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The Best Volleyball Equipment for Coaches — Complete Buying Guide

  • Writer: Mike Haskins
    Mike Haskins
  • 5 days ago
  • 5 min read
This post contains affiliate links, including links to products on Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. If you buy something through one of these links, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products I'd genuinely point a coach toward.

If you just took over a team and you're staring at a budget, a list of things you apparently need, and no idea where to start — this guide is for you.

It's also for the coach who's been running practices with a mismatched set of balls and a net that requires three adults and a prayer to put up. This guide covers every equipment category a volleyball coach deals with: balls, nets, training aids, shoes, and the carts and hoppers that keep practice running smoothly.

Indoor vs. Beach Volleyball Equipment: What's Different

Before buying anything, you need to know which game you're coaching. Indoor and beach volleyball share the same sport in name, but the equipment is not interchangeable.

Indoor volleyball is played on a hardwood or sport-tile surface, with 6 players per side, a higher net (7'11⅝" for men, 7'4⅛" for women at most levels), and a ball designed for controlled indoor play.

Beach volleyball is played 2-on-2 on sand with a ball that's meaningfully different: beach balls are larger in circumference, lighter in weight, and have rougher panels to handle outdoor conditions, wind, and moisture.

If you coach indoor, don't buy outdoor balls for practice. The feel, weight, and bounce are different enough that training on the wrong ball creates habits that transfer badly.

Best Volleyballs by Skill Level

Training Balls

Training balls are what you stock the cart with. They'll get dropped, rolled under bleachers, and occasionally sat on. Durability matters more than feel here.

What to look for: Machine-stitched panels, butyl bladders (retain pressure better than rubber), and a composite leather or microfiber cover.

Budget pick (under $30): The Tachikara SV-5WSC is a standard indoor training ball that appears consistently in multiple volleyball equipment roundups. It's not a premium feel, but it holds up to high-repetition practice.

Mid-range pick ($40–$70): The Mikasa VQ2000 is positioned as a step up from entry-level training balls. Multiple sources note its panel construction and pressure retention.

Premium training pick ($70+): The Molten Super Touch is cited in several coaching equipment guides as a ball coaches move to when they want practice feel to match game feel.

Competition Balls

Competition balls are what you use for scrimmages, game simulations, and anything you want to feel like match play. Most leagues and governing bodies specify which ball is approved.

The Mikasa MVA200 is the current official ball of FIVB, the Olympics, and major international competition. Multiple sources cite its dimple-textured panels as contributing to a more predictable flight path.

The Molten FLISTATEC is the official ball of the NCAA. If your players are moving in that direction, it's worth knowing.

Youth Volleyballs

For middle school and younger players — generally ages 8–12 — full-size volleyballs are a common source of early discouragement. They're too heavy for younger players to control, and repeated forearm contacts leads to soreness that's avoidable.

The Tachikara Soft Volleyball and similar soft-touch youth balls appear across multiple sources as standard recommendations for programs working with young or beginner players.

Volleyball Nets and Systems

Portable Indoor Net Systems

Portable systems use freestanding poles with weighted bases or guy-wire tension. They're the right choice for a gym that doesn't have dedicated volleyball posts.

What to look for: Height adjustability, base weight and stability, tension system (crank or ratchet is better than bungee-only), and pack-down time.

The Cobra portable volleyball system is referenced in multiple equipment roundups for club and school use. It uses a crank tension system and adjustable poles.

Cobra portable volleyball system at Online Sports — https://www.onlinesports.com/?utm_source=coachvb&utm_medium=affiliate

For programs on a tighter budget, Park and Sun's portable systems appear in several rec and school volleyball equipment guides as an entry point that still gives adequate stability.

Park and Sun portable volleyball set on Amazon — https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Park+Sun+volleyball+portable+net&tag=coachvb-20

Permanent Indoor Net Systems

If your gym has dedicated volleyball posts, the net itself is the main variable. Regulation indoor nets are 1m wide, 9.5–10m long, with antennas at the sidelines. Tanaka and Bison are manufacturer names that appear repeatedly in sources covering school and institutional volleyball equipment.

Beach and Outdoor Nets

Beach nets need to handle wind, UV exposure, and the repeated stress of an outdoor environment. Park and Sun comes up consistently in beach volleyball setup guides.

Park and Sun beach volleyball set on Amazon — https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Park+Sun+beach+volleyball+net&tag=coachvb-20

Coaching Tools: Ball Carts, Hoppers, and Training Aids

Ball Carts

Ball carts are the standard storage and transport solution for programs with 12 or more balls. A standard cart holds 24–30 volleyballs and rolls easily across a gym floor.

What to look for: Capacity (24 balls minimum), wheel quality (larger wheels handle floor transitions better), and ball retention.

Ball Hoppers

A ball hopper is the portable version of a cart — smaller, lighter, used for serving lines and station drills. A standard hopper holds 12–18 balls. Collapsible wire hoppers are the most common format.

Training Aids

  • Serving targets: A net or floor target system for serving practice. Extremely useful, very low cost.

  • Passing trainers: Resistance bands and harness systems. Not the first thing a new program should buy.

  • Agility ladders and cones: Standard movement training tools. Buy the cheap ones.

Volleyball Shoes — What Coaches Recommend for Their Players

Volleyball shoes matter because: gum rubber outsoles provide lateral grip that running shoe outsoles don't, ankle support in volleyball shoes accounts for the repetitive jumping and landing load pattern, and the low-profile heel-to-toe drop keeps players closer to the ground.

Asics and Mizuno are the two names that come up most consistently across volleyball shoe recommendation sources.

Budget vs. Performance: How to Think About Equipment Spending

  • Balls: Buy the best training balls you can afford, in sufficient quantity. A set of 12 mid-range balls is more useful than 6 premium balls.

  • Nets: Don't buy the cheapest portable net system. A net that sags or tips creates safety hazards. Mid-range here is worth it.

  • Ball carts: Buy once, buy decent. A good ball cart lasts a decade.

  • Training aids: Buy cheap agility ladders and cones, buy a few good serving targets, hold off on more complex aids until you know which drills you actually run.

  • Shoes: Recommend Asics or Mizuno entry-level, and explain why the category matters.

Where to Buy: All Volleyball vs. Online Sports vs. Amazon

All Volleyball is the best first stop for volleyball-specific equipment. They carry Mikasa, Molten, Asics, Mizuno — the actual brands coaches use — and their inventory is volleyball-focused.

Online Sports has a broader catalog and, importantly, a 60-day cookie — meaning if you click a link and come back within 60 days to purchase, the commission still counts. That long window makes it the right affiliate choice for considered purchases like nets and training systems.

Amazon is the fallback for everything else — widely available, fast shipping, and a reliable return policy when something doesn't work. Their 3% sports commission and 24-hour cookie means it's less lucrative for the site, but when an item isn't available elsewhere, it's the right answer.

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