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How To Jump Higher In Volleyball: 2 Best Workouts to Improve Vertical

How To Jump Higher In Volleyball: 2 Best Workouts to Improve Vertical

04/10/2020 Vertical Jump Training, How-to Articles
How To Jump Higher In Volleyball: 2 Best Workouts to Improve Vertical

In volleyball, the running, standing, squatting and countermovement jumps are executed almost in equal measure. When determining How To Jump Higher For Volleyball all of those facets must be considered.

The one common denominator - or overarching theme - with all of those movements is that the functionality of the lower body is always paramount.

Plyometrics In Your Volleyball Jump Training

Plyometrics exercises significantly increase muscle strength, the stability in your joints and the coordination of your body when jumping. This is achieved by Targeting Essential Muscles that are used during the jump motion.

By performing Plyometrics you are building the Explosive Power, which you need to Jump Higher. In a sport like volleyball, where there is so much jumping from a standing position, Building Your Lower Body is essential.

This time, we are going to opt for a slight paradigm shift, for those who have never heard of aquatic plyometrics training.  

1-) Aquatic Plyometrics workout

aquatic plyometrics

1-

Drill Name: Egg-Beater

Drill Purpose: To make your legs stronger

Drill Direction:

  • At its heart, the egg-beater is a drill that involves the kicking of the legs below the water, while keeping your head above the water. Here, you are treading water but in a very specific way.
  • You perform this drill by rotating both of your legs, in opposite directions. One of your legs will rotate inwards, while your other leg will rotate outwards. Beyond the strength demands, which will become apparent pretty soon in this drill, there are also demands on your level of coordination. Coordination, as we all know, is a major component of jumping in volleyball.
  • This can be a daunting exercise at first, especially if you are not a strong swimmer but there are ways to help you get through it, while making sure that you are doing the leg rotations properly. Everybody is scared of drowning, even the professional divers.
  • On that score, buoyancy belts, flutter boards and pool noodles are not illegal. In fact we encourage the use of them, if that means you will be better placed to perform the drill properly.

Suggested Workout: Propel your body into the air for 30 seconds at a time. 

Suggested Sets: Two Sets Per Session


2-

Drill Name: Treading Water 

Drill Purpose: To make your legs stronger and increase power output

Drill Direction:

  • You will also be better off performing this drill with a training partner or even a coach, who will be standing outside of the water, while your legs wage war with the water’s forces.
  • The whole point of having that training partner outside the pool, is to issue a set of instructions (signals) to you while you are treading water. We will go into that set of instructions issues below.
  • First the training partner has the option to make you tread water, while holding both of your elbows out of the water and behind your neck.
  • Your training partner can also issue instructions that will require you to extend either your right or left arm or both.
  • There is also a signal for you to tread water while in the pike position, which is honestly exceedingly difficult. It quite literally means that you will be sitting on the water, like a biblical figure. You don’t have to go that route, if you are unable to of course. It is just a challenging option and we like challenges on these pages.
  • You can also try and tread water with both of your hands on your head.
  • If you are feeling really saucy, you can try treading water while completing a 360 degree spin in the water. It is not going to be as elegant as a figure skater or ballerina though. However, it has to be said you are probably good enough to compete in the synchronized swimming at the Olympics at this point. It is a tough variation to the drill.
  • Depending on how strong you feel, you can also try to explode out of the water, almost as you would with a countermovement jump while training on land. Just go as high as you can, but perhaps target getting your swimsuit out of the water. At this point you are doing very well and your legs have remarkable strength capacity.


    • Suggested Workout: Repeat 30-Second Spells

    Suggested Sets: Three Sets Per Session


    3-

    Drill Name: Pool Crunches

    Drill Purpose: To strengthen your abdominal core


    Drill Direction:

  • You are doing crunches...but in the water, sort of! There are a couple of caveats though.
  • You will need to hang both of your legs on the side of the pool, basically hooking onto the edge with the flex of your knees.
  • Your back should be facing the water and your head should be looking straight up.
  •  Your body should be bobbing on the water at this point. When you are ready you can start doing crunches, forcing yourself against the water for the duration of the workout.


    • Suggested Workout: 20 Crunches Per Set

    Suggested Sets: Three Sets Per Workout


    4-

    Drill Name: Core Toners

    Drill Purpose: To strengthen the abdominal core and tone the legs

    Drill Direction:

    • Find the edge of the swimming pool and lift yourself up with your arms.

    • When your arms are fully stretched, lift your legs up until they are fully extended in front of you.

    • Make sure you do not lose your form for the duration of this drill.

    • When you are ready, start splitting your legs apart and then close them again, against the aquatic forces of course.

    Suggested Workout: 20 Splits

    Suggested Sets: Three Sets


    Why Should You Add Aquatic Plyometrics Exercises To Your Volleyball Training?

    We recommend these exercises, not because the results will be overwhelmingly different to those recorded with the more traditional plyometrics methods but rather because there is compelling evidence to suggest that aquatic plyometrics can make a meaningful contribution to your longevity on a volleyball court.

    • You are likely to jump at your peak for more sustained periods if you take to aquatic plyometrics training
    • Your vertical jump improves more and faster when training in the water
    • Training in water increases the power output in your lower limbs
    • You can continue with your conditioning and rehabilitation work, without risking further injury. That is something also worth storing at the back of the memory compartment when training to To Increase Your Vertical Jump For Volleyball.

    2-) Weightlifting Exercises

    weightlifting exercises

    1-

    Drill Name: Dumbbell Squats

    Drill Purpose: To strengthen all of the muscle groups in the lower body

    Drill Direction: 

  • This Volleyball Jump Training drill could be done with a set of dumbbells, a kettlebell/s or even a barbell. That depends on what you want to get out of the workout.
  • You could perform this drill by lifting a kettlebell off the ground, while extending from a 90 degree squat position and then lowering yourself in a squat position again while placing that kettlebell back on the ground. Under those circumstances, you arms will be extended in front and below you for the duration of the drill.
  • You could also perform this drill by holding a kettlebell or dumbbell your chest, like it is your new BFF and then do the squats with the weight resistance in that position throughout. Do not lose your form for the duration of that drill either.
  • You can perform this drill with a barbell placed carefully on your shoulders, behind your head. Be careful not to go for anything that you might deem too heavy. Your exposure to serious injury increase tenfold here.
  • You can also do the drill without the resistance at all. Just lower and raise your body weight for the duration of the drill, with your arms extended out in front of you.
  • You can perform this drill with the barbell balanced in front of you, but also on your shoulders.


    • Reps: 15 Reps

    Sets: 3 Sets 


    2-

    Drill Name: Hip Bridges

    Drill Purpose: Increase strength in your glutes, hamstrings and abdominal region

    Drill Direction: 

  • This is another Volleyball Training drill where you need to start by lying on your back
  • Use either an exercise band or dumbbell as your additional props for this drill, which could obviously be conducted with just your body weight as resistance, if it is all a bit daunting for you
  • Then bring your knees up, as if you were preparing to do some sit-ups or crunches
  •  Instead of doing sit-ups or crunches, you will then lift your pelvis off the ground, but do not lift your heels off the ground
  • At this point your body should look something like a heavily slanted bridge and your form should be straight from your shoulders right up to your knees
  • Hold your form for about 20 seconds, before lowering your body again and then lifting again


    • Reps: 12 Reps 

    Sets: 4 Sets 


    3- 

    Drill Name: Preacher Curls

    Drill Purpose: This Volleyball Jump Training drill is all about the biceps. Be careful not to overdo these though. You don’t really want to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger. However, you do want to be ripped enough to help propel your body into the air and actually function well as a volleyball player who does a lot of serving, blocking and spiking.


    Drill Direction: 

    • Find a preacher bench in a gym, which is the only place you are likely to pull this workout off.

    • Put a suitably weighted barbell on that bench. You should know how much you can and cannot handle.

    • Lift and lower the barbell for the recommended amount of time.

    Reps: 12 Reps 

    Sets: 4 Sets 


    4- 

    Drill Name: Hamstring Curls

    Drill Purpose: Increase the strength of the hamstrings and glutes

    Drill Direction: 

    • Find a leg curl machine in the gym, which is also probably the only place you are doing to be able to perform this Volleyball Jump Training drill

    • Lie down on that bench, tummy facing own or back facing up

    • Then flex your legs upwards, towards the buttocks and lower them again, for the recommended number of times

    Reps: 12 Reps 

    Sets: 2 Sets

    Why Should You Add Weightlifting In Your Volleyball Jump Training?

    • The best - although not the only - way to help prevent a series of injuries is to dedicate a considerable amount of your volleyball training to strength workouts.

    • In Addition, jumping higher requires increased power and increased power is the by-product of strength training, especially when it comes to the upper body. 

    • Exploiting opportunities to produce more power from the abdominal core and the upper limbs matters most in volleyball jump training.

    How To Improve Jump Technique

    • Make more room for better footwork. 

    • Use your arms to guide you when jumping on the volleyball court 

    • Work particularly hard on building up your endurance, not just coordination and movement.

    Volleyball Jump Training Tips

    • Try and adopt volleyball jump training regimens that will be intellectually and physically stimulating.

    • Have people around you while training, to keep you stimulated, to motivate you and to help you during your training.

    • If you are not comfortable with an exercise, for whatever reason, you can and should always try and look for alternatives. 

    • Fast, upbeat music can help you get through a training session better

    Conclusion

    Jumping higher in volleyball is a more cerebral enterprise that it would ordinarily be in any other jumping activity. That means the kind of training you perform, with the view to jumping higher in volleyball, needs to also be slightly out of the box. 

    Aquatics plyometrics has featured heavily in this blog. While we will not call it groundbreaking stuff, it is certainly taken for granted. We think it would behove you to pursue this line of training more aggressively, when pursuing your volleyball ambitions. 

    Do that without compromising on the other, more traditional training methods though. We certainly don’t think you would be compromising on outcomes at all (you will probably improve most jumping outcomes) and we believe you will be giving your body a few more months and perhaps even years on the volleyball court.


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