First Beach event of the summer is done and dusted and it was an absolute cracker! The first PBVS Mindarie Pro was held last weekend and Casey Grice and myself were fortunate enough to take it out.
We ran in to some trouble in the semi-final against the Malaga Stars Indoor Beach Volleyball boys Warren “the Gypsy” Jones and Scotty Biffen. Waz is probably one of the sneakiest players I have played against and always seems to pull off some crazy unorthodox plays. We had a really long break leading in to the finals day on Sunday and I found myself quite tense and on edge the whole game. Generally when I get on edge like this, it gets really easy for me to lose my breath and get puffed out quickly. I also find it difficult to find rhythm in passing and setting as well as having the composure to look through the net, see the opposition and make good offensive decisions. This restricted our usually solid side out. We weren’t as intimidating being out of rhythm while running our offence, as well as being far from our decisive and ruthless best in defence.
It’s the biggest challenge we have faced since our newly formed and very young team has formed but I was very impressed with how we handled ourselves under the intense pressure of being taken to the limit against a team we should beat. The general team communication was impeccable, as neither player got too flustered, overwhelmed or frustrated. Even though I was playing like balls Casey continued to remain strong, take care of his role and performance, stay upbeat and would just look at me and say “come on bro, we got this”. The ability of each of us to back each other in, have complete faith and trust that we would pull through for each other really helped us scrap out a 18-21, 21-13, 15-13 win.
In the final we came across the “spider” Rhodri Simmonds and the infamous “Mosquito” Sam Halley. We took on the big man as we figured it would be a good match up and that we could put a big block in his face. Luckily enough we were able to get Rhodri a bit tense early on. We clicked, found our rhythm, sided out clinically and were at our defensive best with me getting a few shut outs and Casey getting a good touch on any half opportunity and putting it away. We ran away with the game winning in 21-11 21-10.
Key take-aways ad learning’s really came from the semi where we didn’t play well at all (or I didn’t, as Case still played pretty good). I don’t know if you’ve ever heard that your greatest lessons come from your loses but it is something I truly believe, so next time you’re shattered after a heartbreaking loss, flip it. Use it as an opportunity to grow yourself and better yourself. Anyway I really believe that any great team always backs the other person in and is built on trust, respect and faith. Every single point we spoke about what we as individuals could do better and there was no angst or resentment when someone screwed up. There was no blame or expectation of the other person to do more, just two players giving and backing their partner in, to find a way and pull through even if it wasn’t pretty. After every mistake we moved on quickly, stayed composed and had faith that the game was still in our control. In big games, tense situations where you aren’t playing well it is very easy to get frustrated and hard to keep these important team interactions. I was really pleased to see how the team handled its first test and scrap it.
Always give as much as you can, have fun and remember the harder it is to give the more important it is you do so and lastly go easy on yourself. Some days your best will be amazing and other it will just be ok or not enough but as long as you give your best you can be satisfied.
Thanks for reading and arr yeh Durant/ Grice are a team for 2014 if I didn’t mention that earlier. Looking forward to some intense competition, summer days, good ball and another summer of learning’s and growth.
Thanks again,
Durantula
We ran in to some trouble in the semi-final against the Malaga Stars Indoor Beach Volleyball boys Warren “the Gypsy” Jones and Scotty Biffen. Waz is probably one of the sneakiest players I have played against and always seems to pull off some crazy unorthodox plays. We had a really long break leading in to the finals day on Sunday and I found myself quite tense and on edge the whole game. Generally when I get on edge like this, it gets really easy for me to lose my breath and get puffed out quickly. I also find it difficult to find rhythm in passing and setting as well as having the composure to look through the net, see the opposition and make good offensive decisions. This restricted our usually solid side out. We weren’t as intimidating being out of rhythm while running our offence, as well as being far from our decisive and ruthless best in defence.
It’s the biggest challenge we have faced since our newly formed and very young team has formed but I was very impressed with how we handled ourselves under the intense pressure of being taken to the limit against a team we should beat. The general team communication was impeccable, as neither player got too flustered, overwhelmed or frustrated. Even though I was playing like balls Casey continued to remain strong, take care of his role and performance, stay upbeat and would just look at me and say “come on bro, we got this”. The ability of each of us to back each other in, have complete faith and trust that we would pull through for each other really helped us scrap out a 18-21, 21-13, 15-13 win.
In the final we came across the “spider” Rhodri Simmonds and the infamous “Mosquito” Sam Halley. We took on the big man as we figured it would be a good match up and that we could put a big block in his face. Luckily enough we were able to get Rhodri a bit tense early on. We clicked, found our rhythm, sided out clinically and were at our defensive best with me getting a few shut outs and Casey getting a good touch on any half opportunity and putting it away. We ran away with the game winning in 21-11 21-10.
Key take-aways ad learning’s really came from the semi where we didn’t play well at all (or I didn’t, as Case still played pretty good). I don’t know if you’ve ever heard that your greatest lessons come from your loses but it is something I truly believe, so next time you’re shattered after a heartbreaking loss, flip it. Use it as an opportunity to grow yourself and better yourself. Anyway I really believe that any great team always backs the other person in and is built on trust, respect and faith. Every single point we spoke about what we as individuals could do better and there was no angst or resentment when someone screwed up. There was no blame or expectation of the other person to do more, just two players giving and backing their partner in, to find a way and pull through even if it wasn’t pretty. After every mistake we moved on quickly, stayed composed and had faith that the game was still in our control. In big games, tense situations where you aren’t playing well it is very easy to get frustrated and hard to keep these important team interactions. I was really pleased to see how the team handled its first test and scrap it.
Always give as much as you can, have fun and remember the harder it is to give the more important it is you do so and lastly go easy on yourself. Some days your best will be amazing and other it will just be ok or not enough but as long as you give your best you can be satisfied.
Thanks for reading and arr yeh Durant/ Grice are a team for 2014 if I didn’t mention that earlier. Looking forward to some intense competition, summer days, good ball and another summer of learning’s and growth.
Thanks again,
Durantula