Category Archives: Serving

Nov 10

Can you serve 3 volleyballs over in a row?

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That was the question I asked my team. Every player on my college volleyball team raised their hand. It sounds easy and it is. When I put them to the test, we failed over and over and over again. It’s just 3 in a row!

Here’s the volleyball drill:
1. Ask the question, can you serve 3 in a row?
2. Line up your team, each person with a ball… We have 19 players, which ends up being 57 in a row as a team.
3. Tell them the rules, each person serves one ball at a time and goes to the back of the line. I didn’t call a serving zone, I only told them they had to serve aggressive… No lollipop serves or I’d count it as a miss. We track the total on the scoreboard to increase pressure.
4. Once a player misses, the whole team runs. I make it progressive, start at 5 line touches and increase by 1 each time they have to run.
5. Start over at zero on the scoreboard and with the next person in line before the miss(players will start hiding in the back so they won’t have to serve)

My assistant approached me with this drill. I thought it would be a piece of cake. I actually had plans to modify it to make it harder once we got it the first time through, but to my amazement, my team couldn’t do it. Over and over and over again somebody missed.

The great things I loved about this drill are that it makes players serve under pressure, while they are tired and when they are in a position to let the team down. Mental skills!

It probably didn’t help my team that I kept saying to them as they were running, “Come on… It’s only 3 serves in a row…. Everybody said they could do it.”

Oct 27

Butterfly passing volleyball drill

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Get some ball control!

 

Step 1. Passer is using platform only to pass to setter. Setter must set the ball to the server, who bumps it over to the passer continuously. The goal is to keep it going for 1 min. If you drop it before a minute, start over until you get it for a minute.
Step 2. Passer is using hands only. Goal: 1 minute
Step 3. (Very tough) The server is now hitting a downball to the passer instead of a pass. Passer can either set or use their platform. Goal: 1 minute (But 30 sec is still good)

May 10

Are you warming up incorrectly?

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Got a big volleyball game coming up? Here is a GREAT article on warming up. Specifically using a dynamic warmup prior to a volleyball game.

Volleyball Warm-Up Do’s and Dont’s with Kari Schneider
How is your warm-up working for you? Are you sitting around stretching your hamstrings? Are you jogging in circles? Should you stretch statically or dynamically? Let me just tell you…

Here is the question…How should an athlete warm-up and what type of stretching should they do pre-workout or match and post? I have been asked this question so many times that my answer is pretty rehearsed by now-so here is the short version… After working with thousands of athletes and clients my answer is simple, pre training or competition is dynamic and post is static. Now of course there is always the exception to the rule but I’ll give you some of the reasons why I have answered this way.

Read more on Volleywood…

Apr 13

How to serve a top spin

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I ran across this article on Volleyball.com and thought I’d share it.

How to serve a top spin

A top spin refers to the top of the volley ball spinning forward. It can be a difficult hit that has a great pay off. The ball dives suddenly in front of the opposing team and looks impressive and is often mistaken for a ball going past the end line.

There are some tips that apply to almost all serves, and they apply to the top spin as well. Always use follow through when hitting, which means when serving don’t plan to stop the motion of your arm when making contact. Aim beyond the ball, and hit like the ball is a few feet beyond where it is. Keep your eyes on the ball. Focus on the hit.

The actual motion offers a few techniques that can sometimes take people a few years to learn. A good tip is to practice with a small ball, like a baseball, and flick it against a wall repeatedly.

  1. You need to position yourself so that you are under the ball to hit it. Some players throw it behind the back, or use different hands. The thing to remember is to be under the ball as it arcs upwards, so that you can apply the perfect motion to the perfect spot.
  2. Hit the ball with your hand open, the arm firm but the wrist relaxed. Your arm should be fully extended at the point of contact. Aim for the bottom center of the ball.
The rest of this article can be found under How to Serve a Top Spin on Volleyball.com.

But, I’m more a float serving gal myself. Kindred spirits, check out our post on float serves.

Jan 24

Ask Danielle about volleyball

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I recently got a question from a frustrated high school volleyball coach in Canada. His team competes (well) the whole match and loses in the final points of the game, which he attributes to weak serving. He mentions that his young high school players buckle under the pressure and send nice, easy lobbed serves to the other team. Any good team would take advantage of a serve like this and return it with full force.

My advice to him was:

Dear Sir,
I understand what you’re going through. It seems common for younger players to buckle under pressure. I’ve dealt with that most of my coaching career. The only way they’ll truly get past the stress is

by being familiar with those situations. My suggestion to you is to put them in high pressure situations at practice.

In drills, have the starters be down a number of points so they have to fight for a comeback to win (with a consequence, of course). But I’ve also done pressure serving drills. You can run this a number of ways.

1. Have all the girls on the end line with a ball. One by one, they each have to serve an aggressive ball to the zone of your choosing. The girl (captain) who serves first must serve twice. Once to lead off, once to conclude. If you have 9 girls, tell them they must complete 9 tough serves… that means 9/10 must be tough (per your standards).

2. You could pick 1-3 player(s) at the end of each practice and say, “If these players make the (tough) serves I call, practice is over. If they don’t, we run.”

Good luck with your upcoming season.

Danielle

These are just a couple tips for this coach to try to help get his team past the “fear” of serving aggressively at the end of close matches. Do you do it differently? Tell me about it.

Or… maybe you have a specific question for your team? Comment below or email me in the contact form on the right.