Sport
There are six players on each side of the court at all times that are separated by a net. The goal of the game is to keep the volleyball off the ground on your side by using a maximum of three touches. Points are made on every serve and the serve goes to the team that won the last point. There are twenty-five points within a set. A match is the best three out of five sets. If the game goes to five sets the last set is played to fifteen points. The game can last up to three hours.
The length of a season is six to eight months for club teams. The professional volleyball season begins in mid-August and lasts until mid-October, with seven different tournaments. In the regular season, there are twenty-five to twenty-seven games. Unless it’s a tournament they play two games a week.
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The anaerobic energy system is the primary source of energy in the game of volleyball. There are many short spirits such as jumping, diving, and shuffling, which would only last up to approximately 6 seconds. Glycolysis is also used in a long rally while athletes are always on their toes and moving to the ball. The anaerobic and glycolysis energy systems are constantly being used, but the aerobic energy system is still important to maintaining a high level of performance for the duration of the game. [3]
Physiological
Volleyball is a sport that requires strength, power, agility, speed and thought. Strength is an integral aspect of the sport of volleyball. Upper body muscular strength is important when spiking the volleyball. The lower body needs strength in order to jump high enough to get hands up to the net to block and spike the ball. The power to generate strength quickly is a key aspect of volleyball. Athletes need leg power to jump and upper body power to generate a spike. The vertical jump is a relevant test for volleyball players. Agility is an important aspect of volleyball for both offense and defense. Agility is the ability to move your body fast and efficiently into the correct position needed at that moment. The skills of driving, moving to the ball, and sometimes dodging the ball are necessary in the game of volleyball. Speed Athletes need to be quick on their toes in order to get into the right position to return the ball. Speed is necessary in both reaction time and movement. [1] [2]
Biomechanical
Volleyball occurs on a count indoors. The floor is either wood, synthetic or court tiles. The upper extremities bump the ball, set the ball, and spike the ball during the game of volleyball. These three touches occur almost every time the ball is on the team’s side of the net. The lower extremities move the body to the ball very quickly and help the athletes jump to spike and block the volleyball. The biomechanics of jumping and landing are important as well as moving from side to side quickly in an athletic stance. If the biomechanics are off at all it could lead to injuries. The trunk generates power when spiking the ball and quickly getting up off the ground after a dive. [5]
Phycological
There are a lot of external stimuli for volleyball players in the gym or arena. Some factors include the other team talking about where the ball is, the crowds trying to throw the athletes off by making loud noises, and what the coach is asking. Athletes have to focus on their team members and what the play is going to be in the moment in this one play. The athletes need to track the ball at all times and focus on the ball. Questions such as where the ball is going? How am I going to get to the ball? Am I going to need to call one of my teammates off because I have a better angle? Call for the last touch to kill the ball? Who is getting the ball? And Who do I need to cover from a block? There are many questions for each athlete on the court to think about in a split second. The movements of volleyball are simple, but to perform at the pace that the game is played it becomes very complex.
Injuries
Ankle sprains are the most common injury in volleyball. These injuries occur from bad landing usually up at the net when there is contact with an opponent or team member after a defensive block. There are many knee injuries involving the ACL that are common among female volleyball athletes. ACL injuries occur when athletes are landing after jumping as well as overuse. Shoulder and back injuries are due to overuse in spiking and serving the volleyball. The shoulder causes the longest absence from the game with the knee, and ACL injuries, just behind the shoulder. Injuries are most likely to occur during practices when athletes are practicing in practice, they are getting many repetitions which then leads to overuse and possible injuries. [6]
Environmental
It’s important to train as you play. There are specific positions within volleyball and that’s important to think about when thinking of a conditioning program for a volleyball athlete. A Libero shouldn’t be trained the same as an outside hitter because the Libero does not jump up at the net but will be playing defense more. There are some aspects of the game that both athletes will do, but overall having different conditioning programs for each will benefit the athletes greater. Different positions will more than likely have different injuries as well so taking that into account is important. Front-row players are going to have more injuries in general. Ankle, knee, and shoulder injuries are most common among the front-row hitters. Back-row players are more apt to get injured from diving on the ground and getting concussions.
Athlete Analysis
Characteristics
Annie is an opposite-side hitter for the United States women’s national volleyball team. She is a team player who is motivated to do her best for her team. She has a fantastic work ethic and she is always striving to be a better player and person. Her drive is contagious, and her extra work pays off and everyone around her sees the reward.
Annie is a twenty-six-year-old female who is six feet and four inches tall. She weighs a hundred and seventy pounds. Her spike is one hundred and twenty-four inches. Annie’s block is one hundred and twenty-three inches.
To find pertinent information on Annie and the other athletes on the team you first have to have the athlete perform baseline testing when working with them. Get their weight, height, and BMI. Doing a test to check their power with a vertical jump, speed with shuttle runs, agility with a reactive agility test, and strength with weight lifting. These are all necessary to get pertinent information. Talking about goals with athletes is another great way to collect pertinent information for each individual athlete and the team as a whole. Every athlete will have different goals for themselves so it’s important to know what each athlete needs in order to push them. [7]
Athlete Gaps
With Annie being six feet four inches tall she has the height to be great and she weighs one hundred and seventy pounds. If Annie was able to lose a few pounds, she might have more power to increase her one hundred-and-twenty-four-inch spike and one hundred-and-twenty-three-inch block height. If she was just a little taller and if she could increase her jump, she would be able to increase both her spike and block. [7]
Injury History
There are no documented injuries in her past. With that being said, we want to do what is best for Annie and keep her healthy.
Causes of performance issues (Strength, power)
If Annie had more power, she could increase her vertical jump. The increase in her jump would increase her blocking and spike stats. Strength improvement could also improve her stats and help her have more heat on the ball when she is hitting the ball and her serve as well.
Goals and Priorities
Annie plays volleyball because she finds it fun. She is very passionate about the game of volleyball. She plays volleyball around the world because she loves the game. She has gained some of her best friends through the game. She loves to represent America with the National Volleyball Team. She finds fulfillment in playing the game and getting better at the game. Annie’s goal is to increase her kill record by ten percent in the next season. She is always striving to be better than her opponents and better than herself yesterday.
Team USA is a stakeholder in Annie’s career. The facilities that Team USA uses are a big part of her greatness. All the clubs that Annie has played for have benefited her. She went to Purdue University and they were stakeholders while she was going to school on a full ride. The Team USA fans are also important to her success.
Resources and Limitations
The volleyball team has a host city with a gym and weight room in Anaheim, California at the American Sports Center. Team USA travels to different countries to play in tournaments against other national teams. The limitation that Team USA has is that they have to travel a distance to play during the season to play in games. [4] There is only one National Team for USA which is also a limitation because they only have themselves to practice against and scrimmage against.
- Dale P. Five Fitness Components for Volleyball. SportsRec.https://www.sportsrec.com/8098573/five-fitness-components-for-volleyball. Published October 15, 2019. Accessed February 1, 2020.
- Lidor R, Ziv GPhysical and Physiological Attributes of Female Volleyball Players-A Review. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 2010;24(7):1963-1973. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181ddf835.
- Physiology. Volleyball Case Study. https://thisishowyouplayvolleyball.weebly.com/physiology.html. Accessed February 1, 2020.
- Schedule and Results. Team USA. https://www.teamusa.org/usa-volleyball/usa-teams/indoorvolleyball/women/schedule-and-results. Accessed February 6, 2020.
- Sinsurin K, Srisangboriboon S, Vachalathiti R. Side-to-side differences in lower extremity biomechanics during multi-directional jump landing in volleyball athletes. European Journal of Sport Science. 2017;17(6):699-709
- Verhagen EALM, Van der Beek AJ, Bouter LM, et al A one season prospective cohort study of volleyball injuries British Journal of Sports Medicine 2004;38:477-481.
- Annie Drews. Team USA. https://www.teamusa.org/usa-volleyball/athletes/Annie-Drews. Accessed February 6, 2020.
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