You’re halfway through the season. Your players are really starting to gel and have become pretty great at their rotation. The sloppy, confused team you had in the beginning of the season is a distant memory… 

Until…

• Your setter lands wrong after a jump set and sprains her ankle… 

• Your stud middle gets a “D” on her last history exam, and her parents are grounding her from everything (volleyball included) until she gets her grades up…

• Your DS texts you at 5:32am on Saturday morning saying he was throwing up all night and won’t be at the tournament this weekend…

WHAT DO YOU DO!?

If you’ve been coaching for a few years now, you know to expect the unexpected. ESPECIALLY if everything seems to be going well!

Even though we know our rotations are dependent on perfect attendance, we rarely practice what to do if there’s an emergency and someone can’t make it. Or worse, what to do mid-game if someone gets hurt or sick.

And since players (and coaches) tend to panic when faced with a new, unforeseen circumstance, preparation is key!

Of course, you won’t know WHO might get sick, WHEN they’ll miss a tournament, or even WHY someone might be absent at a game. So how do you practice this?

By learning to adapt and going through the experience in practice, your players will be much calmer if a situation arises during competition.

DRILL PREPARATION

• Ask your players to review positions a day or two before you run this drill. Ex: at practice on Monday night, let them know that on Wednesday their knowledge will be put to the test!

• This will be a slower scrimmage, so plan at least 20-30 minutes for this drill, possibly more.

• This drill is recommended for high school-aged players or advanced middle school-aged teams only due to the complexity of needing to understand multiple positions.

DRILL SETUP

• Split your team into two groups, the “starting lineup” versus your remaining players.

• Have a whiteboard (if possible) with a list of the players on the court, matched up with their substitutions.

• If you do not have a whiteboard, use a blank piece of paper to track substitutions.

RUN THE DRILL

• Start the scrimmage as you usually would, with a primary lineup in place.

• After a couple rotations or so, blow your whistle and declare an emergency! 

• Put the names of the 6 on the “lineup” side into a hat. Pull a name out, and they are out for 6 rotations due to an emergency!

• You must now replace that player in the lineup. This can happen in a few ways:

  • Their sub comes in to play all the way around.

  • A different player subs in to play the new position, and their sub plays all the way around.

  • Complete mayhem takes place, and you must adjust on the fly…

• Continue to play for 6 rotations and reset. Switch front row and back row if you prefer!

• Go through this exercise 3-4 times, working through a number of scenarios.

This drill is more about dealing with surprises and teaching your team to work through difficulties than it is about reaching a “goal.”

You can either be the one to come up with the solution to each scenario, let your assistant decide how to act, or give control to your players.

After the drill, take a few minutes to review their reactions to being put in a new position, having to play more (or less) because of the different situations, and if you feel you could handle an emergency in the future if you had to.

You may realize you need to run this drill one or two more times for your team to be completely comfortable with these surprises! It’s also entirely possible to have tears because players get confused, feel like they’re letting their teammates down, and some players may feel like their role on the team might be in jeopardy if someone steps in and does a great job.

Regardless of emotions, it will be a good experience that prepares your team for the inevitable hiccup they’re sure to face in their volleyball careers.

WHY I RECOMMEND THIS DRILL

Experience is one of the best teachers!

I was running a 5-1 at a tournament because my second setter was out of town and therefore, could not run our usual 6-2. Suddenly, my only setter rolled her ankle and was out for the rest of the match. It was then that I realized no one else on the team had been trained to set, and we went from a 5-1 to the person who was in right front became the “setter” (they were all passing instead of setting).

Needless to say, this did not go well. Thankfully, my setter was being… a little dramatic, for lack of a better word! She was ok and came back in our next set after being cleared by the PT on site, with the player and parent both agreeing she was fine to play.

Practicing for this scenario could have helped at least a little! Both in my own preparation for an emergency, and for my team to be ready to step up and set or fill in another position if needed. It also revealed that many of my players did not understand rotations outside of their own position, which is another benefit to running this drill.