Wilfredo Leon on the Ace Space
Quotes
Superstar outside hitter Wilfredo Leon joins The Ace Space to give us insight into his absurd volleyball ability, but also his dancing skills, favourite foods, and love of Italian weather.
In this article you can find the best quotes from one of the best to ever do it. But we highly recommend the full podcast to enjoy a unique insight into the mind of a volleyball prodigy.
On playing in front of the legendary Polish fans.“I try to play without any pressure, because that doesn’t help. I know that when you are playing with tons of fans screaming and supporting you, it’s a special kind of emotion. But sometimes that’s good and sometimes that’s bad. Because if you are nervous, it can hurt instead of help you. But I feel that okay, this is what we are waiting for, so I can see all the energy of the fans, and I go to fight.”
On expectations for himself“For me to be under 50% or close to 50%, that is average. For the average player, 50% is good. But for me, no no no, I should be over 65%. This is well done for me. If I’m under, I’m like not bad, but could be better.”
On his thought process for his serves“Most of the time I don’t serve at full power. Most people say I am just thinking of getting an ace. No. My goal is to mess up the reception so badly that the setter has to run around a lot to set the ball. And if the setter does the ball, it should be only to one place. So we will have three blockers ready, the defense will be ready and we will get the ball.”
On his jumping ability“Officially it is 372(cm). Unofficially it is 374 and some people say even more. I’ve tried to get to 4m but that seems like a lot. Jumping to the antenna for me is like, no warmup, just jump.”
On how a loss can help“I was playing baseball in Cuba. I was loving that also. Actually I could really hit the ball. Not as fast as they do in the MBL, but if you throw the ball to me I will hit it really strongly.”
On his baseball prowess
On what he thinks about statsI don’t have on stress on myself around this. I don’t follow where I am on the statsheet and on the leaderboard. For me, what is important is where I bring my team, and the results I give them. No personal achievements, I don’t focus on that. I know if your team is in first place, you are doing a good job. The only time I focus on my stats is on service, because you control all of that yourself.”
Listen to the full episode: