A powerful swing and serve directly relates to posture. Having poor posture can seriously limit the capability of your thoracic spine. I don’t know about you but the word “posture” makes me cringe. As a former athlete who spent 14 years in the ready position and is a member of the tall girl gang, I’ve always had poor posture. I’m constantly hunched over to hear my peers talking or feel smaller. In turn, my back hurts, my neck hurts and frankly it just looks poor.
Poor posture, forward head tilt, rounded shoulders, upper crossed syndrome, whatever you call it, creates overactive and underactive muscles which leads to imbalances and unwanted movement patterns. Imbalances and unwanted movement patterns lead directly to injury when paired with repetitive motion.
Do you exhibit any of the following?
- Arms falling forward or to side during the descent
- Head migrating forward
- Elevating or elevated shoulder blades
- Elbows flexed or challenged in keeping arms straight
If so, let’s correct these issues to get on the path to optimal performance.
Here are 4 things you can do to improve your posture and build better movement patterns:
- Massage your trap muscles with a yoga therapy ball (see mobility).
- Stretch your traps with some shoulder openers (see yoga for athletes). Tuck your chin to your chest move left ear to left shoulder. Extend your right arm away from your torso. Repeat on the other side.
- Strengthen your scapulae with a table top hover hold. Get on all fours, stack shoulders over wrists, hips over knees. Curl your toes and lift to hover your knees 2” above the gound. Press the floor away from you so the space in between your shoulder blades lift toward the sky. Hold for 10 breaths.
- Practice YTWLs (see HIIT).
Stand tall and be proud of your progress. 1% better every day and you’re on your way to looking like the beautiful peacock that you are.
Check out our videos on the portal for more volleyball specific posture and fitness coaching.
Athletes: Register for YAX Online Portal of Yoga + HIIT + Jump Training + Breathwork + Meditation for $39/month (*7 day free trial) Use Code JVA50 for 50% Off 1 month, 6 month and 12 month subscriptions.
Club Directors: Contact us at info@yogaathletex.com to discuss online training for your club! We take the hassle out of programming your performance training + yoga, so you can focus on volleyball.
View JVA’s fitness library for volleyball athletes
About the Author
Patricia Bomar is the co-owner of Yoga Athletex LLC with her sister, Kalynn Evans. She was an athlete from the age of 4, playing multiple sports competitively at the club level for 14 years. Her college years included club and intramural sports. She earned her B.S. in Sport Management from Texas A&M in 2007. While studying she worked under the TAMU Track & Field coach, as a personal trainer following the NSCA – CSCS program. At the time she was also a volleyball and softball coach and was an avid member of CrossFit. In 2013 she earned her 200 hour yoga certification and in 2015 earned her 300 hour yoga certification. Currently she has earned the ERYT500 standard. Shortly after, she became certified in Functional Movement Systems (FMSC). In 2017, she acquired her NASM – CPT certificate and continues to attend several intensives and workshops to stay up to date with current exercise science. Her latest certification was the fitness nutrition specialist (FNS) acquired through NASM. She is currently an official education provider for the National Academy of Sport Medicine, Athletics and Fitness Association of America and the Yoga Alliance. With over 17 years experience, Patricia has a strong passion for bringing the healing benefits of yoga to her fellow athletes for injury prevention and increased performance.
