybody, I'll be happy. But I know, like, for sure, I didn't beat Nick with Senna until last year.
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Billy Allen:
I beat him twice.
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Billy Allen:
He was the one guy that I would for whatever.
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Billy Allen:
I beat him Phil a couple of times with different partners, but I hadn't beaten it.
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Billy Allen:
And a couple of years before that, it was hiding and whatever, but I think he was the last guy that I hadn't hadn't beaten.
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Billy Allen:
That was really recent.
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Billy Allen:
So that was the one time, like, maybe, I think hiding too, maybe four or five years ago, I kept out of my head.
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Billy Allen:
Yeah.
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Billy Allen:
So maybe it's a defender thing where you're like, hey, these are guys that I'm competing against directly, and it's a little easier to compare how I match up against him than, like, a filler a Lambo.
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Mark Burik:
Do you think that that's a good way for coming up to sort of measure themselves or should they do all of the and say like no, play your game, measure yourself by just you.
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Mark Burik:
It is easy to have a high finish if a few teams don't show up.
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Mark Burik:
So you could sort of Pat yourself on the back and beat that one team that I really want to beat.
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Mark Burik:
So do you think younger players should be almost comparing themselves? I guess, which is like anti the advice that we're always given like no, play your own game, measure your own success.
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Billy Allen:
I think you can do both.
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Billy Allen:
At the end of the day, you are competing against yourself, how you can be your best self.
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Billy Allen:
And I'll never be the same as a Todd Rogers or something like that.
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Billy Allen:
But at the same time, I think you should anything you can use to motivate you to play better.
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Billy Allen:
And we saw that Jordan Dock, like he would use imaginary things to motivate himself against players.
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Billy Allen:
So it's less of like am I as good as this person and I need to prove myself to be better.
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Billy Allen:
It's not that.
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Billy Allen:
It's just like embracing the competition because there's so many times where we look at a draw and we're like I have to play, this is a tough draw.
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Billy Allen:
I have to play this tough team.
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Billy Allen:
But I think if you looked at that, it was like, oh, I get to go head to head with one of the top defenders right now.
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Billy Allen:
That's a way better way to frame it.
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Billy Allen:
And so yeah, like Hunt big game, go after that stuff rather than thinking you have a bad draw and stuff like that.
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Billy Allen:
So I think it's twofold.
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Billy Allen:
I think you can compare as far as Detach and say like, oh, what does their game have that I don't? But as far as basing your work off of that comparison, then I think that's where you maybe get into trouble because yeah, everybody's different and you just have to be better today than you were yesterday.
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Mark Burik:
So sort of like goals measuring sticks, but not necessarily a value of what you're playing a ball game against.
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Billy Allen:
Yeah, because I feel like you're going to be yourself.
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Billy Allen:
But yeah, it is a measuring stick as far as your climb.
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Billy Allen:
But again, it is your climb.
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Billy Allen:
You're not trying to totally emulate another players.
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Billy Allen:
You have to be yourself and those guys you maybe can't beat.
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Billy Allen:
And that doesn't mean you're a failure because you're still preparing yourself against yourself. But yeah, I think you should look forward to those challenges and whatever you can do to motivate yourself if you fire up the place, somebody helps
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Mark Burik:
Along your career when you are consistently getting like next levels, would you attribute that to adding on a certain skill or a certain piece of knowledge or strategy each year or consistent at what you were doing and learning your game better?
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Billy Allen:
Yeah, I think if I looked at my physical mess or most of my skill sets when I was a couple of years on to now, it's probably not that drastic. I probably jumped higher then.
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Billy Allen:
So I think it's definitely more decision making, consistency, trust and belief in yourself.
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Billy Allen:
I think I was never a guy that came out thinking I was hot stuff and I deserve to be in finals all the time.
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Billy Allen:
I think I had to really earn that confidence, and so I think that was a little slower road for me.
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Billy Allen:
But then I think maybe skill wise, I know my first portion of my career, I never handset.
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Billy Allen:
I was a bump setter and I was pretty risk averse and afraid of getting called for the ball.
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Billy Allen:
And so as far as the skills, as far as and you're an indoor setter, right? Yeah, as far as skills, that was the one.
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Billy Allen:
It wasn't a matter of bad hands.
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Billy Allen:
It was just a matter of committing to do it and being a little more fearless.
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Billy Allen:
That was maybe one upgrade that I made at a certain point in my career that really helped boost me.
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Mark Burik:
So handsetting may have been that one attribute.
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Mark Burik:
And then you said confidence, confidence or trust in yourself and in your game? Is there a way to explain that in a deeper way? Can you give a specific example of what trusting yourself in a game or on a specific play means to you or what that breakthrough was in a micro moment?
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Billy Allen:
Yeah, I think I've thought a lot about confidence because I feel like it's something that has plagued me where it's like I have a little hard on myself and so it's a little bit of self doubt, like, oh, do I deserve to be here? Am I as good as these players? And I've seen players, at least from the outside, to have loads of confidence. I think they're awesome and that carries them a certain degree.
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Billy Allen:
I think I've settled on basically the idea that there are two kinds of confidence.
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Billy Allen:
There's confidence in the moment and that's stuff that's basically out of our hands.
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Billy Allen:
And that's like more of a feeling.
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Billy Allen:
Like if I just got blocked, all of a sudden my confidence level goes down a little bit or if I make a great play, my confidence level goes up and that's a little bit more of just like a feeling that comes and goes.
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Billy Allen:
And then I think there's the confidence that you earn by your preparation and by your experience and what you've done.
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Billy Allen:
And I can go to a match saying, hey, I've competed at this level before.
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Billy Allen:
I put in a lot of work to get here, and that confidence is kind of a little more lasting and can be like, hey, I have the right to compete here and compete with this team.
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Billy Allen:
And then the vast confidence that comes and goes with play by play, I just got to know that it's out of my hands.
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Billy Allen:
And I guess just choose courage over confidence, as in, like, oh, even if I feel no confidence in that moment because I've made a couple of errors, I can still step into the arena and be courageous and compete, even if I don't feel like all that.
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Mark Burik:
Do you said in terms of any individual, do you react differently now than you did ten years ago after you get blocked twice in a row individually? I feel like after my second block here, I boost up.
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00:14:10,184 --> 00:14:11,718Mark Burik:
I used to probably shut down.
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Mark Burik:
Now I'm like, Now I'm going to show you why you should have blocked me, because statistically it's supposed to swing back in my favor right about now.
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Billy Allen:
Yeah, I would say my initial reaction is the same.
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Billy Allen:
It hurts then and it hurts now.
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Billy Allen:
But as you said, I'm sure I can detach it more and look at it analytically and be like more of a problem solver where it's like, oh, what am I getting the idea of feed forward? What am I going to do on this next play? How am I going to adjust? How can I solve this problem more than like, oh, I suck, I got blocked or whatever the thing is.
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Billy Allen:
So I think the initial reaction is the same because it's a feeling.
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Billy Allen:
It just happens. But I'm able to maybe detach a little more and think, what am I going to do? What adjustments am I going to make and how do I solve this problem?
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Mark Burik:
Are you when you're going into things offensively, thinking that you should be planning series of shots or swings to Om up? Or are you going into each offensive attack with your blank mind of, I don't know what's going to happen, I don't know offensively before, I don't really care.
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Mark Burik:
Are you just reacting in that moment and seeing what you see strategically, planning it out because of what happened earlier and what you think they're trying to do?
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Billy Allen:
When I'm playing at my best, it's more improv and you come in free and you trust what you see or your instincts. I'm not always there.
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Billy Allen:
And so when I'm not, I think it comes with vision, too.
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Billy Allen:
Like, there's times where your vision is not there, whether you're under the ball, you're in a funk, whatever it is, you're passing bad.
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Billy Allen:
And I think at those times, I do have a list in my head, a ledger of what I've gone to, what the other team has stopped, what they expect.
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Billy Allen:
And there are times where I try to stay ahead of them.
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Billy Allen:
At the same time, there are moments where I know I need to give a certain shot in order to earn the freedom back.
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Billy Allen:
So for me, a lot of people play my high line a lot, and I know that.
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Billy Allen:
And I'll have to throw in a couple of sharper.
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Mark Burik:
Yeah, you force them.
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Billy Allen:
I know how teams will play me for the most part.
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Billy Allen:
And so I do need to keep them honest by throwing in some stretch shots or things that are not as comfortable.
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Billy Allen:
But again, I think when you're playing your best, you're coming in free and you're reacting to what you see.
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Billy Allen:
And if you have to hit a line shot three or four times in a row, that's awesome because that's what's open.
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Mark Burik:
Okay.
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Billy Allen:
Yeah, I think I'm not sure if I skipped anything, it's come in and hit high and hard to the corner because that's like after I get stopped, that's a tough place to stop.
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Billy Allen:
And if I can establish that, then I think that opens up the rest of my game.
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Mark Burik:
I think I used to try to come in open minded and I would get stuck.
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Mark Burik:
And this is what I'm training our players to do right now is have your a swing for every point.
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Mark Burik:
Like when you start this point, think about how you're going to terminate it and then just have an off switch.
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Mark Burik:
If they do this, which is designed to stop that swing, then what's your secondary? And then maybe your third is like you're in trouble.
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Mark Burik:
So I'm trying to get players to be more systematic and not create in the moment.
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Mark Burik:
And I think a lot of that is coming from studies of multiple decisions.
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Mark Burik:
Like they did that the purchasing study and decision study.
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Mark Burik:
When they put 27 Jellies in a supermarket and they saw how fast people would buy or choose a jelly, they thought that more options would mean that they're more likely to buy, but in fact, they are way less likely to buy.
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Mark Burik:
They froze in their decision.
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Mark Burik:
They couldn't make it.
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Mark Burik:
And when they put two Jellies, people bought faster and more often.
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Mark Burik:
And they did the same thing with fighter pilots in the US Air Force, where they made binary decision trees instead of a completely open field.
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Mark Burik:
And they found that the errors decreased.
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Mark Burik:
And so now when I'm thinking about my offense and when I'm trying to help players decrease errors, I tried to not give them open mind.
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Mark Burik:
I say let's try to establish your best swing or whatever you think the swing you need is right now, and then just have a if they do this.
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Mark Burik:
I'm doing this specifically to decrease errors.
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Mark Burik:
And I found at least anecdotally and without taking hardcore stats on my players, that it's helping them decrease errors at the very least.
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Mark Burik:
Do you think there's any weight on that?
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Billy Allen:
Yeah, for sure. I think anytime you can simplify something that leads to more consistency and stuff, I think it has to do with my level of confidence.
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Billy Allen:
Like, I remember playing like a John Mesco and seeing, oh, he's got a really good cut shot and he can hit a high line.
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Billy Allen:
And if that's all you need to do and that keeps you really squared away, that's awesome.
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Billy Allen:
But eventually somebody might creep in on something like that.
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Billy Allen:
If I'm struggling and I can keep it simple, that's great.
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Billy Allen:
If I'm saying if I'm playing at my best, that's when I feel like a little more free to do anything.
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Billy Allen:
But if I'm definitely in a hold and, yeah, it's easier to worry about two problems than five or six.
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Billy Allen:
And same thing on defense.
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Billy Allen:
If I'm my best defense, maybe I'm just free.
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Billy Allen:
But it's rare that you're in that moment of everything's working.
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Billy Allen:
And so sometimes you got to simplify it and be like, hey, I'm taking these two shots.
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Billy Allen:
I think there's definitely something to that.
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Mark Burik:
Yeah, I like that idea.
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Mark Burik:
I see a lot of Baa players who get so mad after every point they lose expecting that this is just in that moment that they missed this big.
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Mark Burik:
And then you'll see guys AVP and fib level not care at all when somebody gets three kills in a row because they're thinking like, long term strategy, ready to pick up that last one or the third one.
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Mark Burik:
And also, yeah, taking away one or two swings and promising yourself that you will take away at least that one.
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Mark Burik:
And once you make that promise to yourself, you lose that frustration that builds when they hit the other one.
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Mark Burik:
You're like, we're not covering that as long as we got that valid reasoning strategically, I think.
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Billy Allen:
Yeah, we're giving them that shot that we did our job.
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Mark Burik:
Yeah.
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Mark Burik:
I think that's hard for a growing player to learn that you're going to give up 17 points and it's going to be a very good win.
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Mark Burik:
What do you think for defenders other than just taking away a promise zone for a defender, somebody who's are feeling undersized? What do you think that that person's most important physical attribute is, and what would their most important mental attribute be?
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Billy Allen:
Some mental ones that come to mind would be patience. I think especially at the lower levels, we see a lot of people breaking early and getting antsy.
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Billy Allen:
I'm angled defense, but I'm so worried about the high line that I leave early or I'm in balance.
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Billy Allen:
So I think if you're playing it's a good hitter with vision, you need to be a little more patient on defense, a little more settled.
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Billy Allen:
And then I would just say, yeah, just work ethic, just go for everything.
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Billy Allen:
I mean, the best defenders get Sandy and can you just train yourself to go after everything that's going to make you better.
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Billy Allen:
So mentally, I just have this ferociousness where you're scrambling as far as physically, if you're fast and explosive, that helps.
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Mark Burik:
Yeah, I'd say low to the ground, a good step.
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Mark Burik:
The drive off of that initial step is always nice, especially after a good two and a half month preseason when you finally feel like the strength and speed in your legs, that's nice.
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Mark Burik:
It's nice to let your body just start taking over explosively. What do you think was the hardest thing for you to learn as a player on defense?
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Billy Allen:
I mean, still reading the game, I feel like I was pretty good at positioning myself in the line of fire for hard driven hits.
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Billy Allen:
But more of the off speed stuff, just really reading some stuff I maybe focus on.
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Billy Allen:
The read would be Where's the set in relation to the net, Where's the set in relation to the hitter? Because a lot of times that dictates what they can do.
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Billy Allen:
What's the speed of their approach? Are they going to come into bang or are they slowing down? Are they taking a look and they're really seeing that the hand of ball motion to get a little bit of a glimpse of where the ball is going.
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Billy Allen:
It's a lot to look at, it's a lot to factor in, especially when the ball is so shiny and we want to really just focus on the ball.
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Billy Allen:
But there's a lot of tells that you can get, especially at the lower levels where players aren't as good at hiding it, of where the ball will go.
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Billy Allen:
Again, I think early in my career I was pretty good from indoor of lining up with where their approach is going and their hard driven swing and digging that.
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Billy Allen:
But more of the cuffs and off speed stuff, being able to read that early enough to make a strong move to it is something that's very difficult and there's a lot of people that are really fast.
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Billy Allen:
Like I remember hearing Nick License would go out to train with Todd Rogers back when he was starting and they'd go to the track and do Todd's workout and Nick would just crush him.
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Billy Allen:
He's just way faster.
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Billy Allen:
But on the volleyball court in the sand for the two step burst towards the ball, Todd was just as fast and I think it has a lot to do with just the two step burst or three steps, but mostly it was just reading and him seeing so many swings that he knew exactly what this look led to.
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Billy Allen:
So again, being fast is great, but I think you're not doing a full sprint in volleyball.
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Billy Allen:
It's usually just one or two steps to cover the court.
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Billy Allen:
And so if you can make the right move, that's probably more important than a fast move.
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Mark Burik:
You said that the distance from the net.
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Mark Burik:
If you could break that down for somebody who is on your court, if you're coaching them, sure.
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Mark Burik:
If the set is tighter or further off, what does that change for you as the defender?
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Billy Allen:
Yes, a couple of things. So let's say a scenario where my blocker is blocking line, I'm blocking angle if the set gets defending angle.
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Billy Allen:
Right, sorry.
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Billy Allen:
Yeah, I'm defending it.
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Billy Allen:
We're not double blocking.
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Billy Allen:
That would be sweet though.
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Billy Allen:
That opens up a sharper hit for them.
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Billy Allen:
They can cut it sharper from a tight spot than they can from off the net.
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Billy Allen:
From off the net.
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Billy Allen:
They have to give it some height and some loop to kind of cross the net and I would have more time to get to, say a cut shot.
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Billy Allen:
So I might Scoot in and play a little shallower sharper if it gets tight.
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Billy Allen:
Another situation where my blocker is more read block or I see them lined up where they're on the ball.
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Billy Allen:
Then when it gets tight, I think more my job becomes a poke over the block because hopefully they're going to swallow anything that's tight and that's hit hard.
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Billy Allen:
And I would maybe play a little bit more behind the block for a shot.
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Billy Allen:
So I guess those are two things that factor in.
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Billy Allen:
If somebody is hitting hard and they're off the net, it's going to have to go a little deeper.
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Billy Allen:
They can't really bounce ten foot line from an offset on the beach unless they're Mark Burik with wind behind me.
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Billy Allen:
Yeah.
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Billy Allen:
Then I might save a deeper.
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Billy Allen:
If it gets tight and there's a big gap between my blocker and the area they're hitting, then I'll kind of get my helmet on and get in there.
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Mark Burik:
Okay.
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Mark Burik:
So you're stepping back instead of just like leaving your hands up if that sets off.
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Billy Allen:
Sometimes if you're a good overhand digger, I'd say you can get in there.
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Billy Allen:
Most people shoot when they're off, especially at the lower levels, because again, they don't have as much heat from off the net and they can't hit down on the ball.
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Billy Allen:
I'd say if I looked at my stats and most players, they probably did with their platform 80 90% of the time.
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Billy Allen:
And so that's usually my first goal is to myself in a position to dig there and then the overhand is more of a reaction situation.
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Mark Burik:
I've studied your defense for a while.
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Mark Burik:
I look at you as one of the top defenders and I want to see like what's he doing, why is he getting better finishes and seen that? And I've looked at this a lot because there's a lot of high level defenders and you're one of them is on contact or before contact, even though we're all kind of trained and told leave your hands free and in front of you, I see you.
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Mark Burik:
I see Sean Rosenthal and a few other very high level defenders who are holding their hands together between their legs before that hard driven dig contact.
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Mark Burik:
So do you teach that a different way than you do? You know that you have got it. And what do you think your response are?
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Billy Allen:
Yeah, back to most balls I dig are with my platform and so that's just how we get to faster.
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Billy Allen:
I worked on doing the scoop defense where you have your hands apart for me, I may be getting some touches there, but not really controlled touches as much.
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Billy Allen:
If I can expect the ball to hit towards my platform.
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Billy Allen:
I want my platform formed nice and together.
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Billy Allen:
I think you look at your goal as a defender.
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Billy Allen:
Right.
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Billy Allen:
Your goal is not just a big ball, and your goal is not just to touch balls.
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Billy Allen:
Your goal is to like footballs away.
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Billy Allen:
And so if you're just touching a lot of things, that's great.
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Billy Allen:
But you need to be able to control the ball and get it up so you can transition and put the ball away because you don't score a point with a dig, you score a point with a trans ball.
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Billy Allen:
And so as often as I can get in a balanced position and get the ball into my setter, that's kind of the most important thing.
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Billy Allen:
And usually that's with my platform together, the times where I have a one arm stab, like, look awesome, but I think it's not a high percentage play.
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Mark Burik:
I get the whole serve receive with your hands wide.
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Mark Burik:
And when people teach, like, okay, one handed off the shoulder level and then you drag the other one to that.
295
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Mark Burik:
There are so many coaches that are still teaching that.
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Mark Burik:
And I know that the Olympic coaches, gold medal squared coaches have gotten away from that completely.
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Mark Burik:
And the idea of building your platform kind of gather in front of your body is now being taught by a lot of high level coaches, whereas that used to be like a complete sin.
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Mark Burik:
And when I see even the world's best Liberals and indoor, I mean, before the ball even crosses the net, their hands are together in front of them.
299
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Mark Burik:
So there's this big disconnect I see.
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Mark Burik:
And I don't know if you agree, but I see between what so many coaches are still teaching with, leave your hands out to the side and bring the other one to it so that you don't shake it off to the side.
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Mark Burik:
All of the world's best players are not doing that.
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00:27:12,400 --> 00:27:13,394
Mark Burik:
They're leaving their hands.
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Mark Burik:
They're building them together, and then they're creating that angle with that.
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What do you see and what do you think specifically on that? I was going to ask you about that, and John, too.
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Billy Allen:
I think you have to train in reality.
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Billy Allen:
And a lot of times we don't know what we're doing.
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Billy Allen:
And we may think we're let's say our hands are apart and meeting at the ball.
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Billy Allen:
But if you're watching a lot of film as a coach and it's predominantly people are locking their hands inside of their waist at some point, it might not be straight down the midline, might be a little bit to the side, but then you're eventually you're swinging those arms like an elephant trunk.
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Billy Allen:
If you know that's happening, you're really trying to fight your players from doing that.
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Billy Allen:
I think you're just slowing them down by trying to fight that.
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Billy Allen:
So if you know what's happening for me, the goal becomes how do I get them locked in faster? So that move is faster.
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Billy Allen:
And so if you start with your hands wide and then have to bring them together in your midline, and then swing out.
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Billy Allen:
To me, that's a slower move than just already starting your midline and then making that move you're eventually going to make anyways.
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Billy Allen:
And I think this happens a lot with sports where it's like there's this theory or something we think we do and then maybe video or slow Mo shed a light on what actually happens.
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Billy Allen:
And it kind of changes some of that stuff.
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Billy Allen:
I know with baseball, there was some study about people were teaching swinging straight on the ball or whoever coaches were teaching whatever it was swinging straight or down on the ball.
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Billy Allen:
And they looked at eventually they had the technology to pick the angle of the swing.
318
00:28:32,382 --> 00:28:34,110
Billy Allen:
Actually, most people did swing up on the ball.
319
00:28:34,170 --> 00:28:37,540
Billy Allen:
And so for years people were teaching basically the wrong thing.
320
00:28:39,610 --> 00:28:44,066
Billy Allen:
I think a lot of times what players naturally do is probably the right answer.
321
00:28:44,128 --> 00:28:47,606
Billy Allen:
And there's going to be different biomechanics for different people's, body types and stuff.
322
00:28:47,668 --> 00:28:58,406
Billy Allen:
And so I've become a little less strict and regimented on this is the one thing you should do to get to solve this problem and kind of embracing some of the individuality of players within reason.
323
00:28:58,468 --> 00:29:00,894
Billy Allen:
But there's a lot of different ways to pass a volleyball.
324
00:29:00,942 --> 00:29:10,226
Billy Allen:
And if I can pass the target off my left hip or off my middle or off my side, that just gives me more solutions to different problems that arrive in the volleyball game.
325
00:29:10,288 --> 00:29:18,362
Billy Allen:
So, yeah, I think there's one like the training in reality and observing what you really do because even you asking me stuff on defense maybe, I don't know, because it's what I feel.
326
00:29:18,436 --> 00:29:22,274
Billy Allen:
But then if you actually look at video, you can say, hey, what's the reality of it, right.
327
00:29:22,312 --> 00:29:27,242
Billy Allen:
I think that's a lot more concrete than just the stuff that we feel we're doing.
328
00:29:27,316 --> 00:29:27,590
Mark Burik:
Yeah.
329
00:29:27,640 --> 00:29:32,906
Mark Burik:
And then there's that confirmation bias when you are watching video.
330
00:29:33,028 --> 00:29:36,398
Mark Burik:
A lot of people, I think, are trying to prove whatever theory they have correct.
331
00:29:36,544 --> 00:29:41,414
Mark Burik:
So they're looking for little inches that say like C, that's what he's doing.
332
00:29:41,452 --> 00:29:42,914
Mark Burik:
He's doing it the way that I think.
333
00:29:42,952 --> 00:29:43,540
Mark Burik:
Right.
334
00:29:44,590 --> 00:29:51,122
Billy Allen:
You can cherry pick which clips you use for your argument, but also like two guys looking at the same clay might see something different.
335
00:29:51,196 --> 00:29:51,434
Billy Allen:
Right.
336
00:29:51,472 --> 00:29:56,678
Billy Allen:
I remember hearing this about holding your platform after you pass and the people that work for it.
337
00:29:56,704 --> 00:29:57,758
Billy Allen:
So look how long he holds it.
338
00:29:57,784 --> 00:30:00,446
Billy Allen:
Other people are like, look, he breaks it apart like the same play.
339
00:30:00,508 --> 00:30:09,482
Mark Burik:
So, yeah, there is kind of an eye of the holder at some point you're proud of how long you've stuck with it and that you keep coming back.
340
00:30:09,556 --> 00:30:28,302
Mark Burik:
For players that are experiencing doubt in their career, did you or do you manage that? What do you want to keep going? And is there a point where you would tell anyone to stop, find something else?
341
00:30:28,386 --> 00:30:35,894
Billy Allen:
I wouldn't tell them to stop if that's what they wanted to do if it was destructive to them or their families or financially. Like, maybe there's a point where it's not the right thing, but if it's just a matter of taking losses, I think you can suffer a lot and still compete and do stuff.
342
00:30:35,932 --> 00:30:44,030
Billy Allen:
People that we know that are in the qualifier that have a very low chance of winning matches in the main draw, they stay at it.
343
00:30:44,140 --> 00:30:46,154
Billy Allen:
There's no reason that you should give up.
344
00:30:46,192 --> 00:30:52,250
Billy Allen:
Just if you enjoy it and you like to compete, there's no way you should give up just because you're not going to be at the top of the podium at the end of the day.
345
00:30:52,300 --> 00:30:57,882
Billy Allen:
As far as advice, I would look at it, and I did look at it more of like a macro picture of a career.
346
00:30:57,966 --> 00:31:20,246
Billy Allen:
And am I improving? Am I trending up in my ability and that's going to change day to day like stock market, maybe it's volatile here and there because you have good moments and bad moments, but as a whole, am I putting in the work and is this trend going in the right direction? And that's what I use to kind of motivate me to stick with it and then just also passion and gratitude and just enjoying what you do.
347
00:31:20,368 --> 00:31:25,398
Billy Allen:
We can suffer a lot if we enjoy it as much as the losses.
348
00:31:25,434 --> 00:31:33,182
Billy Allen:
Sting I remember I had probably one of my worst losses, and the lowest I felt was Ryan Dorty, and I lost in the final hormone in three.
349
00:31:33,256 --> 00:31:34,998
Billy Allen:
We had a little lead going into the freeze.
350
00:31:35,034 --> 00:31:40,926
Billy Allen:
I think it was like 1413 or 1412, and I was freeze taking a lot of the serve.
351
00:31:40,998 --> 00:31:44,930
Billy Allen:
Yeah, I was taking a lot of the serve, and I got stopped a couple of times and hit them all out.
352
00:31:44,980 --> 00:31:49,014
Billy Allen:
And we lost that match, and we were this close to winning a title.
353
00:31:49,062 --> 00:31:54,210
Billy Allen:
And then afterwards I remember just walking down the strand and just being embarrassed and hurt.
354
00:31:54,270 --> 00:31:59,274
Billy Allen:
And I'm like, why am I doing this? Is it worth it? I was feeling so low, but with some detachment.
355
00:31:59,322 --> 00:32:02,018
Billy Allen:
If I look at it macroly like, no, that was our best tournament of the year.
356
00:32:02,044 --> 00:32:02,678
Billy Allen:
We got a second.
357
00:32:02,764 --> 00:32:04,134
Billy Allen:
We were like inches from winning.
358
00:32:04,182 --> 00:32:07,322
Billy Allen:
I think the self doubt and the emotions will always be there.
359
00:32:07,336 --> 00:32:08,094
Billy Allen:
That's just natural.
360
00:32:08,142 --> 00:32:19,274
Billy Allen:
But I guess it's more about your identity and who do you want to be, what do you want to be about and how can I live those values out? Because doubt will always be there and you guys still go to work think that there are any players that don't doubt themselves.
361
00:32:19,372 --> 00:32:19,634
Billy Allen:
Yeah.
362
00:32:19,672 --> 00:32:21,650
Billy Allen:
Austin wrestler Casey Patterson.
363
00:32:25,490 --> 00:32:26,910
Mark Burik:
Austin wrestling.
364
00:32:29,430 --> 00:32:34,498
Billy Allen:
No, I think there were people that I looked at, not those guys out.
365
00:32:34,524 --> 00:32:35,818
Billy Allen:
Those guys were I'm joking about that.
366
00:32:35,844 --> 00:32:55,666
Billy Allen:
But some players think it's easy to blame your partner or to think that I have doubt that you should be there and just the world is everything's rigged or something if it's not working your way? But I feel like the trap there is that maybe you don't put in the work because you think you're already good enough, and that because you're not winning like somebody else's fault or something is not there.
367
00:32:55,728 --> 00:33:00,322
Billy Allen:
So confidence is great in the moment, but sometimes some self doubt puts you to work.
368
00:33:00,396 --> 00:33:01,594
Mark Burik:
Yeah, that's a good point.
369
00:33:01,692 --> 00:33:26,830
Mark Burik:
Do you have any things that you lean on that you do specifically when you're recovering from that loss or you're just not feeling like you are trending up? Do you have an activity, somebody you lean on? Do you go to your family and just hang out? Do you go hiking? Is there anything that you would give to somebody else that you say their mind or their activities should turn towards X when you feel like things are going crappy?
370
00:33:27,000 --> 00:33:30,250
Billy Allen:
Yeah. I mean, if it's really bad, I think a little bit of space is great.
371
00:33:30,300 --> 00:33:33,430
Billy Allen:
And if you have some family or people to rely on, that that's great.
372
00:33:33,480 --> 00:33:38,438
Billy Allen:
Usually I don't want to see my friends or something at that moment because I'm still kind of depressed.
373
00:33:38,534 --> 00:33:43,726
Billy Allen:
But yeah, I think just having a level of gratitude for what you do and what you get to do.
374
00:33:43,788 --> 00:33:48,650
Billy Allen:
Like, hey, I'm healthy and I got to compete with my body and be on a big stage.
375
00:33:48,710 --> 00:33:54,394
Billy Allen:
With that comes a lot of risk, and some of these losses are going to hurt, but it's a pretty good honor to be able to do that.
376
00:33:54,432 --> 00:33:59,698
Billy Allen:
So I think some detachment and just be kind of grateful for the job you get to do because a lot of people don't get that.
377
00:33:59,724 --> 00:34:06,910
Billy Allen:
I remember after that loss I had somebody reach out to me and say like, oh, it's really hard, like being on that big of a stage, let's say in a final and on TV.
378
00:34:07,590 --> 00:34:11,220
Billy Allen:
But at the same point, most people in their normal jobs don't get that opportunity.
379
00:34:12,090 --> 00:34:17,170
Billy Allen:
And so it is a cool honor, even though there's a lot of highs and lows with that.
380
00:34:17,280 --> 00:34:25,222
Billy Allen:
For me, I guess the answer is after a certain amount of grieving period, is always just to watch video and go back to analyze it. And what can I do better next time?
381
00:34:25,236 --> 00:34:39,550
Mark Burik:
Not there's a whole lot of professions, and I'm not saying that it hurts less, but there's not a lot of professions where you get to fail so publicly.
382
00:34:40,770 --> 00:34:58,474
Mark Burik:
A lot of times, like if you close a sale or you have a bad day at work because you screwed something up, there's a bug in your website that you were building that's just as frustrating, but you just don't have people watching.
383
00:34:58,572 --> 00:35:02,954
Mark Burik:
And for some people, the people watching makes it way worse.
384
00:35:03,122 --> 00:35:07,090
Mark Burik:
But I imagine that they would take defeats the same way privately.
385
00:35:08,130 --> 00:35:11,110
Mark Burik:
Those bad beats happen off stage, too.
386
00:35:11,160 --> 00:35:13,500
Mark Burik:
When no one's watching, it doesn't feel any better.
387
00:35:15,090 --> 00:35:31,670
Mark Burik:
There's just that little sense of when everyone's watching, can you happy? Are you to put it on the line in front of them and for them? I think it is a blessing to be able to watch that's cool.
388
00:35:31,780 --> 00:35:41,738
Mark Burik:
And that might not be for everybody's personality, but I think it's cool and they're giving their time to come watch what you can do, and they should be entertained a little bit.
389
00:35:41,764 --> 00:35:45,122
Mark Burik:
But you can't let just because people are seeing it, you can't let that crush it.
390
00:35:45,136 --> 00:35:47,800
Mark Burik:
You're not going to look at you as a bad person after that.
391
00:35:48,190 --> 00:35:48,518
Billy Allen:
Yeah.
392
00:35:48,544 --> 00:35:51,026
Billy Allen:
I think people don't care as much as you do.
393
00:35:51,148 --> 00:35:55,814
Billy Allen:
Like, they're not like, oh, my gosh, I can't believe Billy got a third in that turn.
394
00:35:55,852 --> 00:36:01,700
Billy Allen:
And the Helm Bears that they don't care as much as you think they do.
395
00:36:02,330 --> 00:36:22,474
Mark Burik:
Do you have anybody who you think is supremely influential to your development as you went up, were there any coach really, or any relationships that you say this allowed me to get to the next level or definitely caused me to?
396
00:36:22,522 --> 00:36:24,358
Billy Allen:
Yeah, I think the first one I think of is just my own personal life would be my dad, just because he paved the way for me to play volleyball. So he introduced me to the sport.
397
00:36:24,454 --> 00:36:25,606
Billy Allen:
He was my first partner.
398
00:36:25,678 --> 00:36:27,558
Billy Allen:
He started a whole club so I could play.
399
00:36:27,644 --> 00:36:31,870
Billy Allen:
We played together at the beach, and I was a little kid playing with grown ups.
400
00:36:31,930 --> 00:36:34,102
Billy Allen:
So, I mean, he was definitely the most influential.
401
00:36:34,186 --> 00:36:39,346
Billy Allen:
I think one trait that coaches I've gravitated to have had is just encouragement.
402
00:36:39,418 --> 00:36:51,630
Billy Allen:
And I think when you especially somebody who's hard on themselves anyways, when you have a coach that just believes in you and encourages you and thinks you can do it, I'll run through a wall for that person.
403
00:36:51,740 --> 00:36:58,614
Billy Allen:
And so I think just believing in your players and if you're like a coach giving, especially in beach, we don't make a lot.
404
00:36:58,652 --> 00:37:12,006
Billy Allen:
If I have a coach like whoever Cory Blake, I'm staying with you, who's my coach for a while or anybody that's putting some of their time away from their work and their family to help you because they think you could do something special, I think that's awesome.
405
00:37:12,068 --> 00:37:15,334
Billy Allen:
And I've had a few of those along the way
406
00:37:15,442 --> 00:37:24,238
Mark Burik:
Watching from afar.You've had too many coaches, like, full time in your pro career, as far as I know, people who stuck for an entire season.
407
00:37:24,334 --> 00:37:38,626
Mark Burik:
Do you think that you are okay with that? Was that a financial choice? Do I have to find somebody who's going to show up at every point and then is this actually worth it in the end to try? What's your thoughts on coaches at the pro level?
408
00:37:38,758 --> 00:37:42,090
Billy Allen:
Yeah, usually it's a financial choice. We just don't make enough to pay a coach to be with us all the time.
409
00:37:42,140 --> 00:37:43,378
Billy Allen:
I think it's a great investment.
410
00:37:43,474 --> 00:37:52,386
Billy Allen:
If you have resources like coaches are awesome, they help a lot gravitated towards finding friends or people that can help and then you have to learn the game on your own a certain amount.
411
00:37:52,448 --> 00:38:00,620
Billy Allen:
Like right now I'm working with John Mayer, who I think is if I could pick anybody, it'd probably be him or Carch to help me.
412
00:38:01,190 --> 00:38:07,174
Billy Allen:
But he's busy and he's full time L new and so we won't see him until mid summer.
413
00:38:07,342 --> 00:38:10,270
Billy Allen:
So for me it's a little bit more quality over quantity.
414
00:38:10,330 --> 00:38:22,114
Billy Allen:
I think a lot of people get a guy that's just a good arm and maybe that's what they need just to serve somebody to serve a lot of balls where I'll take a little bit more, especially later in my career, a little more knowledge over just somebody to give me reps.
415
00:38:22,222 --> 00:38:29,566
Billy Allen:
But yeah, I think if you don't have the ability to get a coach, I think one hack is to just train with teams that have a coach.
416
00:38:29,638 --> 00:38:32,446
Billy Allen:
That way you still get the benefit of a good run practice.
417
00:38:32,518 --> 00:38:36,800
Billy Allen:
But also like you can eavesdrop a little bit, maybe pick up some tips for free.
418
00:38:37,670 --> 00:38:38,550
Mark Burik:
Nice move.
419
00:38:38,660 --> 00:38:54,642
Mark Burik:
I think the right structure is kind of maybe what you're saying, like maybe a lot more pros should just be to hit balls for 2 hours, one or two days and then get that coach knowledge to work on systems and knowledge and say, hey, give me that the beginning of the week so that I can implement it over the week.
420
00:38:54,776 --> 00:39:00,438
Mark Burik:
And then I'll again at the next report, especially when the paychecks aren't paying them.
421
00:39:00,584 --> 00:39:06,598
Mark Burik:
Or I think I was discussing this maybe with Kim Hildreth or Sarah Skirmhorn.
422
00:39:06,634 --> 00:39:18,390
Mark Burik:
I said for the American volleyball team, I think the answer might be for AVP players almost to develop like two or three teams and just have a steady practice around.
423
00:39:18,440 --> 00:39:26,974
Mark Burik:
Because I think we're so obsessed with changing who we play against or who we practice against every single practice instead of working on ourselves.
424
00:39:27,082 --> 00:39:36,260
Mark Burik:
Where when you're in College you practice with the same 14 guys every single practice and you still improve immensely in four years.
425
00:39:36,770 --> 00:39:39,010
Mark Burik:
It's not because you're randomly changing.
426
00:39:39,070 --> 00:40:01,506
Mark Burik:
So do you think that more players should just stop swapping practice competition constantly? Or do you think that we're actually getting styles every day?
427
00:40:01,628 --> 00:40:09,178
Billy Allen:
If I was running it, I would care less about the consistency of the players, like having the same group as much as just having the top competition I could get. And obviously if you're running like a USA national team and you have the top four teams or five teams, that is the top and that's consistent.
428
00:40:09,214 --> 00:40:10,530
Billy Allen:
So that kind of works for both.
429
00:40:10,580 --> 00:40:16,446
Billy Allen:
But I think if you had the top five players in the US competing with each other all the time, then that would just make everybody better.
430
00:40:16,508 --> 00:40:50,120
Mark Burik:
But what if they should they then staying and competing amongst themselves all the time, or should they constantly having to change? Do you think that players right now the way that the rest of the AVP who's not training as the USA one, two and three and four teams, you think that the AVP players are doing it right by constantly seeing new competition and scheduling somebody new for their practices every day? Or do you think that they would be more successful if they found one coach to lead three teams every single practice?
431
00:40:50,450 --> 00:40:52,518
Billy Allen:
Yeah. Truthfully, I don't know the answer to that.
432
00:40:52,664 --> 00:40:58,906
Billy Allen:
I could see there being a need for some sort of freshness if it was playing the same guys over and over where you kind of know their traits.
433
00:40:58,978 --> 00:41:02,794
Billy Allen:
But the positives would be like, you'd have to change some of those tendencies.
434
00:41:02,842 --> 00:41:03,054
Billy Allen:
Right.
435
00:41:03,092 --> 00:41:10,414
Billy Allen:
Because if I play against you for a couple of weeks straight, I'm going to know your game better than most people, and that's going to force you to make some adjustments.
436
00:41:10,462 --> 00:41:13,230
Billy Allen:
So I think there are some positives there.
437
00:41:13,280 --> 00:41:13,880
Billy Allen:
Yeah.
438
00:41:14,570 --> 00:41:18,994
Billy Allen:
Anytime I think as a coach, I just want to avoid autopilot.
439
00:41:19,042 --> 00:41:26,254
Billy Allen:
And so anytime things seem like they're getting very relaxed and you're on autopilot out of practice, that's kind of the thing to avoid.
440
00:41:26,302 --> 00:41:35,082
Billy Allen:
So if I'm too comfortable playing in the same group over and over, I'm not having to think and problem solve, then I think you're not improving as fast.
441
00:41:35,216 --> 00:41:41,398
Billy Allen:
And so maybe that's the time to get in a new team where you're seeing different looks, they're defending you, different guys left handed.
442
00:41:41,434 --> 00:41:48,234
Billy Allen:
Like, whatever the situation where you're having to rethink and not just be kind of cruising,
443
00:41:48,272 --> 00:41:57,714
Mark Burik:
I think that's a good point. If you're just stomping one team and you stomp them for the same reason every time, because you know the secret to them, it's like, all right.
444
00:41:57,812 --> 00:42:00,118
Mark Burik:
Especially if they're not going to change and adapt.
445
00:42:00,214 --> 00:42:05,878
Mark Burik:
If they keep going back to that tendency that you keep beating them on, it's like, now we're not improving.
446
00:42:05,974 --> 00:42:13,342
Mark Burik:
We've reached our limit here other than reps and what my coach can tell me, so competitively not in that state of creation anymore.
447
00:42:13,426 --> 00:42:14,060
Billy Allen:
Yeah.
448
00:42:15,350 --> 00:42:18,102
Billy Allen:
You want to replicate a tournament as much as possible.
449
00:42:18,296 --> 00:42:18,618
Billy Allen:
Right.
450
00:42:18,644 --> 00:42:20,202
Billy Allen:
Because that's what we're competing in.
451
00:42:20,336 --> 00:42:23,314
Billy Allen:
And in a tournament, you play a variety of teams.
452
00:42:23,362 --> 00:42:31,426
Billy Allen:
And so I think there's important to I think the end of the day that's what you want to do is like practice to compete, not just like practice to practice.
453
00:42:31,498 --> 00:42:46,258
Billy Allen:
And how can this resemble my competition as much as possible? And so I think there's a lot of things we probably aren't doing right as far as the amount of time we put into it, because the tournament looks a lot different than most nine in the morning, two hour practices.
454
00:42:46,354 --> 00:42:48,114
Mark Burik:
Yeah, that's probably a good point.
455
00:42:48,272 --> 00:42:49,520
Mark Burik:
Maybe there should be.
456
00:42:50,150 --> 00:42:50,982
Mark Burik:
Wow.
457
00:42:51,176 --> 00:42:52,820
Mark Burik:
That is an interesting point.
458
00:42:53,570 --> 00:43:02,360
Mark Burik:
If people had the time and the bandwidth to be able to go out to the beach two or three times, get home leave, get home leave that would be more
459
00:43:02,750 --> 00:43:12,106
Billy Allen:
We train for like a match now in the morning under pretty pristine conditions.
460
00:43:12,178 --> 00:43:18,870
Billy Allen:
And if you're playing in a final, you're playing at three in the afternoon and it's windy and you're a little tired.
461
00:43:20,390 --> 00:43:21,594
Mark Burik:
It's a good point.
462
00:43:21,752 --> 00:43:27,898
Mark Burik:
But then you could also say that about marathon runners, like our marathon runners training themselves differently.
463
00:43:27,934 --> 00:43:33,502
Mark Burik:
Of course, it's a different sport, but they don't run their 26 until the day of the marathon.
464
00:43:33,646 --> 00:43:47,058
Mark Burik:
And interesting to try to transfer that from ball sport to what's the physical side of it versus what is the actual application of skill and mindset and the environment that you need to win.
465
00:43:47,084 --> 00:43:50,214
Mark Burik:
And that could be very interesting to look at.
466
00:43:50,252 --> 00:43:59,082
Mark Burik:
But it's also tough taking somebody off the beach, and now you have to take like 9 hours of their day in order to have a practice that also doesn't work for a life.
467
00:43:59,156 --> 00:44:03,510
Billy Allen:
Yeah, you got to train reality and maybe not for your body.
468
00:44:03,560 --> 00:44:13,340
Billy Allen:
Depending on who you are and the way things are going now, it's becoming more of a sprint than a marathon because they're small draws and you're playing maybe two or three matches a day at most.
469
00:44:14,270 --> 00:44:18,646
Billy Allen:
I think at the end of the day, your practice has to resemble your competition.
470
00:44:18,838 --> 00:44:34,758
Mark Burik:
Do you have any things that you're currently focusing on for your game? Is it one skill dialing anything in or adding anything to your game that like this season or this preseason? I've got to add this or I've got to shore up this.
471
00:44:34,844 --> 00:44:37,234
Billy Allen:
I think the answer for me is always serving tougher.
472
00:44:37,282 --> 00:44:39,790
Billy Allen:
It's something I'm always working on developing.
473
00:44:39,850 --> 00:44:49,078
Billy Allen:
Right this year I'm playing with Jeremy Kaseyer, who's got a really good serve, and so my role might be a little bit more of the strategy guy where he serves free and tough.
474
00:44:49,114 --> 00:44:50,982
Billy Allen:
And I kind of like play it a little more.
475
00:44:51,116 --> 00:44:54,006
Billy Allen:
But I think serving tough is not just hitting hard.
476
00:44:54,068 --> 00:44:55,830
Billy Allen:
It could be serving the space.
477
00:44:55,940 --> 00:45:01,162
Billy Allen:
It could be serving flat, serving good floaters, just hitting good locations.
478
00:45:01,246 --> 00:45:02,638
Billy Allen:
There's a lot of different ways to serve tough.
479
00:45:02,674 --> 00:45:06,378
Billy Allen:
I think that's one area I definitely is always in the forefront of my training.
480
00:45:06,464 --> 00:45:11,130
Billy Allen:
I'm also working on, I guess transition attacking right now would probably be my number two.
481
00:45:11,180 --> 00:45:13,650
Billy Allen:
I'm sure my numbers go down in trans versus side out.
482
00:45:13,700 --> 00:45:33,294
Mark Burik:
So how can I get better at that? Is it working on a specific series of shots or locations when you're in transition? Is it just making sure you minimize errors? For me, I think it was after the season that I worked on my transition because I saw the stats on it.
483
00:45:33,392 --> 00:45:39,730
Mark Burik:
Finally I was like, oh, dear God, my transition offense was miserable.
484
00:45:39,850 --> 00:45:42,598
Mark Burik:
So I just said, you know what? I'm going to not try to make decisions.
485
00:45:42,634 --> 00:45:44,010
Mark Burik:
I'm not going to try to score points.
486
00:45:44,120 --> 00:45:45,570
Mark Burik:
I'm just going to dial into.
487
00:45:45,680 --> 00:45:52,338
Mark Burik:
I have three spots for options when I am in transitions, and neither of them are big.
488
00:45:52,484 --> 00:45:54,802
Mark Burik:
Like, none of them are big, aggressive swings.
489
00:45:54,946 --> 00:46:02,586
Mark Burik:
And that provided an immediate boost to my hitting percentage, which has been historically my biggest problem.
490
00:46:02,648 --> 00:46:03,870
Mark Burik:
Digs per game great.
491
00:46:03,920 --> 00:46:06,558
Mark Burik:
But hitting percentage is always where I'm low.
492
00:46:06,584 --> 00:46:08,670
Mark Burik:
And I didn't realize how bad transition was.
493
00:46:08,780 --> 00:46:20,794
Mark Burik:
So when you're thinking about transition offense, what's the mindset that will help you improve those numbers?
494
00:46:20,842 --> 00:46:25,414
Billy Allen:
My two big focuses within that would be digging high in the middle of the court. So that just like, puts us in a situation where I'm digging a set of a ball, not just a scramble ball.
495
00:46:25,462 --> 00:46:33,850
Billy Allen:
And then for me is just seeing the set and taking approach to the ball rather than zigzagging or just charging the net and having to make adjustments.
496
00:46:33,910 --> 00:46:36,042
Billy Allen:
So it's staying off the net.
497
00:46:36,116 --> 00:46:52,462
Billy Allen:
It's being patient and really straight line on my approach to the site rather than a predetermined spot, because inside out at our level depend on a pretty good set and off a good pass and in transit a lot more chaos.
498
00:46:52,606 --> 00:47:02,310
Billy Allen:
And so how can I protect my approach and keep getting to a really good spot with good timing? And so usually that's digging with height and then really seeing the set.
499
00:47:02,360 --> 00:47:04,050
Billy Allen:
Those are two things to focus on.
500
00:47:04,160 --> 00:47:19,794
Mark Burik:
Do you have any cues, like physical things or verbal thing that you tell yourself in the moment that help you wait longer? Because I think what you're saying is wait longer before you start your approach, especially in transition, because same thing, I try not to take my timing step.
501
00:47:19,832 --> 00:47:28,422
Mark Burik:
I try not to move during the set in transition, whereas I'm already rolling in motion when I'm in side out.
502
00:47:28,556 --> 00:47:38,406
Mark Burik:
So is there any cues that you give yourself or that you would give a player when they've dug a high ball to the back part of the court?
503
00:47:38,528 --> 00:47:43,614
Billy Allen:
Yeah, I've tried multiple things. You can either wait, be patient, or you can start farther back.
504
00:47:43,652 --> 00:47:45,138
Billy Allen:
There's a lot of different things you can try.
505
00:47:45,224 --> 00:47:46,462
Billy Allen:
Usually in serve receive.
506
00:47:46,606 --> 00:47:51,450
Billy Allen:
I'm already taking my step before they accept contacting the ball.
507
00:47:52,130 --> 00:48:01,914
Billy Allen:
My fourth step, if I do a four step, my first step off of trans, my key would be more after I see the set before I make that first step.
508
00:48:01,952 --> 00:48:06,006
Billy Allen:
So as far as timing, that would be a little bit of a change to give myself more time.
509
00:48:06,068 --> 00:48:11,758
Billy Allen:
And that step is almost like a skate where I'm shifting across the top of the sand.
510
00:48:11,854 --> 00:48:14,638
Billy Allen:
Or if you think of an animal prowling.
511
00:48:14,734 --> 00:48:16,158
Billy Allen:
I'm not like just sprinting in.
512
00:48:16,184 --> 00:48:19,160
Billy Allen:
It's like this really slow push off.
513
00:48:19,670 --> 00:48:22,110
Billy Allen:
I'm prowling in not like a commitment step.
514
00:48:22,220 --> 00:48:30,754
Billy Allen:
I think it's a prowl step in translation, you're slowly prowling and then you attack that gazelle or whatever the last two steps.
515
00:48:30,802 --> 00:48:36,874
Billy Allen:
But if the situation you're saying where I did the end line, I want to create a really big window for my setter.
516
00:48:36,922 --> 00:48:45,750
Billy Allen:
And so I'll either kick out wide or I'll stay off the net to give them a big window to set into versus charging the net and giving them this really tiny spot to setting.
517
00:48:47,510 --> 00:48:57,846
Mark Burik:
That is a key word that I'm going to take to the camps and clinics and classes, the prowl step and make sure that you're taking your prowl step after the set contact.
518
00:48:57,968 --> 00:48:59,182
Mark Burik:
I think that's brilliant.
519
00:48:59,206 --> 00:49:03,274
Mark Burik:
And that's actionable that's usable for people at home and listening.
520
00:49:03,322 --> 00:49:08,730
Mark Burik:
And instead of that big, like, kind of jog running step, just sliding skating across the top of that.
521
00:49:08,780 --> 00:49:09,354
Mark Burik:
Nice.
522
00:49:09,512 --> 00:49:10,206
Mark Burik:
Good job.
523
00:49:10,328 --> 00:49:11,900
Mark Burik:
Sounds like you've coached before.
524
00:49:15,630 --> 00:49:21,598
Mark Burik:
Now there are just a couple more questions that we have, and I know we've been an hour.
525
00:49:21,744 --> 00:49:23,098
Mark Burik:
If you got to go, you let me know.
526
00:49:23,184 --> 00:49:37,342
Mark Burik:
But do you want to know if there are any tools, pieces of equipment or things that you absolutely must or need to have at a tournament on the road, at the gym, things that you always carry or you know that you need to have?
527
00:49:37,416 --> 00:49:45,458
Billy Allen:
Yeah. Other than the obvious water bottle, hat and sunglasses, I would say the thing I always bring are bands.
528
00:49:45,554 --> 00:49:55,942
Billy Allen:
Every practice, every competition, every game, I warm up with a series of shoulders where I'll put the bands that I can attach to a pole or something.
529
00:49:56,016 --> 00:49:59,254
Billy Allen:
And then there's two different things that have straps that I hold.
530
00:49:59,292 --> 00:50:08,282
Billy Allen:
I'll go through a series of shoulder warm ups with the bands, and then I have two smaller bands that are, like circles that I put around my ankles and my knees.
531
00:50:08,366 --> 00:50:11,338
Billy Allen:
I do hip warm up stuff and steps and stuff like that.
532
00:50:11,364 --> 00:50:15,406
Billy Allen:
So those are those bands of the equipment that I bring with me everywhere I go.
533
00:50:15,528 --> 00:50:17,460
Billy Allen:
And I, like, warming up that way.
534
00:50:18,150 --> 00:50:26,854
Billy Allen:
On a hot tournament, I could be in the shade doing it, or I could be in the players tent doing it and feel very activated and warm before I step out and do maybe more jogging stuff.
535
00:50:26,892 --> 00:50:27,298
Mark Burik:
I like that.
536
00:50:27,324 --> 00:50:36,238
Mark Burik:
And I also like it that little soft cue for people when you're at a tournament, just because you're warming up doesn't mean you have to be out in the sun on the court right now.
537
00:50:36,384 --> 00:50:42,074
Mark Burik:
You can be doing your body stuff, saving some body heat, saving some calories and some sweat by just doing it in the shade.
538
00:50:42,122 --> 00:50:43,066
Mark Burik:
Some people don't think about it.
539
00:50:43,068 --> 00:50:46,966
Billy Allen:
Yeah, especially if the tournament goes on and you're playing your fifth match.
540
00:50:47,028 --> 00:50:52,358
Billy Allen:
You don't maybe have the energy to warm up quite as much or as long, so you got to get a lot of bang for your buck.
541
00:50:52,394 --> 00:50:53,282
Mark Burik:
All right, Billy.
542
00:50:53,366 --> 00:50:58,750
Mark Burik:
Now's the time where we get to put a little spotlight on all of your extra endeavors.
543
00:50:59,130 --> 00:51:05,914
Mark Burik:
When you talk to you, when you hang out, when you see you play, I don't think people appreciate how freaking funny you are.
544
00:51:06,072 --> 00:51:23,280
Mark Burik:
First of all, anytime, just like your Instagram profile that I read today, it said the world's best source for Billy Allen News or the world's biggest source for Billy Allen News like that, they crack me up.
545
00:51:23,970 --> 00:51:26,594
Mark Burik:
But you're in extreme creative.
546
00:51:26,642 --> 00:51:35,854
Mark Burik:
I would say, in terms of directing idea flow, I don't think the volleyball world has utilized you as much as it should.
547
00:51:35,952 --> 00:51:38,942
Mark Burik:
But you're now the author of five books.
548
00:51:39,026 --> 00:51:44,230
Mark Burik:
You've authored five different books, the Internet most recently, which is about high performance.
549
00:51:45,270 --> 00:51:47,854
Mark Burik:
Is it set in the form of a novel?
550
00:51:47,892 --> 00:51:50,174
Billy Allen:
Yeah. So this is an interesting one to describe.
551
00:51:50,342 --> 00:51:54,446
Billy Allen:
It's a book for coaches and athletes, but it's basically a sports parable.
552
00:51:54,578 --> 00:52:05,914
Billy Allen:
So it's a fiction story of a night training for a tournament, but it's packed with lessons on effective practice, on mindfulness, on all these things that I think are important.
553
00:52:06,012 --> 00:52:08,290
Billy Allen:
And it's woven into a story that's fun to read.
554
00:52:08,340 --> 00:52:09,238
Billy Allen:
It's short.
555
00:52:09,324 --> 00:52:12,238
Billy Allen:
The idea is like a good summer read for your team or yourself.
556
00:52:12,324 --> 00:52:12,574
Billy Allen:
Yeah.
557
00:52:12,612 --> 00:52:13,534
Billy Allen:
So that's what it is.
558
00:52:13,572 --> 00:52:15,410
Billy Allen:
The Internet training compete like a champion.
559
00:52:15,470 --> 00:52:16,234
Mark Burik:
Love it.
560
00:52:16,392 --> 00:52:29,594
Mark Burik:
You also already have another book, Coach Your Brains Out, which is all of your lessons from your podcast, the Coach Your Brains Out podcast, which you co host with Fully Fuller, Mayor and Neil's.
561
00:52:29,702 --> 00:52:32,518
Mark Burik:
Is everybody still hosting? And a part of it.
562
00:52:32,544 --> 00:52:42,226
Mark Burik:
I know you said that John Mayer was the one who's, like, really going,
563
00:52:42,288 --> 00:52:50,770
Billy Allen:
Yeah, they're all still on the ad at the beginning, but it's mostly me and John. Now the book is John and I wrote together, and we'll get Andrew Fuller and Nielsen on his guest stars here and there when we're in a pinch.
564
00:52:51,330 --> 00:52:56,002
Mark Burik:
Nice and kind of what I liked listening to way back when.
565
00:52:56,076 --> 00:52:57,922
Mark Burik:
I haven't listened in a while, to be honest.
566
00:52:58,056 --> 00:52:59,758
Mark Burik:
But I was addicted to it.
567
00:52:59,784 --> 00:53:06,550
Mark Burik:
I mean, I would consume your episodes because of the good conversations, and I think you guys were 100% in inspiration for me starting this.
568
00:53:06,600 --> 00:53:15,466
Mark Burik:
Like, okay, let's keep pulling information out so that players who are coming up, they have a source of great volleyball information.
569
00:53:15,588 --> 00:53:21,994
Mark Burik:
Coaches, especially from your podcast, have great tools to help their players starting that.
570
00:53:22,092 --> 00:53:29,018
Mark Burik:
Were you trying to create something for the volleyball world, or was it just you guys hanging out as buddies?
571
00:53:29,054 --> 00:53:30,886
Billy Allen:
It was definitely the latter. It was a selfish thing.
572
00:53:30,948 --> 00:53:35,170
Billy Allen:
Like, we enjoyed podcasts and we talked volleyball on our own.
573
00:53:35,220 --> 00:53:43,906
Billy Allen:
I think we had just been to a conference called Train the Gap, where like, Cart and Tom Black and some other high performing coach talked.
574
00:53:43,968 --> 00:53:48,190
Billy Allen:
And Trevor Reagan, who at the time was trained ugly, and now he does the Learner Lab.
575
00:53:48,240 --> 00:53:51,338
Billy Allen:
We were pretty fired up on this idea of sharing ideas.
576
00:53:51,374 --> 00:54:01,306
Billy Allen:
And you're like, hey, let's do a podcast and what do we know about what do we know about volleyball? It was the three of us kneels at the time, just sitting over my iPhone in John's garage, talking over time.
577
00:54:01,488 --> 00:54:03,554
Billy Allen:
It was always focused on the guests.
578
00:54:03,602 --> 00:54:16,474
Billy Allen:
So a lot of podcasts have really cool personalities like if you're Joe Rogan or whoever, but us, it was like we kind of fade in the background and so it's basically just ask a lot of questions and that's a lot easier for us because we don't have to do much work.
579
00:54:16,512 --> 00:54:21,060
Billy Allen:
We just let the guests carry the show over time.
580
00:54:22,050 --> 00:54:23,546
Billy Allen:
It's definitely a resource.
581
00:54:23,618 --> 00:54:27,418
Billy Allen:
And I could say that not because we do a good job, just because we've had a lot of good guests on there.
582
00:54:27,444 --> 00:54:38,580
Billy Allen:
But as it started out as something more for us and if anybody liked it and more than like, oh, we're going to do something great for the world of volleyball, which I think is also reflected in how much we market it.
583
00:54:39,330 --> 00:54:49,222
Billy Allen:
I never tell anybody that we do a podcast, but the people that find it staple it on your shorts or something, the people that find it think it's a cool little secret that they found out about.
584
00:54:49,356 --> 00:55:07,010
Mark Burik:
Have you ever been able to monetize it effectively or to the point where you're like, oh, this is a nice little boost because I know there are tons of websites and like business coaches, and I'm trying to figure out if this podcast will ever be monetized in itself, aside from being part lead generation for camps and clinics.
585
00:55:07,070 --> 00:55:20,782
Mark Burik:
But have you ever been able to monetize it effectively and what type of sponsors would be your dream sponsors for it?
586
00:55:20,796 --> 00:55:25,402
Billy Allen:
I found out in my own playing career that it's pointless for me to look for sponsors because it's just not worth the effort for me. I'm on board, but I think we've done it for maybe like, let's say seven years.
587
00:55:25,536 --> 00:55:30,970
Billy Allen:
I'd say for the first six years we had one sponsor for a month, so we just kind of never went that way.
588
00:55:31,020 --> 00:55:33,658
Billy Allen:
But lately we have been able to make some money from it.
589
00:55:33,684 --> 00:55:36,074
Billy Allen:
We have a Patreon where people donate.
590
00:55:36,122 --> 00:55:43,690
Billy Allen:
We have some really cool coaches out there that listen and like and contribute a couple of Bucks a month, and that helps us out and that adds up over time.
591
00:55:43,800 --> 00:55:53,914
Billy Allen:
And then we also recently Gold Medal Square became kind of our flagship that they run our podcast, so they do all the hosting stuff and they just started kicking in a little bit too.
592
00:55:53,952 --> 00:55:55,762
Billy Allen:
So we do a little ads now for them.
593
00:55:55,896 --> 00:55:57,134
Billy Allen:
They're a good organization.
594
00:55:57,302 --> 00:55:57,994
Billy Allen:
They have good stuff.
595
00:55:58,032 --> 00:56:00,370
Mark Burik:
They are a great organization.
596
00:56:01,110 --> 00:56:19,942
Mark Burik:
The way I tried to treat our coaches, like when we're going to camps and stuff and flying people, how good Gold Medal Squared treated us as coaches and how they would go out of their way to make sure everything was right, I could not have asked for a better summer job than working with them.
597
00:56:20,136 --> 00:56:30,166
Mark Burik:
As far as role models for people who own a business and how generous giving and how they go out of their way to make their coaches happy and satisfied and keep coming back.
598
00:56:30,288 --> 00:56:31,390
Mark Burik:
Big fans of that company.
599
00:56:31,440 --> 00:56:40,738
Mark Burik:
Is John part owner yet or is he just still their main like is he their main beach guy now?
600
00:56:40,824 --> 00:56:44,470
Billy Allen:
Yeah, I don't think he has much to do with gold metal squared in general. He's part of the gold medal squared beach end, which hasn't really taken off.
601
00:56:44,520 --> 00:56:47,662
Billy Allen:
I think they were starting right around COVID, so they haven't done a lot with that.
602
00:56:47,676 --> 00:56:49,930
Billy Allen:
He's done a few camps so a lot of room to grow with that.
603
00:56:49,980 --> 00:56:55,214
Billy Allen:
I know they have some sort of videos him and Tom Black have done and yeah, it's coming eventually. I mean it's no better a beach, but
604
00:56:55,322 --> 00:57:01,414
Mark Burik:
I'm just waiting for them to ask for a little partnership, that's all.
605
00:57:01,572 --> 00:57:03,010
Mark Burik:
Just getting their ears.
606
00:57:03,990 --> 00:57:09,034
Mark Burik:
And just lastly, tell us what you're two part series right now.
607
00:57:09,192 --> 00:57:10,874
Mark Burik:
Here's another source of your comedy.
608
00:57:10,922 --> 00:57:13,442
Mark Burik:
Was your one novel that said Addition.
609
00:57:13,526 --> 00:57:20,038
Mark Burik:
.5 I saw it on Amazon that you have a book that Addition five.
610
00:57:20,124 --> 00:57:22,238
Mark Burik:
And I was just like just makes me chuckle.
611
00:57:22,334 --> 00:57:24,590
Mark Burik:
But tell me about the Good Blood series.
612
00:57:24,650 --> 00:57:24,874
Billy Allen:
Yeah.
613
00:57:24,912 --> 00:57:29,546
Billy Allen:
So I have two coaching books and then I also have a fiction series.
614
00:57:29,618 --> 00:57:31,682
Billy Allen:
I have one more book to kind of close out the series.
615
00:57:31,766 --> 00:57:36,374
Billy Allen:
It's called the first one was Good Blood and then there was Dark Blood and the new one, the new Royal Blood.
616
00:57:36,422 --> 00:57:38,234
Billy Allen:
It's nothing to do with volleyball.
617
00:57:38,282 --> 00:57:41,810
Billy Allen:
It's just the fantasy action adventure fiction that I've enjoyed writing.
618
00:57:41,870 --> 00:57:47,470
Billy Allen:
It doesn't sell as many copies because I don't have much of an audience outside of volleyball, but I think they're pretty good and they're fun.
619
00:57:47,520 --> 00:57:48,814
Billy Allen:
So if you're a reader, check them out.
620
00:57:48,852 --> 00:57:49,234
Mark Burik:
Nice.
621
00:57:49,332 --> 00:57:59,462
Mark Burik:
And all of those links, if you guys are watching anywhere right now on Facebook, on YouTube Live, and if you're listening currently to the podcast version, all those links are in the show notes.
622
00:57:59,486 --> 00:58:05,542
Mark Burik:
They'll take you right to his books and his website and his blog and the old kind of good videos.
623
00:58:05,736 --> 00:58:13,522
Mark Burik:
So if you guys want to check them out, just go ahead and swipe down into the comment description link section and you will find them there.
624
00:58:13,716 --> 00:58:15,250
Mark Burik:
Any parting words, Billy?
625
00:58:15,300 --> 00:58:16,042
Billy Allen:
No. Thanks for your time.
626
00:58:16,116 --> 00:58:22,210
Billy Allen:
I know you're killing it working really hard better at beach and I appreciated watching your content and your videos.
627
00:58:22,260 --> 00:58:23,278
Billy Allen:
Pretty funny too.
628
00:58:23,424 --> 00:58:26,234
Billy Allen:
It's a good balance of humor and insight.
629
00:58:26,282 --> 00:58:27,478
Billy Allen:
So nice work.
630
00:58:27,624 --> 00:58:28,282
Mark Burik:
Thanks, man.
631
00:58:28,356 --> 00:58:28,918
Mark Burik:
Appreciate it.
632
00:58:28,944 --> 00:58:30,806
Mark Burik:
All right, well, see you on the Sands.
633
00:58:30,878 --> 00:58:31,750
Mark Burik:
Have a great day.
634
00:58:31,860 --> 00:58:32,194
Billy Allen:
All right.
635
00:58:32,232 --> 00:58:32,500
Billy Allen:
See you, Mark.
