Jump Higher, Play Better, Move Faster and Have Better Endurance (Super Human Beach Volleyball)

[@jakobnordin]

I think T Crabb (The Bug) uses this as he looks really relaxed but spikes hard/faster than most.

[@LearnBeachVolleyballFast]

Yep I agree. I think the better one learns a movement, the more effortlessly (antagonists relaxed) it is produced, but usually people can find "yet another level" of relaxation when trying to do it consciously. One thing that helped me with hitting arm speed was literally to thing that I need to hit "fast" rather than "hard".

[@jakobnordin]

Had to try this tip so I tried it last indoor practice and Damn, it works! Focusing on speed keeps the arm from tensing up and results in a harder hit. Thanks for the tip!

[@LearnBeachVolleyballFast]

Hahah awesome! Yes, this is a concept that sort of applies over and over in all sorts of places in the game! But focusing on hitting "fast" rather than "hard" is definately a good one! :)

[@0x4141414141]

I think it's the McKibbin Bros that have a video similar to this, basically saying that after you pass and move to where you start your approach, taking a microsecond to fully relax the body (or at least the legs) leads to a more explosive approach. So you're definitely on to something

[@LearnBeachVolleyballFast]

Yup, the McKibbins have a video about sort of the placement of that "rest spot" (they call it the batters box), and then I made a short almost like an addon to that where I talk about the relaxation part. Not sure if you've seen it but it's this one: kzbin.info/www/bejne/d6KXqHeHoJWsrLs Now, in that video I also mentioned that I'll make a video later on sort of how to move more energy efficiently, which is this video! :) I've actually had some even further insights since creating this video, partly from a discussion with a guy in my Facebook group and partly from a book I read that I'll have to share some day also.. Sometimes it's really fun to have this channel because I learn so much myself too from getting questions, needing to question my theories and build on top of them! :)

[@Koazeee]

I saw it mentioned somewhere else in the comments but as a long time martial artist before playing volleyball, you are absolutely correct about efficient power generation coming from being relaxed. A visualization that helped develop me faster and stronger strikes was imagining keeping my striking arm/leg completely relaxed right until the point of contact, specifically going from completely relaxed to completely engaged as fast as possible right when you meet your target to add as much power as possible without giving your antagonists time to slow down your strike. I felt like this was most applicable to the arm swing, and I feel like my swings are best when the only tension starting them is the stretch of my anterior chain and I only flex my tricep and forearm (I learned the hard way you cannot flex your shoulder during this movement). I can only say I feel because I haven't been playing long and the testing I've done on the court is inconclusive at best lol, either way love the vids you might be the goat

[@LearnBeachVolleyballFast]

Thanks for the comment, I agree! Interesting with the "from relaxed to tense" switch exactly in the contact point.. I have been thinking about if this is the case or not also in volleyball.. In one sense, I think the optimal contact point is a fully straight arm, and I believe that straightness has a sort of structural integrity in itself that maybe gives that "tight at contact" effect even if you are relaxed and loose beforehand. In the martial art punch, do you know if your arm is fully straight at this point where you say you contract it, or is it still slightly bent at that point? My guess is it is still a bit bent because you need to go "through" the punch, which in my mind would make sense one has to "add a bit of contraction" because the structural integrity of a straight arm is not there yet. I hope this makes sense! And yew, becoming the GOAT is definitely the goal with this channel and my coaching career. Thanks a lot for commenting, these are one of my best tools to sharpen my mind around these things! :)

[@thanhn2001]

Great theory. I think you discovered how relaxing your muscles, you actually let your fascia do the work. The fascia is a complex network of connective tissue that runs throughout your body. If you study what role the fascia plays in athletic performance, you'll have more aha moments about why some players can generate more power and more speed with less effort.

[@LearnBeachVolleyballFast]

Interesting! :) Very possible! I have read some fascia related stuff, but not too much.. You have something to recommend? (Videos, books, podcasts?) So basically you agree with the effect, but you are saying my explanation for why it happens might be wrong/incomplete?

[@thanhn2001]

@@LearnBeachVolleyballFast I first heard it from Dr Schleip. kzbin.info/www/bejne/hofSf4WVmNScr68. After that I just googled for fascia and sports performance

[@LearnBeachVolleyballFast]

@@thanhn2001 Thanks a lot! Just finished listening to the episode, very insightful! It indeed seems like the fascia is playing a big role in the question why some people seem to be so incredibly explosive even if they wouldn't be so "strong" in a traditional sense. It was also fun to hear that the type of training I have more or less intuitively moved towards seem to be good for the fascia! :) Now whether the quick movement by relaxing the antagonist is because you access the effects of the fascia, or because a muscle is much faster when the antagonist relaxes (my theory in the video, I also saw there was some Soviet union time research about this) or a combination of the two or something else, I can only guess! Anyway I'll look even more into this, fascinating (pun not indtended hehe) subject! Have you made any sort of tabgible changes in your training methods since learning about this?

[@hipkinbay6567]

actually you painted with no thinking and that,s exactly the way to do it. same you explain in volley.LOL. that sketch was really asowme, better than the arm you did think about it.

[@LearnBeachVolleyballFast]

@@hipkinbay6567 Hahah that's good! I like to have a rough plan about what I want to say, but if I overplan, my presentation gets stiff..! Better to keep my natural energy in how I present things! :)

[@hipkinbay6567]

@@LearnBeachVolleyballFast we love your natural energy! best regrets from baleraic isles

[@coachs886]

Totally agree but I use some tools to aid on the “flopiness” of the muscles.

[@LearnBeachVolleyballFast]

What sort of tools? Not completely sure I understand!

[@hristotatsinski45]

Nice video, thanks Alex! I've experienced that many times but always was thinking about how fresh is my body and blamed myself for not taking enough rest. Ofc thats part of the problems but many times i was actually enough rested but still couldnt move good, especially if my mind was not relaxed and i used to work(on chair under stress) just before the training. Now im realizing that most probably i need to work more on relaxing both my body and mind before and during the trainings. Definitely will keep this concept in my mind and try to apply it. Thanks again!

[@LearnBeachVolleyballFast]

Hey! Interesting! Yes, probably stress doesn't help with this at all, I kinda think while warming up to consciously fire some muscles and relax the opposite muscles until you really feel that feeling of explosiveness might help. If you for example jump straight into a game with pressure etc directly when coming from a stressful environment, your body might never be able to relax and kinda keeps onto those constricted ways of moving.. Does that make sense?

[@rarnaldo33]

Great stuff, man ... thanks for sharing! I've experienced the same thing (both the "floppiness" and the meditative state leading to greater awareness/control of a body part), but this helped me understand it in a different way.

[@LearnBeachVolleyballFast]

Awesome! :) Let me know if it helps you access that state more often/constantly, or if you find tweaks to the theory that makes it even better! :)

[@silvestre9613]

Playing like all might

[@LearnBeachVolleyballFast]

Hahah yes! 😅

[@oddlarsson8386]

Hello my names is Odd i am from sweden. And experiment with my body. I am a martial art dude from beginning. And i use martial art in beachvolley. I convert the principals of one inch punsh and tai chi to not lose energi and use energi in to the ball. I use basket ball to hit and to do fingerset training. Used basketball for about 8 years without injur my shoulder. Look in to that and you will find something you cant belive. We hit walls stone tree you name it.

[@LearnBeachVolleyballFast]

Hey! Amazing to hear! Gotta look into the one inch punch and see what that is! You mean you do spike training with the basketball, in order to find hitting strength? Where in Sweden do you live?

[@oddlarsson8386]

I live in Halmstad. Yes i use basketball to find hitting strength. But is more deep why i do. I think for a beginner, is very easy to injure shoulder and many friends also have the same problem. When you hit a basketball in the beginning you have to really hit it in front you. And because it almost 3 tims the weight of mikasa vls300 you always try to hitt it so relaxed as posible. To transfer all the energi from ground to the point thats going to connect with the ball. Use of the whole body. And then like all martial art wing chun. Twist the hitt. I have been expriment with very much other things as well. If i didn't go the same way like the others when try to hit as hard that i can, maybe i don't have to rest for long time for rehabilitation.

[@oddlarsson8386]

I seen many of your youtube videos. And i really like the outsiders. Think out of the box. Like Sun zu, Mandelbrot, Alan turning. I also try to se the connection with scientists, sport, martial arts like bruce lee.

[@LearnBeachVolleyballFast]

@@oddlarsson8386 Awesome, makes sense! I agree, one can learn so much from other places, I read a lot of stuff from people that have simply "tried to go for mastery" within any discipline, sports or others. Tons of lessons that can be brought over. You sound like a very interesting guy to talk to, would love to discuss these things further. Not sure if you knew, but I am Swedish/Finnish, lived most of my life in Sweden, in the north (Umeå) though. Would be super fun to meet one day!

[@oddlarsson8386]

Yes yes, too meet and talk about the outside the box principles would be so great. To meet a person wish have the little more extrem way to look in to beach then a normal person. When i were training and coaching gymnastik i had such of a person who stayed up late at night to watch and analys all recorded clip and competition clip. With some whisky beer. Same with martial art, but no one in beachvolley. So to meet one day would be so cool. I friend of mine introduced you and your clipp to me and he told me you were from Sweden. But now i know you are finnish swede.

[@anazdra2754]

1. the cover photo is of superman but maybe i prefer to play like wonder woman :P 2. nice video :) 3. i think there should be something in there about not compromising aggressiveness... for example, sometimes i go to the ball relaxed (good), but then i don't switch gears and attack powerfully (bad)- i just stay relaxed throughout the whole movement (approach + swing) which essentially = easy attack to dig for opponent.

[@LearnBeachVolleyballFast]

1. Hahaha! 😅 You are completely right! Maybe I should add wonder-woman to the cover photo? :D 2. Thanks! :) 3. Yess, you are onto something. It's really about finding that balance of relaxedness and agressiveness and getting better at understanding and feeling in which milliseconds you wan't to be which! Then when you are agressive I also think it helps to learn to relax the antagonist muscles of whatever movement you are doing! For attacking specifically, it can help to think "slow to fast" throughout the whole movement. So it's like tou gradually go from that relaxedness to agressiveness throughout the whole movement, peaking in agressiveness at the ball contact! Does that make sense? I also think you should watch one other video I made on defense which is sort of the same concept as slow to fast in hitting but reverse-fast and aggressive to smooth. Here's a link to it! :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/fZnamHiPm79lsJY

[@anazdra2754]

@@LearnBeachVolleyballFast Haha yes add her too if you can :))) Yes- i saw the video and it was nice, thanks for the recommendation. The "slow-to-fast" rule is true. It's like when you start your approach you are Clark Kent but by the time you finish you are super man :P

[@LearnBeachVolleyballFast]

@@anazdra2754 Hahaha! I like the Clark Kent to Superman idea! 😂 You happen to have a copyright free picture of wonderwoman laying around somewhere that I can edit into the picture? 😅

[@anazdra2754]

@@LearnBeachVolleyballFast Yes, let me just open my wallet- jk, here u go: pixabay.com/photos/wonder-woman-superhero-lasso-female-1694801/

[@badem]

This was awesome. As this is like the starting video for this series can you put the links to the followup video's here?

[@LearnBeachVolleyballFast]

Yep for sure! Over time there will be more and more tutorials that will connect to this one! :) So far though, I think only the video called "Beach Volleyball Spiking tip" which I made before this, connects to this, as well as the juggling tip towards the end of "Offseason Tips Part 3"! It might not be insanely obvious how those videos connect to this, but a few seconds of thinking and you'll understand! :) I have a lot of tutorials lined up for this summer, just need to find the time to produce them but I think april will be a productive month! :)

[@gr0mozzeka877]

Can you recommend some exercises for speed ? I try to throw a tennis ball against a wall to improve my arm swing technique and speed up maybe. But during the game, in the air, it doesn't work at all, there is almost no external rotation. i think , without training, only with game practice, I will learn this for years) Sry for my english)

[@LearnBeachVolleyballFast]

Hey! Yes, so my honest answer to this is, that I do, but there are some problems making for example tennis balls throw "speed" actually transfer to your hits when jumping and hitting a volleyball. It's in a sense something that is barely worth trying to explain in comment liek these because it is so complex, depends on so many factors like your armswing type, past experiences etcetc so this is unfortunately going to be one of those "to get my full answer we'd need to do some 1-on-1 coaching because I'd need to see videos of you etc. However, I do have something more to give you too. One guy wrote a very similar comment to yours here on another video a couple of weeks ago, and I wrote almost half a book for an answer to him hahah. So I think you should check that answer out, it might lead to some insights. If you want to see the whole thing including the question, go to this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/lXK4pWCOiNBomLM and check out Chris Hardin's comment. If you don't care about his question (that was similar to yours) and only want to see what I answered him, here you go: Thanks for watching them! :) So.. Yes. I do have a lot of advice on how to speed up the armswing, but there is a catch. Speeding up an armswing is a pretty advanced thing in a sense to do, and depends on physiology, physical habits, mental habits etcetc. To the point that even with 1-on-1 coaching, it is not the simplest thing to do and sometimes takes a bit of a deep dive into how it should be done for the specific individual wanting to learn. Because of this, I am hestitant to put out too much "generalized" advice on that topic, especially if it's short advice. Because one it is very likely to not work, and on top of that it can in the worst case injure players or lead them into a "false competency" where they think they know what they are doing but actually end up finding a technique that is ultimately worse for them. This last point here is a topic I'll make a video about someday (hopefully soon) but I was a prime example of this, I learned a super hard and fast armswing that however lowered my contact point on the ball a lot, and for a few years I had this "false competence" of thinking I was doing it right but ultimately I was destroying my game and "locking" myself into a technique that would not allow me to develop into my full potential. And these are traps that I don't want to put more people into, so therefore I will as of now not really share any info on "speeding up an armswing" unless there is a bit of a bigger commitment to an in depth course of mine (where I will take the time to explain all the details necessary which might be a few hours of content and not really suitable for KZbin) or through personal coaching. And it is not only a money thing, it is also because I know I might ultimately be doing more damage than good by trying to share complex things in short videos or even comments to videos. I do have a solution though, which is the video after this one in the hitting video series - the wristsnap video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mIvHXoiDgpucqZo What this technique does is I have noticed that for one it has a surprisingly high "results vs time put down for pratice" ratio, peoples hitting literally sometimes becomes transformed from just one training session. Also, it gives the same result as what many people are looking for from a "fast armswing" (a decently hard hit ball) but with the additional benefits of making a high contact point really easy to have, and a lot of possibility to tinker with the hitting angle (hitting steep left or right, or straight down, or a flatter trajectory etc.) So I have decided that this technique will be the "free KZbin technique" from me, both because it actually IS possible to get real world results from just a shorter video that explains the technique, and that it won't send you into a "trap" in the same way as some of the other info I could share can do if I only share parts of it (and again, it is not possible to share hours of information in 15 minutes, at least I have not found any sustainabele way of doing this.) The other techniques that I will teach through this project will most probably only be accessible though my online programs and coaching, or at least at this moment that is my plan. Could of course change one day but not super likely. Hope all of this makes sense! :) Haha now when all of that is cleared out, I can go on and break a bit of my own rule haha.. Yes you can go and see other KZbinrs attempt to teach how to speed up your armswing, and one of the concepts mostly shared is the "stretching your core like a rubber band." It's a good concept and definitely a part of the answer for a really fast and powerful armswing. And as you said, throwing a tennis ball can be a really good drill for learning this concept. In a sense what you want to do is have some twisting momentum in your upper body, and the same time as you "jerk" your hips into a twist in the opposite direction so that if you are a right handed thrower/hitter your right shoulder goes as far as possible from the left hip bone basically, so that a "stretch shortening cycle" over the whole core occurs (check up stretch shortening cycle if you don't know what it is, it's the same mechanism as to why it is easier to jump high from going down and "bouncing" a the lowest point, rather than squatting down, waiting at the lowest point and then jumping.) This "full core movement" energy can then be transferred into a relaxed arm that will sling the arm away in a very fast armswing. This is basically what the other channels are teaching, and I teach it too, but I also recognize that it is only one step of many of developing a really good, fast and functional armswing for beach volleyball, and only teaching that part without the others can send you in the traps I mentioned before. So sure, go and play with it if you want, throw some tennis balls etc (in a sense I think all learning is good learning as long as you know how to filter what you should afterwards also use and what not to use), but just stay mindful that there might be (and very probably is) a lot of more steps also to develop what you are actually looking for - a quick AND functional armswing rather than just a quick one. The "wristsnap" video above will teach you something that is fairly quick, and functional. For some players that might be the solution for the rest of their lives, for others it might be a stepping stone solution while they learn other ways to hit as well, developing even more "tools in their toolbox" so to say. Quick last note is that even if one develops a super powerful armswing that is not as simple as what the "wristsnap" video above teaches, the wristsnap technique is still actually useful from time to time and it is fairly easy finding examples of pro's using it in games. :) Hahah another "almost a book"-comment. Hope it makes sense and answers the question, which is actually a very common one. I have tried to think about how I can best serve both people that are committed enough for going through a course or coaching, as well as people who are not yet ready for that, and this combination that I laid out here became my answer, where I feel I can actually serve everyone well and hopefully without leading anyone down injury or false confidence paths! :)

[@dawid7477]

I like this theory and have experienced it myself. I have two questions about it. Do you think that using e.g. that visualization of "I want to hit it fast rather than hard" has an effect on the technique of the player? and if you do, what will it be? Positive, negative, neutral? The other question is: Do you think this could be used in the training of youth players? I have the impressions that new players/children learn it the way, that they are starting to use muscles or muscles in a way, that they never used before and therefore are very tense in the beginning and the near future. It is after learning the technique to a certain level, that they then can start to loosen up and use less force to achieve more. Could this theory therefore be used as a faster way to achieve a certain level of movement?

[@LearnBeachVolleyballFast]

Damnit was going to answer tonight but ended up in a long phone call.. Will answer tomorrow when my brain is fresh again! :)

[@LearnBeachVolleyballFast]

Ok so now! Technique - if we define technique as movements that can be measured both in space, but also relative timing to eachother, yes for sure it will make a difference. For example of you have a stiff arm, and your armswing takes 20milliseconds in comparison to you 80 millisecond jump (I'm just making up numbers here), and if by imagining the arm to just move fast with a less tense arm the armswing now happens in 12 ms compared to the whole 80 ms jump, well, that means the total of the movement will be different and the technique different. Then I also think that SOMETIMES imagining for example an armswing to be quickar, can make the body actually alter the actual armswing mechanics too. Like to be able to be fast, the body will find another more efficient to bring your arm up/back or something like that, sometimes the body will even find new ways to generate power into the ball by using other muscles than before etc.. and that's definately a technique change I'd say! Regarding kids - probably yes. I'm no expert on kids learning (I've been stidying mostly adult learning), but what to me seems to be true is that in general, kids are the same in learning as adults, but they are a little less "stuck" in the ways they have always done things, and have more of a natural variability in their technique (every repetition will vary slightly more from the previous one compared to adults.) In a way you could say a kids body "experiments" slightly more and tries more things which the body/mind can take as data ("hmm, that seemed to work, let's try more of it!"), compared to adults. I'm guessing this "playfulness" and "anti rigidity" towards how things should be done, and an ability to learn from your experiments/experiences are at least a part of why kids tend to learn new things faster than adults. But anyway, I definately think teaching this concept to kids explicitly can help them too, as long as they have the attention span/interest to listen, think and try. The kids I have coached has varied all the way from "crazy kids" that have basically no interest except to make a mess on the court (they won't listen to more than 10 seconds of an instruction - this isn't necessarily where a coach like me gets put to the best use haha) to kids that really wanted to learn, would listen very closely and pick things up almost immediately. The later type I'd definately dive deep with, and come up with analogies that make sense for them. There are probably different methods to catch the attention of the kids in the first group too and make it pretty productive, but I haven't studied those methods enough yet! :) Hope I at least somewhat answered what you were wondering about! Let me know if you have any more thoughts about anything! :)

[@dawid7477]

@@LearnBeachVolleyballFast "Hope I at least somewhat answered what you were wondering about! Let me know if you have any more thoughts about anything! :)" - Well yes, and no, so here we go :D "Technique - if we define technique as movements ..., that means the total of the movement will be different and the technique different." - Yes, I agree with that. "Then I also think that SOMETIMES... and that's definately a technique change I'd say!" - That is exactly the point where I am asking myself how the change in technique will be. Will it be good, bad or neutral? As you said, the body will find new ways to get what you told him to do. That doesn't necessarily mean that the change will be positive in technique. It will get the job done, but with what consequences? I'll give you an example of mine: I tried to improve my float serve. I wanted to server harder (speed of the ball) while maintining or improving my level of accuracy. I told my body what I wanted and after some while I got it. It wasn't until a buddy of mine said something randomly. He was surprsed that I could float the ball that well while hitting it so low. My technique had changed from a normal, high contact point to a really low one. I was hitting the ball very close to my head. I would consider this change in technique bad, as it is a dead end and the angles that I can create with my serve are suffering. I got what I wanted, but from this point I had/have to go back to a higher contact point or there will be no room(not much) for improvement. My guess is, that whether or not the change in technique will be positive/negative/neutral will depend on random factors if the training/the change in technique is unsupervised. What do you think?

[@LearnBeachVolleyballFast]

@@dawid7477 Ahh, really good question! I think the technique change that comes, can be all of the three, bad, neutral or good. You basically have to try it out, monitor what happens, think about if its good or bad, and then decide. I'm sure you could at least try to tell your body "hit the ball high but also fast" on a float serve, and it would after a while maybe find something..! However, the example you bring up is really interesting, and I'm very familiar with it myself. Actually the norwegian womens national team coach taught that "low next to your head/chin-float serve technique" deliberately. It was his belief that the "punch", speed and float you get, is worth more than a higher contact point. It's like you get some and lose some, but since you are anyways at least 8 metres from the net, the angle difference is actually very small (compared to a spike where you are close to the net and the angle difference is huge depending on your contact point!), so it might not at all be so crucial, the important thing is that we get that fast ball with fast floating action, because thats the stuff that leads to aces. Lose 1, gain 3 and you are still 2 ahead. I haven't yet completely decided what my stance is in this, I've been working on my spiking technique first and now that I'm starting to settle with what it's going to be like, I will start figuring out my serves more specifically. What I know is that the low next to your head floatserve has allowed me to have pretty much just as poisonous serves as most other people, even in periods when my shoulder has been injured because the low contact point makes my arm/shoulder so stable in a way. I'd say it's probably the easiest serve out there that can still create some major havoc in the opponents serve receive game! :)

[@fredDeclerck]

Hi Alex , at 17:53 you are asking to share with friends. The problem is, I only have a couple (with whom I have shared your videos) who like to think and take an analytical approach to the sport. Id say 90% of the ppl I play with dont want to get their brains over loaded and "just" want to play... Im saying it on a funny tone, but in the end, it's not that funny : ( Ex: most ppl I play with dont even want to try\think\use 3-4 blocks and only want 1-2 calls ... @ analytical people, come play with me in Chicagoland ^^

[@LearnBeachVolleyballFast]

Hahah yeah damn, that's a good point. We are definitely a minority in the sport who like to think deeply about stuff unfortunately..! Super appreciate you sharing the word to the ones who like to think though! I think I just saw that you are in the Facebook group also, maybe try posting there and see if anyone else is from Chicago? :) This is another reason I so badly want the project to grow, because then it will just become easier and easier to find and connect with the "nerds" around the globe hahah! :) Already met a few and it is amazing!

[@danielwymer]

and also who is the best to learn from if not a "High jumper": kzbin.info/www/bejne/jX3PoGerZ617epY

[@LearnBeachVolleyballFast]

Good examples in there! :)