Volleyball Toolbox

Passing Drills to Eliminate Bad Habits

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This article was provided by The Junior Volleyball Association

The first contact in volleyball, the pass, is by far the most critical if a team is striving to play at a high level. Even at the beginner level, it’s important for coaches to give their players many repetitions practicing proper technique. There are 3 common bad passing habits that will hinder an athlete’s ability to pass consistently to the target:

  1. Not moving feet to the ball
  2. Swinging at the ball
  3. Poor posture

1. Reach platform to the ball instead of move feet to the ball

  • Want to make sure players are moving their feet to pass ball in midline instead of reach for ball
  • This habit starts when we allow kids to reach when practicing serve receive from a toss or easy serve. Once the velocity picks up and the serve flattens out, controlling the ball becomes a much harder task.
  • When teaching young players to pass it’s important to start with higher, easier balls, but make sure there is focus on getting feet to the ball every time.

Drills:

A. Rolls. One partner sitting on floor with legs spread. The second partner is in ready passing position and starts at end of the partner on the floors foot. The partner on the floor rolls the ball fast down her leg. Once she gets the ball back, she rolls the ball down her other leg, forcing he partner making who is in passing position to shuffle.

B. Scoops. Same drill, but partner on the floor is now standing.

C. Corners

D. Leg Bounce. Coach enters ball from a toss or serve and ball has to bounce thru the player’s legs.

E. Band Passing. Use green elastic band around ankles forcing kids to shuffle and stay on feet when they move to pass the ball. Start with short distance and progress to cover more ground.

F. Knee pad touch drill.

  • Can do continuous on whole court
  • Can do with base, read, stage, cover

2. Swinging at the ball

  • You don’t want your players to swing at or swipe the ball to get it to the target area
  • You want them to learn to drop their shoulder and angle their platform using the transfer of weight to drive the ball to the middle of the court
  • Want players to move through the ball with a subtle transfer of weight
  • Use angle of the platform and momentum to direct the ball to target
  • Tilt not Twist

Drills:

A. Partner knee passing. Emphasize platform staying over top of knee

  • Right foot forward
  • Left foot forward

B. Belly Bump. Put ball under shirt forcing the platform to stay out and away from the body.

C. Side to Side Short

D. Lanes Narrow

E. Lane Narrow with Tilt

F. Lanes Wide with Tilt

G. Shuffle Passing

3. Bad Posture

  • Shoulders are usually the issue, as players will pop up out of a ready position once the ball is served causing their shoulders to come up.
  • Focus should be hips back and shoulders forward
  • Keep passing stance shoulder distance apart. When players move back they will make their passing frame smaller by shuffling feet close together.

Drills:

A. Towel or dot placed on the back of a player while passing. Cannot let is fall off, especially when moving backwards to pass the ball.

B. Russian Drill

C. Antenna. Hold antenna or noddle at head height in front of passer, just off to the wide, so they can use the height of the antenna as a visual to keep head in the same place once the ball is served

It’s important for coaches to reinforce that your players execute proper technique through repetition. Improper technique will create bad habits. By giving your players a lot of touches on the ball with proper technique, you are giving them a better chance of creating and maintaining good habits when passing the volleyball. It’s as easy as that!

For related reading for volleyball coaches click HERE. To view more passing drills click HERE.

About the Author

Anne Kordes is the Associate Director and 17 Red Head Coach at KIVA in Louisville, as well as Assistant Coach at Assumption High School. In 2017 Assumption HS was State and National Champion. Her KIVA 17 Red team was 17 Open Runner-up at the 2017 AAU National Championships, and took home the bronze medal in 2018. Anne has 17 years of coaching experience at the DivisionI level, including the Head Women’s Volleyball Coach at University of Louisville from 2011-2016, and the Head Coach at Saint Louis University from 2004-10. She has garnered numerous conference coach of the year honors and was also the President of the American Volleyball Coaches Association from 2011-2013. Anne finds a way to get the most from her players, and has coached numerous All-American athletes at the junior and college level.


14-Player Serve-Pass-Hit

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This post was provided by Coaching Volleyball

By John Foreman

Coach Forman is currently the assistant volleyball coach at Midwestern State University. Before that he was the Head Coach of the professional women’s team at Svedala Volleybollklubb in Sweden

Synopsis: This drill gets a lot of players active on one court working on serving, passing, setting and hitting – and potentially blocking and defense.

Age/Skill Level: This is a drill for intermediate and higher levels.

Requirements: 14+ players, 4 balls, a net.

Execution: Set the players up as shown in the diagram below – two passer/hitters on each side, two servers behind the end lines, and one setter on each half court. The half courts run independently as separate drills. The drill begins with a serve going to the pair of Passer/Hitters with the setter on their side. One of them passes the ball. The setter sets to either P/H. That player than goes to become the server on their side. The setter switches sides and the drill repeats for the other side. The server then goes in to replace the P/H who hit the ball the repetition before.

Variations:

  • If you have sufficient numbers, you can have 4 setters in the drill and not have them flip sides.
  • If you have extra non-setters you can have the extras in the service area where they can be ready to serve straight away following a miss.
  • You can let the players to play out a rally rather than just having the attacked ball to be the conclusion of the repetition.
  • If you don’t want to use fixed setters, you can have the hitter rotate to setter, and the setter rotate to server.

Additional Comments:

  • You can make this something of a butterfly by having the hitter collect their ball and go to the other side to serve rather than stay on their own side. This may require having more than just 14 players, however, depending on the skill of your players and the size of your gym (ball chase time).
  • Having the players play out the rally would be more easily done if you have two setters on each half court rather than just one, but it can still be done with one setter quickly ducking under the net each time the ball goes over.
  • Of course this drill can be done with fewer numbers using a full court. The idea in this case, though, was the show a way to incorporate a large number with as many active players as possible.

Columbus Drill: Ball Control

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The Columbus Drill is a cooperative drill that requires ball control and communication

In the video clip below Craig Skinner, University of Kentucky Head Coach; 2017 SEC Co-Coach of the Year – 2x SEC Coach of the Year; explains and demonstrates a cooperative ball control drill that he calls the Columbus Drill

The Columbus drill is played 6v6 and begins with a coach entering the ball to one side. The pattern is as follows. The person receiving the ball will pass to the right front who will then set the ball to the left front. The left front will snap the ball in a controlled fashion to the other side. The other side will repeat the same sequence.  Pass to right front, set to left front and then snap the ball over.

The goal is to pass the ball over the net 10 times consecutively. Here are a few rules:

  • The players passing to the right front must call out the name of the player, if not you go back to zero.
  • Each player on the team must say the “number” as the ball passes over the net, if not you go back to zero.
  • If a free ball is played it is considered a wash. It doesn’t count, but you do not have to go back to zero
  • Players will rotate each time you start over.

This drill is cooperative and requires concentration and communication.

The Columbus Drill is just an example of what is contained in Coach Skinners instructional DVD. For more information about that product click the link Implementing a Volleyball-Specific Start to Your Practice: Team Warm-Up Drills

The YouTube video below has audio, so please make sure that your speakers are turned on and the volume is turned up. Please note that some schools block access to YouTube.

Click the arrow to play the video


Hitter Tournament

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This post was provided by Coaching Volleyball

By John Forman

Coach Forman is currently the assistant volleyball coach at Midwestern State University. Before that he was the Head Coach of the professional women’s team at Svedala Volleybollklubb in Sweden

This is a drill which can be used to put hitters into a competitive situation for the purposes of assessment..

Age/Skill Level: This is suitable for intermediate to advanced players

Requirements: 7 players, 1 ball, full court

Execution: Place three back row players (including a setter) and a blocker on one side, and a setter, a defender, and an Outside Hitter on the other side as per the diagram below. The 4-player side serves every ball to either the defender or OH. The teams then play through a rally. On the receiving side the OH must attack every ball (if possible). On the serving side, only back row attacks are permitted. Play out 10 rallies and keep track of how many times the OH’s team wins.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Variations:

  • You can run a similar drill with right side hitters, or even back row attackers.
  • Since the serve is only going to the D or OH on the receiving side, you can have the Setter start in any zone to work on movement to target.
  • The setter on the serving side could also be the Blocker, allowing for the insertion of a third defender in the back row..
  • You could potentially alternate OHs on a rotation rather than having one player go through 10 straight reps.

Additional Comments:

  • This drill was described by USA National Team setter Courtney Thompson in a seminar at the 2013 American Volleyball Coaches Association annual convention.
  • For the most fair assessment of hitters, have them work against the same defensive group and have the same setter and defender on their side. That doesn’t prevent you mixing things up and running the drill for multiple cycles.

 


Setting Form

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Setting is one of the most important skills in volleyball. Take a look inside a D1 practice to see how it is drilled and taught.

In the video clip below  Dan Fisher, University of Pittsburgh Head Coach; 2017 ACC Coach of the Year, gives you a chance to take a look into a live practice.

In this practice session Coach Fisher is working on setting. You will not only see the Form Setting Drills that he uses but you will also get insight into how he teaches the key fundamentals of this critical skill.

Watch as he corrects the technique of his players through out the drills.

This clip is just a small part of of Coach Fisher’s All Access Practice DVD that includes 4 practices and a total of 466 minutes of practice footage. For more information about that DVD click the link:

All Access Volleyball Practice with Dan Fisher

The YouTube video below has audio, so please make sure that your speakers are turned on and your volume is turned up. Note that some schools block access to YouTube