Is Volleyball Hard? 5+ Reasons Challenges That Make Volleyball a Demanding Sport

If you’re new to volleyball, you might wonder about its sometimes frustrating difficulty.

While grasping the rules, rotations, and positions is one aspect, the challenge lies in successfully returning the ball over the net.

Volleyball’s difficulty level stems from its challenging nature for beginners to learn and its demand to master uncommon physical attributes.

Having begun as a frustrated beginner and eventually participating in international-level tournaments, I aim to elucidate why I perceive volleyball as an exceptionally challenging sport.

If this article has the potential to discourage you from playing volleyball, it suggests that you might have needed to be more suited for the sport in the first place. The exploration of “Is volleyball hard?” underscores the challenges inherent in the game, making it crucial for individuals to assess their suitability and determination before embarking on this demanding sporting journey.

Is Volleyball Considered A Hard Sport?

Is Volleyball Hard

In many respects, volleyball is a fairly easy sport.

Despite the initial perception, volleyball is not particularly physically demanding, as you find yourself effectively just standing around on a court and jumping now and then.

Throughout a match, your heart rate remains relatively low, and you’re seldom out of breath.

Certainly not considered a contact sport, unless you include the occasional occurrence of getting smacked in the face by a volleyball.

What’s the fuss about?

What’s So Hard About Volleyball?

Despite the complete truth in each of those points, numerous aspects of volleyball contribute to its inherent challenge.

Let’s run through 5 of the main challenges in volleyball.

1. Learning The Basic Skills Is Hard For Beginners…

The initial difficulty of volleyball arises from the technical challenge involved in performing the basic skills.

The initial learning curve is significant.

I will delve into the details of this one shortly.

2. The Ball Moves Way Too Quickly…

This becomes particularly frustrating at the senior men’s level of the game.

Crushing balls at over 100mph, these guys showcase remarkable skill.

Moving at over 150 feet per second, that’s a volleyball these guys are crushing.

As a backcourt defender, if the ball gets past the block by the attacker, you quite simply don’t have anywhere near enough time to react.

Ensuring that the ball stays off the ground is incredibly frustrating when your entire job is to do so, yet you can barely even see where the bloody thing is going!

3. The Better You Get, The Harder It Becomes…

The game only gets tougher as soon as you’ve started to get the hang of the basic skills.

Figuring out how to spike the ball, you are simultaneously contending with the guy on the other side of the net who is figuring out how to block properly.

While you’re finally learning how to pass the ball, the opposition is simultaneously learning how to jump serve, and you’re still getting beat.

Finally starting to grow, you begin playing against much taller opposition.

In the first couple of years I was playing, volleyball was probably the easiest it’s ever been for me.

4. You’re Handicapped By Your Height…

Standing at 6’5″ or 196cm, I was the shortest player on the junior national team, excluding the liberos.

Well, to be fair, there were three of us with the same height, but still…

I was informed that my height would likely hinder my progress in the sport, compounding the challenges I faced.

Due to being a middle blocker at 196cm, a height deemed insufficient for the senior men’s level, I had to make some drastic changes to my game, learning how to be an outside or opposite hitter.

Succeeding as a volleyballer without being crazy tall is possible; however, it’s going to be exponentially harder.

Your best hope of playing professionally, if you’re on the shorter side and dream of it, is to be a libero!

5. All The Top Players Are Physical Specimens…

Appreciating just how ridiculously big these athletes can get is truly difficult.

The tallest sport in the world is played in volleyball.

Certainly! Here’s the sentence with a post modifier:

There’s a difference between being tall and being a tall athlete.

On TV, a wiry and lanky appearance is portrayed by these individuals, but in person, a much bigger and thicker presence is observed.

Mere mortals cannot rival the muscle mass, jumping ability, and hitting power exhibited.

To make it to the top in any position other than a libero, you’ll need to be an athlete who is a specimen in themselves!

Is Volleyball Hard On Your Body?

is volleyball hard on your body

To be entirely truthful, yes and no.

I say no just because, in a non-contact sport like volleyball, you’re not exactly at risk of chronic traumatic brain injury.

I say yes due to its extreme impact on your joints.

Volleyball Is Particularly Brutal On The Knees

All the jumping will, in the end, result in your knees turning to dust.

When I trained full time at an elite volleyball academy, all 8 of us athletes in the program had knee issues throughout the ages of 15-17.

The most common problem, experienced by many of us, was patella tendinitis (jumper’s knee), with a few individuals having meniscus tears, and I believe one guy had bursitis.

From jumping and landing extensively, all of us had inflamed knees.

Shoulder Issues Are Also Common

With every volleyball spike, a significant amount of stress is placed on the shoulder joint.

It’s doubtful to find one professional volleyball player who hasn’t experienced some form of shoulder issue during their career.

Ankle Guards Are Worn For a Reason

The main issue arises when landing from a spike or block attempt, often occurring in proximity to the net where there’s a concentration of feet.

A surefire way to injure your ankle is by landing awkwardly on someone’s foot.

Due to a decade of basketball and 15 years of volleyball, there is now scar tissue on my right ankle, causing a partial inhibition of its range of motion.

What Is The Hardest Volleyball Position?

When it comes to volleyball, there’s not a whole lot of debate about which position is the toughest.

Hardest Volleyball Position

The setter is considered the hardest volleyball position due to being central to every play and bearing more responsibility than other players on the court.

The team is held together by the setter, who acts as the glue.

Responsible for delivering the ball from the passer to the perfect hitting window, they enable an attacker to put it away.

In situations where things go wrong, the blame often falls on the setter.

Is Volleyball Hard To Learn?

Due to the foreign nature of the movements involved in passing, setting, and hitting, volleyball is exceptionally difficult for beginners to learn.

Being new to the sport, you have no idea how to form a passing platform with your arms, lack the knowledge of proper setting techniques, and are likely far from mastering the skill of spiking.

Having no intuition about where to go on the court or which balls to pursue is the wors

Learning volleyball is a process that takes a long time.

Due to its intense frustration, I struggle to watch junior-level volleyball.

Similar to low-level tennis, the entire match in junior-level volleyball is a continuous repetition of errors.

Those brave and patient souls who can coach grade 8 volleyball have my utmost respect, and I take my hat off to them.

Is Beach Volleyball Harder Than Indoor?

Is Beach Volleyball Harder Than Indoor?

Beach volleyball is substantially more difficult than indoor volleyball if you thought the latter was tough.

8 reasons why beach volleyball is considered harder than indoor volleyball are presented.

1. You Only Have One Other Player On Your Team…

Due to the considerable size of the court, a higher level of accuracy is required.

2. You Have To Move On Sand…

Running on sand is crazy hard, let alone jumping.

3. It’s Way Harder To Make A Living From…

Many challenges are faced by those seeking to earn a living as beach volleyball players.

4. There’s No Substitutions…

On the court, it’s just you and your partner, and if they get injured, your tournament is over.

5. You Don’t Get A Coach…

In tournaments, it’s just you and your partner, and while playing, you’ve got to figure it out by yourselves.

6. It Can Get Hot!

In beach tournaments in Australia, I’ve played where multiple players suffered from heat stroke.

7. The Sand Can Get Hot!

On a nasty day, caution needs to be taken not only with the sun but also with the sand, which has the potential to cause first-degree burns on your feet.

On more than one occasion, sand socks have saved me.

8. You’ll Get Sand Everywhere…

Everywhere, this becomes genuinely frustrating after a while.

How Hard Is It To Make A Volleyball Team?

The factors influencing this will depend on the team you’re trying out for, the position you play, and the amount of experience you have.

Is It Hard To Make The Freshman Volleyball Team?

The seriousness with which your school takes volleyball determines the answer to this question.

The acceptance criteria for some schools are quite broad due to limited interest, while certain freshman classes may feature multiple teams with already decently experienced players.

The recommendation is to try it out regardless of your level of experience.

Is It Hard To Get A Volleyball Scholarship?

Some enlightening information is provided by some excellent data on this.

Approximately 5.7% of high school volleyball players in the USA proceed to play some level of college volleyball, according to available data.

About 1% of players, according to available data, will secure a Division 1 volleyball scholarship.

Considering international talent is not believed to be taken into account by those numbers, as per the statement.

Now more than ever, young athletes from all over the world are attempting to secure NCAA sporting scholarships, suggesting that, in reality, the competition may be a little tougher.

How Hard Is It To Make A Club Volleyball Team?

Having some interest in the sport and ideally, a little experience should make it relatively easy to get into club volleyball, as per the statement.

Most clubs typically organize multiple teams within each age group, accommodating different skill levels.

Is Volleyball Hard To Master?

During a hitting practice session, my former national team coach conveyed that, in his opinion, mastering the skill of spiking a volleyball is considered the most challenging of all sports skills.

While I question the accuracy of that statement, there are moments when it undeniably feels like spiking a volleyball is indeed one of the most challenging skills to master.

As previously noted, the game becomes increasingly challenging as one improves in volleyball proficiency.

Passing Gets Harder

The way passing is experienced undergoes a significant transformation from the initial stages of starting to play the game.

Now facing a jump serve moving at a speed of 25 meters per second.

Just to note, the volleyball court spans only 18 meters in length.

With the ball spinning and curving away, you find yourself with significantly less than a second to determine how to successfully pass it.

Hitting Gets Harder

Achieving a high level of proficiency in spiking a volleyball is exceptionally challenging.

Consider the challenge of attempting to execute a successful spike around a triple block, with each defender towering at a height of 200 centimeters.

Additionally, there is a necessity to execute attacks with exceptional speed, preventing the opposing block from getting into a favorable position.

One of the most challenging aspects for me was grappling with the timing of a fast-paced outside attack; the need to initiate the jump before the setter even made contact with the ball posed a significant hurdle.

Serving & Defending Become Harder Too

Serving appears to be an aspect that proves elusive to master, as even the top players in the world frequently find themselves making service errors.

Consistently placing the ball toss in the right spot is challenging on its own, and then there’s the added difficulty of perfecting the timing and making precise contact with the ball.

At the highest level, defenders face an exceedingly challenging task that borders on the verge of impossibility.

The reaction time required to make any form of contact with a hard-hit ball is beyond the comprehension of most individuals.

Still Want To Play Volleyball?

If, after absorbing all that information, your enthusiasm for playing only intensifies, you likely possess the qualities necessary to seriously pursue the sport.

Regardless of whether reaching the highest levels of volleyball is not in your aspirations, the game still offers a fantastic social experience, and playing it is a worthwhile endeavor.

Also Read: Hardest To Easiest Positions In Volleyball [2024]

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