Volleyball Conditioning

In my first post on Sport Conditioning, I elaborated on the fact that all sports are unique, therefore each sport’s conditioning should be unique to other sports. I want to expound this concept further in this post.

I want to look at Volleyball in particular, and detail the proper training and conditioning required for athletes to excel at this sport. During this time of year the club Volleyball season is in full-swing, so I’ll start there.

Volleyball is an Anaerobic-Alactic sport, which essentially means it is a Power sport. Power sports are the hardest for coaches to condition and prepare for, because they are vastly different from typical ‘Endurance’ sports. The majority of coaches, sport and/or physical preparation, place their Volleyball athletes in a Glycolytic or Aerobic environment, meaning they do countless sprints/jumps with little rest or a lot of long-slow jogging. Neither of these energy systems are utilized in Volleyball, so placing the athletes in these training environments is detrimental to not only their current playing ability, but also their potential as a player.

What does Volleyball training and conditioning look like? Starting with the strength-training side; programs should consist of exercises that stabilize the shoulder-girdle and knee-joint, and improve jumping power. The number of repetitions performed within each set should be 5 or less, and full-recovery should be reached between each set.

Conditioning during practice or through physical preparation training should focus on low-repetition, 100% effort movements that mimic the sporting actions. Long duration, distance, and/or below 75% effort should be avoided. The goal of conditioning is to increase strength/power-endurance, which is the ability to produce maximal effort repeatedly.

Volleyball athletes are inhibited from reaching their athletic potential, specific to the sport, if they are placed in training environments that develop the incorrect energy systems. It is extremely important, as coaches, to ensure our athletes’ best interest is the focus of our strength-training, conditioning, and other physical preparation.

-Bryan-