Functional Warm-ups
One of the major draws to the boys' and girls' volleyball programs at my old high school was the fact that the coaches rarely made the players run. In fact, it was one of the defining characteristics of the program which drew me into the sport to begin with. It wasn't a matter of being lazy, more a fact that running was boring, repetitive, and had no immediate "fun" factor to it.
But this wasn't the reason why we rarely ran before or during practices. No, the reasoning was much more logical, and wouldn't be revealed to me until I began to coach under them a few years later.
The fact of the matter is, especially at the high school/juniors level of competition, that running provides very little benefit. You can even consider it a complete waste of time. If I haven't already blown your mind or completely offended you, please hear me out...
During a high school season, you have a very limited amount of time to work with your players. You have pre-season, a 10 week regular season, and any post-season play. This isn't a lot of time to work with your players on the fundamentals of the game, on improving their technique, understanding of theory and teamwork/chemistry. And as a coach you have to remember that your players are student-athletes. Emphasis on the student part, as it comes first and foremost in the development of these young individuals and their futures, so you can't just keep them in the gym 5 hours a day.
So how do you better utilize your limited time with your players?
Simple -- Cut out the fat. Eliminate the unnecessary activities that could better be utilized working on a volleyball specific skill.
This is where the concept of "Functional Warm-ups" comes into play.
Regardless of the sport program an athlete joins, it is inevitable that they encounter a coach that emphasizes taking time out of practice to run laps around the gym or track, with no explanation as to why this benefits the players' development in the sport. Okay yes, I will admit that running has cardiovascular benefits. But different sports have different needs and paces of play. (For more info on this concept, please see my post on the 10 Rules of Training.
Now to the fun part: How to modify your practice warm-ups to better suit volleyball.
That's easy...spend your warm-up time doing movements that emphasis the use of volleyball-related skills. Rather than spending time jogging, running, stretching, doing suicides, spend your time giving your players more touches with a volleyball. If practice makes perfect, then you want your players getting more practice playing volleyball. Functional volleyball skills. Thus "Functional Warm-ups".
For example, when I run a high school practice I generally have on a dry-erase board the schedule of activities that all players must complete as their warm-ups once they enter the gym. It will include the following activities (though may change week to week to increase difficulty as players become more skilled):
- Run 6 lines (just to get the blood flowing, 6 lines = jogging from sideline to sideline 6 times.)
- 10 pushups, 10 situps (just to get the blood flowing)
- 10 transitions & approaches (gets the blood flowing while making your players practice proper footwork)
- 5 blocking trips (starting at MB position, swing block one direction, once. Reverse direction twice, then finish blocking original direction again completing at MB position again.)
- Triangle passing 50x (groups of three, passing in a triangle. Start with forearm passing around one direction 50 touches total for group. Emphasize proper form/technique. Progress into overhead passing/setting only 50x, then alternate on each touch 50x.)
- Passing weave (groups of 3 or 4, pass and follow the ball. Begin forearm passing only for X repetitions, progress to overhead only, then to pass/set/hit.)
- Short-Short-Long (groups of 2. For either overhead or forearm passing. One player at baseline, other at 10ft line. Player 1 tosses to Player 2. 2 passes ball only 5 feet in front of him/herself, player 1 reacts to short ball and plays ball up high and straight. Player 1 retreats to original position awaiting long pass, then passes to 2 short. Repeat cycle for X repetitions.)
- Two or three-person pepper (2 players = dig to self. 3 players = dig to setter)
- Four person pepper (Pass/set/hit, three players who are not hitter will shift into defensive alignment in the direction of hitter's target.)
- And more...
The above activities should be completed within a matter of a handful of minutes. They should sufficiently give your players hundreds of touches on a volleyball in the time that it would take your players to jog a mile, run some sprints, do some strength work, and do team stretching.
By warming up their bodies with volleyball activities rather than miscellaneous activities, they will be better prepared for the practice ahead which will focus more on specific skills, team theory, individual positional theory, etc. They will be more focused, and will perform better for the duration of practice.
Again, this is an advantage due to the fact that your players are getting more practice playing volleyball rather than running or stretching. If your players want to run and stretch, they may do so before practice begins or after it ends.
If you want to make the argument that they need to run to be conditioned for volleyball, then I will wholeheartedly disagree with you. Please refer back to the 10 Rules of Training, section 2. In addition, the best training and conditioning you can do for volleyball is to play more volleyball more intensely.
i.e. The more a player jumps, the higher they will jump. Remember that for yourself as a player, and as a coach.