Volleyball Coaching Info

Pre-Match Warm Ups

Pre-match warm ups are a vital part of your game plan that should never be neglected or ignored. A team’s physical and mental attitude at the beginning of the match will be determined by the 45 minutes prior to a contest. Two goals of the pre-match activities should be getting your team physically and mentally prepared and confident.

Physically Warming Up and Stretching Out:

The entire body should be warmed up and stretched out before players begin the dynamic movements required by the game of volleyball. You should start with a low impact warm up, then stretch. Only then can you safely begin to do more explosive movements.

Legs

Legs and arms are two main parts of the body that need to get warmed up and stretched properly. Use a slow five minute jog around the court or circle passing, where they are required to pass and move to a target position or to another position on the court.

Only after the players’ legs are properly warm will they benefit from stretching.

Arms

Players may throw with a partner or by themselves against a wall. Push-ups can also get blood flowing to the shoulders and triceps. It’s important that players do not over stretch their arms after warming up. This can lead to an over stretching of the rotator cuff, which loosens the shoulder joint allowing too much free play, and later causing pain when the player swings a lot.

After a proper warm up and stretch, players may begin to swing on the ball with a high velocity without harm.

Ball Handling

Players need to get many touches on the ball during warm ups. They can partner up and pass back and forth, but they also need to begin to program themselves into passing to the setter rather than right back to where the ball came from. Use triangle passing where players must pass to a different target than where the ball was initiated. Perform serve receive before warm ups or during the team’s 5 minutes on the court alone.

The team needs to see live serving before the match, so they can see how the ball moves in that particular gym or how the ball stands out from the background of the walls. This will build familiarity and confidence.

Mentally Warming Up:

Defense

You should review the defense(s) you will be using in the match and run through them on the court with the team. Team pepper, with a controlled hitter, is often beneficial to get your team ready to face the opposition’s attackers

Attacking

During shared hitting, the players should start off hitting in a controlled situation. A coach or player can toss for the team. It is helpful to start them away the net to get them swinging deep and in the court. As you move the attackers closer to the net, bring in your setter(s) so the hitters begin to get the timing out of the setter’s hands. The object is to get a lot of repetitions in and get the players’ confidence up, so use two setters if possible. If you only have one setter, you can run different groups at a time (i.e. middle hitter for five repetitions each, outside hitters for five repetitions each, etc.), for high repetitions quickly.

When you have your own five minutes on the court, be sure to utilize it wisely. Don’t just set up hitting lines and bang away. Have players pass for the setters, so they begin to feel the rhythm of play. You can also put blockers or an entire defense on the other side. Players should be ready to attack a defense, not just swing away. Obviously, for younger, unskilled teams, a more controlled environment would better suit the purpose of building confidence.

Next, you will have five minutes of empty time while the other team has their court time. You can use this for additional ball handling, but be sure your players are also mentally ready to go.

Do they know the strategy for the match? Do they recognize the other team’s “go-to” player? Watching the other team can be good to familiarize your players with theirs, but it can also be intimidating if they have an outstanding warm up.

Does your team need a psyche up talk, or something to calm them down? Know your team’s emotional level and use it to your advantage. Use your two minutes of serving properly. Do they know the vulnerable area of the opposition’s serve receive? Are they using serves that they will use in a match? Is their jump serve on today? They should practice what they will be using in the match. Finally, do your players know their assignments? Do they know who is starting at what positions? Are they confident? Are you confident? No time left, let’s line up and play ball.