Getting in Volleyball Shape

Is the long distance running I see many coaches have their players suffer through really that constructive?

Almost always, for volleyball, long slow cardio (slow running, biking, etc.) is a complete waste of time and energy. In fact, you are most likely hurting your volleyball performance.

http://www.strength-and-Power-for-Volleyball.com

I believe that most coaches make their players run for two reasons:

1. Aerobic training has been understood to be an effective method to train athletes of all sports.

This thinking is finally starting to change. Coaches are just recently starting to become aware of the importance of anaerobic training for volleyball and the importance of sport specific training.

2. Most coaches use long distance running to weed out players when determining who to cut from the team.

The thought is, if a player isn't willing to stick it out and push through then they aren't that serious about playing or just aren't in good enough "shape" to play volleyball.

Some coaches use running to measure a volleyball players level of conditioning.
For example, at a volleyball teams tryouts they may have the 1 mile run for time. Is this really an appropriate test for volleyball players? You may be able to tell if the athlete has a bit of athletic ability by how they perform the run, but that's about it.

It's important to understand the following principle:

To be slow, train slow. To be fast, train fast.

When you really think about it, the best long distance runners are the “best of the slow runners”.

Do we really want to develop faster slow runners?

Volleyball is a strength and power sport. The best volleyball players are quick and explosive.

Volleyball is anaerobic, meaning, your body recovers during the short rest periods of “high intensity bouts of exercise”.

Long distance running is aerobic, meaning, your body recovers “during the exercise”.

So for example, the average length of a rally in volleyball lasts about 6 seconds. During this 6 seconds, a volleyball player may be making quick movements to pass or dig, quick approaches to jump and hit or block, etc. Players recovery takes place during the rest between rallys.

Many coaches think aerobic training is good for volleyball because it gets players in good “cardio shape”. But the reality is, anaerobic exercise also trains the cardiovascular system.

I think another reason it’s taking so long for many coaches to change their mindset about long distance running for volleyball conditioning is because they have this state of mind that more is better. “The harder you work out, the better shape players will be in.”

They are right, players get in better shape, but not the right kind of shape for volleyball.

Not volleyball shape.

Are you in shape for volleyball?