Michał Winiarski and the secret of his success. This works well as a coach

Slightly older volleyball fans remember Michał Winiarski well from the times when he brought joy to both his club and national team performances. Since 2019, “Winiar” has been working on his own as a trainer. It was then that he became the first coach of Trefl Gdańsk, after previously serving as the second coach at Skra Bełchatów (2017-19).

PlusLiga: Michał Winiarski about his style of work as a coach

At the end of 2024, Winiarski’s achievements are (at least) very promising. These past twelve months have made the Pole increasingly talked about, even in the context of Nikola Grbic’s successor as national team coach. Although the Serb extended the contract until the end of the next Olympic cycle (i.e. Los Angeles 2028), so these are rather journalistic, expert and fan speculations for the here and now.

Winiarski, together with the Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie team, won the Polish Cup and was runner-up in the PlusLiga. In addition, as a representative, but as the coach of the German volleyball team, he first got to the Olympic Games in Paris, and then entered the quarterfinals of the event by storm. There, the Germans narrowly lost, after a five-set thriller, to the eventual champions, the French.

In an interview for the podcast of Michał Winiarczyk, former sports journalist of Wprost.pl, coach Winiarski talked about how he approaches everyday work with the team.

– I often tell players a proverb that it is not the will to win that makes the difference, but the willingness to prepare for winning. This makes the biggest difference. My philosophy is that you should work hard but smart. And also adapting the training relatively briefly to the intensity of the meetings. We can’t train the same way, spending three hours in the gym, playing twice a week. And this is absolutely very important – admitted the coach of the Polish runner-up.

Winiarski also drew attention to the mental sphere, which is extremely important in the context of professional sport.

– I try to instill maximum concentration in the players and the same focus on what we do during these two, sometimes one and a half hours of training. Because nowadays the head is very important in sports. And in today’s volleyball, where the game is played quickly and the match lasts a maximum of 2.5 hours, sometimes three hours, this is where the biggest difference is. When it comes to this mental work. This means being at your best in key moments. And I try to implement this in training – added “Winiar”.

The Polish coach will continue to be the coach of the team of our western neighbors. Additionally, in the colors of the club from Zawiercie, he will probably lead the team to fight for high goals both in PlusLiga and in European cups.