Coaching Volleyball 2.0 CVB2.0 Special Issue 1 | Page 14

without adequate instances of rest, we will
inadvertently expose our players to injury.
So, what should be our goals as we return
to play?
I believe the primary goal should revolve
around reintroducing our players and
teams to a level of work or training that
allows them to adapt to the load of playing
volleyball without experiencing an injury.
The basic aim for me would be to adjust my
practice duration and intensity in such a way
so that my team would not experience any
injuries in our return to play.
I take this information as an important warning. Coaches
must be wary and extremely intentional in the way that we
train our teams following a lengthy break, as improper training
can be detrimental to the overall health and wellness of our
players. Many injuries are not like the weather - they do not just
happen. Often times the numbers of injuries can be decreased,
and as coaches we must use the information we have and make
deliberate and well-thought-out practice plans.
Based on the data above I now inject my belief; that many
of these collegiate volleyball injuries are due to a training
approach that has an intensity level that is too high and
durations that are too long, before the players’ bodies have
adequate time to adapt to their new training conditions.
The human body is an unbelievable mechanism and has the ability
to tolerate unhealthy intensities and loads. Remember that all of our
players are coming back from an extended break, and injuries that
were previously plaguing them will likely feel much better.
Players and coaches will both come back full of great energy and
excitement. People will have been in their homes for an extended
period of time and unable to do much. It is great that people will
be so enthusiastic and feeling ready to go, but in most instances,
their bodies will need 4 to 8 weeks of specific preparation as they
get ready to go into a multi-day competition.
With that in mind, my advice is to come back and ease
into activity with your players and teams. Look at volleyball
this way: there are a series of moderate exertion moves
such as passing, some defensive moves and some serves,
and other movements that are explosive and require high
levels of physical exertion like attacking and blocking. If we
expose our players to all of these movements too quickly or
14 | Special Issue No.1
Here are some practical steps on how to successfully and safely
return to training and re-build the endurance levels of your teams:
1) When we come back into the gym after an
extended break one strategy would be to use
moderate exertion moves (passing, defense,
serving) as recovery time for our players after
bouts of high exertion moves (attacking,
blocking or fast-paced scrimmage play). So, if
I am running an attacking or blocking drill,
follow it up with an easier passing or defensive
drill and flip these types of drills throughout
your practice. This allows athletes time to
recover while at the same time continue to
refresh their skills.
2) Think about how you will cycle players in
and out of drills so that they are receiving an
adequate amount of rest following fast-paced
training. Decrease the amount of time you
spend skill training moderate exertion moves
like passing, serving and defense, and allow for
more breaks after bouts of activity. Here are a
few examples:
a. Within a typical practice we like to have a group
of 3 passers, 1 passer in the drill receiving 3 balls and
then the next passers cycles through. We typically do
5-6 cycles of this and then the next group waves in.
Three groups to a team so the groups off can rest while
shagging and handing for 2 cycles before they are back
in the drill. Coming back off this break we will cut
down the time in the drill to 2-3 cycles per group before
we cycle in a new group.