The Art of Coaching Volleyball

    This hitter vs. hitter drill demonstrated by Austin Juniors volleyball club in Texas requires players to figure out ways to get the ball down multiple times vs. a two-person block and a four-player backcourt defense. It’s a tough challenge, so hitters have to work on being deceptive, mixing shots and hits and sometimes […]

    Cary Wendell Wallin, a coach at 949 Athletics in San Juan Capistrano, California, and a former NCAA Player of the Year at Stanford, offers a tutorial here on the wipe, which is a great way for outside hitters to tool the block for kills. Wallin emphasizes that it’s best to use only a […]

  At all levels of play, it’s important to run drills that mimic game situations. This allows players to perfect critical skills while practicing ball control and decision-making under pressure. Watch Iowa State coach Christy Johnson-Lynch as she demonstrates 8 game-like drills and offers tips on how to customize them for your team.

    University of Colorado head coach Jesse Mahoney demonstrates a warm-up drill that he calls pin-to-pin pepper. The rules of the drill can be changed to suit your needs for the day. For example, hitters may only be allowed to swing at 75% or middle hitters can only hit transition balls. This forces the […]

PORTLAND, OREGON - JULY 13, 2016 – The Art of Coaching Volleyball is excited to announce the launch of FastDraw Volleyball, a drill-diagramming and play-sketching software that helps coaches diagram, organize and quickly share their new ideas, scouting reports or lesson plans. FastDraw Volleyball was developed with FastModel Sports®, the creators of FastDraw Basketball, which is used […]

    In this overview of a Stanford volleyball practice, you'll get some good ideas for how to build a productive training session. For starters, the team circles around Stanford coach John Dunning for a pre-practice meeting that includes players writing down specific goals for the day’s workout. Then, training begins. In the video, you’ll […]

    This up-tempo ball control drill, introduced by Frank Lavrisha of Regis University, forces players to be attentive and aggressive. On defense, players need to constantly be focused on digging the ball high and in control. On offense, players need to be ready to react to any set and then attack. This drill is […]

    Any player with court awareness, speed and good hands can be trained as a setter, according to Terry Liskevych. head coach at Oregon State and the former coach of the USA women's Olympic team. In this video, Terry provides specific priorities for training up-and-coming setters.

In the second part of her 4-part series on injury prevention training, Art of Coaching fitness expert Marie Zidek covers warm-up exercises that are designed for qualifier season. For club athletes, that usually comes in March and April, but these pre-practice workouts can also be used in the early part of the high school season […]

    Genny Volpe, head coach at Rice University, introduces a fun ball-control drill here that requires focus and communication. Players start by pairing up and lining up across the net from their partners. Then, they do the following passing variations: 1. Pass back and forth under the net. 2. Pass back and forth over […]

Fireworks are fun on the 4th of July and New Years, but they are not at all enjoyable when it comes to your kid’s sports. Blow-ups between parent and child are inevitable. And for some reason, when it comes to sports, the sparks can really fly. Do any of these conflicts ring a bell? You […]

    The 6 vs. 6 drill explained here by Penn State associate head coach Salima Rockwell pits one left-side hitter against another. For a point to be scored, the left-side hitter has to get the kill. A kill by any other player earns the team another opportunity to score but not a point. Each […]

    Todd Dagenais, University of Central Florida head coach, discusses the “iY” generation of athletes in this video and offers advice on how coaches can better understand them. This generation, heavily protected by their Generation X parents, have unique communication patterns as well as desires for belonging and instant gratification that could require coaches […]

Many of my mistakes as a sports mom were made out of ignorance. I honestly didn’t realize that I was making blunders that were hurting my relationship with my child and were nurturing her personal frustrations. If you’ve been a sports parent for a few years, you’ve probably fallen into the same trap. You don’t […]

    Terry Liskevych, head coach at Oregon State, breaks down passing technique in this video. He highlights thumbs together, flat platform, angle and feet and works with a player on implementing these techniques.