[Athletic Lab is the official training center of NC Elite volleyball one of the top volleyball academies in the Southeast]

Volleyball is a physically demanding sport, requiring strength, power, agility, and speed; few other sports like it exist (Hadzic et al., 2010). Additionally, volleyball is a sport that requires careful consideration when tasked with enhancing athlete performance. While many clubs are stuck in the old mindset of keeping the status quo, other clubs are shifting their paradigms and pushing the envelope. NC Elite knows that skills and drills alone are simply not effective at bringing about increases in athlete performance. With the help of Athletic Lab, NC Elite has positioned themselves as the premiere volleyball academy in the Southeast.

Strength is paramount to volleyball performance, and many examples exist as to why the stronger athlete is always the better athlete. It has been shown that spike velocity in volleyball correlates to strength improvements in the dominant shoulder (Hadzic et al., 2010). Furthermore it is now known that strength training actually has protective effects against “jumper’s knee” (Hadzic et al., 2010). In volleyball, jumper’s knee is the most common overuse injury (Dervisevic & Hadzic, 2012). Not only will strength training bring about performance gains, it will actually reduce injury rates and overuse injuries through the enhancement of motor-control and joint stability.

It is no surprise that the highest jumper makes for the best volleyball athlete. It has been shown that in one game, players execute on average 85 jumps per hour (Riggs & Sheppard, 2009). Of these jumps, blocking accounts for approximately 27% of the jumps (Riggs & Sheppard, 2009). So it is obvious that a stronger athlete is necessary for offenseand defense. The stronger athlete too, is always the most resistant to injury too.

It is apparent that the coach is faced with two decisions: jump more in practice, or train the athlete to be more resilient in the face of multiple jump bouts. Again, the best way to bring about performance improvements when the status quo isn’t working is through the careful implementation of a sports-specific strength-training program. Overload the athlete so they excel even at the most mundane of tasks.

The science in why we train athletes in a specific way is no secret. For instance, in a study comparing peak power of volleyball athletes, those athletes that exhibited reduced lower extremity muscle mass have a clear linear relationship to peak power (Riggs & Sheppard, 2009). Essentially this means that the weaker, less muscular athletes generate less power during jumping, which translates to lower overall jump heights. At the Athletic Lab and at our off-site training programs we take this and other findings into consideration to develop a program that is designed specifically around the needs of our athletes.

Exercises such as squats, deadlifts, cleans and snatches are all movements that we use when designing programs for our athletes. Not because they look cool, but rather because they are effective and are proven to increase the performance of our clients. When considering volleyball, it is obvious that the knee joint is active during landing and during take-off, oftentimes requiring rapid transitions and changes-of-direction (Dervisevic & Hadzic, 2012).

The implementation of the aforementioned training methodologies, among others will ensure that our athletes are operating at peak output, with little threat of injury. Likewise, all sports will benefit from out world-class service, irrespective of your goals.

Reference:

  • Dervisevic, E. & Hadzic, V. (2012). Quadriceps and hamstrings strength in team sports: Basketball, football and volleyball. Isokinetics and Exercise Science, 20, 293-300.
  • Hadzic, V., Sattler, T., Markovic, G., Veselko, M. & Dervisevic, E. (2010). The isokinetic strength profile of quadriceps and hamstrings in elite volleyball players. Isokinetics and Exercise Science, 18, 31-37.
  • Riggs, M. P. & Sheppard, J. M. (2009). The relative importance of strength and power qualities to vertical jump height of elite beach volleyball players during the counter-movement and squat jump. Journal of Human Sport and Exercise, 4(3), 221-236.