Creating the ideal volleyball strength and conditioning program for high school athletes is definitely an ongoing process. If you are a new strength and conditioning coach or volleyball sport coach, or just looking for a fresh way to help your team’s performance, you can adapt what I’ve learned in the case study and self-guided course materials below.

You can also contact me with questions or for specific advice about your team or training needs. Let’s schedule a brief, free phone call. If you need more in-depth support, we can discuss my availability for remote strength and conditioning coaching, program design, and performance data-driven results. I have the equipment and experience to make that a winning solution for your school or club team.

I have been a strength and conditioning coach with a special focus on high school athletics, and volleyball in particular, for more than 10 years. My wife, Coach Nevena Taylor, founded Block Out Academy in 2016, and we work together to help empower female volleyball athletes of all ages to succeed.

The case study outlined in this article is adapted from an in-depth training experience I had with one of our local volleyball teams in 2020. I have broken the content down into 8 weeks of self-guided study and application with suggested readings from some essential resources. I highly recommend you getting a copy of the resources I’ve referenced in this course as we cover the following topics:

· Volleyball Introduction and The Five Volleyball Positions (Week 1)

· Volleyball Biomechanics (Week 2)

· High School Girls’ Volleyball Epidemiology (Week 3)

· Volleyball Key Performance Indicators & Assessments for Sport Performance and Volleyball Injury Mitigation (Weeks 4 & 5)

· Resistance Training and Plyometric Training for Volleyball (Week 6)

· Speed and Agility Training for Volleyball (Week 7)

· High School Volleyball Strength and Conditioning Annual Plan (Week 8)

If you want to take a deep dive, check out the resources I’ve cited and used in this volleyball strength and conditioning program for high school athletes. Want to get a solid overview and summary of most of the material in this blog? Watch my video presentation on YouTube where I go into much of the detail below and offer some additional volleyball strength and conditioning program tips.

References and Recommended Reading Resources

Chojęta, D., Maziarz, B., Zygmunt, E., Wróblewski, H., & Zimna, A. (2020). Specificity and spectrum of injuries among volleyball players. Journal of Education, Health and Sport, 10(7), 180.doi:10.12775/jehs.2020.10.07.018

Floyd, R. (2018). Manual of Structural Kinesiology (12th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Hebert, M. (2014). Thinking volleyball. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Hedrick, A. (2007). Training for high level performance in women's collegiate volleyball: Part i training requirements. Strength and Conditioning Journal, 29(6), 50. doi:10.1519/1533-4295(2007)29[50:tfhlpi]2.0.co;2

Hedrick, A. (2008). Training for high-level performance in women's collegiate volleyball: Part ii: Training program. Strength & Conditioning Journal, 30(1), 12-21. doi:10.1519/ssc.0b013e31816370b1

Hoffman, J. (2014). Physiological aspects of sport training and performance (2nd ed.). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Reeser, J. C., & Bahr, R. (2017). Handbook of Sports Medicine and Science, Volleyball (2nd ed.). Newark, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated.

Triplett, N. (2016). Essentials of strength training and conditioning (4th ed.) (1408660720 1026473395 G. Haff, Ed.). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Volleyball Introduction and The Five Volleyball Positions (Week 1)

Volleyball History and Strength and Conditioning Essentials

Volleyball is a sport played globally. It was introduced as an Olympic sport in 1964 at the Tokyo Olympics. The United States is home to a national team, collegiate teams, club teams, and scholastic teams.

From a strength and conditioning training standpoint, volleyball is a strength and power sport of repeat bouts of short duration high intensity work of 4-to-7 seconds with 10-to-20 seconds between work. The main sources of energy are the phosphagen and glycolytic energy systems.

Match Play and Volleyball Scoring

Volleyball matches are comprised of sets. Competition is either the best-of-three or the best-of-five sets. To win a set a team must be the first to reach 25 points and win by at least a two-point margin. A team may score offensively or defensively.

On offense, a team may score with an “ace” off of a serve that strikes the floor within the field of play, or if the serve is misplayed by an opponent and not returned over the net. Offensively a team may also run a set play where the ball is passed from the libero to the setter who sets the ball for the hitter to spike down on the opponent’s side of the court.

Defensively, a team can score by blocking a hitter’s spike, sending the ball down on the opponent’s side of the net. Points are also given due to the other team faulting, such as a serve into the net, a serve out of the field of play, or a setter error.

The Five Volleyball Positions and Their Roles on Offense and Defense

There are five positions in volleyball:

1. outside hitter

2. setter

3. right-side hitter

4. middle hitter

5. libero

A player’s height often plays a critical role in determining what position they will have. In the United States, the middle hitter is often the tallest athlete, followed by the right-side hitter, then the outside hitter, and the shortest athlete is most often the setter.

Outside hitters are positioned on the front row on each side of the court. They are responsible for passing the ball to the setter while in serve-receive and hitting accurately when on offense. There are usually two outside hitters on the court opposite one another.

Setters are responsible for communicating the plays and running the offense. It is their job to receive the pass and then deliver a ball with minimum spin to either the middle or outside attacking positions.

Right-side hitters are positioned on the front row on the side away from the setter. Defensively, they block the other teams right-side hitter. Offensively, they are generally the third attack option. Right-side hitters also set the ball if the setter is unable to reach a ball.

Middle hitters are generally a quick offensive attack option for the setter. Defensively, the middle is involved in following the ball and blocking in the middle or with either the outsider hitter or right-side hitter.

Liberos are defensive specialists who only play on the back row. During serve-receive they pass the ball to the setter and dig spikes. They are generally not involved in the offense.

Volleyball Biomechanics (Week 2)

Essential Volleyball Biomechanics Overview

Core movements specific to volleyball are the spike, block, and dig. To execute each of these components an athlete must possess adequate strength, speed, and quickness that respectively ensures the correct movement sequencing can be executed for the desired outcome.

Volleyball Strength and Conditioning Program Background Notes

In 2020, I sat down with a local high school volleyball team’s head coach, and he told me that this year’s team had a drastic advantage at the net above all teams they would face. All girls at the net were 6’2” (or taller) and skilled enough to put down aggressive shots.

The middle, a 6’4” athlete, would be the core and allow the outside hitters more one on one opportunities. The back row athletes would clean up and protect key areas defensively that could be exposed due to an aggressive front attack.

I knew that to be successful through the entire season, his players shoulders and elbows needed to remain healthy. That would allow for their front row to put the ball down effectively and for the servers they would rely on to place the ball in the most tactically sound location on the court.

Defensively, the advantage again was the height of the front row. Opponents would have to try to hit through or around the block. Tactically, the front row athletes had to be able to execute one on one blocks, but also needed to be quick enough laterally to assist with blocking the opponent.

Core Volleyball Movements

Similar biomechanics of the jump and overhead strike show up in each of the three core movements. There are three key differences:

1. The degree of flexion in the load

2. The speed and resulting force from extension

3. The degree and speed of flexion in the landing

The jump is broken down into the load, take off, and landing. The more powerful ball strikes (hitting at the pin and aggressive serves) often require greater ankle and knee flexion on both takeoff and landing. The quicker attacks and blocks require a lesser degree of flexion and must have a high degree of synchronization through extension of the ankle knee and hip for success.

An efficient spike is the result of scapular retraction, shoulder abduction and external rotation, and elbow flexion to load for the spike. This is followed by shoulder adduction with internal rotation and elbow extension with pronation as the wrist is flexed when the ball is struck.

For the block, in general, a quicker jump is needed to synchronize the defensive blocking position in response to an offensive attacking position. The upper limbs are extended with hands positioned in a flexed position. The digits are fully extended to meet the opponents strike at its peak, deflecting the ball directly down or back toward the opponent’s side of play.

The dig requires an athlete to react efficiently to the opponent using the arms to create a “platform” squarely in line with the ball. This allows for control of the ball as it’s passed to the setter.

High School Girls’ Volleyball Epidemiology (Week 3)

Volleyball Epidemiology Case Study Overview

For this case study, I was brought in and given the sole responsibility to put together a volleyball strength and conditioning program for high school girls that would reduce the rate of injury and provide the athletes with the greatest chance to win a state championship.

The head coach told me that after more than 20 years of coaching, he had never had a season in which he began and ended the season with the same starting lineup. He also reported having at least one catastrophic knee or ankle injury every season.

The team’s appointed athletic trainer confirmed this information and helped get me up to speed with all preexisting injuries going into this season. One of the starters and cornerstone athletes reported knee pain consistently the prior season, another reported shin splints in both legs, another player suffered chronic lower back pain, and there were ankle sprains in the mix as well.

Volleyball Injury Epidemiology

Most instances of volleyball injuries take place during practice and within the preseason or offseason training periods. The four most common injury sites, in order of highest to lowest frequency, are:

1. the ankle

2. the knee

3. the shoulder

4. the lower back

Ankle injuries are generally acute sprains.

Knee injuries are resultant of either overuse (tendinopathy) or acute ligament tears such as anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) or meniscus tears.

Shoulder injuries are mostly attributed to overuse with impingement, tendinitis, and tears of the rotator cuff and shoulder labrum.

Lower back injuries are generally attributed to overuse.

The above-mentioned lower limb injuries and lower back injuries occur during the takeoff and landing of the block or spike. The shoulder injuries occur during the spike or serve.

What the head coach and team trainer were telling me about their team’s injuries was highly congruent with our current sport injury epidemiology literature. This proved extremely helpful in determining key performance indicators and developing a plan to mitigate injuries.

Volleyball Key Performance Indicators & Assessments for Sport Performance and Volleyball Injury Mitigation (Weeks 4 & 5)

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for Volleyball Players

Volleyball is a sport with high phosphagen and moderate glycolytic demands. An athlete must possess adequate strength, power, and muscular endurance to meet performance demands as well as mitigate possible injury.

Key performance indicators (KPIs) are defined metrics used to monitor athletic performance as well as highlight possible injury risk. KPIs are most effective when alignment with performance assessments and injury epidemiology are met.

KPIs and Volleyball Injury Mitigation (Case Study Overview)

In my work with the high school volleyball team in this case study, I chose the following KPIs and strength and conditioning programming to help reduce the likelihood of injuries during the season:

KPIs:

· Jump height

· Counter movement jump

· Change of direction

· 10-yard sprint

Injury Mitigation:

· Qualitative readiness assessment

· Resistance training

Volleyball Key Performance Indicators Details

Volleyball Jump Height

Volleyball jump height was measured during the preseason training period and throughout the competition period on a biweekly basis. Front-row athletes are more effective when vertical jumping capacity is higher.

I measured two jump mat variations with the goal of seeing increases in one or both measurements: single-effort vertical jumps, and multi-rep vertical jumps (with height measurements and ground contact time). Vertical jump height and ground contact time were also used in conjunction with a qualitative survey to help better determine athlete readiness.

Counter Movement Jump

I completed counter movement jump assessments with Vald Forcedecks during the preseason to help identify what kind of squat to implement for greatest performance enhancement.

Athletes were coded green, yellow, or red based on where they ranked among the teams CMJ data, respective to their rate of force development. Green being the top quartile, yellow being the middle, and red being the lower quartile. Outliers were placed in green or red respectively.

Green-coded athletes completed the prescribed volume and intensity of back squats and then immediately completed four plyometric jumps over hurdles with emphasis on a (perceived) low ground contact time.

Yellow-coded athletes executed the prescribed volume and intensity of back squats as isometrics with a five-second count bottom.

Red-coded athletes performed the prescribed volume and intensity of back squats as eccentrics with a five-second downward lowering phase.

Change of Direction

Another KPI for this team was change of direction. I measured this with the pro-agility drill. Although this was a KPI, there were only two tests conducted; one during the preseason period and one during the competition period.

Since the libero and defensive specialist playing time rotation was previously defined and their effectiveness was determined by the team’s passer rating, in this case, it wasn’t worth spending more time using this KPI during the season.

10-Yard Sprints

The athletes’ times for 10-yard were also KPIs for this team initially. Since the vertical jump data provided the needed information and their positions were previously defined, I determined it was not worth conducting more than two 10-yard sprint assessments during the season.

Additional Volleyball KPI Notes

Measuring approach jumps with a Vertec unit was not used due to the cost outweighing the benefit and because it would be very difficult to use those units on-site. Additionally, the timed test would utilize wired laser timing devices which required additional set-up time and proved inconvenient in travelling to the primary training site.

Volleyball Injury Mitigation Details

Qualitative Readiness Assessment

Completing a qualitative readiness assessment with each member of the team through pre-event and post-event questionnaires was essential. Both questionnaires proved useful in gathering additional readiness information and allowed greater efficiency in identifying issues and referring the athlete to treatment as needed. The information also allowed for quicker more concise training and competition load (increase or decrease) decisions.

Resistance Training

We used extensive resistance training to improve the overall work capacity of the athletes. The squat and horizontal pull were the core movements of this season.

The weekly frequency of these lifts allowed for continued tracking of strength gains throughout the season without the need for repetition maxing.

Bilateral variants of the core movements were used to enhance strength and power, while unilateral variants were used to enhance muscular conditioning.

Resistance Training and Plyometric Training for Volleyball (Week 6)

Resistance and Plyometric Training for Volleyball Overview

The annual training overview below provides an overview of the year’s macrocycles and provides an outline for various training periods of the year (pre-season, in-season, post-season, off-season). The overall goal for the year was to see consistent strength improvements and vertical jump height respectively for resistance and plyometric training.

Mesocycles allow for a quick view of the training focus for each month. This helps keep the plan to improve vertical jump and strength on-track and shows what training focus will drive the performance improvement. They are comprised of microcycles, which are the training focus for one or two weeks.

The chart below shows how I outlined the in-season plan for the 2020 season. The resistance training focuses (strength, power, or a combination of them both) are listed above and below the color-coded system to quickly display intensity.

The training day is made up of two training sessions: a strength and conditioning session, followed by a sport practice session. To minimize the exposure to eccentric loading in-season, the athletes were mainly prescribed jumps to height, followed by a step down rather than a depth drop. This allowed for maintained volume, even the day prior to a match, with no performance detriment reported.

The training session is comprised of selected exercises, volumes, intensities, and specific exercise order to help facilitate the training focus and, in turn, drive the performance goal each day.

Speed and Agility Training for Volleyball (Week 7)

Volleyball is comprised of short, high-effort bouts of activity. That’s why speed and agility training are vital components of my strength and conditioning program for high school volleyball athletes.

Athletes must have the ability to react to game actions with efficiency. Speed training consists mostly of training start variations (prone, kneeling, standing), speed posture, and short distance sprints (5-15 yards).

To improve the athlete’s ability to change direction, we start with closed drills training the shuffle, and various entry and exit shin angles. The goal is to progress athletes from a very controlled closed drill to a reactive open drill.

The in-season is a period where closed drills are preferred, mostly to help refine movement proficiency while the athletes are able to improve the reactive aspect in sport practice.

High School Volleyball Strength and Conditioning Annual Plan (Week 8)

The charts below are the charts used for the 2020 season and 2021 offseason. The macrocycles, microcycles and their respective focuses are shown for resistance training, plyometric training, speed, and agility.

2020 Pre-Season

2020 In-Season and Post-Season

2021 Off Season

Building Your Own Volleyball Strength and Conditioning Program for High School Athletes

I hope this summary of the in-depth case study I conducted in the 2020 season will be a help to coaches, volleyball strength and conditioning trainers, and athletes for many years to come. Again, if you want to connect with specific questions about your program or talk about the possibility of working with me directly as a remote trainer and strength and conditioning program designer, get in touch.

The needs of high school athletes are unique and the opportunity to keep your team healthy, performing near the top of their potential, and growing year over year is definitely possible with the right tools. I would love to help you build your own volleyball strength and conditioning program for high school players!

Volleyball Strength and Conditioning Program for High School Athletes