Episode #27 - Mathias' Story

In this episode we dig into the incredibly complex mind of Mathias Elser, asking him the questions even we as brothers have been itching to ask for the past twenty years. We talk about flow state, the double edge sword of leadership, and the guts it takes to have tough conversations. Mathias shares his thoughts on the power of learning from the past, and the choices you have - even if you don’t think you have a choice.

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Transcript

0:00

Hello everyone and welcome back to the Pit to Pro podcast. In this episode, we are joined by me. This is Matthias. It's kind of weird to be doing my own intro, but oh well. In this episode, we discuss how to get into flow state, the double edged sword of leadership, learning from the past, the importance of tough conversations, as well as emotions and the power of choice. Before we get started, I'd like to introduce our newest partner on the Pit to Pro podcast. I'm sure I'm not the only one who wants to hit harder and score more points. That's why we've decided to partner up with the athlete wellness Academy to deliver you guys the best in arm swing training With their new Arm Swing Academy, you'll receive personalized video analysis and feedback, along with individualized workouts and on court drills. for joining us. Continuous technical support and a dedication to this process will have you hitting harder and playing pain free. AWA has worked extensively with the three of us at the Pit to Pro podcast, as well as the top university programs across the country. If that sounds like something you want to be a part of, sign up for the Arm Swing Academy using the link in our show notes or Instagram bio, and get 10 off every month of your subscription. The Arm Swing Academy offers a 7 day free trial, which you can cancel at any time, and if you're not seeing progress after one month of joining the Academy, you will be refunded. It's completely risk free, so click the link in our show notes or Instagram bio and start your 7 day free trial today. But now, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Hello and welcome to the Pit the Pro podcast. Jesse, Matthias, and Aaron Elson. This podcast is meant to guide young athletes on their journey to high performance. Join us as we share our first hand experiences in an effort to help you reach your own valuable goals.

Oog 1:37

What up gang, welcome back to the Pitch Pro podcast. Today is episode 27 and we're going to be talking to Tias, our very own Matthias Elser, getting to know his story. Uh, Tias, thanks for joining us. Thanks for having me on boys. Heck yeah. T, I want to know what the most memorable piece of feedback a coach has given you throughout your career.

Mathias 2:00

Maybe this is not the most memorable, but one comes to mind was when I was at NEP in grade 12. And, um, I was having kind of the typical ups and downs of, of performing or not performing, like basically action to action. So like every time I'd miss a set, I'd have a big reaction. I'd put my hands on my head or yell or something. And then that was kind of the first time where it was Dan Lewis kind of told me that you don't. that's not necessary. I always felt like I needed to show myself or show the people around me that that wasn't up to standard. And I felt like having a reaction to it was doing that. But, um, we've talked about this before, like Brett Walsh is a great example where if, if the rep goes well, he gets ready and does the next rep. If the rep doesn't go well, he gets ready and does the next rep. So that was kind of the first time that, um, someone had talked to me about, you know, About that, and I think that's something that I've really tried to embody since. And in terms of in terms of let's say emotional regulation In practice or game, you either need to stay on this consistent line or your positive reactions need to equal your negative reactions. And that way you can kind of balance out. So if you are going to be frustrated about the bad ones, then you need to really celebrate the good ones. Which is kind of awkward. You make a set into the target, you're not gonna like put your hands up and celebrate. I think in like a reps and practice context, it's much easier to just be focused on the process and just doing again and again and again, no matter what the What the outcome was in match, maybe you can, you can take the approach of more like you can be frustrated with the bad ones, but you really need to celebrate the good ones.

Oog 4:08

What about, um, feedback from Ben? What was the biggest thing or most important thing you learned from Ben? And then the second part of that question is when Ben left Trinity, how did that make you feel?

Mathias 4:22

Ben completely changed pretty much everything I knew about volleyball and the way I viewed it and added an incredible amount of layers and complexity to how each skill is performed. And at first that was really, really overwhelming coming into Trinity. Especially as a setter and we have this system that that we run, we have a way that we run our offense and I have to be able to make the correct decision every time inside the chaos, not fully being able to even set the ball well yet. And so that was really overwhelming. But I think that was a blessing of not starting for my first couple of years was having that opportunity to learn all of that really important stuff that was maybe a little bit. too advance for me at the time, and then being able to sift through it for, for two years. And then by the time I was on the floor, it all, it all kind of started to make sense.

Oog 5:33

And what about when you left?

Mathias 5:34

Yeah, when, when Ben left, I think that's when I started to take a lot of, a lot more ownership, I guess, over my own game, what I wanted to do. Before that, it was, it was hard for me to differentiate between what were my thoughts, or what I thought, and what. I thought Ben was thinking, so, which makes sense, I didn't know what I was doing in my first couple years, so I just think, be sitting in a server, see if, okay, so, like, Ben wants me to do this, I think, and just not have any kind of confidence or commitment to the action, um, but then in my fourth year, I think I understood what the, what the idea was and the principles behind the stuff. And then I was able to more make it my own and, uh, play a lot more free and be a lot more creative and then lean, lean way more into, um, my competitiveness and leadership. because the game was flowing, uh, easier for me.

Oog 6:46

That's cool. So then what about when you go overseas And, and the coaching isn't as specific, nearly as specific. How did you take ownership of your own game and still propel yourself to the goals that you had and the things that you wanted to learn? Yeah, that's a good

Mathias 7:04

question. Um, one thing that I did was. I would, well, I would take everything that my coach said to me and try to interpret it in a way that was, that was helpful. Sometimes it wasn't. Um, but one thing that I was doing was I was asking the players around me more what they thought, and I would go through. Get some passing reps after practice and I would say to our the best passer on our team I say, can you watch me and tell me what you think? Because those guys we had a 36 year old on our team who had been playing pro for 18 years And he was one of the best passers I'd ever seen And he has an insane amount of, of knowledge accumulated over the years, obviously. So I think, um, especially in that setting, it being my first year and guys having so much experience on the team, I really benefited from, from leaning on them as well. Not just the coach.

Oog 8:06

Do you remember some of them like the passing ones?

Mathias 8:08

Um, relax, especially spin serve passing. The, the tension that's running through your body is really important. Spin serve passing. Cause the ball is moving so fast and we don't want to be making like huge moves to, to control the ball or pull the speed out of it. But the tension in your body can have a really positive impact on, on how the ball comes off your arms.

Oog 8:36

The, the lack of tension in your body. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Good clarification. Cool. What are some of the things that you're, you've taken from your playing and implemented into your coaching styles? Like, what are some lessons or overarching themes that you're trying to. Either you're, you're setting, setting camp kids or the Trinity Western boys.

Mathias 9:00

That's a good question. I think since, since the episode we did with Tilly, something that I've been doing is putting technique and result at equal importance. And it depends on kind of where the players are in their development. But I think at the end of the day, the technique, the reason we, we train that is for the result. And as long as the technique, as long as I believe the technique will hold up to the next level and beyond. Then I think, um, focusing on the result is, is good. That's, that's the feedback sometimes is the result.

Oog 9:43

What if, what if someone doesn't want to go to the next level? Do you even worry about technique if it works at this current level? Or do you fully focus on result?

Mathias 9:53

It's a really good question. I, I coach everyone to be their best. And so I kind of just assume that they one day we'll go all the way.

Oog 10:09

I think that's a good way to do it.

Mathias 10:10

Yeah. Maybe that would be a good conversation to have is, is actually what they want. But I, I, I think most people want to be their best, even if they don't plan on doing it. To the next level. They want to be their best at this level, and I think the, the principles are probably similar.

Oog 10:31

So what about, uh, let's rewind a little bit. A couple episodes ago, you, you told us how much you lost. Uh, growing up, like you, you said I lost a lot. So can you tell us a little bit about your club experience and all the losing

Mathias 10:49

yeah. Yeah. We had really good teams. Um, and I, I, I don't know what it was. I can't pinpoint it, but I, I don't think I was a great competitor growing up. I really liked doing individual skills. Well, like I took a lot of pride in being the best passer on the team or being the best setter, server, whatever on the team and also getting better. I was always focused on getting better. But when it came to game day, I. I didn't approach it with that, with a winning attitude. It was more the same attitude, focus on playing well, focus on serving well, focus on passing well. And I think that didn't really allow me to play free and just do whatever was necessary to win the game. And then when, if my focus was passing, serving, spiking well, and it wasn't going well, then everything fumbled because that was my only goal. Whereas I think I learned later on that you can separate your competitive mindset from how you feel, whether that be how your skills feel or how your body feels, or even emotionally how you feel. You can separate all that stuff from just staying present and giving everything you have to each point, basically. And I didn't learn that. I didn't learn that until my last year at university. That was probably the, the most growth I've had in my career probably was in my last year at university.

Oog 12:44

One of the things I think Derek's kind of inflicting on me is this idea of like, win at all costs, when it's not a process based like drill, where it's like, you don't need to, like, you don't need to share the ball. You don't need to, if you know that you're going to win the point by setting the middle, set the middle every single time, you know, I think there's a fine line, especially in like, lower level volleyball, like I'd say e sport. There's a fine line between being somebody's friend and being the nice whatever setter that shares the ball versus the people that win. I think that's something you have to learn. Yeah, I had to learn that for sure. That's cool. Uh, ts you were always the youngest on almost all the teams you've played on, is that correct? National team. Oh, team Alberta. You played two years up. Club, you played two years up and then I guess until your last couple of years at Trinity, you were always the youngest. and you played different positions, right? You played libero for Team Alberta and club, right? One year? So how did that experience being the youngest and playing multiple positions? How do you think that has shaped you or your skill set to the player you are now?

Mathias 14:16

Yeah, I think it was huge for my skill development. And probably maturity and understanding of the game, playing a couple years up, being in that environment and you adapt and you, I think I got to the level every year that I need to be at, but I think the downside to that was that mindset that I talked about earlier was that I was a couple years younger than everyone on the team, so I only a Focus on doing my job. If I do my job, things will go well. If I do my job, I won't screw it up for the team because there's older guys ahead of me that are taking the brunt of the load in terms of competitiveness and leadership and actually scoring the points and influencing the game. All I have to do is, is show up and play a decent game. Um, and that, that worked for a while, but I think what I, what I was missing there was Leadership for sure. Um, I always had influence on the teams, but being in the, in the actual leadership position, one of the top guys in the team that really has to steer the ship, it's a completely different feeling. And I never got to experience that until I think my last year, um, at Trinity. So I think that was something I missed out on. Did you

Oog 15:56

try and take bigger leadership roles, uh, in the summer with the national team or your pro team after that final year at Trinity when you really did learn how to do that? Um,

Mathias 16:10

no, because again, I was, I was one of the younger guys. Yeah, when I, after that, my last year at Trinity, my last two years at Trinity, I was on the A team in the summers, so definitely not going to be taking a leadership position on that team. And again, I went back to kind of where I was comfortable. I just did my job. I was basically the third left side off the bench passing sub was my job, sometimes serving sub, and that's what I did on, on the national team for those. Those two summers and so that's where I was comfortable was just like a role playing kind of position There was one summer on the junior team where I was it was my last year junior team I played junior team for four years So I was really young at the beginning for the first two years and then my third fourth year I was a bit more of a leadership position But even then I really didn't you know Take the bull by the horns and make this team what I wanted it to be Yeah, I don't I don't think I was a great leader for for those teams But at least with that experience in my last year at Trinity I I know how hard it is. I know what it takes and I think I could do it again Obviously I had you and Brody there still but it was cool how much we worked together I think to steer that ship and watching you and Brody work was was cool as well.

Oog 17:45

Yeah, I for sure don't think leadership is One person's job, but I want to, you just like, when I, when you said, uh, it was your first two summers on the A team. So you for sure, weren't going to have a leadership position. Why, where does like, not you specifically, but where do you think that hesitation comes from? Like, it's almost like, there's no chance that someone young could have a leadership position. If everyone's older than them, do you think it's purely an age thing? Or do you think it's a lack of respecting or where do you think that comes from? Cause I, I believe. And I kind of have come to this conclusion this year that age shouldn't matter if you're on the team, especially in pro you guys have guys, or you have guys ranging from 18 to 36. And it always seems like the old guys are the ones in the leadership positions, even if they don't always have the best things to say.

Mathias 18:45

Yeah, I, I'm definitely not saying that I, That younger people cannot be leaders on teams, but in that situation, I don't think I could have been a leader on that team one, because I'd never been there before. So I'd be leading the team into the dark, essentially, because I didn't know what was, what it was like. I think to be a leader, people need, people need to want to be like you. And on that team, I wasn't someone that people would necessarily want to be like, if that makes sense.

Oog 19:31

Well, I think

Mathias 19:31

that makes

Oog 19:32

sense, but I think you might be mixing up leadership with leading, as in like, Come with me.

Mathias 19:43

Yeah, I think there's I think there's I

Oog 19:45

think I think you have qualities that Huns of those guys would want to have and to you they would want to be like

Mathias 19:52

Yes, I I agree I know we've talked about this before everyone on Every team is a leader in some way because leadership is just influence and we all have influence on each other whether that be Positive or negative. I'm more speaking about actually steering the ship. And, and the, the storm, bearing the storm for your players, basically. That's something that I realized at Trinity is when you join the team, you're, you're part of the Trinity Western Spartans. And then by your fourth, fifth year, you are the Trinity Western Spartans. And that comes with a different pressure. Because now there's no one ahead of you to protect you from the consequences of losing or the work it takes to win. And I think your first couple years you're sheltered by the, by the older players. Because they're doing all this kind of grunt work in the background and on the weekend. So you can show up every day and have fun in the gym and train and get better and work hard. And then it always looks easier, it always looks easier for the guys on the court. that are ahead of you and you know, your first year sitting on the bench like, Oh man, I could do that. I could do that. And you can, you can for sure. But then you get in there and the, the pressures is overwhelming. So I think that's kind of the, the, the upper shield of leadership is kind of what I've been talking about.

Oog 21:33

Yeah, that's cool. But, but also I think. You could exchange age for experience. They're at the head of the ship because they have more experience, not because they're older. I mean, they have more because they're older, but it's not the reason that they're there.

Mathias 21:46

Yeah. And I think, I think leadership's kind of a combination of like respect and love maybe, and a little bit of fear, um, a couple of different things in there. And I think those things come with experience. And you gotta continue to earn that every single day. Because, like you're saying, guys are put into leadership positions because they're supposed to be, or whatever, they've been playing a long time, they, they're the oldest, but then if they don't earn that respect from the players every day, then their credibility just falls through the floor.

Oog 22:25

Yeah, yeah,

Mathias 22:26

for sure.

Oog 22:26

Yeah, for sure. Like I've had instances where our captain implements like a fine system if you're late and stuff like that, but they're always late. And then when they talk to the younger players about being late, you have no authority and no respect because you're not proving you're not, you're not backing your words with your actions.

Mathias 22:45

Okay. Here's an interesting part of leadership though, that I've thought about is like, How, how can you be a leader when actually Jesse, you were really good at this. How can you be a leader when things aren't going well for you? Because we talk about that. It's, it's, you got to do your job first. And I always found it difficult when I was playing poorly still, still guiding that team was, was difficult for me.

Oog 23:14

Yeah, I think for me, it's really hard, especially when you're still on the floor. Once you get subbed out, it's actually way easier for me, because I can just focus on supporting the guys and the greater need of the team. But if you're still on the court and not performing, it's I, I think because you're in that, whatever you want to call it, that shielding position of the team, the way you react and respond to events or circumstances, fully dictates the mood of the team, because everyone's looking to you, whether you're the one that made the mistake or not. So I always tried to, um, have the greater good of the team and the team's mood in the back of my mind. Cause I know that if I start to collapse mentally or emotionally, that that Is going to affect more than just my play.

Mathias 24:15

Um,

Oog 24:16

like, like the, the people that think that they don't have influence on a team, but then really do, they're kind of ignorant to the fact that they are a leader. Do you think that's like a dangerous place to be because you have those extreme highs and extreme lows, like you could have those extreme highs and extreme lows? I think, I think the worst is when you know you have influence and you don't do anything about it because I've also experienced that overseas where people have a lot of experience and a lot to say. And they don't use it for the greater good of the team. And that grinds my gears. That makes me so frustrated. I just think doing things for the greater good of the team is never a bad idea. Ever. Yeah. Like, I don't think you can come up with a single excuse.

Mathias 25:11

Jess, why do you think, um, you've been named captain a lot of times?

Oog 25:17

Um, uh, that's a good question. Should we keep that question? Maybe we save that for next week. Yeah. Sure.

Mathias 25:24

well, because I've been named captain quite a bit as well, especially on the, on the junior national teams and stuff. But I, I don't know why. And I think it was probably just. Because I was one of the better players and I actually thinking back I think I did have a ton of influence on these teams and I think I was kind of that guy that you're talking about Jess where I did, I had the potential to influence these teams, but I didn't, I didn't want it. I, I, at the time I would, I would have much rather been just show up and do, do my job guy.

Oog 26:15

Yeah, I, uh, I think it's all about influence. And I think. I've had a lot of influence on a lot of people that have outside of volleyball, not on the court. And I think that's probably one of the reasons why I got named captain because I had a lot of influence people as a person, as a teammate, because I understood that it was always for the greater good of the team. And I, up until very recently, I always thought, I was a much better person than I was a volleyball player. And, and I kind of thought that that was my role. If I could be a good person and support those around me and like get a couple aces and pass the ball somewhat close to the center, like I did my job and there was other people on the floor to score points like Eric and Brody and Jackson and Hank, so I didn't, I didn't need to, you know, so it's just, I went through a very similar, uh, process in that sense.

Mathias 27:18

I'm just thinking now also, I do think though that I'm, I'm pretty confident that if, if everyone just did what I was doing in terms of focus and work and. intentionality and all that, then our team would have been in a good spot. Because that, that's, that was my main focus for most of my career was what can I do to be my best today? What can I do to get better today? And so I think if people just That's the influence you have on other people. Yeah. So I think if people just followed me, then we would be in a decent spot. But I, I, I didn't have the, honestly, the guts to, to stand up and make a, a big boy decision and have a tough conversation with someone, um, Because there's, there's risk as a leader. You have to take risks sometimes to have those, those uncomfortable conversations or to try something new, um, all that kind of stuff. And I just didn't have the guts for that at the time.

Oog 28:28

the class that I'm taking right now. It's all about communication and like how all communication has a level of interpersonal risk yeah, that's cool. What about, uh, T, you said you lost a lot. What about, what was the most memorable win?

Mathias 28:45

I think winning nationals is the clear answer. But not so much that game. at all. I don't remember that game much. I don't remember how I played. I think it was okay, but really proving to myself that year that I could be a, a leader and winner, um, was big. And then one of the, one of the actual games that I remember, uh, that was a, that was a fun one was, uh, B team Norsecas in Gatineau. We were playing the United States in the semi final and, uh, we went down 2 0 and they were, they were playing well, they were beating us pretty good and, um, slowly climb back and, uh, end up taking the reverse sweep, um, in the semi final and just amazing team volleyball, so much grit. And good fans, so that was a, that was a very memorable win.

Oog 29:51

What do you think, do you think there's an equation for winning games? Like, let's, if you take away the volleyball, if you have two teams with exactly the same stats, which team comes out victorious?

Mathias 30:09

it's a good question. I think it's whoever can, whoever can get, um, in or closest to flow state the fastest and stay there the longest. Which is a really, really ambiguous answer, obviously, because flow state is like this kind of mystical creature that everyone talks about, but is near impossible to find, um, consciously. Sometimes you just fall in to flow state, right? And you just have those games where you blackout and everything goes your way. And I think that's the, that's the ideal, probably. It's finding a way to get there more and more often, turn your brain off and Just let your, your body and your subconscious mind do what it does every single day. I think that's, that's helpful. Um, but then I think the true winners, the true elite athletes are the ones that can perform when things aren't going well or stay present when things aren't going well. It's easy to It's easy to have a good game when you start well, and you can kind of just coast and ride that wave. But when you start poorly, or in the middle of a match, things start going bad, um, and you're losing that, that state of flow, like, the ones that can pull themselves out of that, I think, are the true elite.

Oog 31:44

Have you done much reading on flow state? No. Podcast listening? No. All right. Well, you may not have the answer to this question, but I would like to know your opinion. Do you, how would you help a teammate get into flow state or is that even possible?

Mathias 32:02

Yeah. I don't, I don't know. I think that's, that's something worth looking into listeners is doing some, some of your own research on flow state because that could be a superpower. I think the general idea is turning your brain off, less thinking, or maybe even no thinking. Or the bare minimum of thinking because our brains, our brains are insanely powerful for learning, I think. And in important practice is important to be on the entire time and evaluate and soak in as much information as you can from each route. But in game, I think it's just like, go do it.

Oog 32:51

I think that's really interesting. I have a really interesting idea in my head. I don't know how to put it into words because if you're not thinking and your, um, non thinking state. Is not beneficial for the team. Like if you have to make a conscious effort to be a good teammate and to be a good communicator, but then when you're in flow state, you're just angry and you're hammering balls and you can't miss, is that still beneficial for the team if you're being a dick?

Mathias 33:24

I don't know. I don't know. I don't know many guys whose flow state is angry.

Oog 33:30

Yeah, that's not really what I meant. My, the thought was cooler in my head, to be honest.

Mathias 33:33

Yeah, it's a good point because with the way I'm saying it, it sounds like you might be disconnected from the team, but I don't, I don't think that's the case. Anytime I've seen someone really find flow state, I think they've been maybe even more connected because then they don't have to worry about, you know, They don't have to worry about volleyball at all. So they can just focus on, you know, celebrating and having fun and being good teammates. Another thing that I've been kind of telling the team here sometimes is, um, try a little less. Make it look easier.

Oog 34:08

That's one of the things that I talked to Adam about last year was about YouTube and how whenever I watch pro games, It always seems like they don't try or like they're just like it just looks so there's no wasted movements And I was saying that you guys are starting to look like pro players like that the change from last year University To TSU last year. It was incredible I think it's just being around that many people that have efficient movements and and like Jesse you're Playing style looks completely different like not playing style, but like your movements are efficient and you yeah I don't know. It's almost like your permaflow even though it might not feel like it To outside viewers, it looks like it.

Mathias 35:00

It's like, um, when you watch like you sick soccer and they're all just running around like crazy running after the ball, like they're just following it around. And then you see like professional soccer and the game is so much slower. Like guys are only sprinting maybe. Five to 10 percent of the time. The rest of it is like control, pass, jog, control, pass. And I think that's kind of what professional volleyball or high level volleyball looks like. It's just the efficiency of the movements and the kind of calmness in the chaos that I think can help sometimes with performing under pressure. Performing under pressure is one of the most valuable skills, whether that be like legit external pressure from fans or the club or the team or whatever, or pressure as in like time pressure in game, like a fast set to the outside that you got to get up and block or a cover ball that comes down really fast and you have to control it. That's a different kind of pressure. I think performing under both of those. It's where the elite kind of come out.

Oog 36:18

Yeah, that's a really cool point. I like that. TS, it's really evident that when you talk, you love the sport of volleyball. Do you remember a time when you fell in love with volleyball? Was there a specific moment that you fell in love with volleyball, or was there someone that kind of opened that door to the love of volleyball for you?

Mathias 36:44

Well, it would definitely be be dad, which is kind of the intro to the game, obviously. I remember Some really early memories of, uh, just playing around in, in gyms, like you and I on the side while, while dad was playing. And then Jesse, you were a big influence of me getting into the game because when you were in you 14, 15, I hadn't started playing yet. And it just looked like so much fun, um, out there on the, on the floor. And. I was actually thinking last night, one of my earliest, earliest memories of playing volleyball was the first time I ever got on the floor with an actual team was with your U14 team at Canada West. And it was after practice, but guys wanted to go a little longer. So they were still playing six on six. And I got, I got in, I don't know how. And, um, I was, I was in six back and the ball comes over to me and I'm like, Oh,

Jeese 37:42

let's go

Mathias 37:42

first touch. And I just pass it up to the guy next to me. And he, whatever, said a high ball, and I think we scored it, and I was like, Yes! I'm playing volleyball. And he was like, well, he comes up to me like, um, like next time try to, try to pass that to the setter. And I just passed it to the guy next to me. And, and it, it like, it blew my mind that I actually had to aim. Where the ball was supposed to go, I had to pass it to, I had to pass it to a specific guy on the floor and it was his job to set the ball every time. That was like mind blowing to me. So that was, that's awesome. That's funny. That's really funny. That was one of my earliest

Oog 38:22

memories. Geez, I don't know if you remember this, but one of my earliest memories of volleyball is watching Dad play at Rally Point, and Mom had given you and I a. Like a scoreboard, like one of those flippy ones. And we sat on the other court behind the score table and tried to keep the score. Like we tried to keep score and then every once in a while we'd run and see if it matched the score on the score table. And we were always so far off, no idea what we were doing. Dude, that's awesome. I don't remember that, but that sounds like fun. Sounds like it was fun. All right. What was it? What was your what was your question? Oh, if there was a specific moment that you fell in love with volleyball.

Mathias 39:07

Yeah I was gonna say I think The the thing that kind of showed me that that volleyball was probably for me was that I was playing soccer at the time before I started playing volleyball and there was a lot of days where I didn't want to go and And Mom would force me to put on my shorts and my knee pads and get in the car and drive and it was always like kind of fun while I was there, but I really didn't, didn't look forward to going to soccer. And then once I started playing volleyball. I think I can honestly say that there has been less than five days in my whole career that I haven't really wanted to go to the gym to practice or play.

Oog 39:57

That resonates with me too. Same thing with the soccer thing. And I remember after practice at the volley dome, I didn't want to leave. Like I'd want to just keep playing, keep playing, keep playing. Oh, that's a free court. Let's go play over there. Oh, that's a free court. Let's go play over there. You know, and like, I didn't want to leave. Yeah,

Mathias 40:12

so that was, yeah, it was pretty early. It's pretty early. I knew that it was going to be something that I, that I wanted to do. That's cool. We all just realized

Oog 40:20

that we, we didn't want to play a cardio sport. Okay. Rapid fire questions with Oog. What's your favorite song to play on the guitar? Probably, um, Balloom by the Paper Kites. Could you maybe give us a little, a little demo? Ooh, that'd be nice. That'd be real nice.

Mathias 40:44

Yeah, I would, but my guitar's downstairs right now.

Oog 40:50

What, uh, what's your favorite book that you've read and why?

Mathias 40:55

It's a great question. Um, The first one that comes to mind is called Creativity Inc. And it's the story of Pixar. And so it's a business book, but I, the, the. First, maybe third of the book is just the story of Pixar and how it was created and, uh, There were some really good, some really good lessons in there on like decision making and leadership and all that kind of stuff But I don't, it's not, it's not a easy read necessarily But it was, uh, I don't know why but that one sticks out in my mind Actually, I

Oog 41:38

took that one from your room and I have it here. It's in my queue to read Oh, cool. Um, what's your dream job other than professional athlete?

Mathias 41:52

Uh, working on an answer for you. I don't know.

Oog 41:57

Okay. If you were a car, what kind of car would you be? And what kind of cars would we be? Um, I think I'd be like a,

Mathias 42:09

like a BMW, um, SUV. You know, pretty practical, but you know, try to be classy, try to fit in. Okay. Um, and like kind of, kind of fast, kind of quick, but like not elite. Um, Jesse, I don't know. You'd, you'd be like, you'd be like a supercharged minivan.

Oog 42:43

That is a terrible answer.

Mathias 42:48

Not just because, because you, are so good at um, Building community and like bringing people in and make them feel welcome and like yeah So give me a limo or something. At least limos are cool Oh, yeah, sure You could be a limo but that that was the idea Behind the minivan not not that it's a minivan and supercharged because you know, you're athletic still super um oog You would be like, uh, an F 350 or something, duly, with a trailer.

Oog 43:26

For all my emotional baggage? Yeah. Um, what's your favorite class you've taken at university?

Mathias 43:38

Favorite class I've taken was probably intro to finance or business statistics or something. I think it was called. Um, I think it's cool how, uh, how the numbers work in business. And actually, Spanish 101. I'm in, I'm in that class right now. Got my final exam tomorrow actually. And, uh, that one's, that one's been, been quite fun actually.

Oog 44:15

That's cool. Well, I want to wrap this thing up to you with the same two questions you asked Oog last episode because I thought it was really cool. And in your own words, you said that you believe that everyone is a master or no, not master. What was the word? Expert, expert, that everyone is an expert in something. So what would you think, what do you think that you are an expert in? And then also we just want to hear about what you would tell your younger self. I know we've kind of talked about that on the pod before, but maybe change your answer.

Mathias 44:43

I think I'm an expert in deciding how to respond to things. I think I'm quite non reactionary. Especially when bad things happen, I really think about them and what I'm gonna do about it. And I don't think I'm a Crazy emotional person obviously everyone has that but I don't know if it's good or bad, but I've basically again decided that I Don't make decisions based off of emotion and I was thinking even the other day. I learned This maybe is where it comes from. I learned that, Jesse, when you were, when you were trying to bug me when we were little, the only way for me to bug you back was to not be bothered by you bugging me.

Oog 45:52

Yeah, I remember that.

Mathias 45:53

So, I think that's maybe where I learned that it's a little bit of a superpower to not react to the things that happen to you. Um, and I think I've, yeah, I've kind of carried that with me. Try to think about things logically. Yeah, I appreciate that. I do think, I do think though that there, uh, there can be some value in feeling emotions more and, and, uh, using them, harnessing them for bigger outcomes. I think that's some of the best competitors I know are extremely emotional because it becomes more than. More than a choice for them to win or to play. It's like this massive, like burning feeling inside. And I don't think I I've ever necessarily had that I've come close and, you know, emotions come up, but I'm definitely more of a think about it and decide what to do.

Oog 46:52

Was that also what you would tell your younger self you think, or was it different? Um,

Mathias 47:02

I would tell my younger self, well, I talked about the winning one before. I think that was, that was big, but I guess in a more, in a more, uh, like logical context, I would tell myself to not sacrifice my health for, um, arbitrary goals. Um, I was overvaluing accolades and wins and medals and undervaluing just Being in the gym day to day. I wanted to go to the Olympics so bad that I wouldn't stop training for brain injuries. So that's, again, not even a regret because I think again, that's a choice. You can choose, you can choose to regret something and I choose not to. That's what happened. That's the choice I made. And now, now I'm here. There's still a lot of cool things I get to do. And maybe I'll get to come back, who knows, um, but if I could go back, I think that's something that I would change.

Oog 48:19

That's crazy, like the amount of mental strength that takes to make that choice, like that is really impressive and admirable.

Mathias 48:31

Thank you.

Oog 48:32

Because at the

Mathias 48:36

end of the day, it's like, it's like, I don't know, we all just want to be whatever, let's say happy. And. I'm going to be more happy by choosing not to regret it than by regretting it. So why would I, why would I regret it if I know it's going to make me more miserable?

Oog 48:58

Yeah, that's cool because we always talk about choose joy, but the other side of that is if you're not choosing joy, you're choosing not to joy.

Mathias 49:05

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I think, I think, yeah, not even just volleyball. I think like a lot of things are way more valuable than we, than we can even imagine. Um, and so maybe I've just gained this perspective from, from my injury and stuff, but, um, I think even being this young. is an insane privilege that we don't, we don't realize. And so yeah, maybe I can't play volleyball, but I'm 23. I'm not 85. I think, yeah, maybe another, maybe another thing that I'm quite good at is perspective. Cause I think that I use that a lot. I use perspective a ton to try to calm, calm myself in, in moments where I do feel like some anxiety or Sadness or anything like that bubble up and I'm not immune to those things, but I think I Again, I'd rather not feel those so I just logic my way out of them. Essentially.

Oog 50:10

It's so interesting I think I'm the opposite, but that might be a story Yeah Thanks for sharing to you. That

Jeese 50:17

was really

Oog 50:17

cool. Yeah. Thanks for having me on guys. Yeah. Well, I think that wraps up episode 27 of the pit the pro podcast Thanks everyone for listening, signing off,

50:34

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