As a high school volleyball player, your goal is to go out on the court and punish the other team with kills and unreal digs. Like most sports, that is impossible to do if you are injured all of the time. You cannot be player of the year, earn scholarships or be all-state if you can’t beat the injury bug. We are going to go over some fundamental keys to make sure that you are staying healthy.
To stay healthy, it requires being diligent towards your craft. If you want to do better than most volleyball players you need to care about staying healthy while you still are healthy. That is tough to do as a high school volleyball player. What most high school players do is wait until something hurts, panic because there is a big game coming up and then try and do everything to get healthy again. We are going to teach you a better way.
All High School Volleyball Players Should Be Proactive Instead of Reactive.
When you are proactive, it means that you are getting on things before they are a problem. Let’s say that you struggle in math, for example, being reactive is waiting until you are going to fail to get a tutor. Being proactive means that as soon as the school year starts you get a tutor from the jump. You know that there could be a potential problem, so you do something so that the problem never even comes up.
You see the difference? One way is just responding when it may be too late while being proactive is getting on top of it from day 1. The same way of thinking can be applied to high school volleyball. The injuries that happen in volleyball are all pretty much the same. The goal is to get on top of all of these critical areas right away so that they don’t take you out for the season.
Key Injury Areas for High School Volleyball Players
- Ankle rolls are ordinary among volleyball players
- Key is to work on ankle strengthening exercises all season
- Work on improving single leg balance
- Knee sprains and ligament tears are common
- The goal is to strengthen all of the muscles surrounding the knee
- Knee injury prevention work should be done once a week
Fingers Injuries
- Any sports that have a ball are going to be at risk of finger injuries
- Volleyball players can tape fingers to prevent this fat if need be
- The best thing you should do is work on playing with proper technique
- Sitting down in a class all day and then going to the court after school and extending your body is rough on your lower back
- The key is keeping your psoas, hips, and quads stretched out properly
- Sitting for too long is brutal on the lower back
- Glute strength is imperative for both jumping and back health
- Spiking the ball can be rough on the shoulders due to the rotation and tight chest muscles
- The best way to be proactive is to warm up properly
- The second best way to be proactive is to stretch out your upper body properly
Overall Body Health for Volleyball Players
For daily full-body health, you want to make sure that you are foam rolling on a regular basis and using other modalities to stay healthy. The reason high school volleyball players should focus on foam rolling is that there is no excuse not to do it. If you have little money, you can go to Home Depot and buy PVC pipe.
Any high school volleyball player can carry PVC pipe with them to any tournament practice or game. You can even take it to class, and it would not be weird. The point is that you can’t make excuses not to foam roll like you can with another thing.
Other methods include but are not limited to
- Hot/Cold contrast tub
- Using a sauna
- Cryotherapy
- Treatment from a holistic healthcare provider
Why All High School Volleyball Players Should See Sports Medicine Providers
The best thing you can do as a high school volleyball player is build the habit of seeing sports medicine healthcare providers. You want to have a rotation of different providers because they can help you in different ways with different injuries you may be having.
Type of Healthcare Providers You Can Add Into Your Rotation
- Physical Therapist
- Chiropractor
- Massage Therapist
- Sports Medicine Physician
- Athletic Trainer
- Acupuncturist
- Holistic Healthcare Providers
When you have a mix of people you see from the list above at different times throughout the year, it helps to make sure nothing slips through the cracks. Each health care provider is trained differently and has a different set of skills they can use to help. Your goal is to find the right person at the right time.
Healthcare professionals will be able to catch things that you may have missed in the past. The investment is worth your time and money because being injured is the worst. You could pay $60 for treatment instead of paying for surgery and missing the whole year. Be smart!
How to Find The Best Providers for Volleyball Injuries
9INE POINT Health lets you search for providers by type and skill. For example, you can look for a Massage Therapist that also used to be an athlete to rub out your sore calves. It does not matter what kind of provider you need, 9INE POINT Health can help you find them and help you to sort through their skills.
If you are unsure where to start your journey, 9INE POINT Health will ask you questions and help you figure out the best starting place. All you have to do is answer a few questions, and 9INE POINT Health will connect you with the type of provider best suited for your needs. It does not matter if you are injured or just sore from killing workouts.
The platform makes it easy to compare health providers as they are all given a 9INE POINT Gap Number. Once you are shown the best local options, how do you know which is the best? Reading bios and reviews is just not enough because you need more than that. Just like you need more info on your high school volleyball injuries, you need to figure out more about your health care providers too.
