Much has been said about the necessity of a good warm-up before engaging in sport. We know that warming up is essential in order to remain injury-free. But the type of warm-up that we do is even more important than the warm-up itself. Below are a few suggestions based on recent studies that have been proven to prevent injury and to help you prepare yourself properly for a good, hard game of volleyball.
- Never Stretch Cold Muscles
The first activity that you should engage in before even thinking about stretching is a nice, easy jog. Take several laps around the court until you feel a bead of sweat or two on your brow. That's when you know that your muscles are prepared to stretch. You should never stretch cold muscles. Doing so can cause injury in and of itself and studies show that stretching cold muscles can actually hinder jumping ability. - Warm Up Your Arms
Everyone wants to get to hitting balls right away. But this is quite possibly the worst thing you can do for your shoulder. You will miss that shoulder when it's gone, so take the time to warm up your arms after you have thoroughly stretched out your triceps, biceps and shoulder muscles.Arm circles are a great way to do this. Make large circles with both arms for 30 seconds and then switch direction for another 30 seconds. Then try swinging your arms to the right and left just below shoulder-height. Another good exercise is to swing one arm just below shoulder-height while the other arm goes up and the elbow bends so that your hand is behind your head. Then swing the other way and do the same with the other arm. Continue for 30 seconds to a minute.
Lastly, after you have done some volleyball-specific warm up movements (see next tip for that) you should take a ball and throw it back and forth with a partner or against a wall. Throw the ball with two hands from over your head. Throw the ball to your partner with one hand, making sure to reach high as if you were hitting. Then progress to bouncing the ball with two hands and later bouncing the ball with one hand. The ball should bounce once on its way to your partner. Bounce the ball progressively harder when you feel warm enough.
- Do Volleyball-Specific Movements Without a Ball
When the blood is flowing and your arms and legs are warm, make sure to do some volleyball-specific movements even before you break out the ball. For instance, do some easy approach and/or block jumps. Work through a transition warm up drill. Do not yet jump at full strength, just get your body ready to do so later. Studies show that sport-specific warm ups increase vertical jump significantly during play. - Play Pepper
Now that you've done a proper warm up and cut down your risk of injury, get a partner and play two or three-person pepper. Get your shoulder ready to bang some balls by taking some nice, easy, controlled swings at your partner. If you have good ball control or if you want to work on your ball control, work in a jump set or jump in place when you hit. Doing so will keep your jumping muscles ready for some real warm up hitting with a setter at the net. By this time you should be ready to jump and swing at full-force. After that do some warm up serving and you're ready to play!
