If your outside hitter out performs the oppositions outside hitter, your chance of winning are pretty good. In this post you will see a outside hitter drill designed to determine who is your best hitter.
In the clip below Sarah Wall, former head coach at Carl Junction High School, describes an outside hitter drill that she uses to not only work her hitters but determine exactly who is her are her best hitters. This is critical to her as she believes that you must play your best hitters outside.
The outside hitter drill that she uses is what she calls the Outside Hitter Tournament. To begin the drill place your best setter and libero on the side of the net the net of the outside hitter that you want to test. The other three players can be placed randomly. These players will remain in their position for the entirety of the outside hitter drill. On the other side of the net place use your best middle to block the opposing outside hitter. Place another outside hitter at left front and then randomly select the other four players.
A coach will give a 10 free balls to the the side with the outside hitter that you are testing. The points are played out. In order for the point to count, the outside hitter must get a swing. If she does not get a swing, then you must give another free ball. The goal is for the outside hitter to win as many points as possible out of the 10 free balls (that she gets a swing on)
Then simply switch out the outside hitters, keep all other players the same and repeat the process. By keeping all other players the same, you should be able to determine who really is your best hitter.
Coach Wall believes in playing the best hitter outside because she feels that unless you have a very good passing team, your hitter may be under utilized in the middle.
The clip begins with a brief discussion on when to run “quicks” and when not to.
The clip is from a presentation at Glazier Volleyball Clinic. For information about gaining access to the entire presentation, as well as hundreds of other great clinic presentations, simply click the link Glazier Volleyball Clinics
The YouTube video below has audio, so please make sure that your sound is turned up and that you have access to the site. Note that some schools block access to YouTube.