Beyond The Reps: trusted information to help athletes train, recover and perform better.
We spend a lot of time designing practices, teaching technique and finding ways to get our players more touches. But here is something I have watched play out with my own athletes more than once.
You cannot out-train poor nutrition.
The International Youth Conditioning Association (IYCA) put out a new resource on fueling young athletes, and the message is one every volleyball parent should hear: training gives the body the stimulus, but what your athlete eats and drinks is a big part of how well they adapt to it.
The player who shows up on empty
According to the IYCA, the athlete who arrives dehydrated, skips breakfast, does not eat before practice or misses recovery nutrition will never get the full benefit of the work being done on the court, in the weight room or in the backyard.
I see it in the little things. The player who is sharp for the first twenty minutes and then flat. The one who gets sloppy with her platform late in practice. The one who is sore for two days after a tournament. Coaching helps with all of that, but sometimes the real fix happened, or did not happen, at the kitchen table.
Four gaps that quietly cost performance
The IYCA guide lists the biggest nutrition mistakes they see with youth athletes. These four are the ones I would put at the top for volleyball families:
1. Starting practice dehydrated
We covered this in the hydration guide. Water when they wake up, a bottle in the bag, and sipping through the day, not just at practice.
2. Skipping breakfast
A player who has not eaten since dinner is asking her body to focus at school all day and then perform at 6 pm on nothing. Breakfast does not need to be fancy. It needs to happen.
3. Nothing before practice
A real meal a couple of hours before, or a small snack in the last hour, gives your athlete something to run on. Straight from the school bus to the court with an empty stomach is where the late-practice fade comes from.
4. Missing recovery nutrition
The hour after a hard practice or a tournament day is when the body starts repairing. Something with protein and carbohydrates soon after training is what turns the work into progress.
A simple fueling rhythm for practice days
- Morning: water first, then breakfast.
- Two to three hours before: a normal meal with some protein, some carbohydrates and some fruit or vegetables.
- Last hour before: a light snack if the meal was a while ago. Keep it small so it sits well.
- During: water, and a snack at the break on long tournament days.
- After: protein plus carbohydrates within the hour, then a proper meal later.
Snacks that travel
These are the ones that live in my players' bags and survive a gym floor:
- Banana, apple slices or grapes
- Peanut butter sandwich or a bagel
- Yogurt, cheese sticks or chocolate milk
- Trail mix, granola bars or pretzels
- Crackers with turkey or cheese
None of that requires a sports dietitian. It requires a plan and a grocery list.
The bigger lesson
Fueling is not separate from training. It is part of training.
We can build the drills, set up the rebounder in the backyard and stack hundreds of intentional reps a week. The body still has to be ready to turn those reps into a better player. As parents and coaches, the habits we build around meals and snacks are some of the easiest wins we have.
Want to learn more?
The IYCA created a free guide called Eat to Compete: A Coach's Quick Guide to Fueling Athletes for Performance. It covers the eight biggest nutrition mistakes, a fueling timeline for practices and competition, meal and snack ideas, and sideline resources you can use with your athletes and families.
Read or download the original IYCA resource
Educational information summarized and shared by Volleyball Vortex from resources provided by the International Youth Conditioning Association (IYCA). Please visit the original source above for the complete resource and recommendations.
Keep learning. Keep training. Keep stacking intentional reps.
Coach Brandie
Volleyball Vortex
Train with purpose. Perform with confidence.