He berates. He badgers. And he bullies. But at the end of the day, Russia's long-serving women's volleyball coach Nikolai Karpol gets the results he wants out of his players. No other coach in the history of the game commands quite the same respect the 64-year-old Russian nicknamed the 'Howling Bear' gets.
His tirades during time-outs and in between sets are legendary . . . or shall we say infamous. 'It's good entertainment,' said a Russian journalist covering this week's World Grand Prix final. 'He does that to show that his players must keep their concentration . . . they take it all in their stride.'
But we wonder how any player can take that sort of verbal abuse; the kind Karpol has been throwing around since he became Russia's national coach almost 20 years ago.
His ranting and raving in between sets and during time-outs can be heard by every spectator at the spacious Hong Kong Coliseum, but long-time observers of the game said the furious onslaught was all 'part of the wily Russian's game plan'.
'He does that to motivate his players,' said Lui Lai-yee, the competition director of the tournament. 'That's his style and he has been doing that for more than 20 years. It seems to work because his players truly respect him.
'He is not scolding his players but merely coaxing them to play better. He is actually giving tips to his players,' he said.