The Art of Coaching Volleyball

Goeff Ebbs, Strength Coach at UMass Boston, talks what he calls "anti-rotational strength exercises" to protect the spine (which he says is more important than the shoulder). Two partners will hold on to either end of an elastic band. One player holds the band with both hands and pushes her arms out straight in front […] The post Anti-rotational strength exercises appeared first on The Art of Coaching Volleyball.

Diane Flick-Williams of Western Washington University talks about how her team practices their "failure recovery system": how do you react to your mistakes, and how can you more gracefully accept those mistakes, treat your teammates well and go forward? She recommends taking ownership amongst your teammates for your mistake and making direct eye contact with […] The post Adding a failure recovery system to your practice appeared first on The Art of Coaching Volleyball.

Check out some common mistakes that setters tend to make and ways to help your setters fix these errors. The post How to train a setter: Common mistakes appeared first on The Art of Coaching Volleyball.

Purpose: Get players warmed up in their defending positions by challenging them to dig different attacks. How it Works: All the right side defenders line up, with one player on the court and the rest of the right sides ready to file into the court. One coach will hit balls at the right side defenders, […] The post Digging drill that challenges players from various positions appeared first on The Art of Coaching Volleyball.

Purpose: Practice serving areas that are difficult for the defending team's passers to receive. How it Works: Three passers line up in positions 5,6 and 1 in the back court, across from one server. The server must serve to the left of the passer in position 5 (left back). The player must perform 5-10 repetitions […] The post Placement serving drill appeared first on The Art of Coaching Volleyball.

Jim Stone of USA Volleyball talks about developing the correct attacking technique in young athletes to protect their joints in the future. Stone talks about just how important attacking is to a team's success: If you can't kill the ball, you can't win points. Having a strong attacking team means your team can control the […] The post The importance of using your core when hitting appeared first on The Art of Coaching Volleyball.

Terry Liskevych of USA Volleyball talks separating being a coach and being a sports psychologist. He encourages coaches to leave the psychology pep talks up to support staff or an assistant coach. Learning where your boundaries are as a coach - and keeping healthy relationships with your players, is critical to a successful team. Liskevych […] The post Coach vs. sports psychologist – Can you be both? appeared first on The Art of Coaching Volleyball.

John Dunning, Head Coach at Stanford University, shows a simple arm warm-up that protects the shoulder and teaches proper hitting technique. Stand 15 feet away from your partner and perform a two-hand toss with a snap of the hand and an arced ball. Perform five repetitions each. Next, have the receiving player try to dig […] The post Partner arm warm up without hitting at floor appeared first on The Art of Coaching Volleyball.

Ray Bechard and Russ Rose talk about drill formats that are suitable for young, novice players. Rose advocates for drills that have "winners" but don't necessarily eliminate certain players for not performing well. Sometimes, he even will make the winner of the drill perform the "consequence" (like push-ups, extra reps, sprints). Using an "elimination" tactic […] The post Eliminate games that eliminate kids in youth drills appeared first on The Art of Coaching Volleyball.

When your players are not very tall, your blocking has to accommodate for this lack of height in strategy. Diane Flick-Williams talks about a few keys that you can use to plan your blocking strategy: Eliminate anything fast so that your "bigger" blockers can cover more of the net If blockers cannot get their hands […] The post Blocking strategies for short players appeared first on The Art of Coaching Volleyball.

Ryan Hofer of Trinity Western University and Glenn Hoag of Team Canada talk about developing the libero as a second-ball setter. The key? Repetition, repetition, repetition. Simple drills such as tossing irregular "passes" and having the libero set to all three hitter positions at least 5 times each can help a libero hone the skill. […] The post Training your libero: Second ball setting appeared first on The Art of Coaching Volleyball.

You are out the on the practice field or court every day trying to get athletes to listen to you. How many times have you heard "why do we have to do this drill again?” The following article gives 8 steps to overcome objections you may hear from players. 1. Defuse it before it's raised. […] The post 8 ways to overcome athlete objections appeared first on The Art of Coaching Volleyball.

Coaches have to be negative to correct mistakes and provide a way for the athletes to improve. But when being negative, there are ways to communicate that will help the athlete improve rather than focus on their short-comings and lose confidence: 1) Describe what you observed. Avoid generalizations like "always" and "never". This invites a […] The post 4 coach communication strategies appeared first on The Art of Coaching Volleyball.

Terry Liskevych of USA Volleyball and Ben Josephson of Trinity Western University talk the ins and outs of timeouts. Liskevych's biggest advice? Keep it simple. Don't overcomplicate coaching or strategy when emotions are high in a game. Create small, measurable goals that can be attained. Find your "message" and deliver it calmly and smoothly. Liskevych […] The post Calling time-outs appeared first on The Art of Coaching Volleyball.

Karch Kiraly of USA Volleyball and Luka Slabe, Coach for the Women's USA Team, break down developing your outside hitters. Outside hitters have to do the following: pass, get kills, defend the sharp angle, block and cover tips. For an outside hitter, Slabe recommends a quick approach that eliminates extra steps, coming at the ball […] The post Developing your outside attackers appeared first on The Art of Coaching Volleyball.