Becoming a professional volleyball player is for many people an impossible dream, which is understandable to some extent. However, the main reason behind that is not because the process is Hard, it is rather because they don’t really know what the path for becoming a pro player looks like.
In this article, I breakdown some Crucial Tips you should take into consideration to significantly increase your odds to reach the Professional level …
I also give you an overview on how the professional life looks like, especially when it comes to the players pay.
Hope you’ll find this Useful!
12 Tips to become a pro volleyball player
Below some important tips you should consider in your way to the pro level …
Get yourself a reason to start
You need to have a great motivation to push yourself and start working for your goal. This must be a thing that makes you come out of your comfort zone and stretch an extra mile even after being exhausted.
So, what’s you motivation? Most players choose their idol player as their source of motivation.
Know the game deeply!
Having a deep knowledge about volleyball is more important than what you might think. Indeed, the sport has a lot of technicalities involved, and you should study all of them.
Knowing about all the rules and regulations beforehand will make you more aware throughout games.
Also, learning everything about the various positions, even those that you don’t necessarily play, is also an essential element of success.
Helpful Tip: One of the best shortcuts to actually learn everything there is about volleyball is by checking this helpful volleyball resource. You will learn some important details that even semi-pro players might not know about.
Plan, execute, evaluate & Repeat
Planning plays a crucial role to know ahead what you should do, but only planning won’t help much reaching your goals.
You need to start working on it almost immediately!
Boosting your stamina should be an important part of your initial plan. Volleyball is indeed a very exhaustive game.
One must have good stamina and endurance to provide the required pace throughout games.
Other than that, always keep evaluating your skills compared to better players in your team and also in opposite teams and figure out specific drills to help compensate that as soon as possible.
Review your plan once in a while and refine it!
Keep in mind that you can even practice volleyball at home if you don’t have usually access to a court!
Find a good coach
Self-training can help you only to some extent. You definitely should have a good coach who also can act as a mentor for you.
This person will guide you throughout your journey and also train you to be the best version of yourself.
He will be the one who’ll help identify skills and physical attributes you need to improve and help customize drills for those purposes.
He will also help refine your attitude in case he notices yours is no longer the right one to become a successful professional volleyball player.
You can learn more about how to impress a coach during volleyball tryouts!
Leverage your hard work by being smart
Training hard is extremely important. Yet, you should not overtrain your body. This can lead to a variety of problems like a muscle tear, over fatigue etc.
So be smart managing your energy not only while training, but also during actual games. Also, listen to your body and find out when you need to rest and recover.
Also, try always to learn about smart skills, like diving in without hurting yourself or even setting the ball with no noise. These kinds of small skills can make a huge impact in your career!
Believe in yourself
This is by far one of the most important elements you should have in your attitude. There are times when a person is bound to feel low…
It may be because of no progress in the skill set or because of a bad tournament. During these times, one must believe in oneself.
That’s the only way out of this demotivating circle. The player must think of the reason why he started and keep going on accordingly.
If you learn how to stay calm during volleyball games, this will also help your overall self-belief!
Consistency is often Key
Good things do take time. You actually should be patient throughout your journey. Volleyball demands a lot of patience from playing aiming a pro career.
To ace a position and the game itself, you need to stay consistent and calm during the whole process.
It cannot be like a person trains 6 times a week and then doesn’t train the whole next week. If this is the case, then the person will probably not succeed.
Catch the opportunities as they come
A player must catch every opportunity that drops by his way. The basic starting point is the school team.
Here being selected is often quite easy and can lay a good foundation in your further journey ahead.
Other than that, look for any open club matches. These are the places that will make you comfortable in playing with and against any player.
So look for these kinds of opportunities that will help keep up your growth!
OverPerform when it matters the most
The best player in a tournament always gets highlighted. There are selectors of nationals and state-level tournaments present at such places.
Leaving a good impression on them will surely help you in the selection process of further rounds.
Apart from that, having a consistently good performance will boost your confidence.
BTW, I highly invite you to learn more about the best practices to get in shape for volleyball tryouts!
Build connections in the industry
Reach out to players and coaches in your surroundings who have experiences somewhat the path you’re actually seeking. Try to connect with them over various platforms.
Having a conversation with such people will motivate you to do better. Listening to their journey will help you gain major takeaways.
You can understand their success journey and learn from their mistakes as well.
Train with better players
If you keep practising with players at your level only, then your growth is bound to be slow. Instead, try to escalate your level whenever you’ve got the chance.
Get out of that comfortable environment and start training with better and elder players. This will put you in uncomfortable situations and will force your growth!
Make a solid CV
To become a professional volleyball athlete, you need to have a good CV. This must show a continuous increase in your skills showcased by your achievements in the various teams you’ve played for.
What is the Best age to get started?
There are some people who start playing the sport as early as when they are 6 to 7 years old, whereas some start when they are 15 or 16.
However, Volleyball is best started when children are 8-10 years old because it is a late sport.
Preparatory training, such as general physical training or any other precursor sport like swimming or soccer, should be provided to the child before this age.
Would beach volleyball help for your indoor volleyball career?
Though beach volleyball and indoor volleyball are two different sports, they do complement each other.
Well, beach volleyball demands a player to play well at every position. A person needs to know how to hit, set, serve and defend as well. This develops the overall skill set of an individual …
Hence helping an individual to improve his overall skill set.
Can you make a living as a pro volleyball player?
While many people just pursue playing volleyball as a passion, some also aspire to create a career out of it…
People who aspire to this have a very common query in their minds. Is it possible to make a living out of volleyball?
Yes, indeed it is possible to make a living out of it. Professional volleyball players are able to make a handsome sum of money by pursuing their passion as a career. At first, an individual may need a side job to make a living. But once popular in the field, he can continue to live a great life by playing volleyball only.
The amount earned by these professional players depends on a lot of factors. Skillset and experience in the field are some prominent factors.
Professional volleyball players in the United States earn between $19,910 and $187,200 a year, with a median salary of $44,680. Professional volleyball players earn an average of $28,400 per year, with the top 25% earning $187,200.
Finally, I highly invite you to learn about volleyball positions that get paid the most amound of money!
How Hard is it to become a professional volleyball player?
Becoming a professional in any field is very difficult. Only the dedicated ones sail through the whole journey and end up as professionals.
In volleyball, the process is even more vigorous. One needs to be patient and calm throughout the journey. A single step on the wrong track can even cost you your dream to be the best.
The competition is quite high and is also increasing with each passing day. To become a professional, a person needs to give in all his efforts and stay at the top of the chart.
According to statistics, around 2% of all the players are able to become professionals in this field.
Countries where it is easier to become a pro volleyball player
Although the competition is high everywhere. There are some countries where it is comparatively easy to become a professional.
This is due to lack of awareness amongst its citizens or due to excessive craze of some other sport. A good player has fair chances of succeeding in these countries.
One such country is India. In India, volleyball hasn’t gained much popularity as a sport yet. The craze for it is continuously rising. More and more people are joining the sport and helping it grow in the country.
Final Thoughts …
In this article I’ve tried to provide as much helpful tips as possible to, hopefully, help you become a pro volleyball player in the future …
However, if you ask me about the tip that matters the most?! Then, I would definitely say “Get yourself a Real Coach”
Your coach should definitely not be a ‘Yes’ man, he really should be the kind of people who will let you know whenever you are derailing from your goals, and face you with the truth whenever it is necessary.
Believe me, this will make a HUGE difference!
Finally, remember that one of the biggest abilities of pro players is the to grow and imporve faster than usual! That’s why I highly encourage you to this mentality if possible!!
