Mark Burik (00:00.11)
What's up guys, Coach Matt here. Just wanted to drop in and say thank you. And before I announce who our podcast guest is this week, I wanted to drop a few dates in there. We have a few more camps in the year of 2024. Rounding it out with three left. We have November 22nd through the 24th. We're heading to Long Island, New York and Scottsdale, Arizona at the same time. Those are almost full, so make sure you're checking those out if you're really interested in attending those.
I highly recommend getting signed up ASAP. And then our final camp, which is going to be awesome, November 30th through December 6th, we're going to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. That one is also almost filled up. There's still a few spots. So if you're debating it, I highly recommend checking it out. Sure to email to supportatbetterabeach.com and see if you can jump in. We'd love to have you join us at a camp. So check those out. All right, for the podcast guest today.
We have Anastasia Somoilova. She is from the Latvian national team. She's a two-time Olympian. And we just talked through her journey a little bit and how she got into beach volleyball and just her Olympic journey and just that qualification process and what's next for her. So it was an awesome conversation with her. She's great. And she had some really, really awesome advice for young athletes who are potentially thinking about
going to the next level. Just to sum it up, she mentioned dreaming big. So just, I highly recommend if you know any young athletes that's thinking about pursuing something professionally or anything else, just young people or even just you at the age that you are, maybe you need some sort of motivation too. This is such a good podcast to find that. So thank you guys for tuning in. I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I did. What are your training sessions looking like right now?
right now it's a lot of movement, a lot of one hand contact, a lot of like touches which we can't work on during the season because in the season it's usually like some important stuff like, yeah, mostly like reception addicts and improving the game quickly. So here we just
Mark Burik (02:22.488)
try to work long term also some coordination exercises and yeah, a lot of movement. I feel like I run a lot on the court. Wow. Okay, so a lot of single arm passes and contacts and then just a lot of getting in the sand. A lot of footwork and whatnot is what you're saying? Yeah, yeah, exactly. Because I had off for like one month. I pledged as King of the Court in Miami.
in that month. I'm like, and then I had my gym session and like physical preparation. And now it's my second week on the sand with the ball. Wow. Awesome. Well, welcome back. you're back. That's awesome. So just a heads up, I'm going to record this for our other members and it might even potentially turn into a podcast if that's okay with you, Anna.
I'm in the hotel one day. Yeah. Yeah, great. Hello. So give us a rundown of up to this point. It sounds like you have a lot of accolades. So just give us a rundown of who Ana is up to this point, how you got into volleyball, and just your whole route up to this point, the whole process of getting to this point.
I mean, I started playing volleyball when I was 11. And I actually didn't like sport much before volleyball. So volleyball is my first love and I think that is forever. I hope so. So I started with indoor and I started playing be just during the summers because in Latvia it's cold and in my home city in Daugavpils we
didn't have any indoor facility with sand. So I was playing beach only like in the summer and I was like really crying in the end of the summer that they have to go back to the indoor because I like beach so much. And then yeah, I started to get into national teams in indoor and then later in the beach. And actually my first international tournament in the beach was with Tina.
Mark Burik (04:42.702)
So coaches quickly realized that we have to team up and play together. And we actually did pretty well. It was like Eastern European National Zone competition. And we were the best team from Latvia by the finish of the tournament. And we were only like 15 and 16 years old. that's real. Yeah. and then... What year was that?
When did you and Tina start playing together? We were playing for the first time in 2013. And then in 2014, we also played in Youth Olympic Games in China. Gotcha. So and then we didn't play together in 2015. And from 2016, we started to play again. And until this time, we are a team.
always together on the court. Yeah, and you guys are so fun to watch too. You'll play really well together. So that's awesome that you guys are still rolling. You don't see that too often. Starting in 2013 taking it sounds like y'all just took one. Is that the case from playing with each other? No, I mean, we had also different partners like Tina, she's one year
younger, so she played some youth competitions, some other competitions with other players and me as well, but the most success we had together. So I think very important point in my career was then we won European Championship under 22 in 2016 because in Latte the system is like this. If you get a good result, which is medal in
European Championship or World Championship for youth or at least fifth place in European Championship for the seniors. Then you get like Olympic committee support and you have money to go to some competition and training camps and you can say that you can be professional because we know like money in beach volleyball right now you can't make a living from it. Maybe like I would say top 10 teams and then we were 18
Mark Burik (07:01.134)
19 years old, we were not a top 10 team. So the Olympic committee support was very important for us. So after that win in European Championship under 22, I could just focus only on beach volleyball and my studying. So I don't have to work and I could like, yeah, go to some competition. And then after it every year, we proved that we are like an Olympic team.
potentially and we can get this support and this money to continue our career. That's so cool. Okay, so I bet that was such a freeing feeling whenever you got the support of the Olympic community or the committee was just being able to be financially free to be able to travel, play these tournaments, the train. I bet that was such a freeing
For one year. You got it that year. You have this kind of stress until you meet the criteria, until you get this specific place or something. but it makes things easier for the athletes in Latvia because you don't have to think like we get the small salary and then also the support.
to go to the competition and training camps. It's super essential because I don't have rich parents who can give me money that I can go everywhere I want. yeah. That's great. What do you think it is about you and Tina that make you guys so good?
Many things actually. Technically, think we are a good combination of like Tina, she's so physical, she's fast, she jumps really well. And then me, I'm like good at technical elements on the court. And then I can give her to hit on two options and...
Mark Burik (09:12.918)
Yeah, set her good balls, run and get something in defense. And I think we are learning really quickly and we try to get fun on the court. And that's really important to like fight for every point and run for every ball. And yeah, I think we do it very well and we work hard. Both of us, we know about each other. If we go on the court, then we will try to play our hundred percent every time.
So I think these are qualities which are important for every athlete on a good level. Yeah, I love that. So 100 % of the time, just chasing everything you can, giving it all you got. that's tough. feel like there's, and honestly, feel like at the professional level, there's actually not many, or there might be a lot. I don't know, I could be wrong about that. But I feel like there's a fair amount that we choose and choose when they go all out.
And then there's a fair amount who are going all out, kind of split down the middle. What are your thoughts on that? Do you feel like everybody kind of tends to go all out for everything? I don't know about everybody, but I personally think that on elite competitions, like you never know. Like everybody plays in such a high level. If you don't get your 100 % out, then probably you will lose.
And also in the Challenger and into the main draw, it's also feel kind of the same because the teams we just saw it in the episode, the teams who were in qualification before we were playing challenges, they got medals on the lead. So I feel like every time you need to get this 100 % and fight for every ball because you're also doing it for yourself.
And I want to play my best. want to show everything I was training for in my on my trainings and my practices. So why to leave anything out? Yeah, I agree with that. I love that. And Steve and for everyone else that's in here, if you guys have any questions that come to mind, just go ahead and post them in the chat. And then we can just kind of open up that can of worms and we'll start to chat about it. But
Mark Burik (11:35.276)
And then I'm just going to keep throwing questions at you on it if that's okay. but going at it for this long since 2011, you said, or since you were 11, that's what you said, right? So going at it for this long, what do you feel like you had to face some sort of adversity? Right. So what, what was some key moments in your career up to this point that you were like, that was really hard, but it helped me get, get to where I'm at today.
Does that make sense? Yeah, sure. Many challenges. I also met very like critical coaches and I was just yesterday in a sports conference talking about emotional abuse in sport. And I actually experienced it through my career with many coaches. And it's not about me. It's just the approach of the coaches in Latvia who are from like who are using USSR methods.
and they're just screaming, sometimes ignoring you or they don't let you practice on the purpose that like motivate you and get the productivity out. So it was sometimes very hard and with some coaches I was also like crying a lot after practices because I tried to get my 100%. Of course, sometimes something isn't working.
and then the coach is like pushing and screaming and saying some bad words on you. It's like not easy for sure because I expect my coach to be my support. But then, yeah, I get another this like critical approach, but not about your game. actually, for example, one of my coaches, they didn't let me play once because I had red nails. Like this is not normal for sure.
Yeah, or like in Indoor one of the coaches said you're one of the shit pieces on court. So that's not about the game. It's not comments about how you can improve your game. It's like just comments to like overreacting and like putting you down. So and I think of course this made me stronger emotionally.
Mark Burik (14:02.388)
But it wasn't easy. I think just because I wanted to play well and I wanted to achieve big results, I got through it. But I know some players who didn't. And it's very sad because I think like my experience in sport, I'm still grateful because sport gave me so much. But then I meet people who are completely unhappy because like coaches destroyed their lives.
my goodness. And I love that you're bringing this up. And I believe we have such an awesome team of coaches in this group. But I think we can all be reminded of that constantly because obviously we want to hold our players to a standard as coaches, but in an uplifting way, in a manner that calls them higher and to do better rather than push them down. And it sounds like you dealt with a lot of like pushing down and you still fall through it.
You were one of the few that stuck with it. And then look at you, you're two-time Olympian. That's so cool. And now have you gotten a chance to go back and talk to some of those coaches since all of that? Just like I say, one maybe. But he's not changing. He will stay the same. He thinks that his matters are working. And yeah, I don't think I can do much about it.
But yeah, I don't know, I really, I'm not ready to talk to them, all of them. So I'm mostly not thinking about them at all, just because this topic came up. So yeah, you're doing your thing. You're doing exactly. Steve wants to know, and it sounds like you did. Did you play both indoor and beach when from when you were 11 to 18?
or did you focus on beach? And then if you could go back, what would you tell your 11 year old self?
Mark Burik (16:07.104)
So yeah, I played both indoor and beach until I was 19 years old, think. No, 20 even, 20 years old. And I mean, I don't see a big problem about it actually. I think I learned a lot in indoor and in indoor I got a lot of good qualities that I need to the beach. But after it was good for me to focus only on the beach to get
the movement to get some specific technique elements and improve. So I still think that there are, it's like two completely different games, but I learned a lot in indoor. And I would say for my team, for my 11, for myself at 11 years old, that I have to put very high goals for myself. Maybe sometimes like,
People would say like, it's impossible or laugh at you, but I think we can achieve everything. Like every person, we like, we don't know how strong we are actually. We can achieve everything. Wow. So reach high, reach as high as you can. Reach to the moon. Yeah. Yes. Yes. I love that. What were some big goals as a kid when you were 11, what were some goals that you had?
jumping into volleyball. I was not thinking about professional being a professional athlete at all. I was thinking so the story is like this. Then I started volleyball. It wasn't the best one and I played actually in the second team because I was practicing with the older girls and then my main goal was to win Latvian Championship for my age with my team. So
Then we went to the final. I was the captain of the team. We lost the first game and I had a big meeting with my girls and saying like, no girls, we will fight. We will still be the first ones. That's my dream. We need to do everything. And actually we won that tournament and after it, I think that is awesome.
Mark Burik (18:32.078)
After it, we have never lost any Latvian Championship for my age with my team. we were the best ones of the best. So it's really nice. Okay, so from from did you start winning them at 11 years old or was it like a couple years? No, was probably 12. Then I was 12. Then from 12 to 19, we won every Latvian Championship for my age. my gosh.
That is unbelievable. Wow. Yeah, the strong team. Sounds like it. And it needed some motivational speech of Anna after the first set. We needed that. And imagine I am now wondering and like I'm so surprised of myself. I was 12 years old and then I had a meeting with my girls and like saying like, girls, no, we need to fight. We need to win this tournament. Such a like...
leader qualities in me and myself 12 years old and I'm like good shit. That is cool. Here let me ask you this though. Have you ever had to have that conversation with Tina like hey we gotta win this? many times. It won't be the same because we will like talk yeah we got to win and then we will laugh about it or joke or
talk strategy or something, but many times we have because it's only two of us. We have to talk. We have to discuss things and our goals and what we want and how we can do it. Nice. I love that. That brings up another question and then I'll jump to the next question. asked in the chat, but whenever it comes to your communication with Tina and do you guys have, I'm guessing you guys have a coach you work with there in Latvia?
We had a coach who was Polish, but he was coming to get the coach to be with us. So for you and your team, what does that communication look like? Is it kind of like a stern communication? Is it a seeking connection communication? like, what is that communication between you and Tina and then your Polish coach look like?
Mark Burik (20:54.819)
like the team dynamics, if that makes sense.
like my communication with Tina wasn't easy, because like we are playing for many years, but also many years we were like struggling with the communication because we like, we had one goal, but we like had different plan in mind, let's say, and we needed to really like listen to each other and understand and talk more and more to like get
the right solution for both of us because we are like two different personalities. So when we have a coach, he also has a different approach for both of us. And then sometimes we have individual meetings with the coach. Sometimes we have a team meeting, then we discuss everything. And of course, because me and Tina, we spend a lot of time together.
in the room, traveling, going to the practice. Of course, we also talk, just both of us. And I would say in the past two years, with our coach Damian, we had the best atmosphere in our team in all of these years. I think we like found this good level of communication and how can we listen to each other and understand it.
So it was, I would say, the best point of our partnership. Wow, that's cool. So I can't imagine how difficult that could be to be kind of on and off partners with this one person for a really long time. And then I'm sure there's times when you guys are frustrated with each other and maybe you miscommunicated something or...
Mark Burik (22:48.716)
or just some sort of frustration or something boiling over. So it's awesome to hear that you guys are in such a good spot right now after all these years. Yeah, we still can't talk about it. Yeah, that's definitely a blessing. So Steve wants to know a little bit about the Queen and King of the Core and FIVB. Do you feel like those programs represent and treat the players well?
And then if not, do you see something changing just with how a of people, sometimes a lot of the best players sometimes don't even qualify for the elite 16s. So he wants to know if you see potential that it could potentially change in some way in these upcoming years. Yeah. King of the Court and FIVB, they're like two different organizations and
About King of the Court, can say only good words because they try to treat players the best way possible. They try to get everything for us that we are happy and we are satisfied and the conditions for us are good. So an FIVB, it's not the level that we want for the best, let's say, and the only one, the world competition in the world. So sometimes,
qualities of the sand of the court itself, they're dangerous for the health and many people can get injured or like, yeah, just, I don't know that they, sometimes put competition two weeks in a row. is in Brazil. Another one is in Philippines. And then third one is again in Brazil. you like last year we did this trip. We were flying from Brazil to Philippines and from
Philippines there was tournament I think in Mexico or somewhere So it's like the system they need to get they need to work a lot on the system And I also don't think that the competition format of a late 16 Works well because it's only 16 teams in the world and if we look at tennis for example, they have like 120 singles
Mark Burik (25:11.502)
It's in US Open, think. So much more players have this opportunity to play and perform. And if we look at the levels, how I said it also before, that qualification team can make it to the medals. And I think this is the key moment after which you can decide to open the tournament and get more players. And yeah, I think system needs to change for beach for a tour.
I hope it will because I love my sport so much. So we'll see. Yeah, man. Yeah, that's a great answer. Yeah, it's pretty wild because I think the team USA made it to the bronze this past Elite 16, right? Team Hillbridge of Angustan. Yeah, Yeah, they came out of the qualifier and that's I mean that just speaks to your point.
exactly that there's a lot of really good teams that are trying to make easy League 16. Yeah, and it's not the only case. There are so many teams who did it also in the men's tournaments and in the women's So I believe if we opened the tournament at least how it was before then we had 32 teams into the main draw. I think the system was much, much better.
That's a great idea. Hey, more volleyball. That's the fun thing about it. More volleyball. But also one point about which I'm happy, in these past two years, I think they really improved social media. Like Instagram is getting better and better and they try to cover more things than it was before. And I think social media is so important right now. So with this, they got a really good job. Yes, nice. I love that.
I agree. I love seeing just scrolling on social media and whatnot and seeing all of the highlights of all the tournaments and it just brings so much more exposure to the sport because whenever you think about it. Sometimes highlights are not the best. Sometimes they're not good, but overall, social media job is done well. Yeah, yeah. No, it's really cool to see. The next question he has for you is
Mark Burik (27:40.162)
Whenever, and this is an awesome question, how did you deal with Tina being at USC here in the States and still playing internationally with practice and everything, the day to day? I can't imagine how, maybe just how to navigate that. How did you guys handle that? It was so hard for me actually, because Tina, she was at USC, as you said, and she was
Practicing she was having a tournament every weekend probably for her. It was also very hard But she was in in the tournament. She was like playing she was with other girls and I was mostly alone or training before Latvian men teams Somewhere in Egypt with my coach for like three four months there and Yeah away from family away from France
playing alone against four amateur men. So it was a big determination by me that I survived it and I had a lot of trainings. then, then Tina was done in May with the NCAA. We just went straight to play World Tour competition. And then in end of August, she needed to go back to USC and I was again alone.
So mostly was practicing for like eight months alone and then just playing some tournaments with Tina and yeah. Okay. Thinking about those, those practice sessions, cause this is a really interesting situation because, and this could be something that's extremely helpful to all these coaches in here. Whenever you look at those practice sessions with maybe players that aren't as good as you, like some immature.
men or whatever that may be. What were your focuses going into those training sessions? I actually think that for women or female athletes to practice with amateur men who are playing pretty well is really good because you're still physically stronger and we can get the strong hits and you can get some good cut shots and line shots.
Mark Burik (30:02.682)
to play it's really good and I mostly played against them. So I was not practicing with them and doing drills. Mostly I was drawing drills alone. But still, I think if you're practicing with a little bit lower level athletes or players, you can still just work on the things you need to improve and just focus on yourself because it doesn't matter how they played. need to
be good at your game. You need to get good touches, improve your technique, run and get every ball. So I think like there is no question you have to focus just on yourself.
I bet that was difficult. like your partner in crime is off somewhere else and she's getting the train and play a lot and then like she's come back and you guys are just picking up right where you left off and traveling to tournaments here and there. I can't imagine how difficult that was. Yeah, I just didn't get so much playing experience and I had a lot of practices and it was also hard to keep the motivation level. Of course, I knew that I'm
I will play those tournaments. need to be in a good shape, but still to go for two times for a practice every day. It's hard than you're without a partner. So. my gosh. Yeah, that takes a lot of motivation on your end to make sure you're doing that daily. Even while she's not there. I can't imagine how tough that is. Okay, so thinking about
Obviously you've mentioned what all you've done and what's about the two Olympics? Okay, so you went to the Olympics. What were some things that you were going into the first Olympics with? And maybe like some nerves and the tensions were high and you're like, my gosh, it's the Olympics. I can't imagine that feeling.
Mark Burik (32:06.574)
And then compared to the second go around in the Olympics, what were a few things that changed in your headspace and your mentality going into it? Yeah, then we were going for Tokyo Olympics. Nobody expected from us anything. So we were going there just to play well, to have fun, to experience everything despite of the COVID, of course, because like we spent three weeks in Olympic Village and we, yeah.
most of the time spent it in the room. And then for Paris, it was completely different because in Tokyo, we got fourth place. And then everybody in Latvia expected us to win medals in Paris. And they were talking about it for three years before Paris. So we already knew that and we tried to like calm ourselves down.
and keep the pressure low lower. So then we were going to Paris, we were going mostly like, with the thought in the mind, okay, we have to fight, we have to be calm. And we have to just yeah, play one point at a time. It was like more I think, strategical, like, okay, this is the plan, and we need to follow this plan. And
Yeah, we need to do just our job and because we played so well in this like three years, let's say, we just need to just keep the level and don't think about the expectations or anything just to play volleyball. Wow. Okay. So you tried to simplify it the second go round is what it sounded like.
Yeah, because of the big stress, like expectation from others, of course also from us, because we know that we are top level team and that we can get medals, but Olympics is just a different tournament. It happens once in the four years and it's like such a big pressure. And I think if you can deal with this pressure, then you will be playing well. But also there are some teams who are playing really well.
Mark Burik (34:23.702)
in the World Tour competition and then they come for Olympics and they can't get the ball down or get the ball up. So it's just different to play there. Wow. Okay. Yeah. That's, that's such an unreal pressure. I mean, you go from maybe, maybe at the point of you might've been expected to make the Olympics the first go round, but you said, think you mentioned that people didn't really expect much of you guys in Tokyo.
But then you guys end up making a really great run. And then after that, now the expectations are even more there. And now you're trying to find a way to take the pressure off of yourself. Is that kind of the situation here? Yeah, exactly. But the only thing before Tokyo, we are the only team, women team from Latvia who qualified in the whole history of Latvia.
So we the first women team who participated in a beach volleyball tournament in the Olympic Games. So as I said, and we were also young, like nobody expected us to do everything. We were just going there, okay, let's have fun, let's have fun. But then in Paris, it was a completely different story and everybody knew that we can get the medals. So all of the doctors, they were like, we are working for you. We have more...
attention for you because you can get the medal here. And it also comes from, of course, coach, our coach is completely different story because he knows how we feel. But even the personnel who is in Olympic Games in Olympic team, they're like they're working with athletes, but they don't know this psychological thing sometimes. And I think, yeah, sometimes you can like listen.
There was let's say stressful information, which is not helping. Yeah Wait, so you were even feeling pressure from the doctors. They were like, hey, we'll help you guys because we know you guys can metal. Yeah That's crazy. Okay. Wow So this is continuing to think about the Olympics. What were some of the greatest?
Mark Burik (36:40.746)
lessons that you took away from just this past Olympics in Paris.
I didn't think about it actually. I was mostly thinking how great it was because the stadium was amazing and the atmosphere was so good. So it was like for sure a lifetime experience. But I would say maybe because we didn't play well our first game against Switzerland, probably the stress level was
high and opponents started to serve on Tina, but mostly teams are serving me. So it was kind of a little bit different situation plus the first game plus the stress. So we didn't play well. then like game by game, we started to get confidence back. And I think also the great example about it is also Canada, Melissa and Brandi, then they like we beat them. They finished third in the pool and then they got
Silver medal so like you never know maybe one day you're not playing really well But you have to fight you need to get your confidence back and we know like everything is possible So like simple things but exactly on Olympic experience it might look more like stronger Yeah, well and Joe kind of asked a question about this similar situation
He wants you to dive a bit more into the psychological side of the game. I think you had a conversation just recently with a sports psych person. Is that what you mentioned in the beginning? So for you, like what are some mentality, mentalities that you enter into games with and maybe even in the Olympics? How was that a psychological battle for you?
Mark Burik (38:43.576)
just with the expectations and everything like that. And then how did you respond to that? How did you combat it? I would say with the expectation and the pressure, it was a longer time before I knew that I have to prepare for it. So I just thought about it months before and I just like tried myself to calm down.
So, but exactly during the game for me, for example, it helps a lot than I think only about one point at a time. It truly works. think many players are talking about it and it works. Also, for example, I like this thing. I'm just like pushing like this for my hand and then I relax it and I feel like a relaxation. Sometimes the night wants to like relax a bit because I think like
every player can play their best, then we are relaxed, then we are not like tight and we are thinking, okay, I have to win this game, I have to win this game. We have to think about the process and like how amazing is playing here and how I enjoy being here and how well I did my last shot or something, even if it was out maybe.
maybe if it was small out and it was great shot, okay, I'm a great player, will try again and it will be a point because she was not close for that ball or like, yeah, so many things actually. Where I also like to take sand in my hands and just feel how sand is dropping from my hand and like feel how I am in is in this exact moment and like
exactly here right now on this court and just yeah playing volleyball. I love the physical cues that you use the squeeze and then gradually letting go. I think that's such a powerful thing to use that a lot of people don't take advantage of. So that's really cool to hear you talk about that. Just the feeling of letting go what just happened and focusing on the inner present this present moment. What is going on right now? And that's just one point.
Mark Burik (41:01.432)
So how can I win that one point? And that was really cool to listen to you talk about. Steve, is there anything else you'd like to add to that before we move on to another topic, the psychological side of it?
Mark Burik (41:19.491)
Did you hear me there? I'll repeat it. Can you hear me now?
Okay, cool. Sorry, I think I lost some service. But I was wondering, is there anything else you'd like to add to the kind of the mental side that you were just chatting about? Was there anything else that popped into mind?
Mark Burik (41:43.054)
Yeah, I need to think about it.
Mark Burik (41:51.604)
I was just thinking about it, but then I forgot. That's okay. No worries. kind of put you on the spot. I wanted to say about the breathing because breathing is really important. And I don't think many players are valuing so much how it is important because sometimes then you're stressed, you can just calm yourself down with like long breaths, like longer inhale, slower exhale.
And then you'll feel that you have to be like, or, you know, more angry or have more adrenaline than you need to like do it much faster. Like breathe out, breathe in and breathe out. It will be shorter and faster. So I think this also helps a lot and just slow breaths between the rallies to like, yeah, focus on the ball and on the point. That's awesome.
Yeah, Steven, go ahead. Yeah, I just want to ask a question and it'd be faster than typing about the psychological piece. When you look at players like honors and Christian play, right? And they stage incredible comebacks the way they have. And then sometimes they get crushed and then just come right back versus say any men's Brazilian team who carries their emotions on their shoulders. Right. And you can just see if they're upset. What approach do you see more successful for yourself? And then
what would you suggest for other players? There's a philosophy is like, I'm angry, just get it out, let it go. Then there's a philosophy of just don't react, just keep it inside, breathe as you say. So what would you advise? I think like we are all different and maybe for one it will work for another, it will not. But I personally think that if you are angry, maybe you can like hit one ball hard.
but then you still have to calm down because then you need to have a clear thought about your game and you need to be calm. you need, I think that you need to be filled with the positive energy and not with the negative energy inside because then like we are relaxed. We are thinking how everything is good. And then we are playing with enjoyment and not with the anger or some negative emotions.
Mark Burik (44:14.062)
So and I think Anders and Christian, they're a great example of like how calm they are in every situation. Maybe sometimes their opponent, they're like so happy that they're winning that they lose focus. And then Anders and Christian, they're just keeping the same stable game and they're winning again. So I think to be calm and breathe and think about one point and
not about what is in the past or in the future is the key for everybody. Awesome. Thank you. Yeah. Good question, Steve and Joe. Good questions. And Steve also asked about, and this is a hard left turn in the conversation. I love everything you mentioned about the psychological side of it, of breathing, being in the present moment, and then finding a way to let go and stay calm in those moments. So
Moving on to basically the big question of what's next. You know, what's going on. I know you mentioned the the world championships coming up in Doha, but also kind of like playing styles. Steve wants to know about are you and Tina kind of moving towards the option game or are you guys going to continue with your normal style of playing or are you going to start adding in jump sets and options just like the game is evolving right now?
Yeah, we actually, I think around the women teams, we have pretty a lot optional balls, like Tina hits a lot on option. Maybe, I mean, not so much as like Swedish guys do. But I would love to handset and I have all the qualities to handset. It just depends on improvement and getting those touches and getting the
like good reception from Tina and then my jump set and like some also hits on two and just like implemented in the game. So I think we will for sure work on it and we love the fastballs like how we play to the fastball to the antenna and kind of small ball and it is really the future as the female volleyball I think it develops not as quickly as men's and what we see now probably maybe will come up after
Mark Burik (46:40.15)
like maybe four, eight years in a women's volleyball on a such a level. But also for the women's, it's much harder to like jump handset so much and be in such a good position and quick as like Swedish guys do it. And they are also like such a good example for a men's volleyball, but how many teams in men's volleyball are doing this? Not so much actually, like only few.
So, but they're great and I think that's the future of beach volleyball for sure. More and more optional balls are coming and more and more jump sets are coming and I love handsetting over like Karambula style as well like then he goes on third touch over shirt or long. So I think in this style we can also evolve.
in beach volleyball a lot and of course like stronger, faster and but I feel like a woman's volleyball on elite level is much interesting right now because if you look at on the best teams of elite for the men's it's just like side outside out, side outside out block, side outside out ace block, side outside out and like no long rallies.
And I think I'm missing it from the man's volleyball for sure, because sometimes to watch these long rallies is so much fun. And if you get only two or one rally per set, of course you are amazed by how hard they can hit and how fast and how good is the vision on the court. But I really miss long rallies for the men.
Yeah, yeah, it is. I agree. I think women's volleyball is so fun to watch because there are so many long rallies and incredible digs and then the ball control is very impressive. And so it's I agree. I think women's volleyball is such a fun sport to watch just because there's always something happening. And there's so many good teams out there right now. So I'm definitely in agreement with that. Whenever
Mark Burik (49:03.15)
Steve, were you about to ask something there? No, I was just gonna say, and no lead is safe in women's. Like, in men's, typically three or four points that the match is over. But in women's, you just don't know. I'd lose so much money sports betting on women's. tell you. Yeah. That's cool. Speaking of, what was one of your favorite matches that you've had? We'll say in the past two quads.
for the Olympics, what was one of your favorite matches that you and Tina played together that was a high level match and was just an awesome, one of your favorite stories to tell? One of these for sure, then we won Olympic qualification to qualify for Tokyo. We were playing Slukova-Hermanova in China. It was a three sets game and we were down 12-7 in the third.
and we won that like 17-15 or something. So it was amazing feeling. Then also would say in Tokyo, then we beat Russia in it was first round after the pool, I think. So we got into the quarterfinal. So it was also amazing because I think it was probably the same story. It was third set.
12-7, we have never won them before. And we won. After that game, I felt like true euphoria in my body. I don't know how drug addicts feel when they use drugs, but I think I had a pretty similar feeling in my body. chemical. Wow. I'm in a special moment.
What better place to get your first win against a team in the quarterfinals of the Olympics? That is unreal. I bet that was also a mental battle. Just the feeling of we haven't beat this team before and now we're at a do or die moment in the Olympics and we are down 12 to 7. How did you battle that? I mean, just going back to the psychological side, how did you come up like
Mark Burik (51:29.038)
get over that fact of we haven't beat this team before and we're down 12-7. Can you just take us to that moment right quick? That just intrigued me so much. actually have had a really long history with them because we are one age team and we played in many youth competitions together. for us, it was like we have to win this team because we lost to them in the European Championship final in Latvia. Then president was watching us.
So we like had to win them sometime. But at that moment when we were down 12-7, I was not thinking about it. I was thinking how I can improve my game to get this win. And actually like everything worked somehow. I like picked two balls in defense, they got scared. Like we also like we are people and we can have emotions and I think also
At that moment, Russian players, they just got a little bit scared because they are also, they were not that experienced, young, big pressure from the country, from coaches. So we just like, we had the opportunity and we used it. Wow. Simple as that. I love it. Wow. Okay. So just, it's still in that moment of being down 12 to seven in the quarterfinals, the third set match.
in the Olympics or third set in the match in the Olympics and you're just thinking about ways you can better your game and then maybe we'll win this game. Wow, that's so crazy that you were able to simplify it that much to where let me just focus in on me, not shying away from the moment that you guys ran, but finding a way to focus in on your job. I think that's a really impressive.
headspace that you were able to play in. I can't imagine how difficult that was. Cool. Also about like the Simplify, as you said, I was, we had a Continental Cup Championship in Latvia to qualify for Paris and we didn't participate there because we already qualified for it. And I went to watch some matches and for me, everything looked so fast. And I was like,
Mark Burik (53:53.364)
then I play myself, I feel like time stops. Like I have more time between the rallies to like think and discuss something with Tina and go for the surf or like focus on my reception or something. So I think also then you're at that high level sometimes like time is feeling differently that you can think a lot about what is happening around if you're calm.
and you keep your emotional level down and you're like truly focused on the game. Yeah, that makes sense. mean, you. Yeah, because you have more mental space to focus in on your job if you're not thinking about the moment or thinking about the surrounding environment as much. I could see how that makes sense. Like you're just narrowing down your focus. I think that's cool way to think about it.
and, Joe also wants to hear about like your pre kind of like pre receive routine, like you're, you're receiving a, a serve, for you as an offensive player, whether that be in big moments like that or in training sessions. what are some head spaces that you decide to play in? do you have a preset plan of what you're going to try to do based on what you've
seeing the defense already show you or do you go in and just kind of pass that, see the defense and then make a decision off that? What is your pre-serve receive routine look like? Actually before the reception, I think only both reception because I think this is the most important element we get to play. Without reception, you will not play this game. So before...
So I don't think about my shorts before, but before the game, mostly we discussed with the coach what can work in some specific situations and what are the tools I can use in this game against this opponent. So I have something in my mind.
Mark Burik (56:11.692)
but it depends exactly on the situation. It depends on my reception, on the set, on what I see what opponent is doing against me in that exact moment. And then I decide what I'm going to do. Mostly it's like this. Gotcha, gotcha. Okay, so you kind of talked to your coach beforehand about what does this team usually do against me? And then here are the options that I
in those moments but then in the game it's like almost on the fly it's like if your serve receive goes to the far side of the court then you might have to change your your tools like you mentioned and your attack against the defense is that kind of what you're saying I mean it's still like I have a lot of options on every ball that they can use against different kind of players so I also look
what they are doing against me in that exact moment, if they're like jumping line, running class moment, angle to the high line. So I try to like find the best option possible to get the point in that specific moment. Of course, it's very short. And that's amazing how our brain works sometimes that we can analyze the whole situation on the court and make the decision and also our body reacts to all of this.
So yeah, but mostly I depend on my vision, what I see and then I just try to get the point. Yeah, that's like a split second thing. That's so impressive. Imagine how good are like athletes and how good our brain is developed. So everybody needs to send their kids for sports for sure, just to be like good personalities, let's say, to make decisions fast.
Wow, and here you are, we're 11 years old, you weren't sure if you liked sports. And here you are like, man, I love sports, every kid should get into it. That's a cool term. But it's just to become a better person and like better personality, even if you go to work in a different field.
Mark Burik (58:32.856)
Completely different fields still sport helps in so many ways Wow, I love that very cool and and I want to respect your time too So we'll let you go in here in a second But I want to ask you one more question and then I'll kind of open it up for maybe two or three minutes for some quick questions just to respect your time whenever you are
thinking about speaking to young athletes and to coaches who spend hours and hours and hours with young athletes. If you could leave them one lesson from Anna, what would that lesson be? One lesson. On the beach court or it's... We can just think like anything and everything. If you're...
basically the big life goal of Ana, like what would that be? No, I think I will tell people about the dedication and hard work because I think if you'd like dream big and you work hard and you make every day step or half a step or at least something like similar to a step, you can achieve everything if you really want it. Life will lead you somewhere and
Like I think everybody wants to be a happy person. And if you're enjoy the process, you work hard, you have a dream, you're already a happy person. So I love that. That's so good. Work hard, dream big, and then just go make it happen. Yeah. Very cool. Great. Well, thank you so much, Anna. I'm going to open it up if you have a few more minutes. I know there's a few people in here, so I want to open it up to everyone just to have a
Quick, very, very quick Q &A. If they have any other questions they'd like to ask you. Anna, thank you so much for me personally. I've enjoyed getting to speak with you and get to know you a bit. And I hope everything is continuing to go well with your training leading up to Doha. Gotta go win it. Thank you so much.
