Here is an interesting study conducted in Australia on some participants in the Australian Junior Volleyball Championships. Unfortunately I can only access the abstract…
According to the abstract, the results show that skill based conditioning games resulted in improvements in vertical jump, spike jump, speed, agility, upper body muscular power and estimated maximal aerobic power. [...]

Pic: boldsey
Written by Dave
A previous post Do The Opposite dealt with a principle to adhere to when planning a strength & conditioning program for volleyball. “Train movements, not muscles” is another conditioning principle that is applicable to all sports, including volleyball.
The Principle
A key principle when trying to improve your volleyball performance is specificity of training. [...]

Photo: marktristan
Written By Dave
Ankle sprains are one of the most common injuries in volleyball, and no doubt a fair proportion of the readers out there have had this injury at some stage. We know that taping or ankle braces can be a good way to prevent or reduce the severity of ankle injuries (see To [...]

Pic: cobalt123
Written By Dave
Part 1 of this series looked at why the glutes are important, basically because they are a major component in jumping, and why they are often not as active as they should be. Part 2 looked at how to address this by giving some motor control exercises designed to get your glutes [...]

Pic: rjs1322

Written By Dave
There seems to be some confusion about where static stretching fits into a volleyball program. Before training? After training? Does it prevent injuries? Just exactly what is the deal with static stretching?
Studies have shown that a warm up based around static stretching can impede vertical jump performance and power outputs. In some [...]

Pic: Photocapy
Written By Dave
Its been a while since part 1 of this series, but part 2 is finally here.
The first part of this series looked at why the glutes are important, and why they don’t fire in a lot of people. Bad motor patterns and tight hip flexors are two of the biggest culprits. [...]

Pic: Tom@HK
Written By Dave
Warming up for volleyball used to be so simple. Jog a few laps, stretch for a bit, or vice versa, then get into it. This is definitely not the ideal warm up. Research has shown that static stretching can reduce the amount of power and force the stretched muscles can generate. This [...]

Enough with the curls, do some squats! Pic: MrBeagle
Written By Dave
Following on from the post on Increasing Vertical Jump, this post supports the fact that strong legs are required for a good vertical jump.
Vertical jump and sprint times correlate well with max squat strength. This means that if you have a strong max squat [...]

Pic: Midiman
Written By Dave

What should you do in the weight room for volleyball? There is such a range of exercises and different training techniques out there it’s hard to know where to start. Well here is one principle that will give you a starting point as far a weight training for volleyball goes. Do [...]

Pic: SuperFantastic
Written By Dave

What is one thing besides the skills of volleyball that athletes invest a great amount of time trying to improve? You guess it, vertical jump. It was only a matter of time before a volleyball conditioning site tackled the vertical jump. This is a large topic and one very relevant to volleyball. [...]