Volleyball conditioning should include drills that focus on strength, explosiveness, flexibility, agility and endurance. Being able to jump with power and land with balance are essential skills in the sport, and having the stamina to keep up such activity for a two- or three-game set is important to keep your team playing its best all the way to the end.
Endurance
You might picture endurance training as long-distance running, but while increasing the time and speed you can run distances is helpful and will improve your cardio-respiratory fitness, it won't give you the kind of endurance you need for volleyball. Through a game, volleyball usually involves intense action for about 20 seconds, with 10 to 15 seconds of rest before the next serve and rally. Think of building your endurance under similar circumstance. Examples include alternating 15-second sprints with 10 seconds of walking for a total of five minutes. Five minutes of 15 to 20 seconds of intense rope jumping followed by 10 to 15 seconds of rest also will help get you in volleyball condition.
Agility
To improve endurance and agility, try plyometric exercises such as the dot drill, in which you place five flat rubber dots or similar markings on the floor in a pattern like that of the five dots on the five side of a die. Stand with your feet on the two dots on one side, then hop and bring your feet together on the middle dot, then quickly spread and jump to the other set of two dots. Then do the same thing backward and repeat for five minutes. Frog jumps are agility drills that also boost leg strength. Just squat down with your feet flat and your buttocks close to the floor. With your hands down in front of you, jump up as high as you can, like a frog, and land in a squatting position again. Do a set of five to 10 frog jumps and pause before doing four or five more sets, with a brief pause in between each.
Core Conditioning
Your core muscles in the abdomen, lower back and hips are important in any sport but particularly in volleyball, where jumping, landing, changing directions, keeping your balance and maintaining power are such a part of the action. Exercises involving stability balls can concentrate your efforts on those important core muscles, while exercises such as hyperextensions can work the core muscles from a different angle. Use a hyperextension bench at the gym by leaning against the extension pad with the front of your thighs. Keeping your back straight, bend at the waist with your arms behind your back, then return to your original position. Do 10 to 12 repetitions, or more if your core muscles already are in good shape.
Reach and Snap Drill
Volleyball conditioning also includes developing your leaping and hitting ability, and this drill focuses on both. The coach or another player can toss a ball off the net so that it's still rising but coming back to you. You and your teammates should form a line with the first person in line jumping and hitting the ball inbounds on the opposite side of the net. After five good hits, let the next person in line have a turn.
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