The Legend Of Savin

I have already written about Aleksander Savin’s status as a volleyball legend.  As a kid growing up in the volleyball world, his name was the greatest that I heard even if I never came close to seeing him live.  I have been spending my current free time watching videos from his era.  In TV videos that I have seen he is constantly talked up by American commentators as one of the greatest players in the world.  In the latest video I was watching, there is some idea of the regard he was held in by his competitors.  As far as I can tell this video is a USA National Team scouting video and contains commentary by one of their extended staff members.  Most players are situations are referred to by numbers.  Savin is always referred to by name.  Often with added comments.

• “When he gets a hole in the block he doesn’t hit for that hole in the block, he dinks for that hole in the block.”
• “Tricky guy. Tricky guy.”
• “He is not an inspired person tonight” (Note: He ended the match with over 30 points, and hit at nearly 70% in first tempo)
• “Savin floats across about 8 feet above the net.”
• “Savin’s got about a 27 foot sideways broad jump and almost got there.”
• “The famous Savin tip. Goes up, looks around, sees where there’s some orange on the floor and tips right there.”
• “Put away by Savin.  High above the mere mortals in the block.” (Note: The US team included ‘mortals’ such as Timmons, Powers, Buck, Kiraly)

The video below shows him scoring his attack points.  You can clearly see how he sees the block and hits around, through, over what he sees.  ‘Legendary’ seems like an eminently fair description.  And like always, I enjoy how he prowls around the court almost as much as his volleyball actions.

The collection of Coaching Tips can be found here.

Read about the great new Vyacheslav Platonov coaching book here.