Trash Talking

Just a little while back on volleynet there was quite a bit of debate about how much room the players should have to complain/argue/debate/yell in a normal match. I’ve felt strongly about this for a long time so I thought I would take this chance to put my thoughts out there.

First, I want to say that I think trash-talking is not only good for the game of volleyball, but a positive factor in making it entertaining. I can’t even think of how many times I have been sitting, watching a boring game of volleyball, two teams efficiently siding out against each other, very little defense and not much enthusiasm from the crowd or the players themselves. When, all of a sudden someone will make a big stuff block, celebrate facing the opposing team and set off a string of emotions that changes the whole emotional landscape of the game. As a result, players begin diving after every ball, trying to hit each ball as steep and hard as possible (which we all know is the correct way to hit the ball) and yelling as loud as possible. This makes for exciting volleyball.

In the summer, Peter Lyø and I were playing Lunde/Kazsas and getting a beating. We lost the first set 21-12 and things were looking bleak. The volleyball was ugly. Then something subtle happened, in between points (and anyone who has played beach volleyball knows about this) instead of returning the ball exactly to Kim and Lars, Peter rolled it just far enough so that it was on their side of the court, forcing one of them to walk over and pick it up. Soon after, instead of just nicely giving us the ball back Kim kicked it hard into the far corner of center court forcing me to go over and pick it up. Now, this isn’t exactly trash talking, and there is no way to control that kind of behavior, but these two small things (mixed, I’m sure with lots of former experiences between Peter and Kim) were enough to change the entire direction of the match. Defense, Intensity and emotions all poured out on the court and the crowd got to see good volleyball. The match turned out to be one of the best and most fun that I played in last summer and it all started with one little roll of the ball. Maybe the above story is a bit of a stretch, but the point is that, in volleyball, emotion and intensity are major ingredients in making the product watchable. And if those things aren’t there, then a little trash talking can often get the juices flowing…

Of course there are limitations to how far players should be allowed to go. I’m not condoning anarchy where players can run over to the other side and pull each other’s pants off (Although that would be awesome). All I’m asking is that the referees sit on their yellow and red cards a bit more. Instead of giving someone a red card for saying a bad word under their breath with their back turned, we should be saving those cards for something serious.

I can’t really remember when it was that everyone decided that players should not be able to look to the other side of the court and celebrate. I mean really, what does this accomplish? I can understand at the younger levels, we aren’t out to embarrass children, etc… but at the Elite level we are all adults. It doesn’t make sense that after a big stuff block, probably one of the most emotional moments in our sport, we are REQUIRED to turn our backs and look only to our own team. The net’s separation of the court should not include the separation of our emotions. The most fun matches to watch are the ones where both teams are getting after each other. Only two or three years ago, the biggest regular season match of the year was the one between Marienlyst and DHG, not only was it two good teams matching up, it was two teams who had quite a bit of bad blood towards each other.

As fans we are drawn to these types of high intensity games. We want drama on the court, we want blood and we want to be entertained. When two teams are forced to control their emotions and forced to keep everything they do on their own side it makes for a sterile, dispassionate and ultimately boring game. I think we all need to loosen up a bit…bitch.