Fit Technology: Playing Volleyball with a Fitbit

Month after month, Google tells me that people are searching for, “Can I wear a Fitbit while playing volleyball?” which is leading them here to Flecks of Lex. Since I have never explicitly answered this question on the blog, I thought today would be as good a time as any to take a moment to answer the question!

I have had a Fitbit for several years now. I first purchased a Fitbit Zip, and absolutely loved it! It clips on to you, and tracks your steps, calories burned, and distance traveled. Next, I upgraded to a Fitbit One (affiliate link), which also tracks those things, and additionally tracks your sleep and flights of stairs ascended. As a woman who has suffered from insomnia her entire life, how cool it is to be able to track my sleep pattern!

Now, I’m rocking the Fitbit Charge 3 (affiliate link). I have a lot of thoughts about wearing it for volleyball, which I’ll share below.

Okay, so now to the question: Can you wear a Fitbit while playing volleyball?

The short answer is yes.

The long answer is… maybe.

In this old photo below, I show a couple of options for where to place your clip-on Fitbit while you’re playing volleyball.

You’ll notice that I previously didn’t have any of the wristband styles. Quite frankly, at most levels of juniors volleyball, you cannot wear jewelry while playing. I definitely couldn’t wear any in college. I also couldn’t wear any as a coach while warming up my team! And so, I just never wore anything on my wrists over all of those years of volleyball.

Now that I play adult volleyball, you actually can play with jewelry in most places; however, I still don’t recommend wearing many different types of jewelry for playing sports, just generally speaking. Wearing a ring while you’re playing is for sure a quick way to a bad finger injury and a ring having to get cut off. Earrings can get caught on all types of things. I once even had a necklace end up in my mouth once when I was playing (just the charm!).

My regular position is as a setter, so having something on my wrist while trying to set can be a bit bothersome. Aside from a Fitbit, it is a rare occasion that you see me wearing anything else on my wrist when I play!

In the four years since I first wrote this post, most of my teammates have started using wearable fitness technology. Some of my friends who set prefer to hook their trackers to their sports bras or shoes because they prefer not to wear anything on their wrists, but they typically have different models of Fitbits or other tracking devices altogether.

If you’re seriously considering a Fitbit Smart Watch (Versa, Versa 2, Ionic) or Fitness Trackers (Charge 3, Inspire Family, Ace 2), I suggest visiting a store where they are sold and testing out some of your regular volleyball motions while wearing them.

Here’s a fun fact, if you do decide to purchase wearable fitness technology for volleyball: The best part about wearing a Fitbit for playing volleyball is when you can compete for steps against your teammates who also own them. It’s really fun to see who got in the most steps during a match or tournament, which can make you more aggressive and hustle after more balls.

Do you wear a Fitbit when you play volleyball? Which style do you wear? Do you compete against your teammates for steps? Do you have any questions about where or how to wear a Fitbit when playing volleyball?


Original post: June 30, 2015
Updated: September 20, 2019