How to Prepare for a Volleyball Tournament

Have you decided that volleyball is your favorite sport? If so, you should do your best to establish a successful sport career and become a great volleyball player. First of all, you need to train hard and do everything you can to master basic volleyball skills. Sooner or later, you’ll begin to participate in volleyball competitions.

Needless to say that volleyball matches are incredibly important for athletes of all skill levels. That’s the reason why athletes always need to take volleyball games seriously. Keep in mind that if you are well-prepared you’ll be able to achieve peak performance and demonstrate excellent results on the court.

In this blog, we’ll explain to you what needs to be done to prepare for volleyball competitions successfully. Additionally, we’ll provide you with training tips on how to prepare for a volleyball tournament physically and mentally.

How to Prepare for a Volleyball Tournament Physically

Athletes need to get ready physically for the match day. So, the preparation needs to be started beforehand. If a volleyball player is well-prepared physically then he/she will be able to boost his/her performance during the match day. Eating right, drinking plenty of water, getting enough sleep and doing certain volleyball drills helps volleyball athletes prepare for a volleyball tournament physically. Now, we’ll share some tips to help athletes to improve his performance on the court significantly.

– Eating right helps athletes prepare for a volleyball game successfully. There has been a lot of talk about the importance of eating right for preparing for volleyball competitions. Obviously, athletes need to pay a close attention to the diet when preparing for volleyball matches. You need to focus on foods which are rich in protein and potassium. Such foods give volleyball athletes an energy boost.  On the other hand, foods which are high in fats and sugars should be avoided. It goes without saying that fruits, nuts as well as energy bars have to be a part of a volleyball player’s diet. Volleyball athletes should eat meal on the launch. Granola would become the perfect healthy snack for every volleyball athlete. It’s worth noting that these foods provide volleyball players with energy they need to perform well on the court.  

– Keep your body hydrated. Volleyball players obviously need to drink plenty of water before, during and after volleyball matches to keep a body properly hydrated. Normally, an athlete has to drink 2.4 – 3.0 liters of water every day. The hotter a day is – the more water a volleyball player has to drink. Drinking a lot of water helps athletes stay healthy and perform well on the court during volleyball practices and volleyball matches. So, volleyball players should always bring a bottle of water with them to competitions. A volleyball player should drink either water or sport drinks before games. It’s important to point out that sport drinks boost carbohydrates and electrolytes. It’s crucial for volleyball players to drink about 0.5 – 0.59 liters of water within 2 hours of the volleyball game.

– Get enough sleep before volleyball games. It’s important to know that getting a good night sleep helps volleyball players relax and prepare for the game. Try to go to bed earlier before important volleyball matches and sleep as much time as you need. Event if you sleep 7 – 8 hours at night then you’ll be able to do great job on the court and demonstrate much better performance during a volleyball match.

– Do gamelike volleyball drills before matches. Doing gamelike volleyball drills helps a volleyball team to get ready for important matches successfully. While doing this type of drills volleyball players have a great opportunity to practice setting skills, hitting skills, blocking skills as well as passing skills.

– Do serve receive volleyball drills before games. It’s a great idea to do serve and receive drills for a volleyball team. The main idea of serve receive drill is to practise serving and receiving skills. You should know that there are different types of serve receive volleyball drills. These include such drills as “one server vs. individual player”, “few servers vs. individual player” as well as “3 – 4 servers vs. two passers”. These types of volleyball drills give attackers and servers an opportunity to master hitting and attacking skills. On the other hand, such drills are very good for defensive players. As a result, the whole team will be able to get ready for a volleyball tournament.

– Prepare everything you need for a volleyball match ahead of time. You need to bring everything you need for a volleyball match. Start packing your gear bag in advance. Make sure that you have prepared all of your jerseys, volleyball shoes, warm up shirt, knee pads, braces as well as a healthy snack and a bottle of water. If you prefer to listen to music when preparing for volleyball matches you also need to bring a player with you. And of course, you should also have some money.

– Warm up properly before a volleyball match. If a volleyball tournament is about to begin you’ll need to do proper warm up. During the warm up period you’ll have to do special drills and stretches. There are volleyball warm up drills for middle blockers, passers and setters. So, it’s important for a volleyball player to ensure that he/she is doing the right type of warm up drills.            

How to Prepare for a Volleyball Tournament Mentally

It’s no surprise that even highly experienced volleyball players often feel nervous before important volleyball matches. That means that athletes need to know how to deal with stress and overcome mental challenges while getting ready for volleyball competitions. Going for a walk, meditation, listening to music as well as mental imagery help volleyball players prepare for the game mentally. Below, we’ll give you some tips to help athletes prepare for a volleyball tournament mentally.

– Go for a walk before a volleyball tournament. Many volleyball players choose to go for a walk before important volleyball tournaments. It’s a great idea to spend 10-20 minutes on walking.   You can also run a few miles or do light exercises during your walks. By doing so, volleyball players can release endorphins and improve their mood. Going for a walk will certainly have a big positive impact on a volleyball player’s nervous system.

– Meditation helps athletes prepare for a volleyball tournament. Meditation is a great way to get ready for a volleyball tournament mentally. What is great about meditation is that this activity helps volleyball players relax body and mind. If you would like to take advantage of meditation you need to find a comfortable place first. Then, you need to close your eyes and start breathing deeply. While meditating you need to focus only on breathing. Meditation process should take 10-20 minutes. Meditation reduces stress significantly and helps athletes prepare for volleyball matches mentally.

– Listen to good music before a volleyball tournament. Music is something that energizes volleyball players. Music also helps volleyball players prepare for a volleyball tournament mentally. It’s a good idea to listen to music before the volleyball game. So, don’t forget to put a player as well as headphones in your gear bag while preparing for volleyball competitions. The question is – what kind of music volleyball players have to listen before volleyball matches? Actually, everything depends on your preferences. If you experience a lot of stress before a volleyball game then you should definitely listen to calming music. However, some volleyball players also choose to listen to energetic music. Listening to hip hop, pop music as well as rap helps volleyball players prepare mentally and act more aggressively on the court during the tournament.

– Take advantage of mental imagery to prepare for a volleyball tournament mentally. Using visualization technique to get ready for a volleyball tournament has a number of important advantages. There is the evidence that visualization helps volleyball players improve blocking skills, hitting skills, setting skills, passing skills and serving skills. Mental imagery helps volleyball players plan their game properly ahead of time. You should spend some time on visualization and imagine how you’ll perform on the court during the game. During visualization a volleyball player should always imagine the best scenario of the game. Mental imagery helps volleyball players increase their confidence significantly. Without a doubt, visualization helps volleyball players improve their skills and do better job on the court.

Thank you so much for reading our article. We have just explained to you how to prepare for volleyball competitions mentally and physically. Follow our tips to prepare for a volleyball tournament in the best possible way. Best of luck!