Attacking Prep
These exercises and drills are designed to prepare the body for an amazing arm swing and bridge the gap from the physical prep to the technique.
PREHAB - “YOUR OWN STUFF”
We believe the first step in preparing the body for volleyball should be entirely individual and tailored to what each athlete needs the most. We think of this section as “getting back to baseline” - improving their biggest mobility limitations and building strength and stability where they need it the most. This section isn’t as much “sport-specific” as it is “athlete-specific”. These exercises should ideally be ones that come from a full-body movement assessment by a qualified professional to determine the areas of greatest priority.
A few examples:
Limited Shoulder Mobility? Try this:
Limited Spinal Rotation? Try this:
Limited Rotational Control? Try this:
FEEL
The goal of this section is to expand each athlete’s awareness of their body through their full range of motion. Instead of having them just “warm enough” not to get injured, we want them to feel new levels of mobility and control each time they prepare to play, and in this way the physical foundation for their technical skills continues to grow. Of particular focus here are spinal mobility, shoulder mobility, and rotator cuff function.
A few examples:
LOAD
Once the body is open to all of its important ranges of motion, it’s time to load them! These exercises start to add more activation, stability, and strength, particularly through the core, scapular stabilizers, and rotator cuff.
A few examples:
CHALLENGE
This is a bit of a “bonus” section that we love to use when the focus is a bit more on physical development and the athletes can spend more time working physically before getting into volleyball. We’ve included some of our favourite options that build a bit more competition, reflexive strength, and coordination.
A few examples:
STANDING THROWS & ATTACKS
As we move towards more specific preparation, we like to start with a couple of wiffle ball throws that help emphasize rotation, looseness, and a low draw back.
Once the throwing patterns look good, we ask athletes to translate the mechanics from their throws into some standing attacks. Often they will revert back to old patterns initially, but after a few reps things start to stabilize.
A few examples:
JUMPING THROWS & ATTACKS
When athletes can demonstrate rotation, looseness, and a low draw back on the ground, we progress to jumping variations. Starting with throws, we let them work through applying all of the same cues and intentions as before, and once that stabilizes we add a volleyball. The last 2 drills below show one example of using a wiffle ball to encourage the loose, low draw position.
