Although many people see Spandex shorts and tight shirts as part of a typical female volleyball player stereotype, they are much more than that. Each piece of a volleyball player’s cloth-ing and gear serves a special purpose that is vital to opti-mal performance in a game. For anyone who decides to play volleyball, the quality of gear and the type of cloth-ing worn should definitely be taken into consideration.

Dressing the PartA Guide to Effective

Volleyball Gear and ClothingBy: Emily Goodin

Photos by Emily Goodin

2

Obviously, any athlete places high importance on the type of shoe that he or she must play in. For volleyball specifically, the type of shoe worn is very important in order to keep from damaging a player’s knees. A very popular brand for many volleyball players is Asics, due to its comfort and mobility.

The Active Ankle is an ankle protector worn by numer-ous players to keep the ankle from rolling in game situ-ations. It has two rigid piece on either side that keep the ankle in place. These ankle supports are made to allow for mobility while simultaneously providing maximum protection and support.

Kneepads are worn to pro-tect the knees, obviously. Volleyball involves quite a bit of diving, so kneepads are necessary to prevent excessive bruising. While a few bruises never hurt any-one, a player’s knee caps may be serverely damaged from continuous diving with no protection. Of course, it is recommended by most van-driving moth-ers who transport their chil-dren to and from practice that kneepads be washed as much as possible.

Ankle and Foot Gear

Kneepads

3

Spandex was invented in 1959 and revolutionized the clothing industry with its unique elasticity. It became very obvious that Spandex could be a very useful clothing material for volleyball players. With the frequent movement and diving done by volleyball players, Spandex is worn to keep from hindering a player’s speed and mobility. While many spectators might think Spandex is worn by female volleyball players to show off their bodies, it is actually worn to also keep them safe. With six people playing in such close quarters on one side of the court, body parts could get caught on loose and baggy basketball shorts. Volleyball also involves lots of vertical jumping which is helped when a person wears tight and light Spandex material.

Spandex

Jersey Material

4

Similar to Spandex, jerseys for volleyball players must also be tight in order to keep from hindering speed and mobility. In recent years, long-sleeved jerseys have even been adopted by many volleyball teams. Although many think the sleeves would affect a player’s passing abilities, they actually help to absorb much of the sweat that develops on players arms and often makes it harder to keep their passing plat-form intact. One popular brand for jerseys is Under Armour because of its smooth elasticity.

Volleyball Vector Graphic by Emily Goodin