I was up at the
Monument City Classic Volleyball tournament in Richmond this past weekend to watch my daughter
play. One of the most obvious things I see missing in volleyball players
is first step quickness to get to a ball. It is especially lacking in
young female players so seeing it often and at excruciating slow speeds multiple
times this weekend I was able to analyze the problems more in depth and
hopefully give you some pointers and drills that will help no matter what your
ability level.
Before we even get in
to drills, we need to talk about your ready position. A good athletic
position just like in most sports works well. You don't want your big toes
any wider than your shoulders. Yes, a wider base will bring your center of
gravity lower so you can get to the ground faster but a wide base significantly
decreases your options of moving in other directions. Photo 1 is a
shot of me trying to move to my right with a stance wider than my
shoulders. You can see that my center of gravity has shifted but it is
still inside my right foot meaning I still have a boundary(right leg angle) to
overcome.
Photo 1 - Stance Too Wide
Photo 2
is a shot of me making the same movement but with a shoulder width stance.
Here, my momentum is moving to my right, my shin angle is aimed to the right and
I have overcome that boundary much easier. It is better to get your legs
strong so you can be comfortable in that athletic position with the hips, knees,
and ankles cocked, loaded, and ready to explode in any direction, not just
down.
Photo 2 - Better Leg Angle
Check your setup
before each play with these cues:
1-Feet shoulder width
apart.
2-Weight in the balls
of your feet but not on the toes as in Photo
3.
Photo 3 - Too Much Weight on the Toes
Think "as much
weight in as much of your feet as possible but still being able to slide a
credit card under your heels."
Photo 4 - Heels Low to the Ground
3-Slight tension in
the muscles of the lower body but only tight enough that you still feel springy
or bouncy.
4-Chest up, relaxed
upper body.
Finally, when setting
up to move, remember, you are faster going forward than you are going backwards
so as your first step quickness improves, err on the side of setting up so that
you can move forward to a ball in play versus having to back up.
Now for drills.
There are 2 types of drills that are needed to improve your quickness.
Power and reaction time. Being powerful so that you can contract the
correct muscles in the correct order as fast as possible is key, but if the
software doesn't tell the hardware what to do, nothing happens so you need to
train your reaction time too.
Power Drills include
plyometric movements such as different types of jumps and sprinting. Here
is one drill that really helps with getting the foot off the ground and making
contact as soon as possible again:
Lean, Fall, Run
drill:
Video
1
Level 1-First start with your leg up, arms in the correct sprinting
position. When ready, relax the ankle, and lean forward. Your body
will begin to fall. Keep your heel down as long as possible. As soon
as it comes up, contract your butt cheek and drive the foot that is in the air
into the ground as hard and fast as your can behind you so that you are
propelled forward. Building on this momentum, sprint forward for a few
steps to get a few explosive steps out of each leg. Alternate starting
legs.
Video
2
Level 2-Start with both feet together. Lean forward as in Level 1 but this
time when your heels start to come up, drive one knee up forcefully and then
drive it back to the ground as hard and fast as possible. As soon as it
comes up, contract your butt cheek and drive the foot that is in the air into
the ground as hard and fast as your can behind you so that you are propelled
forward. Building on this momentum, sprint forward for a few steps to get
a few explosive steps out of each leg. Alternate starting
legs.
Reaction time can be
trained using audible, visual, and kinesthetic cues. For the sport of
Volleyball, visual cues are going to be of the most benefit. Here is one
drill that we like that goes well with the Lean, Fall, Run drill and the Ready
Position explained above.
Ball Drop
Drill:
Pick a starting
line. Have a partner hold a ball that will bounce a few yards away.
Get in your ready position. Your partner will drop the ball at their
leisure. Your goal is to get the ball after the first bounce before it
bounces a second time.
As your reaction time
improves, you can vary the intensity in a couple of ways:
1-have your partner
move farther away form the starting line.
2-have your partner
hold a ball in each hand. They choose to drop one or the other and you
have to not only react forward but also to one side or the
other.
Just like any other
plyometric drill, volume is not priority; high intensity with proper technique
is, so add these into your training but only do a handful of each drill per
session. Let us know if you have any questions.
