I have been a volleyball player for 4 years now, and when I started playing there were a lot of new words. I was usually confused because I didn’t know what a lot them meant. Some of them are really obvious but I bet you haven’t heard or understood a few! I will be sharing with you some of the “proper volleyball terminologies”.

1. A Volleyball Match/Set

A volleyball game or set is played to a number of points that had been determined before the match had started.

2. Playing Fault

   A fault is a violation of the rules. The result of a fault is a point. For example, if one team hits the ball 4 times, or if the same player hits the ball 2 or more consecutive times. Sometimes this one gets really confusing because of all the different rules.

3. Point

A point is the result of a rally. Points can be scored in various ways like committing faults, or the ball landing in or out, etc.

4.Volleyball Rally

A rally is the time between the serve and end of a play. This is a very common term that is used.

5. Side Out

When the receiving team wins the rally is called a side out. The receiving team then must rotate positions. Then they would be the serving team. This is what my team says to each other to stay positive, after losing a point

6. Ace

This is when the server serves the ball and no one on the other team touches it. It is also a really common term that my team uses.

7. Attack Line

This is the only line that goes through a volleyball court besides the outline of the court. This line is 3 M from the net and it separates the front row from the back row players. It also guides people for any plays they could be running or where to start there approach for hitting the ball.

8. Five One

This is a 6 player offensive system that uses 5 hitters and 1 setter. This was really confusing to me at the beginning but it makes a lot more sense when your on the court.

9. Six Two

This is really similar to the last one but this one is 6 hitters and 2 setters. So this means that there are 2 setters and the setter is determined by who is in the front row and the other person would hit right side. Once again very confusing but once your on the court is makes a lot more sense.

10. Floater

This is a serve that does not spin or rotate. In order to do that you have to hard perfect contact on the ball.

11. Free Ball

A ball that is returned by a simple pass rather then a spike or a hit. This is usually caused because the other team needs to get into their positions after serve receive

12. Joust

This is when 2 people are jumping at the net and they are trying to play a ball over the net. This would usually happen if a ball got passed close to the net or the setter set the ball too tight.

13. Pancake

This is a one handed defensive technique where your hand is sliding across the floor and it’s timed perfectly so the ball bounces off the back of the persons hand.

Those were 13 “proper volleyball terminologies”. Some of them were quite obvious but some of them have pretty weird names. As you start to play and hear these terms more often they become second nature and you don’t even need to think about it anymore!

Emotion plays a big role in how you play your volleyball game and surprisingly enough it can really affect your teammates as well. When your adrenaline is high and the rally is intense it’s really hard to keep emotions in control. Talking from experience I’ve had some teammates with a bad attitude and at times I know I haven’t been the best teammate as well. This blog will be a little bit of why it’s important to be positive and what happens when you not. As well as a few tips on how to keep it to yourself.

Why it’s important to keep a good attitude towards your teammates:

When you have a positive attitude it means you are encouraging yourself and your teammates even when you lose the rally. Even though at that moment of time you are probably disappointed and mad that the person or people that caused your team to lose the point, you’ve still got to encourage them. If you don’t or if you’re negative it could really bring the team down. Encouraging them means that you basically telling them to not worry about that last point and everyone makes mistakes.

Why it’s important to be positive to yourself:

I really struggle with staying positive towards myself when I make a mistake on the court, when I mess up I get very very frustrated with myself and that effects my game so much. I start to play even worse when I’m frustrated and everything just feels like it’s not going to work out. But now that I’m aware that not getting angry helps I’ve been really, really trying to work on the emotional part of my game. I’ve noticed so much of a difference already by just being positive. I can pick myself right back up instead of relying on my teammates to do that for me. Being positive towards yourself makes it a lot easier when you make a mistake because you know that it’s okay to make a mistake, because it’s human. You can also pick yourself up a lot easier when you have a positive mindset.  

What will more than likely happen if you’re negative towards your teammates:

There’s a few different things that could happen when you’re negative towards your teammates. The first reason is they could start playing really bad because you’re trying to tell them what to do, that’s what the coaches are for. To help guide the players when they make a mistake. Another thing that could happen is you could cause team drama, the last thing that you want on a girls volleyball team is drama. When this happens, usually the team splits apart because people takes sides. Then arguments start and it’s just a big mess. This could also possibly cause the team to play bad or lose their bond because connection and knowing your team is a big part of volleyball.

How to help be positive:

• Use kind words instead of being negative. Eg. “Keep playing hard and fighting for every point.” Or “Be sure you cover the line shot next time that hitter goes up.”
• Make sure you’re having fun and you won’t think about being negative
• Think about that everyone’s different and won’t react/play the same way
• Make sure you celebrate the good times/plays in a rally

A lot of people think that volleyball is all about your physical game, but your mental game plays a big part of it as well, maybe even more than physical. These reason don’t just apply to volleyball, it could be any sport. Just be aware of everyone around you and make sure your only spreading positivity!

Everyone perceives volleyball as a not athletic sport because everyone says all you do it stand on a court and hit the ball once in a while. There is much more to it than that, sometimes a rally can last 1-2 minutes and 1 game can last up to 1 hour. There is specific training that you need to do to be able to keep up with the pace of the game. In this blog, I will be sharing my experience with training and which exercises and drills I think are most effective while training.

The average amount of times a volleyball player jumps in a game is 300 times. A person who plays hockey or baseball that doesn’t jump this often would be very tired if they played a volleyball game. I remember when I started playing volleyball it was around 4 years ago so I was 10, the game wasn’t very intense and there wasn’t much jumping, but as I’ve gotten older it’s been much tougher. I realised I needed to switch up my training to be able to keep up with my teammates. During my team practices, the way we work on improving our vertical is just hitting and hitting and hitting. Sometimes we hit for almost 30 minutes to help us improve, and it really works!

Here are some ways to help your vertical:

• Working out. Some workouts that will help is squats, jump squats, dead lifts, dumbbell lunges, leg extensions, and calf raises.
• Learn to use your arms when you jump to build up more momentum
• Jumping rope helps your legs build muscle while testing your stamina and hitting 3-4 times in one rally gets tiring so jumping rope really helps

Passing in volleyball is one of the most important parts of the game. It starts off the rally and can end it right away. You need to get a good pass to get a good set to get a good hit. Everything leads up to one another. Everyone has there own passing technique but they are all the same in general. Not everyone’s passing is perfect though.

Here are a few tips on how to improve your passing:

• Use your thumbs as pointers, where ever your thumbs are pointing that is where the pass will most likely go
• Make sure your elbows are locked. It’s a common mistake people make when they first pass and it’s a natural instinct, but it’s very important to keep your elbows locked to have good accuracy.
• Anticipate the serve or hit is always going to be coming to you so it’s not a surprise if the ball actually does come to you

Serving. A very difficult aspect of volleyball. The amount of focus you need to be able to have a good float serve is pretty crazy. If you’re not focused it’s very easy to miss the ball, hit it on the wrong side, not swing with enough power, or even just your foot stepping over the line and losing the point. Trust me, all those things have happened to me and let m tell you, it’s pretty embarrassing. With the right amount focus and power, you will be able to do any serve, at any speed, at anytime.

Here are some of the ways that help me with my serve

• Balance
• Make sure your toes are pointed straight

These are all ways that I train/have trained before and that I feel in my opinion really help enhance your volleyball games. Some exercises or tips may seem small but one little thing could mess everything up, make sure you focus on everything, not just one thing!

A lot of people think that playing volleyball only requires a pair of running shoes, but in fact your wrong! Having all of the proper equipment will really help to enhance your game if you’re trying to play competitively. There are a few things that you need to have to help you play and prevent some types of injury.

Having the right equipment really helps to make you feel and look like your a competitive volleyball player. Boosting your self-esteem can help you take your mind off of thinking about what equipment you’re wearing.

Proper equipment for volleyball:

• Volleyball court shoes
• Knee pads
• Sometimes ankle braces
• Proper volleyball
• A backpack

The first, and probably most important piece of equipment that you shoe have are proper volleyball shoes, also referred to as “court shoes”. They have almost a gum type texture on the bottom of them to provide maximum traction. They are also made to help protect your ankles because of side to side movement.

Next, your knee pads. Knee pads prevent injuries like bruises and floor burn, it doesn’t seem like a big deal, but when I get bruises and floor burn it’s the worst! When getting knee pads you need to know how comfortable you feel with or without them. If you don’t feel as comfortable for example diving, you should probably get a thicker knee pad.

The next thing is ankle braces. These are required but they’re always good to have just in case. The most common injury with volleyball is sprained and broken ankles because of jumping. They provide support without interfering with the activity, I always keep a pair of ankle braces just in case if my ankle gets sore or for any of my teammates.

A proper volleyball. A good ball will prevent pain when bumping and hitting. If you’re using too hard of a ball you arms and wrist will get sore. The most issues with using a “bad” ball is that it’s way to heavy or to light. Going from light to heavy or heavy to light will really throw your whole game off.

The last piece of equipment that is important is a backpack or some type of bag to carry all of your stuff and keep it organised and easy to access. It should be simple to carry and that’s why most people prefer a backpack. It should also have a ton of compartments because you start to consume a lot of little things that need a home. It will also help keep things that you want to keep clean apart from smelly or germs.

Those are some of the most important pieces of equipment for volleyball, rather than just a pair of running shoes. If you’ve ever played with just running shoes, try comparing with some or even all of these different pieces of equipment and see how much of a difference it makes! These are the most important, in my opinion, pieces of equipment for volleyball!

Stamina, the ability to sustain physical or mental health for a long period of time. Volleyball players are required to have good stamina because tournaments can last up to 10 hours a day with up to 7 games and it is important to stay energized throughout the whole day.

During volleyball, it’s not just physically exhausting but also mentally exhausting. Keeping up with your stamina with help your volleyball game improve a lot. Once at one of my volleyball tournaments, there were a couple of girls who did strength training outside of just our team practice. The rest of my team and I were so tired by the end of the day, but those other couple teammates weren’t because they had been working on their stamina outside of practice.

A great way to help with having good stamina is eating food with high protein levels, for example, peanut butter. Peanut butter is high in calories which means it digests slower which means it will stay in your body for a longer time. Some other foods that would help are beans, oatmeal, and green leafy vegetables.

Ways to keep up with your stamina:

• Strength exercise like body weight squats, push ups, sit ups, jogging, cycling and extended volleyball practice periods.
• Continue to work on balance
• Yoga
• Make sure you eat carbs
• Workout regularly, not just twice a week
• Make sure you get proper rest
• Eat multiple times a day
• Always remember to stretch before and after working out to prevent injuries

Stamina helps with your physical and mental state when being athletic, as well as improving and affecting the way you play. There are tons of ways to help have good stamina, with exercise and the food your eating. Long days tournaments require good, built up stamina to help not only yourself but your teammates as well.

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton