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Drills

The following is a listing of all posts in the category of drills for our site.

Click the orange link to read the individual post

Hit the Deck Drill

Hit the Deck Drill with Bobbi Petersen, University of Northern Iowa Head Coach; 2019 MVC Coach of the Year; 2018 AVCA Midwest Region Coach of the Year; 2006 AVCA National Coach of the Year; 2018 MVC regular season and tournament champions; 3x AVCA Regional Coach of the Year (2001, 2002, 2018); 6x MVC Coach of the Year As a coach, you should want ...

Non-Traditional Plays and Reaction Drills

Non-Traditional Plays and Reaction Drills with Genny Volpe, Head Coach of Women’s Volleyball at Rice University. Entering 2020, her 17th season as head coach at Rice, Genny Volpe has established the Owl volleyball program as a power in the Southwest. Under Volpe’s watch, the Owls have been to five NCAA championships (2004, 2008, 2009, 2018, 2019), ...

Attack Work for Outside Hitters

Attack Work for Outside Hitters with Ryan Theis, Marquette University Head Coach; 2017 Big East Coach of the Year; led Marquette to the school’s first Sweet Sixteen appearance in 2018; former Ohio University Head Coach; 2x MAC Coach of the Year Possessing a team full of quality outside hitters will cover up a lot of weaknesses you have elsewhere. Ryan Theis, ...

No Fluff Practice Rule

No Fluff Practice Rule with Amber Warners, Calvin College Head Coach; 3x Division III National Champions (2010, 2013, 2016); 4x AVCA Division III National Coach of the Year (2010, 2012, 2013, 2014); highest win % among active Division III women’s volleyball coaches (.874) Far too often, practice can turn into more of a social event and becomes less about playing ...

3 Ball Game

3 Ball Game with Keegan Cook, University of Washington Head Coach; 2x Pac-12 Champions (2015 & 2016); 2x NCAA Elite Eight appearances (2015 & 2016); 2018 U.S. Junior Women’s National Team Head Coach; 2016 U.S. Collegiate Women’s National Team Head Coach This video featuring University of Washington head coach Keegan Cook stresses the three basic components to transition: “How we move ...

Baylor’s Matrix Drill

Baylor’s Matrix Drill with Ryan McGuyre, Baylor University Head Women’s Volleyball Coach; 2019 USMC/AVCA Div. I National Coach of the Year; 2019 Final Four; 2x Big 12 Coach of the Year (2017, 2019); Big 12 Champions (first time in school history!); former Cal Baptist University Men’s & Women’s Head Coach; 9x National Champions; NCCAA Division I National Coach of the Year (2011); Named AVCA’s ...

2 on 2 Ball Control Drill

2 on 2 Ball Control Drill with Nancy Dorsey, St. James Academy (KS) Head Coach; 2015 AVCA National High School Coach of the Year; 2015 Kansas Class 5A state champions; nine state titles in eleven years 2008-18 (finished runner up twice); 2x PrepVolleyball.com National Champions (2013, 2010); VBM 2013 High School Team of the Year; American Family Insurance 2013 All-USA Volleyball ...

Golden Ball Drill

The Golden Ball drill is designed to simulate critical points in a match. Not all points are the same. Some are simply more important than others and demand increased focus at the critical point in a match and the Golden Ball Drill is designed to simulate those situations. In the video clip below Coach Terry Miller (Cherokee ...

Dog House & Fox Exchange Drills

Coaches are always looking for new drills. Here are two drills you can add to your coaching toolbox: Dog House & Fox Exchange Drills In the video below Penny Isenbart, head coach at Kit Carson High School (CO), provides an explanation of these two drills that she utilizes in her practices. Dog House Drill This is primarily a ...

Setter Rocker Step Wall Drill

Coach Lyndsey Oates, University of Northern Colorado, demonstrates the Setter Rocker Step Wall Drill. The key to the Rocker Step is weight transfer from left to the right foot. Ideally, the left would land just as the setter was striking the ball. In this video Coach Oakes has the players working on their rocker step by setting ...

No Fluff Hitting Drill

Far too often, a practice can turn into more of a social event and becomes less about playing with aggressiveness and intensity. In this video from three-time Division III National Champion coach Amber Warners, demonstrates her No Fluff Hitting Drill that is designed to get players to ultra-aggressive. In fact, in this drill, they are forced to ...

Under Pressure: Replicate Game Situations with These Drills

By Lindsay Peterson From the Hudl Blog Use prac­tices to give your team the expe­ri­ences they need to deal with stress in matches. Imagine this: it’s the mid­dle of the fifth set, your team is down 10 – 11, and it’s your serve. Oh, and did I men­tion it’s the state cham­pi­onship and their best hit­ter has rotat­ed to the ...

Overhand Serve Receive

Consistency in serve receive is one of the most important factors in being able to run a fast-paced offense in volleyball. In order to be most effective players must be able to receive overhand. In the video below, two-time national champion coach Mick Haley addresses the overhand serve receive. One of the most consistently difficult serves to ...

Don’t Drop the Baby

Communication is a critical skill in volleyball. This Don’t Drop the Baby Drill will force your players communicate with each other in order to be successful. In the video below Coach Penny Isenbart from Kit High School (CO) shares her “Don’t Drop the Baby Drill” which forces players to think, communicate and use their peripheral vision ...

Transition Drill: 3 Ball Game

There are three basic components to effective transition: How you move well, how you see well and how you communicate well. In the video below University of Washington head coach Keegan Cook demonstrates his 3 Ball Game designed to enhance your understanding of the transition game and to improve your offense’s success during rally play. Coach Cook ...

Developing Relentless Defenders

Defense is a skill that every coach and team can take pride in. A great defensive team can counter a height differential if one exists with your opponent. In this video from Iowa State University head coach Christy Johnson-Lynch shares how she teaches her players to stay on their feet and pursue the ball. She does not ...

High Tempo Warm-up: Movement Prep

Here is a High Tempo & minute warm-up that you can use with your team prior to your workouts. This warm-up was provided by my friends at ONEighty Athletics Time and situations are crucial in coaching and for implementing a high quality warm-up. ****KEY POINTS**** 1.) EFFORT is contagious! Meaning if you the coach demands effort you better make sure you ...

Hit the Deck Drill

Getting your middle’s involved is critical to producing a versatile and effective attack. But how can you emphasize this so that it occurs more often in match play? In the video below Bobbi Petersen, University of Northern Iowa Head Coach; 2018 AVCA Midwest Region Coach of the Year; 2006 AVCA National Coach of the Year; demonstrates a ...

Pepper Variations

This article is republished with permission. The original article appears at Coaching Volleyball. By John Forman – Founder of Coaching Volleyball. Coach Forman is the Technical Director for Charleston Academy. He has served as DI college coach as well as a professional coach in Sweden Pepper is a volleyball drill or exercise you can see in just ...

Volleyball Games: Scoring Alternatives

This article is republished with permission. The original article appears at Coaching Volleyball. By John Forman – Founder of Coaching Volleyball. Coach Forman is the Technical Director for Charleston Academy. He has served as DI college coach as well as a professional coach in Sweden Obviously, these days volleyball is almost exclusively played using rally score. Depending ...

Passing Drills to Eliminate Bad Habits

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 ...

14-Player Serve-Pass-Hit

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 – ...

Columbus Drill: Ball Control

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 ...

Hitter Tournament

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 ...

Setting Form

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 ...

Doubles: A Pass, Set, Spike Drill

Here is a drill that incorporates three skills: Passing, Setting and Hitting In the clip below from Krossover, you will see a simple drill that your players will love to do. This is a very good warm-up drill that could be done every practice. Here are the basics of the drill called Doubles: The setter begins by ...

Serving Game: Around the World

Here is a fun competitive serving game that requires players to serve into all 6 zones. In the video clip below Anne Kordes, former University of Louisville Head Coach and past President of the American Volleyball Coaches Association, demonstrates a competitive serving game called Around the World. In this drill teams attempt to serve a ball to a ...

One Hit Drill

Here is a great fun game/drill to add to some variety to your practices. The clip below is taken from a live University of Pittsburgh practice. The One Hit Drill is being conducted by oach Dan Fisher (University of Pittsburgh Head Coach; 2017 ACC Coach of the Year; 2017 ACC Champions; former Concordia -Irvine University Head ...

Transition Hitting Drill

Here is a drill that will give you the opportunity to work on Transition Hitting into specific zones. 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 Synopsis: This is ...

Brazilian 2-Ball Warm-up Game

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 This is a great warm-up type game that gets players moving and competing while also working on communication and ...


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