Pro volleyball taping: how the best players tape their fingers

Volleyball players tape their fingers to prevent bruising and impact fractures from the ball. It isn't a look and it isn't a trend copied off the pros: the tape limits how far the finger joints can move and absorbs part of the hit, especially on the block and in passing.

Why volleyball players tape their fingers

Anyone playing competitively takes dozens of high-speed balls on the hands every match. The fingers are the most exposed part: one awkward contact on the block is enough to pick up a sprain or, in the worst cases, a fracture.

Cloth tape — the classic white kind you buy at a pharmacy or a sports shop — cuts down joint play and spreads the impact. It doesn't remove the risk, it lowers it.

How to tape your fingers

Rule number one: your hands have to be completely dry, otherwise the tape won't hold.

1. Cut the tape into strips of about 10 cm.
2. Wrap one strip between the proximal and middle phalanx, and a second between the middle and distal phalanx. Those are the two joints that work hardest.
3. Pull it firm but not too tight: the wrap has to prevent bruising, not block circulation. If the finger changes colour, you've pulled too hard.
4. With shorter strips, about 3 cm, wrap perpendicular to the finger around the nail area, to protect it from direct hits.

Which fingers to tape

Usually the index, ring and little finger, which are the most exposed to injury. Taping all of them is a personal choice and depends on how sensitive you are and what position you play.

Worth saying: taping mainly makes sense in high-level competitive volleyball, where spikes come in hard and the risk is real. In a game with friends it's almost always unnecessary.

Fingers get protected with tape. Knees don't

Tape covers the part of the body most exposed to hits, but in volleyball most overuse injuries come from somewhere else: knees, ankles and shoulder, the structures that absorb hundreds of landings and thousands of overhead movements. Those don't get taped, they get strengthened.

In the JHP membership (€99 a year, 13 programmes with plans and video for every exercise) the prevention side includes:

• Knee Power — knee strengthening and jumper's knee prevention (€40)
• La Bibbia dello Stretching — over 50 dynamic and static stretching exercises (€20)
• Volley PowerShot — arm power on the attack, working on shoulder stability too (€40)

First though: how high do you jump?

The load your knees absorb on every landing depends on how high you get. With the JHP jump test you find out in two minutes, free: you upload a two-second video of yourself jumping and get the height in centimetres. The video never leaves your phone.

You might also like: knee pain in volleyball and what causes shoulder pain in volleyball players.