The Art of Coaching Volleyball

This drill is good to evaluate serving and passing. Three players compete in a one-on-one game played on half of the long court. One player starts the drill with a serve, and the other passes to a target player standing in the setting position. The players compete to see who can get to 2 points […] The post Tryout drill: Server vs. passer appeared first on The Art of Coaching Volleyball.

Don Patterson | AOC senior content manager Watching just one approach and attack by former USC All-American Samantha Bricio is a valuable hitting lesson all by itself. So let’s watch. Here’s Bricio ripping from the left side of the net and former Stanford All American Cary Wendell Wallin narrating, telling us everything she likes about […] The post The 9-second video of Samantha Bricio that will make you a better hitter appeared first on The Art of Coaching Volleyball.

John Dunning worked this into almost every practice he has ever run. Try this ball control challenge with your players! See if your players can keep the sequence of pass, set, right, left, head going for 5 minutes. The post Ball control challenge: Pass, set, right, left, head appeared first on The Art of Coaching Volleyball.

Don Patterson | AOC senior content manager It’s mid-morning on a weekday at the American Sports Centers gym in Anaheim, California. The U.S. women’s national team is working on emergency moves. The emphasis is “The Pancake.” The drill couldn’t be simpler, as you’ll see in this video, where two-time Olympic medalists Jordan Larson and Foluke […] The post Practicing ‘emergency volleyball’ is well worth your time appeared first on The Art of Coaching Volleyball.

When Trinity Western begins practice with a serving warm-up, the tarp comes outs. The tarp is a large target area representing the gaps between the normal 3-passer set-up in the court. Players aiming for the tarp are serving deep serves that Ben Josephson and his staff feel are the most effective zones to serve. The […] The post Tarp drill to improve the deep serve appeared first on The Art of Coaching Volleyball.

Every team is a different animal and so as coaches you need to be able to maximize your team with the talents you have and stop trying to duplicate someone else's success. The post Coaching secrets: Know your strengths appeared first on The Art of Coaching Volleyball.

Different leaders have different strengths – and weaknesses. For Christa, a weakness was dealing with conflict. She talks here about how she strived to improve in that area and how she was able to work in tandem with one of her national team teammates, setter Courtney Thompson, who was much more at ease dealing with […] The post Step outside of your comfort zone appeared first on The Art of Coaching Volleyball.

Terry Liskevych of USA Volleyball talks about adapting a program around your dominant players, not the other way around. Some coaches are stubborn about their systems and try to force players to fit into the system. Instead, Liskevych advocates for assessing the group of players you have each year and re-adjusting your plays, strategy and […] The post Do not try and fit players into a system appeared first on The Art of Coaching Volleyball.

Need a new way to warm-up your players before practice? Pepper exchange involves movement and ball control to get your players ready for practice! The post Pepper exchange drill for ball control appeared first on The Art of Coaching Volleyball.

Catie Ratkowski, Head Coach at Divine Savior Holy Angels High School, talks about creating purpose with each practice. Ratkowski says everything done in practice must have a purpose behind it. This might be a long term goal, a short term goal, a strategy for an upcoming opponent or a certain skill that the team struggles […] The post Planning practice: What is your purpose? appeared first on The Art of Coaching Volleyball.

Jamie Morrison of Team USA talks about the middle hitter and several of the various plays normally performed at a high level of play. The '31': Morrison encourages what he calls "clean angles" for the '31' play. Instead of faking a '1' and then moving towards the 31, Morrison says making a strong, direct approach […] The post MB approach angles for ’31’ & ‘Slide’ appeared first on The Art of Coaching Volleyball.

Purpose: An easy 'hand series' for a hitting warm-up that players can do solo before practice. How it Works: Each player has a ball, and performs 20 repetitions of snapping the ball down to the ground and catching it again. Focus on whipping the forearm with a loose arm and keeping the snap in the […] The post Hand series to help control the quick attack 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 tips to build team trust appeared first on The Art of Coaching Volleyball.

Purpose: Backrow attack drill that encourages communication between players. How it Works: Three defenders and one setter are on each side of the court. A free ball is initiated to one side and the players hit, set and backrow attack the ball until the ball dies. When one person touches the ball, they must say […] The post Say my name, say my name: 4 vs 4 rotation warm-up appeared first on The Art of Coaching Volleyball.

  Time Allowed: 150 minutes Goals of Practice Work on incorporating foot movement into warmup and drills Work on transition from dig to attack and cover hitter to attack Continue daily work on serve and pass Sideout and transition work in 6 vs. 6 environment General Practice Philosophy Lots of foot movement that is incorporated […] The post Practice plan with focus on TRANSITIONS (pdf) appeared first on The Art of Coaching Volleyball.