Conditioning with Colorado Volleyball
Resting your hands on your knees shows opponents that you’re tired. So does flailing your tongue, like a dog that just played fetch for an hour. Either way, telegraphing your fatigue gives your opponents a mental edge, and being conditioned can prevent that.
“You never want to show fatigue, but the only way to accomplish that is to be in condition,” says Sarah Remey, strength and conditioning coach for the University of Colorado volleyball team. “You need a high level of conditioning to play a five-game match and still jump efficiently throughout the entire match.”
Last season, the Buffaloes—the only team to defeat the number-one ranked and eventual National Champ Nebraska Cornhuskers—advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Remey credits their success to the conditioning drills they performed throughout the year. “From a skills aspect, not being in condition leads to swinging harder instead of swinging correctly, which increases the rate of errors in a match,” she says. “Being in condition also helps us stay fresh through the long season.”
To get her team in game shape, Remey uses 40- and 100-yard shuttles. The girls perform them once a week in the off season, one after another until they complete four of each. Do you have what it takes to match the Buffaloes’ shuttle times?
40-yard shuttle
• Set up two cones 10 yards apart
• Sprint from cone to cone four times
• Touch foot to cone at each turn
• Complete shuttle in less than 10 seconds
• Perform again if you don’t meet time
Rest Time: 25 seconds
100-yard shuttle
• Set up two cones 25 yards apart
• Sprint from cone to cone four times
• Touch foot to cone at each turn
• Complete shuttle in less than 18 seconds
• Perform again if you don’t meet time
Rest Time: 25 seconds
Benefits: The 40-yard shuttle simulates the kind of explosion you need on a sideout play. The 100-yard shuttle simulates a longer rally.
Check out the Volleyball Channel for more ways to up your game.
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Conditioning with Colorado Volleyball
Resting your hands on your knees shows opponents that you’re tired. So does flailing your tongue, like a dog that just played fetch for an hour. Either way, telegraphing your fatigue gives your opponents a mental edge, and being conditioned can prevent that.
“You never want to show fatigue, but the only way to accomplish that is to be in condition,” says Sarah Remey, strength and conditioning coach for the University of Colorado volleyball team. “You need a high level of conditioning to play a five-game match and still jump efficiently throughout the entire match.”
Last season, the Buffaloes—the only team to defeat the number-one ranked and eventual National Champ Nebraska Cornhuskers—advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Remey credits their success to the conditioning drills they performed throughout the year. “From a skills aspect, not being in condition leads to swinging harder instead of swinging correctly, which increases the rate of errors in a match,” she says. “Being in condition also helps us stay fresh through the long season.”
To get her team in game shape, Remey uses 40- and 100-yard shuttles. The girls perform them once a week in the off season, one after another until they complete four of each. Do you have what it takes to match the Buffaloes’ shuttle times?
40-yard shuttle
• Set up two cones 10 yards apart
• Sprint from cone to cone four times
• Touch foot to cone at each turn
• Complete shuttle in less than 10 seconds
• Perform again if you don’t meet time
Rest Time: 25 seconds
100-yard shuttle
• Set up two cones 25 yards apart
• Sprint from cone to cone four times
• Touch foot to cone at each turn
• Complete shuttle in less than 18 seconds
• Perform again if you don’t meet time
Rest Time: 25 seconds
Benefits: The 40-yard shuttle simulates the kind of explosion you need on a sideout play. The 100-yard shuttle simulates a longer rally.
Check out the Volleyball Channel for more ways to up your game.