SEPTEMBER DRILLS

WARM-UP DRILL

BACKCOURT EXCHANGE

This is a three-step progression drill

designed to work on ball control and
encourage aggressive back row
attacks.
Stage 1 consists of 3-on-3 play with
players in LB, MB, and RB on both
sides of the net. The coach tosses
a free ball to either side, who must
then pass, set, and attack from the
back row. Players rotate spots after
each rally.

Stage 2 consists of 4-on-4 play with

defensive players in LB, MB, and RB and
one designated setter in the front row. The
coach plays a free ball to either side and play
continues with the same rules as stage 1.
Stage 3 consists of 5-on-5 play with the
same rules as the first two stages. The only
difference is the addition of a middle hitter on
each side who is the only player allowed to
attack from the front row. Depending on your
level, players can rotate after each rally or
every time the ball goes over the net.
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SEPTEMBER DRILLS
WARM-UP DRILL

3 IN A ROW
This hitting drill focuses on a game-like
situation where hitters need to transition and
attack multiple balls in a row.
One hitter starts by transitioning off the net
when the coach initiates the drill by tossing
to the setter.
After attacking the first ball, the hitter quickly
transitions off the net again for another set
from the setter. After hitting the second ball,
the hitter drops back off of the net for the
third and final time to hit an out-of-system
ball that is set by a player (non-setter) in the
back row.
Coaches should encourage players to move
quickly throughout the drill while being
careful not to start their approach too early.
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SEPTEMBER DRILLS
WARM-UP DRILL

OVER-THE-NET PEPPER
This variation of pepper is a great warmup drill for ball control and getting lots of
repetitions in all skills. Players must serve,
pass, set, hit, and communicate to keep the
ball alive.
Each pepper group contains four players. Two
players are on each side of the net one at
the net (the setter) and one in the back row
(the hitter). One of the hitters initiates the
drill with a serve to the hitter on the other side.
The player passes the ball to their partner at
the net who sets them off the net, and then
the player hits over the net to the player who
started the drill. The first player will now pass
to their partner and the cycle continues.
Not counting the initial serve over the net,
every time the ball goes over the net, the team
who hit it over will switch positions so that the
hitter becomes the setter and vice versa.
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SEPTEMBER DRILLS
SKILL DRILL

DIG SET
This is a great drill for the entire team to
work on defense and out-of-system setting.
Two lines of players start in the back row.
The drill begins when one coach standing
at the net hits a down ball cross-court to a
player who digs to the X in the middle of
the court and then goes to the back of the
opposite line. This first player is the only one
who does not get two contacts (a set and
then a dig) before rotating off.
The other player on the court steps in and
sets the ball cross-court to the second coach
who hits it back to them. The player digs to
the X and rotates to the end of the opposite
line. Players continue to rotate this way as
long as the ball is kept in play.
One variation of this drill is to have players
hit the down balls to defenders instead of
having coaches hit them. In this variation,
once a player digs a down ball, they then
take the place of the person who hit it and
become the new down ball hitter.
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SEPTEMBER DRILLS
SKILL DRILL

INDIVIDUAL BLOCKING
This drill works on blocking, reading, and
blocking movements for individual players. It is
especially useful for middle blockers.
A coach tosses three free balls to a team on
the opposite side of the net. In order, they must
set the middle, left side, and opposite. One at a
time, blockers line up in the middle of the court
at the net and block three consecutive balls
middle, left side, and right side.
After each blocker has done this progression
several times, the three balls will no longer be
set in order. The blocker must watch and read
the setters movements in order to make the
blocking movement to the correct spot.
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SEPTEMBER DRILLS
SKILL DRILL

PRECISION SERVING
Use this precision serving drill to train
accurate serving. Serving is the only skill
that players have complete control over so
its important to practice it every single day.
Players line up on one end line with a coach
standing on the opposite side of the court.
With each round, the serving objective
should get more and more difficult for
players to execute.
First, players are tasked with an easy goal of
six consecutive serves inside the court (from
the team, not one individual player).
Next, players must focus on just one half of
the court and again need six consecutive
serves to complete the round.
The third round can be repeated several
times with each zone the coach identifies as
the target for that round. Players are tasked
with getting six consecutive serves into a
single zone before the drill is over.
To add a fun twist to the drill, coaches inside
the court can be worth +2 points when hit
with a serve. Or the coach can be something
that players are trying to avoid hitting, and
the score is reset when hit.
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SEPTEMBER DRILLS
SKILL DRILL

HITTER TIMING
This is a great drill to do with a new team to
help hitters get a feeling for their setter and
the set tempo.
The drill can be done with outside and
middle hitters individually or both at the
same time. Adding blockers will help
simulate a game-like situation.
The setter self-sets a few times to initiate
the drill. The hitter must wait for the ball to
leave the setters hands as a real set (not a
self-set) before starting their approach. It is
normal for setters to take multiple repetitions
to figure out the correct set tempo for each
hitter. The drill also helps hitters learn to
adjust to varying sets.
Players blocking can rotate to become a
hitter after a certain number of blocks.
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SEPTEMBER DRILLS
SKILL DRILL

5-3-5-3 PASSING
This drill requires three passers, a target and a
few servers.
The passers are responsible for passing balls
into the target area. First, five non-consecutive
passes to target must be completed before
players are able to rotate (LB to MB, MB to RB,
and RB to LB).
The following three rounds require three
consecutive passes to target, five nonconsecutive passes to target, and another three
consecutive passes to target before they can
rotate. All four rounds must be completed within
2 minutes to complete the drill.
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SEPTEMBER DRILLS
TEAM DRILL

BLOCK & TRANSITION

This is a great drill to work on team

defense and improve a hitters
transition to offense after blocking.
The drill is done in two stages. In
the first stage, a coach tosses a ball
into the back row as both the middle
and outside blocker jump to block
(an imaginary ball). They then need
to be quick and transition to the
attack line before the setter reaches
the second ball in order to run a
successful offensive play.

In the second stage, a coach plays a ball

into the back row as both the middle and
outside blocker jump to block a second
ball hit by a different coach. Again they
need to be quick and transition to the
attack line in order to get a full approach.
The outside and middle blockers should
rotate more often than other players
in the drill. Train your blockers to be
versatile athletes who can excel in every
situation.
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SEPTEMBER DRILLS
TEAM DRILL

ACCELERATION DRILL

Use this drill to teach players

defensive pursuit while also
working on agility and conditioning.
The acceleration drill should
push players to the limits of their
defensive capabilities.
Start with two or three defensive
players in the back court. Each
player will have to accelerate
forward to dig a tipped or tossed
ball and sprint back to the end
line to tag their teammate before

returning to their ready position and

accelerating to dig the next ball. The
speed of this drill should increase as
players get the hang of the motion.
Each player will take turns digging a ball
hit deep to the middle of the court. Once
this has gone through several rotations, a
short ball can also be played to each side
in between each deep ball. Players are
still required to accelerate to the sideline
after each pass to tag their teammate.
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SEPTEMBER DRILLS
TEAM DRILL

DRILL OF 15
The Drill to 15 requires ball control,
controlled hitting and cooperation among all
players to earn points for the whole team.
This is a 4-on-4 drill with players in left back,
middle back, left front and a setter in right
front. Substitutions line up behind the middle
back position.
A coach initiates the drill with a free ball
to either side. Each team is responsible
for three touches that ends with an attack
from the left front. Each pass-set-hit combo
counts for a single point as long as the ball
is hit to the player in zone 4, 5, or 6 on the
other side. To get a total of 15 points, the two
teams have to combine for 15 consecutive
pass-set-hit contacts. Free balls, tips, or
errors reset the score to zero.
Players should rotate positions every time
the ball is hit over the net. MB moves to LB,
LB to LF, LF to setter, the setter leaves the
drill, and the substitution comes in at MB.
Point totals should be adjusted for the level
of the team. For instance, it might be Drill of
4 for a younger team -- just 4 consecutive
pass-set-hit contacts.
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SEPTEMBER DRILLS
TEAM DRILL

HITTER vs HITTER
This 6 vs. 6 drill puts pressure on an
individual player to perform well consistently
in order to earn points for their team as a
whole. Penn State uses the drill to isolate
hitting positions and give the setter practice
at creating the best opportunities for each
hitter to score, even when the other team
knows that player is going to be set.
There are three variations of this drill - left
vs. left, right vs. right, and middle vs. middle.
To play left vs. left, each team can only score
with a kill from their left side hitter. The rest
of the team is responsible for getting the ball
into the best possible scenario to make that
to happen. In this case, any points scored by
players other than the left side hitter will just
lead to that side winning the serve and no
point awarded.
Another variation stresses not making errors,
and takes a point away from the team when
any hitter makes an error.
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TEAM DRILL

ALABAMA
This competitive 6 on 6 drill focuses on team
offense during free ball situations.
How it works: A round lasts for two minutes.
One team starts serving and must win two
rallies off of their serve before they start
receiving free balls tossed in by a coach. All
rallies won off of free balls count as points
for that team.
Only the team who is receiving free balls
is able to score points in each two minute
round. After the two minutes is up, the next
team will start serving and begin their two
minutes.
Coaches can either set a round limit or point
goal in order to motivate players.
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SEPTEMBER DRILLS
TEAM DRILL

SERVERS vs PASSERS
Use this drill to increase serving precision
and passing accuracy. A team of servers
goes up against a team of passers to earn
points for various tasks set by the coach
each round.
In this example, servers must serve the ball
into zone 1 to have a chance at earning
points. The serving team earns a point every
time a serve in that zone is not passed to
the target with a score of a 2 or 3, given by a
coach.
Passers earn points by passing a ball with a
rating of 2 or 3, determined by a coach. Any
ball, in or out of the zone, may be passed
for points. Balls passed with a score under
2 that was passed outside of the designated
zone should receive no penalty.
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