August 2024 Coaching Tip

Tip by Brogan Johnson, Salt Lake Academy in Herriman, UT.

Nine Man Pepper - This is a good drill to work on ball control, back row defense, and communication while getting a lot of reps and conditioning for setters and hitters.

Start with three players fixed in the back row on each side of the net. Have a setter front row in the middle as well as two pin hitters hitting on the left and right on one side of the net. The front row, setter and hitters, will go under the net and switch sides after each attack and will continually attack until the ball drops. Have a target of 10, 15, or 20, depending on skill level, of how many attacks the team can get in a row without the ball dropping.

You can modify the drill to fit your team needs. In our gym we continue play until the ball hits the floor. We will play off walls, with more than three touches, etc. so the score does not reset to zero. We only count points if it is an aggressive attack off of three hits, anything else is a wash. Depending on how many we have sitting off, we may have players fill in individually for whoever makes the last error, or groups of three fill in for the group that drops the ball. We have also done this as a wave drill where we put a setter in each group of three and groups wave from back row to front row to back row after a certain number of attempts. We like to set the bar high for the team and encourage them to work through mental roadblocks and build mental toughness.