Joining a club to play volleyball might sound like a big step. It brings a lot of questions to mind. In this article, we will provide answers to these questions so that you can think if it makes sense and feels good to join a club or not. It is not for everyone as it requires quite a lot of dedication. Let’s dive in.
We discussed before how you can pick a club to practice volleyball and if it is worth joining one.
How often do volleyball players practice? How many hours per week is this?
Volleyball players often have a training 2 times a week and then there is also a match almost every week. Therefore players often play volleyball 3 times per week. Younger players might have only one training and therefore they only play 2 times per week.
Professional players often play volleyball every day of the week but some days it is just short and casual games. They have to train their whole body so they don’t always work with a ball.
The training often lasts about one to one and a half hours. If you had a bad game, some trainers will opt to add another training to push you harder but this doesn’t happen very often (maybe once or twice per year). The first training of the week is often on Monday, Tuesday or. The second training of the week is often on Wednesday or Thursday. Most teams don’t train on Friday as you can have a game on Saturday and this could be too much. Some teams train on Friday anyway as more people have time then but it is not ideal to train the day before a match. Some players try to train only once a week and join the match but a lot of coaches don’t appreciate this as the other players are putting in more effort. This can also annoy the other players on your team so this is something that you will have to discuss with the coach and team. Don’t be surprised if you have to sit on the bench if you only attend one training every week.
Below is an example of a drill that is done during a training session. You have to be willing to listen to the coach.
The matches take about 1 hour, depending on if there are things that delay the game or not. These are often organized on Saturday or (exceptionally on) Sunday.
You have to take into account that you have to prepare your equipment, drive to the sports arena, dress up, train, or play and then you have to shower, change clothes again and drive back home. This means that you are going to spend at least 6 hours per week on this hobby, often a lot more as people often stay at the bar after the game to have a drink and discuss the game.
Some players also practice volleyball at home because the coach suggested this. It is a great idea to practice 30 minutes per day if you are starting out with volleyball. This will improve your ball handling a lot. It is also a great idea to watch a professional volleyball game every week. This will make you more familiar with the rules and should take about one hour per week as well.
How to join a volleyball club
This depends on the type of club. Local clubs are often quite easy to join whereas you might need to get selected during tryouts to be able to join high school or college teams. These teams have several levels as well where some play on a local level whereas others play on a national level. You will have to check with your local coach what is needed to join the club. Oftentimes clubs have teams that play on different levels and you have to prove yourself on the lowest level. Gradually it is possible to work yourself up to the next level and so on. Eventually, you can become a professional volleyball player. All of these things take time and practice. A lot of people think that these things happen overnight but most players have spent close to a decade playing volleyball before they can join the high school team.
Open volleyball clubs don’t participate in competitions and are very easy to join. You can also go to local beach volleyball courts and just join the matches. This can be a great entry point in volleyball if you are unsure if you want to commit a lot of time and energy to this sport. Once you are in a club, you have to pay and it is expected that you show up for all the training sessions. This is a big commitment and once you make it, it is necessary to stick to it.
To conclude, we can say that joining a volleyball club is a big commitment. You will have to spend a lot of hours (at least 6 hours) every week on this hobby. Preparing, traveling, changing, showering, playing, and socializing all take a lot of time and you must be willing to do this. Some people enjoy playing volleyball at home but don’t want to spend that amount of time playing volleyball every week and therefore prefer to play it more casually with friends at home. You have to think about this before you join a club as you might not want to spend this much time on volleyball if you have other interests as well. On the other hand, if you really enjoy playing volleyball you can spend a lot of time on this every week. You will notice that you will get better quite fast as you have to practice a lot. The connection between the team will get better and better as well as you have to spend a lot of time together. This often results in great friendships.
