Beyond standard lifting and conditioning work, I like to incorporate some fun, competitive elements into our offseason volleyball training at Creighton University. This started in the spring of 2014, when the coaching staff and I decided to include daily contests to increase the players’ competitiveness and ability to push through challenges.

Every January, I meet with our seniors, and we divide the roster into two squads that battle for the title of “Offseason Champions.” We have a competition each day, and the winner is awarded points. At the end of the offseason, players on the winning team receive T-shirts.

The events on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays involve lifting, plyos, agility work, or conditioning drills. On Fridays, the activity is always something outside of the box. For example, we’ve played dodgeball, knockout, foam roller bowling, and Quidditch, and we’ve also incorporated reading and drawing competitions.

In tandem with our Offseason Champions initiative, we hold a “Queen of the Week” contest. We bestow this honor on the player who demonstrates effort, leadership, and intensity during workouts that week. She is awarded a tiara, which she is required to wear during warm-ups, and 10 points for her team.

After previously selecting the Queen of the Week myself, we now have the athletes vote anonymously for the winner. Allowing them this task has shown me how much they recognize the hard work put forth by their teammates. For instance, we had 12 players on our roster in 2016, and the Queen typically received eight to 10 votes each week. It was clear that the team knew who was working at the highest level.

Another new twist is that the Queen now gets to decide the weightroom attire on Fridays. This has resulted in many interesting themed dress-up days, including “American Friday,” “Ninja Friday,” “Disney Friday,” “Flannel Friday,” and many others.

Going hand in hand with our Offseason Champions and Queen of the Week initiatives is another activity that we introduced in 2014 when we needed to improve the team’s aggressiveness and mental toughness. As a result, we decided to institute one day per offseason where the players’ primary goal was to “survive and thrive.” From this, our “Death Day” was born.

Death Day consists of a number of physically demanding exercises or conditioning drills that push the athletes to their limits. We work it into the Offseason Champions competition and award points to the best team, individual, and leader.

The exercises for Death Day are usually formatted in a circuit, including battle ropes, weighted shuttle runs, push-up holds, and farmer’s walks. The circuits have three to six rounds. Following each round, we perform some type of “finisher.” Through the years, these have included towel pushes, army crawls, court suicides, and burpee waterfalls, but one of my favorites is the weighted wall sit competition. For this activity, each team selects a player to perform a 90-degree wall sit for maximal time. We add a 45-pound plate to the players’ laps every minute, up to a five-plate max. At that point, it comes down to who quits first.

I’m always amazed by the comments from the athletes following Death Day. They usually go like this: “That was awful, but I can’t believe how incredible I felt after,” or “I did way more than I thought I was capable of, and I never knew I had that in me.” I didn’t foresee these results back in 2014, but the team begs for Death Day every year now. It’s taken on its own identity, and many of our players see it as an offseason rite of passage.

The key to getting results when implementing these types of competitive activities is maintaining the line between having fun and losing control. Our players take pride in knowing when it’s time to work, and I ensure that they understand when it’s okay to have fun (i.e., playing dodgeball) and when they must be focused (i.e., APRE back squat).

Overall, the daily competitions are a big hit with the team and break up the monotony of lifting multiple times a week for months. In addition, they improve team culture. As we progress through the contests, players take ownership of their performances. This translates to the court and creates an understanding that they will only be as successful as they are willing to push themselves.

Our competitive efforts have also improved athletes’ focus and intensity in the weightroom. When they show up for training, all they want to talk about is the competition for the day and who is going to beat who. Their attitudes have changed from “Get in and get out!” to “How can I be my best today?”

During the offseason, we continually strive to learn and push our student-athletes forward. An offseason program will never guarantee a conference championship or an Elite Eight appearance. However, it’s a vital part of the road that can get us there.

This article was provided by Training-Conditioning

Strong ankles are essential for athletic performance. Unfortunately, this area of the body can be very susceptible to injury, which means that strengthening the ligaments and muscles around the ankles is all the more important. Here are some exercises to help make that happen.

Stana Landon of Active.com explains that ankles are put under a lot of stress any time an athlete performs a movement like running, cutting, or jumping. Strong ankles will be better able to handle this stress, and athletes will be less likely to experience chronic injuries, such as shin splints and Achilles tendonitis. That’s why she suggests incorporating a number of ankle-strengthening exercises into your training.

Balance Training

Better balance increases proprioception, which is the body’s ability to realize its place in space.

Single-Leg Squats

While standing on one leg, do a half squat. Do 10 reps with the opposite leg out in front, 10 with it to the side, and 10 with it behind. Repeat this three times on each leg.

Leg Stand

Start by standing on one leg for 30 seconds and then switch. Gradually work your way up to holding each stand for a minute.

Balance and Catch 

Stand on one leg directly across from a partner. Then, throw a ball back and forth with the partner, and have them throw it to the left and right, as well as low and high. Aim to perform three sets of 30 throws.

Building Strength

For ankle-strengthening exercises, Landon suggests using a TheraBand. This is a great tool for providing resisted range of motion in every direction, such as inversion, eversion, dorsiflexion, and plantar flexion. During these exercises, place the band around the top of the foot and curl the toes at the end of each movement. This will help work the foot’s internal muscles. Each exercise should be done in three sets of 20.

Along with using the TheraBand, Landon also suggests doing calf raises to build ankle strength. These are simple and don’t require any equipment. They should be done both seated and standing in order to target both the calf muscles and the Achilles tendon. Aim for three sets of 20.

Lastly, Landon recommends doing plyometric exercises to toughen up the ankles. These jumping movements will help make the muscles around the ankles stronger and more explosive. Two exercises she mentions are scissor hops and standing squat jumps.

Scissor Hops

Start in the lunge position. Then, jump and switch feet in mid-air, landing with the opposite foot forward. Repeat 10 to 15 times.

Squat Jumps

Start by getting into a quarter-squat position. Then, explode up from there into a jump and land back down softly. Repeat 10 to 15 times.

Here is a single leg jump training progression that can produce tremendous results.

While it is true that volleyball players usually jump off of two legs, one leg jump training can be extremely beneficial.

Single leg training can help reduce any discrepancy in strength from the right side and the left side. The result will be more stability and power in each leg.

In the video below Reid Hall and 2012 Beach Volleyball Olympian Martin Reader, explain why single leg exercises are important. They also share a training progression that you could incorporate into you strength and conditioning program.

Coach Hall is a volleyball strength and conditioning expert. Learn more about how he trains volleyball players at Reid’s Workouts

The YouTube video below as audio, so please make sure that your speakers are on and that you have access to the site. Note that some schools block access to YouTube.

Stability ball rollouts are a great exercises for volleyball players. When done properly they can strengthen the core, back and glutes.

In the video below volleyball strength and conditioning expert Reid Hall demonstrates three variations of the stability ball rollout. These exercises will help prevent injuries and improve the performance of your players.

Coach Hall offers several great coaching points to help you get your athletes performing these exercises correctly.

For more great resources on how to train volleyball players visit Reids-workouts.com

The YouTube video below has audio, so please make sure that your volume is turned up and that you have access to the site. Note some schools block access to YouTube. Click the arrow to play