The number nobody counts
A hitter jumps more times in a season than anyone tracks
Between club practice, school practice, warm-ups and matches, a competitive volleyball player accumulates an enormous number of maximal jumps and landings across a year — and almost no program anywhere is keeping a running total.
That volume is why patellar tendon pain is close to an occupational condition in this sport, and it is why "jump higher" is rarely the right first goal. The right first goal is usually being able to jump that often without the knees complaining by February.
So the work here starts with landing mechanics and tendon-tolerant loading, and the height comes from getting stronger — which is where it comes from anyway.
The number nobody counts
Where a season's jump volume comes from
The volleyball year
Girls in the fall, boys in the spring, club through the middle
The school seasons sit at opposite ends of the year and club runs across both, which means the calendar looks completely different depending on which athlete you're asking about. Both are programmed separately.
School volleyball in the fall, club from winter into early summer. The genuine building window is short and sits late spring into summer — and it is the block that most often gets given away to another tournament.
School volleyball in the spring, club through the winter. The off-season window lands in late summer and fall, which is usually easier to protect.
In-season work is short, low-volume, and scheduled away from match days. Nine off-season blocks carry the real loading. The program is complete across both, though volleyball does not yet carry the dedicated peaking block that football and baseball do.
What an approach actually is
A sprint that ends in the air
What the work looks like
The approach is a sprint that ends in the air
A volleyball approach is three or four steps of acceleration converted into vertical force in about a fifth of a second. It is a sprinting problem and a strength problem before it is a jumping problem, which is why athletes who only practice jumping tend to plateau.
The program spends its time on single-leg and double-leg strength, the penultimate-step mechanics that let an athlete convert horizontal speed upwards, and landing tolerance. Around a third of its movements are specific to volleyball rather than borrowed from other sports.
Shoulder work runs alongside all of it. Hitters and servers accumulate overhead volume comparable to a throwing athlete, and the same maintenance logic applies.
Worth saying plainly
Volleyball, knees and shoulders
Two things concentrate the injury risk in this sport, and both respond to training rather than to rest alone.
Patellar tendon pain follows accumulated jumping, particularly in athletes whose landing mechanics leak force into the knee rather than absorbing it through the hip. Landing is coached deliberately here, every session.
Hitting and serving load the shoulder in much the same way throwing does. Scapular and rotator-cuff work is a standing item, not a warm-up afterthought — and it is scheduled around heavy hitting days, not on top of them.
Nobody can promise an athlete won't get hurt. What can be promised is that the trainable parts — landing, strength, shoulder maintenance — are built in by design rather than sold as an extra.
Getting started
Which group to join
Grouped by grade. Pricing and full detail on the programs page.
Grades 2–5 · Speed & Movement
Landing and body control taught before jump height is ever a goal. Sprint mechanics, coordination, balance. No loading and no specialisation.
Grades 6–8 · Performance
Often the years a club schedule ramps hardest. Shoulder work begins properly, movement is taught under light load, and three sessions weekly is the ceiling.
Grade 9–12 · Elite
Full loading, approach mechanics, and in-season programming that accounts for a club and school calendar running back to back.
Common questions
Before you call
Can you add to her vertical?
Usually, over an off-season block — but through strength and approach mechanics rather than through more jumping. An athlete already jumping hundreds of times a week at club does not need jumping added to her life.
Her knees hurt after tournaments. Is that normal?
It's common, which is not the same as normal. It usually tracks jump volume and landing mechanics. Both are addressable, but persistent pain should be seen by a physio first — we'll work alongside them rather than around them.
She plays club almost year-round. When would she even train?
Around it, and less often than you'd think — one or two strength sessions a week during club season does most of the work. Tell us the real calendar and we'll build to it.
Do you coach hitting or setting?
No. This is the physical engine — strength, approach speed, landing, shoulder durability. Keep your club coach for the skill.
Is there a boys' program too?
Yes, programmed separately, and the season calendar is close to the reverse of the girls' one. Same room, different block.
Come and see a session.
The first one is free. Tell us the grade, the position and how much club volleyball is already in the week — we'll be honest about how much more training is genuinely useful.