How to Prevent Volleyball Injuries

There is no question that injuries are a big problem for every athlete. When volleyball players get injured they often need to take a break from training. Clearly, injured volleyball players can’t participate in matches as well. It may take a volleyball player weeks (or even months) to recover from injuries. Obviously, injuries negatively affect volleyball player’s career. That’s why volleyball players have to do their best to prevent any type of injuries.

Unfortunately, it’s impossible to avoid volleyball injuries. So, every volleyball player gets injured from time to time. According to the statistics, over 187,000 volleyball injuries are reported every year. However, athletes can reduce the risk of getting injuries dramatically.

Today, we are going to tell readers about common volleyball injuries. We’ll also explain the major causes of volleyball injuries. In addition, we’ll give you volleyball injury prevention tips. Of course, it’s best for volleyball players to prevent injuries before they happen. Read on to learn how prevent injuries in volleyball players.

Different Types of Volleyball Injuries

It’s important to know that volleyball players may get different types of injuries during their sport career. Among common volleyball injuries are: ankle injuries, finger injuries, low-back pain, knee pain, shoulder pain as well as different types of muscle imbalances. Now, let’s talk about the major causes of common injuries in volleyball.

Causes of Common Volleyball Injuries

Actually, volleyball players get insured for a variety of reasons. You also need to know the causes of common volleyball injuries. This will certainly help you prevent common volleyball injuries from happening.

Overtraining. The reality is most of volleyball injuries happen because of overtraining. It’s worth noting that some of young athletes have to participate in multiple competitions throughout the year. Moreover, they have practices all the time. So, these volleyball players have almost no time to rest. Oftentimes, overtraining results in different types of volleyball injuries.

A lack of a proper warm up. Some of volleyball players neglect the importance of doing warm up exercises and stretches before practices and games. Actually, it’s one of common mistakes we see so many beginner volleyball players make again and again. It’s crucial for you to know that a lack of a proper warm up and stretching usually leads to different types of volleyball injuries.

A lack of flexibility and strength. It is important to note that those volleyball players who get focused on training often forget to work on such aspects as flexibility and strength. As a result, they often get injured during volleyball practices and matches.

Loss of ankle mobility. Loss of ankle mobility is the main cause of ankle injuries.

Loss of hip mobility. Loss of hip mobility results in low back pain.  

Loss of thoracic mobility. Loss of thoracic mobility is associated with such problems as low back pain, neck pain as well as shoulder pain.

A lack of control over the body. It’s crucial for you to know that volleyball injuries usually happen after jumping and landing. Shoulder injuries may also get injured during serves and spikes. One of common reasons why so many volleyball players get injured is that they can’t control their body when landing and jumping. That means that if you learn how to control your body when landing and jumping, then you’ll be able to reduce the risk of getting injured during volleyball practices and games dramatically. Additionally, if you improve the control over your body then you will be able to greatly contribute to your hits and serves.

Not knowing how to land properly. Another big reason why so many beginner volleyball players get injured is that they don’t know how to land properly. Obviously, it’s incredibly important for young volleyball players to focus on learning the proper landing technique. Bear in mind that if you master the proper landing technique you’ll be able to prevent different types of knee injuries.

Tips to Prevent Volleyball Injuries

We have just told you about common injuries in volleyball players. Moreover, now you know some of major causes of common volleyball injuries. However, it’s also important for you to have an understanding of how to prevent volleyball injuries from happening. Try our tips for preventing common volleyball injuries successfully.

– Never begin volleyball practices and games without a proper warm up and stretch. If you don’t prepare your body and muscles properly in advance then you are likely to get volleyball injuries during volleyball practices and matches. So, the question is – how to warm up for volleyball properly? Now, let’s try to find the answer. First of all, it would be nice to run or walk for about 3 – 5 minutes. You can also try to take advantage of jumping jacks. Afterwards, you can focus on doing dynamic stretching.

– Don’t forget to cool down. As it was mentioned above, volleyball practices and games should always begin with a proper warm up. On the other hand, it’s extremely important to cool down and do static stretching after volleyball practices and games as well. Take advantage of cooling down to relax your body and muscles properly. This helps prevent volleyball injuries.   

– Increase flexibility. Keep in mind that such an important things as flexibility plays a big role in preventing common volleyball injuries. So, you need to work on this aspect regularly. Obviously, it makes sense for you to work on increasing flexibility all the time. By doing this, you’ll be able to avoid injuries and stay healthy during the volleyball season.

– Build strength. Strength training for the core and legs has to be a key part of volleyball player’s training program. In other words, it’s incredibly important for you to do such exercises as bridges, lunges, planks, squats with medicine balls as well as tuck jumps. It goes without saying that doing this type of exercises will help you prevent different types of volleyball injuries. Moreover, if you do these volleyball exercises you’ll be able to jump higher over time.

– Take advantage of ankle braces. Obviously, it’s a great idea for volleyball players to use ankle braces during practices and games. By doing this, they’ll be able to protect themselves from ankle injuries successfully. Without a doubt, you need to wear ankle braces if you have already had the problems with ankles.

– Interval training. It’s worth noting that interval training delivers multiple important benefits to volleyball players. Keep in mind that interval training has a profound positive impact on volleyball player’s endurance and performance. On the other hand, interval training plays a key role in injury prevention. It’s recommended for athletes to keep a focus on interval training drills such as ladder drills, plyometrics exercises, shuffling and shuttle drills.

– A coach can help volleyball players prevent injuries. It’s important to point out that a coach can help athletes avoid some of volleyball injuries as well. A coach has to be responsible for helping volleyball players with mastering proper blocking technique as well as proper landing technique. Plus, a coach must be able to teach volleyball players how to balance and control the body during spikes and hits.

– Effective communication reduces the risk of getting injured on the court. It’s crucial for volleyball players to know how to communicate and understand each other on the court. For example, if you are approaching the ball then it makes sense to call “Mine” (or something like this) in advance. By doing so, you’ll be able to avoid any kind of colliding during the game and, therefore, reduce the risk of getting an injury dramatically. Obviously, a volleyball team has to develop communication rules beforehand.

– It’s important to pick up the right shoes for volleyball. You need to know that choosing the right shoes for volleyball will help you avoid ankle injuries during practices and matches. Are you looking the best pair of shoes for volleyball? If so, you need to pay a close attention to shoes which provide strong ankle and arch support. Obviously, you need to pick up lightweight shoes to play the game of volleyball. Also, it’s important for you to make sure that your shoes have good shock absorption. With such great shoes you’ll certainly be able to prevent different types of ankle problems which often happen in the sport of volleyball.

– Visit a doctor if necessary. It’s important to keep in mind that you should never delay going to doctor if such a need arises. Do you feel lower back pain, ankle pain, neck pain or shoulder pain? Do you think that you have got injured? If so, you need to visit a doctor and get an effective treatment as soon as possible. It’s essential for volleyball players to understand that if they delay visiting a doctor the things may get worse. Remember, the sooner you go to the doctor and get help – the sooner you’ll be able to recover.

That’s it. Thank you so much for reading the article. Hopefully, you’ll be able to gain insight into common volleyball injuries and, most importantly, get the most out of our tips for prevent injuries in volleyball. Do everything you can to avoid injuries, stay healthy and get the best results in the sport of volleyball! Best of luck!