Table of Contents
Introduction
Purpose
The purpose of this research is to improve spiking a volleyball harder by muscle strengthening and range of motion.
Background Information
Volleyball is a competitive sport between two teams with six players on each team separated by a net. Each side is allowed to touch the ball up to three times, with the goal of making the ball land on the opponent’s side in the court. In volleyball, the Outside Hitter gets set the ball most of the time. They are known as the teams powerhouse and they are expected to put the ball down on the opposing side of the court. The Setter is a position on a volleyball team and perhaps, the most important position. The Setter is also known as the team’s quarterback because they are in charge of the offense and setting the ball up for their teammates to attempt a spike. Is it possible to improve the volleyball spike of not only an Outside Hitter but a Setter too? This research is being done to show that you don’t have to be an Outside Hitter to hit like one.
Hypothesis
If you work on muscle strengthening and range of motion then you will improve your volleyball spike.
127 our experts are availableright now
Experimental Design
The number of days each volleyball player worked out, DV: How much harder did each volleyball player spike, Control: The type of workouts and the amount of workouts, Constant: How volleyball players [an Outside Hitter (OH) & a Setter(S)] spike is affected
Methods
Materials
- 18” box for jumping
- Speed & agility ladder
- 10 lbs dumbbells
- (2) Iphone 7 Plus for videoing, stopwatch, picture taking, research websites, calculator
- (2) Iphone 8 Plus for videoing, stopwatch, picture taking, research websites, calculator
- Pencil
- Composition book
- Volleyball Net
- Volleyballs
- Painters tape
- Measuring tape
- Sharpie permanent marker
- Tripod
- Resistance bands
- iMac
- MacBook Air
- Core roller
- Yoga mat
- Volleyball court
- Volleyball ball cart
Procedure
First, two volleyball coaches (an Olympian and a USA Women’s National team Head Coach) and a player from the USA Junior National team were asked “What would you say is the most important thing to improve your volleyball spike?” They stated timing, strength, technique, slow to fast footwork, resistance bands, and a big arm swing. A physical therapist also stated if you have a weak core, everything else will start to hurt and can easily be injured. Statistics were taken from both subjects including their age, height, weight, standing reach, jump block, approach jump, and skill level. Websites were used to find what muscles should be worked on to improve spiking a volleyball. Then, a list of workouts was created.
Next, spiking (hitting) data was collected by both subjects which included standing spike at 11’4” away from the fence, angle spike while on an 18” box, line spike while on an 18” box, approach line spike while ball was tossed in the air and approach angle spike while ball was tossed in the air. Each subject was given three clean attempts. Attempts were not counted if the ball was hit out of bounds or if it touched the top of the net. Also, the attempts didn’t count for the standing spike at 11’4” away from the fence if the ball did not touch the bottom of the fence and the ground simultaneously. A stopwatch on an iPhone 8 Plus was used to measure the time the ball was hit to the time it landed. A piece of blue painters tape was placed where the ball landed and
the time in centiseconds was written on it. Next, a measuring tape was used to measure from where the ball was hit to where the ball landed. Afterwards, the distance in feet had to be converted into inches, inches = feet x 12, and the time in centiseconds had to be converted to seconds in decimal form, seconds = centiseconds / 100. Then, the formula speed = distance / time was used to calculate the miles per hour (mph) the ball was hit, mph = inches / seconds. The average of the three attempts was taken and rounded to the nearest whole number. The workouts were done only on weekdays when the subjects did not have volleyball practice.
A log was kept, recording the dates and workouts each subject did. The workouts were as follows: 1 mile run to warm-up, burn fat to gain muscle, agility & speed ladder drills to gain speed and quick footwork, vertical & approach jump box to increase vertical jump to hit the ball at its highest point, planks, russian twist, sit-ups, six inches, and core rolling to strengthen core, squats to gain muscle in gluteus maximus and femoral region to increase vertical, push-ups, bicep & tricep lifts, and resistance band stretches for stronger shoulder and to better range of motion.
After two and a half months of doing the specific workouts, spiking (hitting) data was collected by both subjects. A chart was created showing both results. Lastly, a percentage calculation between both results was made by finding the difference between both numbers, difference = new number – old number. Then dividing the difference by the old number and multiplying it by 100, % = difference / old number x 100.
Results
Qualitative Data
- The subjects were selected because they are volleyball players that play different positions.
- They were referred to as Subject OH for Outside Hitter and Subject S for Setter.
- They were easily accessible so data collection and logs of the workouts were accurate.
- The information given to the subjects before hand was that they had to do specific workouts consistently.
- The spike of both subjects were measured at the beginning of the research and at the end.
- To ensure the validity of the findings, video recordings were done when measuring their spike and workouts.
Analysis
Heipua’s project based on volleyball spiking is something she truly enjoys in a volleyball game. She wanted to show that spiking is the best part of volleyball and that there is a way to improve your spiking. And that’s why she made a hypothesis, “if you work on muscle strengthening and range of motion then you will improve your volleyball spike.” She knew that having a strong core will help with your body stabilization, so she decided to do certain core workouts and cardio workouts to improve her volleyball spiking. She recorded, logged, calculated, and wrote all throughout her experience to persuade her audience that her hypothesis was supported with all the data she collected.
Conclusion
Heipua’s project based on volleyball spiking; she believes it is the best part in volleyball because the feeling of being the powerhouse of the team and hitting the ball is just a feeling you’ll never forget.
Works Cited
- CalculatorSoup, LLC. “Speed Distance Time Calculator.” CalculatorSoup, www.calculatorsoup.com/calculators/math/speed-distance-time-calculator.php.
- “Home.” Junior Volleyball Association, 6 Feb. 2020, www.JVAvolleyball.org/.
- “Nebraska Coaches Association.” Nebraska Coaches Association, www.ncacoach.org/.
- “Skills, Drills, Clinics, and Videos for College, High School, and Club Coaches.” The Art of Coaching Volleyball, www.theartofcoachingvolleyball.com/.
- Theismann, Trevor. “Kbands Training: Resistance Bands To Increase Speed and Strength.” Kbands Training | Resistance Bands To Increase Speed and Strength, www.kbandstraining.com/.
