1-Hour Volleyball Practice Plan

At a Glance

Focus: Serving, Passing, Hitting, Communication
Extra Equipment: Cones, whistle
Goal: Touch all core skills in a fun, fast-paced session adaptable for most ages (players should know serving, passing, setting, and hitting basics)
Schedule:

0:00–0:15 — Warm-Up & Energy Builder

0:15–0:25 — Serving Progressions

0:25–0:35 — Serving Accuracy Challenge (Around the World)

0:35–0:45 — Hitting Lines vs. Defense

0:45–0:55 — Competitive Finisher (Scrimmage / Queen of the Court / Freeball-Downball)

0:55–1:00 — Wrap-Up & Team Notes

Read on for full details! As a bonus, I went ahead and put the plan together as a PDF at the end of the article which you can print out and take to practice with you.

6:00pm-6:15pm

2 laps jogging around the court, ending with player huddle (2 minutes)
Check-in with players and give them an overview of practice (2 minutes)
Downball Game (about 10 minutes) (If your players don’t know how to do a backrow attack, teach them with this progression drill at your next practice)
Water break (1 minute)

NOTE: Young players (middle school and under) typically don’t need a long warm-up session, and this warm-up game gets players moving at a slow enough pace that stretching isn’t always necessary. If you’d like to be on the safe side and include some dynamic stretches after 2 laps around your court, I encourage you to choose from these stretches (which should take no more than 5 minutes) and cut out your player huddle.

✍🏼 Need help creating consistency throughout your season? The Volleyball Coaching Journal is a great tool to track what’s working and what needs to be adjusted after each practice.

6:15pm-6:25pm

Serving Progressions with a partner and quick individual coaching (see Practice Plan PDF below for full description)

NOTE: After the warm-up game (which normally gets pretty intense for my teams), I like to slow things down a bit and give my players time to beath and work on their individual serving. Their arms should be warmed up from the previous drill, so jumping into a quick serving progression should be no issue.

6:25pm-6:35pm

Around the World Competition Edition (video below)

NOTE: If you are going to scrimmage at the end of practice or would like more time for other drills, I recommend cutting this game out. Although I think you should definitely include it in a future practice (it works on serving accuracy, is high-pressure, and trains your players to read the serve if they are on the opposite side) if you’re not able to use it this day.

6:35pm-6:45pm

Hitting Lines Versus Defense

NOTE: A great drill to work on passing in a game-like situation, and to practice “pass-set-hit” in a more chaotic setting than from a coach’s toss.

6:45pm-6:55pm

Choose from one of the following depending on your team’s needs:

Scrimmage (if prepping for a first match or tournament, consider eliminating the serving game and running your scrimmage from 6:35pm-6:55pm to allow for questions)
Queen of the Court (if you want to end with a fun, high-energy game)
Freeball/Downball Drill (another fun, high-energy game, although better for older or more experienced teams)

NOTE: Scrimmages are usually pretty boring because they tend to be slower and include less movement, so I’d recommend you skip the scrimmage if you can. The only time I recommend a scrimmage is if you have your team’s first tournament or match coming up and they need to learn the basics of how to sub, switch liberos, rotate, move from serve or serve receive to base (if you’re playing positions), etc. Players of all ages will always enjoy Queen of the Court, and older players will love the challenge and variety that the Freeball/downball game provides.

6:55pm-7:00pm

Wrap up and give any important information to parents/players so everyone can leave on time!

NOTE: Don’t be the coach that keeps players over by 10 -15 minutes because you can’t manage your time. While you might think you’re giving the players a “better value,” you’re actually making Jenny’s mom late to pick up her little brother Nick from soccer, Taylor’s dad is running late for a work call, and Amanda’s homework time is getting pushed later and later. Be respectful of your volleyball families and wrap up by the time practice is supposed to end!

Final Notes

This practice plan could easily be modified into a 2-hour practice plan if needed! Simply add an extra 5-10 minutes onto each drill and add in some skill review drills before each game. I talk about how I plan my practices in the video below!

If you are coaching young players who are brand new to volleyball, I suggest you spend your first few weeks of practices slowly covering the basics. This practice plan would be too advanced for players who are brand new to volleyball.