How to Get the Most Out of a Volleyball Training Program
No matter whether you are an experienced volleyball player or just a beginner, you should do everything you can to be a better athlete. It’s important to note that the sport of volleyball requires speed, strength, endurance, specific skills as well as teamwork. We are here to help you build a more effective volleyball training plan.
In this blog, you’ll be able to find tips for getting the most out of a volleyball training program. First of all, we’ll talk about the importance of the proper warm up for volleyball players of all skill levels. Also, you’ll get tips for improving your fitness, volleyball skills and teamwork. Lastly, we’ll explain to you how to benefit from visualization. All of this will help you become a better volleyball player over time.
It All Begins with the Proper Warm-Up
Warm-up is incredibly important for any sport and obviously volleyball is no exception. You need to know that a volleyball player can benefit from doing warm up exercises in a number of ways. One of great benefits of the proper warm-up is that it allows volleyball players to move easily on the court. Doing warm-up exercises is something that results in loosening joints and heart rate normalization. However, the most important thing about warm-up is that it helps prevent different types of injuries on the court.
It’s recommended for volleyball players to do warm up drills before games and practices. Among the best volleyball drills for warm up are: quick feet warm up drill, arm warm-up drills (hitting lines with a setter, partner pass and hit, side-out drills, rotate and hit and many others). It also makes a lot of sense for volleyball players to do ball throw drill, defense drill, hitting drill, passing drill, serving drill, spike drill and the so called pepper drill during the warm-up period.
Do Your Best to Improve Your Overall Fitness
It goes without saying that volleyball players should do everything possible to improve their physical fitness. In fact, this can be done in many ways. A volleyball player has to focus on improving his/her speed, increasing his/her vertical jump, strengthening his/her lower body and core muscles.
- As it was mentioned above, speed is crucial for the volleyball player’s success. It’s fair to say that the success of a volleyball player depends a lot on his/her speed. As a volleyball player you should be able to move quickly on the court. That’s why volleyball players should do various exercises for developing their speed.
- Obviously, a high vertical jump helps volleyball players prevent the opposing team’s attacks. If a blocker can jump high, he/she will definitely make it difficult for the opposing team’s hitters to carry out a successful attack hit. That means that blockers should do their best to improve their vertical jump. Keep in mind that doing such exercises as jump rope routines, tuck jumps and squats will help you jump higher vertically. Plyometrics exercises also need to be a part of a volleyball training program.
- Above all, volleyball players need to strengthen their lower body and core muscles. You’ll be able to improve your endurance significantly if you strengthen your core strength. First of all, a volleyball player needs to react to the game quickly. Then, an athlete has to approach to the ball and hit it powerfully. Beginners often exhaust within a short period of time. That’s the reason why you need to develop your lower body on a regular basis. It’s a great idea to do such an exercise as wall sits for strengthening lower body and core muscles. If you do this type of exercise regularly your muscles will get stronger. Circuit training will also contribute greatly to your lower body and core muscles. You can also incorporate different types of aerobic exercises and stamina increasing exercises into your strength training program. All of this has a huge positive impact on a volleyball player’s endurance and performance.
Read about PAKMEN’s High Performance Volleyball programs |
Read about PAKMEN’s Recreational programs |
Focus on Developing Your Volleyball Skills
It’s clear that every volleyball player has his/her own responsibilities on the court. Depending on volleyball player’s responsibilities, an athlete may need to learn the following skills: serving, setting, passing and hitting. Obviously, every volleyball player has to focus on developing his/her specific volleyball skills.
- A server is responsible for serving during the game. If you are a server, then you have to master different types of serves including jump serve, float serve as well as topspin serve.
- A volleyball player often needs to make a pass to one of his/her teammates during the game. So, it’s important for an athlete to learn how to pass the ball accurately. If you work on improving a passing skill regularly, you’ll be able to develop your own passing technique. – A setter has to set the ball to a hitter effectively. And of course, a setter should do everything he/she can to make it easy for an attacker to carry out a successful attack hit.
- An attacker should always do his/her best to hit the ball powerfully and land the ball on theopposite side of the court successfully. On the other hand, a hitter should be able to find the holes in the opposing team’s defence. It’s a good idea for an attacker to hit the ball between blockers. So, the job of an attacker is to learn how to hit the ball accurately and forcefully.
Tips for Better Teamwork
It’s no surprise that success of a volleyball team depends a lot on each player individually and teamwork. That means that every volleyball player has to do everything possible to improve his teamwork and become a better player. You should know that there are many ways to improve teamwork. Let’s talk about them.
You should definitely try to play from all position. By doing so, you’ll be able to realize what it takes to be a good server, setter, blocker and attacker. This will help you understand your teammates better. And of course, this will have a huge positive impact on your teamwork.
As we’ve already said many times, the communication between players is crucial to the success of the entire volleyball team. Thus, you should master the art of communication for the sport of volleyball. It’s incredibly important for you to support your teammates when they make mistakes and need your help. On the other hand, you need to encourage your teammates when they make a progress and do great job.
Take Advantage of Mental Imagery
A volleyball player must get ready for the game of volleyball both mentally and physically. Visualization plays a very important role in a volleyball player’s mental preparation for the game. An athlete should visualize before and after volleyball games/practices.
The question is – how to make the most of mental imagery? Now, let’s dig deeper into the topic of visualization and try to get the answer to this important question. In addition, we’ll share some tips to help volleyball players get the most out of mental imagery.
Mental imagery can be used by volleyball players for analyzing and correcting mistakes. It’s a great idea to visualize after games and practices. By doing so, you’ll be able to analyze all of mistakes that you’ve made. First of all, you need to remember the game and imagine how you’ve made the mistakes. Next, you need to realize why this type of situation happened on the court and what exactly you did wrong. Lastly, you should visualize the game in the way that allows you to avoid your mistakes.
Mental imagery is something that helps athletes improve their volleyball skills. Let’s assume that you find it hard to master some volleyball skill. In this case, you should definitely try to benefit from mental imagery. All that you need to do is to imagine how you perform the necessary task on the court before and after practices. Sooner or later, you’ll be able to master the necessary skill and achieve the best possible results.
Mental imagery contributes greatly to teamwork. It makes a lot of sense for an athlete to visualize how he/she cooperates with teammates on the court. Imagine how you and your teammates will move and communicate on the court. Plus, you need to visualize how your volleyball team will serve, pass, set and hit the ball during the game. All of this will help you understand your teammates and do great job on the court in the future.
Thank you so much for reading this article. Now, you have everything you need to know about how to become a better volleyball player. Follow our tips and make changes to your volleyball training program. Train hard and train smart! So, the success will not keep you waiting for a long time. Best of luck!
Read about PAKMEN’s High Performance Volleyball programs |
Read about PAKMEN’s Recreational programs |