Coaching Volleyball 2.0 CVB2.0 Special Issue 1 | Page 15

Fired Up
b. If you run drills where attackers hit 5–10 balls
without a break, consider cutting that volume in half
before they cycle out.
c. With any 2 on 2, 3 on 3, 4 on 4, 5 on 5, or 6 on
6 drills consider timing each round of play. Every 60
seconds cycle a new group onto the court. Keeping
your players in activities of higher duration longer
than the above-mentioned durations will not only fight
against the training you are trying to achieve, but in my
opinion, can also increase the likelihood of an injury on
your team because of the fatigue it will create.
3) Adjust the length of your practice times, especially in the
first few practices. Critically consider the endurance level of
your athletes, and understand that your athletes will not be
able to function at the same level they were performing at
previously, or for the same durations. They will need time
endurance. Point endurance is the volume of points that
your players or team can tolerate in a row. A typical point
in a high-level 18 Open match lasts between 5–7 seconds.
Then there is a break of between 10–15 seconds before
the next point begins. This is the length of the majority of
points. About 10% of the points will last 8–15 seconds and
about 5% of the points will last 20 seconds or more.
5) We can play somewhere between 90 - 120 points in
an hour. In a 2-hour practice that is 180 - 240 points. In
a 3-hour practice session we can play between 270 - 360
points. No one is going to come off this break ready to play
180 plus points in a single session, so volume and intensity
must be adjusted for the healthy return of your players.
The next challenge coaches will face upon return to practice
is how to manage their teams through a multi-day event. We’ll
touch on that next time.
“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.”
to return to that same level. What does this look like? Put
simply, whatever level you were practicing at before the
break you should cut that by about 40% as you return. If
you were practicing for 120 minutes per practice, consider
cutting that to about 70 minutes for the first week. If you
were practicing for 180 minutes think about cutting the
sessions to about 110 minutes for the first week back, and
adding back 10-20% each week of practice.
4) Manage the amount of points your team plays per
practice session in scrimmage play to build up their point
Coaching Volleyball 2.0 | 15