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Volleyball Voices Interviews Australian Setter Lauren Bertolacci
Volleyball Voices interviewed Lauren Bertolacci, Australian Volleyball National team setter currently playing in Germany. Read on for the interview...
VV: "If I could, I'd set like..."- Name the player past or present whose setting style you learn from the most...
LB: Thats not a tough one, it would have to be Takashita from Japan. The current national team setter. I could watch her play all day. She's unbelievable, everything she does is spot on, and she is extremely hard to read. She is up to my shoulder, and I stand at a large 170cm, you've got to have respect for that. She moves her attack around so well, isolating her players and giving them the best chance to win the point. She has aura about her, and it's not even just her setting. Her defense is unbelievable, nothing hits the ground that comes in the vicinity of her. I definitely try to model my game and attack on hers.
VV: What two things do you always try to remember to do when setting?
LB: Technically, I always have to remind myself of the two easiest things, get your feet under the ball, and take the ball high. The two most important things when setting, are also the two that can easily fail you when you when you are under pressure or tired. When I am having a bad training, and am starting to get inconsistent, it's always one of those two things, and I have to remind myself to concentrate on them for a while, and I get back into a rhythm. Tactic wise, my first thought tends to be, where are my blockers, who are my weakest blockers, and I line them up in my mind to my attackers, and try to isolate the one I want. Sometimes though it is simply, OK, so who is going to win this point for me. Ideally as a setter you love to get one on ones, and set the right option, give your hitter the best chance. But sometimes, someones on fire or you need a big point won, and we all know those kind of players, you just give it to them.
VV: What's the best thing about playing in Germany? (volleyball wise, culturally, and for personal growth)
LB: Volleyball wise, for me it has to be the atmosphere. The atmosphere is great on court, and in trainings. I played in France in Pro A last year, and it could not have been any different. The girls all seem to be really hard workers, and sometimes that is hard to find over here. During games we have about 500-700 people in a pretty small gym, making a lot of noise, its great to play in and we have great support from the town. Culturally, well I haven't been able to soak much up yet, having only got back here 3 weeks ago, but the people here are lovely. Helpful, nice and pretty patient with my terrible German! Personal growth, well you are always going to get some pretty awesome experiences playing in Europe. Its so far away from home, and the Volleyball is so much different. It forces you to learn a lot about living in a different country, being pretty independent, and exposes you to another side of Volleyball.
VV: What is the best conditioned European league team you've seen so far and why?
LB: Compared to the states and in Aus, I think its not as high a priority and tends not to be done as well, but it's slowly filtering through, and its not the same at all clubs. Those with the money to get the knowledge and the facilities do some good stuff. All depends on the level you are playing at and how much emphasis your clb puts into it in the budget i think. At my new club now we do some really great stuff. Luckily one of my assistant coach's is doing a PhD related to Sports science, so we do a lot of great proprioception, core and conditioning work. I suppose the best conditioned team I have played against was RC Cannes last year in Pro A. They have a great setup, and good support staff to provide the knowledge, and a lot of money!
VV: What're your expectations for the new Australian National team?
LB: I get asked this one a lot. We just competed at Asian Champs and finished 8th. We had a tough time against the top 8 teams, but it was a great experience. Our full time program shut down in 2005, and we only have 3 girls currently playing in Europe, quite a few in the States. Our team was selected this year after our National Championships, and it was young and inexperienced. But very very exciting. Its a new breed, a totally new program, we have a new coach, a new lot of very keen girls, who hope to stay together for a while. Thats they key, before Asian Champs we trained together for one week, tough gig. Our team is full of young, athletic, up and coming talent, and at 22 I was one of the more experienced players. So my expectations for the future, are very big. If we keep this group together and get more girls getting quality training, we will be a force. I intend on being around for a while, and bringing this team through, I think we can be big in Asia, and I would like to think have a chance at qualifying for the Olympics in 2012, and other major competitions. Its going to be tough, but you need to start somewhere, and this year was a good one.
VV: For a young 13-15 year old female player-name 5 conditioning exercises you recommend to do on her own to improve her leg strength and/or upperbody strength, core to prep her for her middle or high school or club volleyball team (bodyweight training or plyometrics and/or running)
LB: Five exercises...well core strength is so important. Young girls playing volleyball, in Aus at least, tend to neglect this, and coaches don't tend to focus on it. At 13-15, getting a good base of strength at that age is invaluable to further strength training in the future, and will help prevent a truckload of injuries. The other thing not worked on a lot is movement skills. A lot of girls can't run, and if you can't run, you probably aren't moving efficiently. Speed around the court is essential, and footwork is important for that. There are a lot of small agility drills and movement skills you can learn at that age that can improve this, they are pretty hard to explain written, and need to be taught well, so I will name 5 strength exercises i think are important to master at that age.
Single Leg body weight squats- Progressed from double leg, this is a great exercise for balance and strength. Body weight stuff might seem easy, but do ten of these and you will feel it the next day. It will build your strength and balance through your hips and legs, which ultimately leads to a better jump.
Single leg Bridges- get your butt involved. Girls neglect their bum. Which is a shame, because thats where your power comes from. This will activate and strengthen your glutes, a great core exercise.
Superman's- also called alternating leg and arm lifts. Good core exercise, strengthen the back, activates the bum, and adds a nice little bit of shoulder stability and retraction into it as well.
Rotator Cuff, External Rotation- Volleyballers use their shoulders so much. Serving and hitting uses medial rotation. So you train the opposite, as you do not want imbalances.. Grab a theraband, or a light weight, and do external rotation. Strengthening these muscles gives the shoulder the ability to slow the arm down better after the swing phase, as they work eccentrically there, and it will stop any imbalances and prevent any shoulder impingement or overuse injuries.
Planks, static holds- front, side, lifting arms or legs, there are so many different variations, but static holds are good for the abs and generally core stability, they are also a good testing point to see how your core is. You notice a lot of young girls pike when the do a front hold, indicating a lack of strength through the core region. You also notice a lot of girls shoulder blades 'wing' when doing a front hold, ie. the shoulder are rounded, not straight. this indicates weak upper back muscles, which are important, as I mentioned before we do a lot of work using the fron of our body, the back needs to be strong too. Side planks indicate strength of the obliques, and a lot of girls sag, strength in this area is vital in volleyballm just think of how much rotation you do when you spike.
So master these exercises young, and you will absolutely be laughing for the future, and have a great base for when you start some serious plyo's and weight training. These are essential exercises for established athletes as well, you can't neglect core work, and these five almost cover everything.
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