Everything One Needs to Know About a Homemade Volleyball Spike Trainer

Volleyball spike trainers are used by players to practice and enhance their skills for spiking the ball at the net. Trainers are generally made of a weighted base with a vertically upright structure consisting of a hitting arm that suspends a volleyball ball above the net on elastic cords.

Spike trainers can be of various types, some fixed, some movable with height adjustments depending on their cost. However, volleyball spike trainers are often too expensive/unaffordable for individual practice or local teams. A homemade volleyball spike trainer is easily attainable as it is made of common things easily available at home depots and sports equipment stores. 

How to make a homemade volleyball spike trainer?

These are the steps that one can follow to make a DIY volleyball spike trainer:

1. Upright and leg support

Apply pipe joint compound at one end of a pipe (of any kind) that’s used for the upright.

Then one has to screw an 11/2 inch elbow at the end of the pipe.

Secure the elbow with a pipe wrench.

Drill two holes for bolts that tighten one leg of the hitting arm.

Drill one hole 3 inches from the end of the upright and the second hole 18 inches from the first.

2. Hitting Arm

Mark locations for two 90-degree bends on a piece of conduit with a marker. The first bend should be 36 inches from one end of the piece and the other 18 inches.

Bend the conduit at a 90-degree angle at the 36-inch mark. One has to take help from someone to stabilize the conduit on the ground vertically.

Bend the opposite end of the conduit straight up to 90-degrees at the 18-inch point to form the three-sided hitting arm.

Drill a hole 2 inches from the end of the 18-inch point of the arm. Estimate 16 inches from the upper section of the arm, and drill a hole corresponding to the 36-inch leg of the arm.

Install eye bolts into each hole on the legs of the hitting arm and secure them with a wrench.

3. Assembly

Here one has to assemble the two pieces they made and attach them resulting in a vertically upright structure.

4. Base

In a mixing tub, one has to add concrete and water. Then, with the help of an assistant, they have to submerge the two ends of the vertically upright pole in the wet concrete. To provide support, they have to stand an A-Frame below the hitting arm. Allow the concrete to dry before removing the tub fully. After it is done, they have to slide the spike trainer into position at the volleyball net.

Uses of a Volleyball spike trainer:

• Improve attacks
• Enhance footwork
• Increase attack height
• Helps in improving arm-swing
• Improve height of the jump
• Helps in increasing speed

Conclusion

It might seem a little complicated to read, but in practice making a spike trainer is a cakewalk. However, with a little bit of help and patience, a homemade volleyball spike trainer can be easily achieved. It is budget-friendly as well as fully efficient like a factory-manufactured spike trainer.