Tip by Kesley Wulf, in Wauseon, OH
My favorite drill is a run-thru drill.
Coach tosses from the setters position on the same side of the net as the athletes going through the drill. 4-5 athletes start in right back, running one at a time to the right front position when coach slaps the ball. Coach tosses a low ball that requires player to run thru the ball to pass it up or dive to pass it.
Once the ball is passed, they sprint to the end of the line. Repeat until in the line has passed here for 5x.
Round 2: Players still run from right back but this time they run to the middle of the court to the 10foot line. Repeat this location 5x.
Round 3: Players move to left back and run to the left front position when coach slaps the ball. Repeat 5x.
Round 4: Players are still coming from left back, but they are running to the middle of the court to the 10 ft line. Repeat 5x.
Round 5: Players are still coming from left back, but when coach slaps the ball he/she is going to toss a "long ball" and player runs along the back serving line to save the ball and run thru it. Repeat this 5x.
Round 6: Players move to the right back position, when coach slaps the ball he/she is going to toss a "long ball" and player runs along the back serving line to save the ball and run thru it. Keep the drill fast paced and one player after another. The more people in line, the more breaks/rests the players get in between reps.
Coach dictates the speed of the drill with tosses. Everyone that is off of the court needs to be shagging quickly and handing balls to coach asap. This is a great volleyball conditioning drill.
Helping coaches better understand motor learning and leave behind training principles that are not effective is not rude. Was I a little sarcastic, yes and that I regret. I quote, “The specificity of movement patterns and control is a scientifically established principle of human exercise. There has been no wavering on this valid phenomenon over the past 50 years.” Motor programs are INCREDIBLY specific. Training an athlete to run from a corner of the court to another while tossing it under handed from the same side of the net, has such inefficient transfer to an actual volleyball situation that it’s wasted time from a training perspective. Every single drill we run has to be the absolute closest thing to volleyball in every way because we’re losing degrees of transfer each step we take away from that. Sorry that I came off rudely, but this is science, not opinion.