Tryout Tips

Tryout day can be a vital step on the road to a college volleyball career, since your performance determines what kind of high school and club volleyball teams you’re chosen for (just in case there wasn’t enough pressure, right?). But never fear, here are 5 tips to help get you through even the most stressful volleyball tryouts with ease.

• Set Yourself Up for Success: Don’t underestimate the power of fuel for your body. Get a good night’s rest the night before tryouts, and whatever you do don’t skip breakfast on the morning of. Being tired or hungry will definitely make you slower and less alert, neither of which are things you want coaches to think about you.
• Be a Leader: You can really make yourself stand out by being vocal during tryouts. Call the ball each and every time you touch it, and communicate with your teammates during group drills. Trite, useless talk like, “Let’s Go!” and “Sideout!” don’t help, so stick with helpful chatter like, “Watch out for the short serve.” Additionally, being the first one in line for drills and volunteering for demonstrations will help distinguish you.
• Brush Up on Your Skills: Tryouts often happen during volleyball downtime, meaning you may not have been playing regularly when they happen. Make the effort to get into the gym with a ball and hopefully a partner to brush up on your skills before tryouts. Even a week of not playing can dull the edge on your volleyball skills, so don’t neglect them prior to tryouts.
• Be Early: That’s right, early, not on time. Especially if the gym is someplace you’ve never been before, give yourself plenty of time to get there, get your gear on and warm up. Coaches want to see players that are committed and eager, and being among the first to start peppering is a great way to display those qualities.
• Attitude is Key: When you mess up during tryouts, because it will definitely happen, shake it off and return to the drill right away. Your attitude is almost as important as your volleyball skills in the eyes of coaches, so don’t let your mistakes get you down. Prove to the coaches that if you mess up during a game you’ll be able to bounce back right away.