The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of different training surfaces (hard or sand surface) on agility and passing skills of prepubescent female volleyball players. 45 prepubescent girls (age: 11.1 ± 0.5 years) participated in this study and were separated in three groups. Groups S (N=15) and I (N=15) consisted of volleyball players, while group C (N=15) consisted of girls that had no volleyball training experience. All groups participated in a 10-week (3 days/week) volleyball training program that included technical and passing skills exercises. The program of groups S and I also included jumping and sprinting exercises. The training program of group S was conducted on sand surface, while groups I and C trained on hard surface. Measurements of agility (T-test and 505-test) and passing skills were conducted on both hard and sand surface before, in the middle (5 th week) and after the end of the training program for groups S and I. Group C was tested only on hard surface before and after the training period. Data were analyzed using two-way ANOVA for independent samples. Agility T-test and 505-test were significantly (p<0.001) improved in all three groups after the 10-week training program. Agility improvement of group S was significantly (p<0.001) greater than the other two groups (I and C), regardless of the surface (hard or sand) that the test was executed. Group S achieved greater improvements than the other two groups in passing skills too. All three groups were significantly (p<0.001) improved in overhead and forearm passing accuracy after the 10-week training period, but it was group S that achieved the greatest improvement, regardless of the (hard or sand) that the test was executed. In conclusion training on sand surface could be a useful and effective tool for improving agility and passing skills in prepubescent female volleyball players.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the impact of training surface in agility of prepubescent volleyball players.Thirty female prepubescent volleyball players (age: 11.2 ± 0.6yrs) took part in this study and were randomly allocated in two groups. Group A (N=15) participated in a 10 week training programme in sand surface, while group B (N=15) participated in a same programme in land surface. Measurements of agility (T-Test & Illinois) were conducted before (pre) and after (post) the training period. Subjects performed the agility tests on the land (L condition) and on the sand (S condition). Differences in agility pre -post training, between the conditions and between the groups were analysed using T-test. Agility T-Test and Illinois did not differ significantly in both groups in pre condition, but were significantly improved in post (p< 0.001). Group A achieved greater improvement in T-Test in both L and S condition compared to group B (S condition: A= 15.0 ± 0.1 vs. B= 17.2 ± 0.2sec, p< 0.0001 and L condition: A= 13.2 ± 0.1 vs. B= 14.4 ± 0.1sec, p< 0.0001). In accordance were the results for Illinois test (S condition: A= 21.4 ± 0.2 vs. B= 22.3 ± 0.1sec, p< 0.0001 and L condition: A= 20.2 ± 0.1 vs. B= 21.1 ± 0.2sec, p< 0.0001).Despite the fact that agility was improved in both groups after the 10-week training program, the much greater improvement achieved in group A suggest that the training surface may play an important role.

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The purpose of this study was to identify the technical volleyball elements participating and contributing to the victory in the qualifying matches for the 2021 CEV European Men's and Women's Championship and lead to the best scoring position and qualification to the final stage. The sample consisted of the matches of the 8 teams (4 Men and 4 Women) who participated in the qualifying matches for the European Men's and Women's Championships Confédération Européenne de Volleyball (CEV) 2021. The data was analyzed using the official software of the European Confederation (CEV) (Data Volley 2 Professional). The data was then further analyzed using the SPSS 21.0 statistical package with the help of descriptive statistical analysis. Statistically significant differences were found between the teams that won and qualified for the European Championship of CEV 2021 in ‘‘reception error’’ and ‘‘attack error’’ and between the men's and women's volleyball teams in service error attack points. In addition, based on the results of this study, all coaches should focus and organize training with exercises related to these technical skills that lead to victory and qualification to improve the ability of their players to win the matches.