Knee pads are close to universal in indoor volleyball because the sport routinely requires players to drop to the floor — diving, sliding or dropping to one or both knees — to dig a low or hard-driven ball, contact that would otherwise scrape and bruise the knees repeatedly over a season. Modern knee pads combine a soft foam or gel layer for impact absorption with a low-friction outer shell that lets a player slide across the floor smoothly rather than catching and twisting the knee on contact.
Ankle braces address the sport's most common injury: rolling or spraining an ankle, most often while landing from a jump at the net on top of another player's foot, whether a teammate's or an opponent's, during a block. Braces range from a simple elastic sleeve for light support to rigid lace-up or hinged designs that firmly restrict the ankle's inward roll, and many players who have suffered a previous sprain wear a brace preventively even after full recovery, since a first ankle sprain significantly raises the risk of a repeat injury.
Beyond the two staples
Some players also wear elbow or forearm sleeves for comfort and light protection against repeated hard-driven ball contact during passing and digging, though these are far less universal than knee pads and ankle support.
How coaches and trainers approach preventive gear
Athletic trainers generally distinguish between gear worn for genuine injury prevention and gear worn mainly for comfort: an ankle brace after a documented previous sprain is typically treated as close to mandatory by team medical staff, while decisions like which specific knee pad thickness or which elbow sleeve to wear are usually left to individual player preference. This distinction matters for younger athletes in particular, whose growth plates and joint stability differ from adults, and whose sports medicine staff often recommend preventive bracing more conservatively as a result.
