Injury prevention in volleyball: ankles, knees and shoulders

Volleyball is not a contact sport, and yet every season there is a player on the sideline: a twisted ankle under the block, a nagging knee, a shoulder that protests on every spike. Nobody can prevent it completely — but you can reduce the risk considerably, with a few structural habits.

Where do things go wrong for volleyball players?

Three spots stand out. The ankle: by far the most acute injuries arise on the landing under the net, often on the foot of a teammate or opponent. The knee: hundreds of jumps a week make the patellar tendon sensitive to overload — the notorious "jumper's knee". The shoulder: the spike and serve motion is one of the fastest movements in the sport; without stability and gradual build-up it goes wrong insidiously. The common thread: acute bad luck can be limited with technique and agreements, overload with smart planning. Learn to recognize the early signals too: a player who avoids their landing, jumps noticeably little in the warm-up or works their shoulder loose after every practice is telling you something — often sooner with their body than with words.

Ankles: technique and net discipline

• Train landing technique: land on two feet, knees slightly bent, not caving inward. Make it a fixed part of block training — that is where most ankle accidents happen.
• Agreements at the net: never step under the net during game forms, and teach attackers to land in front of the center line.
• Balance and strength: single-leg balance exercises and calf strength in the warm-up. After a previous sprain the risk of a repeat is raised — have such a player fully complete the physiotherapist's build-up schedule, even when the ankle "feels fine again" — especially then it often goes wrong once more.

Knees: dosing the jump load

Jumper's knee is rarely the result of one practice and almost always of a sum: more jumps than the body is used to, built up too fast. Be alert in the first weeks of the season and after injury periods — that is exactly when the load rises the fastest. Practically: do not stack jump-intensive drills (not block and spike training and jump power in the same maximal week), and build jump power up gradually. Strong thigh and glute muscles via strength training literally absorb part of the impact. And look at the surface and the footwear too: worn court shoes without cushioning make every landing a touch heavier — a small detail that counts over a thousand jumps a month.

Shoulders: stability before speed

A shoulder that makes a spike motion hundreds of times a week needs maintenance: exercises for the rotator cuff and scapular stability with light resistance, two to three times a week for a few minutes — a fine part of the Activate phase of your warm-up. Also watch the number of spikes and serves per practice, certainly for growing youth and for players who are just learning the overhand serve or jump serve: new hitting motions mean temporarily extra load.

Return after an injury: the most dangerous moment

The biggest predictor of an injury is a previous injury — and that is rarely down to bad luck. The pitfall lies in the return: the player feels good, the coach needs them, and within two weeks they are training and playing fully again. It is precisely that jump in load that is the risk. Stick to a few principles: the treating physiotherapist or doctor determines the moment of return, not the match calendar; build up in steps (first part of the practice, then a full practice, then only match minutes); and agree that the player honestly reports how the body responds the next day. A week's extra patience in November is cheaper than six weeks out in February.

What you arrange structurally as a coach

Injury prevention is not a loose trick but a system: a fixed warm-up with activation work, landing technique as a recurring theme, gradual build-up after holidays, and a recovery policy that takes fatigue seriously. Keep your administration too: whoever notes absence and injuries per player sees patterns — the player who drops out every October does not have bad luck but a build-up problem. Make injuries discussable rather than macho: in a team culture where "just push through" is the norm, players report complaints only when it is too late. The question "is there a niggle somewhere I should know about?" at the start of the week costs ten seconds and gives you the information with which you can still adjust a practice.

Frequently asked questions

Further reading

Building a good warm-up (the RAMP method) Strength training for volleyball players: what to do and what not