How Tall Is Tall Enough?

Height is a big deal when it comes to recruiting volleyball athletes at all levels of college. Height certainly can give you an advantage in some areas. "Recruit Height" is often a phrase repeated by coaches, or similarly, "You can't coach height!" This is true and height continues to be one of the deciding factors when it comes to recruiting at the highest level. It trickles down into other levels as well.

I think one of the mistakes made by athletes when it comes to recruiting is to make height the only factor, or maybe the deciding factor in your position and potential level to play college volleyball. It is a qualifier, but it is not always THE qualifier. Just take for instance the best OH in the Pac12 the last couple years from Utah; she is 6'. Now, that might be "tall" for some people, but according to some schools within that conference she is classified as an "undersized" outside (for more on this go HERE to listen to my podcast). Regardless, you can be the best hitter in the Pac12 at only 6'. You can also be the best player in the ACC and never touch above 10'. According to the coaching staff at Pitt, the best player on their roster and the best player in the conference never tested above 9'7" in their gym for her vertical. Jumping ability is A factor, but it isn't the ONLY factor. What I have been communicating to parents more recently is this notion of overall physicality.

Physicality tends to be more of a combination of ALL the factors:

Height

Vertical

foot-speed

arm-speed

...just to name a few.

Because 6'2" is only going to get you so far if you can only hit the ball 15mph.

Just an example.

Coaches tend to look for a combination of as many factors as they can in athletes. They aren't JUST looking for height. What it all comes down to is the ability to score points. Scoring points is really the only things that matters in the sport of volleyball; that and keeping the other team from scoring points.

If you can't earn points in this sport, then you will lose. College coaches hate losing.

One things that gets discussed often is the notion that an athlete is only "this tall" so she can only play "this position" or she can't play at "this level" and we pigeon-hole athletes in some ways when we do this. Not only are there more factors to this when it comes to recruiting (as mentioned above) but we have to set the situation or foundation for what we are talking about to begin with.

This statement : "She's too small to play OH"

Now this might be a true statement in and of itself, but what/who are we comparing her too and in what situation? The context of what we are talking about here is important. Even in the context of D1. There are a wide variety of heights in the OH position across all levels and especially in D1. The difference between the #1 team in the NCAA D1 and the #300 team is huge and very drastic. Their OH's might even be pretty close in height, but the overall level is drastically different. Even at the D2 level. A 5'10" OH might be too small for some coaches. In order to compete in their conference or at the NCAA tournament they might think they need some more height. Of course they are looking for arm-speed and foot-speed as well. Most likely they will be able to find the athlete they are looking for with the physicality requirements they are trying to find. But a 5'10" OH that can play 6 rotations and has a good arm might be a really good fit for many D2 schools. She might even be a good fit for some D1 schools. Part of that comes down to the fit of the school as a whole and the offensive system that program is running. Not all 5'10" or 6'0" athletes are built the same.

Context is important...always. When we say "D1" are we talking about the tp 5-10 conferences in the country or are we talking about the bottom 5-10 conferences? D2 works the same way. There is always a vast discrepancy top to bottom across conferences and divisions.

In the end, we can't make assumptions about players solely based on their height. It's part of it. Often a big piece. It's why when your 6'1" at 14 years old, you probably get some more attention than your 5'8" teammates; athletes don't usually get shorter. But there is more to it than that. Size, strength and speed, along with an overall ability to play the sport is what college coaches are really evaluating. Remember that this is a sport where scoring points is of top concern for coaches.

Can you score points?

This is the question that we should be asking.

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