Mark Burik (00:01.058)
Hey everybody and welcome to the Better at Beach podcast. My name is Mark Burik This is Brandon Joiner and we've got a very special guest to you, which I'm super excited about. Robert Anthony. He's a public speaker and he is competing in a very unique style of volleyball that we are going to learn a whole lot about. So just so you know, we have camps coming up. We have Houston, December 12th.
St. Pete, Florida, December 19th, Loveland, Ohio, January 23rd, Orlando, Florida with Phil Dauhauser, February 6th, Salt Lake City, we're coming to you February 13th, and we've listed it on our site already, but our biggest camp every year in Long Island, Long Beach, New York, partnering with East End Volleyball, that is May 29th. So excited to see you there. And for our special guest.
Robert Anthony, Robert was born with fibular hemimelia, a birth defect that led to his amputation at just 10 months old. Facing numerous challenges throughout his youth, including the absence of a consistent father figure, surviving abuse and a life altering fire, Robert's journey was far from easy. However, these trials only fortified his resolve, transforming his struggles into a powerful narrative of resilience and determination.
Now a devoted father and husband, Robert has turned his hardships into a source of inspiration for others. He has traveled extensively across the country, sharing message of hope and resilience at conferences, corporations, educational institutions, and reaching over 100,000 students. His compelling talks have graced stages at renowned organizations such as CNBC, Nike, Marathon Petroleum, the Fullerton Police Department, and the US Department of Housing.
Beyond his speaking engagements, Robert extends his impact globally through his nonprofit organization, which provides prosthetic legs to underprivileged amputees, embodying his belief that lead with love and with a positive mental attitude, anything's possible. Apart from all of his motivational speaking, Robert is an accomplished athlete representing Team USA in amputee soccer, paratriathlon, sitting volleyball,
Mark Burik (02:26.226)
and as a para Spartan competitor among other sports. His life and achievements serve as a testament to the power of perseverance and the endless possibilities that arise from leading with love and maintaining a positive mental outlook. Robert, nice to meet you, dude.
Robert (02:44.862)
Pleasure to meet you. Thank you so much. I love the intro as I'm fans of you guys, but I like the buildup, so I appreciate it.
Brandon Joyner (02:44.943)
Water Resin.
Mark Burik (02:46.318)
No
Mark Burik (02:51.758)
Yeah, man. I'm so I'm excited to talk about a few things. Number one, I'm I don't know what you call a budding public speaker. So I want to learn from you on that front. And maybe hopefully I could get you on our other podcast, the athletic startup, and we could talk more in the business realm. But for this one, I do want to talk volleyball. So among
All of the events that you compete in, can you tell us the rules, the hardest part about it, and the type of people who you get to work with, play with, and compete against?
Robert (03:33.692)
Yeah, so I'm very lucky enough to have represented Team USA for beach volleyball. And I am a part of the USA Sitting Volleyball Development Program. So I go to Oklahoma City to the Olympic Training Center every two months and train with the development team. The goal is to work my way up to the national team and continue to develop my game. And as a beach player as well to continue to compete, get beach volleyball a little bit more recognition.
as it deserves in the power world. And so being an advocate and a player for beach volleyball rules are exactly the same except for we play threes instead of twos. So all the same rules for beach volleyball except for we have a third player and they're classified through their disability. So you're allowed to have one A player which has minimal disability, which could be.
past injury, maybe your leg is shorter than the other. Maybe you have, you're missing a hand. So it means you have both your legs and it's easy for you to still to move around in the sand. And then you should have either two B's or a C, which are below the knee amputees like myself or above the knee amputees or have other impairments. So those are the beach rules. And then for sitting, same exact rules as indoor. Except for you can block on serve.
and our net is a little less than four feet tall, like about 3.9 for men. So yes, but you can block on serve, which is super.
Brandon Joyner (05:06.737)
That's really cool.
Mark Burik (05:06.966)
That's fun. Those are those are Acer. Have you ever played Ace? Yeah, good for all that for all the kiddies out there who are absorbing volleyball podcasts, which is doubtful. Like Ace is a pretty fun drinking game. And if you include blocks for serves, you get to enjoy some beverages a little bit more. Now, are the court dimensions the same as well?
Brandon Joyner (05:11.121)
You
Robert (05:11.282)
Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Robert (05:27.262)
Yeah, yeah.
Robert (05:33.3)
No, no, no, no. So for beaches for is twos and then for indoor it's a little bit smaller. I don't know exact are exact dimensions, but definitely a little smaller and instead of like a three meter line, we have a two centimeter line for indoor. So I mean two, yeah, two meter, two meter line, excuse me. Not centimeter, two meter line. It's been a long day. I've been traveling for two days.
Brandon Joyner (05:49.059)
And Robert.
Mark Burik (05:49.452)
You have a two centimeter line.
Brandon Joyner (05:53.041)
Okay. You're good. I kind of wanted to go back real quick to just completely understand the different A, B and C. So do you have to have, you're allowed one A, which was, you said was like minimal injury, right? And then you, did you say there was a B and a C? Do you have to have one of each?
Robert (06:16.531)
There's a B and a C. don't have to have a C. Most teams are not having Cs, but it's just a category. But you need to have at least two Bs. So you can't have two As, basically. But yeah.
Brandon Joyner (06:28.635)
Gotcha. So that, that must cause like, cause I, I've, I think when we were in Oklahoma city, we met, met a couple of you guys. yeah. Which is I. mean, in all of watching you guys play, it's fantastic. but that must cause like some real organization as far as either the captain or USA of like teaming up the teams to make.
Mark Burik (06:38.648)
think we met a couple of your teammates. Yeah.
Brandon Joyner (06:57.371)
to make sure that you guys are meeting those regulations? Is that like the behind the scenes kind of thing?
Robert (07:04.167)
Yeah, so for sitting it's a little different as well. But you still have, yeah, you can't have a bunch of, I don't want to say mildly impaired people on the floor. But so yes, the coach has to be, the coaches usually know they have it down for 6 v 6 on who needs to be out there, who's not. And they try to make the classification very simple and very easy. And I'm guessing when coaches are picking the teams who go and compete.
Brandon Joyner (07:14.554)
Right.
Robert (07:32.621)
Opposed to just practice, anybody's on the floor. But when you go and compete, they're very strategic about it. They know their lineups. So I think that makes it easier for tournaments and championships and pan-ams.
Brandon Joyner (07:43.621)
That's really cool.
Mark Burik (07:45.528)
When you're playing beach three on three, cause I know you have a prosthetic leg. I want to get into that a little bit, but are you guys on your feet? Are you standing or is that also sitting when you're playing on the sand?
Brandon Joyner (07:53.574)
you
Robert (08:02.292)
Yeah, so we play standing beach. All, like I said, same rules as you guys would, or as we say, able-bodied people. My cousin hates when I say that. He's like, you're discriminating against me. You know, I'm not able-bodied, I'm like you are, but that's what we say. Exactly. But yeah, so same exact rules. I do use a different prosthetic. I do cover my prosthetic foot. I wear my, I have two different legs, depending on.
Brandon Joyner (08:10.097)
you
Mark Burik (08:12.462)
We call them four lemurs.
Brandon Joyner (08:12.625)
it.
Brandon Joyner (08:18.363)
Yeah.
Robert (08:31.59)
competition that I'm playing. One gives me a little bit more jolt to jump higher, I believe, if I'm going to be predominantly hitting. And then another one, I just feel like my platform passing is a little bit better. so I have Pro Armor is a prosthetic cover company, which allows that you strap over your foot to keep the sand out from some of the metal and getting inside of the carbon fiber. So very lucky to have their sponsorship for when I'm playing beach.
There is Sitting Beach, I've never played it before, but they do have Sitting Beach and they kind of push it in other countries, but I've never played Sitting Beach, but it's out there.
Mark Burik (09:12.29)
I would imagine that the hardest part about if you're playing Sitting Beach is how much you have to move with your hands and then set a ball and just get sandblasted every time.
Brandon Joyner (09:22.673)
Thank
Robert (09:22.9)
Yeah, you guys can look it up. Look it up. It's online. You can see it in this very short court. It looks cool. But I like to stand on the beach. I like to stand and move around.
Brandon Joyner (09:32.389)
Yeah.
Mark Burik (09:32.482)
Yeah.
Hmm. Okay. So, tell us about your injury. it was actually, it was something that happened to you at birth. And then at 10 months, you had to get in it. What was, what was that like? And is it common? and then if you could share some of your teammates, what they went through and then how they actually found, the Paralympic style and, and
also sitting.
Robert (10:07.89)
Yeah. Well, so my birth defect, which you said, great fibular hemimelia, you had it, you had it lined up in the intro. I had two toes, my leg was deformed. I only have a tibia bone in my leg. I don't have an ACL and run two marathons with no ACL, which is, we found that out after when I got an MRI and it's my leg. They didn't know if they would be able to do something called limb lengthening where they basically would break your bone and have to regenerate over a year.
Brandon Joyner (10:14.001)
Thank
Robert (10:37.46)
And I would have had to do that several years growing up, which means I would have missed school and just missed out on some of the prime things that a child gets to experience. So my mother made that hard decision. You know, she was talking to doctors and family members. She decided to then amputate my leg when I was young so I could have quality of life being in a prosthesis, which was the best decision ever because I grew up basically this way and had to go through all my insecurities and
I wasn't able to hide it. Like someone maybe who loses their leg later on in life and they can kind of be home. I had to go to school. I had to get out. I had to go play. Everyone was pretty tough on me. Didn't treat me any different and actually piled it on even more so that I was a little bit more mentally strong and my skin was a little thicker. And it made me into the person that I am today. You know, it was a struggle to be honest and grew up with a lot of trials and tribulations, a lot of death.
at a young age and in abusive situations. So my leg wasn't always the main factor of what I felt like my obstacles were. And all of those things were just carving me to not only be an athlete, but just to try to be an advocate in the worlds that I'm in and setting me up so that this way I can try to pay it forward. And my ultimate goal is to try to give it back to someone else out there who's young, who doesn't have that confidence. If I can do that by through action.
and inspire someone else. That's the whole objective. And when I was in my mid-twenties, I then found adaptive sports. I grew up in New York, so I wasn't really... I grew up playing able-bodied sports and I stayed away from adaptive sports. But then I joined an amputee basketball team and we had Nike as a sponsor. We were traveling around. We did NBA half-times. We were the only amputee team playing in prosthetics.
Mark Burik (12:08.429)
Mm.
Robert (12:33.67)
advocating that we didn't need to be in a wheelchair. So we played against D1 colleges, D3 colleges, high school varsity teams, like I said, NBA players. It was amazing. But one of our players on the team was a sitting volleyball player for Team USA, which ultimately led me to volleyball through him and his experience.
Mark Burik (12:54.99)
Dang. It's a store.
Brandon Joyner (12:56.859)
So when you were coming up, because you said you didn't find, I'm sorry to ask again, what was it, like you have the able-bodied sports and then what was the other one?
Robert (13:09.001)
Well, now you can say para, adaptive, limb difference. There's all these categories, but para, guess, would be the regular term.
Brandon Joyner (13:11.761)
that is fine.
Okay, so you, but you didn't find that until your twenties?
Mark Burik (13:19.693)
Yeah.
Robert (13:20.552)
Yeah, so I got my first running leg when I was about 18 and I got invited to go to a running tournament. I used to rap, used to be a rapper back then, like everyone else in New York. Chino Vega was my rapper name. So I was like, meh, I was done with sports and I was trying to find my way through that. so I got invited to go to a track meet. I didn't go and then I regretted it instantly.
Brandon Joyner (13:31.761)
You
Mark Burik (13:32.152)
What was your rapper name?
Brandon Joyner (13:35.153)
There you go. I love it. That's great.
Mark Burik (13:35.711)
I love it!
Robert (13:50.331)
And my prosthetist, she brought me to a clinic for the Challenge Athletes Foundation. And I saw all these adaptive athletes swimming. And it was my first time being around adaptive athletes. And from there, I was like, OK, let me dive a little bit more into this world. And that basketball team, AMP One, was my initiation really to playing at a high level as an adaptive
Brandon Joyner (14:11.441)
So I have a quick question. So we work a lot with adults, which I think you've probably picked up on, but we constantly go through, one of the biggest things that we do as coaches is kind of give athletes the mindset and like the okay to seek improvement. And a lot of the athletes that we're working with are able, they...
They have everything and they still go through all those kind of ups and downs. and I'm assuming it's probably pretty similar to the mindset that you kind of had to go through. Can you just kind of touch on how learning these new sports? Cause it sounds like you're all over the place as far as an athlete goes, which is super impressive, but how did you find the mindset to like learn all these sports while also having to kind of.
monitor and figure out the movement and kind of how you move in these different sports because they're all so different.
Robert (15:17.212)
Yeah, I mean, that's a great question. I think the first thing is just no matter if you're an adaptive athlete or an able-bodied athlete, the mindset piece is as a competitor, we all have it. And there's a Phil Knight quote that I love. If you have a body, you are an athlete. And, you know, we all go through those ups and downs of pushing ourselves. I think for me personally, I really realize as a young man, the older I get now that
Brandon Joyner (15:32.101)
Mm-hmm.
Robert (15:45.159)
not feeling like I was enough or adequate is really what pushed my competitive edge and to continue to try to prove myself. And because I did find adaptive sports in my twenties and not younger, like some of these other athletes, I just dove into it and was trying to figure out where do I belong? How do I fit in? And I love competing and I love being active and seeing how far can I push it and continuing to just step into any arena.
when I had an opportunity. So from USA soccer to USA triathlon to USA volleyball, and just saying, you know what? All right, I may not be the best player out there, but I promise you, I'm gonna show up early, I'm gonna work hard, I'm gonna try to find extra training. You know, we were getting ready to go to world championships, I'm messaging Mark, you know, like, hey, I you're gonna be in Long Island. Just trying to figure out ways that I can, you know, get better. And so not allowing...
either my disability, my age or my situation to hold me back. And I think any athlete that wants to get to the next level, that's it. You either find an excuse or you find a way. And so just always trying to find that way of, you know what, even if I'm not the primary hitter, I know one, can get better and I can try to get better. And I'm not scared. I'm not scared to get my butt kicked. Failure is feedback and I love it. So.
Mark Burik (17:10.894)
Do you think?
So you you came at this from a young age it was basically your whole life, right? You found somehow confidence and fight through the process of your life. Do you run into a lot of people who are in the same situation but haven't found the fight or haven't found like the courage to say like
Yeah, so what? Like this is the body I was given. Here's the cards I was dealt and this is how I'm gonna play it instead of I'm not gonna play. Do you think that you're an anomaly in the strength that you found or do you think that more people who get this at a young age find that fight? And is there a difference between somebody who starts their life with a missing limb or a disability in some way?
Do you think that there's a difference between them and then somebody who now gets an injury like this or a any kind of like disease where they find that in like their teens or their twenties? Do they go through that a big shutdown phase and did you have a big shutdown phase when you were young?
Robert (18:34.716)
Yeah, absolutely. definitely I've gone through my hurdles and where I have kind of closed myself off to people trying to find myself as a young man. Definitely when I see that with the older population and I've seen some guys who have lost their legs, both legs, like bilateral amputees, and then have become Paralympic skiers and they've been in their mid thirties. And then young teens, like you just said, who may have had an accident.
or disability like mine, and have just been amputated later in life, I think across the board, as we all know, the younger the athlete, the more opportunity you have. When the young guys come in, we all start looking around like, man, all right, you see, see it. Yeah, yeah. And I think for me, it was just trying to figure out, like right now, sometimes at camp, I'm one of the oldest guys there when I go to camp.
Mark Burik (19:17.998)
Taking my spot.
Robert (19:31.955)
Now on the national team, there's some guys older, but I never see it that way. Athletes are athletes and everyone has their own experience. But to the original point, I do think it's easier. don't, I feel like I'm an anomaly because of the work that I put in and being able to do the things that I'm doing as a father and with a job and balancing all the tasks that I have. So I do see that because I've been around other athletes and then when they do start
trying to find a career or start a family and how their drive or dedication and commitment maybe loses a bit. And then they look at me and like, how the heck were you doing all of these things at this level and balancing? So I think I'm an anomaly there, but as an athlete, no, just a guy who's pushing and trying to move the needle and to have fun, you know? And I'm pretty sure all of us as competitors, you know, I told my wife, I'm like,
When I'm done with this, I'll be playing competitive cornhole on ESPN. Like, I don't know, you know, whatever it is, we're gonna make it happen, just to kind of stay in the mix.
Brandon Joyner (20:29.937)
Thank
Mark Burik (20:32.511)
you
Brandon Joyner (20:36.123)
You know, I think one of the, just from an outsider looking in, I've only, I think I've met a couple of Paralympic players. And then a couple of years ago at Wapaka, there was like a big clinic that happened that I'm not a hundred percent sure who put it on, but I got to speak with them. And one of the things that I noticed right away was that you guys,
as a community have such a strong sense of like grace and understanding of just the struggle that it is of like not only figuring out how to be the best athlete you can with whatever setback you might have, but it's always been really cool for me to look. think a lot of athletes can learn a lot just from watching you guys train because
Mark Burik (21:09.976)
Mm.
Brandon Joyner (21:32.507)
There's still that sense of competitive competition. There's still that sense of learning, but it feels so much softer from the outside looking in. Obviously, even just talking to you, I can tell that you're an athlete. You would have fit in great with Mark and I in college because you would have been right next to us in the way, pushing us harder than anyone else. But also at the same time, the support that you guys give one another.
Mark Burik (21:50.168)
Yeah
Brandon Joyner (22:01.731)
It just seems to be on another level, which I think I just wanted to, that's the one thing I was like, this is, this is special. So just wanted to applaud you guys on that.
Robert (22:11.986)
I love that. I would have loved to been in the weight room with you. I just came from my 20 year high school reunion and some of the guys when I used to play football for the one season that I played football, they're like, how hard we used to push in the weight room and do things. So that would have been cool. I would have loved that.
Brandon Joyner (22:14.756)
You
Brandon Joyner (22:27.173)
Yeah, we would have welcomed you right in.
Robert (22:30.472)
Yes, sir.
Mark Burik (22:31.96)
So how do you modify your training? do you use, let's say that if you have to do the equivalent of a squat, are you squatting with your prosthetic? Are you doing unilateral exercises like pistol squats, step ups, things like that? And then how much do you focus on actual weight training versus training for your sport since you have to acquire
the 12 different skill sets that you need for all of your sports.
Robert (23:03.668)
Well, I only play two sports now, which is sitting and beach volleyball. Volleyball is the only thing that I do. All those other sports, I am retired. Yes. So that and still running. I'm still doing a few marathons here and there, volleyball is the only thing on the list. And I do do weight training. You know, I'm not the tallest guy out there. So jumping is super primitive. I'm very fast. So that is really how.
Mark Burik (23:08.568)
Okay. We got you. Nice.
Brandon Joyner (23:11.119)
Welcome, welcome.
Robert (23:32.365)
I kind of like rest on my laurels, so speed and making sure that I'm fit. Strength and conditioning is five, six days a week. And also balancing with cross training, with running and swimming as well. But a lot of mobility work, a lot of resistance band work. definitely, I don't have to make any accommodations for squatting. I do all workouts like anyone else does for myself and just try to push it.
Mark Burik (23:59.95)
is you have your full thigh, right? So you have your full thigh and the amputation was below the knee, but you have no ACL.
Robert (24:02.258)
Yeah, correct. No ACL, one bone in there. Yes, but I'm able to bend and I have no idea how, I guess my leg is just fused in a sense. My prosthetist and I, when we got the test, I said, I can't be reading this right. I can't say I don't have an ACL. And she's like, it says you do not have an ACL. And I'm like, that just was wild to all of us.
But yeah, do all regular strength training and try to not change anything up, but definitely working on just shoulder strength now, obviously, for sitting, just being on the ground as well as for beach and hitting. And I'm a little newer to beach. I've only been playing beach for a year. So really working on my mobility through the sand and having good touches and footwork. No pun intended because I only have one foot, but footwork is key. So,
That's my huge focus right now for Beach.
Mark Burik (25:04.76)
When you're playing sitting, I was telling you off camera, when you're teaching second and third graders, even sixth graders how to play volleyball like six on six, everything is move your feet, move your feet, move your feet. And then when I was getting coached in order to coach for sitting volleyball, the whole move your feet aspect, because you have to use so much hand work on the floor and then use your hands to play.
And that was a nightmare for me because I kept forgetting to quote unquote move my feet, like actively use my hands constantly. So is, is that a big headache for people? Because when you see it at a high level, I mean, it's, it's pretty nonstop movement. When you see the hands to the floor, it's constant shifting, constant shifting. You just have to translate it now to your upper body and some hip slides. But if you see a new
a new player come in who's got a recent amputee. Is that a big problem for them? Is that a headache? And are there specific drills that like agility hand drills that you guys go through?
Robert (26:14.874)
Yes. Like you hit it on the head before you can even play sitting volleyball, you've got to be able to move. So you talk about move your feet. So we say action in between plays, right? Meaning, and then we'll just say like, instead of move your feet, we just say load, load your leg or load your knee, meaning kick your leg out to the side. So it's loaded. So you can push off each side. So not just your hands, but if you're missing one leg, or even if you have both legs and you have a different impairment,
loading that knee so you can push to the side, push back and push forward, not just your hands. So, and then also with your hands staying ready and leaned over, not hands back or to the side, like really in a ready position. No matter where the ball is, you know, the coaches are constantly pushing us action in between plays, staying ready. It is constant movement. And because it's so fast and sometimes how the game can go, like just at camp this weekend,
We had a rally, I'm not joking with you guys, that was going on for like a minute and like 20 seconds. It was like, it felt like forever. It felt like forever. And I remember just the last play and one of the guys came and he did a big hit. And then at the end, after this whole rally and everybody's drenched and then somebody just went back over on one and he couldn't get back up fast enough. And the rally was just over, you know, because you just have to, after you hit, you got to get back into position and block. It's just constant, constant movement. So.
Brandon Joyner (27:33.969)
You
Robert (27:41.469)
So someone who's new, that's usually their biggest struggle. There's even guys on the national team, people who've been in the development program who still have to put an emphasis on movement because it's just the key. if it's, always say one more push. That's kind of our thing. need one more, for to use hands in men's, I mean, the ball's coming so fast. So we're using less platform now and a lot more hands. And it's like, if you don't push,
Brandon Joyner (28:03.173)
Mm-hmm.
Robert (28:10.878)
far enough, you're not getting your hands there or pushing forward and you're trying to platform. The ball's gonna go everywhere. So you gotta get there and get your hands up. So one more push is what we always say.
Mark Burik (28:23.886)
So you're not playing, even though it's called sitting volleyball, the majority of the time is not spent on your butt, like on two glutes. It's a lot more like single hip so that you can, if you've got one full leg, you can use your foot to push off it. And then what are the hip to, so correct me if I'm wrong there, that it's more like leaning to one side than staying neutral? Is that?
Robert (28:50.132)
Yeah, depending on how you move, everyone is different. But the best hit, like when I'm going up to hit, so one, this is the sign for a butt lift. That means your butt was off the ground when you made contact with the ball. Can't do that. know, yeah, it's illegal. Yeah, so you can't butt lift. That's one of the things. So a lot of the best hitters, as long as you have, you know, one cheek on the ground or part of it on the ground while you're hitting, you're all good as long as there's contact there.
Mark Burik (29:03.318)
Illegal, okay.
Brandon Joyner (29:03.346)
so your butt does have to be on the ground. Okay.
Robert (29:18.954)
But yeah, you can't like get up and be off the ground and have contact.
Mark Burik (29:23.694)
So you can't do like a forward roll into a launch somersault and.
Robert (29:27.572)
You can actually do a forward roll as long as you're below the tape. even if you're in, yeah, you can, yep, as long as you're below the tape, especially if you're a back row player coming front row. So you can kind of dive and be off the ground and it's contacts below the tape.
Brandon Joyner (29:45.273)
Okay.
Mark Burik (29:47.682)
Nice. So what are the back row and front row rules for sitting since everybody's got to be on their butt anyway or a hip.
Robert (29:53.651)
Yeah, that's it. Just you can't hit, you can't hit, you can't back row, but you can't hit above the tape. The only row is you can't hit above the tape if you come in front of the two meter line. So if you're in front of the two meter line, you can't hit above the tape. You can platform, but that's really it.
Mark Burik (30:10.911)
so you can't put your rock star who's got a cannon in the back row and just like set him all day.
Robert (30:14.43)
Like, no, you can, as long as he's behind the two meter line. So you can hit back row, but he's just gotta be behind the two meter line and make sure it gets him bounce.
Mark Burik (30:22.07)
Got it. Okay.
Brandon Joyner (30:22.671)
Okay.
Mark Burik (30:26.926)
So what you guys are doing is basically hunting down anybody who's got a super long torso and like orangutan arms. Like that's got to be an advantage.
Robert (30:35.036)
Yeah. Well, yeah, height. So it was a big thing. And again, I'm not the tallest guy. So height is a big thing in volleyball, as we all know anyway. So they are. But right now it's a lot of skills. So yeah, of course, in your front row, you want some big blockers there. But the more important thing is having a good hitter and fast hands and fast movement because the ball is just the game is so advanced, so fast that height is primitive.
but they are looking for skilled players.
Mark Burik (31:06.198)
Yeah. Ball control is everything, right? Hmm. Okay. So run me through the first 15 minutes of a sitting volleyball practice.
Robert (31:07.924)
Everything. Yeah.
Robert (31:23.572)
Sure. So what we do is they have it very strategic for USA volleyball for us. So we all come in. We do a stretch. So we always have a trainer. Make sure everyone that we do a whole team dynamic stretch to start. And then like the camp we just went to, we do two a days. So generally we start with a stretch and then we'll start with movement. So we'll do a ton of movement drills. That's our warm up, no balls, no nothing. Then we get a partner and we pepper.
Mark Burik (31:51.554)
What does a movement drill look like? So give me an example.
Robert (31:53.459)
A movement, you start, do either facing the net, sides, backside, forward pulls, back pushes, bicycle pushes. And you just, yeah, just, yep. So you can, if you're chasing down a ball far, right. So things like that. And then we'll get into, get a partner and we do all whatever fun pepper drills and while we're peppering, say your favorite candy every time you're touching the ball and just things that make you look and move. And so that's kind of how we get started.
Mark Burik (32:04.792)
Uh-huh.
Brandon Joyner (32:09.233)
Hmm.
Robert (32:23.282)
and then they may switch it up. We may go into hitting lines. We may do some real attacking drills. Obviously a lot of serve receive, which would be huge. A lot of tooling because you can block on serve and there's a lot of fighting at the net. We do a lot of tooling. That's huge in sitting volleyball. And so just going over those basic skills until we maybe get into some 6v6 or some USA games, which is like free balls over.
for USA, you know, the letters and, you know, yeah, you know, I know you guys know it. I know some of the viewers don't, but, you know, and yeah, so doing some of those games, those are where everybody likes. We might do some short courts, some two V two short courts, courts. So we're focusing on small quick touches, communication, things like that. So every practice is different. A lot of serve receive, a lot of tooling on the block and a lot of movement.
Mark Burik (32:58.284)
Yeah.
Brandon Joyner (32:59.833)
of moments and favors.
Mark Burik (33:19.47)
Now, are you fried after the movement drills and what's the first thing to go like lungs, arms burning, wrists hurting? Like, cause I imagine like if you're pumping your wrist, like at some point they're going to get sore and then maybe shoulder injuries come about just from the movement.
Robert (33:35.463)
Yeah, I mean, I don't even know what to tell you on that. I feel like it just depends on the day. first day it might be, it's your butt, obviously, and your hips are just taking a beating. And then like after a few days, you're okay. Shoulders, 100%. There are just so many hits. You're reaching up, you're pushing forward. People have gotten concussed, you get hit in the face. I have dove for a pole backwards and banged my head.
Mark Burik (33:38.861)
you
Brandon Joyner (33:38.865)
I'm
Robert (34:04.124)
on the back of the court. So many different injuries, fingers are wrapped, people got their hands taped up. But for me specifically, it's definitely usually like my shoulder and my knee, because of just all the bending of my knee, this way, this way, up, pushing it. So my knee kind of takes a little bit of a brutal push.
Mark Burik (34:25.814)
Yeah, as your your glutes, you've got to have hyper mobile glutes to be able to push in all the different directions. like internal rotation, external rotation. That's got to be legit, if not a way higher level than people were playing standing volleyball, because you have to be in those constant figure four positions and rolling in and out of them.
Robert (34:50.536)
Yup, 90 90s, we do a ton of 90 90 drills, right? And that's because that's what you got to do to be able to push.
Mark Burik (34:59.246)
Okay, nice. All right, so that's a good practice. Now, are you guys running speed or more up and down balls? Like is the point more to give the opportunity for tools or to try to get big hits? Because I would think if you're stable, you see stable blocking hands, like there's gotta be so much tooling and aiming for it. So maybe you would try to set tighter, but you tell me.
Robert (35:23.508)
Yeah, so big hits. mean, not there. They are pushing hitting right now because you just we got strong outside hitters that are just, you know, even middle hitters, you know, so sets need to be tight. Everything needs to be aligned. And yeah, because there's so many hands at the net now, guys, what they'll do is they'll wait. Obviously, you can't estimate the height. They'll wait until it, you know, until the ball is kind of coming, especially on serve or on hits. So you can't because if you can see it, then you're just going to hit right around.
right, or through it. So kind of playing that guessing game. But, then a lot of the time it's really just having a big hit. They want you to be a big hitter. They really focusing on twisting that torso, keeping that elbow high and understanding how to either hit line, hit cross court, seeing a gap in that moment to get the ball through.
Brandon Joyner (36:15.971)
and when you're complete.
Mark Burik (36:16.238)
our tip for hits more effective.
Robert (36:18.718)
Let's say that again.
Mark Burik (36:20.29)
Are tips or hits more effective?
Robert (36:23.868)
Hits are always more effective because it's so fast on the ground. But if you're a big hitter and then you start psyching people out with some tips, then you start to become a real problem out there because they don't know what you're going to do as you're loading up and then you just kind of poke it. Yeah, and there's a gap there too, especially if you're a big hitter and then defense is pushing back and then you see that gap there, like right in mid-court, you can get pretty deadly like that.
Brandon Joyner (36:46.257)
Mm-hmm.
Brandon Joyner (36:52.793)
And blockers have to have a glute on the ground as well.
Robert (36:58.872)
yes. Yup. Yup. You got it. Yeah. Yes. There's guys, what they do though, they tuck their foot. Some guys are really flexible and they tuck their foot under their butt. And so now they're a little taller. We're not really allowed to do that either, but if the official doesn't see it, you know.
Brandon Joyner (37:15.665)
So you guys are cheating just like we are.
Robert (37:17.684)
yeah. Listen, so now you're missing legs, right? And there's stumps. You can actually, so you can touch the bottom of the net, right? So you can act, cause our legs are there and some guys who like tie up their stump with your stump and lock, like lock you a little bit under the net. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. This way when you go to move, you've got a leg in between you. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Brandon Joyner (37:26.245)
Okay. Yeah.
Mark Burik (37:37.934)
Tie up their stump.
Brandon Joyner (37:39.921)
man, that's crazy.
Mark Burik (37:44.302)
That's awesome.
Robert (37:45.46)
It's pretty cool. It's pretty cool.
Mark Burik (37:47.662)
Nice. So when you're OK, so now let's move to beach threes, right? So you still have to have the range of injuries that comes with it. So are you playing against guys who cannot jump physically?
Robert (38:10.9)
No, these guys are jumping out the building. Honestly, it's actually insane. Like I said, I was in Turkey, you know, three weeks ago at World Championships and some of these guys, I mean, forget about it. Some of these guys, I'm like, what is his disability? Because I don't know if he should be out here. I don't know if he should be out here. But, you know, yeah, these guys are amazing. Got a chance to play in Kazakhstan and Turkey and Latvia and Poland.
Mark Burik (38:26.828)
Yeah.
Brandon Joyner (38:30.673)
Let's get him tested.
Robert (38:40.54)
it's so amazing, to see like all the different countries. I mean, there's a guy on the lobby team. He's literally missing his entire shoulder. And this guy's probably one of the best beach volleyball players I've ever seen. It's insane to watch him set with one arm and hand, and hit and, and platform. I mean, it was like probably the most insane thing I've ever seen. just one arm saving and diving for balls.
right on target, most insane thing. But yeah, guys are jumping because they have different, not everyone's an amputee. Like I said, they have all different issues. Some guys are missing their arms, so they have two legs. Some guys may have had a leg issue, but they're still okay. You you can be missing a toe and get in there, you know? So yeah, so everyone has kind of different disabilities and there are some amazing beach volleyball players. I'm honestly surprised that it doesn't get more recognition.
Mark Burik (39:17.783)
Okay.
Mark Burik (39:27.233)
Yeah
Brandon Joyner (39:38.929)
You guys had a pretty good, or at least one of your teams had a pretty good finish at Little Chance, right?
Robert (39:43.721)
Yep, our 18 took bronze. Our 18 took bronze, yep. They crushed it, they crushed it. Yeah, you guys might know Abram Gronick, you guys might know him. yeah, yeah, yep, that's my brother. He killed him, he's amazing. Yeah, yep, yep, that's my brother.
Brandon Joyner (39:48.077)
Awesome. That's so sick.
Yeah, yep. I was texting back and forth with him a little bit. So do you guys play one setter at the net and then two passers? Or you have three people back?
Robert (40:04.82)
Depends on the team. Yeah, it depends on the team. It depends on your player. You may hide your player at the net. If it gets too crazy, then we pull back to have three back. I think it just depends on the scenario. Always trying to give the other team a different look, as you guys know, too. But sometimes we play two back or three back.
Mark Burik (40:28.642)
The unique question that just permeates all of volleyball. Hands. So when you're setting with your hands, if you guys have a guy who's got one arm, is he allowed to use the indoor fingertip push on the beach?
Robert (40:45.524)
Such a great question. They're still working on these rules. So there's that one gentleman I'm telling you about. It's not, he wasn't really using his fingertips, but he had to a little bit to control it with one arm. But his sets were like no spin. You know, it's not like it looked like it was a double or anything. They were just amazing. You can't open hand hit or fingertip at the net though. It's gotta be a full swing. So they will.
Mark Burik (40:59.192)
Mm-hmm.
Robert (41:14.856)
They'll call it on you for sure. One arm or not, you just can't do that.
Mark Burik (41:16.75)
Okay.
But if you're setting somebody can use the fingertip push or do you have to still use like the palm or pokey touch?
Robert (41:24.244)
No, yeah, it's gotta be punk. Yeah, it's a no-call double, yeah. Yeah. So it's just gotta look clean. I think just coming out, it's gotta just look clean.
Mark Burik (41:27.798)
Wow. Okay. Yeah, that's brutal.
Brandon Joyner (41:35.803)
Mm-hmm.
Mark Burik (41:36.118)
Okay, sick. So what do you think? Is going to be the next step. Do you think to get more players, more athletes exposed? Is there a push to say to bring in kids, adults, everybody who's injured and invite them? And then what do you think is missing from that? Is it geographical? Is it the personnel gym time?
Like what's the step that gets more people who don't know how much fun they could have or currently, I don't want to call it sulking, but they're not getting out there because they're still in that mode of grief that they can't do anything. What's the next step to get more athletes involved and what's missing?
Robert (42:29.876)
Yeah. Well, one, like anything else, it's financial support. I'll just lay that bottom line out there as one is just having the finances to travel, to train, accessibility to gyms, and to understand the game, especially for sitting. There's not regional teams. So if you want to play at the highest level, you've got to be in Oklahoma and training there. And so even in New York, I go to the YMCAs.
trying to find new coaches. I'm trying to build up my own training program myself. And so to get other athletes involved, there's got to be more local programs, which is what they're doing. So New Jersey is working on one. They're trying to start something in New York where they have coaches and USA volleyball is getting behind, you know, volleyball for all. And so I think that's a big key is accessibility, really getting it to the youth because sports in general, feel like you either have youth that are
obsessed with it or youth who are obsessed with screen time and other influences. And so I believe, you know, whether you have a disability or not, you know, the power of mobility and the older we get and taking care of our bodies and being able to just the movement as someone who's missing my ankle, you know, when you start losing joints, that's what I do. I work for a prosthetic company. You don't realize, you know, the how important just your elbow joint is, you know, until you lose it. And
those little things of movement. So getting them involved in sports and teaching the essence of sports is what I think we need for youth and for people with disabilities to understand that sports not only helps your body, but it helps your mind. And of course, people need incentives. So marketing is a big one to show how cool some of these events are. But if there could be more incentives for people to go cash prizes for winning tournaments, man, everybody likes a free shirt.
The little things matter to get people to kind of come out and to participate and to push themselves. And once they get there, I think they realize how much fun it is, especially for...
Brandon Joyner (44:36.593)
If there was somebody, let's say watching this podcast that was interested in getting started, what would the first step for them be? Would they reach out? Who should they reach out to? What should they search? What would that be?
Mark Burik (44:48.718)
you
Robert (44:51.924)
Yeah. Yeah. So go to USA volleyball website. And if you want to get involved in sitting, you can literally go to the, to the website and reach out to our director and just say, Hey, I would like to try sitting volleyball. And they'll tell you how to get on the wait list to come to a camp. So that's one for sitting and, or you can look up, it's the development program and they only could take, so many athletes. So we had 26, 27 athletes come.
Mark Burik (45:12.376)
Why is there a waitlist?
Mark Burik (45:20.662)
on its lack of coaches.
Robert (45:21.268)
I think it's just they can't even house more than that. can't, you don't want that many people, that many people there. It's just too much. Even with 26 athletes there now, it just becomes a lot. And then it's not beneficial and then it's not building up the players the right way. So they should have more where you could just try because that is like development at a high level. Yeah. exactly. Yeah. So, but they, anyone who's interested can go to USA volleyball.
Brandon Joyner (45:42.533)
Yeah. Like a little grassroots. Yeah.
Robert (45:51.209)
website, USA Volleyball's website and reach out to sitting department or for beach department is there too, Para Beach. Like I said, we have a tournament in Pompano this week, in two weekends, December 5th and 6th. I think so. My son has a game, so I'm up in the air. I've been traveling quite a bit. So that's kind of where I'm at right now. I'm juggling it in my head, but I should be there. I'm on the list to be there. Hopefully this doesn't come out before my coach sees it and she's going to be like, what mean you're not going to be there?
Mark Burik (46:02.849)
You gonna be there?
Brandon Joyner (46:18.263)
laughter
Mark Burik (46:18.606)
You got six days.
Robert (46:20.532)
So yeah, yeah, all all I'll go before then. But yes, so I should be there though. anyone who wants to try Beach can go to Pompano. It's a great place to just try. And then they kind of split us up in divisions at your level. And there's cash prizes there. There's a lot of support we get from USA Volleyball. It's so much fun. Then you get a chance to watch the other pros play. I mean.
You guys know, but to any listeners, if you've never been to a beach tournament, it's the best.
Brandon Joyner (46:53.179)
Pretty fun little.
Mark Burik (46:53.962)
Yep. Now, a couple last questions. We're going to have to run here in a second. But do you do you have a lot of veterans like ex military guys who have had those major injuries or is it more evenly spread across the board between just however it happened in regular life?
Or is it more heavily like a lot of veterans who have who have had these injuries or do you just kind of run into everybody?
Robert (47:30.392)
I think you run into everybody. There is a big veteran presence as well. And veterans do get some great accommodations from USA Volleyball. So if you're a veteran and you're interested in getting into para volleyball, you should. There's some good stipends and benefits for veterans. But I think across the board, it's because it's growing the way that it is. You're getting people who had accidents. You're getting people like myself who've been amputated since they were young.
and then people who are veterans that may have lost a limb in service. So it's definitely a wide variety now.
Mark Burik (48:07.416)
Cool. And then before we head off, I want to learn about your nonprofit and then where people can find you for speaking engagements and to play in practice with you or maybe like hop in a game or just see it happening. So tell us about your nonprofit first.
Robert (48:26.642)
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So, so I'm a part of a nonprofit that we started. It's called Lim Khan Foundation. this gentleman named Rob Schoeman, he's phenomenal. he put this organization together and I'm very blessed to be a part of it, from day one. And so I'm an active board member. We go to different countries. I've gone to Philippines, I've gone to Haiti, I've gone to Ethiopia. in February I will be in Kenya. And what we do is.
Mark Burik (48:51.224)
Damn.
Robert (48:54.6)
We provide prosthetic limbs to underprivileged children who can't afford them. So the leg that I'm wearing now is about 12 to $15,000. And yeah, yup. And I used to have to get a new leg as a child every year. You know, as when kids go to get their new school clothes for the year, I would have to get a new prosthesis as I was growing. And so that's tough for someone in a different country who has an ill-fitting prosthesis, who has outgrown it or their anatomy has changed.
Mark Burik (49:02.508)
What?
Robert (49:24.466)
What the Lim Kahn Foundation does is goes to these different countries each year on an annual basis, provides prosthetics for these children, make sure that they're doing well and tries to give them the best quality of life. We also have a facility in the United States in Queens, New York, as well as we do a huge gala every year in January. It's called Show Your Shine, where we highlight amputees and people with disabilities in the United States. We do a big fashion show. We raise a lot of money to help support kids out of the country.
while highlighting a lot of people within the country and giving them a runway. It's called Show Your Shine. It's amazing. So just blessed to be a part of that. Rob Shulman, who started it, is just a phenomenal person and has a huge heart. then within that, I have my speaking company, which is called Limb Possible, which I've been speaking professionally for over eight years. Like I said, I've spoken to a lot of companies from Nike to Microsoft and just...
being able to share not only my story, educate others, whether it's the youth or adults on how to overcome some of the mental health hurdles, the physical hurdles, to push ourselves as athletes, as a business person, as parents, and just try to figure out how to become the best versions of ourselves we can. And I believe a lot of that starts with it. So very blessed to have my company to be able to do that, to educate others, and to continue to grow as a speaker.
but not someone who just does it with words, but by speaking and leading with action. And so those are the things that I get a chance to do on a daily basis, as well as working in prosthetics. And anyone who wants to find me on the court or join me can always reach out. One of my website is robertanthony.us. My tags are robertanthony.speaker. So honored to just kind of answer any questions, give any guidance or any motivation that I can to anyone out there.
who may be struggling, who just wants to get involved and kind of push any sport, but specifically volleyball.
Mark Burik (51:26.254)
When a company hires you and you get to speak and work with people, what's the transformation that they get after an experience with you? Now, what are those companies hunting and what are the biggest changes that you've seen after your talks and your time with
Robert (51:47.177)
Yeah, I think companies now are hunting authenticity because employees, know, lot of employees are like, hey, I can work from home now. You know, I don't have to be at this job. I can make money in different ways where, you know, 20 years ago, that wasn't the case for, you know, all industries. You know, you almost had people a little bit more locked in to their paycheck. And so when companies bring someone like myself in, they're looking for someone who's really going to help.
uplift their employees and understand the hard work. And I always try to bring a visual of what the company does and how they're affecting a consumer because, you know, as someone, even as a doctor, I work with doctors and they do an amputation, but they don't get a chance to see the patient walk at the end of the day. A lot of times, you you guys, you're training beach players and they may same thing for you. And they're like, man, I had so much fun. I'm great. And a year later, maybe you see their post, but you don't know how much.
your training affected them. You don't get a chance to see the end result because of the camp that they went to with you guys and now how they're butt on the beach. And so we don't always get a chance to see the final result. So my speeches, I try to paint that picture early. And the best thing is when they come up to me and say, you're the best speaker ever, or I get an email a week later, like your name is still buzzing or we can't wait to have you back. So my whole goal, realistically, you know, shout out to all the other speakers there, but I come to like shut it down.
and make sure they know like I'm the guy. Nobody was better than Robert. And I like to give a performance. Like I rap sometimes when I speak. I try to make the show for real. And I try to bring some tears and some laughs and you know, and all the feels within a small presentation.
Mark Burik (53:14.638)
Ha ha!
you
Mark Burik (53:21.976)
Yeah, that's cool.
Brandon Joyner (53:25.425)
awesome.
Mark Burik (53:32.302)
It must be amazing to learn from your lens of how much you've gone through with sports, tough childhood, navigating not only that, how your mom navigated $12,000 prosthesis and then getting you in sports and somehow converting you into a successful, really successful adult. Big kudos to
the people in your life who did it the right way and the ones that did help.
Robert (54:06.26)
Thank you, thank you. It's my wife, I'm giving all credit to my wife. She's the one who allows me to do it. She's the one who allows me to do it. Even right now she's like, you're gonna do a podcast? Of course you are. I had an event last night, it's just been ongoing. So my mother and my wife, my family and testament to you guys, because you're doing amazing work. I really have to say I've been following you guys. I watch your videos because I'm trying to get better at beach volleyball. So.
Mark Burik (54:12.258)
Smart man.
You
Robert (54:33.96)
I would be honored to join one of your camps in the future. And I just love what you guys are doing. So really hoping I can learn from you out there on the course one day.
Mark Burik (54:43.948)
Awesome. Well, we'll get you there for sure. think, I know the type of people that me and Brandon like, and, it feels like you're going to be in our friend circle now. cool. All right. Well, we got around, we got to work with our online members, but, thank you so much. I'm going to hit you up on Instagram too, and see if you can come onto the other podcasts and talk about, the development of your speaking role. I think that'd be really cool to learn from you there. yeah, that'd be great.
Brandon Joyner (54:46.459)
Thanks, Robert.
Robert (54:53.876)
I'm here for it.
Robert (55:10.534)
Absolutely, I would be honored to.
Mark Burik (55:14.194)
and I hope you guys enjoy this. So if you are following and if you want to follow Robert's journey, remember it's robertanthony.us and your Instagram one more time to follow.
Robert (55:27.218)
Robert Anthony Daz speaker.
Mark Burik (55:29.132)
Robert Anthony dot speaker. Go ahead, follow. We're also going to include the links on the bottom of all the show notes where you can follow along and then we'll get some footage of him at one of our camps. so you can see how it gets really done and then you'll take us through an hour of sitting beach and we'll see how that goes.
Robert (55:45.428)
Let's do it.
Brandon Joyner (55:46.607)
Yeah, we got to get out on the court with you and do a little practice, a little competition.
Robert (55:53.404)
I love it. Yeah, yeah, let's do it.
Mark Burik (55:54.382)
There's a YouTube video right there. Yup.
Brandon Joyner (55:56.437)
yeah. Hopefully, hopefully next, cause we go to, cause you guys run it out of boom box, right? Or in Oklahoma City. Okay. Well, whenever we're in Oklahoma City, we'll, we'll let you know and hopefully it, it matches up and we can, we can get out there and see you guys.
Robert (55:57.876)
We're going to make it happen and get you guys on the ground.
Mark Burik (56:00.162)
Sounds good.
Robert (56:05.561)
so, no, not anymore. They don't do it there anymore. No, they changed it. Yeah.
Mark Burik (56:18.926)
Yeah.
Robert (56:19.09)
Yeah, literally every two months, be back out there in January. So January, March, know, May, every two months we're out there. So let us know.
Mark Burik (56:27.054)
And when I come back to New York, I'll hit you up.
Brandon Joyner (56:27.075)
sure. Yeah and if there's anything if you if there's anything that you think we can provide you guys to help the cause please let us know we're we'd love to be a part of it.
Robert (56:29.832)
Yeah, 100%.
Robert (56:37.876)
Thank you.
Thank you. are trying to grow Power Beach. So I think it would be great to kind of get you with some of USAV coordinators and make something happens because we can bring more eyes and awareness to the sport. So just thank you for what you're doing already to grow it.
Brandon Joyner (56:46.673)
Yeah.
Mark Burik (56:54.456)
Awesome. Well, thank you. Great talking to you. We'll be talking a lot more and for everybody listening, appreciate you and we'll see you on the sand.
Brandon Joyner (56:54.481)
We appreciate it.
Robert (57:03.796)
See you guys, thank you.
Brandon Joyner (57:07.355)
awesome.
