Returning to competitive volleyball
No, that’s definitely NOT me in the photo. I wish I had that vertical jump right now! Because of my knee injury, and my apparent inability to strengthen my core muscles ever since the injury, my vertical is not as high as it used to be. Which means, I can’t be a power hitter of the calibre shown on this photograph.
BUT
I can still be a competitive player. And I *love* being a power hitter. There’s a degree of freedom that comes from the ability to hit balls really hard. I have gone through all three positions. I began as a power hitter, then I graduated to middle blocker when my team needed a powerful block (and I was the strongest of my team) and then I went to setter when for some reason, my hitting and blocking abandoned me.
Of all three positions, I think I have always been a better power hitter. So when I participated this year in the evaluations for the VGVA Competitive I division (a division that I played in during the 2007-2008 academic year), I felt a really strange sensation. I’m fitter than ever (fitter than I was in graduate school, of course, and during the first years of my post-doctoral life) which means I was able to field balls and recover faster.
I also hit some amazing serves and kills (spikes). My volleying is better than it was in 2007-2008. BUT I feel still that there’s room for improvement. That is precisely the difference I feel and one of the reasons I’m so proud. 3 hours of gruelling evaluations each time left me with a body that aches in places I never knew it could hurt. BUT I know that if I work hard this 2011-2012, I might actually come back to the competitive level I always wanted: a similar level to when I was playing at the provincial/national junior team.
And THAT would be amazing.
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