 Hey, what's up you guys? Welcome back to my channel. My name is Coach Coco, and I love volleyball. So much so, my channel's filled with tips, tricks, hacks, and anything you could ever need to know about volleyball. So today, I wanna give you 10 things that you need to know before you start playing volleyball. I know on my channel a lot, we talk about when you're playing, how to play, what to do, tips, tricks, all of that. But I wanna talk about things you need to know before. Especially since a lot of things are starting to clear up, if you know what I mean. And people are starting to think about going back into the court, so let's get right into it. So if you don't already know, my name is Coco, and I'm here on YouTube to help you learn how to play volleyball. I've been here a long time, and my channel's filled with different tips and tricks that you can use in order to become the best player that you want to be. So today, I'm gonna talk about 10 things that you need to know before you start playing. And number one, these are not in any particular order, but number one is super, super important. And what that is, is do not buy all of your volleyball equipment before you start playing. And let me tell you why. A lot of the time, I see a lot of players who get really excited about learning how to play volleyball, and then they go and they go to Dick's Sporting Goods or different stores, and they buy all of the volleyball equipment, the shoes, the ball, the jersey, the spandex, all of that, just to find out that either their team is in a different color, they got their wrong shoe, the shoe doesn't work well, they don't wanna play volleyball anymore, and then their parents or themselves are out of a lot of money. I highly suggest you wait until you either make the team, you find a recreational team, or if you find if it's really your thing. Now, not everybody who plays volleyball if they find out that it's their thing. You might like softball, you might like tennis, you might like art, you might like music, anything like that, but I highly suggest that when you first start playing, not to buy all of your equipment from the jump, because I don't want you to waste money, but at the same time, I do want you to be prepared. So, if you are joining a recreational volleyball league or something like that, then yes, invest in some volleyball shoes. But if you're wanting to become a volleyball player and you're only practicing at home right now, don't go and spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars on equipment yet until you know if it's your thing. Number two, not practicing before you try out for a team. So, a lot of the times I see a lot of players who email me and say, hey, Coco, I'm really looking forward to trying out for a team, I wanna play, I'm new, I don't know anything. And I always tell them, work on your basic skills, work on your passing, your setting, your serving, your digging, your spiking, all of that kind of stuff before you get there, because it gives you that foundation of knowledge that you need before you start playing on a team. And I love them, they're like, wow, I really need to know all of that before I start playing. Yes, I think that it's great to have just a foundation. Now, I'm not saying you gotta go and be like Hanada or anything like that, but I think that you should have a foundation of knowledge to learn how to play. So, when a coach starts working with you, they can go ahead and start building on what you are. Number three, start working on conditioning. So, for those who have never played a sport before, conditioning might be a term that you might not be too familiar with. Conditioning is the art of working on your stamina endurance. And I don't wanna say the phrase get in shape because I think any shape can play volleyball or any sport and do anything. So, let's talk about working on our stamina and endurance and doing something that makes us feel good. Conditioning is important because on the volleyball court, things can get tiring, especially if you're in a long rally and you're kinda just in it and it keeps going and it keeps going and it keeps going and you're tired and you're like, oh, this is going on forever. The better stamina endurance that you have, the better chance you have to perform well. So, working on conditioning is extremely important. Actually, on my channel, I'm gonna start doing more conditioning and health-related content on Mondays so that way we can talk about all the aspects of being a player, not just how to play, how to spike, how to serve, but how to feel good and be good while doing it. Number four, meeting the coach. We talked about this a lot. In every video, when I talk about what you need to know for your volleyball team, I always talk about meeting the coach. Meeting the coach is so extremely important, especially if you're new to the game and you've never played before. By introducing yourself to the coach, it gives them the opportunity to know number one, you're coachable, number two, you're serious, and number three, you're really looking for it to playing. It doesn't have to be something that's so nerve-wracking. You don't have to just come up and go, hi, hi coach, my name is Ashley and you don't have to do anything like that. It can just be, hey coach, my name is Ashley and I'm really looking forward to play. Thanks for having a try out. Something just like that simple, short, and sweet can get the coach's eye on you because you have to remember, sometimes if you go to a bigger school, you got a lot of people trying out and you want to stand out in the crowd. This is why I say wear a brighter shirt. But sometimes, there's a lot of people trying out and you want them to notice you. Introducing yourself is something that sometimes they don't expect and it can really give you an edge lean forward. Number five, understanding the positions. Now I don't mean you need to know exactly the entire rotation unless you're trying out for a competitive team. But understanding positions, that means understanding what does an opposite do? What does an outside do? What does a middle blocker do? What does a libero do? Things like that. So that way, when the coach is using those terms at that practice or that tryout, you don't feel overwhelmed and you're like, I don't even know what an opposite is. I don't even know what a middle blocker is. You kind of have the understanding of what those positions are and you have a better chance of knowing exactly what they're talking about because believe me, I've been there when the coach was at tryouts and she was like, okay, everybody get into rotation one. Everybody talk about the outside's gonna do this and I'm just sitting there like, I don't know what you even said. I want you to be able to kind of understand and recognize some of those terms and if you want me to make a terms related video, I can do that for you. Next thing, number six, make sure to watch some footage. Now I think that watching volleyball online is a great thing to do because it can show you some of the quirks and nuances of other players and you can kind of see some of the other players' style of play and better understand your own style of play. So one of us watching collegiate volleyball games, professional volleyball games or middle school and high school volleyball games, but I heed this warning. When you do watch professional or collegiate volleyball games, please don't get overwhelmed. Sometimes when we watch this kind of games, we can feel like our skills aren't good enough or we can feel intimidated because we're like, I don't do that. Well, I want you to remember that those players also started from the beginning. They were you at one point in time. They put a lot of work and effort into where they are now. It may have been years of dedication, years of training, so don't feel like you have to strive and achieve to be that level your first year, your second year, heck, your even your 10th year. I just want you to understand that before you start watching those games because sometimes that can happen. Number seven, join a recreational team. The YMCA is a great place to look for recreational teams or your recreational center in your area. So what you can do is you go to Google and you type in volleyball rec team near me and what that can help you do is find a place where you can learn how to get your hand on the ball and get some net time. I think it's important for everybody to get net time when they first start playing because there was no better way to learn how to play volleyball than getting in it. So I think that getting in a rec team would be on the weekends, one day a week. It's a great time for you to practice those skills that you were learning. You remember in step, what step was I? In step two. So I want you to do that. Number eight, understanding the rules a little bit. So this is different than understanding the positions. What I mean, understand the rules. I want you to work on what does a bump mean, how many serves can I have in the net? I want you to work on all those kinds of things. Refer recalls, I want you to work on what counts as in or out. What does it mean when somebody gets, what is a double, what is a carry? Things like that. Those underlying rules. So that way, once again, when the coach is talking about things, you have a better understanding. Number nine, which is so important, which is learn confidence. And I mean confidence in you. We have to remember that when you're trying something it is not always going to be easy. It is not. And that's with anything in life. Not just volleyball, but anything in life. It is not always easy. And we have to remember that even though it's not always easy, we have to keep trying. And what I mean confidence, I want you to be confident enough in yourself to try. You don't have to be perfect. In my life, I've had times in my life where I felt like I had to be perfect and it tendered me. And I have to say, you can't let fear hold you back. You really can't. And one of the things to do that is to start believing in yourself and take it one step at a time. Whether that's going to one practice or just showing up and watching, that's a step. Realize that every step is a step in the direction of your goals. Number 10, height does not matter. Now, some people might find this controversial and say, of course Coco, height matters. Volleyball players are all tall. They're all tall. You have to be tall the better and the taller the better. You know, some people might find that controversial but I'm gonna still say height doesn't matter because some of the greatest players I've ever played within my life who didn't play college, who didn't play in high school, who didn't play in middle school, who didn't play for a expensive fancy club team, they are on the shorter side, are fantastic players. And I stand by that. I think that throughout our society, we have, I don't wanna go into a huge spiel, but I feel like throughout our society we have this preconception that volleyball is, this is volleyball and this is volleyball and that's only volleyball, but that's not true. Volleyball is played in so many different aspects in so many different areas with so many different people. And I just want you to remember that even if you don't play on a school team, even if you don't play in college, even if you don't play in a traditional volleyball setting you're still playing volleyball. And that's what this channel is about and that's what volleyball is about. It's a great sport to play. Great place to meet people, great place to meet some new friends, to socialize, to working your stamina and endurance. Remember, we're not gonna say get in shape. Work on different things in your life on the court. So I think that height doesn't matter and I also think size doesn't matter. It doesn't. I've played volleyball when I was heavier, when I was fit, when I was really really skinny, I had different phases of my life and I still enjoy the same. So I really hope that you liked this video. I hope that it gave you some tips on things you should know before you start playing volleyball and you can take those tips to heart. I'm always open to video suggestions. Leave them in the comments below. And if you didn't already know, on my website, cookovolley.com I have blog posts talking about some more volleyball topics that you can look into, especially if I haven't posted a video recently. And I'm on TikTok, where I post quick tips and volleyball tricks. All right, I hope that you liked this video. Please like, comment, subscribe and I will see you guys next time.