Accurate passing is key to the success of your team.  Helping younger players pass accurately can be tough, but this drill will help. I also have many other great drills and videos to help improve passing accuracy inside my Volleyball Magic training. Check it out here:

www.volleyball-magic.com

Now, on with this drill – Providing a target and competition into a passing drill can help younger players develop the skills they need to pass with precision.

Divide your team into two teams.  Each team on different sides of the net.  Have each time line up single file in the middle of the court about 15’ back.

Have a ball cart in the middle on both sides of the net right near the net.  The goal is to receive a tossed ball from the opposite side of the net and pass it into the ball cart. You can start with a tossed ball from the same side depending on the  Age of your players.

First team to put 10 passes in the hole wins and does not have to do stairs, push-ups, lunges, suicides or whatever you choose.   Players who miss the hole retrieve their ball and return it to thrower.  You can increase the difficulty by saying they need to have 5 or 10 in a row.

In the hole is a great drill because you can move the initial passing point closer to, further away, or off to the side from the hole to vary the difficulty.  Have them pass from every position.  Position 3 (closest to the hole) can be one of the
toughest because it requires a bit more finesse.

In addition, once tossed balls have been successfully mastered you can add receiving served balls.  Once stationary passing has been achieved, you can put them on the move from side to side, back to front, front to back.  The goal of every pass is to get in the hole.

Your setters will appreciate In the Hole because you’re increasing the odds that they will get a precise pass at the desired location.  They won’t be so tired running around after errant passes.
Take a few minutes to have a look at Volleyball Magic – With all the drills, practice plans and videos, it takes all the hard work out of coaching.

www.volleyball-magic.com

Cheers
Hayley

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Drilling your volleyball team is one of the most jobs you as a coach has.  Volleyball drills are designed to take a group of individuals and forge them into a well tuned team.  Your drills should foster trust, respect and teamwork.  It is important to be flexible in your drills, however, since you may find that some drills work better for your team than others.  If you find a drill not working the way you think it should be, don’t be afraid to change it in order to get the most impact out of it.  There are ultimately 3 main types of volleyball drills you will be using for your team: technical, tactical, and conditioning drills.

Technical drills are usually used at the very beginning of the season to help build the basic skill sets needed to play volleyball.  This set of volleyball drills are designed to teach your team basic hitting, footwork, and movement skills.  You probably won’t have to use these drills as much as the other types, since the basic skills are easy to learn, and are generally easy to carry over from season to season.  Most team members will try to play for as many seasons as they can, so they will already have their basic skills drilled into them.  However, this is not to say that you should neglect the technical skills.  It is a good way to get the body to remember the movements required of it after a long off-season.

Conditioning volleyball skills are most often used in the off season.  These drills are designed to help keep the body in shape for the upcoming season.  They are designed to build endurance, strength, and speed.  During the off season, you will probably use these drills almost exclusively, so you can make them a bit harder.  If you work the team to the point that they aren’t able to play, it won’t matter as much since it isn’t even the right season.  However, conditioning drills will help train the body to be in tip top shape for the season.  By the time the season starts, if you have had your team follow a strong set of conditioning drills, you will find little, if any need to continue them.  It can be beneficial to run a few of these drills during the season to test the team’s physical readiness, however.

During the season, the most common type of drills you will run is the tactical volleyball drills.  Tactical drills are designed to work on specific plays and build teamwork.  They can be drills that are as simple as passing, setting, and spiking the ball as a cohesive unit, or as tricky as that new play you want to try out.  Working together as a team, you can teach your players to respect each other and trust that their teammates will know what to do, and be ready to do it.  Teamwork building skills are the backbone of any good training season.

Knowing the best set of volleyball drills to use will often be a practice in trial and error.  Even if you have been coaching for years, you will find that your drills are continually changing and evolving to include new elements or fix things that weren’t working.  It is important, however, to remember that these drills should always focus on teaching and training.  With the right set of volleyball drills, you will be able to mold a virtually unbeatable team.

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It can be difficult knowing exactly where to start when running volleyball drills for beginning players.  You as the coach probably have no idea what their skill level is, or you may even be teaching children who are just starting out.  Either way, you need a way to help teach your players the basics of playing, while still giving them the skills that they will be using throughout their volleyball careers.  After all, any future knowledge begins with a firm foundation of the basics.  To that end, it is a smart idea to have a set of volleyball drills at your disposal that will help teach the beginning or unknown player to help assess their particular skill level.

These volleyball drills will help form the basis for all future drills.  The first one is a simple toss and pass.  Have your players pair up and stand about 5 feet apart, facing each other.  One person has the volleyball.  Have that person toss the ball to their partner, in a slight arc.  The other player will then pass the ball back to the first player.  Have them repeat this 10 times, then switch positions, having the tosser become the passer and vice versus.  The object is to have the passers execute as perfect a pass as possible.  Go down the line, watching each pair, and correcting any mistakes that you may be seeing.  You can also use this same volleyball drill set up to work on setting.  Have one person toss the ball into the air, while the other player sets it back.  Again, you will be working on form and accuracy only.

For this next set of beginning volleyball drills, have your players standing facing a wall.  The first drill to run is a wall hitting drill.  Pick a spot on the wall and have your players toss the ball to them selves and hit it at the wall, aiming for the spot that was picked.  While hitting that spot is important, the main thrust of this drill is to work on arm movement.  You will again want to ensure that you correct any mistakes being made.  While looking for mistakes, be sure to watch for small ones too, as these can compound themselves in later drills.  The other wall drill is a wall block.  Have your players start in the blocking position in front of a wall.  They will then jump and reach as high as they can, in essence blocking the wall.  They will then land in a blocking position.  One of the main aims for this drill is to ensure that the players do not drag their hands down the wall, in essence, touching the net on their way down from a block.  Watch closely to ensure that your players maintain good form throughout the move.  These wall volleyball drills are also intended to show your players that there are things that they can work on alone, outside of practice.  Anything that your players can do to help them become better players is what you should stress to them.

No great player is born that way.  No matter how successful they are, all of the greats started out with just the basic beginning volleyball drills.  These drills helped enforce the set of skills that would serve them later in their life.  The volleyball drills here are a good beginning set of bricks to lay the rest of your volleyball program on.  When you see your players reach the Olympics in volleyball, you will know that they would never have been able to get there without the core set of movements that started with these beginning drills.

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If you ask me: the ‘best’ part about playing volleyball is the thrill of a kill. After learning how to get up in the air and blast that ball down – there’ll be no hope for you: you’ll be “hooked” to the sport.

Sooo, here’s some words of wisdom on how you can get better at powering the ball over the net. a.k.a tha’ SPIKE!

It all begins with a Good Approach…

Once you spend time learning the correct approach, you can really experience how good it feels to attack the ball!

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TWO Different Approaches….
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Today there’s two different approaches: the three step or the four step.

In the ‘old’ school you’ll see players attacking from the outside, which uses the four step.

However, if you’ve ever had a stint as a middle hitter you may quickly learn the benefits of a three step when it comes to quick sets and plays.

For right handed players the four step approach goes like this (reverse left and right for lefties): Right foot, left foot, right foot, left foot. If you prefer the three step approach, cut out the first step.

The important thing is that the last foot you land on is the ‘opposite’ of the hand you swing with.

The first two steps are “long”. They’re designed to give you momentum and speed toward the net. This is also where you establish your arm swing, which helps you elevate off the ground.

The second two steps are short and very quick. They’re to help you stop your forward movement so you don’t fly into the net.

As you complete the last two steps, your arms should both be behind you and you should be in a ‘crouched’ position like you’re getting ready to sit down.

Then swing your arms in front of you and straight up! This will propel you into the air to help you attack the ball over the net.

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Tips For The Proper Approach!
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Hold hands with one of your teammates while you practice your approaches. This helps you both keep your arms swinging all the way forward and all the way back.

Pair off.

Have one player doing their approaches toward the net while another stands on a chair on the other side of the net holding a ball at the top of the net. The player doing the approaches must grab the ball with both hands from their teammate.

Switch.

After 2 sets of 10, the person holding the ball should hold the ball from the bottom while the player practicing their approach hits it from their hand.

This will teach players how to hit on top of the ball.

Mastering your approach can take hours and hours of practice, but once you “get it” it’s a skill you’ll look forward to employing in every game you play!

To your success, on and off the volleyball court!

Hayley

www.Volleyball-Magic .co

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Once clear expectations and consequences have been communicated, you now have to live into them.

Living into them requires a relationship with your players.  If you are participating in a drill and make a mistake that requires push-ups, sit-ups or whatever, then you do whatever agreed upon consequence there is.  Even as the coach you are not above the rules and expectations of the team.

Remember you signed your name just like your players.  That builds relationship and a platform to speak to your players.

Take time to speak with all of your players individually.  In your conversations with your more gifted athletes you have an opportunity to help them make the most of what they’ve been given.  I operate under the principle that to whom much is given much is required.  I expect the all-stars or more talented ones to set the bar.

As I meet with them, I share that principle with them.  I communicate that they have been given something not everybody has.  That may mean you can play better than others but that does not mean you are better (in terms of value and worth) than others not as skilled.  (The previous article about same rules for everyone cements that).

Having the time to speak with your team one on one can be hard to find. Also having the time to focus on “who” each of your players are can be hard to find.

That’s why its so important to have everything prepared in advance of your training. In that way you’ll be able to focus on so much more than what the next drill is, or making sure the practice plan covers off team weaknesses.

And now that you have time, share with your gifted athletes that your desire would be for them to go beyond the expectations.

Give them opportunities to lead as you see them requiring more of themselves and setting that bar.

Help them understand that being gifted doesn’t mean they don’t have to work hard.  In fact, help them see being gifted may lead them to be lazy, conceited or develop an over developed since of their importance.

Hopefully, these have already been agreed upon by the team as unacceptable.

These attitudes do not promote good team chemistry or team play.

In managing the personalities of your all-stars well you will promote team unity and chemistry. That will show up on the court.  Your team will be all-star.

Warmly
Hayley
www.Volleyball-Magic .com

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