NOTEBOOK Ask the Olympians Q
“What is the harshest piece of advice you ever received that later proved to be really important?”
Nicole Davis 2008 and 2012 U.S. Olympic Women’s Volleyball Team silver medalist
“I think the harshest piece of advice that I have ever gotten from a coach was from Mick Haley, my junior year at USC. Mick, more or less, said to me, ‘sometimes, you should do exactly opposite of what your instinct tells you.’ Of course, I thought that made no sense. What he was doing though, at least I think, was challenging me to look at things differently. I was a very reactive person when I was younger, especially if I didn’t understand a situation. So I began to be aware of where my thoughts were, and also what my perspective was as well as, why. Now, we talk a lot about dealing with adversity on the national team, both on and off the court. Adversity is all about how you respond to situations and much of the time, our responses are a direct result of how we choose to see the situation. When Mick fi rst said this to me I thought he was just challenging me, pushing my buttons so to speak. Now I know that it was one of the biggest trigger points in my life for growth. To know that I can choose to think a certain way and that I don’t have to follow my gut reaction — that maybe there is a better way to think and act. When you are empowered by this, dealing with adversity becomes easy. Even though I wasn’t inspired by it 10 years ago, it’s inspired a lot of change for the better, as a person, athlete and teammate.”
Jake Gibb
2008 and 2012 U.S. Olympic Men’s Beach Volleyball
“Harshest advice was when Mike Dodd told me I was too skinny and that he wanted me to put on 15 pounds of muscle. This was in 2011. I got with Tim Pelot (USOC Strength and Condition- ing Physiologist) and put on the muscle and we fi nished 2012 as the No. 1 team in the world. Must’ve worked :)”
Jen Kessy 2012 U.S. Olympic Women’s Beach Volleyball silver medalist
“The harshest piece of advice I was ever given was that I needed to lose 15 pounds. I thought that I was in good shape and for someone to tell me I needed to be in better shape really rocked my world. At fi rst I took it personally and it hurt my feelings. Then after taking a deep look at myself and my eating and fi tness routine I realized the advice I was given was spot on. It proved to be pretty good advice because that year we became world champions!!”
PHOTOS CLOCKWISE FROM UPPER RIGHT: DON LIEBIG, PETER BROUILLET, FIVB
18 | VOLLEYBALLUSA • Digital Issue at
usavolleyball.org/mag
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