Very few skills are more important than ball control. In the video clip below you will see a ball control drill that forces all players to pass, set, attack and defend.
The 25 Contact ball control drill is presented by Nancy Dorsey,Head Coach St James Academy (KS). Coach James has won seven state titles at St James. Her teams have twice been crowned National Champions by PrepVolleyball.com. The drill is played 4v4 and is designed to put the defense in position to work on their perimeter defense. This drill is actually from Coach Dorsey’s DVD on Perimeter Defense. The Perimeter Defense is ideal for teams with small blockers and quick athletes.
For more information on purchasing this DVD click the link High School Volleyball Systems: Perimeter Defense In the DVD Coach Dorsey shares game-like drills, like the 25 contact ball control drill, to train your players and work on the critical movements that are needed to run the perimeter defense.
The YouTube video below has sound, so please make sure that your sound is turned on and that you have access to the site. (Some schools block access to YouTube)
The 25 Contact Ball Control drill is played 4v4 with a left and right front as well as a middle and left back. A ball is placed into play and the goal is for those eight players to make 25 high quality contacts in a row before rotating. The first pass would be counted as one contact, the set would be the second contact and the attack the third. The dig on the other side would be four, the set would be five and the attack six. This would continue until they reach 25 in a row. At that point all players rotate to a new position and the drill continues trying to get 25 quality contacts with everyone in a new position. If the ball touches the ground, the count starts over. If a contact is not a “quality” contact it doesn’t count towards 25 but they do not have to start over. For example if the pass is poor and can’t be set properly and must just be passed over, then that contact does not count. The count will resume on the next quality contact.
There are several ways to play the game. Coach Dorsey may give her team eight balls to complete all four rotations or she may time them to see how long it takes to complete all four rotations. There are several variations that you could create to make the game competitive.