What To Do This Summer To Make Your Volleyball Team In the Fall
Trying out for your volleyball team starts well before the actual tryouts. If you’re really serious about making your volleyball team, this is what you should do this summer.
1) Master the Basics
This one may seem obvious, but to be able to make the team, you have to have the skills. For a high school volleyball team, you have to be able to serve overhand consistently, pass well, set, have a good approach and hit (spike) over the net. The first thing you want to do this summer is to get plenty of reps either by yourself against a wall/with a net, with a partner, or with a team. Coaches want to see that you’re athletic and have a good baseline for them to continue developing your skills.
2) Attend Summer Camps/Open Gyms
If your school or club hosts any camps, open gyms, skills camps, conditioning camps, etc, you need to attend as many as possible. The more the coaches see you play before tryouts the better. This way you have many more chances to show how you play before the week of tryouts. It takes the pressure off of you if you have a mediocre tryout if they’ve already seen you play a bunch of times before. Plus, it shows that you’re dedicated, wanting to get better, and a hard worker. And it gives you a chance to play with the other girls who will potentially be on your team and make some new friends. Honestly, coaches know how most of the teams are going to look before tryouts even start, so give yourself an advantage by going to as many summer events as possible.
3) Learn as Much About Volleyball as You Can
Summer is a great time to learn as much about volleyball as you can. Whether you’re a beginner just starting out or have been playing for years, there is always more to learn. If you don’t know about rotations, the different positions, or certain skills, now is your chance to dive deeper. Plus it’s also a great time to watch a lot of high level volleyball to get better.
4) Play!
Not only should you play a lot of volleyball, but you should just play in general. Play different sports, play games outside, hike, swim, play on the playground, and find ways to be active and have fun. I think all volleyball players should play all different types of sports and games to become a great all around athlete and to just have fun. We spend so much time indoors now that we need to remember to go outside and play. And, even though you need to practice a lot of volleyball to get better, playing other sports will help you on the volleyball court too and it’s good to try new things so you don’t get burned out! Have fun and have a lot of unstructured play time.
I hope these tips help you! Make life easier on yourself by not putting all the pressure on yourself at tryouts. Practice skills on your own, go to as many camps as you can, learn all about volleyball, and have fun trying all sorts of different things! It’ll help even if you don’t feel like it directly relates to volleyball. Let me know how it goes for you this summer! As always, come follow on Instagram and TikTok for more!