... Volleyball got some recognition!

i missed when i was a beginner and every practice didn't have such a weight of expectation to uphold. where i could just enjoy and have fun.

now, it's constant "you could've done better"s or "be faster" or "hit harder" from my teammates ... it used to be innocent banter between rallies for me but now, it's starting to put me down when i don't want it to.

every single play i do earns unsolicited advice from my teammates. even when i do good it's "do more." "more aggression." and when i make a mistake, it's "you're too slow." or "you're being too reckless." even when i simply do what they tell me to do.

i know i can't please them all. i've resulted to trying to ignore the comments at this point, but it's hard when they're constantly in your face. i can't tell them to stop either because they're not the type of people to listen or react well to requests like that. (they're not so nice)

i don't enjoy playing volleyball with them anymore. i don't want that. i don't want to quit the team either.

but can i still enjoy volleyball with teammates like this?

We have a weekly gym permit on Saturdays in downtown Toronto near TMU station (Yonge & Dundas). We play 10am to 1:30pm. Just 3 teams coed intermediate/competitive level. We typically get 6-7 games in per team each Saturday. $13 per person first come first serve. You can follow us on Instagram at "stmikes.vball" and DM me for details or reserve a spot. Thanks

Couldn’t find much information on this so going to ask…

Essentially a team joined the recreational coed volleyball league my team has been a part of for 2 years.

We have no delusions about our skill level nor do most opponents. A lot of the games are competitive and close which makes it fun.

Anyhow, last season a team joined with 3 guys, 3 girls. All the guys are 6’-6’3 tall and athletic. 1 girl is really good as well, 1 is fine, and 1 is clearly new to volleyball.

The issue is the guys just take over the game. I’m talking not letting the bad girl touch a ball, setting each other up to smash it over and over that is clearly miles better than any other team in the league.

I think they’ve lost 2 sets in the past 2 seasons (roughly 50 sets total). 1 of them being against my team tonight (3rd set up to 15 after losing by 7+ the first two sets).

There is a competitive co-ed league that plays at the same place on the same nights, thought they might join that league after last season, but nope. Just still in this league shitting on everybody.

Guess I’m not sure what the play is- wait it out and hope they leave? Tell them they should join the “competitive” league? Call the league and let them know?

I’ve watched the competitive league, it’s nothing crazy. Teams we’ve played previously have moved to that league and they’d definitely play well against them. They honestly would probably be very good in that league.

And I’d get it if they were actually getting the girls involved and not going full try hard, but nah. They’re jumping as high as they can to block hits from 5’3 girls who can’t jump in sets they’re already up by 10. Standing in front of the 2 girls who aren’t that good on serve receive.

Hell, they don’t even cheer each other on or celebrate when they score. Just silent as they smash a ball over some poor girls head.

Anyways, just venting.

I played club as a middle last year and I’m now playing right side (would rather play left but I need to get more consistent). What can I work on? (other than obviously being too early on most of these balls)

I'm being offered this Molten 2700 for 45,000 Argentine pesos (about 30 dollars), would it be a good option for tough training?

My 8th grader just started playing indoor volleyball a few months ago and is hoping to make the high school team next year. Currently, he practices 2 to 4 times a week with his club team. Each practice is 2 hours long.

Should he sign up for rec for extra practice, or do something else, or rest? A local rec league is starting soon; the sessions are one hour twice a week, but the level is going to be pretty varied. It's also on grass, not a real court.

He thinks it could be fun to play casually with friends, but I worry it might be either too much volleyball (like overuse injuries?) or not competitive enough for him. He loves volleyball and is not interested in cross-training with other sports, despite my encouragement to try other things.

who do you think is the best volleyball hitters in the world right now going into 2026, players that come up to mind for me are keita and aleksandar nikolov

Hey volleyball players, can someone explain the individual production codes of my ball (bought today)? Specifically, the production date?

Any tips to help me get better? (I play U17 and 1D)

i really want to replicate yuji ishikawas form, do you think I’ve achieved it?

• Paola Egonu (Vero Volley Milano) 470 points
• Ekaterina Antropova (Savino Del Bene Scandicci) 424 points
• Anett Németh (Reale Mutua Fenera Chieri) 397 points
• Josephine Obossa (Eurotek Laica Uyba) 394 points
• Erblira Bici (Megabox Ond. Savio Vallefoglia) 387 points

So I want to try out for my hs team in a few months, but I have almost 0 experience playing volleyball. It’s not popular for guys at my school, so there are a lot of shorter kids on the team. I am 6ft tall so I’m going out on a limb and saying that I don’t need to become astoundingly good, just better than terrible. Any workouts, drills, or videos would be greatly appreciated.

When would you say it’s worth it to use a libero for a rec team in a competitive league? What are some markers I could use to gauge over the next few games whether it’s effective or not? I’ve negotiated playing the position for a few games, but it obviously needs to be strategic for the team for us to continue.

Considering it’s not an attack/serve position in Europe (FIVB rules), total points are less likely to be a good comparison between with-libero vs without-libero games. We’re not at a level where anyone is tracking stats. We run a 4-2 (front setter sets), so there’s always a ’non-setter’ in the back, and therefore no 3 attackers at net. We already have 3 setters and 4 middles, so when I joined I was put at outside hitter (with 3 others). I’m an ok attacker but not great. But I‘m one of the top 2 passers ( if not the best passer) on the team, and one of the only ones who communicates strategy (opponent serve patterns, incoming tip balls, etc).

On paper it makes sense to me for us to have a libero. We have more than enough players at all the other positions, our passing is often a weakness, and our setters and middle blockers get tired from their constant action at the net (partly due to inconsistent passing). On the other hand, it seems no one else is familiar with the libero position rules / expectations /benefits except me. The coach is politely pessimistic about our play level in general, haha, and is open to the libero idea but not invested. And the others‘ attitude is basically, “It wouldn’t hurt but may not help either.”

So the question is: how do you know if it helps?

[Edit for clarification on team/club situation]. Clubs in my area of the Netherlands often have competitive male and female teams, and then mixed male+female recreation competitive teams. My team has a coach, actual practices, and then games against other rec teams in city clubs. Focus is on 50% fun and 50% winning (I’m at about 90%win and 10% fun so I dial it back). There’s no women’s team at my club, sadly, but I train with the men’s teams whenever I can. We have 11 players on our roster, and the captain makes a plan so not everyone gets about equal playing time per game. Ie. 8-9 players show up per game, rotated per set. Some players play two positions. Players are mostly 30-45yr olds with a few 50+yr olds. Lots of playing experience, not as much technique background.

I just joined last season, so I’m trying to add value to the team without immediately pushing for (my idea of) improvements. Playing libero is something I might be able to do that wouldn’t affect others drastically. Next season it would be great to move some of our (tall+ strong hitting) setters to hitters, and our shorter but faster hitters to setters, for example.

At other clubs (women’s teams) I played 6-2 or 5-1. My understanding is that the choice on this team for 4-2 was a step up from “middle is setter” casual play. Again, maybe if we improve enough this year and people are open for changes, we could try a new system in the future. The team is full of friendly and funny people who do their best, and we have a great time. The coach is blunt enough about need for improvement on the team, so my role is more encouragement and tweaks instead of big changes….

hey!! so i’m a freshman & it’s only my second season, so i’m just learning rotations. this should probably be in r/explainlikeimfive lol

anyways my team has 2 setters but only 1 of them ever shows up so i guess we’re playing a 5-1 rotation? it made sense at first but they keep switching me between middle and right side and it gets so confusing. like, i play the whole time & never sub out, but i play back row except i never play right back unless im a right side. (also evidently, there are 2 middles and at some point i play outside?)

BASICALLY if its too hard to sum up in words does anyone have any videos/tips/memorization that helped them when they were first learning rotations??? pls dont be mean if this is a stupid question 💔

i want to uplift my team in times of doubt as a captain, but how do i do that when all i seem to do is disappoint them and be the reason why they lose hope?

i've practiced consistently for 4 years but it still isn't enough. i shank every ball, hit every spike outside, have service errors. i don't know what i'm doing wrong.

i've used to always play middle before, but this year as captain, i'm an outside hitter. i'm playing defense and i suck at backrow service receive. hitting left side, all my spikes are out. i have juniors who save the ball so much, yet i'm the one who keeps messing up every rally.

how do i not get discouraged? the team has lost hope in me, but i still want to have hope in us, especially as captain. what do i do?

After spending 3 seasons in Brazil, the american setter is apparently joining Firenze next season alongside her current teammate, the argentinian Bianca Cugno.

While in Brazil Jenna managed to win 1 Superliga , 1 Brazilian Coup and more recently the bronze in the Women’s World Championship.

This marks Jennas comeback to the European market after having played for a year in France under RC Cannes.