Defensive Drill #1: Logan’s Drill (variation #2)

My assistant coach came up with this drill (hence the name) and it is great for getting your team to move their feet and get to the ball quickly. The great thing about this drill is that there are many variations, and you can make variations up as you go along!

1. Start with a line of athletes on both of the side-lines of the court (the athletes in the front of the line laying on the bellies) and the coach in the center of the court across the net.

2. As soon as the coach slaps the ball, 1 of the 2 players on their belly gets up and runs across to the sideline on the opposite side of the court as they started on and then back to the center of the court (If the athlete was in the line on the left side-line of the court – they will run to the right sideline, if the athlete was in the line on the right side-line of the court they will run to the left sideline). The coach will toss/hit a ball over the net as soon as the athlete touches the side line, but before they reach the center. The objective of this drill is to make the athlete move their feet quickly and get under the ball before they contact it. Once the athlete has finished the drill the coach will slap a ball and a girl from the other line will run through the drill. The drill continues with the athletes alternating between lines for as long as the coach desires.

3. Once the athlete has begun to master getting to the ball you may increase the level of difficulty of this drill by tossing/hitting the ball to the opposite side of the court or tossing/hitting the ball deeper or shorter into the court to make them have to work a little harder at getting under the ball before contacting it.

Go here to see variation #1

Go here to see variation #3

Bugs

Apologies for the lack of entries over the past few weeks…I’ve been a little ill. *cough* My team has also felt the repercussions of my illness as I have not been at practices or our last tournament. It’s been tough not being there for my team. I keep thinking that the parents are going to think I’m slacking off or that I’m not committed to their daughters. I’m fortunate enough to have an amazing assistant coach who is able to take over for me when I’m not there. I’ve been trying to keep in contact with my girls via e-mail to let them know that I’m still there for them and that I’m staying as involved as I can even though I’m not there.

I made my first appearance back with the team after a 2 1/2 week absence last night. I was impressed to see that the girls still responded well to me. I was impressed with the improvements my team had made over my absence. The part that made me the most happy about last night’s practice was that the girls were happy to see me. As a coach you always wonder if your team really likes you. It was rewarding to come back to an open-armed team.

Defensive Drill #1: Logan’s Drill (variation # 1)

My assistant coach came up with this drill (hence the name) and it is great for getting your team to move their feet and get to the ball quickly. The great thing about this drill is that there are many variations, and you can make variations up as you go along!

1. Start with 2 lines of athletes on the end-line of the court (the athletes in the front of the line laying on the bellies) and the coach in the center of the court across the net.

2. As soon as the coach slaps the ball, 1 of the 2 players on their belly gets up and runs to the sideline on the opposite side of the court as they started on and then back to the center of the court (If the athlete was in the line on the left side of the court – they will run to the right sideline, if the athlete was in the line on the right side of the court they will run to the left sideline). The coach will toss/hit a ball over the net as soon as the athlete touches the side line, but before they reach the center. The objective of this drill is to make the athlete move their feet quickly and get under the ball before they contact it. Once the athlete has finished the drill the coach will slap a ball and a girl from the other line will run through the drill. The drill continues with the athlete alternating between lines for as long as the coach desires.

3. Once the athlete has begun to master getting to the ball you may increase the level of difficulty of this drill by tossing/hitting the ball to the opposite side of the court or tossing/hitting the ball deeper or shorter into the court to make them have to work a little harder at getting under the ball before contacting it.

Go here to see variation #2
Go here to see variation #3

Athlete contract or not?

I decided at the beginning of this season that I was going to have my team sign a contract that outlined my expectations of them as individuals and as a team for the season. I felt that as a first time coach it was a great way for me to build up my reputation and respect levels with the girls. I handed an extra copy out to all of the players’ parents at our parent meeting as well, as I felt it was important that they also understood my expectations of their daughters.

The contract encompasses many aspects of our season such as being on time, cleaning up venues and respecting your teammates and coaches. One area that in retrospect I wish I had covered is the importance of communicating any absences or known tardiness to the coaches in advance of it happening. I have had many instances of players not informing me of absences and I feel that this could’ve been avoided if it had been laid out clear for them in their contract.

I am very happy I chose to sign a contract with my team. It has been an excellent way of holding both my athletes and the coaches (including myself) accountable for our actions.

Volleyball Training Aids

This site has some awesome devices that can assist your volleyball development during team practices or individual training.

For example this device (featured below) is called a CATCH IT. It can help you improve your serving, passing, setting, and hitting skills by giving you a realistic target which also catches the ball. I have personally used this device and it definitely made hitting drills (specifically when hitting certain targets) much more effective! It could serve as a great motivational tool for your volleyball drills as well!

Check it out!

http://www.fairwayvolleyball.com/volleyballtrainingaids.html

No assistant coach = A lesson learned

Practice today was tough. My assistant coach didn’t show up and didn’t let me know that he was not coming to practice. Last week we came down on the girls that didn’t show up to practice on time and told them that it was disrespectful to us and to the team. This week the assistant coach doesn’t show up for practice at all. What kind of an example does that set for the girls?

Not having my assistant coach there really put a wrench in the practice plan for today because there were drills that required the guidance of two coaches – ultimately making them very unsuccessful with one. I tried to use some of these drills and they quickly turned into failed attempts. Every new drill I tried seemed to become more and more ineffective. My team was equally as frustrated as I was with their performance and execution of skills. They were looking to me for guidance and I felt inadequate and alone in a situation where my team needed me to be strong and assertive.

What did I learn? Sometimes you have to change your practice plan in order to accommodate the different dynamics of each day. Athletes need to be kept busy and when a drill is not interesting to them you need to modify the drill quickly and efficiently to keep your athletes interested. Gaining back lost interest is much more difficult than accepting that your drill is failing and modifying it to make it successful for your team.

The site below has some great tips on how to plan a successful practice. Check it out!

http://www.find-an-article.com/aid95978/Volleyball-Drills-5-Tips-to-Designing-Better-Drills-for-Practice.html