From 101 Winning Volleyball Drills From the AVCA, 2000 

TEAM DEFENSE vs.COACH by Hugh McCutchen, USA Men's National Team

Objective:     
This is a controlled drill that allows for excellent     
teaching of exact defense situations. Proper positioning is required on each play and gives the coach the opportunity to repeat exact situations.     

Directions:     
1. The coach attacks balls against a team of     
    players on the opposite side of the net.     
2. The players must play good defense and convert the transition to attack successfully.
3. Players should be rotated frequently.
4. Play continues for a predetermined amount of
     time or a certain number of successful attacks.

OUTSIDE HITTER EXCHANGE by Matt Shubin, ACHIEVE VOLLEYBALL

Objective: To get a lot of ball control reps and practice running the pipe/hut.

Directions:
1. Players put ball into play with bowling toss.  If ball dies players pick up ball and immediately put ball back into play.  Ball is either set to outisede or pipe.  Hitters try to keep ball in play and work on shots.  Ball should be distributed evenly to pipe/bic and hut/go sets.  High ball hitters switch each time they attack the ball.  

2. Drill can be mirrored with right side and pipe attacks. 

3. If team only has 10  players coaches can take away one end blocker or for 8 players take away both end blockers. 

4. Drill can be sped up to live serve and game-like atttacks. If server misses their serve the player closest to the ball grabs it and puts a bowling toss into play to the other team.

 Note: This drill and "serve and pass with middles hitting quicks" are the two main drills we use to prep for games.   

ERROR CORRECTION Paul Arrington, M.D., Waimea High School, Waimea, Hawai’i (retired)

Objective:
To practice handling errors in a controlled scrimmage that fosters focus on perseverance.
 
Directions:
1 A coach (C) tosses a ball to either side as a free ball to begin play.
2 Play continues until the ball hits the floor. At this point, the coach immediately directs another ball toward the player who made the error so he or she can make another attempt.
1 This is repeated until the attempt is completed correctly.
2 If the error was a hitting error, a ball is tossed to the setter to set the same hitter again and again until he or she is successful, and then play continues.
3 If the error was a defensive one, the coach hits another ball to the defender in the same manner as the one in which the error occurred.
4 This is repeated until the player is successful, and then play continues.
5 Rotations can be done after a particularly good kill or after a set time.

14 VERSUS 12 (Tenacity): 6 on 6.  Score starts at 14-12, teams play to 15, win by 2.  After each game you can review the teams choices and ask them what they would do next time.  Best 3 of 4 wins with sudden death 14 all game for tie breaker.

120 SERVES (Working on new serve receive lineups and plays):
One server serves 10 in a row rally scoring.  Go through all 6 rotations.  Emphasize serve receive by doubling points for aces.  Great way to track rotation efficiency in the pre-season.

AROUND THE WORLD SERVING (Serving placement and fun) :  Two teams competing against each other.  Teams try to serve ball to all 6 zones.   If players can do this quickly have them serve 1-6, then backwards 6-1.  Each team has one player on the other side of the net sitting on the floor trying to catch the serves.  When they catch a serve they go to the other side of the net to serve and the server who served the ball to them goes to sit down in the next area.

ASTEROIDS (Team bonding and fun): One team on either side of the net.  One team tries to serve and hit other girls to get as many of them out as possible.  Other team has their backs to the net, arms interlocked and are shuffling from one sideline to the other.  When the reach a sideline they take one step back and keep doing this until they reach the net.   

BALL AND PARTNER (Arm-swings and timing):  high two hand tosses, left shoulder facing partner, bow-and-arrow, elbow above the shoulder, follow through with arm along right side of body.  Emphasize fast, not hard.

BALL, HITTER, SETTER, BALL, HITTER (Blocking eye sequence and reaction):  3 hitting lines vs 6 defenders.  Ball is set off pass to any of the hitters.  Blockers focus on transitioning eyes quickly to next focus.  Points accumulated by forcing hitting errors or digging up playable ball.   After 15 points wave through and 3 new.   

BASEBALL: 6 on 6.  Each server is allowed 3 outs.  If team B wins rally that counts as one out.  If team A wins rally coach tosses free balls to team A until Team B sides out.  Goal is to score as many points as possible (serves and free balls) before getting 3 outs.  Alternate sides for serving.  Rotate and repeat the drill until 6 outs are achieved.

BLOCKING ON BOXES(Blocking extension, hand placement and eyes up): Have girls stand on boxes to feel what it’s like to get a roof block.

***Bounce (transitioning and conditioning): Alternating serves, serving team gets continuous bounce balls (bounce is considered first contact) until either team gets 3 in a row.  Play to six points with team rotating or going front back each point.  Losing team will run a set of lines for every point shy of the winners’ score.  Play rotation 1, 4, 2, 5, 3, 6 in that order.

BREAKDOWN: Budget in time for taking nets down and stretching.

BUTTERFLY PASSING (All facets of game and conditioning): Tossers use bow-and-arrow with left shoulder facing passer.    Toss, pass, catch.    Tosser becomes setter.    Setter becomes passer.    Passer becomes catcher.    2 groups passing, tossing and catching on either side of the net.

CHALLENGE (Working on team plays): 6 on 6, Coach writes a series of plays on the board.   Each team tries to complete their sets before the other.  When a play is completed coach crosses it out on the board.  Alternating freeballs.  Front to back and repeat drill (if enough skilled players are present).

CIRCLE THROUGH: 6 on 6 drill.  Permanent setters, 3 back row defenders and one front row outside hitter.  Setter sets OH every time.   Every time the ball is hit over players rotate from right to left.   A new right back comes in and the OH goes out and gets back in line on the right side of the court.

COOL DOWN: Wall Sits 2x2min, Pillars 3x45sec, Bear Crawls, Crab Walks, Inch Worms, prayer stretch, Assisted hip lift, Down in middle,  cats and dogs, Hip Flexors, Upper spinal floor twist,, Partner Hami and quad stretches, shoulders against the wall, Full or partial shoulder bridge.

CONTINIOUS PASSING:  One or two groups, two lines passing back and forth bumping with elbows locked out whole time.    

DEEP COURT: (Defense and transitioning to attack): w/ correction, queen, or double side entry with coach initiating to winner Make sure players play using same defensive positions that they would in a game (middle back stays deep and wings get the short stuff).  

DEFEND 2 BOX OFFENSE(Transitioning, offense to defense and defense to offense): 2 players/coaches on boxes on right and left attacking the ball. Coach initiates free-ball, team plays it out then immediately defends left side attack, then gets free ball, then defends right side attack and so on.  Shagging must be emphasized.

DEFENSIVE LINES(Defensive technique and speed): Start with sprawl at end line, then pop and roll at 10 foot line, then sliding stomach dive under the net, then pancake at other 10 foot line, then 2 separate sidestep dig moves either ending in sprawl or falling on butt.

DIG AND SET(keeping digs off net, setting and hitting out of system ball): Coach/player is on box hitting balls.  Players dig ball to themselves and set high ball to outside.  Players should switch lines after they di/set or hit.   After a certain amount of time or number of hits switch sides (players dig/setting from left hitting on right).  Setters should dig then set to the middle when coming from the right side.

DIG AND TOUCH:  Players dig ball then touch the ground with both their hands.   This is a good drill for getting players to get low on defense.

DOS TRIANGE SETTING(Out of system setting): 7 or 8 people to a court.   Person on each corner.  The rest in the middle back position.    Middle back people alternate from setting high balls to the left and right side.    Front row setters set down the line.    Back corner girls set the ball to middle back position.    High inside sets.

DYNAMIC WARM-UP: Toe curls, lunges, leg swings, toe touches, straight high leg skips, quad grab and swings, butt kicks, knee grab skips, backwards hip open skips, shoulder circle skips, side to side, squats and side shuffle, open windows, heal walks down to the bathrooms and back, four walls sprints.

FLOAT SERVING: left shoulder facing net, left foot aiming in direction of serve.   Look over arms to where you want to serve.   Draw then Toss then Pop the ball.  Leave hand up after pop for float effect.  Toss ball in front of serving shoulder.

FOUR STEP APPROACHES: Slow to fast.   Small first two steps.   Left shoulder facing net end in bow-and-arrow position.    

Four Corners Defense w/ no setter (defense, setting high balls): One person in each corner of the court.   Players at the net spiking cross-court back at the defenders, off defender sets high ball cross court to one of the spikers. Can add hitters and have player/coach on box.

Game Day Hitting lines (first half, tossing go’s,  quicks and reds), second half tossing to libero, setter sets hitters)

Game Day Serve Receive: Players line up in single file line and coach serves a deep floater at them.   Begin with target right of center, players take pass off left side and drop right shoulder.  Target in the middle, Player should drop their shoulder closest to the target depending on which side the serve comes to.  Target is left of center and players pass off the right side of their body and drop left shoulder.  Players should be encouraged to leave their arms outside their midline after the pass (sticking it).

***Hitting lines: Two setters on one side of the net.    Two lines.   Hitters toss own ball and setters set 2-ball.   Hitters shag own ball.    Middles 3 step, outsides 4 step.     Be on left step when ball touches setter’s hand.
Add blockers and ds/L to make it more realistic.   Left side twice, middle, right side twice, middle then left side twice and so on.  3 to 4 times through then switch blockers.

Jambalaya (pinpoints defensive skills needing improvement): 6 vs. 6.  Team must serve and earn a point to earn the chance for a jambalaya ball series.   Use any combination of the following balls; down-ball, free-ball, joust, bounced ball (must be played over on two), out of the net ball, tipped ball played up with pop and roll or pancake, etc.  Competitive scoring with 6 balls, 3 points for wash, 4 points other team runs 1 sets of lines, 5 points three sets of lines, 6 points three sets of lines.

Jump Serving: Take right step, toss ball, take last 3 steps.    Right, left, right-left.   Left shoulder facing the net, just like spiking.   Bow-and arrow.    Toss ball in front of hitting shoulder.    Nice high toss.  Players may also try hybrid (right, left then toss, then right left) and jump-float (same as the hybrid but with a much lower toss and no armswing(keep package high) and no follow-through.

King David (limited number of players, defense and competitiveness): 6 vs. 3 or 2.  6 on one side, a setter and one or two hitters on the other. Coach initiates ball to hitter, hitter passes ball to setter and then attacks the ball.  Defense focuses on ball, setter, ball, hitter eye sequence, rotation, blocking transition.   Play set number of balls and keep score.  If only one defender player can dig set and spike ball back over herself.

Ladder: 3 times through on each one.   Hopping through, one leg hops, side hops, one leg side hops, from the side in-in, out-out, hop over and back 3 sets 30 reps.

***Last Ball (Maintaining focus and intensity siding-out): Alternating serves.  Losing team gets last ball (gotta go).  The other team must convert the last ball and 2 addition free-balls to score a big point.  When a big point is scored both teams rotate.  Start in rotation, 2, 4, 3, 6, 1, 2 in that order.

Marcio (Defense, passing and hitting): Coach/player on box hitting balls.  Player digs ball to herself, then underhand passes or overhand passes to setter and prepares to hit.  There can be a separate line of hitters or digger/passes can swing hit.

***Mini Court (all around skill development):  Antennae dividing court.   I formation.

***NADE Drill (High intensity, competitiveness and communication): Players must score three points in a row to have the opportunity to serve for an E.  Let players know that they will not receive another ball, even if they will the point unless they yell N, A, or D, depending on which letter they are on.  

No Blockers:  3 defenders defend against hitting lines.  No tipping in front of 10 foot line.  If player gets dug she switchers with the player who dug her.  No tipping in front of the 10 foot line.  

Out of System Dig, Set, Hit:  3 or 4 diggers, 3 at a time digger becomes MB, MB becomes wing, setter stays. Off wing digger sets A or D ball. 3 blockers, one or two hitters at a time, 3 diggers, one hitter on each antennae for high ball.  Maybe try to get 3 blockers up.  Have MB Setter and Wing cover.  

Partner skill drills:
-Throw from high angle at medium to fast tempo.    To partner (only move is to put hands together and stick pass until partner catches ball).
-In front (same as “To Partner” but bumper takes one big lunge step forward)
-To right (Bumper takes step to right, brings left arm to meet right arm and drops left shoulder to angle platform towards partner)
-To left (opposite as last one)
-At chest(drop step back to get arms away from body, drop shoulder to angle platform to partner, stick pass until ball reaches partner)
-At Chest (shuffle back belly button sucked in arm out taking ball midline).
-At face (start with elbows locked out in base position, arms in peripheral.   Bring hands up, stiff fingers hands flat against invisible glass panel.
-2 digs with perfect technique pancake, pop and roll, sprawl, dig and dive, to left, to right, at chest (drop step and shuffle back)

***Defensive (3 contact) and Serve Recieive (1 contact) Pepper: Bump-set-spike.   Encourage players to get back into base position right after they contact the ball.   The should know that they are expected to give their all in pepper and use correct technique, especially when  hitting (bow and arrow and left shoulder facing partner).  Defensive pepper (elbows at 90 degree angle and in front of body), Serve receive pepper (elbows locked out, shoulders relaxed and arms outside knees.

Perimeter and Rotation Defense: Against Outside, middle, right side, and pipe.   CUES-Base, Bunch, Release, help, Switch, commit, Bad Pass, release.   Good warm-up is to do this at beginning of practice with players tipping balls back.  Offensive side should have 3 blockers blocking.

Plus-Minus Five:  One hitter attempts to get to plus or minus five points by attacking the ball versus 6 defenders.   Coach plays ball into attackers court and setter sets designated attacker every time.   Keep track of how many balls it takes for player to get to 5.  

Plus 3 (Changing Momentum): For 4 minutes teams alternate serves.   Goal is to get 3 points in a row, either one serve point and 2 receive points or 2 receive points and one serve point.  

Plus 5 Serving: Players try to accumulate five points from let servers.  Missed serves count as negative points.   Can’t go below zero.  Purpose is to develop deep flat floater.   Might want to start at a lower number earlier in the year and for jv, frosh/soph.

Scramble (Reacton time, defensive skills): Alternating serves, serving team gets a series of down/free balls hit by a member of the opposing team for two minutes.  Team trys to accumulate as many points as possible, every time a ball hits the floor without someone touching it team goes back to 0 points.

Self-Toss and Attack: With a partner, attacking ball behind 3 meter line.    Can be done individually into the net.  Same techniques as traditional jump serve.  

Serve-Toss (Side-out): one way or two way 6 on 6.  Team on offense must win serve to get free-ball for the opportunity to score big point.  Team on defense can score  a big point by siding out.  If teams split it is a wash.

***Serve-Toss-Toss (Side-out): 6 on 6. Serve and rally.  Winner gets 2 free-balls.  Winner must score all 3 to get big point.  Loser must score 2 to get big point.

***Shuffle Drill: Player starts in the center of the court and shuffles in one of for directions (left, right, forward and back) to play the ball.  Encourage players to take the all out side mid-line and hold platform outside midline after the pass.    Player starting from left back should drop left shoulder to get ball to go to target and vice versus from the right.   We would like players to keep feet parallel when shuffling forward, so as to be in an athletic position to play the ball as apposed to walking forward.  When shuffling back players may take the ball outside midline, but they should avoid doing the Frankenstein (rather have them keep their shoulders in front of their arms and their belly button away from their platform).    All shuffle movements should be performed in an athletic manner with feet outside of shoulders at all times and parallel at all times.   Break team into two groups and have them perform ten with perfect form in each direction.  

Swing Blocking with Approaches: Make sure players use correct footwork on both spike and transition block approach.

Three lines blocking and defensive moves:

Tipping/roll shot drill with Rotation Defense: Right back rotates up for tip, middle back rotates right for line shot, left back rotates right to the majority of the angle hits, and left front rotates back about two feet behind the ten foot line to get sharp angle, leaving open the extreme angle hit (which is rarely hit).   Hitters should approach ball as if they were going to hit.

Two coaches running defensive positions 6 on 6 drill: Coaches alternate a hard driven spike to the opposing side on the net.   Coaches should slap the ball to let the defense get in the correct position before hitting the ball.  If players are in the wrong positions feel free to stop the drill and explain why we play defense in the positions we do.  Let players block some of the balls and have offense practice covering.

Virus:  Designate a libero on each side of the net to be virus.  Coach alternates free-balls to either side of the net to the viruses.  The virus then passes the ball over the net setting up the opposing players with a chance for an overpass kill.  Every once in a while libero should pass the ball perfectly to keep offensive honest.
 
Wash: Teams alternating Serve.   If serving team gets point they receive a freeball.   If they get both they get a big point.  If they split then it is a wash.    

***Work Over:  Work your way over to the other side of the net to have the opportunity to pass and spike by acing, blocking or digging the Passer/Hitter.  Goal is to go to the pasing/hitting side and stay there.  2 setters compete in the same way to earn the right to set on the hitting side.   Players may keep track of the number of times they successfully pass and get a kill.  

X in a row: 10 serve receive balls in a row.  Coach can track sideout percentage in each rotation.  

*** Recommended drills for everyday practice.