One of the toughest skills I have a hard time creating drills for is setting. When you cover passing and hitting, these are skills that all players on your team will need to use. But setting? Yes, everyone needs to know HOW to set... But they will rarely set from the setting position and would therefore not benefit as much from constant setting drills. HOWEVER!

There is something to be learned from practicing this skill occasionally. I'm a big fan of training my players to play every position so that their understanding of the game is pushed beyond the confines of their position (wow, that was deep lol). This drill gives players a good understanding of what it take to be a setter, and will help them see the court from a new perspective. 

One of the most exciting parts of being a coach is when you finally see a concept “click” for your players. Younger teams who are used to just rotating around the court and playing the position they are standing in always seem to take FOREVER to understand the concept of playing defense at the net in the front row, and then transitioning off to play defense for a freeball.

Setters, too, will often hang out in backrow for too long before they realize that they should be moving up into the setter position in order to set at the first hint of a freeball. Although the concept seems simple to the experienced coach, this is one area that teams need to practice in a game-like drill in order to comprehend what is actually being asked of them.

Teaching middle school players how to set a volleyball can be challenging. Often times, there are only one or two players who show a natural inclination towards setting, and the rest are, more or less, hopeless. Or at least that’s how you feel at tryouts!

Training setters can be very time consuming, and when you are coaching by yourself it can be hard to justify spending practice time running a drill which is designed for only one or two players. But setters make or break a team! Spending time during practice working on their skills will only help you in the long run. Even better, you will likely see dramatic improvements right away.

While I love creating my own drills, sometimes you just need to peruse the internet and find some new inspiration. Two weeks ago I was looking for high-intensity drills and found “Vegas.” While the title was intriguing, it didn’t really explain what the drill focused on. Strictly out of curiosity, I watched.

My initial reaction was that it looked fun, but was nothing too special. It had competitive elements to it that was something I felt my girls needed a big dose of, so I added it to our practice plan with 20 minutes dedicated to learning and finishing the drill.

Setting can be a difficult task to teach to your entire team. I know when I played, if we were all going to learn to set, we just all found a spot on the wall and did wall sets for 15 minutes, or until we complained too much about our arms hurting. Wall sets are not fun. I'm sure you know this as well as I do.

Keeping drills fun, especially when you are coaching younger teams, is very important. But the drills also need to be game-like and incorporate skills they will actually use in a match. Sometimes combining these two elements can be a challenge, especially with a skill that very few people are naturally gifted at.

This volleyball drill gets your players moving and warmed up, going all out, and practicing actual game-like movements.

Traditional hitting lines just don't cut it anymore. If you're using the old version, you are practicing how to hit from a perfect toss. How often does that happen during a game? Well, zero. Your setter never gets a nice high toss, and they can NEVER complain about a toss and refuse to set it.

This drill advances your team much quicker than traditional hitting lines for two reasons.

Some of the greatest overlooked skills in volleyball are the tip and the chip shot. After a beautiful pass and a perfect set, a crowd will go nuts to see the ball smashed to the floor. But a well-placed tip which still results in a kill? It will get applause, but not the crazy jumping up and down from the masses.

And that's too bad. There have been countless matches where my front row will get blocked, dug, and just plain hit the ball out of bounds trying to avoid a rock-solid defense. The trick here is to realize that a great defense for these attacks often has a weak spot, right around the blockers or in the middle of the court. The only way to get to these places efficiently? A tip or chip. 

This is the number one drill I recommend to every coach! The Downball Game is a fast-paced, high-energy drill that reduces freeballs, builds a strong back-row offense, and teaches players to attack aggressively. Add this to your practices and see immediate improvements in your team’s offensive mindset!

Two fun volleyball serving drills that will have your team LAUGHING together while COMPETING against each other!

Fun, easy passing drills for your 6th grade volleyball players that get them moving and playing the game.