Training the glutes is critical to improving the explosiveness of your athletes. In the video clip below Cameron Davidson, Penn State University Head Volleyball Strength and Conditioning Coach demonstrates 8 different glute exercises that he utilizes in training the powerful Penn State Women’s Volleyball team. These exercises will improve vertical jump as well as first step quickness which in turn will increase a players defensive range.

The glute training is just part of Coach Davidson total conditioning program. For more information about the DVD that these drill came from click the link 150 Strength and Conditioning Exercises for Volleyball

This is a YouTube video. The clip has sound so please make sure that your sound is turned on at that you have access to the site (Note: some schools block access)

Any coach would love to increase their player’s strength, flexibility and balance. Improving in these areas not only improve a players performance but reduce the the probability of injury. Below you will find two video clips of Staffan Elgelid, PT, Ph.D., CFT;

Nazareth College of Rochester Associate Professor of Physical Therapy, working with two volleyball players on various Yoga routines that can easily be added to a volleyball training program.

If you are interested in finding out more about how Yoga can help your volleyball program click on the following link 10-Minute Yoga Routines for Volleyball

The YouTube videos have sound, so please make sure that the sound is turned on and that you have access to the site (many schools block access to YouTube)

10 Minute Yoga Routines

 

Editor’s Note: The purpose of all posts are to stimulate thinking on what you CAN do to improve your program. I realize that you won’t be able to utilize all of these ideas, but hopefully you will come up with a tweak or two that will help your program.

This article is courtesy of Training and Conditioning

The University of Kentucky’s strength and conditioning program for volleyball has helped athletes go from dig to spike–and from losing to winning–in record time.

By Stephanie Tracey-Simmons

Stephanie Tracey-Simmons, SCCC, CSCS, is the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for Olympic Sports at the University of Kentucky. She previously worked as a strength coach at UCLA and was an outside hitter for Ohio University. She can be reached at: [email protected].

In some ways, volleyball is like many other sports. Players have to perform explosive movements, and their success depends on a combination of agility, strength, speed, and coordination.

But volleyball also has several unique demands. Because a player can be on the floor for a dig to the setter and release to the outside for an attack within seconds, athletes must learn to very quickly transition from an extremely low stance to a jumping posture. They must also have the stamina for three-hour matches while being prepared for short, intense bursts. And there’s no other sport where maximum vertical jump is more important.

At the University of Kentucky, we start with a very simple goal in our strength and conditioning program: to provide athletes with a solid foundation so they can reach their full athletic potential while remaining injury free. We achieve this through various exercises and periodization cycles, always keeping in mind the unique demands of the sport.

For our volleyball team, that means developing athleticism, a unique type of explosive movement, and both short- and long-term conditioning. Because NCAA Division I volleyball has a short spring season, along with the traditional fall season, our training plan has two periodization cycles.

SPEED SCHOOL

The majority of our strength and conditioning gains are made during the two off-seasons of collegiate volleyball. The first off-season lasts from January through mid-March. The second runs from May through the first week of August. Summer training is more intense than winter work, and we look for our biggest gains then. (See On the Year for a sample yearly training schedule.)

During the first off-season, athletes are involved in an eight-week program we call “speed school.” Meeting twice a week, this is when the team works on dynamic flexibility, stabilization, plyometrics, sport-specific agility, and conditioning. Speed school is held at an indoor facility that contains a track, football field, and gymnastics room with a spring floor and mats.

A typical day of speed school follows this format:

• Dynamic warmup with tumbling
• Jump rope routine
• Navy Seals
• Hurdle walks
• Plyometric work
• Strength/power work
• Sport-specific agility
• Conditioning
• Strap stretching.

Much of our dynamic flexibility work is done during warmups. Along with many standard drills, we also include tumbling exercises such as forward rolls and cartwheels, which provide great flexibility training for the wrists, ankles, and upper spine. They also test an athlete’s spatial awareness–when a volleyball player makes a dig and must quickly roll and get back up, she is performing a very similar movement. (See “Warmup Time” below.)

We also use a jump rope routine to warm up. This provides athletes with some low-level plyometrics, develops foot coordination, and trains quick jumps off the ground.

The first series is done on low-impact turf using the yard lines as guides. We usually go about 15-20 yards for each exercise:

• Bunny hops
• Bunny hops back & forth
• Single-leg hops: straight down the line, switch feet on the way back
• Single-leg hops back and forth
• Scissor jumps.

The second series is done facing sideways:

• Scissor jumps
• Shuffles: back foot leads.

Navy Seals involve holding a high jump bar about two feet off the ground and asking athletes to bear crawl under it, which works on their shoulder stability as well as flexibility. For hurdle walks, we use the lowest setting on track hurdles (about 36 inches) and encourage the athletes to get up on their toes and strive for smooth hip mobility.

The majority of our vertical jump training is done during speed school’s plyometric work. We start with the fundamentals of jumping technique, spending the first two to three weeks teaching take-off and landing positions with very low-level plyometric exercises. We then increase the difficulty with more sport-specific jumps, such as one-foot take offs and approach jumps onto boxes. By the end of the eight weeks, we are performing high-level, multiple-response jumps, such as an approach jump onto a box directly followed by an explosive depth jump onto a soft gymnastics mat.

We also train for jumping ability by adding weight or resistance. This is usually done during the summer months because there is more time for recovery. Some ways we do this are:

• Repeat and maximum-effort jumps in the sand (which provides resistance but low impact)
• Band jumps
• Medicine ball squat throws
• Maximum medicine ball overhead throws
• Stadium hops/sprints
• Series of jumps on an unstable surface, such as a pole vault pit.

During both off-season periods, we do a variety of agility work. Some drills start off very basic and become more sport-specific as the preseason nears. For instance, in our 8×8 yard box drill, the athletes start at cone 1, sprint to cone 2, shuffle to cone 3, backpedal to cone 4, and shuffle to get back to cone 1. As we progress, I’ll use the same setup but have the athletes do an approach with a jump and swing to cone 2, use blocking footwork and perform a block jump at cone 3, use defensive footwork with a shoulder roll to cone 4, and finish by using blocking footwork and a block jump to get back to cone 1. This mimics the dig-to-hit explosiveness athletes need on the court.

Even though our drills are mostly sport-specific, speed school also develops general athleticism. Female volleyball players have often spent many years with their sport, but not as much time on overall athletic movements. We feel working with our players on these types of movements leads to greater agility on the court, therefore helping to prevent injuries. It also taps into the nervous system and helps to keep the athletes’ heart rates at a level similar to what they would be in a game.

The summer version of speed school differs from the winter in that it’s a more competitive environment. The volleyball team is joined by athletes in different sports and perform workouts that are based on how fast one can complete the workout, how many total reps the athlete can accomplish in an allotted time, or by maxing out on specific lifts. We call these “workouts of the day” and typically do one to three a week depending on where we are in our periodization plan.

CONDITIONING TIME

We do the majority of our conditioning work during the same times of the year that we focus on our jumps. This obviously poses some challenges, because the type and volume of conditioning exercises can affect maximum vertical jump height. To remedy that problem, we begin with longer runs while plyometrics are light, then go to shorter runs when the plyos become more intense.

We begin conditioning in January with 800-meter runs on Tuesdays and 200-yard shuttle runs on Thursdays for the first two to three weeks. I try to do one day of straight-ahead running and one day in a shuttle format. This system works well with the plyometric schedule because these weeks are primarily spent teaching. In later weeks, as the plyometric schedule gets more demanding, I reduce the distance to 400-meter runs and 100-yard shuttles, and then finally to 300-yard shuttles and 60-, 40-, and 20-yard runs.

One of the team’s preseason fitness tests is a 100-yard run set up as a 10×10-yard shuttle. The test involves five sets of two repetitions each, with a 1:1 rest between the reps and 1:30 rest between the sets. Athletes must complete each rep in under 25 seconds. This test is a great indicator of game fitness. Because the volleyball court is about 10 yards wide, it forces quick recovery, the intensity level is high, and it requires efficient change of direction due to the number of turns.

IN THE WEIGHTROOM

During the winter months, our weightroom work follows a typical linear periodization model with the primary focus on overall strength gains. In the summer, we progress from strength gains to explosive power. At that time, I tend to use more of an undulating periodization plan, which incorporates some of the “workouts of the day.” We then move to doing more doubles and singles at a higher intensity with our major lifts.

Power is obviously a key to success in volleyball athletes. We build it through Olympic-style lifts such as power and hang cleans, power and hang snatches, jerks, and also weighted jumping movements. These lifts require athletes to go from a low position to a high one very quickly, which simulates the act of executing a powerful spike.

For the same reason, we do a lot of squats at 90 degrees and below. When we do single-leg squats, the athletes stand on a box, go down all the way on one leg, then come all the way up. I like to include these types of single-leg movements because they simulate slide attacks.

We also use several different kettlebell exercises, such as one- and two-handed swings, one-arm snatches and cleans, and thrusters, to help supplement our power work. This provides variety and helps train athletes to be strong in all their explosive on-court movements. When they perform overhead movements with kettlebells, we tell them to shrug their shoulders, which translates into a clean, hard block.

We complement these exercises with many other forms of lifting to train the total body. These include back squats, front squats, lunges, single-leg squats, step ups, RDLs, hyperextensions, a variety of pressing and pulling movements, and core work. To train the shoulder complex, we balance our pushing exercises with pulls. We occasionally superset jumping activities with squats or lunges to help simulate game conditions.

Unless an athlete is injured, we train in a ground-based fashion. Balance, core strength, and spatial awareness all contribute to the success of a volleyball athlete, so it is important that she trains in an environment that supports the development of these qualities. All these factors are addressed by combining the use of free weights, triple extension movements, and core stability exercises.

We also spend time in every lifting session doing a full dynamic warmup. This includes exercises such as leg swings, arm circles, resistive band work, footwork drills, core stabilization, and a series of lightweight exercises designed to strengthen the entire shoulder girdle.

When our athletes first report as freshmen, we put them through a four-week orientation phase. They learn the basic techniques for the majority of lifts they’ll be performing throughout their training regimens. We use very light weight and full range of motion on our lifts during this phase. We’ve found that by prepping the athletes so thoroughly, we help them make greater strength and flexibility gains later in their careers.

IMPORTANT INTANGIBLES

When we train, we’re always together as a team. We feel it is vital that athletes learn to compete against their teammates while simultaneously motivating and encouraging them. It creates the right environment for leadership and personal accountability. When everyone on the team is training at the same time, it’s difficult for an individual to not work to her full potential. Volleyball is a team sport, and we believe that extends to the strength and conditioning portions of the workout.

Communication is another key part of our success. Head Coach Craig Skinner and I work together on the training program, and he has introduced me to a number of functional flexibility exercises as well as the jump rope routine mentioned earlier. We respect each other’s opinions as professionals and try to be as creative as possible with our methodology in order to optimize the team’s training environment. We communicate on issues such as injuries, how hard practices were, and what adjustments need to be made as the team progresses.

We also have strong communication with our athletic trainer. I get a weekly injury report that informs me of any restrictions or limitations on individual athletes. By covering all avenues of communication, we guarantee that every athlete will be held accountable for their work ethic and performance.

Education is another important factor in having athletes reach our shared goals. If they do not understand the basic concepts of nutrition, recovery, and hydration, they will not see maximum results. We educate our athletes on these points and let them know that they are solely in control of their eating habits, hydration, and recovery. When they are away from the coaching staff, it is up to them to take ownership for themselves and do what’s necessary to be successful.

With the help of this comprehensive strength and conditioning approach, the volleyball team at Kentucky has seen results. We’ve had limited injuries while enjoying back-to-back NCAA Division I tournament appearances. When athletes are provided with a well-designed, thorough program, a national caliber coaching staff, and a strong sense of communication and support, the wins start happening.

PLYO SEQUENCE

To view a week-by-week sequence of the plyometric exercises we use, go to: www.training-conditioning.com/UKplyos.pdf. The document includes 15 weeks of training, which I modify based on how many weeks the off-season will consist of.

Sidebar: WARMUP TIME

When our athletes warm up, they are also working on their flexibility and athleticism. Here is an example of one of the “speed school” warmup routines:

•Walking toe touches x 20 yds
backpedal x 20 yds

•Dynamic quad x 20 yds
backpedal x 20 yds

•Knee pulls into forward lunge x 20 yds
right carioca x 20 yds

•Dynamic hamstring x 20 yds
left carioca x 20 yds

•Standing leg cradles x 8 each leg

•VB side lunges x 8 each leg

•Calf raises x 8 each leg

•Instep lunge x 20 yds
twisting reverse lunge x 20 yds

•High knees x 20 yds
backpedal x 20 yds

•Butt kicks x 20 yds
backpedal x 20 yds

•Forward rolls into jog x 20 yds x 3

•Forward dive rolls into jog x 20 yds x 3

•Forward roll into a bear crawl x 20 yds

•VB shoulder roll into a crab crawl x 20 yds

•Cartwheel into 1 forward roll into 1 cartwheel

•Roundoff into 1 VB shoulder roll into 1 roundoff

•Inchworms x 20 yds

Rollups x 10

This article was provided by Training and Conditioning

Increasing explosive power is a goal of most volleyball players. A progressive plyometrics program will help them reach it.

By Tim McClellan

Tim McClellan, MS, CSCS, is the Performance Enhancement Director at Makeplays.com. He has coached volleyball players for over 20 years, ranging from professionals to youth club competitors.

Ask any volleyball player what her primary objective is for her off-season training efforts, and the answer is always the same. Ask any club, high school, or college coach what his or her training goals are for their team, and you’ll hear an echo. They will all say, “Increase vertical jump.”

The key to increasing vertical jumping ability is to incorporate plyometrics into a training program. Most coaches today understand the value of plyometrics, but few understand how to safely and effectively make it a part of their offseason training programs.

HISTORY & DEFINITIONS

It is often said that plyometrics were invented in the 1970s by Soviet Bloc and Eastern European coaches. This is actually not true. The term “plyometrics” may not have been popularized until that time, but there are much earlier accounts of Japanese judo athletes hopping up steps, track athletes performing hurdle hops, and boxers jumping rope. The effectiveness of such training has been known for at least 100 years.

But there are still many misconceptions about what plyometrics are and how they work. Simply stated, an exercise is deemed plyometric if the muscle groups utilized contract rapidly in a shortening fashion, after previously lengthening. The classic volleyball example is a middle blocker touching down after blocking a ball and immediately having to jump again to block another. The plyometric effect is present when the muscles of the thighs, glutes, calves, and core lengthen upon floor contact (eccentric contraction) and are then asked to immediately shorten (concentric contraction) in the propulsion of the next jump.

The goal of training with plyometrics is to increase the rate of this stretching and shortening, as well as the power behind it, so that the stored elastic energy more rapidly transfers to the next explosive movement. In the above example, it means the volleyball player will spend as little time as possible on the floor between jumps, while elevating as high as possible during both jumps. This rapid transfer of elastic energy into the shortening phase is believed by many to be the most productive training stimulus for improving explosive muscle contraction and increasing vertical jump capability.

Understanding plyometrics also requires knowing the difference between strength and power. Power is defined as the amount of force an athlete can apply over a distance in the amount of time it takes to do so. It differs from strength in that the strength equation does not take into account the time component.

For example, if Kaylin squats 200 pounds x 3 feet over the course of 6 seconds, her power ratio is 200×3/6 = 600/6 = 100 foot pounds/second. If her twin sister Ashley squats 150 pounds x 3 feet over the course of 3 seconds her power ratio is 150×3/3 = 150 foot pounds/second. Ashley isn’t as strong as Kaylin, but she demonstrates more power.

Since the leg extension movement required in jumping takes between 0.2 and 0.3 seconds, and maximal strength development takes usually between 0.5 and 0.7 seconds, it makes sense for athletes to incorporate exercises aimed at increasing power. Increasing strength is important for increasing power, but speed of movement is a critical second step. And speed of movement is a big component of plyometrics.

ARE THEY SAFE?

With this sound scientific reasoning for enhanced power development, and knowledge that most elite-level volleyball players, basketball players, and jumping field-events athletes use this type of training, it would seem that there should be instant incorporation of plyometrics into all volleyball training programs. However, plyometrics have been criticized for having a greater risk of injury than other methods due to increased forces of landing and immediate rebounding.

In reality, these fears won’t materialize if a progressive program is implemented. Consider these facts:

Volleyball is a plyometric sport, as are football, basketball, hockey, tennis, and most other sports. Competitors are required to decelerate and accelerate in a different direction, be it a libero exploding laterally to dig a ball, and then getting back to original position, or a middle blocker having to jump quickly to make consecutive blocks. Sending an athlete into a plyometric sport unprepared to make plyometric movements is like sending someone to a piano recital after having them practice extensively on the tuba.

Many of the reported injuries resulting from plyometrics occur in populations that are very different from competitive sport-specific athletes. For example, one article that calls plyometrics dangerous is talking about participants in aerobics classes. Comparing hard-training athletes to the bulk of participants in an aerobics class is simply inaccurate. Many aerobics participants aren’t used to plyometric activity or lack a sufficient strength base to safely perform plyometrics. Most volleyball players have extensive, though possibly informal, histories with plyometric exercise and many have access to adequate strength programs, giving those athletes a leg up when it comes to avoiding injury.

The National Strength and Conditioning Association has issued a position paper with regards to plyometric exercises, which touts its benefits over its risks. The paper says, “Carefully applied plyometric exercise programs are no more harmful than other forms of sports training and competition, and may be necessary for safe adaptation to the rigors of explosive sports.”

PROPER USE

So what constitutes a “carefully applied” and “safe” plyometrics program? The first step is to understand that plyometrics tax the athletes’ muscles, connective tissue, and nervous system, and thus should be implemented with care. Consider these important guidelines from the NSCA position statement:

A thorough set of warm-up exercises should be performed before beginning a plyometric training session.
Footwear and landing surfaces used in plyometric drills must have good shock absorbing qualities.
Only athletes who have already achieved high levels of strength training through standard resistance training should engage in plyometric drills.
Less demanding drills should be mastered prior to attempting more complex and intense drills.
In terms of the strength needed before starting a plyometrics program, there is no hard-and-fast rule. It has been mentioned in previous literature that a player should be able to squat twice his or her weight before beginning plyometric training, but this lacks substantiation and is not accepted by most diligent performance enhancement coaches. The National Football League, for example, is full of 350-pound linemen who cannot squat 700 pounds, yet they routinely train with plyometrics.

Rather than risk injury by making athletes “max-out” on squats, I feel it is more important to observe strength levels exhibited during play. If the athlete shows sufficient and functional strength movements while fulfilling sport requirements, he or she is ready for a plyometric program.

For example, one of our current clients is a 6′ 3″, 16-year-old female who cannot squat twice her bodyweight. Few players her age, height, and weight would be ready for medium or advanced-level plyometrics, but this athlete actually started functional strength training when she turned 13, then started on very low levels of plyos as she developed her strength. Her years of strength work prepared her for the demands of higher-level plyometrics at a younger age. She now possesses the strength, physique, and movement skills of a college-age player, and actually has already made an oral commitment to accept a volleyball scholarship at a prestigious university.

To implement a progressive plyometrics program, start with lower level exercises and progress slowly into medium and more advanced stages. Vern Gambetta, who has coached national and world-class athletes for three decades, has devised a rating scale that is educational and effective (see “Rating Scale”). Gambetta says the key is to understand the stress of different types of drills and to only progress to higher stress exercises when the athlete is ready. (The chart also points out recovery times needed.)

WHEN TO PROGRESS

How do you actually know when the athlete is ready to progress to the next level? Coaches, above all, must be great observers. If the player is struggling to complete the plyometric movement, then the exercise is inappropriate for that individual. If the athlete has mastered the exercise repeatedly, she is ready to move to the level.

For example, double-leg hops down an agility ladder can be successfully used by groups of females as young as 13 on their first day of training. My past experience has shown they can handle this very low-level plyometric activity using appropriate mechanics at almost no risk of injury. Most at this age can then progress to performing the same exercise over six-inch hurdles, while some can do the same over 12-inch hurdles. However, if an athlete exhibits a lack of ability to maintain proper biomechanics, then the exercise opens the athlete up to a greater risk of injury. At that point the athlete should return to a lower level of exercise.

Some examples that might indicate that the athlete is not ready for the next level include the following:

If the athlete shows extensive bending at the waist or her torso flops forward or from side-to side, more core work may be needed.
If the athlete exhibits prolonged contact with the floor, she may not have the overall body strength and power necessary to proceed.
If the athlete’s knees are collapsing towards each other, this can mean lack of quadriceps strength. This can occur on landing during the eccentric contraction or on push-off of the concentric phase. If the level of exercise is not decreased, these movements can lead to joint pain, tendonitis, excessive heaviness of the legs, and a decreased demonstrated ability to explode. Ideally, the knees should be aligned over the middle toe of each foot.
Along with the position of the knees, the position of the feet is also important during landing. It has been said that all athletes doing plyometrics should land first on their toes and balls of feet, then make contact with their heels to help absorb force. This is correct for high-level jumps and plyometrics such as depth jumps, box jumps, tuck jumps, and many repeat hops. However, this is not correct for very low-level plyometrics, such as ankle flips, rope jumping, and agility ladder drills. In these low-level exercises, the athlete’s entire floor contact should be made with the toes and balls of the feet. There should be no contact between the floor and the athlete’s heels. In addition, there should be as little noise as possible made by the athlete’s feet when landing.

The athlete should also try to keep her head up during all drills. This helps prepare her for on-court situations, when jumping and viewing the court need to be done simultaneously.

EXERCISE CHOICES

In designing your own program, it’s important to start with low-level plyometrics. Here are some examples:

Rope jumping (various patterns)
Speed-agility ladder
Six-inch hurdle hops (forward hops, side hops, side-to-side hops over one hurdle, side hop with a vertical block)
Ankle flips
Power skips
Side-to-side hops to create a distance (such as hitting dots on a dot drill pad).
Here are some mid-level plyometric exercises:

Rope jumping (double jumps)
12-inch hurdle hops (repeat forward hops, forward hops with block, side-to-side hops with block, hop-scotch)
Low-level depth jumps
Dumbbell squat jumps
Low-level single-leg box or hurdle hops
Resisted/assisted lateral hops (can include vertical block)
High-level plyometric exercises include:

Depth jumps
Depth jumps onto or over another object
Single-leg hurdle hops (both forward and lateral)
Dumbbell split-squat jumps
Bounding
Lateral bounding
Side step-up jumps over a bench
Resisted/assisted hops or shuffles over hurdles.
As your athletes move into the higher-levels of plyometrics, it’s especially important to be position-specific when developing a regimen. For front row players, repeat hops are a solid choice (assuming the player is ready for such training). Repeat hops can be performed as consecutive vertical movements, lateral movements, or preferably a combination of both.

For the “movement based” positions of setter, libero, or the defensive specialist in high school play, lateral movements are more appropriate. One exercise particularly helpful for this group is to attach a resisted/assisted bungee cord to the athlete via a belt. If it is attached to the left hip, the athlete would jump to the right against the resistance, usually over chalk lines or a taped area. Upon touching down they would then pop back to starting position with assistance from the stretched cord. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions (such as a set of 10 reps) then switch direction.

With any and all of the exercises, the keys to keep in mind are minimizing contact time with the ground and maintaining appropriate biomechanics. As the athletes progress, you’ll see improvement in the drills, then on the playing court.

Sidebar: For Beginners: The following plyometric program is for beginners.

Speed/agility ladder

Running, 1 foot per box
Running, 2 feet per box
Shuffling, right and left
Double-leg hops, forward
Double-leg hops, right and left
Hopscotch
Right-leg hops, forward
Left-leg hops, forward
Ali shuffle, right and left
Mobility Movement Sequence

Knee-to-chest walk
Leg cradles
Inch worm
Spiderman
Backwards hamstring
RDL walk
Quads
Cross-Over toe touch
Kicks
Laterals
Twisting lunges
Kick skips
Six-inch hurdle drills:

Shuffling

Double-leg hops

Shuffle 6 hurdles, side hop 6 hurdles

Side hop 6 hurdles, shuffle 6 hurdles
12-Inch Box Depth Jumps: 3 sets of 5 reps, without plyometric jump (Technically not plyometric, but it is a great drill to strengthen and teach proper landing biomechanics so that one can progress into intermediate level plyometrics.)
Strength-training program for legs: General exercises such as step-ups, lunges, presses, and squats if mechanics dictate

This article is provided by Training and Conditioning

The University of Florida volleyball team’s off-season strength training program is created based on the results of a specially designed athlete test.

By Matt DeLancey

Matt DeLancey, NSCA-CPT, CSCS, USAW, is Assistant Director of Strength and Conditioning for Olympic Sports at the University of Florida, where he works with the volleyball, swimming and diving, and track and field teams. He can be reached at: [email protected] or through his Web site at: www.purepowerathlete.com.

The University of Florida volleyball program has posted some pretty impressive results over the years. Head Coach Mary Wise has led the team to more than 700 victories in her 20 years at the helm. During that time, the Gators have never been ranked outside the top 15 of the American Volleyball Coaches Association final poll.

Last season, the team became the first to finish the Southeastern Conference regular season with a perfect league record since double round robin play started in 2006. In the postseason, the Gators won their 19th SEC championship and for the 20th consecutive year, reached the NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship round of 16 before being upset by Purdue. To top it all off, the team produced three All-Americans.

While these stats may be the envy of most coaches, there’s another, less publicized one that we are very proud of: Last season, not one player missed a practice or match due to injury. I have no doubt that our training program has a lot to do with both the team’s on-court performance and keeping everyone healthy and ready to contribute.

VOLLEYBALL TESTS ONLY
When working with the volleyball team, I base the squad’s training program on its initial off-season baseline test results. This data reveals where our players are deficient and allows me to design the most effective training program possible.

Because this data is so crucial to the program design, what I test for is the most important part of the equation. My main goal is to help the athletes perform better in their sport, so the tests I choose must be volleyball-specific. And they must be specific to volleyball played at the top rungs of NCAA Division I.

At this elite level, long rallies are not the norm. The average rally lasts only 14 to 20 seconds. An ace lasts one to two seconds depending on if there was a touch on the ball. And a serve, pass, set, and kill sequence averages about four seconds. The ball is usually on each side of the net for only three to five seconds. The point here is that the physical tests employed with volleyball players should mirror the short bursts of energy needed on the court.

In addition to the initial test day at the start of the off-season, the players are also tested midway through, and a final time before two-a-day practices begin in August. Here are the physical tasks our volleyball players perform on test day:

Approach jump: At the NCAA Division I level, most elite players can reach between 10 feet and 10 feet, three inches, so we strive for the top end of this range. This height gives our players a great chance to hit over a block or have high hands on the other side of the net. We use the Vertec apparatus to measure approach jump height.

Box jump: I expect our athletes to jump onto a 44-inch box from a quarter-squat position. Being able to reach this height guarantees a great static jump at the net.

Agility: Volleyball players are forced to change direction every three to five steps, so agility is very important for performance development. To test this, we use an on-court volleyball-specific pro agility test. I set up three cones, each three yards apart. Starting at the middle cone, the player shuffles to the cone on either their right or left. After reaching that cone, they change direction into a crossover sprint to the far cone on the other side. From there, they shuffle back to the middle cone, which finishes the drill. The goal is to complete the test in 2.9 seconds or less.

Overhead press: This is a simple test of shoulder strength. I expect each player to perform at least three reps of 95 pounds. However, this is just a starting point. The ultimate goal for each player is to overhead press 75 percent of their body weight three times. If a player can complete five reps of 95 pounds, then at our mid-season test she will try to lift 10 pounds more weight. As the players’ overhead press weight and reps increase, we’ve documented an increase in hitting speed and decrease in shoulder injuries.

Front squat: I expect our athletes to front squat 135 pounds at least five times. As with the overhead press, this is just a starting point. The goal is for the players to be able to front squat their body weight five times. When a player is able to squat their body weight, we’ve seen great jump performance and a significant drop in reported nagging aches and pains.

Overhead squat: The overhead squat isn’t tested with leg strength in mind, but rather sport-specific mobility, which gives us insight into lower body weaknesses. The seven things I look for in the overhead squat are heels down, feet straight ahead or slightly turned out, proper hip and knee relationship, proper knee and toe relationship, shoulder mobility, flat back (not arched), and proper head alignment.

Plate pinch: I expect that our athletes are able to hold a 25-pound plate in each hand for at least one minute. Grip strength is important for volleyball players for several reasons, the biggest being that stronger grip strength means stronger fingers, which translates to fewer jammed fingers. And when a player does jam a finger, having a strong grip typically lessens the severity.

Shuttles: I have the athletes complete shuttle runs of three different distances: 60, 100, and 300 yards. We test the shuttles at various distance intervals. Using the 60-yard shuttle as an example, sometimes we run it over and back at 10-yard intervals, and other times we run it 15 yards out and back, then 10 yards out and back, and finally five yards out and back. In both scenarios, the goal time is 12.5 seconds. The goal time for the 100-yard shuttle is 21 seconds, and for 300 yards, it’s 55 seconds.

Pavel sit-up: The perfectly executed Pavel sit-up means keeping the heels on the floor and not using momentum. This movement is a great indicator of core strength, and I expect our volleyball players to perform 75 sit-ups in 90 seconds. Core strength is especially important for volleyball players because when an athlete jumps, the only way they can control their body in the air is via their core. Great trunk strength also helps a server or hitter follow all the way through when striking the ball, which translates to a more powerful hit.

Single-leg stadium hop: In volleyball, single-leg landings occur 50 to 70 percent of the time, so working on single-leg strength and landing technique is essential for a safe landing. In this test, I have the players aim for 30 steps in less than 10 seconds, one leg at a time (not alternating).

PROGRAM DESIGN
Armed with this information from the team’s test day, the first thing I do is analyze how the players did overall. The biggest deficit areas usually emerge in the single-leg hop test and overhead press test. Then, I take a simple general training template and fill in the blanks depending on which areas need the most work. Here’s what I start with:

• Monday: Quickness and speed work, agility, and jump school
• Tuesday: Strength and prehab work, and volleyball-specific conditioning
• Wednesday: Weak links
• Thursday: Quickness and speed work, agility, and jump school (single-leg focus)
• Friday: Strength and prehab work, and volleyball-specific conditioning.

Quickness and speed work: We utilize the agility ladder, jump ropes, and dot drills for developing quickness. Each activity is relatively low intensity, making them excellent warmup drills. They also prepare the athletes to progress into the more intense portion of the upcoming workout. When crunched for time, being able to warm up the athletes and train quickness at the same time is very helpful.

The team’s speed work consists of track sprint drills during the warmup phase that include skipping and bounding, plyometric drills like box jumps, Olympic lifts that include clean and snatch variations, and both resisted and non-resisted sprints. Sprint performance has been positively correlated to jump performance, so this is an especially important area for the team.

Agility: Because volleyball requires so many quick direction changes, I put a big emphasis on agility in the off-season, even for players who tested well in the agility category. As mentioned earlier, volleyball players have to change direction every three to five steps, and our agility drills reflect this demand.

Jump school: Every volleyball player I’ve worked with has wanted to be able to jump higher. Approach jump height is a measuring stick among the players, and they take pride in their personal best, so we spend a good chunk of time working on jump height. But more importantly, because volleyball players land on one leg so many times during competition and practice, I make it a point to work on single-leg landings once a week.

Teaching and reinforcing landing technique as the players perform agility ladder work has proven to be a big help in this area. Making the athletes aware of what their bodies are doing when they return to the floor has helped them avoid many injuries. I keep coaching cues simple: foot flat, knee soft and in line with the middle toe, butt back, and chest forward. (See “Single-Leg Focus” for the team’s progression of jump work throughout the off-season.)

Strength and prehab work: In the weightroom, the team performs Olympic lifts, power lifts, and lifts for general strength. We also employ prehab exercises that concentrate on the core, rotator cuff, ankle, knee, and hip since these are generally the weakest and most injury-prone areas for volleyball players.

I use the scale of perceived exertion to determine the amount of weight players lift during our training cycles, and athletes are stopped on an exercise if they reach technical failure. Most of our weightroom training would be classified between light-moderate and moderate-heavy. For our Olympic lifts and power movements, I have them perform between one and five reps. For general strength movements, we strive for two to six reps. For prehab, depending on the type of exercise, players perform between 10 and 20 reps per session.

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The following list doesn’t include everything we do in the weightroom. These are just some of our favorites:

• Olympic and power lifts: Cleans off blocks, hang snatches, power jerks, linear jammers, rotational jammers, box jump variations, med ball throw variations, and weighted jumps.

• General strength: Back squats, front squats, single-leg squat variations, step-up variations, Romanian deadlifts (both single- and double-leg), Good mornings (both single- and double-leg), overhead presses, and pull-ups.

• Prehab: External rotations, balance board work, scapular retractions, clam shells, reverse clam shells, bridging variations, Pavel sit-ups, and reverse hypers.

Volleyball-specific conditioning: We use a 2.5-3:1 rest-to-work ratio for all non-lifting exercises, such as the shuttle runs when used for conditioning and the agility drills mentioned earlier. This means that for every five seconds a player works, they get 12 to 15 seconds of rest.

When testing, the athletes only run each shuttle once for time. But during conditioning sessions, they run 10 to 15 sets with rest times of 2.5 to three times the goal time between sets. I have the players do this so they are conditioning metabolically in a way that mimics their sport.

Weak links: This part of the team’s training program is completely dependent upon the athletes and is different for each of them. We identify every player’s most significant weaknesses and then put in some extra time working with them on improvement. For example, if a player is poorly conditioned, we consider that a weak link and have them do extra conditioning drills. If we can take a weakness and turn it into a strength, we’ve made a better athlete.

The team’s Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday workouts take about 75 minutes to complete, and Wednesday sessions last less than an hour. Because of NCAA Division I time restrictions, I need to keep a close eye on how long the team is training with the staff in the weightroom. I keep our weekly off-season training under six hours because the athletes are also expected to do two hours of individual volleyball work per week, and can’t exceed eight hours total during the off-season.

The key to developing this program for our volleyball players is tailoring it to the demands of the sport. For example, figuring out that a direction change occurs every three to five steps during a game showed me that agility and quickness needed to be big parts of our program. A similar assessment can be made based on seeing how much jumping the athletes are required to do.

There’s far more to volleyball than hitting a ball. These athletes need to be incredibly athletic, and that’s what our training plan strives for.

Sidebar: SINGLE-LEG FOCUS
Here is a table showing how the University of Florida volleyball team progresses through single-leg work between January and August. An athlete advances to the next skill in the progression only after mastering the previous movement. And if I see poor technique, then we lower the box height. Most of our players progress through the entire table by the time August rolls around. Some progress faster than others, but all of them get there eventually. Note that the box heights used vary by athlete, depending on their athleticism.

Single-leg skills
in order of progression………………………….Surface

Linear hops…………………………………………….Flat ground
Lateral/medial hops………………………………….Flat ground
Linear box jumps…………………………………….4- to 30-inch box
Lateral box jumps……………………………………4- to 30-inch box
Medial box jumps…………………………………….4- to 30-inch box
90-degree box jumps……………………………….4- to 30-inch box
Stadium linear jumps……………………………….8- to 14-inch box
Lateral medial hops…………………………………8- to 14-inch box