Hi there


My name is David Parker and I am currently the Lead Strength and Conditioning Coach for British Volleyball.  I work for the English Institute of Sport in the Yorkshire Region which is based in Sheffield and I have been doing this job for over 3 years.  I have also been the Lead S&C Coach for Handball during this time as well.

The British Programme is a very young programme and we are trying to develop as a Volleyball nation due to the Olympic Games being baed in London in 2012.  The programme to date has been a resounding success and our Head Coaches have a vision that we will be competitive at the Olympic Games.  The Men's Head Coach (Harry Brokking) is currently working in Greece.  He was based here for 2 years and had a huge hand in developing the talent that we already had, and gaining professional contracts for most of the players in our first team.  You may see some of them around over the coming years.  The Women's programme is also starting to bear fruit with 7-8 players now in clubs around various countries of Europe and the World.

My philosophy for British Volleyball in terms of the physical development, is to develop the most robust and physically gifted players for the sport by 2012, and to put systems in place that allow for the consistent development of all players that come into the GB programme.  We are not going to beat countries by playing them at their own game, but if we are physically more gifted and robust, then we have a chance to be competitive

Thats all for now anyway.  I would love to spark up some interesting debates on the physical preparation of Volleyball players.  I would also love to hear peoples thoughts on speed and agility for Volleyball and what a successful development pathway to effective movement looks like for this sport

Best wishes

David