Front-Back Challenge – Because the setter must be prepared to send the ball in either direction, this drill reinforces the importance of receiving…
Blocking Tactics Drill
Blocking Tactics Drill 1: Oklahoma Drill (Hitting and Blocking) – This drill is named after the one-on-one football drill developed at the University of Oklahoma.
Ladder Drills with Nancy Dorsey – St. James Academy (KS)
Watch as Coach Nancy Dorsey explains and players demonstrate these ladder drills.
Platform Skills with Travis Hudson – Western Kentucky Univ.
Watch as Coach Travis Hudson explains and players demonstrate these platform skills.
It’s a Snap – How to Break a Losing Streak
As a coach, nothing is more demoralizing than a losing streak that just won’t break. While we do our absolute best to avoid losing streaks, performance slumps or even…
Blocking: Combat Boxing Gloves with Todd Dagenais – Univ. of Central Florida
Watch as Coach Dagenais explains and a Middle Blocker demonstrates this blocking drill using combat boxing gloves.
Transition or Bust Drill
Purpose: To give the team the opportunity to transition from offense to defense and back to offense. Setup: Players set up 6v6 on the court…
Blocking: Three Directions with Anne Kordes
Watch as Coach Anne Kordes explains and players demonstrate this Three Directions Blocking Drill.
Cross Court Pepper Drill – Eric Schulze – VC United
Watch as Coach Eric Schulze explains and players demonstrate this 4 on 4 Cross Court Pepper Drill.
Dangerous Games – Risk Factors In The Sports Environment
Many mental health disorders are at least partially rooted in genetic biological predispositions (genetic vulnerability). However, genetic vulnerability is not destiny – environmental stressors…
Coach Communication Guidelines Self-Assessment
1. Messages should be direct. Coaches who are weak on this quality avoid straightforward, direct communication. Their athletes may not know where they stand. These coaches…
Right Side Attacker Footwork with Bond Shymansky – Univ. of Iowa
Watch as Coach Bond Shymansky explains and players demonstrate footwork for a right side attacker.
Common Goals
“Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.” – Helen Keller. The foundation for success in team sports begins with working together toward a common goal. That common…
Serve Depth with Deane Webb – Ohio Univ.
Watch as Coach Deane Webb explains and servers demonstrate this Serve Depth Drill.
Introducing Movement to Muscle – The Most Important 10 Minutes in Your Young…
According to world-renowned orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews, youth injury rate is at an all-time high as a result of being trained as if they are collegiate and…
Are You Practicing Coaching?
As assistants, we are often tasked with juggling a little bit of everything when it comes to job responsibilities. These tasks take up a huge percentage of our time. If not careful, they can…
Middles Self Toss Drill – Dennis Hohenshelt – Univ. of VA
Watch as Coach Dennis Hohenshelt explains and his squad demonstrates this self toss drill.
Long-Court Cooperative Challenge
Purpose: To work on ball control in a game-like manner. Setup: An antenna is used to split the court down the middle, creating two courts. Three…
Setting Drill Using Targets with Todd Dagenais – UCF
Watch as Coach Dagenais explains and setters demonstrate this reading the middle blocker drill using targets.
Over the Net Pepper Drill with Eric Schulze
Watch as Coach Eric Schulze explains and players demonstrate this Over the Net Pepper Drill.
Lateral Shuffles With Bands with Nancy Dorsey – St. James Academy (KS)
Watch as Coach Nancy Dorsey explains and players demonstrate this Lateral Shuffles With Bands Drill.
Butterfly Passing Drill
The butterfly drill is a serving and passing drill in which you follow the ball that you just contacted. Six players (three on each side) are required for this full-court drill, but it can accommodate as many as…
Vision Training Drill – Jeff Meeker – Cornell College
Watch as Jeff Meeker explains and players demonstrate this Vision Training Drill.
Does Playing Too Much Volleyball Lead to Injury?
As members of the USA Volleyball Sports Medicine and Performance Commission (SMPC), we received the following question (one that is asked more and more…
Feeling Smart – Emotional Intelligence
As human beings, we’re all aware that we have emotions – it’s part of who we are. Over time there has been a variety of viewpoints concerning the place of emotions in the workplace, that we should leave them at the door and almost…
Setting – Reading the Middle Blocker Drill – Todd Dagenais – UCF
Watch as Coach Dagenais explains and setters demonstrate this Reading the Middle Blocker Drill.
Positional Training
As coaches we continue to maximize our limited criteria for practices. As teams are starting or ending spring/fall training, coaches have to focus a lot on positional…
Dig Line – Dig Cross Court Drill – Ron Kordes – Assumption High School (KY)
Watch as Coach Ron Kordes explains and players demonstrate this Dig Line-Dig Cross Court Defensive Drill.
Roll Shots Drill with Tara Cross-Battle
Watch as Coach Tara Cross-Battle explains and players demonstrate this Roll Shots Drill.
Blocking Technique Drills
Standing on the ground, partners face each other approximately 2 feet (.6 m) apart. One player tosses a ball while her partner presents her hands…