Do you struggle to make this decision for your daughter?

When recently talking to a parent of one of my players, they were struggling making this decision: Should my daughter prioritize private volleyball lessons or strength/agility training on the days she does not have her club team practices?

My answer: strength and agility training!

Without continuing to build a foundation of proper movement, strength, speed, and power, skill training can only go so far. Since I offer both private volleyball lessons and strength training I hope you take my answer as an unbiased opinion of what will help your girls develop the best. 

When our sports skills are lacking we want to complete more, more, more volleyball reps. Although those intentions are in the right place, this way of thinking will not allow us room to reach our highest potential. We need to increase your daughter’s development capacity–through strength training–which will allow skill to skyrocket. Volleyball skills will flow easier with body awareness, strength, and speed. The injury prevention aspect of strength training in and of itself is a HUGE benefit so that girls are not overtraining at a young age.

When I reflect on the past year--I wrapped up my last season as a Division 1 beach volleyball player and started personal training full-time. Somehow and somewhere along the way, I squeezed my way back into the volleyball realm by helping coach a couple camps, which then turned into now coaching my own clinics, private lessons, (beach volleyball camps coming soon), etc with best community--AKA all of you!!!! However, I do not want to lose sight of my overarching MISSION: to make individuals the most confident versions of themselves both athletically and personally.

I love volleyball coaching because I am a technique nerd, and the proper technique is not always taught by all club team coaches. However, if girls are practicing 2-3 times per week with their teams, clinics, open gyms etc--they need to supplement that training with something that will benefit them long term and set their career up for success. To put it in perspective, when I was growing up I do not remember ever having a private lesson or a private coach. However, I did strength and agility training 2-4x per week. Where this benefitted me was knowing how to properly squat, hinge my hips, have a strong core, quick feet, balance my body, shift my weight, increased reaction time, speed, and high vertical jump. 

Regardless of the tangible athleticism I developed, I think back to my confidence-- it felt normal to be confident, anytime a volleyball coach demonstrated something it felt natural to replicate what they were doing--and I felt fully competent to do so. It was not until now, working with a bunch of preteen and teenage girls, that I realized confidence does not come naturally to a lot of girls. I truly believe strength training developed that belief in myself–I started doing it to become a better volleyball player but somewhere along the way I started enjoying the sense of accomplishment and grit that becoming stronger and more athletic provided. My worth was less about the playing time I received or if I won or lost a game/tournament. My worth was defined by the process of my training and controlling what I could control. 

Thanks for listening to the ramblings of a humble coach. As always, I love your dedication as parents to make your children into the best athletes and versions of themselves!

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With care and Kindness, 

Coach Liv

(Alivia Orvieto)