Monthly Archives: July 2010

Jul 15

Swing Block Progressions

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What is a Swing Block Progression? Let’s define it.

Swing: move or cause to move back and forth or from side to side
Block: to stop a blow or ball from finding its mark
Progression: a movement or development toward a destination or a more advanced state

I know. I know. Those are just definitions of words. But when you put them together, you have a Swing Block Progression volleyball drill, which is a super awesome way to get better at being a wall! I.E. Levels of a drill practicing the movements back and forth to stop the volleyball’s path.

Remember when we demonstrated the steps for a middle hitter swing block and an outside hitter swing block? (If not, I linked to them so just click the link for a refresher.)

Here are 2 progression drills to practice those impenetrable blocks.

First is simply back and forth, back and forth. This is very effective because repetition is key.

I know what you’re thinking. “I’ve been conditioning all summer, that stuff is easy!” Ok then, hot shot, try this one on for size. We’ve added an approach in the middle. That’ll get your blood pumpin’.

If you’re still thinking, “Look I’m in Misty May-Treanor shape. Give me a real challenge.”

To you I say, Hit me with your best shot. Do you have an idea for progression number 3?

Jul 12

Summer volleyball: a time for building

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As a coach, one of my big areas of focus is team chemistry. I believe good volleyball teams can be great when teammates “click.” The thing about chemistry is that you can’t just create it, you have to develop it. Here are some things that my team is doing this summer to give us an edge.

League of extraordinary volleyball players
Besides our summer weights and practices, we hosted a summer league at our school and invited 7 other schools in our area play. There’s only one thing better than playing together often… it’s playing short-handed with nothing on the line. We’ve had girls on our team gone for work, vacations, USA Volleyball Junior National Championships in Reno… you name it. We’ve had to rely on players to play outside of their comfort zone in positions they don’t play (like both of my DSs playing outside and middles playing backrow). I love this too. It creates more well rounded players and reminds them that their teammates in different positions don’t have it as easy as they might think.

Watching the pros
Recently, my whole team went to see the USA men’s volleyball team play Russia. This was a great event for my girls to see, because in Kansas they don’t normally get the chance to see men’s volleyball played at a high level.

You should have seen their eyes light up when these men hit the ball. I also loved to point out to my players the footwork and different strategies the USA men do exactly how I teach our girls. I think this helps with MY chemistry with the girls too… “maybe coach does know what he’s talking about” ;)

Summer volleyball tournament
Our grand finale this summer is a 5-hour road trip to a tournament (we were invited as a result of last year’s success). There’s something about being stuck in a car together for hours that builds relationships, not to mention hotel roomies. We went on a 14-hour road trip last year and our girls still reminisce about it today.

Yes, but, how do we pay for it all?
This summer, we want to play in tournaments and travel. That’s a lot of extra money for parents so I’ve empowered my team with the fundraising responsibilities. Together we came up with 3 fundraising ideas and I had my team roll with them.

  1. Youth mini volleyball camp. We held a 1 day, 2 hour camp for kids in grades 1-7th. I put my players in groups where they coached 4-5 campers each (my 6-year-old daughter also attended the camp-oh the benefits from Coach Dad).
  2. Garage sale. This turned out to be a huge money maker for us. The girls set everything up, ran the sale and even sold concessions during the sale.
  3. Dodgeball tournament. We didn’t have the turnout we hoped for on this, but it was fun and a good bonding experience. The girls played in it, even our coaching staff played on teams.

These fundraising events were great to give the girls ownership for our summer volleyball and even had an effect I didn’t expect. It forced many of the girls to be accountable. When one player didn’t show up, other girls were texting and calling to make sure they were going to be there. I loved it!

Whether you are a coach or player, there are plenty of activities you can do over the summer to improve your game and your team’s togetherness. What are some things your team has done to during the off season to build chemistry?

Jul 07

Multitask your hitter/setter warm-up

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As a coach, you must know how difficult it is to convince teenagers to workout in the summer, let alone in a gym with no A/C. But we managed to corral a few die hards. For this drill, our libero is the setter, our defensive specialist is playing middle hitter and our outside is eh-hem playing outside. Due to the lack of players in this gym, our girls are getting reps in positions they don’t usually play. That definitely makes for a well rounded team!

This is a skills focus volleyball drill similar to Box Approaches with Setter.The setter is practicing several different sets noted in the video. Watch as she uses the hitters’ hands as targets for her sets (not bad for a libero, huh?). The hitters are warming up their arm swing and practicing attack selection. Pick a zone for the hitters and have them aim there for a few sets and then switch it up. Both the hitters and the setter are working on ball placement.

I love to multitask. So why not apply that to volleyball? Simple drills like this leave plenty of room for modification. And of course, it’s always good to get more players doing more stuff in warmup drills – multitasking. For example, if you’re warming up your setter, instead of tossing to her, toss to a passer who can pass the volleyball to her. Then, instead of a target, put a hitter out there who can get some arm swings. Or maybe add a server who can mini-serve to the passer. See what I mean? The options are endless. Adding and taking away players can change how the drill is played.

How do you multitask you warmups?