Setter Development Drills for 7th and 8th Graders

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.

Volleyball Position Characteristics

Whitney BartiukOctober 8, 2016Youth Volleyball, Middle School Volleyball, High School Volleyball, Club Volleyball Comments

Team Rules: A Free Printable for Your SCHOOL OR Club Team

Team rules can make or break a season. There are two important factors in whether or not team rules make an impact on your team:

1) Everyone has to know the rules, and

2) You have to enforce them.

While I can only encourage you to hold your players accountable and cheer you on for sticking to your guns, I CAN provide you with a list of broadly applicable team rules which any coach can implement.

Fix a Volleyball Serve in 4 Steps

This weekend I was working with young players (7th graders) during club volleyball tryouts. At this age, there are going to be a few players who stand out that have played club before or are just naturally athletic. There are also going to be a few people who have never played before and are just mimicking what they see others doing, even though they’ve had no formal training. My court was no different, and there were plenty of times I saw the opportunity to tweak a player’s movements or form to improve their performance. While this takes some one on one time with a player, it is definitely worth it to step aside for a minute or two and help them (read more at the bottom on why this can work to your benefit, even during tryouts).

Volleyball Scrimmage Alternative: Vegas

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.

The 3 C's Drill: Communication, Coverage, and Celebration

Is your team struggling to communicate, cover, or celebrate? Read how I run the 3 C's Drill (presented by Judy Green, video in article) and try it out for yourself! It seriously impacted my girls and we have been a different team ever since!

Not Teaching Your Team a Skill Because They're "Not Ready" Is a Disservice

"You're not ready for that yet." Have you caught yourself saying this to your team when they ask about more advanced skills? Plays, jump serving, swing blocking, etc? I heard myself say this exact phrase, and then had a small meltdown that I was not looking out for my girls.

Teach Your Volleyball Team to "Get the Pancake"

I realized something this weekend; I have not written a post which discusses my blog's namesake! So without further ado, here is how to teach your players to pancake a volleyball!

A pancake is one of the greatest game-changing moves which can be found in the sport of volleyball. When a team is able to execute this skill properly, a great deal of excitement is usually generated. Especially if you are able to sideout or win the point, your team's energy will spike, guaranteed!

5 Things You Need to Know About Coaching Club Volleyball

Thinking about coaching club volleyball? Get a better understanding of what you'll encounter by reading this article which compares and contrasts coaching school volleyball and club volleyball.

For many of us, the school season has just begun and we have only a few matches under our belts. We've finally gotten into a groove and are seeing our players grow and progress from those first hectic days of practice. Even though the end of the season seems ages away, it will be here before you know it. And that brings a scary realization: It's almost time to start coaching club volleyball!

Coaching PhilosophyWhitney BartiukSeptember 8, 2016Youth Volleyball, Club Volleyball, Coaching AdviceComment

Free Volleyball Stats Sheet Download!

Looking for a way to measure progress over the season? Stat sheets are the perfect way to measure not only strengths and weaknesses, but growth too!

Coaching PhilosophyWhitney BartiukAugust 20, 2016 Comments

Pre-Made Volleyball Practice Plan: Learning Setting and Attacking

The season has started! This means two things. 1) We're all scrambling to figure out what our teams' strengths and weaknesses are, and 2) I will have a lot of practice plans that I'll share with you! The beginning of the year is the best time to review basics with your team (although they should constantly be enforced throughout the season).

I recommend ALWAYS beginning with passing and serving, as these are the two most fundamental skills one needs to play volleyball. This plan is for our second practice of the year, so we've progressed to setting and attacking.

Reverse Engineer Your Volleyball Season

Create your personal volleyball coaching goals through my reverse engineering template! I give my own goals as examples to help you out.

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I'm getting ready for tryouts, and I know a lot of you are too! While I think it is important to know who will be on your team before you come up with team goals, coming up with coaching goals for yourself will help you focus on what you're actually looking for during tryouts!

A Book for Volleyball Coaches That Goes Beyond The Court

Are you a new volleyball coach who doesn't know where to start? Instead of looking through more drill books, check out "Coaching Volleyball: A Survival Guide for Your First Season." I explain all of the ACTUAL work you have to do! There's more to volleyball than just running a good butterfly drill.

Teaching Young Players How to Pass a Volleyball

HOW you teach passing is just as important as the mechanics! This post addresses both, so you know your young players are learning how to pass correctly and to appreciate the foundation of the sport.

3 Reasons to Encourage Failure

If a player knows you will support them through the learning process and their failures, they will reward your trust by exceeding expectations. All volleyball coaches should read this! It will help you develop your coaching philosophy.

My First Coaching Experience

No mater how much volleyball experience you have, there's no learning curve steeper than your first year of coaching volleyball. Read about my experience and the three "pearls of wisdom" I share, then add your own to the discussion!

While I "coached" at most of my high school's volleyball youth camps over the summers as a player, my first real coaching experience didn't happen until I was 21. I was given the opportunity to coach a 14 and under team in my hometown for a club that had only just started two years before.

Prior to this club, there were a few sporadic club teams which would pop-up over the years, but players would typically have to drive 45 minutes to an hour away for the closest club team (my 12 year old self included).

Competitive and Fun Setting Drill for 8th Graders: Popcorn

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.

SettingWhitney BartiukJune 27, 2016 Comments

Bookmark www.getthepancake.com!

Your favorite volleyball blog for coaches is moving to it's own website! Bookmark www.getthepancake.com now so you don't miss out on content when August rolls around!

Whitney BartiukJune 27, 2016 Comments

Volleyball Tryout Checklist: 5 Overlooked Qualities

While a few of you are just now wrapping up your season (hello, Nationals!), many of us are enjoying our summer break from coaching, either by simply relaxing, watching the AVP tour, or playing in summer volleyball leagues for some much-needed me time. But as we all know, this break ends sooner than we expect, and open gyms and tryouts will soon be upon us!

Even though I know you are probably enjoying your break from the gym, the excitement of a new season is sure to hit you soon. So while you're daydreaming about a fresh start, here are a few tips to save for August.

Pre-Made Practice Plan: Jousting and Tip Coverage

Often times, the motivation for a practice plan will come from major weaknesses witnessed during a match or even over the course of a tournament. This practice plan, practicing jousting and tip coverage, came after a particularly frustrating match during which my team lost to a team who lacked the power to send us fast-paced hits, yet bested our defenses via wimpy tips. The entire match.

Now, if you read more of my articles and practice plans, you'll see that I am actually a fan of a well-placed and well-timed tip. And if that has to be your main offense to defeat a team, then so be it. However, when you know the opponent is not doing this on purpose, it can be infuriating to watch ball after ball drop in the middle of the court.

A LOT CAN BE ACCOMPLISHED ON THE COURT IF YOU ENTER THE GYM WITH A PLAN.