Warming Up Before Playing Volleyball
Written by David Hardy, Volleyball Trainer (learn more about David at the end of this article)
ARE WARM-UPS IMPORTANT IN VOLLEYBALL?
Yes! I think we all can agree that the “warm-up” as a concept is beneficial to almost every activity you could think of. Elite volleyball players do several sets, passes, serves and so on before each game they play at a tournament.
The average non-athlete with a basketball rim over the garage usually does better after taking 10 shots than they do with the first few. Even an avid video game player will tell you that they play better after they get a few rounds in. So I think there’s something to be said about having a few minutes to prepare for anything you’re about to take part in, but there’s something that happens on a deeper level within your body when you engage in a proper warm-up.
In the next few paragraphs, I’ll explain some of what happens within the body, touch on the stretching debate, and give an example of a warm-up that you might take a volleyball player or team through.
BENEFITS OF A PROPER WARM-UP
There are a few beneficial things that happen during a proper warm-up, and the first one I’m going to talk about is the increase of blood flow to the working muscles.
Increase of blood flow
As you start to move and contract the various muscles, more blood is directed into that area. As that happens, the tissues actually begin to heat up and expand. It isn’t uncommon for a person to touch their leg after running, jumping, squatting, etc. and notice that it’s warm to the touch! Once that takes place, the muscles become more elastic, allowing them to stretch and contract easier and more efficiently to reduce the chances of a (non-contact) injury.
My favorite analogy is a stick of butter. Anyone who’s ever tried to spread cold butter on something knows it isn’t always very cooperative! It’s stiff and doesn’t like to conform, but let it sit out and “warm-up” for a bit and it’s a whole different situation.
Now, obviously the tissues within our body are more complex and of a different makeup than butter, BUT you can kind of get an idea of how temperature might affect the way something operates.
PREPARATION for activity
The next thing is preparation for activity, but on the inside. You might prepare to attack in a game by doing some practice swings, hitting downballs, or hitting a few balls set to you during a warm-up. You are preparing for the main action by doing some less intense, but similar actions.
Well, all motion in the human body is the result of the different muscles doing their actions. The same way you need to hit a few balls to get into your groove, your muscles need to contract a few times to get into their groove. And so you help get them into their groove by doing some easy and light motions, heating them up and allowing them to loosen, but also getting letting them know they’re getting ready to go to work.
The thing is, while hitting a volleyball is a very unique and specific thing, we don’t have a separate set of “volleyball muscles.” We have a bunch of different muscles that do different things and then we choose to use them in a way that would allow us to play volleyball. And so you can warm up the muscles you use during play, without even touching a ball. I would even go as far as to say that doing so would help the skill portion of the warm-up go more smoothly and efficiently.
STATIC STRETCHING
Of course, we can’t talk about warming up without discussing static stretching, which is to say holding a stretch for an extended period of time, like a 30-second hamstring stretch. Now whether or not static stretching is beneficial or detrimental to performance is a subject that is heavily debated, with research supporting both sides.
That being said, based on the research available and my own personal experience as a sports performance trainer, I believe that it does have its place in a warm-up. In a situation where a muscle has been determined to be chronically tight, it may be necessary to stretch it to allow it to function properly and ensure that it doesn’t inhibit the muscle(s) working against it.
An example of that would be the quadriceps (quads) being responsible for straightening your leg, while the hamstrings do the opposite and bend your leg. So the hamstrings have to stretch to allow the quads to contract and vice versa. Well the tighter your hamstrings are, the harder your quads will need to work to do their job.
Our quads need to do their job whenever we jump, as we explode off of the ground with straightened legs, so it probably doesn’t help our vertical when our hamstrings are fighting us the whole way up!
The caveat to that is that the hamstrings do need to resist the quads to a certain degree to prevent overextension of the knee, and not everyone has tight hamstrings, so the static stretching should probably be reserved for the specific areas that actually require it.
What is a “good” warm-up?
So what might a good warm-up look like? Well, a good rule of thumb is that you want to warm the muscles you’re about to use in a way similar to how you’re about to use them.
As we mentioned, our legs (and hips) straighten during a jump, and they also straighten at the top of a squat or a lunge.
Our feet point down as we leave the ground, which is similar to what happens at the top of a calf raise.
You get the idea. Truth be told, most teams I’ve seen have the right idea with the walking lunges, butt kicks, walking hand kicks and so on, but it’s important to remember the other muscles that you use in other ways.
Shuffles and cariocas help to prepare the muscle that move you laterally across the court to dig balls. And you may have seen people using resistance or therapy bands to prepare their shoulders for all the different motions they go through during a game.
As long as you’re activating and using the muscles you’re about to perform with, you’re on the right track. Throw in some static stretching for any overly tight areas, and then you should be ready to do your drills!
DAVID HARDY
NASM-CPT, PES, CAFS
David Hardy has been a volleyball trainer in Northwest Indiana since 2014. A staff member of Trademark Performance Corporation, David trains youth volleyball players of all ages and can often be found on weekends watching his athletes play in local tournaments. Follow David on Instagram and Facebook, or call (219) 319-0110 to book a training session with him today!