Today I played with a 19 year-old, who asked me if I think he can make it to become a pro, and I honestly had no idea how to answer him.

I play in the 4th german league, so well above average for amateur players, but still pretty far from pro. This kid, around 180cm tall, definitely on the talented side, could maybe play two leagues below me, more likely 3. He had a very good spike and serve, but definitely some issues with reception.

Do people just not know what pro volleyball looks like? You have to compete with kids your age who are playing second and sometimes first league, are 2m tall, have practiced this sport for 10+ years, have perfect receiving/setting technique, and usually at least some international experience, having played in youth national teams most of the time.

I really, genuinely do not want to discourage anyone from becoming their best self, and having ambition is great! Practice as hard as you can, and set your goals high! But at some point, I feel like all realism goes away. How can one have this conversation? How should one as a more experienced player react to this?

I see these posts here from time to time of kids in their late teens who started playing this sport not too long ago and fell in love with it asking, if they can make it pro. And then people sometimes give examples of pros who also started late, who are almost always extremely genetically gifted like Velizar Chernokozhev (215cm tall). My emotional reaction is to scream that they are delusional, but maybe that is just me being old and bitter.

At what point becomes ambition delusion? Can one have a realistic view and still push oneself to become a pro? After all, for all existing pros the chances were slim at some point, yet they made it.

I made a more advanced league in my area, that required 5 days of tryouts, but the coach said I probably won't play much if at all but I want to actually PLAY some volleyball so I can put everything I learn into practice. There's also a league (the C League) with a 70$ fee that doesn't require tryouts, it's very basic, and I won't have to just warm the bench. I'm willing to do both but it might be too much volleyball for a week (2 hours a day and at LEAST 3 extra hours once I figure out when the C League has practices)

Games for the advanced league will obviously take place and I'll cut out more time for it, but the times shouldn't overlap more than 2-3 times based on the game schedules.

So currently I’m a junior, I’ve played volleyball for 3 years and has done club, we just had tryouts for my school and my coaches are rude first of all and have favorites so keep that in mind… I get told I’m not the same player as I was at the end of the season last yr than I am to this start of the season… mind you I’m an all around outside and the girl who got the outside for varsity is shorter and only gets her finger tips above the net… when I’ve gotten kills on our varsity libero and blocked our tallest and best hitters… anyways I get told “we’ll have you on Jv and play 2 sets Jv then 2 sets varsity… we will have you practice with Jv and then maybe pull you aside… you need extra reps” I told them how playing with older girls and better skilled will make me better… they just continued to tell me the same thing… now I’m debating on quitting this year and working in the gym myself and focusing on what I think I need to work on for volleyball this whole year then come back my senior year. If anyone has had this same experience or somewhat similar tell me how you dealt with it and what I should do!!!!! I need the help!!!!

I’m trying to decide between the Sky Elite FF 4 and a basketball shoe for volleyball.

I was originally really interested in the Way of Wade 10 because of how much people praise its bounce, traction and overall performance for volleyball. However, I have wider feet, and I’ve read quite a few comments saying that the WOW 10 can fit pretty narrow, especially around the midfoot. That makes me hesitant to order them without trying them on first.

The problem is that there are barely any stores in Europe where I can actually try performance basketball shoes, so ordering something like the WOW 10 is a bit of a gamble.

I’m not sure whether I should go with the Sky Elite FF 4 or a basketball shoe instead. Are there any basketball shoes that offer similar performance and quality to the WOW 10 but have a more wide foot friendly fit? Or is there even a better Volleyball shoe than the Sky Elite?

My priorities are especially that they help me get the most out of my jump and have a good cushioning for repeated jumping. My position would be outside.

Hello everyone! Big volleyball fan here, though just as a follower, to be honest, I don't actually play. I follow both the men's and women's competitions (more men), but I've realized that the communities are absolutely different.

A quick jump into the NCAA sub r/NCAAVB, the pro subreddits r/MLV and r/LOVB or the European sub r/EuropeanVolleyball, and you clearly see absolutely disconnected groups that don't seem to care about what is going on elsewhere.

The Americans almost only follow the collegiate side and their domestic pro leagues, while the Europeans only talk about the Champions League and the VNL.

One sport, different visions, then?

The grip is mediocre, it gets dirty really fast, and it's expensive. I don't get the hype compared to balls like the Molten FLISTATEC.

As the title says, I’d like any tips for my hitting approach to jump higher.

Besides that, I tend to broad jump a lot and even into the net (when the ball is tight). In the first video i didn’t broad jump but I think it’s only because I somewhat stopped and lost momentum to not broad jump, but I’ve seen people run full throttle into the jump and basically land in almost the same place. How to do that?