Frantz Granvorka, a broad vision at the service of Tours VB

When it comes to volleyball, Frantz Granvorka (48 years old) knows what he’s talking about. He, the new general manager of Tours Volley-Ball, a former renowned professional player and French international. He knows it all the more because he is one of the few to have already played in three different positions during his career: center, receiver-attacker and point. Enough to make him the ideal candidate to discuss versatility.

Frantz, how did you come to play three different positions?

“It was not a career plan at all. To enter the National Volleyball Center (CNVB)in Montpellier, there were already a lot of receiver-attackers. So, I was told, “If you want, we’ll take you, but as a central”. I’m not very tall for that position. I wasn’t too keen on it, but this opportunity could allow me to take a step forward, to enter a structure to work. In the end, up front, I wasn’t the best performer, and behind, I was taken out on the libero. It was a bit frustrating. So I didn’t want to stay in that position, I wanted to take on more responsibilities, so I wanted to move to receiver-attacker. It wasn’t a simple challenge because I had to relearn a lot of things, develop my physique, it’s a commitment that requires very different characteristics.

For the point part, it was done because of an injury. We ended up with Sébastien Ruette on the list for the world championships, and I had to replace him at point. I admit that in a competition like that, I wasn’t very happy, because it’s a bit like an Olympics, you work for several years in the same position to prepare. A month before the championships, the coach told me: “ You’re going to play pointy. It’s that or you don’t come.”. So the negotiation is a little different. (laughs). I took on the challenge head on, and I was lucky enough to ask Andrea Gianni (current coach of the Blues)who also had a similar journey. It was thanks to his advice that I finished fourth best scorer in the competition. So it didn’t go too badly.”

What do you remember today from this triple experience?

“It was extraordinary in the end, because it allows me a different understanding and interpretation of rhythms, individual strategies… I feel like I have a better overall vision of the game.”

What are the most important qualities required for each position in your opinion?

“To put it simply, the center is the anti-strategist. We play against the passer. The idea is really to analyze the opponent’s strategy, the strong points, the weak points, to be able to target the right choice at the right time. And that’s very difficult because it becomes a rather thankless position where we make a lot of attempts, without much success. We start to weigh on the game when we’re going to make four, five points on the block over the course of a match. So it’s not huge over a game.

The receiver-attacker, he is concerned all the time. It is a special position because physically, you always have to be present. Always be a little aware of everything, too. The physical commitment is constant. He will be less extravagant than the point, but he must still always be there, lucid, and it is a big pressure. But we can get by with a technical side, and sometimes a brilliance side.

The point guard, on the other hand, will rely heavily on his physique and must be at 100% all the time. As soon as he drops off a bit, it affects his performance and that of the team. The pressure is different, less constant, but very present on decisive or slightly “dirty” balls. He makes the difference in the most complicated situations.

Are versatile profiles like yours sought after in volleyball, as is the case in other sports?

“No, it’s rather fixed in fact. All the training and the search for performance will be done on hyper specificity. The more time we spend on a position, the more we can refine the player and raise him to the highest level. That’s why it was very difficult to accept becoming a point guard a month before the World Championships. It’s improbable. You need adaptability skills, good physical preparation, players who are able to withstand pain perhaps more than others. Within a team, it can serve as a palliative to a difficulty, but a real career choice by changing position is very rare.”

Have the characteristics of the three positions changed since your time?

“Not more than that. It’s more volleyball as a whole that has evolved. There is a much more intense, dynamic and demanding game because we play on many reconstruction phases. Our French team, in my time, was among the first to push the game in continuity, reconstruction-defense, which forced all the teams to play a little on these formulas. The other model that was used was that of Brazil, which really played on accelerated phases all the time, on good reception, average, or even not so great. That’s mainly what changed.”