Okay, so I’ve been trying to get better at recording my volleyball games. It’s super helpful for seeing what I’m doing right, and especially what I’m doing wrong. I tried a bunch of different things, and here’s what I found worked best, at least for me.
My First Attempts (and Fails)
At first, I just propped my phone up on my water bottle. Big mistake. The angle was terrible, I kept bumping it, and half the time you couldn’t even see the court. Then I tried asking my friends to film, but honestly, bless their hearts, they weren’t much better. Shaky footage, missing key plays…it was a mess.
Getting a Bit More Serious
So, I knew I needed something more stable. I looked at some fancy tripods, but they were way too expensive. Finally, I found this simple phone tripod on some online shop for like twenty bucks. It’s not super tall, but it’s sturdy, and that made a HUGE difference. It has these bendy legs, that I can adjust and set down.
- Game Changer #1: Stable Footage! No more shaky cam.
The next problem was the angle. Even with the tripod, I was still getting a lot of the floor and not enough of the action. Then I remembered this old clip-on wide-angle lens I had for my phone. I dug it out, clipped it on, and boom! Suddenly, I could see the whole court, even when I was close to the net.
- Game Changer #2: Wider View! I could see everything happening.
Placement is Key
I also figured out that where I put the tripod was super important. At first, I was putting it right behind the baseline, but that meant I was often blocking the view of the line judge (oops!). Then I started putting it off to the side, near the attack line. That gave me a good angle of the whole court, and I wasn’t in anyone’s way.
Another thing, is try to find a higher position. I usually look around the court to see if there is any bleachers or platform that are unused, so I can put my tripod and phone there to film. It helps a lot.
The Results?
I can’t use the videos to make highlight reels for the internet, it’s not that good. But, for seeing myself playing, It’s awesome! I’ve already spotted a few things in my footwork that I need to work on. Plus, it’s just fun to watch the games back later.
I found that recording games is one of the best ways to improve my volleyball skills. Using a cheap tripod and my old phone, the quality is good enough for my use, which is to improve my techiniques and gameplay. By reviewing the games I found so many ways to improve, and that’s the best result.
