Tag Archives: Ball Control

Dec 20

Serving and Passing Volleyball Drills: simple… but necessary

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I tell my club and high school volleyball teams all the time, “Nobody wants to put in the time, but the ones that do are the best.”

What am I talking about? Serving and passing volleyball drills. Over and over and over and over…. There’s not a lot of flash in passing, but it takes reps to make great habits.

This volleyball drill is very simple. But there’s a lot going too. 3 passers on each side, a setter on each side getting reps and servers on each end. Servers have carts full of volleyballs to make sure they can keep serving at a rapid rate. Passers pass to the setter and the setter sets the ball to a location.

We usually switch spots every couple of minutes to help keep it fresh. This is a great volleyball drill that we will usually do the day after a long night of matches to clear our heads and find a good passing rhythm.

Nov 30

A ladder in a volleyball drill?

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I think many of you know by now how much I like repetition.

Ok. Not that kind of repetition. I’m talking about in volleyball. Like this Ladder Drill. This type of repetition is not annoying at all. Actually, it’s kinda fun.

1. Line up some girls at the net. We have 3 on one side and 2 on the other side (but you do what you can with your number of players).
2. The rest of the players line up on one side at the 10′ line with a volleyball.
3. Pass and shuffle through the tossers and when you get to the end, pass to yourself as you walk around the net and continue on the other side.
4. After one round, switch to passing from 15-18′ back. Repeat step 3.
5. Now, switch to setting at the 10′ line. Repeat step 3 (but with sets of course).
6. Now, step back to 15-18′ again. Repeat step 3 (again, with sets).

If you like to stress repetition (and you should). This is the perfect drill for your team. Even the targets are getting reps while they stand there. I LOVE repetition. It is KEY to improving your game.

Now get to practice!

Nov 21

Are you getting enough reps during warmup?

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Pass to yourself, set to your partner.

Wait a minute… “pass to yourself”?

Now, I know, in a game you wouldn’t typically pass to yourself… but there will be a time when you will need to crack your platform (bending your elbows) almost that much to keep the ball from crossing the net. PLUS, this ball control drill is good for repetition during warming up. Get more of a variety of reps in a drill like this.

It’s also very simple to master. As my 7-year-old would say, “Easy peasy lemon squeezy.”

There are many combinations of hits you could apply to this type of drill, can you think of any?

Nov 03

Blockers, can you react in time?

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Ever been told you have cat-like reflexes? (or maybe you tell yourself that) Then Reaction Blocking is just for you!

Put 3 coaches on one side (each with a cart of volleyballs) and group of high school volleyball players (or club volleyball players, I guess) on the other. Coaches take turns hitting the ball into the defense. Blockers must read and react to block the coaches. After the ball is “defended,” the team side must transition and play it out. See below.

Obviously this drill is a little more fast paced than in a game situation (in the eyes of a blocker) because they won’t have the longer amount of time to read the pass and then the setter… But sometimes, it’s good to speed things up a little. In my opinion, the blockers will be more than able to get to the block on time in a game after practicing blocking drills like this. Plus, they’ll have NO excuse for being late!