Drills For Volleyball Practice
Shoulder Warm Up

All teams should have drills for volleyball practice for shoulder warm up. A good shoulder warm up can help prevent shoulder problems from developing.

Volleyball players need shoulder exercises for improve shoulder flexibility, mobility and stability.

Overhead Broomstick Dislocations

Purpose:
The purpose of this exercise is to improve the mobility around the shoulders.

The Movement:
Hold a broomstick, rope, or towel in front of your hips with a wide overhand grip. Slowly move the bar up overhead and back behind your body. You should feel a stretch in your chest and shoulders.

Continue back to the start position following the same path. Make sure not to bend at the elbows or arch your lower back too significantly.

Activating the Serratus Anterior

Scap Push Up (Push Up Plus)
A scap push up is basically a push up without any movement at the shoulder or elbow joints.

Purpose:
The main purpose of scap push ups is to strengthen and activate the serratus anterior muscle. When shoulder dysfunction is present, often the first muscle to stop functioning properly is the serratus anterior. Training the serratus anterior helps prevent shoulder dysfunction by holding the scapulae tighter to the ribcage.

The Movement:
Start in push up position. While keeping your arms straight, lower your body towards the floor bringing your shoulder blades together.

If you arent strong enough to do this from the floor position, you can do this exercise standing with your hands against the wall.

Strengthening External Rotation - Drills For Volleyball Practice

External Rotation
A volleyball players external rotators of their hitting shoulder are predominantly weaker than their non hitting shoulder.

Purpose:
Strength rotator cuff muscles with shoulder external rotation.

The Movement:
From a standing position, externally rotate the shoulder using an elastic band.

This exercise can also be done lying on the side using a light weight.

Scapular Stability - Drills For Volleyball Practice

Standing Y

Purpose:
Strengthen the muscles that stabilize the scapula.

The Movement:

Bend over at the waist to a 45 degree angle. Straighten your arms at the elbows and hang them down in front of you with your thumbs pointed out.

Quickly raise your arms up with your thumbs pointed up during the movement forming a Y with your arms.

Standing T

Purpose:
Strengthen the muscles that stabilize the scapula.

The Movement:
Same starting position as the Standing Y.

Quickly raise your arms up with your thumbs pointed up during the movement forming a T with your arms.

Standing W

Purpose:
Strengthen the muscles that stabilize the scapula.

The Movement:
Same starting position as the Standing Y except bend elbows to 90 degrees, put arms in front of your chest, and point thumbs up.

Discover my favorite tool for increasing shoulder stability

Dynamic Shoulder Flexibility - Drills For Volleyball Practice

PNF Diagonals
Dynamically stretching the shoulder muscles.

Purpose:
Improve movements at the shoulder.

The Movement:
Bring the arms across the body, following the same path of movement with each repetition. As you move the arms across the body, switch the direction of the thumbs. On the higher hand, point the thumb up. On the lower hand, point the thumb down.

Remember this exercise should be dynamic. Gradually increase speed based on your stretch tolerance.

These are just a few exercises for shoulder warm up drills for volleyball practice.

There are many more exercises that can be done at practice such as medicine ball push ups, over head shoulder shrugs, band face pulls, band internal rotation, band pulls, side planks, and wall stick ups. 

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Shoulder Warm Up Related Pages

Volleyball Player Shoulder Strength

Shoulder Stabilization Strength

Weight Training for Volleyball