Off Season Training For Volleyball

O -Season Training for Volleyball
Hannes Pinter Follow

Nov 29, 2016 · 5 min read
Professional volleyball is becoming more and more demanding from a

physical and technical point-of-view. Thus, training programs need to
be monitored and corrected on a weekly basis throughout the year,
depending on the team’s practice and game schedule.
One of the most challenging problems for coaches is peaking athletic

shape and maximizing performance at a given time, i.e. usually the
main competition of the year. Often athletes peak before the main
competition.
Macro Volleyball Structure
Before planning a volleyball training program, it is important to be

aware of what the physical demands of the game are. In order to be
able to avoid injuries and overtraining, you need to design a macro
program including all different activities, competitions, and rest
periods.
Some athletes play different positions and so have different needs. To

satisfy various demands of players, it is important to establish
individual characteristics and performance levels. Thus, coaches must
not only consider the development of technical and tactical skills, or
biomotor abilities, but also focus on training dominant energy systems
properly.
Generally, sports conditioning can be divided among aerobic and

anaerobic training. Training aerobically means using oxygen while
training. Training anaerobically means training without using oxygen.
Graph by mscsportscience.weebly.com
The key when training for volleyball is to be able to create a high level
of anaerobic power quickly and then to be able to recover and generate
the same power again. This means your anaerobic system’s limitations
determine whether you can maintain a series of plays at a high
intensity or not. Your aerobic system will help you with the recovery
between points and sets. That’s why, for volleyball, both the aerobic
and anaerobic systems need to be trained.
Thus, training and performance improvements have to be organized in

periods or cycles within an overall program with pre-planned,
systematic variations in training specificity, intensity, and volume.
A macro volleyball program should be based on the concept of
periodization and divides the annual plan into training phases to
guide athletic training over the year.
• The Off-Season | Base Phase
• The Off-Season |The Strength Phase:
• The Off-Season |The Peak Phase:
• The Competitive Phase
• The Transition Phase
The Volleyball Off-Season Programming

The starting training cycle comprises the Base Phase. At this time of the
season you should lay the foundation for the following and more
demanding phases. When designing the base phase program, focus on
building lean body mass, increasing work & power capacity, and
improving explosive lifting skills, as well as maintaining volleyball
specific endurance.
Base Phase Structure & Fitness Tests
BASE PHASE — Fitness Testing

Before designing a well-structured training program it is highly
recommended to implement selected performance tests. Testing can
help coaches identify physical abilities or areas in need of improvement
and can also be used for individualizing training programs.
Understanding sport-specific movement patterns is helpful in
determining appropriate performance tests. The following list is a
compilation of commonly used fitness tests:
Strength & Power Tests: Maximal strength for specific exercises,

explosive leg power [vertical jumps, speed of movement], and core
stability and abdominal function
Speed & Agility Tests: Acceleration and change of direction,

Volleyball-specific agility
Aerobic Fitness Test: Maximum effort shuttle run

Flexibility Test: Lower back and hamstring flexibility test (sit-and-
reach)
Body Size Check: Height & arm span
BASE PHASE — Strength & Power Training

A well-structured strength and power training program needs to
increase explosive power, vertical jump height, stamina and agility and
should be individualized based upon each player’s individual
characteristics. Circuit sessions and basic strength training routines are
commonly utilized during the base or anatomical adaptation phase.
1. Circuit Training
Circuit training is a very popular form of fitness session and a useful

conditioning method. It improves both aerobic fitness and strength. For
advanced players when using weight training exercises, Bompa
suggests the represented parameter table below. Typically, exercises for
upper and lower body are combined. The loads for each weight exercise
are between 40 and 60% of 1 RM with appropriate rest periods
between exercises and laps. This kind of workout takes around 30 to 40
minutes to complete.
Loading Pattern for a Circuit Training
2. Basic Strength Training
In my experience, many athletes from strength and power sports use

traditional strength training methods in off-season periods as a priority
method for improving strength and power. The following parameter
table shows a typical loading scheme for this training phase.
Basic Strength Training | Set & Rep Scheme

3. Plyometric Training
Performance in any sport that involves jumping can be improved with

lower body plyometric exercises. Also strength exercises are often
paired with appropriate plyometric exercises.
The purpose of plyometric training is to improve the players’ capacity to

apply more force, more rapidly. Plyometric training should progress
gradually from lower to higher intensity drills, especially for players
who lack a significant strength training background.
J. Radcliffe recommends the following exercises with a very simple set

and rep schemes for the first 3 weeks of phase 1.
Jumping: Squat Jump (3 x 3–6), Pogo (3 x 8–12)
Bounding: Prance (3 x 8–12), Fast Skip (3 x 8–12), Lateral Bounding

(3 x 4–6)
Tosses/Throws: Shovel Toss (2 x 5), Scoop Toss (2 x 5), Twist Toss (2 x

6); Kneeling Forward Throw (2 x 5), Standing Forward Throw (2 x 5),
Stepping Forward Throw (2 x 5); Wall Push-up (2 x 5), Chest Pass (2 x
5)
BASE PHASE— Speed and Agility Training

Speed and agility is something that can be improved through a well-
thought-out training program. These programs play a crucial role in
handling critical game situations successfully and can be incorporated
into nearly any workout session. Continue reading
BASE PHASE — Off-Season Conditioning Training

This is the phase in which metabolic injury prevention running will be
completed. This first phase of training typically lasts between 2 and 4
weeks, with the goal of creating a solid foundation of training which
will allow more intense training as the off-season progresses. Metabolic
injury prevention running can be completed between 2 and 3 times per
week due to its low impact intensities and overall lower intensity on the
body. Continue reading
Check out more specific articles on Trayn Journal.

Off Season Training For Volleyball

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O -Season Training for Volleyball

Hannes Pinter Follow

Professional volleyball is becoming more and more demanding from a

One of the most challenging problems for coaches is peaking athletic

Macro Volleyball Structure

Before planning a volleyball training program, it is important to be

Some athletes play different positions and so have different needs. To

Generally, sports conditioning can be divided among aerobic and

Thus, training and performance improvements have to be organized in

• The Off-Season | Base Phase

• The Off-Season |The Strength Phase:

• The Off-Season |The Peak Phase:

• The Competitive Phase

• The Transition Phase

The Volleyball Off-Season Programming

BASE PHASE — Fitness Testing

Strength & Power Tests: Maximal strength for specific exercises,

Speed & Agility Tests: Acceleration and change of direction,

Aerobic Fitness Test: Maximum effort shuttle run

Body Size Check: Height & arm span

BASE PHASE — Strength & Power Training

Circuit training is a very popular form of fitness session and a useful

2. Basic Strength Training

In my experience, many athletes from strength and power sports use

Basic Strength Training | Set & Rep Scheme

Performance in any sport that involves jumping can be improved with

The purpose of plyometric training is to improve the players’ capacity to

J. Radcliffe recommends the following exercises with a very simple set

Jumping: Squat Jump (3 x 3–6), Pogo (3 x 8–12)

Bounding: Prance (3 x 8–12), Fast Skip (3 x 8–12), Lateral Bounding

Tosses/Throws: Shovel Toss (2 x 5), Scoop Toss (2 x 5), Twist Toss (2 x

BASE PHASE— Speed and Agility Training

BASE PHASE — Off-Season Conditioning Training

Check out more specific articles on Trayn Journal.

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