It’s fair to say that the success of a volleyball team largely depends on pre-match preparation of its athletes. That means that a volleyball team must be well prepared for a match both physically and mentally.
The big question is – what volleyball players have to do in order to prepare for a match in the best possible way? Below, we are going to help you get the answer to this interesting and important question.
As you can see, this blog post concentrates on the pre-match routine tips for volleyball. It’s worth noting that a pre-match routine for volleyball has to contain such elements as achieving relaxation, having some fun, developing good communication skills, mental imagery, positive self talk, pre-match warm-ups as well as pre-match stretching exercises.
First of all, we’ll describe each aspect of a pre-match routine for volleyball in detail. Plus, we are going to provide readers with some pre-match routine volleyball tips from the legendary volleyball player, Kerri Walsh. Hopefully, all of this will make it possible for you to create your own effective pre-match routine for volleyball.
Achieving Relaxation
It’s crucial for volleyball players to achieve relaxation prior to a volleyball match (or practise) and there is no question about that. The question is – what needs to be done to help volleyball players relax before a volleyball match. Let’s dig deeper into this question and try to find the answer right away.
In fact, volleyball players can achieve relaxation fast and easy. All that volleyball players have to do is to take advantage of deep breathing. It’s pretty easy to achieve relaxation in such a way. A volleyball player has to sit down and then take 10 deep breaths. By doing so, a volleyball player will be able to relax before a match or game very quickly.
Having Some Fun
It’s widely known that the easiest way to achieve relaxation before a volleyball match (game) is to have some fun. You need to know that volleyball players can have fun in many ways. For example, it’s a good idea for volleyball athletes to get together before matches in order to do different types of enjoyable activities such as dancing, singing, listening to music and many others. Volleyball players can also have a party. It goes without saying that activities like these ones will definitely help volleyball players boost their mood and, most importantly, build a strong team spirit. All of this will certainly positively affect the performance of volleyball players on the court.
Developing Good Communication Skills
There has been a lot of talk about the importance of good communication for volleyball players. Obviously, good communication is something that allows volleyball players to accomplish their goals. So, it’s incredibly important for volleyball players and coaches to develop good communication skills.
Positive Self-Talk
As the saying goes, “positive things tend to happen to positive people and negative things tend to happen to negative people.” Actually, the same can be said about the sport of volleyball. Volleyball players, who always stay positive before matches and practices, are likely to make a significant progress and achieve great results over time. On the other hand, negative volleyball players are most likely to lose games and demonstrate a poor performance during the practice. Remember, the success happens only to positive volleyball players. That’s the reason why volleyball players should always focus only on positive things prior to matches or games.
It’s clear that positive self-talk has to be a key part of a pre-match routine for volleyball. First of all, let’s try to figure out what positive self-talk is all about. Actually, a positive self-talk means that volleyball players need to talk to themselves before a match. Needless to say that volleyball athletes should talk to themselves in a positive way. Use the power of positive thinking to attract positive energy to yourself. This is something that may help you get ready for a volleyball match mentally and win the game.
Mental Imagery
The reality is mental imagery has a lot of great benefits for volleyball players. So, it makes a lot of sense for volleyball players to visualize before matches and practices. It’s important to note that volleyball athletes should do everything possible to get the most out of mental imagery.
While visualizing you should always imagine a game, a ball as well as your teammates and opponents. And of course, you should always imagine yourself. Imagine your movements and how you perform on the court during a volleyball tournament.
Another important thing that you need to be aware of is that mental imagery can help you greatly improve your volleyball skills (such as blocking, digging, setting, passing, hitting, serving and so on). If you visualize on a regular basis, you’ll be able to make a significant progress and improve your volleyball skills dramatically over time.
Pre-match Volleyball Warm-Ups
Without a doubt, volleyball players always need to pay a close attention to pre-match warm-ups. On the one hand, pre-match warm-ups help volleyball players get ready for a match/game physically and prevent different types of volleyball injuries. On the other hand, pre-match volleyball warm-ups give athletes a great opportunity to feel a game better from the very beginning. In addition, doing pre-match warm-ups helps volleyball players practise the necessary volleyball skills.
What volleyball drills do athletes have to perform during a warm-up period? Now, it’s time to get the answer to this very important question. Of course, it would be great for volleyball players to do multi-contact drills, volleyball transition drills as well as volleyball team drills for offence and defence before matches and games. Volleyball players can also do blocking, digging and serving drills during warm-ups. Doing this type of volleyball drills during pre-match warm-ups will undoubtedly help athletes get control of a game and increase their chance for success significantly.
Doing Pre-Match Stretching Exercises
Stretches also play a big role in pre-match routine for volleyball. Volleyball players need to do stretching exercises before matches and games for obvious reasons. Doing stretches is something that helps volleyball athletes prepare his/her body for a match (or a game). It’s worth noting that the help of stretches is immeasurable in preventing different types of volleyball injuries. It’s also important to point out that doing stretches positively affects a volleyball player’s flexibility and, therefore, performance on the court.
It’s very important for volleyball players to stretch such muscle groups as abdomen muscles, adductors, calves, chest, glutes, hip flexors, hamstrings, quads, low back muscles (low back arch and low back side), shoulder muscles (anterior shoulder, shoulder backside, shoulder front-side and posterior shoulder), muscles of legs as well as triceps.
Among the best pre-match stretches for volleyball are: arm-up rotator stretch, rotating wrist stretch, kneeling quad stretches, wrist stretches as well as legs and ankle stretches. There is no doubt that all of these stretches have to be a part of a pre-match routine for volleyball.
Pre-match Routine Volleyball Tips from Kerri Walsh
The legendary volleyball player, Kerri Walsh, is happy to share her tips as well as secrets with other volleyball players. Below, you’ll be able to find some tips from Kerri Walsh to help you get ready for a volleyball match in the best possible way.
– Kerri Walsh recommends volleyball players to visualize how they will play during big tournaments. Different types of things may happen on the court during a volleyball match and it’s very important for a volleyball player to visualize how he/she will react to them. Kerri Walsh says that an athlete has to get his/her brain in competition mode.
– Kerri Walsh also says that a volleyball player has to get his/her body ready for a match/game before to step into the court (beach).
– Kerri Walsh also highlights the importance of understanding a partner (teammates) and building team spirit. If you are involved in a team sport, then you must be able to learn how to stay connected to your partner (teammates). She recommends volleyball players to cooperate closely and do work together.
– Even the greatest volleyball players such as Kerri Walsh feel nervous before a big volleyball match. That’s why she usually tries her best to calm down before a volleyball match. Kerri says that she prefers to find a quite place, close her eyes before and turn off a brain or talk to herself prior to an important volleyball match for a certain period of time. This is something that helps her relax and get ready for a match mentally.
Thank you so much for reading this article. As you have probably noticed, there are so many good things volleyball players can do to get ready for big matches and big games properly. Get the most out of reading this article and develop your own pre-match routine for volleyball. Best of luck!