Mark Burik (00:00.216)
Hey guys, Coach Matt here. Just wanted to drop a quick intro into what you're about to be listening to on this podcast. Today we had AVP player Tyler Pinberty jump in with us and he shared a little bit about his story entering into the volleyball scene, how that happened, some partners that he remembers from the very beginning. Guys, if you're not doing this already, just make sure that no matter who you partner with, you are always looking for a way.
to learn something from them or give them something if you were the veteran player there. But Tyler talks about those events in his life and the takeaways that he has from his early on partners and then how he also almost qualified for the Olympics this year, unreal. So tune in, have fun, enjoy it. And then if you guys haven't already, make sure to check out our camp dates coming up. BetterAtBeach .com slash camps is where you can find that on our website.
We got camps coming up in North Carolina, Florida, all over the country. So make sure to check that out and tune in. ya. Been Orlando for a couple of years. When COVID hit, I went back up to Buffalo, New York, did my MBA in business. So I have a full -time job outside of volleyball. And now I live in beautiful St. Petersburg, Florida, where I train and coach, gosh, just about five days a week now.
It's been a lot I play on the AVP so I tried to play as many AVP events this year as possible and I also own my own business down here called Pelican City volleyball where we run grass volleyball leagues and tournaments down here in the Tampa Bay area. Unreal. I think the better question is what does Tyler Penberthy not do? my gosh. I've never doubled the ball in my life. That's something I don't do for sure. don't think I've ever.
No, I don't play basketball, believe it or not. I'm six foot six and I don't play basketball. So that's kind of a waste, but I feel like it's worth it playing beach volleyball. So there it is. There it is. Yeah. I one thing I've learned a lot about from Tyler is his ability to he plays. I've played against Tyler a few times. I'm over I'm over against him. That may be how many games we played against each other, at least two.
Mark Burik (02:21.556)
One thing I've learned about Tyler is if you talk trash to him, you're waking up a monster. So he plays better when he's angry, not necessarily angry, but like somebody's giving him that energy. So if y 'all need some trash talking lessons or whatever that may be, head down to St. Pete, Florida and jump into some grass leagues and hillbilly. Yeah, have some private lessons available for trash talk or am I allowed to swear out here?
Yeah. So some shit talk lessons. Yeah. I don't know if anybody listens to Sandcast, but there was an episode probably last year and they talked about some of the players in Florida and Brad Connors got brought up and he is known as the mouth of the South. And he was one of my first players that I, you know, really started playing within the open scene down here. it's safe to say I picked up a few lessons along the way from some pretty reputable guys.
That's awesome. Yeah, trash talk is such a beautiful part of the sport. great. Whatever it's controlled in the right way. great. Good stuff, Tell us a little bit about, let's hear the honest, raw, real feelings of your season. Are you calling it for the season? Are you done? Or you got anything else? So, yeah. So after, so we'll take a step back. So the beginning of the season,
I actually had the really cool opportunity to coach and train over in Portugal with a camp called Deep Dish. And so that's based out of the UK and they take both university students and adults over to Portugal for coaching sessions. So that was April through like early May. And at the same time, I started playing international volleyball with the US Virgin Islands, which I represent now. And so I go play internationally for them.
And so long story short, wasn't in the United States training in St. Pete for a lot of the time in the beginning of the season. So guys start pairing up. hear all the partner news, all the breakups, they're getting with them. They're playing with them this season. And so it was a kind of a shorthand notice, but I picked up somebody you guys might know called Brandon Joyner. I think that's how you say it.
Mark Burik (04:42.762)
And so Brandon and I played three events this year. So we played in Huntington Beach. We lost in the round to get in the third round of the qualifier to Caleb Quechol and Alvaro, who's an Olympian. We went on to play in Denver, lost in the round to get in there. And then we were main draw in AVP Wapaka this year. So we had a good three stretch of tournaments, probably a little bit less successful than I think I wanted to be.
But more so because Brandon and I weren't able to train together being on opposite coasts. Had an incredible experience playing with him, just the nicest guy, so fun to play with and really battled in a lot of games. But at the highest level, the margin of error is so small and these guys are training every single day or three times a week. And so they know what to do when the free ball comes over or they know what to do when certain things happen. And so I think.
That margin of error for us kind of hurt us a little bit where our scores were so close losing by two points every game. I know that sounds obvious, but sometimes you get blown out, right? So, you know, 2321, 2422. So just missing it by that little bit. and then for the last tournament of the year, ABP Manhattan or, for Virginia beach and Manhattan beach, I played with a St. Pete guy named Garrett Peterson, who I think a lot of you are going to be hearing more about. He's an extremely dynamic player.
jumps really high, hits the ball really hard and very fun to watch, unlike myself in my opinion. And so we had a really good finish. We finished ninth in Virginia Beach and then we qualified in Manhattan Beach, which was pretty awesome because that was my third year in a row qualifying for the main draw in Manhattan Beach. So that was one of the accomplishments I'm really proud of. Yeah, dude, what is it with you in Manhattan? It's special. It's so special. So the first two years ago, or sorry.
Yeah, two years ago, I qualified through a bid. Me and my partner finished fifth place in Wapaka, me and Carlos Jimenez. Last year, I qualified through the qualifier with Alex Ackleberg and then this year with Garrett Peterson. So it's actually been three straight years with three different partners. Unreal. Unreal. That's so fun,
Mark Burik (06:58.686)
So like going back to your question, it was a good year. I wouldn't say it was a great year I think we had a lot of opportunities to capitalize that I don't know if we took advantage of but you know getting in a main draw of a professional AVP tournament is is no small feat and definitely something I'm proud of but I definitely think I had a Little bit more left in me and then on the tail end of my Manhattan Beach trip So we qualified for main draw. We played on Saturday We played this other guy you guys might know Logan Wibber we beer
Is that how say it? And so we lost to them. I think it was 15, 12 in the third set. And so that was a really good battle. And then we lost our second game. So we went 0 and 2. And I was with a whole crew of people from St. Pete. And they're like, hey, you went 0 and 2. Let's go out surfing. Enjoy the rest of the day. Yeah, that sounds awesome. So we're up in North Manhattan Beach surfing. I almost stood up on the board. I was out there for like 30 minutes or so. And we had a whole group that were kind of rotating around.
And then as I'm walking into shore, I accidentally stepped on a stingray and they don't like that. Not a huge fan. And so the bar went right into the side of my left foot. And this was about two weeks ago now. So that is why I'm not playing the Hermosa open, which is coming up. I think the qualifier is actually today.
But I would have been main draw tomorrow, which is a huge bummer. had Jake McNeil, a Canadian guy, dialed up for that tournament, which would have been super fun. One of my buddies. So that was Manhattan Beach turned out to be the last tournament of the year for me. I'm pretty much better now, but haven't been training the last two weeks, just kind of getting back on the mend. And it's a long season. We started training in January down here in St. Pete.
Now it's September, so that's a full nine months of training two to three times a week, traveling to events, traveling internationally. So I'm happy to be in St. Pete relaxing for a little bit, to say the least. Yeah, somebody's got to go up to Buffalo and teach those guys how to stingray shuffle. don't know. I talked to the lifeguard. He said it's not a real thing. And he said that was the fourth sting that day on that beach that they dealt with. Which it's funny because I've heard, I don't know what it is about
Mark Burik (09:13.09)
the California beaches, but that's like the number one thing I hear about for any sort of interaction with wildlife there. Right. Stingray Stings. It's not. And I had no clue being from Buffalo. I had no idea. And does anyone know? I mean, I'm sure y 'all are based on the West Coast, but anyone know what they do for a stingray sting? yeah. Right in hot water. I really. That's it.
Yeah, all my friends are jerks and they're like, did you pee on it? Did you pour some beer on it? Like, no, that doesn't work. It actually makes it worse. Lee, your mic isn't working, but I hope you're going to say the same thing. I was going say pee. Yeah, there you go. So this is my official souvenir. So I have a bag. It's a Stingray bag. And they basically just pour hot water into it. And then you put your foot in there and it helps reduce the venom.
No way. it gives you. And that venom was about an eight and a half out of 10 on a pain scale. So if you see a stingray, don't step on them because they hurt like, hurt like hell. So wouldn't recommend. Dang dude. Well, that's a bummer. I think you forgot an important detail though. Guys, Tyler was super close to qualifying for the Olympics. also true. Yeah. So you give us the rundown on how that happened. Yeah, definitely. So,
I grew up playing indoor volleyball, but was never a very talented indoor athlete. was actually grew up a hockey player in Buffalo, New York, and found volleyball later in life. So I never did the USA volleyball pipeline. Never did the beach pipeline, right? Where they bring up all these juniors to play tournaments and get them in the system. And so I had never represented the USA before. And so I had a very unique opportunity to go and represent the US Virgin Islands, which is a territory of the US.
And there are different international tournaments called North Seca tournaments that these countries will travel to. And our country was able to send a team down to Tlaxcala, Mexico to go play in the bull ring down there for the pre -Olympic qualifier. And so the team that wins that tournament out of, I think it was 16 teams, gets to go to the Olympics. And so we played Mexico in the bull ring.
Mark Burik (11:33.322)
in the rain with all the Mexican fans around. And that was probably one of my favorite volleyball experiences I've had. And that was in May or June, June of this year. And so we finished six overall, but had some really, really good games against some amazing teams. And that's how the Canadian team of Dan Deering and Sam Schachter qualified for the Olympics. Wow. That's unreal, Yeah. And they beat Mexico in the finals. And I think we lost to Mexico in the quarterfinals.
It was, I think, 1816. Unreal. I bet that game was electric. It was. Mexico being in it. Yeah, you get the announcer, the monster block chance, the crowd is yelling and whistling like a soccer game, and the energy in the stadium is palpable. And you're in a bull ring in Mexico. I don't know if anyone's ever seen it. I'll try and pull up a picture quick.
an incredible beach volleyball venue. It's really, really great. That's awesome. And that's where they had World Jamps last year, I believe. So five spots behind qualifying for the Olympics. I know. Unreal. Penberthy from Buffalo. Who would have thought, right? So I know it's kind of tough, but this is what it looks like. don't know if you guys can see that.
but it's pretty special. So this used to be an actual bowl ring and they just plopped down some sand and you know, we did not have as a big a crowd as this, but it was exceptional. And the atmosphere and energy from the fans that are right next to you is just something I'll never forget. Really, really cool. Yeah. And luckily you feed off of hecklers. So I do, I do, but my Spanish isn't great. So I didn't know what they were saying and I didn't know how to trash talk in Spanish yet. That's something I'm working on. That's my goal for next year.
is to be able to heckle anybody that comes my way. And it's funny, because most of the heckling is just stupid shit that pops into my mind. It's just like the funny thing that is only funny to me. I don't really care if other people find it funny too. I like to stay in good graces with people in the volleyball community. I've talked some trash. I'm non -discriminatory trash talker, so I'll do it to anybody. So Coach Matt, text me.
Mark Burik (14:00.62)
and say, Hey, you want to jump on a pod? Absolutely. And like we trained together down here. Me and Nate Miller probably get into it the most out of anybody. but he is a very externally motivated player as in he needs somebody to fire him up to get him to the next level. Some people are just internally motivated and they don't need to say a word on the court. So it kind of depends on what makes you a better player and what can score you more points or even help your partner too. Sometimes your partner needs a pickup and needs you to
talk some trash to get them fired up. it's kind of whatever works best for you, you gotta find your way and play within the lines and make sure that you're not being too much of a jerk. And yeah, go from there. I love it. Nice. Knowing yourself, it's huge. I wanna ask you a little bit about your kind of your track. We always talk about like the trail, the beach volleyball trail. I think we took that term from Chatty Daddy.
But he'll always just be leaving camps and he'll be like, all right, I'll see you guys somewhere along the trail. you just never know when you're going to run into each other again and each volleyball scene. And so thinking about your trail, Tyler, in the very beginning, what was it that?
was I feel like in my career, at least where I was like here, here, here, here, then all of sudden, like there's this quick rise. So for you in skills, maybe not so much in but when did you start feeling confident about like, yeah, I can make this happen? When that happened for you?
And probably when I moved to Florida originally and started playing in open tournaments and realized how hard it was. So I started playing in Syracuse, New York. I moved from a small state school where I did my undergrad called SUNY Oswego. It's right on the lake between Canada and the U .S. and central New York. So it's about 45 minutes north of Syracuse. We were a hockey school.
Mark Burik (16:11.662)
didn't even have a football team. Right. And so I played club volleyball, helped coach the women's volleyball team, and then moved to Syracuse for a job after college in 2017. And it was more of, I like volleyball and I need to make friends. So in a new city where I didn't know anybody. And so I started playing in the co -ed fours league. had one indoor court for the city. And so I met the small community there, which are just.
the nicest people that I still stay in touch with today. Most of my best friends still live there. And so for me, it was more of an outlet of, know I like to play volleyball. Let's give this beach thing a try. It can't be too bad. It was at a bar, right? So there's at least something to help out there. And so then I started playing and as an indoor middle, when I played club growing up in high school and played a couple of years of high school club competitively, as a middle, I would get subbed out.
I wouldn't get set and I was always getting yelled at for not closing the block. And that's like all the worst parts about being in the middle. And so when I get out to the beach and I say sunshine, beer, bikinis, I'm playing every point. Wow. All right. This is way more fun. I like this. Then the competitive side of it. And then also the chess match side of it of the strategic side really piqued my interest. And so I played
tournaments in Syracuse, New York for about two years and then moved down to Orlando, Florida for my work and also to get out of New York state. And Orlando, Florida was really where it opened up my eyes to, there's levels to this shit. Like there is a deeper level of strategy and gamesmanship that I had no clue of and I never scratched the surface. I was lucky enough to jump in with a group of Brazilian guys in Orlando.
that I'm still in touch with. And they really showed me the path, specifically older players, believe it or not, that have been around the scene for a while, have won a lot of tournaments and understand the mental side, the shit talk side, the strategic side of the game. That's not, I'm athletic, I'm tall and I can jump high. It's now you're getting beat by older players that don't jump high, that don't hit hard, but are still winning more points than I am.
Mark Burik (18:30.956)
And so understanding that side of the game was something that was really influential on my process. And then by after probably a year or so in Orlando, I felt more confident that I'm on the right track of pursuing this as more than a hobby. even though it still is kind of a hobby for me, since it's not a full -time deal, but feeling more confident in playing tournaments. then COVID hit everything kind of went to shit.
I was still in Orlando for some of it. And one of the guys I know in Orlando, Eddie Cherry, opened up his own courts in some land that he owned because they closed down the public courts. And so then we started training and playing with more intention. I ended up moving up back to Buffalo. School, grad school went online. And so I went back down to St. Pete because I knew it had a better volleyball community. I knew I liked Florida.
And when I moved back down to St. Pete in 2021, the March of that year was when I won my first Florida Open tournament, which is a statement in a beach volleyball career because it is not an easy thing to do. So it took me four years of playing where I only won one tournament in Syracuse to get to the point where I felt like after I won my first Florida Open tournament.
Okay, I'm ready to keep ramping this up and to go traveling and start playing tournaments and learning what AVP points are. you know, thinking about this as more than just something fun to do on the weekends of putting in consistent work two to three days a week. Filming myself all the time, you know, to review the film and learn how I can be better and then keep picking up better and better partners along the way. And that's kind of the track that I followed.
And I think the breakthrough moment for me was the Wapaka finish of fifth place in 2022. That was the moment where I think my partner carried me. He played exceptionally well that tournament, but qualifying for a main job bid off of an ABP tournament was more so of, okay, maybe I do belong at this level. Yeah, that's awesome. And Eddie's place is sick by the way. I went there for the first time.
Mark Burik (20:50.932)
a few weeks ago, leading up to Virginia Beach. I was training against TJ and Kevin. And it's, it's obviously it's kind of, it's got weeds and stuff on the sidelines, but sand and the courts are like very high caliber. Yeah. Yeah. So he, owns a land clearing business. And so he just went out and built his own courts, had the resources to do it. Right. And so he's got all the machinery he needs and he started with one and then there's two and now
I think there's six. around there. like four to six. Yeah. Yeah. And so now he's got a junior's program going out of there and has created an opportunity for players in and around the Orlando area to play and compete at a high level at a really good facility without having to worry about court space, which is usually the biggest issue anywhere you go outside of California. For sure. Man. Yeah, really cool spot. What? So
Remind me your first partner's name. Is it Cam? Cameron Brown. Yeah, Cambrough. So I always love looking back and I know you probably do too, but like looking back, I think my career is a little bit smaller than yours this far. Like I've only been playing for a few years and you've got probably what? Like 10 years now? Yeah, seven years of beach, but I played a couple years of club in high school. But again, as a middle, I don't even know if I consider that.
But having the fundamentals down, know, being able to bump set and serve and hit, especially being six foot six, you know, it makes life a lot easier when you start out on the beach. For sure. So with Cam, I always like to I love looking back at my partners that I've had up to this point and see what I learned from each of those partners. And I bet for you, you could look back at that partnership with Cam and say and it for those.
for them that don't know Tyler, tell them about Cam and like who he is, where he's from too. Cause this is such a, such a huge thing that I hope, I hope every player kind of like grasp onto. So tell us about Cam right quick. So my best friend Cam Brown is born and raised in Syracuse, lives in Syracuse. He's just a diehard beach volleyball fan in Syracuse. And so he was my first beach volleyball partner. I met him on the first day I moved to Syracuse, New York.
Mark Burik (23:17.422)
and that summer we became fast friends over the next two to three months. He's like, Hey, I got a room open to my apartment with three other guys. want to move in? Yep. All right. Cool. We became best friends. Right. And so that whole summer he was my beach volleyball partner and he'd been playing for a few years and had grown up around the beach volleyball scene in Syracuse, which is lower level, but still, you know, good two -on -two volleyball with, some good youth players that went on to play collegiate ball. but he is just about as passionate.
in the game of beach volleyball as I've seen from anybody and as a coach himself of a JB team coaches club, he's a now high school art teacher. So, you know, has the summers off, we would go and referee and play at this place, Sharkeys all the time in Syracuse. But the couple of things I learned from him was definitely the fundamentals of the game, the strategy of it, when to do what. But I think more so of just how to be a good partner.
you know, because we were such good friends, how to communicate with your partner on the court. What is your body language look like? What are you telling your partner without even saying anything? and then having fun playing the game. If you're not having fun, you're not doing it right. And by golly, that, guy has fun every time he steps on the court, whether he wins or loses. So he is just one of the best people I've met in my life. And we were lucky enough. He just got married this past May and I was the best man.
but we did our bachelor party at fuzz. And I don't know if anybody knows what fuzz is, but it's a big party volleyball tournament in the panhandle. And, we were lucky enough to win men's open this year. And that was a really, really special moment that we were able to do that. And, you know, his whole family and friends are around them made the trip down and the whole bachelor crew. So that was really special, but just being a good partner. you know, he,
had come from some injuries and didn't even know if he was going to be able to like walk again. And so just being grateful and having the perspective of being able to play this beautiful sport with friends and being able to compete, I think is a mindset that is easy to lose as you progress along your AVP journey, but is always important to keep in the back of your mind that, wow, how lucky are we to be able to go out in the sunshine and play this beautiful sport? So he's taught me.
Mark Burik (25:42.186)
a ton and you know as like an undersized outside hitter and then picking up the young guy in town you know we went through the trials and tribulations of losing quite a bit and so that fuzz win was actually our first tournament win together as well which was really really cool. Dude those those full circle moments are are awesome in beach volleyball. I think that's that's that's a blast man. Yeah I remember playing against you and Kim and
forget where that was, but. Siesta or Anna Maria, something like that, but you definitely can't tell how much he just thoroughly enjoys the sport of beach volleyball. So for those of you listening, like. I asked him that because I knew that he would have an answer and so for you guys that are potentially maybe you've been in the game for a long time and you're a cam to someone else or you're just entering into the game and you're a Tyler.
looking for a cam. Just want if you're the Tyler make sure you're always just trying to find at least one thing to grasp onto from everyone. I'm sure Tyler would say this to cams awesome, but I think Tyler outgrew his volleyball game. But he still looks back at those times with cam and he has something from cam that he can take with him for the rest of his career. And so just keep that in mind as you're playing with these people that maybe you might potentially outgrow.
But you can still learn from something from them. So just make sure you're always looking for those different lessons, even if it's just to thoroughly enjoy the sport of beach volleyball because it's such a beautiful sport. That's a huge reminder that we all need. So either be a cam or be a Tyler who soaks up everything, be a cam who is willing to give to the community. So I love that. Moving on to our next
conversation for Tyler looking forward. think everybody in this group is probably entering into an offseason of some sort. I think the only one that may not be is well, guess Anastasia could probably fit in that too since she has some indoor facilities there and Fort Collins and then you got John in San Diego, which I guess CBVAs might be wrapping up sooner or later but but for
Mark Burik (28:08.972)
Those of us who are entering into an offseason Tyler, what is your. All season. What is your off season looking like this year and what kind of goals do you have going into the off season? Because I think it's super important goals even for the off season. So what you got cooking. It's interesting. We don't really have an off season down here in Saint Pete. Like you know we have a slow season, but the weather just happens to be beautiful all year round anyways. So yeah, I think I think.
I'll touch on my off season last year. I've always had, I'll say an imbalance. I'm quad dominant on my right leg when I jump. And so one of the things that was particularly pesky for me was my left knee. And so it would continue to hurt or, you know, just not feel a hundred percent.
And so my main focus of the off season last year, and I worked with a strength coach was to develop a program around myself to rebalance the load on my body to make sure that when I went full send this season, which I did, that I was ready and my body was prepared for it. So if there's one thing in your game that you think is weak, whether it's, my shoulder hurts when I hit or my elbow or my hip, whatever that is.
try to at least add in one to two focus days a week. For me, it was TRX pistol squats, single leg split squats, Bulgarian squats. It was a lot of activities that were mainly focused around solving one of the problems that I had in my opinion, right? Just what my body was telling me from the off season. And then more specifically, I took more time away from volleyball last year around like November, December timeframe.
And then had that mental reset so that by the time January came around, I was rocking and rolling and ready to go. So, I'm a big bike rider. So I love riding my bike around town for cardio. I hate running. It's just not for me. but we did a lot of sand workouts, the gym workouts, focusing on the, you know, dynamic chain and also with my left knee that I was working on, which is now feeling excellent.
Mark Burik (30:26.242)
you know, pretty much similar to my right leg as well, which is great. And then when the preseason starts for me, no off season moving into preseason, you start from the fundamentals and then work your way all the way up. So the first month or two of practice looks really boring, but it's all working on solid platform server seed hitting techniques. So picking those one or two things in your off season can really
pay off dividends and can set you up better for the next year. So to be completely honest, I wasn't sure if I was playing her most or not. So I haven't even thought about the off season. Like I'm physically there as an, I'm not training and competing and I'm drinking beer on the weekend again, right? But mentally I haven't put forward the effort of what does next season look for me? Who knows what the AVP looks like next year? You know, we, was kind of a question mark this year as well of how many events are we going to get? How often can I.
you know, travel to these tournaments financially to make it work as well. And so there's still a lot of question marks around that, but I do have some of the same focus where I'm going to be working on my hitting form this year, working on being more dynamic and then starting the off season program in the gym while also working in one to two days a week of basic fundamentals training for fun and just to maintain the skills that I already have. I love that. So.
I'm here in maintenance and then simple, simple days in the sand. Yep. That's what it looks like for me. And I also love that you're obviously it was kind of forced, but at the same time, I love that you're kind of, weren't, I love that you used the phrase. I'm not in all season mode yet. What is that middle ground? Obviously a piece of it was the injury, but I feel, I want to say it's also a piece of kind of looking back.
to in a way? Is that is accurate? What do think? Yeah, it's a little bit of both. I'd say probably the middle ground for me is just gonna be playing grass volleyball. So playing grass nationals, which is gonna hurt my body more. So that's dumb. But all right. So we're doing grass nationals coming up here in three weeks in Gainesville, Florida.
Mark Burik (32:40.718)
so very, very excited about that. I'll play in my grass league that I run here on Tuesday nights, which is super fun. So we get like 20 to 25 teams out of night to come play grass volleyball, co -ed fours, but that's more just to maintain the love of the game and to develop the community than it is to improve my skills. but that answers your question, but.
I heard you're playing with in Grass Nationals. So doubles, I picked up Nate Miller. Nice. Yeah. And he is, if anybody doesn't know Nate, go watch a couple of YouTube videos of Grass Nationals. There's a really good video of him in South Carolina two years ago talking shit to Taylor Crabb. And that is a very fun video to watch. And it was Taylor Crabb, Andy Binesh.
And, who's Gina Eric Brannick. Yeah. And, and, and that is a fun video if you need some something to watch tonight on YouTube, but Nate Miller is an excellent grass volleyball player. played with Adam Roberts this year in the AVP, qualified for, qualified for Manhattan beach, but he really got his roots in Pennsylvania playing grass volleyball. And so he's kind of the guy when it comes to grass. And then for triples, it's, me, Ian Barker, who's also from Buffalo and now lives in Orlando.
And then Spencer Gaston from South Carolina. Nice. Good old Spence. Yeah. Carolina, sorry. By the way, Nate Miller's on Selton's hit list. Yeah. Yeah, I'm from PA. He went to my college. He comes up here, he plays. I play against him in open tournaments. Yeah, quite a...
quite often, haven't beaten him yet, so we'll see. Yeah, it is very hard to beat him on the grass. He's very explosive, very, yeah, yeah, yeah. He's something. Yeah, so I got the guy, is what I'm saying. I think I found the guy. Yeah, I'm really stoked on that. we're going to be, to be in all transparency, I told him that my AVP organization is going to sponsor the team, right? So Team Pelican City.
Mark Burik (34:53.442)
Give us a follow on Instagram. Come check it out. We got some cool content hosting some big tournaments down here in the Tampa Bay area if you ever down but yeah, so it's more of a really cool opportunity and him or me. We're really good buddies and so it'll be a fun tournament and you know, well if I can't win with him then I'm just not playing grass again. I can't win with anyone. That brings up a great point but before I ask you this, go ahead and drop your Instagram handle for your personal
Yeah, this is down there just so we can plug you a bit for sure. I do not know Byron by the way.
Mark Burik (35:33.494)
yeah. Sorry, probably just missed him. I was just wondering, cause he worked that deep dish. good.
Mark Burik (35:43.304)
They bring in some really great coaches year after year and it's if you ever get the chance to go do one of those trips I don't know if this is a conflict of interest, but they're fun You know Our order kind of goes to all of them. So As long as they don't conflict with yeah, I don't think they do and it's it's kind of those yeah
It's similar to like you guys are doing the Dominican, which is super cool. I was really stoked to see that. Like that's going to be an awesome trip. think going to that sort of destination and doing a camp is just such a unique experience. And I just had the best time with the campers. Like you really get to connect over time and the weather is beautiful and the volleyball is great. The beaches are awesome. Like that's going to be super, super cool. Yeah, we're excited. It'll be a blast. I want to ask the question going into that tournament, wouldn't they? You said a comment.
then if I can't win with Nate in the grass, can't win with anybody. So I might as well quit. But yeah, that obviously there's there's pressure in that. And I think we can all relate when maybe you get picked up by a partner that you feel the pressure of this person wins a lot or is a really good player in the community. And then somehow we get a chance to play with them.
And obviously, Tyler, you got an amazing game too, so don't down your play at all. But Nate's just known as the grass guy. And so going into that, how are you approaching that feel and that pressure of playing with someone who's basically expected to win? Basically going in as the one seed or playing with a really good partner. It's interesting because I've always considered myself
being from Buffalo right around as an underdog for any tournament that I go into, really like having that mindset. And so as I've gotten my EVP points up, I've become more of the one seat at these tournaments. And it does become challenging because everyone is gunning for you, right? As a top player. And that's something that is part of the game and as an athlete and sort of a mind's...
Mark Burik (38:01.314)
that switch for me. I think I'm still working on it from like being a one seed, but playing with a partner that's better than you are or getting a cool opportunity. I think if you try to internalize it and feel that pressure and just kind of say, no, that's not real. Then that's the complete wrong way of doing it. You need to recognize the emotions of being nervous, of feeling anxious, of
Are they going to be okay? Is that set? Okay. Is this that like that is all completely normal. And I think everybody does that no matter on what level. So for me, it comes down to recognizing those emotions, but realizing the skills and abilities that I have have gotten me to that point. And that the worst thing that's going to happen is we're going to lose and then we can go get a beer after. So.
It may seem like it's do or die, but it's not. It's volleyball and it's a game. And if you have the perspective of, okay, I'll make a mistake, but they probably will too. And I'm playing with a better player. So they should help me screw up some of my screw ups, right? They can help me better the ball. So viewing them as the true partner and not as like a.
almost like an adversary, right? Like they're the, we're fighting the other team, but then I'm also trying to impress my partner that I'm playing with. So just recognizing the skills that you have and the abilities and going into it with a growth mindset is probably the best way that I would go about it. I love that. I love that. Y 'all take note of that. Cause that's, I think that's like for anyone, you know, going into it with a growth mindset and looking at them as your team rather than somebody that you need to impress in any way.
Like they've committed to that day with you, whether that's a league or a tournament or just pick up. They've committed to that day with you. And so they're, they're your team for that day. And that's such a freeing feeling to be like, I got this guy who can better any ball. And that's going to be, and sometimes there's going to be even games when Tyler and Nate step on a court and the other team is already defeated. Like they'll see them warming up and they'll be like, yeah.
Mark Burik (40:22.798)
this is not going to be pretty. And so there's the potential for that too. It's one of two things, either you get their best game ever, they become dogs, or they're like, yeah, this is gonna be good. There's no in the middle. And so, I mean, I think that's such a valuable thing for all of us, no matter what our level is, to keep in mind if we're playing with someone that we view as maybe a little bit better in the environment that we're playing in.
whether that be beach or grass or anything else. So thanks for sharing that, Tyler.
Mark Burik (40:59.874)
Man, I feel like we've covered so much already, but we still got, mean, we don't have to go the whole time. Maybe we could just open it up to a Q and A, or if you want to add anything else Tyler, that you're like, really just something's pressing on you that you want to share with everyone.
So I coach here in Tampa Bay. coach for a club called volleyball paradise and we coach members of all levels. So adults that live in Tampa Bay and love beach volleyball and want to get better. So all the way from B all the way to AA and low level open. my coaching style is centered around a Brazilian philosophy because that's where I gained, you know, cut my teeth when I was in Orlando. And so my style of coaching revolves around a lot of repetition.
So a lot of dynamic movements, a lot of hurdles, running through cones, and then performing an activity versus just tossing the ball and passing it. No, you're going to run through the cones, do two hops, and then pass the ball because it's not very often in the game where you are starting from a standstill and then starting your motion. No, it's usually in transition when we need that dig that goes behind our head and we need to scoop it back.
Or when you run down a high line shot and then you need to be able to go up and hit. So there's a lot of interesting techniques using the Brazilian playing style. And there's some really cool Instagram content that'll probably be coming out this January, February from pro players that go down to Brazil and train with four coaches in the deep sand down there. And I think if you want to change up some of your training styles and practice styles, I think.
High repetition activities with good focused form while putting yourself under stress will make you a better player. Love that, yeah. And by the way, volleyball in paradise is one of our friends. We love volleyball in paradise. I coached with them for a little while. Just Jenna, who runs is awesome. She cares about the beach volleyball scheme so much, so nothing but love and respect for that crew. And that brought up a question I meant to ask earlier to you, Tyler.
Mark Burik (43:13.408)
If you could think about one thing that you feel takes a beginner to intermediate or intermediate to advanced, what is it? Could be a skill. It could be. I feel like a normal answer for this is just consistency. But, but if it was one thing, because we have people from all levels in this group, open, BB, intermediate, all the above.
What would be the one thing you would tell them from all you've seen from your career and from the people you coach? What is the one thing that like just absolutely skyrockets you to the next level? I have two things for beginner to advanced. One is situational awareness. Knowing what to do at the right time. I think is a really big thing.
so that means that you're understanding the flow of the game, starting to understand players, abilities and tendencies. So if you play against an old guy, are they really going to be hitting it straight down? Or are you playing against a young buck? Are they smart enough not to hit it straight down? Right. So understanding player tendencies and situational awareness in the game, I think is something that's very important for
beginner to intermediate. Once you learn the fundamentals and you start playing games, starting to figure out what to do and when. The second thing I have for beginners to intermediate is filming yourself playing. That was the biggest revelation that I had. I have film of my entire 2022 season. Every practice, every game is on film. A cheat code to doing that.
is uploaded to YouTube unlisted. This makes it a private video for you and then you delete it off your phone and it is always accessible to you anytime you want it. So you don't see you recorded on your phone, get a good tripod, 20 bucks, record yourself practicing games, watch back the important times or the whole thing. If you have time for it, watch your form, especially in games, working on the situational awareness.
Mark Burik (45:38.358)
and then make one or two mental notes, the next time you go out, you're gonna focus on those. And then maybe you never watch that video again, but Google is hosting it somewhere on the cloud for you. So that's pretty sweet. So I think video review is huge. And I know that, you know, the better a beach allows for video review as well. And I think video review with a coach is an extremely helpful tool that I wish I had earlier in my career. Now going from intermediate to advanced,
It kind of stinks saying this, but when I went from intermediate to advanced, my biggest growth happened when I lost a lot. I played a ton and I lost a lot. But by golly, if I didn't pick up one or two things from every loss so that I didn't feel that stinging pain again. Like you learn quick because losing sucks.
And it's uncomfortable. But if you're going to accept that you're an athlete that likes beach volleyball, you have to be okay with winning and losing. There's only two options. It's a binary sport. There's no ties. And so by losing and playing a lot, you learn about yourself. You learn about yourself talk when it's 21 20 and you're serving for match point. I used to get in my head and say, don't miss this serve. You know what happened?
Mr. Frickin serve, you know, so that doesn't happen anymore. But only because I put myself in all sorts of weird situations and tournaments all across Florida and New York state to better prepare myself for tournaments in the future to set myself up for future success. Losing is OK. You're going to lose more than you're going to win in most things in life. Just generally. And so the biggest growth I had from intermediate to advanced was losing and
Challenging myself playing open tournaments when I was a double a player and learning things from those from the film So that the next time I come back I have a better chance than I did if I just went in one to a division, right? I like that. So you took the route of There's usually two routes that people take there's route one where they stay in a level until they win that level or there's route two where You just jump up as fast as possible. No matter
Mark Burik (48:05.59)
any times you win. What was the route that you took there? I was a little bit different because I had the skill set and in New York we only had intermediate and advanced tournaments and nobody wanted to see me in an intermediate tournament. And so I think I barbecued in my first like four tournaments in advanced. But when I got down to Florida, I jumped into open. I'm not saying that a B player should go play a double A tournament. But if you're in semi -finals of a double A tournament,
Go win a couple games in open and see what the level and differences like if you feel like you're ready and you're on the fringe of making the next step. The comfort zone is going to win another lower level double a tournament and that'll make you feel good, but the growth will happen if you go challenge yourself in a lower level open tournament and try to break pool or make quarterfinals because that's growth. Yeah, that's cool. I love that. Yeah. And so Mark.
There's a few coaches that'll be like, yeah, stay in this level until you win and then move up, stay in this level. I took that route as well. My first tournament was back in first tournament ever playing volleyball was back in 2019. it was a grass triples tournament and it was a double B tournament and I go ONA on the day. It was back in 2019 and now started touching a volleyball.
And something in me just, and some of these guys know about this, but something in me was like, I had an, like just not fitting confidence. Like as something in me told me it was time to move up. I look at that double B tournament and I say, I O and A. I think it's time to move up now. I'm going to play A next time. And so moved up to A. I think I got like one win in pool play.
yeah, I want to pull the, all right, now I'm moving up. And so then I like just kept losing and my motto was like, I'm going to lose. I'm going to lose to the best ones here because I don't want to learn just how to beat these guys. I want to learn how to beat the best guys. And so I took the motto of similar to what you said, losing a lot to the best that I could play against, but just all of sudden, these games got a little closer. Yeah.
Mark Burik (50:32.334)
and it, yeah. And it's interesting too, because, you know, there's what 14 people on this call, right? Not everyone is meant for jumping up and taking the jump, but y 'all are here in your free time to learn about beach volleyball. So clearly you care about the sport and you want to get better. And so if you feel like you're ready to go take that jump.
Take the jump. It's not for everybody because it is scary, uncomfortable waters out there. But once you learn to swim, it's pretty damn fun. Yeah, it's a blast. Another thing I'll couple with that and then we'll just kind of open it up for a few questions. alongside of that, if your next jump, and I think about you, Celtsin, is maybe traveling to tournaments rather than just playing local tournaments, always try to find
a way to make that trip a win no matter what. Not related to volleyball, but like for example, me and my partner Joe, 2023 I think we drove up to Wisconsin from St. Pete, Florida and that is a trek. That was like a 24 hour drive and we decided the week off to drive and we drove his truck up there, you know, just
chugging along and I knew that if we just made this trip and it was all about volleyball, this was not going to be good. And yet even if we would have done well in the qualifier, we ended up losing first round to a team that I don't think we should have lost to. It some of your New York boys, Tyler, I think. But what we did was we stopped in Louisville.
to see my family that I haven't seen since high school. And so that one night with my family that I haven't seen since high school in almost eight years was a win. That trip was a win just because I got to see my family. then like the night before it was 4th of July and we all went to a lake and watched fireworks and like all of us as a group of friends that were playing in the qualifier the next day. And so I say that to say like,
Mark Burik (52:54.252)
Don't just look at if the next step for you is traveling to tournaments. Don't just look at these trips as business trips where volleyball is the only way that we're going to be victorious or this trip is going to be a success if we do well in volleyball. Because just like Tyler said, you lose a lot in volleyball. Every single tournament only has one winner. And so the chances of someone going to a tournament and winning
are very low. And so as you're going into that, that phase in your career of maybe traveling to tournaments that might be a bit further away, a big investment, try to find ways apart from volleyball to make that trip a victorious trip. And so it may be seeing friends, it may be, I don't know, I would even count, I would do private lessons on trips just to make it a win in the financial side.
So if I'm taking a long trip, I would just hit up that group, that area and be like, hey, I'm in the town. If y want to do private lessons and then that would be how I'll pay for that trip. So there's different ways that you can make it wins. And just sightseeing is awesome. Also really cool seeing a new place that you've never been to before. So, and it takes the pressure off the plate too. Tyler, thank you, man. It's been a pleasure getting to chat with you and jumping in here. You're welcome.
Yeah, any other questions? Just shoot me a DM on my beach volleyball Instagram account. Happy to answer anything y 'all have. And if you're ever down in St Pete and want to play beach or grass, just send me a message. We'll get you hooked up with the right crew down here. It's beach volleyball paradise, folks. It is. It is. I love it. Well, thank you guys for chiming in. Tyler, again, appreciate you. I hope to see you soon.
