Volleyball Training Tips: Vertical Jump

Jump, and then jump higher!

How would you like to have a vertical jump like Blake Griffin or ROX Pro, Destinee Hooker?  What if I told you, you could? Let’s put an end to this battle with gravity and increase not only your vertical jump on the court, but your overall game. Rox Volleyball has created a great Vertical Enhancing workout that focuses on the muscles that are most important to you and your vertical. Put yourself to the Vertical Challenge and let us know how you do! 

First and foremost, always have a starting point. Remember to take your measurements before you start. After you have measured your standing reach, block reach and approach, you are ready to get started! Good luck and keep focused; no pain, no gain!

1. Jump Box:  You can use a jump box or even a high sidewalk or bench. Stand facing the object and jump up with both feet, landing balanced on the surface. Make sure to give this exercise all you got! As you master the height of your object move on to something taller and watch as your vertical grows. Amount: 3 sets of 20

2. Jump Shrug: Grab two weights between 10-25 lbs. Stand with feet shoulder length apart. Hold each weight in each hand at your side.  Jump up while shrugging with both shoulders and make sure to keep your back straight. Finish landing balanced with both feet still shoulder-length apart. Remember when you jump, slide the inside of your arms down your thighs, bend your knees and jump forcefully up.  Amount: 3 sets of 25

3. Jump Rope: Not only is jumping rope great for your vertical but it is great cardio as well. Between exercises 1 and 2, take a jump rope and jump as fast as you can for 30 seconds. This will help increase your heart rate and the size of your calf muscles.
Amount: 30 seconds FAST!

Switch up these Rox Volleyball training tips to keep it different and fun. Perform these vertical exercises once a day for two weeks and see how high your jump has increased. Don’t forget, the best way to increase you vertical jump, is to keep jumping!

Filed In: News | Volleyball Training Tips
Posted by Makayla Olson on April 24, 2012
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ROX Volleyball Drill of the Week: STRETCH!

We know coming off a long tournament weekend can be tough to return to the courts, especially a tournament like Colorado Crossroads and Asics OVA Invitational. That's why in this week's volleyball drill we're giving you a super stretch routine you can do in your own home or right on the court prior to practice and following your cool down routine. So, warm it up, stretch it out and get back to your high intensity practice!

Neck Stretch: Reach one arm behind your body, grab wrist of that arm with other hand and pull while tilting your head in opposite direction of the side you are pulling. Hold for 20 seconds and repeat on other side

Glute stretch: Lie on back and place one ankle on opposite thigh. Reach through and pull your knee toward you. Repeat other side. Nice hip opener as well!

Arm Circles

Shoulder-Tricep Combo stretch: Extend one arm at shoulder height, pull toward your body. Take same arm and do standard Tricep stretch. Repeat other side

Low Squat: Stand with feet shoulder width apart, squat all the way down keeping chest and head up with hands in prayer. Use elbows to press against thighs and open hips. Rock slowy back and forth.

Ballistic Hamstring Stretch: Keeping both legs straight with flexed feet, scissor legs so that one is parallel with floor and other is pointing up, switch back and forth.

Filed In: Volleyball Drill of the Week | Volleyball Training Tips
Posted by Courtney Davidson on March 05, 2012
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Back to the Core: Core Circuit Workout for Volleyball Players

Hitting is about core strength, not shoulder strength. Gain more power behind your swing by focusing on your inner core. Here are some exercises you need to incorporate in your workout routine or practice plan. Challenge yourself with our ROX Volleyball Core Circuit workout now and let us know how you do! 

SIDE PLANK

1. Lie on your right side and prop your upper body up on your right hand.

2. Raise your hips until your body forms a straight line from ankles to shoulders.

3. Lift your top leg and swing it forward and backward in an even tempo. Your goals are to resist the momentum of your leg and to maintain a stable torso. Do all your reps on one side, and then repeat on the other side. Perform 20 reps on each side for a total number of 2 sets.

BICYCLE

1. Lie flat on your back with legs raised 2 inches off the ground and arms at base of neck with elbows fully extended out. 

2. Bring your left elbow to your knee with a count to two, drop your leg back to slightly above ground level with a count to 2. 

3. Repeat the other side to finish one full rep. Perform 20 reps for a total number of 2 sets.

PLANK TO PUSHUP

1. Lie flat on your stomach and raise up on your forearms and toes. 

2. Hold position for 20 seconds and move towards a pushup position. 

3. Do 5 pushups and return back to your forearms plank position and hold for another 20 seconds. 

4. Perform this sequence (plank to pushup) for a total of 5 sets. 

Filed In: News | Volleyball Training Tips
Posted by Courtney Davidson on February 28, 2012
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Sand Volleyball Drills to Get You Ready for the Beach Season

Waiting for the beach season is like waiting for Christmas morning! For those of you that can get on the sand now without freezing your ROX bootys off (yes, we are in Florida and it's 80 degrees out but we feel for you northerners) here is a chance to drill like a professional. We followed Pro Beach ROX Star, Michelle Moriarty's drills she is currently doing on the beaches of Cali to help you get your beach body. 

A really good volleyball drill that works on skill and gets you warm is the triangle drill. You need at least three people to make the drill work. One person is in left back and one person is in right back. There is a hitter on the same side of the court standing with their back to the net. The person at the net is hitting roll shots down the line to one of the diggers (it doesn't matter which person you decide to hit at because everyone will rotate through digging in right back and then you can switch it and do the same drill hitting at left back). As your shoulder gets warm, you can start hitting harder. The person who doesn't dig the ball comes in to set the hitter and the hitter hits the ball at the digger again. It should be continuous, kind of like pepper. The ball ends up traveling in a triangle (hence the name of the drill!). After 10 good reps you can rotate and everyone should rotate through all three positions. Then you do the same thing but dig from the other side of the court. If it is a windy day, it's good to dig from all four corners of the court to get used to passing and setting in different winds. This drill really works on the fundamentals of passing and setting, as well as getting your shoulder warmed up for hitting.

When my partner and I only have each other to work with, we like to do a lot of passing and serving reps. One person has all the balls on the end line and is serving across the net to their partner. You can start out with easy serves, but you should work into serving tough balls. Learning how to serve tough is a really important part of the game, and if your partner is able to serve really tough at you, you are able to become a much better passer (also an extremely important part of the game!).

To work on setting (transition setting specifically), my parter will stand at the net on the same side as me and hit cross court at me. After I dig, she transitions off the net to set me. If you are looking to do low amounts of jumping, you can just catch the ball and start over. But, this is also a great drill to work on transition hitting. If you put a few cones out on the court, you can really work on hitting the right spots! (Deep down the line, a cut shot, hard cross court, and hitting the side lines)

If you have 4 people, another great ball control drill is working on cut shots back and forth. Two people set up in defensive positions on opposite sides of the net (right back and right back, or left back and left back). The other two people stand at the net as blockers. Initiate the drill with a toss. The defender passes the ball, the blocker comes in to set and the person who just passed the ball comes in to hit a cut shot. Once the ball crosses the net, the other defender has to run down the cut shot, the person who just blocked comes in to set, and the hitter hits a cut shot back. Keep the rally going as long as you can. The point of the drill is to work on hitting as good of a cut shot as possible, while consistently keeping it in play. It is also about learning how to hold in your defensive position and run down a cut shot. Each player should do reps in the defending/hitting and blocking/setting positions. Once you have done cut shots from the left, switch it up and do cut shots from the right.

Thanks Michelle! We are so fortunate to have you on the ROX team. Good luck with the season!

And, if you're really too cold to play in those awesome ROX bikinis, we have just the right capris and tanks for you! AND ready for the best part? The ROX Beach Competition Tank and the Low Rise Capri's are 40% off until February 15th! Comment on this blog and we will send you the code to use at checkout! 

Filed In: Michelle Moriarty | News | Volleyball Training Tips
Posted by Courtney Davidson on February 01, 2012
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Add Some Yoga Flava’ into Your ROX Volleyball Life

We know it's club season; everyone is busy and sometimes our bodies can’t take another physical beat down. BUT there is this fancy thing called Yoga and no, we aren’t asking you to stay calm & meditate like a Buddha fashionista. Add a few poses into your workout and warm-ups; there are benefits both on and off the court. Here are some compelling facts about why you should integrate yoga into your volleyball routine. Yes, we said VOLLEYBALL because that’s where we want to keep you focused!

Flexibility


Series of poses work by safely stretching your muscles, which releases lactic acid that builds up with muscle use and causes stiffness, tension, pain and fatigue. Yoga also increases your range of motion in joints. One of the biggest benefit for us players is the stretching of our ligaments, tendons and fascia sheath that surround our muscles.

Strength


There are hundreds of yoga poses that range from peace to “please help me!” but focusing on the power poses that increase upper body strength for hitting and lower body strength for explosive power will fuel your performance on the court. Many of the poses such as Downward Dog, Plank Pose, Chair Pose and Warrior all build core strength along with upper and lower body.
Where to start? Don’t be nervous! We had some fun around the office today practicing some basic, yet effective poses to share with you. Each can be done anywhere, anytime! 

Need play by plays? Here is a great website where they take you through each exercise: www.abc-of-yoga.com. Thanks to these office ROX stars for participating: Ryan Newhouser, Mike Thompson, Troy Olson and Jaime Oelke.

Namaste,

Kim Makinster

Filed In: News | Volleyball Training Tips
Posted by Courtney Davidson on January 13, 2012
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