Cross-Training Strategies for Volleyball Players By Lauren Bennett, PT, DPT
Volleyball is one of the most popular youth sports in America and is becoming more and more competitive for young athletes. With this, we see more athletes “specializing” at a young age and playing through most of the year. Girls’ high school seasons run from August to November, club AAU seasons run December to May, and clinics/camps are readily available all Summer. That means athletes could be playing volleyball for roughly 10 months out of the year! That’s a lot of serving, swinging, jumping, and diving.
Early specialization, though it may place your child above the skill levels of their teammates early on, has proven to be detrimental to an athlete’s career if cross-training is not involved. The purpose of this blog is to educate and provide resources for athletes to keep their body balanced through cross-training and achieve longevity throughout their volleyball journey. This blog is targeted towards parents of young athletes in hopes of creating change from a young age; but if you’re a seasoned player, don’t worry! It’s never too late to implement these strategies.
What’s the big deal?
Imagine driving your car to work every day down a road that is riddled with potholes but only on the right side of the lane. Every day you drive down this road and bang up the right tires on your car. Overtime, this will wear out the tires, the shock absorbers, and wheel alignment. You can’t change your commute, though, there is no other road. So how do you avoid your car wearing down so fast? You take extra care of that side of your car and maintain it via routine check-ups, regular wheel alignments, etc.
The same goes for your body. If you play volleyball, even as a backrow player or setter, you cannot avoid using the same movement patterns over and over. You CAN, however, slow these effects and maximize your potential to avoid more severe injuries like labral tears, rotator cuff tears, shoulder impingement, shin splints, patellar tendinitis, back pain, etc.
What is cross-training?
Cross-training is using other means of physical activity besides an athlete’s main sport/activity to train. This helps keep both the body and the mind fit and balanced. Cross-training is proven to help prevent injuries by training the body via movement patterns other than those of an athlete’s main sport. It also helps prevent boredom as burnout is common when athletes start training at a young age.
Below are 3 reasons why cross-training is so important in volleyball. Let’s call these, the three Red Flags.
🚩 Volleyball is an Overhead Sport 🚩
Players will use their dominant shoulder to hit and serve every ball at high velocity and torque. This takes a large toll on not just the shoulder, but the elbow, wrist, back muscles, core musculature, and the entire kinematic chain down to the feet.
🚩 Volleyball is a High-Impact Sport 🚩
Different from other overhead sports like tennis, volleyball is highly impactful as it involves jumping, usually multiple times, for each point earned. Though volleyball is relatively non-contact, athletes are still making hard contact with the ground and we see injuries similar to those we may see in runners.
🚩 Volleyball is Repetitive 🚩
Volleyball is highly repetitive giving it the label as an “overuse sport”. Depending on their position, athletes will overuse specific body parts/movement patterns:
Outside hitters: most swinging reps; constantly pushing off left leg
Middle Blockers: most jumping/landing reps; constantly mobile
Setters: most overall touches; constantly pushing off right leg; finger/wrist overuse
Libero/DS: most passes/digs/dives; constantly low to the ground; impact into the floor
What Do We Do About It?
Implementing Cross-Training: In order to provide longevity, parents should immerse their child in multiple sports and activities. 2 and 3-sport athletes statistically do better in school and report better psychological and physical health than single-sport athletes. Cross-training activities should include motions and habits that are completely different or compliment their child’s favorite sport. For example, mixing in rock climbing (low intensity, low upper body torque, low impact, strength focused) with volleyball (high intensity, high upper body torque, high impact, speed focused). Your child will not fall behind, but rather will have a refreshed body and mind as they enter each season.
Common Cross-Training Methods for Volleyball Players
Resistance training
Basketball
Tennis/Swimming
Yoga/Pilates
Biking
Hiking
Rock Climbing
Activities that may worsen acute/overuse injuries in volleyball:
Excessive running/jumping sports
Overhead sports (baseball/softball, tennis, swimming)
Is there a way to play year-round, safely?
Absolutely. Early sport specialization can be combated completely with proper cross-training. Club volleyball is an excellent opportunity for athletes to grow, but the grind of club tournaments with warm-up times being as little as 4 minutes needs to be addressed. Incorporating proper body care and cross-training methods can help avoid injuries and burnout.
Overall, it is not necessary, nor is it recommended to commit to early specialization in volleyball. Many professional volleyball players were multi-sport athletes in high school or college. It is highly recommended for athletes to play multiple sports throughout their youth career. In the event of specialization, athletes should be encouraged to perform other forms of cross-training during downtime, the off season, and as supplementation for a typical workout. It is our job as parents, coaches, and healthcare professionals to educate and guide youth athletes towards a happy and healthy career ahead of them.
Complete Game Physical Therapy is located in North Chelmsford, MA works with youth athletes, older adults, and those rehabbing from surgery. Give us a call today and see how we can help!