But my story didn’t end there. It got better. Stronger. Smarter.
I won italian championship at 37…
I’m Daniel Maciel. Pro volleyball player with over 23 years on court. I’ve battled injuries, surgeries, and setbacks. And at 37, I’m still competing at the highest level, not by accident, but by system.
This isn’t about hype. It’s about hard-earned solutions.
Daniel Maciel is a professional volleyball player and high-performance coach specializing in volleyball athletes, with over 24 years of competitive experience and studied Sports Science.
Early in his career, Daniel focused heavily on maximal strength and weightlifting. While he became extremely strong, his training approach led to recurring injuries, chronic fatigue, and performance plateaus. Despite years of effort, he felt physically limited and unable to reach his true performance potential.
In 2014, accumulated training errors combined with structural issues pushed his body to its limit, resulting in severe knee problems and later a shoulder surgery. That period forced a complete shift in how he understood training and performance.
After restructuring his approach around movement quality, structural balance, resilience, and sport-specific performance, Daniel returned to competition and played at a high level for years at his best and without recurring injuries.
Rather than declining, his physical performance continued to improve. At 37 years old, when most athletes have already retired, Daniel achieved the highest vertical jump of his career, reaching 3.65 meters (~12feet) with a 1.10m vertical jump (43in), while still competing at an elite level.
Over his career, Daniel has played professionally in more than 20 countries, including top-level leagues in Italy, France, and Brazil. He has worked closely with elite physiotherapists, strength coaches, and volleyball coaches across different countries and training cultures.
To date, Daniel has coached 500+ volleyball athletes across 40+ countries, applying the same principles that allowed him to extend his own career and surpass his previous physical limits.
Volley Movement was created to help competitive volleyball players remove physical bottlenecks, elevate performance, and sustain elite-level play over time.