How Does a Professional Volleyball Player Train?

Endurance Training

Professional volleyball players play in tournaments where they can have a half-dozen matches in one day in the early rounds of a tournament. This means endurance training is a key. Learning how to pace themselves during the long match is done by spending 8 to 10 hours in a day playing pickup volleyball matches against random opponents, learning how to keep themselves hydrated and fresh during the day for the later matches. This is done multiple days in a row to simulate a typical professional beach volleyball tournament, which lasts between 4 and 5 days.

Running on the Beach

Playing professional volleyball involves running on sand on the beach. This can result in a lot of wear and tear on one's knees. To build up the muscles and strengthen the ligaments, professional volleyball players spend an hour or two jogging on the beach each day. This helps strengthen their legs and improve endurance.

Squats and Thrusts

The leg muscles are extremely important for a volleyball player. This is where they gain their power for jumping when spiking, diving to dig a volleyball, and reacting and moving in the sand. To build these muscles, they should perform over 100 squat thrusts in a day to strengthen their leg muscles.

Accuracy

Professional volleyball players will set targets on one side of the volleyball net and serve or return serves from the other side. They work as individuals or partners to hit the targets on the other side. This helps them practice how to place the ball during a game to specific locations they feel will be covered least effectively by their opponents.

Reaction Time

Reaction time is very short when digging a ball on a powerfully hit spike. To help react quickly, volleyball players will have a teammate toss a ball to either side of them and will dive to that side, trying to dig the ball that is out of their direct reach.