If you want to know how to hit a volleyball harder, the answer is not just strength. How hard you hit is a function of how fast your arm can snap. The faster you snap, the harder you hit. And speed is something you can train, with one resistance band.

I learned this drill back at UCLA, where I won two NCAA national championships, when I was trying to figure out how to go fast. After 34 years of coaching, I still teach it to hitters. It teaches your body and your brain to go fast.

Power is not the same as speed

When you watch a lot of players hit, you can see the power is there. The question is whether they can transfer all of that power into speed at the end of the swing. If the arm is slow up high, the power never reaches the ball.

I used to hit really hard. I could bounce the ball and it would hit the wall in the back of the court and come back over the service line on my side. And the thing I worked on was speed. A fast arm is something you build on purpose.

Think like a boxer on a speed bag

I think of it kind of like a speed bag. Have you ever watched a boxer work the speed bag? What they are trying to do is teach their body to just go fast, fast, fast, over and over.

Hitters need the same thing. Can I go fast, fast, fast, and snap high and fast from up here? That is the question the drill answers. You are not trying to muscle the ball. You are teaching your arm what fast feels like.

Why your brain holds you back

It is hard for our brain to go fast sometimes, because going fast can cause injury. So the brain holds the arm back.

So we have to almost teach our brain to go. A lot of people don’t understand that speed is critical, and you have to teach your brain to go fast before it will let you swing fast.

The answer to the injury worry is not to swing slower. In my experience, a lot of shoulder trouble comes less from the arm swing itself than from a lack of proper hip and core engagement for power. When hitters learn to use their hips and core, the shoulder is not doing all the work.

How to hit a volleyball harder with a band

My roommate and I did this for years. We pushed it out onto the internet, and it was very popular. There are a few people that say we are crazy. I think they are crazy.

Here is what it looks like in the video. The band is anchored behind me. I hold it in my hitting hand up by my head, in the loaded position, and I go:

• Start loaded. Arm at 90 degrees, elbow high, wrist back.
• Go from there fast. Limit the pull, so there is no slow wind-up.
• Snap fast high above your head, where you would contact the ball.
• Finish your power fast. The arm comes down and through.
• Do it again, and again. The goal is speed, not effort.

Pick a band that lets you move fast. The one in the video is even a little bit heavy for me, or maybe I am just not that strong. If the band is so heavy that you slow down, you are training the wrong thing.

The whole body ends up in the snap

If I can go from the loaded position fast and finish my power fast, it pulls all of the body weight transfer into the arm: hips, abs and core. All of that power gets turned into speed at the end of the swing.

I teach power for hitting in four parts. The wrist snap, a fast wrist. The forearm and triceps, like a bungee cord. The lat, chest and abs. And the hips for power. The hips start it and the wrist finishes it. The band drill trains the end of that chain to be fast enough to use everything that comes before it.

So if I can do all of that, and then do it fast, now magic happens.

Arm speed matters even more for young players

We put a lot of focus on a fast arm load, especially for younger players who may not yet have the same jumping ability as older athletes. A fast arm load helps her hit with range and power before her jump catches up.

A player who cannot get her arm back and her elbow high will not get much out of the band, so check that first. When the movement is right, the band teaches it to go fast.

If you see your daughter snapping her arm against a band, fast, fast, fast, don’t worry. She is not crazy. She is teaching her body and her brain that it is safe to go fast. Keep the band light enough that she can stay fast, and make sure she starts from the loaded position every time.

The takeaway

How hard you hit is a function of how fast your arm can snap. Strength helps, but speed is critical, and your brain will not let you go fast until you teach it to. A band, the loaded position, and fast, fast, fast. Do that consistently and the power you already have starts reaching the ball.

Coaches can find the full arm swing progression in the Volleyball1on1 Coaching Manual. Families near St. Augustine, Florida, can visit us at a club tryout.