At 40, Park Sang-ha says volleyball is so much fun. "If only I had known sooner? You should have flown in to watch me." [Interview]

*This content was translated by AI.

"Playing volleyball in your 40s is truly a new challenge. You have to stay focused on management and remain humble."

These were the words of Park Sang-ha (40), a middle blocker for KB Insurance Stars, who is facing his first off-season in his 40s.

The Korean Professional Volleyball V-League men's division is home to an unusually large number of ageless veterans. From setter Han Sun-soo (41), who led Korean Air to their sixth championship last season, to middle blockers Shin Young-seok (40, KEPCO) and Choi Min-ho (38) who made the Best 7, the oldest players remain an insurmountable wall for countless younger teammates.

In KB Insurance Stars, Park Sang-ha is that presence. He joined Our Capital Dream Six (now Our Card Our WON) as the fifth overall pick in the first round of the 2008–2009 V-League and is now in his 17th professional season. Yet his performance remains strong. In 24 matches and 81 sets, he recorded 135 points (38th in the league), an average of 0.531 blocks per set, and a 64.12% success rate on quick attacks (2nd in the league), leading KB Insurance to a dramatic spring volleyball campaign.

Recently meeting reporters at Suwon KB Talent Nium, Park Sang-ha said, "Actually, I think I'm enjoying volleyball more these days. In the past, I followed the coaches' instructions a lot, but now my opinions are respected and they accept changes in my style. I feel I've learned a lot," conveying his determination for the new season as he enters his 40s.

He added, "Last season, I definitely changed my playing style. I tried to bring about many changes. I thought if it worked well, I could continue my playing career, and fortunately, it did work well."

KB Insurance changed its style from the middle of last season to focus on fast attacks even if the attackers are slightly shorter. This was a solution to offset the disadvantage of a relatively shorter attacking lineup while maximizing its strengths. It was the players' own solution.

Park Sang-ha explained, "I felt my physical abilities gradually declining, so I tried to adopt a faster playing style with Hwang Taek-ui. We started doing this from the middle of the season, and we achieved results in terms of aggression until the end of the season, and we also got many effective blocks that foreign coaches wanted." He continued, "Hwang Taek-ui set the ball well. It would have been impossible if the setter had struggled, but Taek-ui adjusted well. From training, we made small changes to both the timing and the hitting point, and it worked well. The success rate definitely went up," expressing his gratitude.

It is often said that for athletes, each year after age 35 is different. Five years have passed since the turning point, so making changes cannot be easy. Park Sang-ha said, "Coach Yeo-hyun once told me to experience aging firsthand. He said I could see it with my eyes but my body wouldn't cooperate, and now I think I finally understand what he meant. My eyes for volleyball have certainly improved, but my body doesn't do what I want," he laughed.

He added, "Honestly, due to injury concerns, I can't train as much, so I watch a lot of game footage. I watch my own videos and foreign volleyball videos a lot, so I feel the depth of volleyball is greater than when I was young. My skills may have declined overall, but with only a few years of playing left, I feel like I finally understand what volleyball is."

When reporters asked, "What if you had felt this way 10 to 15 years ago?" Park Sang-ha cheerfully replied, "Ah, then you reporters wouldn't have seen me. You should have flown in (to Europe)." Park said, "I always tell young players, but they don't really understand. Still, Na Kyung-bok is starting to feel it now. He had injuries last year and asks me a lot. He says he thinks he understands why I do so much conditioning and stick to my routines. Players have to experience it themselves. There's a difference between players who have gone through the aging curve and those who haven't."

It is difficult to regain lost height. So the chosen path is to utilize a wider field of vision for quick attacks. He aims to jump and move faster than others, target opponents' weaknesses, and hit open spaces to increase success rates. Park Sang-ha said, "When I moved from my 20s to my 30s, my physical condition was so good that I pursued European volleyball, which was the trend at the time. There were many differences in opinion with the coach, but at that time, I had a strong desire for European volleyball."

He continued, "If that time was about height, now it's about speed. The goal now is to get the ball through the net quickly. Actually, opponents no longer even double-team me. If they don't double-team, there's no need to use skills. The mindset is just to get it through quickly. Of course, when teaching young teammates, I tell them not to copy my play. Young players have better jumps and skills, so they should prioritize stronger attacks," he smiled.

Teammates of the same age who still step onto the court despite their advanced years also give him strength. Park Sang-ha said, "I don't try to decide when my last game will be. Han Sun-soo gave me a really meaningful message. He said, 'Let's not decide how old we are and how much we can do. Just compete equally with the 20th-somethings and win if we can.'" He recalled.

He continued, "After hearing that, I realized something. The foreign coaches at KB treated all players on the same level for the two years I've been here. They neither favored nor excluded players based on age; everyone followed the same schedule. So we train, go back to our rooms, and sleep like the dead. Even though I'm older now, I don't think I should stop."

Even at 40, Park Sang-ha still wants to grow. With 941 career blocks, he ranks fifth in V-League history behind Shin Young-seok (KEPCO, 1,414 blocks), Lee Sun-kyu (retired, 1,056 blocks), Ha Hyun-yong (retired, 1,018 blocks), and Choi Min-ho (Hyundai Capital, 945 blocks), but reaching 1,000 blocks is not his top priority.

Park Sang-ha said, "I've changed everything little by little, but I haven't been able to change my serve. I can't keep hearing that my serve is weak, so I want to hit it hard once, but it's not easy. Recently, all the young middle blockers have good serves," he laughed.

He added, "In my day, I wasn't weak either, but with the global volleyball trend and young players hitting powerful serves now, I want to be more efficient with my serve and also change my blocking timing more. My attack worked well last season, so I'll keep that, but my goal for this season is to hit a powerful serve," he stated with determination.

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*This content was translated by AI.