Revamping Old Volleyball Drills

As this past club season ends, it is time to start preparing next club season.  I have been using USA Volleyball for up to date coaching theory and practice ideas as well as reading John Kessel's Grow the Game blog.  Lots of great information in the Grassroots section of the USA Website for coaches, players, parents, and club directors.

Over the years I have compiled many drills to use with my teams.  Recently I went through them because I wanted an easily accessible "drill book" to make practice planning more efficient.  As I looked at the drills I asked myself the following questions.

1. Is the drill gamelike? Yes - keep, no - throw out of adapt.
2. Is the drill coach centered or player centered? I want my players to serve, hit, etc. at eachother, not me.
3. Is there a type of scoring that can be used?
4. Does the drill incorporate at least 2 skills (pass-set, set-hit, etc.)
5. Will the drill teach players how to "read" the ball?
6. Does the drill use the net?
7. Does the drill involve all players or at least very little wait time?
8. Can I use this drill in my "Competitive Cauldron?"
9. Will all players develop skills other than what their position calls for? (Middle Hitters just might have to set during a match!)
10. I also kept in mind John Kessel's article, 25 Questions for Volleyball Teachers and Coaches.

I ended up throwing out a lot of the drills that I had.  With some drills I was able to make a few changes to make them fit my criteria and other drills ignited my imagination to create new drills.  Oh, and by the way, I stopped calling them drills.  The drills have evolved into games with various scoring methods, so now they are called GAMES (thanks John Kessel). Since I am using different scoring methods, you don't waste time setting up a new drill/game.  You can take a 5 on 5 pattern and change the scoring to focus on different aspects of the game.  This way you don't have separate "drills" for hitting, passing, etc. 

Take some time to check out the USA Volleyball Grassroots Page and go through your drills to see what changes can be made to make your drills more effective games.