About the coach
Coached by a competitor
The programming here comes from someone living the demands of the sport, not reading about them.
Charles Pollnow
Professional volleyball player. Volleyball coach. Strength and Conditioning Coach. ISSA Certified Personal Trainer.
Charles competes professionally in volleyball and coaches club athletes in the Phoenix area. That combination is the foundation of Hard Driven Athletics: he trains for the same demands his athletes face, holds himself to the standard he asks of them, and builds programming from what the sport actually requires: force production, jump load management, shoulder durability, and a calendar that respects the season.
Away from the court, Charles built a career in corporate risk and controls. That background shows up everywhere in the coaching: documented systems, written policies, tracked metrics, and decisions made from data instead of guesswork.
- Professional Volleyball Player
- Volleyball Coach
- Strength & Conditioning Coach
- ISSA Certified Personal Trainer
Build stronger, more explosive, more durable athletes while reducing injury risk through intelligent training, quality movement, and consistent development.
The training philosophy, in one sentence
Why Hard Driven Athletics exists
The gap between talent and development
Most young athletes get plenty of practice and almost no development system. Skill work is everywhere. Individualized strength work that is programmed, tracked, and adjusted to the athlete is rare. Nobody is measuring whether the athlete is actually getting more explosive, more durable, or more prepared for the level they want to reach.
Hard Driven Athletics exists to close that gap: volleyball-specific skill coaching and individualized strength and conditioning, coordinated by one coach who still competes, with metrics that show whether it is working.
The name is the standard. Talent is given; hard driven is chosen.
Scope of practice
What this coaching is, and what it is not
Charles is a Strength and Conditioning Coach, Performance Coach, Volleyball Coach, and ISSA Certified Personal Trainer. He is not a physical therapist and does not diagnose or treat medical conditions. Nothing at Hard Driven Athletics is medical care, physical therapy, or injury rehabilitation.
The safety rules are simple and non-negotiable: athletes report pain on a 0 to 10 scale, anything above 4 stops or modifies the exercise, and anything that needs evaluation gets referred to a physical therapist or medical professional. Athletes with injuries or medical conditions should be cleared by a qualified medical provider before training.
Parents are in the loop the entire way: signatures, emergency contacts, communication, and prompt, honest updates whenever anything comes up.
Work with Charles