Volleyball Drills
Drills - Part 1
Digging
Staying Alive
* Half court drill with 1 coach, 1 ball and 3 active players.
* Inactive players wait behind the baseline ready to come on court in threes with a ball.
* Mainly practises digging with some pursuit and defensive teamwork.
* Coach is at 2 as feeder and target with the players defending back court as if they were 4, 5 & 6 with the attack coming through 2.
* Coach continuously recycles the ball until it goes dead, feeding to the players who dig the ball back to her.
* Feeds are generally down balls but volleys, bumps and tips can be added for variety.
* The active players have a maximum of three touches to get the ball back to the coach although the primary objective is a single good dig.
* The coach should stay in zone 2 between the attack and centre lines so that players have to chase down imperfect balls.
* Some coaches advocate taping a box to indicate their zone, but simply calling "mine" on doubtful balls seems to work OK.
* Once the ball is dead then the 3 active players leave the court and collect their ball.
* Three new players come on court and volley feed their ball to the coach and the drill continues.
* The coach can vary the difficulty of the feed according to the ability of the players.
* The initial 3 feeds should be easier and one to each player.
* Players can be forced to retrieve a long lob ball or dive for a short ball as well as playing normal defensive digs.
* Coach can base herself at two-and-a-half to make the target position more natural.
* Variation: introduce a setter as target at 2 to set to the coach who feeds from 3.
Three in a Line
* Similar to 'Staying Alive' above but players change one at a time with less emphasis on pursuit.
* Half court drill with 1 coach, 1 ball and 3 active players.
* Inactive players wait behind the baseline queueing behind the middle defender with spare balls to hand.
* Coach is at 2 as feeder and target with the players defending back court as if they were 4, 5 &6 with the attack coming
through 2.* Coach continuously recycles the ball until it goes dead, feeding down balls to the players who dig the ball back to her.
* If the dig is shanked then the players have 2 more touches to get the ball back to the coach.
* The coach should stay in zone 2 between the attack and centre lines so that players have to chase down imperfect balls.
* Once the ball is dead or heading back to the coach, the digger who played the ball leaves the court and collects the ball if dead.
* If the digger was left or right then he is replaced by the middle player.
* The middle player is replaced by the next in line.
* The line volleys a fresh ball to the coach if necessary to replace a dead ball.
* Variation: introduce a setter as target to set to the coach in the middle who remains as feeder.
Round the World
* Similar to 'Three in a Line' above but players rotate across the court.
* Half court drill with 1 coach, 1 ball and 3 active players.
* Inactive players wait behind the baseline at 1 with spare balls to hand.
* Coach is at 2 as feeder and target with the players defending back court as if they were 4, 5 & 6 with the attack coming through 2.
* Coach continuously recycles the ball feeding down balls to the players who dig the ball back to her.
* If the dig is shanked then the players have 2 more touches to get the ball back to the coach.
* When the ball reaches the coach the player in position 4 leaves the court, 5 moves to 4, 6 moves to 5 and the incoming player takes up the 6 position.
* The ball must get back to the coach before the player leaves the court.
* The coach should stay in zone 2 between the attack and centre lines so that players have to chase down imperfect balls.
* Variation: introduce a setter as target to set to the coach in the middle who remains as feeder.
* The line volleys a fress ball to the coach if necessary to replace a dead ball.
* Variation: introduce a setter as target to set to the coach in the middle who remains as feeder.
Three digs
* This drill practises moving and digging
* Half court drill with 3 feeders each with a ball, and 1 active player.
* Feeders are at 2, 3 &4 with their backs to the netwith a ball each.
* Inactive players queue behind the baseline at 1.
* Keep spare balls in a ball cart next to the feeder at 2.
* The active player comes on court at 1 from the queue.
* The first feeder feeds a long ball to deep 1 which the player digs back to her, and then immediately moves sideways and forwards to 3.
* The second feeder immediately feeds a short ball to close 3 with enough height so the player can reach it and dig it back to the feeder; the player then immediately moves backwards and sideways to 5.
* The third feeder feeds a down ball to 5 once the player is in front of her, and the player digs it back to the feeder, leaves court, collects any loose balls and joins the queue.
* The first feeder checks that the other feeders are ready with balls and then starts the drill with the next player.
* Variation: use six feeders along the side of a full court.
