Secrets of Coaching Success: Jetmund Berntsen (Part 3)
Interview
There are many important differences between the jobs of a volleyball coach and a beach volleyball coach, but what they certainly have in common is their key role in a team’s success. To help the fans understand that role and gain more in-depth knowledge about what it takes to be a successful coach from the first-hand source, I present some of Europe’s accomplished examples in the coaching profession from both disciplines and try to pick their brains for insider info in my Secrets of Coaching Success series.
The seventh episode features one the world’s most successful beach volleyball coaches today, Norway’s Jetmund Berntsen. He coaches the Beachvolley Vikings and, most importantly, the world’s best men’s pair - Olympic, world and four-time European champions Anders Mol & Christian Sorum. Last year, Berntsen also led the Norwegian men’s national team to the top of the podium at the CEV Beachvolley Nations Cup in Vienna. Here is the full interview he gave for cev.eu.
Continued from Part 2
The CEV Nations Cup you recently won coaching the men's national team of Norway was something different. Please share your experience at that competition.
“Here I can say only one thing: AN AMAZING TOURNAMENT AND EVENT!!! This was something different and we really liked it! Vienna and Hannes Jagerhofer make a fantastic combination. The organizers did a great job! It’s fun to play this format and we hope this competition will be a yearly event. It was also a great experience for more teams to play on a bigger stage. For sure, this will create inspiration and motivation.”
There has been a trend of introducing more and more team competitions like the Nations Cup, the Continental Cup, the World Beach Games 4x4, national leagues, etc. Will this trend increase the importance of the beach volleyball coach role?
“It’s good that more competitions are coming as long as the events are professional. Then we will have more stages to show our sport, and more people to play. We still need to improve all the competitions, so more players and coaches can do this for a living. Some counties already have really good national beach tours. This is also important to make the sport grow. The world circuit will always be our most important stage. If we can make this better together, we have a product with possibilities growing up to heaven, for both players and coaches…”
When coaching a beach pair, do you focus more on improving the individual skills of each player or on improving the interaction between the two?
“I think both are important and, of course, it depends at what level and age the players are. When we put teams together, we first want to see how they work together. To play at the top level in a team sport, the most important thing is how good you can make your teammates. The chemistry has to be there, because you spent so much time together on and off the court, without substitutions. It has to work!”
Name something about the coaching profession in beach volleyball you think the general public knows little about.
“We can have practice together with our opponents the day before we play against! ;-)
“Everyone I meet says I’m so lucky traveling around the world, enjoying all the nice cities and beaches in the sun. What they don’t know is that we are away from home and family 250 days a year and we are working all the time, even when we’re at home. It’s not a job, it’s a 24/7 life style. And it’s not always sunny on the beach…! But I don’t complain…”
What has been the key to your coaching success so far?
“Being curious, asking questions, involving the players and trying to build a team... Being open-minded... The daily discussions with players, coaches, parents, kids…
“Working with only two players would have been too boring for me. To make a team with several players, both boys and girls, together with a coaching staff, gives so much more. When I’m not with the senior teams, I help out with the talented youngsters at ToppVolley Norge as often as I can. Yes, our life is volleyball and beach volleyball.”
Do your family connections with players and staff have something to do with it?
“When I talk about myself as a coach, I always say ‘we’. Kare and I have been in this project together from the start. We work really well together and use the best from both sides as well as we can, not only with our best players, but also with the new ones coming up. We also help out with the girls program, and are a part of the beach program in ToppVolley Norway. This is not only a job for us; it’s a lifestyle. With so much family involved, everyone is a part of it, no matter if they want it or not…
“Luckily for me, my whole family has the same interest as I do, even my dog Kiara plays some really high-level volleyball (take a look at @kiarathevolleydog on Instagram). I admit that my wife thinks it can be too much sometimes, but so far so good! We all have the same interest and we are together as families during training camps and tournaments. I have both my kids Mathias and Frida in the team and Kare has three of his - Hendrik, Anders and Markus - and two more to come. Adrian and Melina are both in the youth national teams for indoor and for beach). And yes, we are still married and have amazing wives, balancing everything in a perfect way!”
What is the main thing you try to teach your players?
“To win games! That’s why we are in sports, to compete and win, isn’t it? We try to have a lot of fun. We try to be relaxed, but still do the job. The first thing you have to teach all players is to practice well, be prepared and do their best. Beach volleyball is a sport of many situations and then it will help to teach them to recognize the situations fast and choose the correct solutions. There are many skills you need to practice and the one main thing is high-quality practice. And a ball practice must always have: some fun, some competition, some achievements and something the coach can gain.”
Is there a coach, from beach volleyball or another sport, you look up to and follow as a role model?
“I don’t have any role models. I just try to be the best I can be. I know my strengths and always think of new ways to be better. I pick up some things from the best I know, and see how I can implement them and maybe do them even better. All coaches in different sports have something to share, and it’s nice to discuss and evaluate things.”
How do you rest and recover outside your job?
“It’s not easy to go outside ‘beach bubble’ with all the family involved. But we have two big dogs. Walking in the woods with them and my wife Anette works. Same with a nice dinner and a glass of red wine. To practice myself is also something that gives me energy. Then I like to run intervals or do my second best sport, badminton. I heard Alexander Horst is a decent badminton player and I would really like to beat his ass…”
#BeachVolleyball
