Quicksets With Kenzie: Conditioning

"Commit to be fit." --Author Unknown

Being in shape is imperative for any sport, especially volleyball. A game of quick, sharp turns and heroic leaps, volleyball is not for the weak at the higher levels. Here are some recommendations on staying in shape:

· Learn how to hit the floor and get up quickly. You never know if the ball is going to come back, and being able to pop up after falling is a great skill to have (especially in beach). Learn to roll or slide.

· Keep your core strong. Your abs assist with everything. Hitting, serving, setting, blocking—all require a strong core. You should be able to do about 8 minutes of abs without breaks.

· Stretch a lot. Being flexible directly correlates with speed and agility.

· Do balancing exercises. For example, hop down a basketball court on one leg, landing softly each time, and count how many times you lose your balance. Try to get the number down to as few as possible.

· Do short sprints. More so than long-distance, volleyball players need to be able to sprint very quickly over short distances. The most important thing to focus on is the take-off. You want to be able to go from stopped to all-out in the shortest amount of time possible.

· Stairs, stairs, stairs. Want to jump higher? Run up stairs. Jump on one leg up stairs. Do bear walks up stairs and backwards down stairs. Really, anything with stairs will help you increase your vertical.

· Look up exercises on the internet specific for your position. Setters and middle blockers should run speed ladders (though all positions should do some as well). Setters should also play mind games to keep them sharp. Liberos should sprint modified suicides, touching each line twice back and forth.

· And, do you want to get better? Play whenever, wherever you can. At the beach, open gyms, anywhere. The more you play, the better you'll get.

And remember, hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard.

Kenzie Aries