Volleyball Toolbox

Practice Planning: Creating Discomfort

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By  Dawn Redd-Kelly

When I asked Sam Shweisky, the head men’s volleyball coach at Princeton University, how he prepared his team to handle challenges or being put in uncomfortable situations, I liked his answer about “realistic discomfort”.  Sometimes I’ll talk to a coach and it seems like their main goal is to put their team through some sort of boot camp or make practice about perseverance rather than gaining knowledge.  Of course, I’m not saying we shouldn’t appropriately condition our teams or that we shouldn’t figuratively kicks their butts in practice…but it should be applicable to our sport.  The amount of volleyball coaches I hear about who still have their teams running a timed mile astounds me!  Anaerobic sports need short, fast, all-out bursts…not long, slow, managed cardio.

Anyhoo, I digress.

As Shweisky talked about realistic discomfort, I found myself trying to figure out which ideas would be applicable to my team and if I could make these things happen in my gym.

Creating realistic discomfort

  1. Practice in jerseys.  The fact is, game day messes with some of our player’s heads.  Most times, we hope, it’s good.  They get super amped up and are on edge (in a good way) all day until game time.  On the less positive end, some of our players may get very nervous to the point of not feeling well.  Either way, letting them have the opportunity to learn how to manage those feelings is a great idea and one I hadn’t thought of.
  2. Turn the scoreboard on.  The power of the scoreboard is amazing!  It instantly ramps up the competitiveness of your gym and I’d highly recommend putting some form of visual pressure on your team.  It’s what they have to deal with in real games and they’ve got to be comfortable having those numbers up there.
  3. Set the “game day” court up.  There’s nothing like walking into the gym and seeing it all set up for game day…it’s one of the things that makes game day special.  Again, another things I hadn’t thought about doing with my team that I will now do: make sure we practice with everything set up the way it will be for games.  Hopefully this will help them learn to manage the butterflies that come along with competition.

Not so fun realistic discomfort

These aren’t from Sam, but from me, but I think still pretty good!

  1. Pull your best player from a drill.  What happens if your best player gets hurt?  Or their grandma dies and they’ve got to miss a game?  Do you have a plan of action?  We owe it to our teams to have put them in situations where that player wasn’t on the court/field/ice and the team still thrived.
  2. Unbalanced scoring.  I’m sure most of you do this already, but create an unfair situation and make your team dig their way out.  Not only will they learn that it’s possible, they’ll learn to never give up.
  3. Stack teams.  Make one team very strong, like “why are we even practicing like this?” strong.  There are many ways to address the unbalance in skill level: scoring, you could put your best player on the worst team and force them to step up and lead the weaker team, the stronger team could have parameters on their scoring.
  4. Unfair reffing.  In the heat of competition, the team will look at the coaches and disagree with one another heartily.  Sometimes I tell them that the officials of a game are just people and they make mistakes too.  Practicing dealing with bad calls, in my opinion, is essential.  Worrying about reffing takes our player’s attention away from where it should be and we’ve got to help them manage their emotions.

While these suggestions came pretty close to the X’s and O’s line, I think they hit home the idea that sport is a mental, as well as, physical venture.  These ideas will help you to develop your athlete’s mental games alongside their skills.  Good luck!


Arm Swing Technique

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There is much more to hitting a volleyball than just hitting it hard. To be an effective consistent hitter the proper arm swing technique is necessary. If you want an explosive offense, then teaching the proper arm swing technique to your hitters is a must.

In the video clip below Bond Shymansky, University of Iowa Head Coach, does a great job of explaining and demonstrating how he teaching the key components of the proper arm swing technique that will allow his players to hit the ball at peak height and with speed and power. His goal is to get his hitters to hit the ball, not only hard, but also high. Coach Shymansky’s philosophy is “Hit the ball high good things will happen. Hit the ball low, bad things will happen no matter how hard you hit it”

This clip is from a DVD designed to help make your offense more explosive. In that DVD he also covers:
First Contact Ball Control, First Contact Speed,Hitting Position, Serve Receive and Transition. For more information on purchasing the DVD click the link Situational Coaching for Explosive Offense

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 technical cues that Coach Shymansky’s use to teach the proper arm swing technique are as follows.

Drive and Draw

The hands and elbows must be driven backward as the hitter begins to jump. As the leave the ground their arms and elbows must be drawn upward such that both elbows are above the ear. Most players will instinctively raise only their hitting arm. This cause the player to tilt forward resulting in a loss of reach and power. In addition, this position puts additional stress on the shoulder.

Hips and Shoulder Open

The hitter should have both their hips and shoulder open to the ball as the receive the ball. They should not have their shoulder parallel to the net.

Exchange

As the hitter strikes the ball the exchange the left hand for the right hand. They exchange the left left elbow for the right elbow and the left shoulder for the right shoulder.


Back Row Attack

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Getting your players to talk to each other is very important and not always easy to accomplish. In the video clip below Kamehameha Schools (HI) Head Girls’ Volleyball Coach, Bala Spencer, provides you with the Back Row Attack that not only gets your players reps that will improve your team’s back row attack, but will also force them to communicate and move in order to complete the drill.

Practicing your back row attack should be a part of your plan. Whether it is a necessary because of a bad pass, or a planned attack because you have a good player that you would like to utilize from that position, the back row attack can be a effective tool for you.

This clip is from a DVD that includes a set of drills designed to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of you teams warm-ups while stressing communication. For more information about the DVD that this clip came from click the link High-Energy Warm-Up Drills

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 back row set drill is initiated by a coaching serving a ball into to one of three back row players. The back row player that receives the ball must pass the ball to the setter and then make a call communicating to the setter where she would like the ball in order to attack. The only rule is she can not hit from the same position that she passes from.

The other two back row players must each communicate and move to new spots. The coach will now serve a ball into one of the other two players. The receiving player will once again pass to the setter and then call for a ball in a different area. The other two must move to new positions. The drill continues until all three have had an opportunity attack from the back row. After each player has hit simply rotate in three new back row players.


Out of System Scramble Drill

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No matter how skilled your volleyball team is, there will be times when play becomes chaotic. It is impossible to dig every ball and pass perfectly to the setter who in turn puts the ball in perfect position for the hitter. Scramble situations will occur and your team will be forced to play out of system. There are many ways to practice this scenario. In the video below you will see an out of system scramble drill that will give your team the chance to convert chaos into control.

The video features Suzie Fritz, Kansas State University head coach and two-time Big 12 Coach of the Year. She shows demonstrates an out of system scramble drill that she use to help train her team to deal with chaos and experience a variety of transition situations. The drill teaches players to leave the ball safe for the outside hitters during chaotic situations. You outside hitters will have to opportunity to manage out of system or bad set situations.

The clip is from a DVD that will help your team get comfortable with uncomfortable transition situations. You will learn to train players to dig to the heart of the court and create a usable ball for your offense. It also covers getting your middle hitters some “daylight” in transition so that they more visible to the setter. She also shows how to train hitters to use proper footwork in transition, eliminate wasted steps and become more productive. For more information on purchasing this DVD click the link Touch and Turn in Transition

The YouTube video below has sound, so please make sure that the sound is turned on and that you have access to the site.

The out of system scramble drill begins with the coach bouncing the ball into one side. The bounce is played as if it is the dig. The players must scramble and try and pass a safe ball to one of the outside hitters. Once the point is over, the coach will bounce the ball into to the team that one the point. The point of the out of system scramble drill is to give your player the opportunity to convert chaos into control.


Defensive Position: Digging

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In volleyball, as in most sports, the ability to defend will ultimately determine the degree of success you experience. To be great at defending, players must be able to get into a proper defensive position and learn the fundamental techniques for digging.

In the clip below Terry Liskevych, former Oregon State Head Coach, and Emily Hiza, Colorado State Asst. Coach, discuss defensive position and digging. The clip is from The Art of Coaching Volleyball. You can get more great coaching tools be visiting their site at the link above, or you can check our more videos at The Art of Coaching Volleyball YouTube Channel

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)

Most of the defense in volleyball is played while the ball is on the other side of the net; therefore players must understand where they need to be and be able to get into the proper defensive position. In order to get into that position, it is imperative that players keep their knees off the floor. Staying on their feet, getting to the right spot, and getting in proper defensive position will enable them to execute the fundamentals of digging the volleyball.

In the proper defensive position a player should have their legs wider than shoulder width apart. Their weight should be somewhat on their toes. The toes should be pointed slightly inward as the position will allow them to move forward more easily. The knees should be forward and the shoulders forward above the knees. This defensive position will allow players to move forward and collapse when digging

The first step in collapsing should be to bring your platform to the ground behind the ball. Next, the elbows bend so that the platform is under the ball and then to finish simply extend forward.

When digging a ball that is far enough in front of you that you must step forward, the following coaching points are important. You should lean forward with your body so that it is close to the leg you stepped with. The toes should be pointed inward. This will allow you to fall on your hip instead of the knee as you extend out for the ball. From this extended position you recover with a barrel roll.