Knowledgeable volleyball coaches and trainers understand the importance of a well-rounded volleyball warmup. Good volleyball warmups consist of a series of short exercises that not only prepare athletes to play but also condition them in a volleyball-specific way to help their game in the long run.
Our fitness guru at Art of Coaching Volleyball is Marie Zidek, a college volleyball coach and a certified strength and conditioning specialist with a master’s degree in sports medicine. Below, you’ll find 20 dynamic warmup exercises that Marie recommends for volleyball. She demonstrates each one and explains how they will help boost a player’s fitness level.
"Dynamic warmups should be between 5 to 10 exercises, and the entire warmup shouldn’t take more than 5 to 10 minutes," Marie says. "These will warm up players in the movement patterns that they’ll be using for volleyball without cutting into a lot of practice time."
Click here to download a printable PDF of these exercises
The 20 best volleyball warmups, stretches and exercises
Pick 5 to 10 exercises from the 20 choices listed. Include at least one exercise from each component: balance, core and dynamic stretch.
The 20 best volleyball warmups and stretches are:
- High knee hug
- High knees
- High knees laterally
- Sumo squat
- Quad stretch
- Baby skips
- Spider-man exercise
- Toes in, toes out
- Atlas
- Speed skater
- Lunge elbow tuck with hamstring stretch
- Hopscotch
- Basic volleyball shuffle
- Sumo shuffle
- Karaoke
- Backwards hip rotation
- Front straight leg run
- Toy soldier
- Lateral lunge and skip
- High skips
Let’s get started!
1. High knee hug
Type of warmup: Balance
Purpose: This volleyball warmup stretches hip flexors and adds a balance training component for the opposing ankle.
2. High knees
Type of warmup: Balance
Purpose: High knees is a plyometric exercise that prepares the lower body for eventual explosive activity (i.e. jumping). Players also benefit from single-leg balance training.
3. High knees laterally
Type of warmup: Balance
Purpose: Similar to high knees, this volleyball warmup focuses on pushing muscles in the legs to prepare your body for explosive lateral activity.
4. Sumo squat
Type of warmup: Dynamic stretch
Purpose: This volleyball stretch opens up hips and gets the body through a range of motion low-medium volleyball positions.
5. Quad stretch
Type of warmup: Dynamic stretch, balance
Purpose: Use this volleyball stretch to warm up the leg muscles and balance the opposite ankle.
6. Baby skips
Type of warmup: Core
Purpose: Baby skips is a low-level plyometric activity that limits side-to-side hip sway to improve core control and coordination work.
7. Spider-man exercise
Type of warmup: Core, dynamic stretch
Purpose: This effective volleyball stretch warms up the core and shoulders while stretching hips and preparing the body for lunging motions.
8. Toes in, toes out
Type of warmup: Balance
Purpose: Use this volleyball stretch to wake up ankles and foot fascia.
9. Atlas
Type of warmup: Core, balance, dynamic stretch
Purpose: This well-rounded volleyball warmup hits on all three major components by opening up the hips and stretching through the hips and back.
10. Speed skater
Type of warmup: Dynamic stretch
Purpose: Speed skaters are a safe, low-level single-leg plyometric exercise that strengthens the muscles around the knee.
11. Lunge elbow tuck with hamstring stretch
Type of warmup: Core, balance, dynamic stretch
Purpose: This is the perfect all-in-one exercise. Stretch the hips, wake up the ankles, prepare the posterior chain to fire (glutes, hamstrings, lower leg), open up the mid-back region for rotation and stretch the hamstrings.
12. Hopscotch
Type of warmup: Balance
Purpose: This volleyball stretch is a low-level plyometric activity that wakes up the lower leg to prepare for more explosive activities (i.e. jumping and hitting).
13. Basic volleyball shuffle
Type of warmup: Dynamic stretch
Purpose: To prepare the body for mid-low level volleyball positions, try this movement.
14. Sumo shuffle
Type of warmup: Dynamic stretch
Purpose: This volleyball stretch is like the basic volleyball shuffle, but opens up the chest and shoulder girdle by adding an arm exercise.
15. Karaoke
Type of warmup: Dynamic stretch
Purpose: Use this volleyball warmup to prepare the lower legs for explosive activity. Karaoke also incorporates a knee-drive component that enables a range of motion for more intense explosive activities (i.e. jumping and transitioning from low to high positions used in volleyball).
16. Backwards hip rotation
Type of warmup: Balance, core
Purpose: The backwards hip rotation wakes up the glutes and other muscles that stabilize the hips and lower leg during basic volleyball movements. It also strengthens the core by helping players stay square.
17. Front straight leg run
Type of warmup: Dynamic stretch
Purpose: This low-level plyometric volleyball warmup wakes up the ankles, muscles around the lower leg and posterior chain.
18. Toy soldier
Type of warmup: Dynamic stretch, balance
Purpose: Use this volleyball stretch to activate hamstrings while improving range of motion.
19. Lateral lunge and skip
Type of warmup: Dynamic stretch
Purpose: With this warmup, players can work on active stretching through the entire range of motion.
20. High skips
Type of warmup: Dynamic stretch
Purpose: Try this plyometric exercise after warming up the body first. This volleyball exercise prepares the body for full explosive movements (i.e. approach jumps).
Click here to download a printable PDF of these exercises
More volleyball warmups, skills and drills to improve your game
We hope these volleyball warmups and stretches are helpful for you and your players!
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