Phillip Daniel DeSalvo

Tunisia this time around was a lot kinder then other trips. It was almost 10 degrees cooler then our last visit to the area in North Africa.

During our time in Tunisia the team had the opportunity of two training matches and two official matches. We also had some opportunities to lift weights which on other tours has been difficult to fit in due to travel, games, court trainings and facilities.

Although we were a little up and down in our first match we were able to take the Tunisian team in five sets. It was a great full team effort. In the second game Tunisia played a lot better then the first official match with excellent reception and attack. They took this second match in three sets. Everyone had the chance to play on the court during our four days with the Tunisians on the other side of the net.

The team is on a sharp learning curve at the moment and I don’t expect the path to London in four years time to be a straight line. This tour will be no exception. I do believe that we have to keep focused on learning from all our experiences and using these experiences to better the team every day.

Our next matches will be in Canada which I expect to be a step up from our opposition in Tunisia.

While I was in Tunisia my old man had his birthday. Happy Birthday Dad!!!

Thanks Stone for making this highlights reel.

After some time back in Canberra training at the Australian Institute of Sport I am back on tour again with the national B team.

At the moment I am with the team at a stop over in Jordan heading towards our first destination of Tunisia. After Tunisia we will be heading to the AIS training base in Italy before we go to our final destination of Canada. We don’t play any matches in Italy but in Tunisia and Canada the schedule looks very busy.

It will be interesting to see what the conditions are like this time in Tunisia. Last time we palyed there it was a little on the hot side.

Not sure if we will have internet in Tunisia (last time we didn’t so I will not be in touch with anyone if this is the case again).

Also wanted to say Happy Birthday to my cousin Leigh!

“Sometimes you have a bad day at the office. What has been is not the important thing. It’s what you do about it in the future. So when something does go wrong, don’t dwell on it too much. Just learn from it and start the next day as if it was your last.” -Training 28/06/08

After a needed ten days away from everything, I am once again back in Canberra to commence training with the AIS squad.

My time at home was mostly spent trying to give my mind/body a break. For me, there was no better way to spend my time at home then to hide out with my mum and dad in Wattlebank (the country area that I lived in for the first 17 years of my life). So that’s where I spent most of my time.

Training starts once more in Canberra tomorrow.

I am looking forward to a solid professional season starting in September with my new club in Germany. I am using this as my new focus to get back on track after the qualifier.

This is the whole second set of our game against Russia.

Enjoy!

Hey Phill,

I’m a big fan and I’m a libero in the making and just made the NSW u19’s side. I am really happy with being selected, but after every training I end up feeling really sore on the sides from diving sideways. I have seen people dive all different ways, where some hurt and some don’t.

So, with you being the expert, I thought I’d ask you. Is there a proper way to dive to the sides?

Thanks,

Scott

Ey Scott,

I feel your pain. I remember going through a time when I had a lot of bruises from landing the wrong way from dives. The way I looked at diving was the same way as my cousin looked at trying to nail a trick on his skate board. “If you go for it half hearted you are going to stuff it up.” So make sure that you always fully commit to the dive. It’s when you bail half way into it that you are going to land in a terrible way.

The more times you really go for you dive now, the less it’s going to hurt later on because you will teach yourself how to land properly.

In regards to diving technique; the most common error that I see in the way that people dive or roll is that they dive from a distance that is too high away from the ground. In all cases you must try first to get the ball on your feet. If you follow the ball on your feet for as long as you can first, your last steps before you hit the ground for a dive should be taking your body closer to floor (or bringing you to a lower position). If you can do this correctly then the actual dive should only let your body fall a small distance.

If you can teach your body to do this then even if you do land the wrong way it won’t hurt as much. It will also make you faster to the ball because a long loopy dive though the air is a lot slower than running low on your feet and doing a small fast flat dive at the last second.

Diving to the sides; If the ball is close I would go for a roll. The same rule applies… make sure you shuffle step first and then before you have to roll or sprawl to the side make sure that you are close to the ground. That way you are not “falling.” If you do get low it will be more like pushing yourself along the ground rather then falling on your hips…

If the ball is further away to the side then I think the best way is to turn, run and dive straight. I would only roll if it had to be a quick reaction to a ball that was shooting past close to my body.

I don’t think that you have to be incredibly low in your starting position when you are waiting to defend. I think that you need to start in a position that you feel like you could run in any direction from, then from this position if you need to dive or roll, make sure you get low before you take off…

I hope this helps you out man. If not then be sure to send me a msg and I will work out a time to give you a call and explain this better.

All the best to you and your team during Junior Nationals.

Phill

Some points from the first set against Japan in the 2007 World cup.

Enjoy!

Words are not really something that can describe my exact feeling after the Olympic Qualifier. We had a chance and it’s now gone. That’s all I have to say about that. There is only one thing to do now. Learn from what has been and push towards the future.

“The indian rain dance only works because they keep dancing until it rains.”

It has been a big week. Thanks for all those people out there that have been supporting us during our OQ tournament.

Just putting the results up for a few of my friends who don’t follow volleyball.

Thailand win 3-0
Argentina win 3-0
Italy loss 3-0
Korea loss 2-3
Japan loss 0-3
Algeria win 3-1

We play Iran in our final match tomorrow.

During the week my agent was able to finalise my next professional contract. I will post more about it on my site as soon as I sign the papers and fax them off.

Hope everyone is well.

Since our hard tour in Argentina we managed to take a series in Greece after winning the third and deciding match in four sets.

While I was in Greece I had the chance to catch up with one of my team mates from my last club season with CZU Praha. He was arriving in Athens with the Czech national team who were playing the Greeks after we departed. Was good to catch up with a good mate and have a chat.

It was also good to hit up “bucks” (starbucks) a couple of times during our time in Greece. An opportunity that is only available because it was just around the corner from our hotel.

We are in Slovakia now. We have our first game aginst their national team tomorrow. It will be another tough couple of games. While I am here it will be good to see some more friends that I trained with in Czech Republic while I spend my time in Kladno during the 06/07 season.

Today I found out the reason why we had to take the long bus trip rather then the plane. The plane could be damaged while in the air by the products that were released by the volcano.

We started the bus trip at 12 mid night and I think that we arrived at our detination at around 5:30 pm. During the trip we had only one 20 minute stop so it was very full on. There was no one to blame for the mix up. It’s just something that everyone had to deal with. We played a game a few hours later that started at 9:30 pm. We lost in four.

We have (national team) been on tour since Saturday. Our first stop in Argentina has been a nice place to play and visit. We have played two matches so far (one official and one scrimmage). We won the official game in four sets and lost the scrimmage in three. I don’t really like to comment on the games myself as sometimes the view that I get on the court is different to what you can see from the outside.

Playing in Argentina so far has been great in front of very passionate crowds that are full of energy.

We have been on the road a bit already. Before our first match in Argentina we started at 5:30 am where we headed to the airport and had a flight from Buenos Aires to where our first game was in Trelew. After the flight we had a morning training and then played our first game at 8:30 pm so it was good after the long day to start off with a win.

We were supposed to have a similar schedule tomorrow for our third game after being here in Trelew for two days. This wont be the case because there is a volcano warning here in Trelew and the airport has been closed. So instead of flying tomorrow morning we are leaving tonight (11pm, which is in about 40 minutes from now) on a bus to go play back in Buenos Aires. We are not sure how long the bus trip is going to be but we do know that it’s going to be a full night of travel that will be followed by training in the morning and another important match tomorrow night. An active volcano? Of all the things it’s not something that would normally cross the mind.

Ok, I haven’t added anything on my site for a while. This is because the last month has been flat out for me. A few weeks before playoffs with my club in Czech Republic I found out that my club manager didn’t have a visa for me. This was a visa that the manager told me he had at the start of the season. So after about a seven month season in Czech Republic I was once again in the air heading home just before the start of playoffs.

After a few days at home with mum, dad and my brother Matt I have returned to the AIS to start training once more. Now that I am back into a bit more of routine I plan on getting back into my site a bit more when I have the time.

Since I have been back in Australia I had the chance to play with the AIS team against Nitadi (Japanese University) and Heidelberg (my club team in Melbourne). It was good to play against an asian team again because it is a lot differnt from the game that I have been playing in Czech Republic for the past months.

I am sorry if I am not in good touch with everyone. I know I am back in Australia but the next step for us (national team) is olympic qualification. I hope to play a role in this process so I am spending a lot of time just focusing on this. Thanks to all my friends for their understanding.

“If not us, who? If not now, when?”