Kielce's coach Talant Dujshebaev: How to train to be a top handball player
A handball legend who is now one of the greatest coaches in the world, Talant Dujshebaev is on the brink of the EHF Champions League Final Four with his sons, Kielce players Alex and Dani. Olympics.com spoke to him about his training methods in an exclusive interview.
Handball
The EHF Champions League Final Four 2023 will take place from 17-18 June, with the four strongest handball teams from Europe chasing glory.
Barcelona (Spain), Magdeburg (Germany), Paris Saint-Germain (France) and Kielce (Poland), including magnificent names such as Ludovic Fabregas, Kay Smits, Luka Karabatic and Alex Dujshebaev will face off on the court of the Lanxess Arena in Cologne (Germany).
But the game of handball starts away from the court and, in a sport where strategy is key, coaches play a key role. The benches of the world’s best teams contain strong leaders, and Al Kielce have someone on their side who knows the game both on and off the court: Talant Dujshebaev.
As a player, Dujshebaev won three Olympic medals (gold in Barcelona 1992 with the Unified Team; and two bronzes with Spain, at Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000) from the four Games he participated in (he finished seventh with Spain at Athens 2004). Dujshebaev also won gold at the 1993 World Championships with Russia and three European bronze medals with Spain.
If that already sounds like an incredible haul, he also won the Spanish league title (ASOBAL) on four occasions with different clubs, in addition to one Champions League title and one EHF Cup.
For these reasons and more, Dujshebaev is considered one of the best handball players in history.
As a coach, his medal tally does not lag far behind. He won the Champions League title with Ciudad Real in his first season as coach (2005/06). In total, he has three Spanish league titles and four in the Champions League. The last one was won in 2015/2016 with Kilece, the team he coaches today where his two sons Alex and Dani Dujshebaev play.
Ahead of the 2023 Final Four where Kielce will once again attempt to win the Champions League title, Dujshebaev explained his training methods to Olympics.com, as well as what it’s like to coach his sons and what the Olympics mean to handball players.
A typical Kielce training week according to Talant Dujshebaev
A stage of the Champions League Final 4 is taken as a reference - the peak of the season in which there is a title at stake and matches take place over a short period of time (in this case, a game on Saturday and another on Sunday).
_In the case of Polish side Kielce, the domestic league ends several weeks before the Final Four starts, while for other teams the final phase of the Champions League begins soon after the regular season ends. _
"A week before the Final Four we double the amount of training, with a microcycle at the beginning of the week followed by two friendly matches," Dujshebaev explains.
This is what a typical Champions League Final Four week looks like for Kielce:
- Monday: Long physical training. Tactical work.
- Tuesday and Wednesday: Shorter, more intense physical training. Tactical work.
- Thursday: Travel and a short training session (technical only), with no gym session.
- Friday: A short training session (technical only). "In Germany on both Thursday and Friday it is pure technique training [reducing the physical training] so no one is injured in the last moment." No gym session.
- Saturday: A match following a video session to analyse the rival on the same day as the game. No gym session.
- Sunday: A match following a video session to analyse the rival on the same day as the game. No gym session.
The importance of rest and physical preparation in handball
"Resting is very important, especially mentally," says Talant Dujshebaev. "Since I became a coach, I have always said that the players need to take one day a week off, regardless of who we are playing against, whether it’s the World Cup, the Champions League, the league… it doesn’t matter. They have to be free for one day.” During the week of the Final Four, the day off is normally used to travel to Germany.
Dujshebaev also employs a specialist physical trainer. “He develops specific plans depending on the mental and physical load caused by the upcoming games and the trips we need to make,” he explains.
“For example, there are weeks in which some players return from national team camps or matches, while others don’t. He prepares their specific plans depending on those factors and each player works on his body in a different way. The most important thing is that the group is in the best condition possible for the key dates.”
This is why there are no gym sessions in the two days leading up to key matches. “We do a preventative warm-up and the physical trainer always runs it. The first half of those training sessions are his responsibility and then we work on tactics for 45 minutes following the warm-up.”
The importance of analysing your rival in handball
Dujshebaev plans the video analysis of an opponent during the first specific training session for that match. For example, the first viewing in preparation for the Final Four is carried out less than two weeks before the game. “Of course, during those weeks you can watch the same video again but we also hold more specific viewing sessions - one day focusing more on defence, another on attack, and so on.”
What innovative training methods does Dujshebaev employ**?**
During pre-season, the team will take part in other sporting activities (for example, kayaking on a river) but the main purpose of this is team building. Other than those activities, Dujshebaev explains that they do not do anything out of the ordinary in their workouts.
“Everything we do is tailored to improving the physical condition and technical-tactical performance of the players within the world of handball,” he says.
Having said that, Dujshebaev does have one innovative method that he doesn’t hesitate to apply. “The best innovation is that when things go wrong you show more love to the boys. It is in that moment you need to love them more.”
What makes a handball team great?
"The best team is the one that knows how to adapt and have a plan B and C in all areas [of the game]. Many times we make mistakes and prepare our players in a better or worse way, but we also grow together with them," explains Dujshebaev.
What separates the best players from the rest?
On a team level, the difference between the best and the rest is the group's capacity to adapt. However, Dujshebaev explains that when it comes to individual players the premise is different.
"The best player never hides in difficult moments," he says.
"I've met players who were impressive, but when things weren’t going well they didn’t respond in the same way and that’s why, in my opinion, they will never be the greatest. Then I’ve met others who may play well or badly but in the moment of truth they are always there. They always turn up.
“That’s what I value most. It may be someone who is playful, or someone who is less playful; a more confident player, or someone who is more talented... but these players always turn up. They can make one or two mistakes but in the moment that matters they always maintain 99 per cent accuracy and, for me, those are the greatest in history.”
As a father, what’s it like to coach sons Alex and Dani Dujshebaev
There’s no doubting the skills of Talant Dujshebaev as a player and a coach but something else separates him from the vast majority of trainers: his two sons Alex and Dani Dujshebaev, who both play for his team.
Does that make his job easier or harder?
“People have asked me this question many times and it’s very tough to answer but at the same time very easy. It’s tough because they’re still your children and easy because, as I always say, I try to treat my players as if they were my own family. That’s why it’s not strange or difficult for me to be as demanding of my children as other players because I treat all my players with love. So in the team, I don’t have two children but 18 or 20 children".
Although there are many comparisons to be made between the play style of Dujshebaev senior with his eldest son Alex, Talant believes the resemblance isn’t as close as people say.
“I think Alex is much more tactically prepared than me. I am very sure of that. He has individual technical-tactical skills that are superior to mine. Dani is totally different - he’s bigger with different characteristics. Dani is a much better defender than both of us, so it’s easier for me to compare myself with Alex than Dani.”
There is also something that Talant believes his sons do better than him, and it can be found outside of the court.
“They are totally different to me. I always say they are much better people than I am, for certain. And that’s something I’m proud of - first of all, they are good people.”
And, according to Dujshebaev, handball is one of the main reasons behind this.
"Sport is something that has made us better people because if you join a team, you always look out for the good of the team, you have to make friends, etc. So I always advise all my friends when they have children - or now that I myself have two grandchildren - to get them to participate in sport. Sport keeps them off the street, makes them more disciplined, more coordinated, and healthier. And I can only welcome that."
Talant Dujshebaev’s most treasured memory: The Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games
Dujshebaev really enjoyed himself as a player.
But among all of his memories, there is one that stands above the rest: The Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games where he won gold with the Unified Team.
"The best memory I have as a player was the Olympic Games in Barcelona. Being quite young, going to my first Olympics and winning gold was my greatest experience."
Yet while Barcelona 1992 holds a special place in his heart, Dujshebaev acknowledges that any edition of the Olympics has something different and more special than other competitions.
“For athletes, the Olympics are the best,” he says.
What is failure in sport according to Talant Dujshebaev?
When explaining the effect the Olympics can have on an athlete, Dujshebaev uses the example of NBA player Giannis Antetokounmpo whose reflections this season on the performance of his team, the Milwaukee Bucks, made headline news earlier in the NBA season.
The Greek player was asked at a press conference whether his team had failed and responded with this answer:
"Every year you work, you work towards something, towards a goal, right? Which is to get a promotion, be able to take care of your family, to be able to provide the house for them or take care of your parents. You work towards a goal. It’s not a failure; it’s steps to success. There's always steps to it. Michael Jordan played 15 years, won six championships; the other nine years was a failure? That's what you're telling me?"
Dujshebaev used the NBA star's speech to explain how special the Olympics are.
"The other day we were shocked by Antetokounmpo's words about failure," he said.
"I always say that failure is a word invented by people who are negative, pessimistic and who only know how to distinguish what is white from what is black. But there are so many things between black and white...
"For me, just being at the Olympic Games is amazing. Just living in the Olympic Village and seeing thousands and thousands of the best athletes from all over the world is amazing. Being able to compete there is amazing. And if you're there once, it's something that’s difficult to repeat. Everything at the Olympics is so wonderful, so beautiful, that it's really worth just trying to get there. That's why it is important to at least try. I always tell my boys that failure is a word we have to remove from our minds."