The Art of Coaching Volleyball

As each new season approaches, the coaching staff should spend as much time studying the teaching they will use and what they will teach. Each coach should be familiar with his or her teaching techniques and then evaluate the effectiveness of these methods and make needed adjustments accordingly. A positive attitude is one of the […] The post Develop adaptable athletes appeared first on The Art of Coaching Volleyball.

Work on your outside hitters approach with this out-of-system drill where your setter determines placement, timing, and speed that your hitters then need to adjust to. The post Attacking strategy and fundamentals: Out-of-system drill appeared first on The Art of Coaching Volleyball.

Clinician: Diane Flick-Williams - Western Washington University The post Establishing a Base Defense appeared first on The Art of Coaching Volleyball.

To keep the desire to train and drill high during the long off-season you can use a simple method that has been proven effective for treating the overweight and rehabilitating heart patients. It's called contracting. Recommendation: Behavior contracting is a sure way to avoid staleness and can be readily applied to enhance training and practice […] The post Contract to improve practice appeared first on The Art of Coaching Volleyball.

Alisha Glass, three-time national champion at Penn State and the starting setter at the 2016 U.S. Olympic team, demonstrates two setting drills that have elevated her to becoming an AVCA All American and a member of the USA Women's National Team since 2010. The best part? Neither of these drills need a court and can […] The post Two at-home setting drills from Olympian Alisha Glass appeared first on The Art of Coaching Volleyball.

    Clinician: Laurie Eisler The post Happy Feet appeared first on The Art of Coaching Volleyball.

Ryan Hofer of Trinity Western Athletics and Kerry MacDonald of Volleyball Canada recommend that experienced and inexperienced coaches alike try to learn from coaches they respect, by attending an open gym, scrimmage or practice. Coaches like to share their wisdom and their techniques, but many don't get asked if another coach can attend their practices. […] The post Coaching tip: Find somebody you want to learn from appeared first on The Art of Coaching Volleyball.

Mark Barnard of Oregon State University shows a simple passing progression drill that helps players get passing repetitions from different serving angles. Three passers line up in the back row with one setter in left front. One at a time, a server from the right back (Zone 1) serves one ball to left back, then […] The post Receiving serves from different angles appeared first on The Art of Coaching Volleyball.

From an organizational and leadership standpoint, there are many reasons why some business organizations fail to perform at the level they are capable of. Some of these very same factors can also contribute to the lack of success for athlete teams. Here are the top 9 reasons: 1) Unclear direction or purpose. 2) Faulty strategy. […] The post 9 reasons teams fail to reach their potential appeared first on The Art of Coaching Volleyball.

Christy Johnson Lynch of Iowa State University uses rapid fire setting to teach her setters proper footwork for getting to the ball. The emphasis on each tossed ball is getting the feet behind the ball and having hands poised and ready to set the ball above the forehead. First, have the setter catch the ball […] The post Keeping it quick: Rapid fire setting appeared first on The Art of Coaching Volleyball.

Russ Rose of Penn State talks about the basics of individual defense, which includes reading the ball, getting into the right position, and being stopped at the point of contact. Rose says it is much easier to react when you're stopped, rather than still moving to the right position. Defensive stance: Heels slightly off the […] The post Individual defensive positioning appeared first on The Art of Coaching Volleyball.

Michael Sopocy, Head Coach at North Park University, demonstrates several pre-game drills that incorporate both hitting lines and defenders. Drill #1: Three defenders and one setter set up on one side, against a line of outside hitters on the other side of the net. One of those hitters starts at the net and simulates a […] The post A better alternative to hitting lines for warm-up appeared first on The Art of Coaching Volleyball.

Dani Busboom Kelly, Head Coach at the University of Louisville, has a special tool for her liberos and defenders: what she calls a "setter board." Set the board up in the right back position, where the setter would normally be releasing from. One player or coach hits driven balls at the board. One at a […] The post Libero setting: The setter board & the two shoot appeared first on The Art of Coaching Volleyball.

The following is a case study of a player type who has problems listening to teammates and coaches. Her name is non-listening Nancy. This player frustrates you and her teammates. She seems so sure that she always knows exactly how to do things that she interrupts anyone who tries to talk. It may look like […] The post Ways to improve a player’s communication appeared first on The Art of Coaching Volleyball.

Stein Metzger of UCLA Beach Volleyball is a big advocate of “baby court,” or “short court” play. Many coaches are fans of shortening the length and width of the beach court by about a meter, forcing their players to be accurate with the placement of their shots. When Metzger does this, he also chooses to […] The post Logistics & benefits of a baby court for beach appeared first on The Art of Coaching Volleyball.