just move. This year, we changed his footwork to make it more smooth and comfortable, so we’ve been working on that. Now it’s just a matter of him applying it without thinking. It is reps. We just started playing teams so his timing is all off on his jump when he goes to block. It’s more reps and reps and reps to get the thinking out of his brain and just let it go to where the body just reacts.
Players who want to get better have to embrace new things and being uncomfortable while they
learn it, right? John: Yeah. We always try to make ourselves uncomfortable, and our trainer does that. He puts us in situations that are uncomfortable for us, and you’ve got to fight through it, and you’ve got to find the rhythm. An hour into the workout, our trainer will say, ‘That’s the first time you looked smooth on that. You weren’t thinking about it. You just did it.’ But that can’t come an hour in. That has to come at the beginning of a match. As soon as Tri becomes comfortable right away, he’s going to be really good.
John, if you were restarting your vol-
leyball career at age 25, is there anything you’d do differently?
John: [Laughs] I’d keep playing indoor. I’d be making bank playing indoor. The money wasn’t nearly as big (for foreign club contracts) when I left the indoor game (in 2001). Me and Mike Lambert and Jeff Nygaard always talk about how our timing has sucked. The guys who are starting on the U.S. [national team] now are making a million dollars, whereas we were making a hundred thousand to a hundred and fifty. I don’t even like to talk about it. But outside of that, I would say if you want to be a top player, be sure to take care of yourself. Eating healthy is a way of life. Just get in that frame of mind of eating healthy rather than yo-yo dieting. Everybody wants a quick fix.
Unnecessary errors and the impor-
tance of reducing them is something you preached to Tri last season, John. Is that improving in Tri’s game?
John: It’s something you can always improve, just bettering the ball. If you don’t have the perfect pass, better the ball with the set. If the set’s not great, you’ve got to better the ball by not making errors. Ball control is a huge thing we’re working on right now.
We’ve got to get better. What, specifically, are you concentrat-
ing on? John: Well, anything off of easy serves,
HITTING THEIR STRIDE: Tri Bourne has embraced the disciplined work habits of his veteran partner, giving the pair plenty to celebrate as Bourne’s game soars to new heights. (Photos: FIVB, Peter Brouillet)
we’ve got to have better passes. Maybe we can hit it on two with better ball control. On free balls over the net, we can have better ball control. Off a dig, if I barely dig it off the ground, he’s got to have better ball control than just spraying it outside. He’s got to put it up where I can at least make an attempt at it. If we got six out of 10 last year, we’ve got to step it up to eight or nine out of 10 this year. That’s what’s going to win games. Every match that you lose by a point or two, you think, if I had just done this a little better. Those things can haunt you over a tourna- ment. There’s some that haunt me over a lifetime. [Laughs]
What drills do you do to improve the quality of your digs?
John: We’re working with a coach this
year, and he’s hitting a lot of balls at us. Tri is working on pulling off the net; his ball control has to get better on (overhead digs). We’re just getting more touches. Hundreds and hundreds of reps.
Do either of you need much encour-
agement from your partner when you’re competing?
Tri: Yeah, I think so. I think sometimes you know when your partner’s feeling it and they’re on, and other times … you’re not going to be perfect all the time. And you can’t expect your partner to be perfect every time. Last year, John said to me, ‘If I’m not on, you have to be better than me.’ Don’t be bad when I’m bad, and vice versa. So I look for that more and more. Should I sit back and say, ‘Why aren’t you playing well?’ or should it be, ‘Okay. You’re not necessarily on right now; I need to pick it up.’
John: I think Tri needs to be encouraged more than I do. Toward the end of last year, I got really frustrated. Because we spent so much time and so much effort practicing things, and then when it wasn’t transition- ing over into the matches, after a long year – and last year was a super long year – it got frustrating. And I think that got the best of me at the end of last year. There were times when I felt like I didn’t even want to be there. My attitude sucked. I hate being like that. I hate that I do that to him and he’s trying so hard to be good. My attitude has to be better this year. I have to have a more positive energy on the court and keep my head up. There are guys out there that are way worse than I am, but I don’t like being like that at all.
What are the small satisfactions that keep you motivated day to day in practice?
Tri: Just knowing that you’re getting
better, having a good practice, being focused and being kind of in that competition state of mind. That’s the only way you’re going to get better is practicing like it’s a game. It’s easy to show up every day and just go through the drills, but to be focused and to get nine out of 10 rather than seven out of 10 every time, there’s a huge difference. If you can get 10 out of 10 multiple times, it’s the difference between winning an entire tournament and finishing fifth. John: This year, I decided to help myself out by changing our practice time and place. My wife is helping out a lot (with the kids), so we start training at 10:30 instead of 8 or 9 in the morning. Before, I was sitting in the car for an hour to get here. Everything is just more relaxed this year. I think it’s made all the difference.
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