Coaching – Page 6 – Better At Volleyball

Regardless of what level you’re considering playing, trying out for a new team is a challenge. Of course, it’s a huge advantage if you begin playing as early as possible and don’t take any seasons off. Can you make the volleyball team with no experience? People do it every year, but you’ll have to be willing to work very hard to prepare. Here are 11 things you can do to set yourself up for success: Before Tryouts: 1. Get in Shape Your overall athletic conditioning can go a long way. Hopefully, you’re deciding well ahead of time to try out. You should begin immediately to consistently push yourself to achieve the highest level of overall fitness you can. You may be tempted to think volleyball isn’t that demanding physically because it doesn’t look like the players have to do a whole lot of running compared to other sports. Looks can be deceiving! Strong overall fitness is incredibly important in volleyball. Running - You should begin a running regimen immediately. You’ll be looking to build speed and stamina. Mix in sprints, stairs, and hills. The farthest you probably ever need to run in conditioning will be a 5k. Volleyball requires quick reaction and short bursts of speed. Stretching - Stretching helps your flexibility which will get your body ready to compete. We often just think of stretching as a way to warm up, but really this will help your range of motion and your coordination. Also, stretching after working out will help you reduce stiffness and soreness in your muscles. Strength Training - If you have access to a gym, then, by all means, use it! If not you will need to get creative in strength training using your bodyweight or other things you have around to assist you. A major focus in your strength training should be your legs. Exercises like calf raises, box jumps, squats and wall sits are common to every good volleyball program.A second area to consider is your core. Strengthening your abdomen through plank exercises, situps or crunches, and similar moves will help you build power and stamina in everything that you do.Finally, you need to give some attention to your upper body as well. You want to have the strength to serve, pass and hit with as much force as needed. 2. Learn the Language Ahead of Time Learning the terms that are commonly used in volleyball will help you understand what coaches are asking you to do. The good thing is all this takes is time. Spend some time reading on this site or many others like it and you’ll pick up the lingo very quickly. This post is dedicated to helping you learn the different terms, abbreviations, statistics, and acronyms you'll need to know. Search some YouTube videos about volleyball and listen as coaches give instructions and then watch how their players react. When your coaches give instructions, you’ll at least understand what they’re asking for and just have to concentrate on trying to execute. 3. Practice the Basics While you can’t become an all-star on your own, you can certainly practice the basics. With a ball and a wall you really can accomplish a good deal. Practice passing or “bumping” the ball against the wall using good form. Watch some videos ahead of time and see how strong players set themselves up to pass. Try to focus on being able to consistently send the ball to a specific spot on the wall. Next practice setting or “volleying” the ball to a spot on the wall. You may have to stand very close to the wall and set it up at an angle. As you get the hang of it, move around and challenge yourself. Another good beginner level solo exercise for practicing passing and volleying is going low, medium and high. So practicing by yourself, bump the ball straight up in the air and try to first do low, then medium, then high and keep it going. Do the same for volleying. By practicing this different level of force you are developing skills to control where the ball goes as well as being focused and concentrated on what you are doing. These mental skills are crucial to playing volleyball because when you play you have to constantly think about where the ball is going, where you need to move to get the ball, and where you are sending it. 4. Learn to Serve One of the most noticeable skills in volleyball is serving. Some players may make the team just because they can serve well. While you are probably not an expert yet, this is a skill you can work on in your own time. All you need to practice serving are 3 things: a ball, your target “net” and the distance of one half of the court. So you will need a ball. It really has to be a volleyball and if you don’t have one already, you can get one at any Walmart for about $10 that will serve this purpose. If you don’t have an actual volleyball net, you have to create the closest thing you can. Often the simplest way is to find a large building that has a flat, wide and tall wall that you can practice against. Ideally, you would like to be on flat ground so that you’re not serving either uphill or downhill. The height of the net for women is 7 ft. 4 ⅛ inches, for men 8 feet. You may need to bring a folding chair or step ladder and a piece of chalk to mark off a net line. The court is 60 feet long, so ½ the court is 30 feet. While you can get out a measuring tape, I’d recommending simply pacing off the distance of the court one time, then remember that number for the future. So if it takes you 13 paces to cross from the net to the server’s line, just remember that and use it for practicing elsewhere. I would add one pace just to make sure you’re serving far enough. If you’re a beginner that is struggling to serve over the net, one trick Heidie and I used early on was we found a fence that was the right height. Instead of serving against the wall, her goal was to make it over the fence. Practice and practice until you can become consistent. You want to give the coach every reason you can to give you a spot on their team. While some players will make the team without a good serve, the coach has a limited number of substitutions to use, we want the coach to have confidence in your serve. If you're ready to take your serving to the next level, check out this post about Mastering The 4 Types of Serves In Volleyball. 5. Spend Some Time on the Courts Do everything you can to get some actual playing time before you try out. Have you checked your local YMCA or community center to see if they have any open gym time when you can play on a court? Invite a handful of friends and family. Ask around and find out if any of the local churches have a volleyball night. These are often used as an outreach to the community and they welcome all kinds of visitors. The YMCA or local church groups are a great place to find some casual games While the level of competition may be very low, you need playing time. You need practice anticipating the ball, reacting to other players and judging distances. Get any and all playing time you can! 6. Sign Up for a Camp Do a search for your local area and see if there are any volleyball camps or clinics coming up. All kinds of good quality coaches spend their time helping coach players just like you. For what is usually a modest fee you can get some good experience in just a few days. If you don’t find any of these through a google search, try calling some local volleyball coaches to ask if they know of any upcoming camps. The Day of The Tryout: 7. Show Up Early Showing up ahead of time always leaves a good first impression. You will feel more comfortable being able to find your way around and get settled. If possible introduce yourself to the coach before the tryout starts and let them know that you haven’t played on a team before but that you’re excited about the opportunity and can’t wait to learn. Introduce yourself to some of the other players and try to remember their names. You may need a partner in some of the drills and this will help you pair find someone to partner with. 8. Show Up Dressed Like a Player You will want to fit in and dressing the part is a good start. You’ll need a good pair of athletic shoes, some knee pads, and some spandex. Once you’ve made the team you should definitely invest in shoes that are actually recommended (designed) for volleyball. For now, any standard athletic shoes should be good enough to make it through tryouts. If it’s your first time getting knee pads, you will want to choose some that are snug enough that they won’t slide around when you’re diving on the floor. You want them to be comfortable, but tough enough that they last you a season. For many girls, this is the first and possibly only situation where you will be wearing tight spandex shorts. While it may seem strange or awkward, they’re the standard for volleyball for a reason. Spandex shorts will never inhibit your speed or movement which is a key in volleyball. 9. Have a Great Attitude Showing up with an optimistic, outgoing, enthusiastic attitude is only the first step. In tryouts, you will be challenged and tested to do many things you may have never done before. Listen carefully to everything the coach or coaches say and focus on what they’re asking you to do. You will need to show that even though you don’t have experience, you will follow instructions and listen to feedback. Are you coachable? Prove it by paying close attention and giving every effort to accomplish what they’re asking for. Look for opportunities to speak out showing a good attitude. When you’re given a great set, complement the setter whether you succeed in hitting the ball or not. When someone messes up and the gym goes quiet, be the one to encourage them with a “you can do it, shake it off” or whatever seems natural to you. Coaches notice that sort of team spirit. When others complain, don’t join in. It can be very tempting to groan along with the crowd when the coach tells everyone “5 more laps around the gym” or “drop and give me 10 pushups”. Don’t give in to that attitude even if you think no one will notice. 10. Be Vocal One of the intangible qualities that coaches always are looking for is good communication. If you’re not comfortable yelling, it’s time to get comfortable with it! Volleyball is a loud sport and one that requires you to speak up. When the ball is coming over the net, the person who is going to receive the ball should call “MINE” as early as possible. Do not be shy, be bold! If you know players names, try calling them when you pass to them. Be encouraging and enthusiastic, cheering when things go well. 11. Thank the Coach Afterward I know what you’re thinking, “What? Are you crazy? No one else is going to go thank the coach!” That’s exactly right. You’re going to stand out! You aren’t doing this to suck-up or "brown nose". Be bold, walk directly up to the coach afterward and when you have their attention say something like, “Thanks for the opportunity coach, I’m looking forward to playing for you.” You may feel like you messed up a lot of things during your tryout, but anyone who has the guts to do this can get this one right. You will leave an impression on this coach that they WILL remember when they’re making their final decision on who to keep and who to cut. Final Thoughts On Trying Out Of course, you may try all of these things and still not make the team. But you will have done everything you can do. If you start as early as possible and give it everything you have, then at least you will know you’ve done your best. Some of the greatest athletes in all sports have failed to make the team. Michael Jordan famously failed to make the basketball team as a freshman in high school. The questions you must face before and possibly again after tryouts are, “Just how badly do I want this? What am I willing to do to succeed?” If you would like to know more about what tryouts are really like, click here to read my daughter Heidie's post about her experiences. Photo Credits: Feature image by Tania Van den Berghen from Pixabay Red passing player image by Keith Johnston from Pixabay Hero image by Dan Morgan on flickr.com: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/, cropped.