Speed, Agility and Womens Volleyball
I watched 2 days of Volleyball at the AVF womens finals in Sydney, following the fortunes of the UNI BLUES team. I closely watched warm ups and running techniques on court.
I read the study below by Katic and not being a Volleyball Coach or having played I was interested in the emphasis on agility. As explained before , change of direction is a physical ability whilst agility involves the ability to read the game coupled with the ability to change direction. ( strength/power/technique etc)
But having read the study and then observing a few games, I would do heaps of running technique, small sprints and change of direction training with female players, so they can cover the court more efficiently.
Women are not as tall, can’t jump as high , so the ability to cover the court may be a bit more important.
Often underpinning the ability to change direction and take off is the balanced strength and power of each leg. Unilateral strength.
Also running drills to get the feet under the centre of gravity and to get in a low ( pre-stretched) position are important. One criticism I had was watching some warm ups and girls did heaps of things like high knees sitting back on their butts. Ok to warm up but the last thing one would want to ingrain into techniques. They should always have their body over their centre of gravity and work through the hips.
Below is the conclusion from this study and one sees the emphasis on agility ( and skill!).
Motor Structures in Female Volleyball Players Aged 14–17 According to Technique Quality and Performance. Ratko Katic Coll. Antropol. 30 (2006) 1: 103–112
ACTUAL CONCLUSIONS FROM THE STUDY
*at age 9, selection should be based on psychomotor speed and coordination on solving complex motor problems. These motor abilities will ultimately limit
elite game performance: psychomotor speed by facilitating technique performance, and coordination and/or motor intelligence through faster motor learning and efficient solution of game situations;
*at age 11, selection should be based on coordination in terms of agility and explosive strength facilitating performance of basic technique elements, e.g., service and serve receipt;
*at age 13, selection should be based on explosive strength and agility that facilitate performance of techniques, e.g., block and spike;
*at age 15, selection should be based on specific motor abilities that are primarily related to body height, strength and spike precision, i.e. specific explosive strength and specific agility-mobility; and
*at age 17, selection should be done by evaluation of all specific motor abilities, especially specific speed and specific agility-mobility, enabling elite female volleyballers to efficiently manage all possible game situations and facilitate their technique performance, especially those in field defens
loris bertolacci 
Loris
Very interesting observation about the warm ups. I was wondering if you had an references on the warm ups you mentioned in this article (ie They should always have their body over their centre of gravity and work through the hips.)
Gerry
That is a good point. I should always be able to justify any subjective comments. Will try and find a few.
Hey Loris
I wasn’t doubting you. I was just wanting some drills I can run my team through that promote this kind of conditioning 🙂
Apologies for the misunderstanding.
Yes I must be getting sensitive in old age
One aim is to simply get lower in exercises.
Teaching them to do a bodyweight squat by using their hips helps to start off. So the ability to sit back and initiate movement from the butt is a start. Lunges are also important in a warmup
Then with drills doing small things like
Small skips over the ankle with the body lowered a bit and the centre of grsvity forward.
Then side to sides without feet touching and poking the butt out a bit and dropping the centre of gravity down a bit. IE Get lower.
Do the same with grapevines or carioca. Drop and be a bit squat. And vary with small in and out steps but staying low.
Even doing side to sides and then dropping into a squat for 2 secs and repeating.
Running backwards for 5metres and then dropping centre of gravity down a bit and either going forward or turning 180 and coming out of a low position.
Get 50cm high cones and do dead leg over them but keep bodyweight distributed forward and bring heel to butt then cycle thru to ground…Do repeats ..
Fast high knees for 5 metres with bodyweight fwd then some fast foot making sure you have dropped bodyweight again.
Then do other transitons like side to side each side then drop and fast foot and lower again and take off
Also have a partner hold a player at 30/45 degrees then they let go and they either fall flat on their face or stay low and go.
Jog in and bend knees and touch ground either side with hands. Like a dynamic one leg squat…..
Jog in and then touch the ground and bend knees and go….
That’s great. Thanks for that.