If you are shopping for Christmas gifts, Holiday gifts, birthday gifts, or end of seasons gifts for your volleyball Coach, we got you covered with these suggestions.

For the more expensive gifts, these are best presented by the team or booster club pooling money to get a super nice gift and save the kids and individual volleyball families time in shopping.

We got all the gifts located on their Amazon platform as we know that can make things easier for you as most already have an account set up.   Pricing is subject to change so please check pricing in cart before buying.  We recommend these products on either the actual previous use or the desire to purchase at some point and the process of online review.   We may be paid an affiliate commission by Amazon for your purchase of these items… at no extra charge to you.   This helps support our efforts and the time we invested into making your shopping easier.  Happy Shopping!

Love Volleyball Sweatshirt Gift for Volleyball Fans Women Hoodie

The Hoodie that says it all… classic for the Coach you care about.

Volleyball 3D Night Light, Sport Mood Illusion Lamp

Awesome light for the school office or the Coach’s home… this light definitely makes a volleyball first statement in decor.

Volleyball Coach Gift SIGNABLE Personalized Coaches Plaque for Team Signatures 

These gifts can bring a tear to a Coach’s eyes as the family comes together to sign this wonderful plaque that the Coach can remember this specific team forever with.

Volleyball Coach Funny Definition T-shirt Trainer Gift Tee

For those days your Coach can’t remember exactly what their job title is… this should help when they look in the mirror.

Volleyball Photo Frame | Coach (Autograph) Picture Frame | Black

Another frame memento for the team to sign and gift their volleyball coach.

Volleyball Coach Gift T-Shirt Funny Thank You Gift

Volleyball Coach’s deserve a little respect and this shirt embraces just that.

Volleyball Tote Bag

Gift your volleyball Coach this great tote bag that is perfect for the beach, picnics or tournaments.

Christmas Pillows Holiday Xmas Gifts Volleyball

Looking for a Christmas gift for your volleyball Coach?   This pillow can help capture their passion for the game and their passion for the game too!

You Don’t Scare Me I Coach Girls Volleyball T-Shirt

This shirt warns people about what they are up against… in a fun way that empowers your Coach.

Best Coach Ever Stainless Steel Tumbler 

For the “best” volleyball coach.  Apparently they only made one mug for the “best.’   And yet there are supplies available!  You can get them for your assistants and write “Second” in front of best with a white sharpie.  🙂

Coach Shelf Desk Decor and Signature Pen

As mentioned before… there is no higher title a coach would prefer to be called.  Not your Majesty, not your Honor, not Boss.  For some, the exception might be Mom or Dad.   Get this ordered and also have the team sign.   Beautiful gift from the heart for a shelf in the office!

Handheld Whistle 

Hand Squeeze Whistle. This handheld whistle is loud, easy to use and allows coaches to coach verbally while still managing a scrimmage or running a drill.  It is also more pandemic friendly as you can wear a mask with it and also are not dealing with whistle drool etc.   I personally use it in camps, training and refereeing scrimmages like our Real Run program.

JBL Boombox – Waterproof Portable Bluetooth Speaker – Black

I have found these JBL portable speakers to be top quality and have a good bass end.   I recently ran over their JBL Extreme speaker with my Honda while we prepared for an outdoor bodyweight strength for volleyball  bootcamp.  The Extreme series seems to be discontinued, but this looks like most comparable as gift .  These are awesome to bring to practice or on the team bus.  Great for lunch outside during the tournament or in the volleyball weight room.

SAMSUNG 50-inch Class Crystal UHD TU-8000 Series – 4K UHD HDR Smart TV with Alexa Built-in (UN50TU8000FXZA, 2020 Model)

Coaches watch a lot of video and a big screen TV can help them pick up things on the volleyball scouting duties a laptop will not.   This would go great on the wall in their office or if they have life outside of volleyball in their own home.  She will appreciate this gift that helps her help her team.   This Smart TV has Alexa built in and many next gen apps available to it all for a low price and a reliable brand.

New Apple Watch Series 6 (GPS, 44mm) – Blue Aluminum Case with Deep Navy Sport Band

Managing time is often the most challenging aspect of a volleyball coach’s job.  This watch helps me to receive texts from late or sick players without checking my phone during practice.  It allows me to not carry a stopwatch so I can time players.  The vibrate feature allows me to set a timer to keep me focused on the task and the agenda. It allows me to dictate a note for future consideration during a practice without running to a notebook.   The truth is many volleyball coaches consider this an expensive luxury item for their kids… but not themselves.   Coaches can really make their practices more productive and less stressful with this watch and I love mine.

Hamilton Beach Dual Breakfast Sandwich

Imagine how great a mood your coach will arrive to morning practice after he has had a great simple breakfast sandwich made painless with this awesome contraption.

Solo Stove Bonfire Fire Pit – Large 19.5 Inch Stainless Steel Outdoor Smokeless Firepit

Help your coach relax and unwind after your team has 30 plus turnovers and you see their blood pressure rise on the sidelines.   This smokeless fireplace is portable and looks sharp and will allow your coach to sit down with their favorite beverage and just chill as they watch the flames dance.  Also can be a nice way to help Coach connect with their family in a circle.   Innovative twist on a time honored classic.

YETI Tundra Haul Portable Wheeled Cooler 

This is a great luxury item that a coach is unlikely to splurge on themselves.   They can use it for their family or for their team, or perhaps for the girls night out (yes female coaches like a Yeti too.)

This drill 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. He also coached at Rhode Island and Brown University.

There are a lot of questions which come to mind when considering a starting line-up. This isn’t just for inexperienced coaches. It’s something we think about for basically every team, and often from match to match. The decision of what to put on the line-up slip comes in two parts. First is the placement of players on the court relative to each other. Second is in which rotation they start the set.

When it comes to the order of placement of the players on the court, two factors generally dominate the considerations.

Balance

The first thing you absolutely need to look to do is create as balanced a line-up as you possibly can. You won’t come up with something where all six rotations are equally strong. You definitely want to keep anyone rotation from being excessively weak, though. That’s a guarantee of finding yourself stuck giving up points in bunches. As much as it might sound great to have one really strong rotation to try to score runs of points, that rarely works out. Just too many ways to give up the sideout that ends the string. This is why most line-ups put stronger players next to weaker ones and away from each other.

For example, the classic 5-1 line-up puts the strongest MB and the strongest OH next to the setter. It ensures one of the strongest hitters is always front row with the setter. In multi-setter line-ups (6-2, 4-2, etc.) you create balance by matching stronger hitters with weaker setters.

Not that offense is the only focus. Blocking, defense and passing can also come into the equation as well.

Serve Reception

While balance is generally a question of which players are either next to our away from each other, serve reception considerations often come down to the order in which the players are placed on the court. This is where the question of whether the MB leads the setter (serves immediately before) or follows (serves immediately after in the rotation. Coaches generally favor the MB leads pattern when running 5-1 and 6-2 offenses. It allows the setter to push up toward the net more easily and offers some additional positional options. That doesn’t mean it’s always the best option, though.

Once you have your players positioned relative to each other it’s time to think about the starting rotation. Here a number of things need to be considered. Generally speaking, the idea is to give your strongest point scoring rotation out first, but that’s not necessarily a simple thing. Here are some potential ways to look at it.

Strong/Weak Servers

Particularly in the younger age groups where serving can dominate, it can make a lot of sense to have your strongest server be the first one back at the line. That means you start them in Position 1 if you have serve to start the set, or Position 2 if the other team serves first. Another way to think of this is in terms of clusters of good servers. If you have two or three next to each other in the rotation, you could have them be the first ones to hit the service line, even if there is one player who is individually stronger than any of those in the cluster.

Flipping around, you could also think in terms of putting your weakest server(s) toward the back of the service order. This limits how often they serve, and by extension any negative influences from them doing so poorly.

I personally tend not to favor my best server going first – all else being equal. I’ve just found that the first serve of a set is subject to negative influences. As a result, putting your best server first often works like them going last in terms of their actual influence. I have absolutely no problem putting a weak server last, though!

Hide the Small/Feature the Big Front Row Player

If you run a 5-1 system where the setter has to play front row where they may be a blocking liability, it might make sense to start them in Position 1. That minimizes the amount of time they spend in the front row. This can apply to any position really. For example, a smaller OH could be started in the back row.

The reverse of this is maximizing the time a particularly strong front row player is at the net. That means starting them in Position 4, or perhaps Position 5.

This sort of thing also tends to limit the time you’re in a weak rotation and/or increase the time in your strongest one.

Match-Up

In some cases you may want to consider creating a favorable match-up against the opposition by starting in a certain rotation. Put your best blocker against their best hitter, your strongest OH against a small blocking S, a strong server against a weak serve receive rotation, etc. Or you could set the rotation to avoid certain match-ups.

A bit of caution is needed here, though. Just as balance is generally desirable to avoid getting stuck in a bad rotation, the same thing should be considered when looking at match-ups. It could be that trying to pit your best attacker against the opponent’s weakest blocker also creates the opposite situation. You want to make sure you keep from ending up with you having a weak rotation against the other team’s strong one.