Their joints must cope with a lot of landing, torso twists and maximum shoulder swing which over time may result in serious aches and pains. So as a beginner where should you start or when you have a very small gym experience?
FOOTWORK
In the beginning, all you need to care about is a proper foundation which is your feet. Sprints on the spots, ladders and around cones will help you automatize your fast move to the correct position where upper body movements will take over. Movements in every direction, similar to ones you have to perform during the match or training. Never underestimate lower body agility as this is a starting point of the Kinetic Chain. When you have slow legs, you'll be late on the ball and also in transition to defence or attack. Focus on a maximum speed or very high speed.
CO-ORDINATION
It is imperative that you learn the technique correctly right from the beginning as you'll use it forever plus it will create a base for your volleyball style. We talk mainly about the spiking approach, the correct form of landing after jump, sets, digs and block transitions. These are all fundamental elements of every volleyball player. Sometimes we face various out of system situations, oversets or surprising attacks which we try to move towards as fast as possible. This result in landing on one leg and in unbalanced positions taking its toll on the spine, hips knees etc. Let's not forget about special movements such as pancake, single-arm defence or back rolls.
Snap drops from jump with Dumbbells
On the Priority axis, preferable is strengthening work which uses ground support more than strengthening machines. On the endurance, choose to shuttle running forward, lateral or reverse movements. We have to work on intra-muscular coordination: strength and inter-muscular coordination: speed. The 'action times' are 5-10 seconds so it's a power/speed activity (FIVB, Coaching Manual, p.137).
MOBILITY AND STRETCHING
Stretching is one of the most important components of fitness, especially as we age. It is important to stretch every muscle group after you exercise. Static stretching before exercise may not be necessary and may not produce flexibility gains. However, dynamic stretching and activity complex exercises will prepare your body for training. Stretching after exercise, when your muscles and connective tissues are warm, will increase your flexibility and relieve muscle soreness. An increase in flexibility helps prevent injury, enhance performance, and maintain daily function as you age. Hold each stretch for 45 - 60 seconds as a minimum.
Dynamic laying piriformis
BODYWEIGHT EXERCISES
As you may have assumed, at the beginning you won't need any additional equipment. Explosive power is needed for jumping and landing when attacking and blocking as well as in the trunk, shoulders and upper limbs when swinging the arm to a spike in the attack. To improve ability in these areas it is necessary to improve physical ability through resistance training. In the start use your body weight as resistance before you move to the weight room (FIVB, Coaching Manual, p.16).
Depth Jumps
BALANCE AND STABILITY
Good balance helps not only helps with everyday activities but also improves reaction time and reduces injuries. Unilateral training and unstable platforms such as swiss balls or cushions activate and stabilise muscles around the joint area. Very often volleyball players face situations when they have to push their body to the limits, overstretching or land on one foot with the whole weight. These moments tend to increase the risk of injury if joints are not properly stabilized and resist the force. Make sure that you have at least 1 exercise that challenges your body's stability in every axis.
Bulgarian right leg jump
WEIGHT ROOM
Once you're very confident with bodyweight exercises, you can move to the weight room and start adding weights. Choose quality over quantity, and having an experienced trainer with a volleyball background is a wise choice. In order to create an effective training plan, you need to have a proper anamnesis and assessment. After this, you need to choose which physical attributes you need to work on, usually based on the specifics of your playing position and which season cycle are you currently in (off-season, pre-season etc.) Once the training plan is built and broken down into individual sessions, it's your time to get started.
Physical training is an important element of Volleyball. It allows player's balanced development in addition to being able to express their technical skills as much as possible.
Coach Marek
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