Average Players Rest in May. Great Players Don’t.

It’s May. The school year is wrapping up, the weather is finally warming up, and the club volleyball season is winding down after Nationals or regional qualifiers.

For the average player, May is the green light to completely shut it down. It’s time to sleep in until noon, binge-watch Netflix, and forget what a volleyball even feels like.

But for the great players? May is where the real separation happens. While everyone else is resting, the future varsity captains and college commits are putting in the quiet work.

The Danger of the "May Melt"

It takes months of grueling practices, conditioning, and tournament weekends to build up your vertical, quickness, and muscle memory.

Here is the brutal truth: Your body loses conditioning twice as fast as it takes to build it.

If you take a full month off from moving your feet and jumping, you aren't just resting—you're hitting the reset button on your progress. When high school tryouts roll around in August, the players who rested in May will spend weeks just trying to get their breath back. The players who worked through May will be flying above the net.

What Great Players Actually Do in May

Choosing not to "rest" doesn't mean you should go 100 miles per hour until you burn out. Your body does need a break from the pounding of a hard gym floor. Great players don't just work harder; they work smarter.

Instead of waiting around for team practices to start back up, elite high school players dominate the month of May by taking control of their own training at home. Here is how they do it:

• Hit the Sand or Backyard: May is the perfect time to transition to beach, grass, or backyard training. Moving and jumping builds insane leg strength and explosive power. Setting up a portable Apex Sports Adjustable Volleyball Net in your yard gives you a pro-level setup to practice serving and transitions without needing a locked gym door.
• Fix the Small Mechanics: During the chaotic club season, your coach doesn't have time to spend 45 minutes fixing the slight hitch in your arm swing or adjusting your platform angle. May is the time for solo repetition. You can lock in your approach and build heavy muscle memory by using the Apex Sports Volleyball Spike Trainer to perfect your wrist snap and high-elbow contact without chasing down balls after every hit.
• Build First-Touch Consistency: Great players don't need a partner to get 500 reps a day. Setting up an Apex Sports Adjustable Volleyball Rebounder Net in the garage or driveway lets you practice rapid-fire passing and setting control. The ball comes right back to you, forcing you to maintain a steady platform and react quickly.
• Dial in Game-Like Scenarios: Don't just stand there and bump. Utilize the Apex Sports Volleyball Training Net System to set up specific target zones. Practicing your serves or sets into a defined target zone forces your brain to build the kind of focus that wins tight matches in October.

The 1% Advantage

Think about your biggest rival, or that team you just couldn’t beat at qualifiers. What are they doing right now? If they are sitting on the couch eating chips, this is your chance to catch up. If they are in the gym, you can't afford to take a month off.

Step Up Your Game

You don't need an open gym or a club coach to get better this month. All you need is the discipline to do what average players won't.

By upgrading your backyard into a personal training compound with the gear from the Apex Sports Volleyball Training Collection, you turn empty free time into a massive competitive edge.

The work you do in May is a direct investment in the wins you'll celebrate in October. Don't melt away this off-season. Step up, out-work the competition, and prove that you belong in the "great" category.

What are you going to do today to get better?