Indoor and Olympic Success

The United States has had very good success within these Olympics. Some of the success was expected, especially when you look at beach volleyball. Misty May and Kerri Walsh were expected to defend their Olympic gold title, given that they were ranked number one in the world and have not lost for so long. The number one men's volleyball team of Dallhauser/Rogers won gold, matching the team of May and Walsh.

What was not expected was the strength of the Americans and indoor volleyball. The women's Olympic indoor volleyball team defeated the Cubans in a three set sweep and moved on to the gold-medal game. This ensured the Americans they would have the best Olympic tournament finish since 1984. The women have played a particularly strong tournament considering their overall record of 6-1. The lone loss came at the hands of the Cuban team the US just beat. This explained why their recent win against Cuba was so satisfying. The US won rather handily in this game, finishing the three sets with the following scores: 25-20, 25-16, 25-17. The women had previously beaten China to set up the match against Cuba in the quarterfinals. That meant added drama due to the fact that the US is coached by one of the Chinese legends, Lang. To finish the tournament, the US lost to Brazil, which did not diminish the overall results.

The men's indoor volleyball team was up to the task as well. They had not finished with the medals since 1992 and are presently working to end that 16 year drought. The men were undefeated and had to charge back from a deficit to beat Serbia in five sets in a match which lasted a whopping two hours. The United States beat Russia and finally Brazil to win the gold medal.

From watching the United States play, it was very easy to see the kind of heart that they are playing with in every match. If you did not keep up with volleyball throughout the Olympics, the head coach left the team to be with his wife because her parents were both stabbed in Beijing. The father subsequently died and the mother’s condition stabilized and then upgraded to good condition. When unfortunate incidents happen like this, it often will inspire team to circle the wagons and push harder to reach a level of success it might not have expected before. This seems that it happened with the United States men’s team so far.

If you have any equipment needs like the Olympians did, Mizuno filled those needs. When you need equipment in the future, look towards http://www.volleyballproshop.com/.

New and Great 2008 Volleyball Products

Here are a few of the new and great 2008 volleyball products. With the overload of information you probably receive about volleyball, it can be pretty hard to keep up with some of the new products out there. For all that changes out there, much of it will remain the same.

I will include a link here along with a brief synopsis of an article so you can decide to read the full article. If you have been coaching volleyball for a long time, you have undoubtedly seen your share of ankle injuries. There was actually a study completed just recently. To start off the discussion, it is estimated that 36% of injuries in volleyball are ankle injuries. At the University of Pennsylvania, it became a requirement to wear padded ankle braces on both ankles in practices and matches. As a result, the University of Pennsylvania players only had one ankle injury over seven seasons. Compared with results compiled over the NCAA, the number of ankle injuries decreased significantly. If your team has been struggling with ankle injuries, this may be a good way to go. The end of the article does link you to a website where you can check out ankle braces and see if this may be worth an investment of time and money on your part.

If you are a fan of Mizuno, there were new shoes that were sent out around April 1st of this year. It is the Mizuno Wave Tornado for both men and women. Here is a picture of the shoe. If you are unclear on what volleyball shoes you want to get, look into Mizuno as it is one of the best producers of volleyball products you can think of. You can seldom go wrong with Mizuno and if you talk with friends who are knowledgeable about volleyball, they will probably steer you in the same direction.

The new product that everyone is raving about is the Funkadelic Sports Shorts. The basic black, red or navy spandex are a thing of the past, you can now get spandex with zebra print, tye dye and many other combinations. These are the new craze in our volleyball world. Show your style at practice or in a team uniform.

If you want to buy volleyball products, visit my online volleyball pro shop, http://www.volleyballproshop.com/.

The Latest and Greatest

The Latest and Greatest: Product Reviews

Here are a few different brands that you can read about to help you find the best volleyball gear. Because being the best means having the best.....

One company you can never go wrong with is Mizuno. Just follow this link to see what they have available for you in 2008. If you look along the right side of the page, there are different articles which talk about some of the recognition Mizuno has received from different companies evaluating their products (such as Volleyball Magazine). One of the neat things when you look at their website is that you can play around online to find a uniform that your team will like. As with many high school teams, there is a budget in place ahead of time but this may be a fun way for your team to bond. If they can design their own uniforms and allow you to order this from a local store, this can be the best of all worlds, especially if you have old outdated uniforms.

Here is something a little outside the realm of products but along the same tangent. If you are looking for new ways to condition yourself or your athletes, train the LIBERO, or practice planning, check out the following website. Here will will find a video (DVD) for every aspect of the volleyball game from on the court training to practice planning.

If your team is in need of volleyballs, Mikasa has been one of the leading manufactures in the volleyball word, as seen at the Beijing Olympics. The FIVB (Fédération Internationale de Volleyball) decided at its World Congress held on June 16 -17, 2008 that the new MIKASA MVA200 volleyballs with unique cover materials will be used as the official game balls at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. The 24 qualified teams (12 Men and 12 Women teams) are already practicing with this revolutionary new volleyball. MIKASA volleyballs have been used as the official Olympic volleyballs for eight out of ten. If it is the best in the nation is using Mikasa why aren't you.

The best volleyball equipment can be found at the one stop shop VolleyballProShop. I hope this helps in your quest for the best equipment.

Team Success for your 2008 season

Now you want your team to succeed. This goes without question and this particular blog post is going to talk about 2008 high school volleyball products which can help your team. We will get into products a little bit but this will focus primarily on videos and training.

The first is to know your rules. Some of the rules have changed for the 2008-2009 season and if you contact your states high school association you can obtain your states rulebook. You may want to check this out or bookmark to this link if you need this. If you need to challenge a referee, it is always better to know the rules pretty well and the updated rules at that!

Here is a great article about why you will want to use video for your training sessions with your team. In the article, the author explains that it can help in scouting matches. This can be especially important when you get to the states or districts near the end of a season. You can have a chance to understand the other team’s tendencies.

You can pick up videos that show your team particular techniques that they are struggling with. As a coach you need to have continuing education because the game is ever changing. This link will give you many videos/books that will focus on every aspect of the game. To be the best coach for your players continue to grow thru education.

A video that will focus on the basic fundamental of the game is "Coaching Volleyball Skills and Techniques". This is not a new product as goes with the theme of the post but it does have great skills you may want to work on with your team. You can find the video here. It can be good to find videos like this to include in your repertoire of different drills and trainings. You can use this video in practice for the same reasons argued in the article from the paragraph above.

Hopefully this has provided some benefit to you. Having the right equipment and products is always important. Taking the time to critique and improve upon the coaching and training regimen can have a profound effect on your high school program.

Products (and bookmarks) for the Coaches!

Here is a great website with which you are able to view a strong variety of different products for your volleyball team. This can allow you to do most of your shopping from one main website so that you don't have the jump from website to website depending on what your team needs. Having a consistent source for your apparel, coaching needs and officialiating needs means you will be very good and efficient in your shopping needs: http://www.volleyballproshop.com/

You probably used this particular website before. If you haven't visited it, make that one of your actions for today. There are so many articles of information about volleyball in general. There is information about how the Olympics have been going and there are even different blogs from some of the actual beach volleyball teams.

If you want to catch up on some great material, you may want to look at some of the back issues of Volleyball Magazine. Here is a link to the different back issues you can find: http://www.volleyballmag.com/archive/. You will have to pay for the issues but if you need some up to date information, you will likely want to look here. They have great articles on many drills you can incorporate into practices for your girls’ or guys’ team.

Here is another good website if you want to work on preventing injuries to your team as well. This particular website speaks specifically about hand injuries: one of the more common injuries within the sport: http://volleyball.about.com/od/commoninjuries/.htm.

I hope that you enjoy some of these different websites that I've just given you. You can use these for product reviews, information as far as what is hot for the year, and just a general understanding and enjoyment of the sport. Hopefully you can bookmark one or two of these and visit them again.

Fashion, Fit and Function

As quoted in "Sporting Goods Dealer"..... Trends in volleyball apparel and footwear target performance and style. It's a category with skyrocketing participation and a consumer base filled with players and parents willing to purchase the best for volleyball.

Trends in volleyball are moving toward tight-fitting uniform tops and short spandex. Performance fabrics and more fashionable silhouettes and colors are also driving the market. In warm-ups, styles with hoods, iPod pockets and Capri pants are also entering the mix. "Players want to look good" They want to look stylish and fashionable and the fabric story is about comfort and moisture wicking. This is noticeable with the Mizuno Techno Volley II. The tops are spandex- the tighter the better. Jersey styles have gone from a boxy fit a few years ago to a streamline and fitted look. "Teams are looking to set themselves apart".

The fashion and performance fusion is also evident in the volleyball footwear category. Players have tended in the past to wear running shoes on the court, and volleyball vendors responded by creating volleyball shoes with style that incorporated running shoe features, while also offering stability and lateral support. Mizuno's Tornado and Wave Lightening volleyball shoes reflect this trend. The shoes offer support and durability, yet also feature visible technology and a running silhouette.

In addition to apparel and footwear, accessories are an important volleyball category. Knee pads are a necessity and ankle braces are worn by the majority of the players on the court, as well. Many players have taken to rolling or pushing down their knee pads to improve leg movement and Mizuno has designed a knee pad, called the LR6, that can be worn just below the knee cap, to mirror this trend. The padding is at the top of the knee pad.

(Sporting Goods Dealer - Oct/Nov 2007)

If you are looking to find Fashion, Fit and Functional volleyball gear then Mizuno brand is for you. Be the best while wearing the Best......

Mizuno and its Volleyball Competitors

This blog will look at some of the different shoes you can use for your 2008 volleyball season. This will be one of the most, if not the most, critical piece of equipment you can possibly have. With the constant movement on the court, you want your equipment to respond the way your body responds and in a comfortable fashion as well. When you are looking for what is important in a volleyball shoe, there are several factors. I don’t want to take a whole blog post to write about this so I found this helpful article which explains what you should look for in a shoe.

Mizuno has always been known for making great volleyball shoes. This reputation continues to stand up for 2008 from the different reviewers at Volleyball Magazine. You will probably be going with the latest edition of the Mizuno Wave Spike 11 or Tornado 3 if you are looking for high quality Mizuno shoes. Here is a link for the Mizuno Wave Spike 11.

The 2007 Volleyball Magazine Shoe Review was conducted in the October issue of Volleyball Magazine, and for the second consecutive year, and the third time in a four year span, a high performance Mizuno volleyball shoe has earned the prestigious "Editor's Choice" award.

In 2007 the Mizuno Wave Tornado 2 was chosen as the best of the best in volleyball shoes. The previous Mizuno winners of Volleyball Magazine's "Editor's Choice" award were the Mizuno Wave Lightning (2004), and the Mizuno Wave Lightning 3 (2006).

Asics is not as well known within the volleyball world as say a Mizuno but this is a company with a very strong reputation for quality shoe wear. If you are struggling to find Mizuno shoes which are comfortable for you, take a chance on Asics.

This should have given you a good idea what type of shoe wear you may want for your 2008 season. It is probably better to get this done now when you can start breaking it in when the preseason starts instead of halfway through the season when you're used to a different company's product. Prices can vary on this page anywhere between $52.99 to over $100 depending upon your budget.

Knee Pads: Protecting the Body

According to volleyball magazine, Mizuno Gear is designed specially to help you be the best volleyball player. If you coach junior varsity and have new players, this may be a good recommendation for them: LR6 Knee Pads. Other than shoes this is one of the most important item for volleyball players. It may be a good idea to stock up on some before the season begins if you have a great deal of new players.

When you are looking for knee pads, this can depend partially upon what you are looking for. You want to make sure that the knee pad is comfortable to wear, given that you want no clothing distractions during your matches. When looking at knee pads these days make sure they have a Dri-FIT fabric which has added support on the side of the knee pad. This can help anyone who may have problems with their knees. Mizuno has a wide variety of knee pads and it is important to read through the description for what you want.

All of Mizuno's pads are built with half an inch of dense foam to protect your knees. That are five different padded areas so that you know your knee is protected whichever way your body may be going. Mikasa also has a few knee pads you can look into as well if you are passionate about this particular brand.

When looking at these, prices could vary from as low as $4.06 to as much as $25.99. That should give you a better idea regarding prices and variations on knee pads if you need to buy new ones for your upcoming 2008 season. Just remember that the best in the nation wear Mizuno..................

Misty and Kerri: The History

You have probably read by now that Misty May and Kerri Walsh won the gold medal. I thought that I would use my blog post to share some information

Kerri and Misty have been together as partners since 2001. Their families actually introduced them to be partners. Misty was looking for a new beach volleyball partner and Kerri was tired of indoor volleyball. The two have been partners since then. There were rumors in 2006 about a possible break-up as partners, even given the high level of success that they were enjoying. They eventually had a long talk between the two of them and patched things up. Since then, they have dominated the beach volleyball circuit. As an indication of their success, they have not lost in almost a full year with nary a loss so far in 2008. They have also become the only Olympic champion to repeat in beach volleyball. A Brazilian team had a chance to repeat this particular feat but ended up losing in the semi-finals on the men’s side of the beach volleyball draw.

This will probably be the last time than Misty and Kerri defend the Olympic title. Both have expressed a desire to start families with both being in their early thirties. To be more specific, Misty is 31 and Kerri just turned 30 a few days ago.

Misty and Kerri did a great job to win the match at the end of the sets. Look at how close it was going into the final few points of each set: either at 16-16 or 18-18. They were able to turn on the afterburners for the final few points to take the two sets from the Chinese. Even when a medical timeout was called, this did not break the concentration of May and Walsh. They were able to take the time to focus and come out swinging. This is a great lesson in the importance of concentration and focus at the ends of matches. This proved to be the difference maker in the match.

Looking ahead to the next Olympics, the Chinese team of Tian and Wang should be back and will likely be considered the favorite for the gold medal. There are currently ranked number two in the Bible world and actually were the last team to beat Misty May and Kerri Walsh, roughly a year ago. This has proven to be one of the strongest, if not the strongest team, in women’s beach volleyball history.