BEACH VOLLEYBALL do what I do. John is strict about his diet. Has that
infl uenced you, Tri? Tri: Right now I’m learning about what
different foods do to my body, which is really hard. You don’t do that naturally. So I’ve been trying to pay attention to it. I’m on sort of a
strict diet plan when we’re in season. John, do you raise an eyebrow if he
orders dessert?
John: I’m not on him, but our trainer will get on him. If Tri is having a rough workout, he’ll say, ‘What’d you eat?’ Tri: He’s strict. When I fi rst started working with him, he told me to take a picture of all the foods that I eat – every meal. And I showed up the next day thinking, ‘He’s going to like it.’ John: He took a picture of ribs. [Laughs] Tri: Yeah, I had one of ribs. He looked at my pictures and said, ‘You eat worse than my eight-year-old son.’ John: You have to fi gure things out. Like,
there’s fi ve different meats, so you have to fi gure out which meat is the best fuel for your body. Different greens — which one are you feeling best on? Figuring all that over a period of time is tough. And doing things like eating a healthy breakfast every day. We bring oatmeal everywhere we go. That’s going to fuel the body better than most things.
Who’s in control of music if you’re both riding in a car together?
John: Whoever is not driving. Tri: I think he’s a little pickier. There have been times when he’ll say, ‘This song is ter- rible.’ I’m pretty lenient. I like my reggae. John: I’m good with the reggae. I’m good with a lot of music, but there’s a lot of crap music out there, too. So sometimes, it’s like, ‘I can’t listen to this again.’ But other than him not knowing who Guns N’ Roses is or some- thing like that, we’re okay. Tri: He quizzes me. John: Yeah, we’ll be walking at tourna- ments and I’ll say, ‘Hey, do you know who this is?’ And he’ll say, ‘I’ve heard the song…’ Tri: Heard it on the oldies station. [Laughs] I’ll listen to some Eminem, rap, hip hop. John: I’ll listen to that stuff, if they’re good. Eminem is obviously easy to listen to. His songs are more intelligent. It’s not just someone going ‘uhn, uhn … uhn, uhn’ every fi ve minutes.” Tri: Or “I’m awesome. I’m awesome. I’m
awesome.” Tri, you’ve been to a couple of rodeos
recently. Tri: Yeah, my buddy is in that industry,
so he’s been taking me along to some of the events. We hang around with the bull riders. I
40 | VOLLEYBALLUSA • Digital Issue at
usavolleyball.org/mag
PASSING GRADE: John Hyden’s strong attention to detail has kept him competing at the highest level. (Photo: FIVB)
like being around other professional athletes. Ever thought about getting on a bull and giving it a try?
Tri: No. I like my body too much. Every single time those guys get on a bull, there’s a 50 percent chance they’re going to get injuries. And they’re always talking about stuff like, ‘The bull’s horn just went through my lip. I’m just going to glue it. I don’t want to get stitches.’ Just talking like it’s nothing. They’re crazy. They ride with broken bones.
That’s not for me. John, what are the boundaries for
offseason activities? John: Well, I haven’t played basketball in about 10 years because I’ve sprained my ankle so many times playing basketball, and this is my livelihood. Tri goes out and does things, and I don’t take that away from him. He does pretty much anything. Skydiving, swimming with the sharks. The guy’s basi- cally a TV show. You did those recently? Tri: I went skydiving in December, and sharks was a year ago in Africa. I’m into that stuff. My family has literally covered every sport at a fairly high level. I’m the only vol- leyball player. I grew up doing canoe paddling competitively. That’s just how I grew up - do- ing activities all the time. John: A couple of more years, when I’m retired, I’ll be able to do whatever I want. But I think you get to a point where, with
family, you decide you can’t do things like go skydiving. I’d rather miss out on skydiv- ing than miss out on my kids, for crying out loud.
When it comes to training and diet, would you say you’re the most disciplined team on the tour?
John: Damn right for diet. Watching half of these guys eat on tour. Oh, man. But yeah, I would say we’re probably one of the more disciplined teams. Tri: I think we are.
Is there a good message there for younger athletes who may not be thinking yet about what they’re eating?
John: The message is, if you only knew then what you know now. You look at a lot of the older athletes in any sport, they fi nally fi g- ure out (the importance of) nutrition. You look at receivers in pro football; they’re all cut up, and it’s because they’re changing their meal plans and they’re changing their off-the-court workouts to prolong their careers. I think in any sport now, you see athletes who are older because fi tness is getting better and nutrition is getting better.
Tri, are you ahead of the curve for someone your age on those things be- cause of John’s infl uence?
Tri: For sure. A lot of people come up and ask me about (our habits) just because they overhear us talking about them. It would weigh on me if I passed up the opportunity to learn these things at a young age when I knew the right things to do. It’s a new-age athlete. If you want to be one of the best athletes in the world, you’ve got to eat well. It’s a huge part of it. And it’s a sacrifi ce, but you just have to accept it. John: The thing is, if you eat healthy, you can have some desserts. As long as you’re eat- ing healthy and not overdoing desserts, you’re going to be fi ne. But most people are extreme in what they do — with their 32-ounce lattes and 600 calorie drinks. Tri: Make your whole diet a lifestyle, not a one-week gnarly cleanse.
John, last year you said one thing Tri needed to improve on was consistently following through with the game plan after the two of you had discussed it. Sometimes, he veered off course. Are you continuing to reinforce that in preseason practices?
John: Yeah. I reinforce it over and over. Sometimes, he thinks too much, and he’s got a lot to think about. He’ll sometimes say things like, ‘I was thinking about moving my feet.’ We have to get past that to where he’s done it so many times that he’s not thinking, his feet
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