Successfully Implementing the Olympic Lifts

Anyways, as said, I'd like to pick your brain a bit. A month ago I was asked to coach a college men's volleyball team. Strength and conditioning only.Since I've got nowhere near the experience that you have yet, thought I could stand on the shoulders of giants to help see better. Could you tell me what kind of things you mostly prescribe, and what do you stay away from? Some guys don't prescribe overhead lifts for overhead sport athletes (so no oly lifts variations), but I know of other coaches who use the Oly lift variations quite a lot. What's your take?

On average I believe that the Olympic lifts, and their nearly unlimited amount of variation, fit nicely into the progression of the program as a whole and I have seen no evidence that injuries or overuse are more common to programs with them in practice (assuming the same basis of rational thinking within the strength and conditioning program; there are idiots everywhere fully capable of injuring athletes with programming that is otherwise considered safe). There are a couple of issues that come with the lifts, and overhead work as a whole, and this can be primarily summarized to athlete's having progressed far enough in programming to make the introduction of the Olympic lifts at best tedious with less return on investment, and at worst allowing athletes to become injured because their training background has not progressed in a way to allow the lifts to be performed correctly. Coaches with a razor-sharp focus on implementing them can do so effectively because they are so uncompromising in their demands on how they are performed. If coaches are unwilling or unable to coach the lifts on that level then they should explore alternative methods.

Beyond that when it comes to programming or restricting overhead work, especially of the explosive variety, it depends greatly on the performance needs of the athlete. It is very common for me to limit overhead work through the competitive season and even overall in a program. Especially if an athlete has advanced far enough for me to be less concerned about their explosiveness and more concerned with the likely ill effects of having pushed their bodies hard for so long (assuming they have not had a system in place to manage their mobility and structural balance; my experience suggests that this is in fact the norm). Obviously with that increased wear and tear it is also more likely that they are having mobility limitations that should affect our programming decisions (perhaps even permanently). With that said I do believe in taking advantage of every available opportunity for growth since we have such limitations in place already so I believe you can program the Olympic lifts effectively in-season but you have to manage that process from day to day and be prepared to take a step back when necessary.

Further we all have to consider the unique needs of the athletes we are working with. My experience with volleyball tells me that there are still significant opportunities for the development of general skill, strength, speed, stamina, and suppleness that significantly aids the specific process needs, yet the time we have to effectively train all of those bio-motor abilities is still limited. So we have to program in a complementary fashion that allows us to accumulate a significant amount of repetition while not overdoing the athlete's resources. With volleyball being considered a "touch" sport, where athletes are wanting to practice and touch the ball constantly through the year and their schedules have grown to reflect that, we have to use the most effective tools at our disposal to maximize training time and my belief is the Olympic lifts fit that role perfectly.

In closing a good rule to follow when considering an effective training methodology is do not start anything you cannot finish. If the athletes only have the time to become competent with an unloaded barbell it is unlikely that they have benefit from the power that can be developed with the lifts. If that is true then it may have proven worthwhile to have invested time in less technical work that offers more immediate benefit (barbell squat jumps,complex training, med ball throws, plyometric variations, etc). At one point I had removed the Olympic lifts entirely from my EVP program for at least 90% of my athletes for this same reason. As I have worked harder to create progression and opportunities for growth I have managed to program them effectively and use them consistently in all of our training programs.

Big Rocks for the Sand and Water

This is starting out as a thought that I have hoped would help to communicate my criticism of some within the industry without coming off as a "hater":

I have written previously, relying heavily on what I have learned from Dan Pfaff, on the integrity of a system and/or training method. If they are integral then they can be expanded or compressed to accurately reflect the preparatory and/or competitive needs of the athlete.

As far as time management goes hopefully many have already heard the story of "the Big Rocks" (to my knowledge popularized primarily by Stephen Covey; linked and shared below at the bottom of this post). Well here's the rub for me on the application of this story: the jar itself contains its big rocks and items of less importance (sand, gravel, water, etc) but two things jump out at me:

1-The jar itself cannot be filled without an appropriate balance of all of the requisite elements.
2-Every item within the jar has its own big rocks within its unique structure.



Filling the Jar
Big rocks alone leave space in the jar and no matter how hard you try you cannot fill in the gaps with large rocks alone. Many of us suffer from proximity bias where we hold a specific belief or training method too closely to our core and that bias reduces the effectiveness of our coaching and programming because it does not allow us to see the big picture.

As an admitted speed/power junkie I suffer from this bias as much as anyone but our discipline as educators must trump that thinking. The disciplined way to do this is to plan the work and then work that plan. Given the option most coaches would prefer to spend more time teaching power cleans and sprints than hip mobility and correct breathing. However we have to be convinced that good training requires that focus and work and if we are convinced we have to find an appropriate time to fill in the gaps.

With enough competitive coaching experience we draw more of an appreciation for this as our athletes not only perform at a high percentage of their capacity but also maintain that performance more effectively when we find harmony in the training program. An easy way to think of this harmony, to me, is to consider the items in the jar as directly associated with a specific bio-motor ability:

Big Rocks = Speed, Strength - In combination, depending on the specific contribution of each, these function as a specific power ability

Gravel and Sand = Stamina (Work Capacity)
Water = Skill, Suppleness (Mobility) - As bio-motor abilities go skill and suppleness should be present and, as Bruce Lee would put it, "flow" through all other bio-motor abilities as necessary.

The Big Rocks of Water
The easiest way to communicate that each item in the jar contains its own big rocks is to look at the structure of water: h2o. Without the appropriate amount of hydrogen and oxygen we no longer have water. Essentially if we know what our water's big rock should look like but we cannot break down its structure to see its own balance of rock, gravel, sand, and water, then we cannot effectively use that rock in our structure.

In communication with my colleague Carson Boddicker, after Carson wrote a fantastic blog on the trigger mechanism of the ankle/foot in the stretch-shortening cycle, I asked Carson, "what do you do with your athletes when that doesn't happen?" If we know that the big rock of that mechanism is an appropriate level of stiffness and optimal functioning of the ankle, and by extension the sub-talar joint, and we do not see this occurring with our athletes in training then what do you do as a coach?

From an experience standpoint we should all be very well aware that we cannot simply tell the athlete to make that happen as if they have any focus at all they are already trying (in volleyball I tell players often it's as if coaches and parents sometimes think they are trying to make errors on the court). We have to understand that good programming will allow for training to continue through that session, and the program, whether it is in a group or individual training with a focus on improving the function of that mechanism as well as training content that gives that focus direction: appropriate mobility work and low- to high- intensity progressions of unilateral and bilaterally focused jumping, hopping, skipping, and running in multiple planes (We can break the mobility work down further by distinguishing between the isolated, integrated, and functional movement needs of the athlete as communicated by Charlie Weingroff in his "Training = Rehab, Rehab =Training" DVD product. This will often necessitate communication with a qualified PT and/or soft-tissue therapist).

When it comes to successful coaching and athlete development I often see the necessary focus for excellence in performance drift as we are sometimes overconfident in our current working knowledge and only true experts can see exactly what is missing. I have seen Olympic lifting technique that is leaving hundreds of watts on the bar and jump performance far beneath the athlete's potential being repeated over and over only conditioning a sub-maximal capacity. Poor Olympic lifting and jump performance is especially significant if we consider the volume of these repetitions being performed sub-maximally. The most common way to spot this shortcoming is to see that there is no integrity to loading changes being made in the athlete's lifting performance (they are stuck at 70-kilos for the season or haven't seen a vertical jump improvement since W. was in office). Similar shortcomings (missing sand, gravel, and water especially) can be found in all aspects of programming, depending on the coach's background, and I can assure you that there is not an UNIMPORTANT part of your program so be comprehensive.

These inadequacies in system and technique are often what will keep our athletes off the medal podium so I assure you overlooking these things should be unacceptable. I can tell you that if there is not excellence in the training and physical preparation then it does not happen in their performance.

Das Big Rocks
"A while back we read about an expert on the subject of time management. One day, this expert was speaking to a group of business students and, to drive home a point, used an illustration I'm sure those students will never forget. After we share it with you, we hope you'll never forget it either.

As this man stood in front of the group of high-powered over achievers, he said, "Okay, time for a quiz." Then he pulled out a one-gallon, wide-mouthed mason jar and set it on a table in front of him. He produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar.

When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, "Is the jar full?" Everyone in the class said, "Yes." Then he asked, "Really?" He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. Then he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the spaces between the big rocks.

Then he smiled and asked the group once more, "Is the jar full?" By this time, the class was on to him. "Probably not," one of them answered. "Good!" he replied. And he reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in, and it went into all the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question, "Is this jar full?"

"No!" the class shouted. Once again he said, "Good!" Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim. Then he looked up at the class and asked, "What is the point of this illustration?"

One eager beaver raised his hand and said, "The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard, you can always fit some more things into it!" "No!" the speaker replied. "That is not the point. The truth this illustration teaches us is: If you don't put the big rocks in first, you'll never get them in at all."

What are the 'Big Rocks' in your life? A project that YOU want to accomplish? Time with your loved ones? Your faith, your education, your finances? A cause? Teaching or mentoring others? Remember to put these BIG ROCKS in first or you'll never get them in at all. So, take time to reflect on this short story. Ask yourself this question: What are the 'big rocks' in my life? Family or business? And remember to put those in your jar first."

Olympic Weightlifting for the Speed and Power Athlete

published at Olyathlete.com

Holla at yo' boy

Slaying The Dragon

"There is a saying among some athletes that after you have stared long enough into the dragon's eyes, there is nothing left to do but slay the dragon. For each of us, that dragon is the thing closest to the center of our lives. It is our core, our ambition, and our joy." - Michael Johnson, Slaying the Dragon

One of my best athletes played her last high school match last night. Well before the match was decided I knew what I needed to know about her and the effort she was going to put out there. There is a consistency to this effort common to all of the better athletes I have been fortunate enough to work with and that consistency can teach us all a lot. In victory or defeat these athletes are prepared for the challenge and have committed themselves to doing their best.

It would be beautiful if all of my hardest working athletes were rewarded with great success and victory to complete their playing careers. Yet the value of who they have become, at their core, has helped them develop something longer lasting and far more powerful. Trophies and medal ceremonies are for spectators. Real character is the championship.

"Even in the best race there will always be a slight stumble, a shudder, a hitch, always room for a hundredth of a second improvement. That is the great thing about being a human being. You can always go just a little bit faster." - Michael Johnson, Slaying the Dragon

Here's to continuing your chase in college, Hayden.

Junior Club Volleyball Performance Training Methodology (Part I)...

Published at prepvolleyball.com

First in a series on the nuances of junior club volleyball development and how the performance training schedule has to be managed and planned properly for the benefit and health of the athlete.

I can't apologize for my absenteeism as my #1 focus is absolutely my family, my friends, our athletes, and business. My schedule is somewhat cyclical so I am coming up on a period in which I can typically accomplish more writing but I do not schedule that time as part of my normal week so it's often the first thing I drop ("Sorry I didn't get to your e-mail last week I had to write my blog...").

Hope everyone is well.

- Daniel

Power by the Numbers

To avoid proximity bias I prefer to deal with numbers and objectivity as they are available. I am in no way a math genius but I try to be as logical and reasonable in my thinking as the issue allows....

PR Power Snatch (Previous Training Cycle):

80-Kilos

1662 Watts @ 2.12 Meters/Second (Peak Power and Peak Velocity Measures)

PR Power Snatch (Current Training Cycle; Off Blocks):

90-Kilos

1861 Watts @ 2.11 Meters/Second (Peak Power and Peak Velocity Measures)

+199 Watts and +.01 Meters/Second

+199 Watts is a significant improvement in power especially in consideration of the fact that peak velocity was maintained with a 10-kilo improvement in load (80 to 90k). Interestingly my numbers continued to climb as I moved on to squat snatch. This is logical although it does not always occur as technical or specific strength limitations will limit individual expression on the lift.

Power Snatch off Blocks (Peak Power, Peak Velocity, Avg Power, Avg Velocity):

80K (1811w, 2.31 m/s, 941w, 1.2 m/s)

90K (1861w, 2.11 m/s, 970w, 1.1 m/s)

100K (2009w, 2.05 m/s, 970w, .99 m/s)

110K Miss 1 (2027w, 1.88 m/s, 981w, .91m/s)

110K Miss 2 (2059w, 1.91 m/s, 1002w, .93 m/s)

110K Done! (2016w, 1.87 m/s, 981w, .91 m/s)

If we take a specific look at 110K you will see that the 110K Miss #1 and the successful 3rd attempt (110K Done!) were very close and match exactly in average power and average velocity (with peak power and peak velocity just off the mark). 110K Miss 2 was actually a more powerful lift overall but the technique was not there to record a successful lift.

Also worth noting is that the maximum training load I am capable of performing properly is a 160K clean pull off of blocks and my power numbers have never gone beyond 2000 watts (with my last training cycle I was in the high 1900s but no 2000s). This brings to light an important consideration as my power (speed-strength) numbers on snatch suggest that my lifts at 100k and 110k are more than sufficient as a specific stimulus.

We cannot conclude however that if I were a speed-power athlete in another sport that all I would need to do in training were power lifts (not powerlifting as in squat, deadlift, and bench press). The clean pull off blocks is less technical and an overall simpler task to perform and in many ways can help to effectively maintain hip dominant pulling and lower back/leg strength. The last point specific to this situation is that as a speed and strength stimulus if the athlete is proficient at performing the power lifts and we are hoping to maintain a higher "reserve" of our physical stress resources then the lighter loads used in training on the power snatch or power clean movements should be more than enough to help an athlete maintain form for an extended period. If we accept this conclusion than this means we can take an altogether different view of the maintenance of strength.

Vertical Jump Methodology (Excerpt from prepvolleyball.com article)

Here is an excerpt from my article '4 Steps for Successful Vertical Jump Performance in Volleyball'. I'm wordy but that's why you love me:

...

Strength training plays an integral role to support high performance on the volleyball court but the process that enhances performance is the development of speed and power. Strength training alone would limit performance enhancement for the sport without a specific focus on the time allowed for the application of force in jumping, hitting, blocking, short sprints, and changes of direction. These qualities are referred to as speed, power, elasticity, and rate of force development (RFD) and they are expressed in volleyball through several different yet complementary mechanisms. To put it simply each skill in volleyball requires a unique combination of these abilities and this combination functions optimally if they are developed appropriately.

The consistency we should focus on in this development is the achievement of a maximum movement speed specific to the exercise or drill. In analysis of speed and power training performed in our training program and other successful programs from around the world the primary factor in improving an athlete's performance is their ability to create this speed. Putting it another way let's ask this question: are younger players limited by the time of a match or the speed and skill required to perform at a higher level? You see all volleyball players play the same match length but the high-performing collegiate and Olympic level players play with greater speed, skill, and power. Speed and power training for the sport should teach the athlete to produce great movement speed and power with a high degree of skill in a wide variety of environments.

Specific decision making has to be made regarding the athlete's technical ability with these movements. Anyone who has attempted to use some of these techniques without the technical and physical prerequisites realizes that jump and sprint training, plyometrics, Olympic lifts and Olympic lifting variations, and medicine ball exercises do not benefit athletes as described without them. Another thing to consider is that there have been many athletes who have been successful without many of these specific methods either because they were intentionally left out or because their program lacked access to the appropriate facilities and equipment to perform them. Speed and power performance is not fixed or tied to performance on one exercise or training method but there should be a clear focus on maximizing speed and power in training to benefit performance on the volleyball court. If the coaching staff is not proficient in the teaching of Olympic lifts and lift variations there are very appropriate methods that serve as effective alternatives.

To review these capacities further I will focus on the methods that can be utilized to develop them for vertical jump performance. However an important note is that great care must be taken to not overwhelm volleyball players with additional training focused on these qualities as volleyball itself is a tremendous expression of speed and power. In combination with volleyball’s intensity, an extended playing schedule through much of the year, and other stressful demands common to life coaches and athletes must carefully decide when to try and improve physical performance and when to stabilize and maintain these abilities.

Progressive Loading Jumps (Technical)
Difficulty: Low
Methodology: This specific loading technique is to teach athletes to achieve the proper jump position and to utilize the arms and trunk properly. It is most definitely a regression of what athletes should be capable of but if there is a lack of understanding at how the arms and trunk help contribute to a great vertical jump this technique helps athletes understand the relationship better. This loading technique is not limited by the resistance of gravity, since we are moving downward with gravity, so the athlete should be capable of a very fast arm and trunk motion. The essential parts of the loading technique are:

Drive: Drive is the final arm drive used to get into jump position. This motion is used to teach the athlete to create a powerful descent that allows for a more explosive ascent. A faster down motion results in a faster upward motion due to the stored elastic energy within the neuromuscular system (the linking between the mind’s concentration of the effort and the body). A simple way to describe the drive motion is to think of “attacking the floor”.

Swing: The Swing technique is used to teach a relaxation of the arms to help athletes understand that there is a synergistic action that occurs between speed and relaxation. Essentially there is a burst of energy from the arm swing and drive created at shoulder height that results in higher speeds if the athlete can coordinate that movement with a more relaxed shoulder and arm motion.

Stick (the Jump Position): The Stick of the jumping motion is at the end of the arm drive and swing motion where the athlete uses the same principle of a coordinated speed and relaxation movement to stop and stabilize the jump position. The faster we can initiate this braking motion the faster we can begin our ascent, resulting in a higher and more explosive jump.

Exercises:
Arm Drive + Stick
Swing, Drive + Stick
Arm Drive + Jump
Swing, Drive + Jump

Explosive Jumps (Stationary Loaded-Countermovement; Speed and Elasticity)
Difficulty: Medium to High
Methodology: These jumps are fundamental in that they offer an excellent view into the skill of jumping with little distraction. Jumping from a stationary position is the technique that we will depend on when we add speed and elasticity via an approach. What I often see as a coach are athletes who can jump with an approach but not without. I almost never see the opposite scenario of an athlete who can jump from a standing position but who cannot jump effectively when adding running speed to their jump. Explosive jumping from a stationary position is a fundamental building block for the approach jump. Loading this jump by using an effective arm and trunk motion followed by an explosive transition from descent to ascent is a critical step in teaching athletes to jump effectively. If good technique on this jump is displayed then all that is left to do is add speed, strength, and power to the movement.

Exercises:
Split Jumps
Standing Jumps

Elasticity Jumps
Difficulty: Medium to High
Methodology: The stretch-shortening cycle, or stretch-reflex, is a mechanism that helps to prevent injury to muscles and joints but can also serve as a performance-enhancing mechanism when trained appropriately. Training the stretch-shortening cycle helps to develop more elastic jump performance (elasticity). Specific to volleyball, developing elasticity helps us jump higher, faster, and requires less mechanical work resulting in less fatigue. The focus of elasticity jumps is:

Faster Ground Contact Times: This means we are spending less time on the ground to develop a higher vertical jump. To explain further ground contact time is from the time we touch the ground to the time we get into the air. Fast stretch-shortening cycle activity registers at under .25 seconds and slow stretch-shortening cycle activity occurs above .25 seconds. There are specific measurement tools that help us to assess an athlete’s ground contact time and elasticity but we can still make progress in the absence of such equipment.

Faster Turnover: A simple way to describe elasticity is we want to achieve a faster turnover of the down and upward motion. We can cue athletes by describing the ground as “hot” and therefore we want to get off the ground as fast as possible. To add elasticity to a jump we do not have to jump off of high boxes as many believe. Adding elasticity to a jump can be as simple as adding a shallow hop before the jump and focusing on rapid turnover.

Stiffer Jump Position: Elasticity is sometimes described as “stiffness” at the appropriate body position. The stiffness of our spring prevents a slowing of the jump by “springing” us right back into the air. Elastic jumpers do not require as deep of a knee bend for jumps if they can either achieve an appropriate running speed or generate more stiffness earlier in their descent.

Exercises:
Double-Hop Split Jumps
Double-Hop Standing Jumps
Power Step-Ups
Hurdle Jumps
Standing Triple Vertical Jumps
Hop + Jump
Lateral Hop + Jump
Crossover + Jump

Vertimax Jumps (Speed/Power/Elasticity)
Difficulty: High
Methodology: The vertimax is a jump training device that is simply a platform with a series of rubber bands that allow for adjustment of the loading intensity. I encourage its use in training assuming that jump technique is up to speed and we have enough control over training to eliminate overuse. We typically add vertimax jumps into our club training program 4-8 weeks into club season although I will eliminate or limit its use when the tournament schedule becomes more rigorous. If available the vertimax offers a great deal of mechanical specificity and does not require additional instruction as Olympic lifting technique does. One primary consideration in using the vertimax is that athletes should maintain a focus on movement speed and not let the additional resistance slow them excessively.

Exercises:
Split Jumps
Standing Jumps
Double-Hop Split Jumps
Double-Hop Standing Jumps
Power Step-Ups
Standing Triple Vertical Jumps (Elastic Response)
Hop + Jump
Accentuated Eccentric Hop + Jump (with Straps)


Explosive and Elasticity Jumps with Variable Landings (Technical and Speed/Power)
Difficulty: Medium to High
Methodology: Jumping in volleyball at times requires complex adjustments and landings. If the athlete must change position to adjust to a ball or another player, whether that is through a simple rotation, holding their jump longer, or otherwise, there will be a definite change in the ability to land "properly".

Landing properly is not limited to landing in a perfect athletic position as many describe. This is a gross oversimplification. Landing properly is the ability to decelerate and place appropriate loading to the body's active supports, primarily muscles, while minimizing stress to passive supports (ligaments and other joint structures). In short, it's a best case scenario for a worst possible situation. This requires a great deal of coordination, spatial awareness, muscle stiffness, and elasticity. It is a thin line we walk by training to make some of these adjustments but it is my opinion that this skill must be addressed. By including these minor adjustments in training we are including a physical decision making process that will help athletes make a better decision in a more challenging environment.

Exercises:
Single-Leg Hops (Low Intensity)
Lateral/Medium Hops (Low Intensity)
180s
Alternating Split Jumps
Vertical Jump to Split Landing Right or Left Landing
Split Jump to Symmetrical Stance Landing
Hop + Jump to Split Right/Left/Symmetrical Landing
Hop + 1-Arm Reaching Jump to Right/Left/Symmetrical Landing
Vertical Jump to Split Landing Right or Left (with Audible Cue)

Concentric Power Jumps (No Eccentric Loading or Paused; Speed/Power)
Difficulty: Low to Medium
Methodology: This specific jump technique is meant to teach the distinction between a fast loading technique and paused jump technique that sometimes occurs during the block and approach jump. These jumps teach athletes to accelerate and jump effectively from a static start position like a sprinter taking off from starting blocks. These jumps teach athletes to work through a difficult jump position, as the pause takes speed and momentum from the jump, and forces them to push hard from a proper position.

Exercises:
Seated Vertical Jump
Paused Split Jump
Paused Standing Jump
Hop + Pause Jump
Lateral Hop + Pause Jump
Crossover + Pause Jump
Dumbbell or Barbell Pause Squat Jumps

Medicine Ball Exercises (Speed/Power/Elasticity)
Difficulty: Low to Medium
Methodology: Medicine ball training is an excellent source of training variety and is also a great teaching tool in the development of speed and power. We can use medicine ball training in a number of ways to teach explosiveness and reinforce athlete’s to work through proper jump technique. Relative to jumping medicine ball training is sub-maximal, meaning that the utilization of the medicine ball in teaching jumping will slow their jump performance versus jumping without the medicine ball. This occurs because medicine balls are extra weight. If an athlete gains 6-12 pounds, a common weight for medicine balls, they will most certainly not jump as high. The extra weight of the medicine balls serves a purpose:

The weight varies with body position: Because the medicine ball functions as an extension of our body position we can move the ball faster on the way up and down. In this way we say that the weight is “smart”. Speeding the ball up on the way down, by pulling it down with us, adds an effective load to our jump position. By speeding the ball up on the jump up, by “pushing through the ceiling”, the ball gains momentum and feels lighter near full extension.

The weight forces a concentration on position and technique: The athlete experiences medicine ball training as slower and at specific points in medicine ball training we must work harder to create an effective jump. We can also use specific techniques to reinforce full extension. For example on a medicine ball vertical jump toss we can do two things: 1-reinforce full extension by teaching that the hips should continue to rise after release and we should create a straight arrow with release; 2-do not release the ball at the top position of the jump to show the athlete if they are at full extension or if they have cut their jump short.

Exercises:
Medicine Ball Standing Vertical Jump Toss
Medicine Ball Standing Split Jump Toss
Medicine Ball Caber Toss (Between the Leg Toss or Granny Toss)
Medicine Ball Hop + Jump Toss
Medicine Ball Hop + Pause Jump Toss
Medicine Ball Seated Jump Toss
Medicine Ball Lateral Hop + Jump Toss
Medicine Ball Standing Vertical Jump Toss (No Release)
Medicine Ball Caber Toss (No Release)

Olympic Lift Variations (Speed, Strength and Power)
Difficulty: Medium to High
Methodology: Olympic Weightlifting is a contested Olympic sport. In using these lifts the training and technique needed to develop power and speed in athletes is extensive, however, we can simplify several of the movements by using appropriate Olympic lifting variations to make them more accessible for volleyball players. Hang variations and variations used from above or just below the knee are often the first step in adjusting the lifts for taller athletes. During this portion of the movement the speed and power peaks and it is easier to teach athletes to stay in proper position than when attempting to initiate the lift from the floor. This list is far from comprehensive but is a good start for many lifters:

The Set Position: The athlete should slowly descend to this position focusing on keeping the barbell or dumbbell close to the body or “tucked” just against the thigh. A way to teach the set position is to teach the athlete to keep their knuckles and chest over the bar and hang over it by creating a proper hinge from their hip. The athlete should be in a proper athletic position with weight centered on the heel and hip. A flat back should be maintained through the complete movement.

The Jump: Keeping the barbell or dumbbell close to the body the athlete should drive the chest up and push through their legs (imagine “pushing the floor away”) until they achieve full extension. Upon full extension the athlete should stay with the barbell or dumbbell keeping their elbows high and rotating from the shoulder as appropriate.

The Catch: Catching the barbell or dumbbell properly is one of the more challenging parts of the lift. A successful catch takes the same amount of skill as creating a proper landing. We must teach the athlete to use their body to receive the weight of the barbell or dumbbell. The transition from the set and jump position to the catch position can be seen as “leaving home” and “returning home”. The athlete should also be taught how to successfully miss a lift if the weight is out of position.

Exercises:
Hip Power Snatch (also referred to as a Pocket Snatch)
Hang Power Snatch
Hip Power Clean (also referred to as a Pocket Power Clean)
Hang Power Clean
Hang Power Clean (Below Knee)
Dumbbell Snatch
Dumbbell High Pull
A Successful Miss