BE A BETTER DIGGER CAMP Intermediate/Advanced Introduction: The goal today is to increase your range on defense, to teach you how to read and read earlier, and to work on the physical skills a defensive superstar will master. Safety is important today. It will be important that you listen to instruction on how to do the sprawling and diving techniques so you don t get hurt. Coach Goals for This Clinic 1. Every player leaves thoroughly understanding all of the FeedForwards in the bold, underline, italic font below. 2. Every player gets 200+ reps passing with deliberate focus on technique. 3. In this clinic, talk LESS, pass MORE. 4. Really understand that giving a kid a simple passing form is probably the 3 rd most important thing you can give him or her { Ready and GO! are first and second}. So, the most important thing today is to eliminate ALL extra movements when passing. Evaluate 3 minutes Play a few minutes of Queen of the Court to warm up the players and access their current skill levels. Reading & Moving Before the Dig 12 minutes Most of volleyball happens before the ball gets to you. It is usually knowable what will happen before it happens and the more you tune yourselves to that channel, the more balls you will dig. In this first drill, we want you to take 2 steps BEFORE the hitter attacks the ball. Have players tell you what cues to watch for in order to see if they can tell where the hitter will hit: o Angle of approach o How tight the set is o Where the block is 1 Copyright 2017 No Limits Volleyball
o The hitter s shoulders o The hitter s arm o The hitter s hand But, the most important is: o Where does she usually hit? o Get them to understand that all players have tendencies, and knowing those tendencies before the match begins is half of defense! Set up a hitting line on one side, with a back row and setter/target on the other. You should be on the endline behind the diggers: o See it, go! o Read, go! o Guess and go! Scrimmage with That Focus 15 minutes If you don t demand they take two steps this is a waste of time they usually won t actually do it until you stress it over and over. Give a bonus point if 2 players on a team move BEFORE the attack is made. Even if you don t know, I want you to guess and go. The more you guess, the better you get at guessing and before long. the guessing becomes knowing. Don t over-think this, you know more than you can think. So, relax and trust your instincts and flow to where the ball will go. Coach, do not stress play your position. Instead, stress FREE to GO! : Sprawls 10 minutes Coach, you must command attention as you are teaching this so no one gets injured. You at the net, everyone spread out on the court. Have someone demo who can do it. If you can sprawl, you can increase your defensive range by 5 or 6 feet in all directions! If your defensive range is 5 feet bigger on all sides compared to a teammate, YOU get more playing time this is a valuable skill to have! Pay attention, we all do this together: Low, Lunge, Play it up, Push with your feet, Slide on your side, Get up! (Lunge means step out to the side with one leg staying low to dig) Do it over and over, left and right. Note that we do not roll! Rolling does not help you get up quicker all it does is cause more concussions. 2 Copyright 2017 No Limits Volleyball
Get them to understand that the harder they push sideways with their feet and the faster they shoot out, the less they feel. Then, they get a partner and several balls. A tosses to B, then B to A. The key is to toss far enough away from them that they have to go fast. Scrimmage: Start Each Rally with a Sprawl Dig 20 minutes You jog out with a couple of balls, toss to a backrow player, she sprawls and the dig is up high, play it out. Do a few for team A, then a few for team B, then both sides rotate. The key will be getting them to dig high enough that is usually a challenge! Serve Receive is Like Digging 12 minutes Coach, the main thing to get across to these intermediate and advanced players is that they can know where the server will serve before or during the serving motion and then to move early and beat the ball there. Let s try being active in serve receive. I want you to try having active feet and to move before or during the serve, NOT to wait until the server actually hits it. One side serves, the other receives. Now, let s get really advanced, and I want you to try to make her serve where YOU want her to serve. It s easy. Stand such that you leave an obvious hole where you want the server to serve. Act oblivious. Then, as the server tosses, you step into the hole and pass the ball. Scrimmage Focus: Reading Early in Serve Receive 20 minutes Give bonus points to a team if all 3 passers move BEFORE the serve is contacted. And, of course, stress very limited arm and body movement as a player passes just like digging! Diving 10 minutes Coach, you must command attention as you are teaching this so no one gets injured. You at the net, everyone spread out on the court. Have someone demo who can do it. Everyone on the endline, on one knee. I am going to say 3 very important things now, and you need to listen or else you could pop your chin on the ground, and that hurts. 3 Copyright 2017 No Limits Volleyball
o Get very low first, THEN push with your feet o The faster you go, the less you feel o Keep your chin UP! Arch your back a little, your upper chest is what contacts the floor We are going to all do this together. Low, play the ball, push with your feet, cushion your chest to the floor with your hands, pull through with your hands Do over and over. Slow down and help anyone struggling. If you can get them to push fast with their feet, everything else usually works. Make sure they are not catching themselves with their arms it is a cushion to the ground. If you practice with a ball next, then coaches need to toss. Players toss too close to the diver and that s when people get hurt. Reading & RUNNING for Tips/Rolls 12 minutes If you have players who can tip and hit roll shots, then let those players attack while you coach the defenders. Against most players you can read their tip or roll very early. Then, you RUN to the ball and dig to the setter: Cycle through so everyone gets to read and dig. Play it out if that seems appropriate for this group. Pancakes 10 minutes Let this be fun. Demo. Have them get into partners with a ball. A tosses up, B slides out and does a pancake. Swap. More Advanced Reading 12 minutes One team/side attacks 4 in a row, the other side/team reads and digs. Then the teams swap roles then rotate and keep going.. Hitters usually do 1 of 4 things. They cut cross court, they hit it in the gap in the block, hit line or they tip or roll. You need to be able to recognize the body cues for each of these and read these 4 intentions early. One hitter will hit all 4 of these in a row as the other team learns to see it coming and dig the ball. 4 Copyright 2017 No Limits Volleyball
Coach, use the learning opportunities that arise to teach the whole group what the cues look like When you see that, do this. Scrimmage until the End ~30 minutes Let this be fun. Demo. In our final scrimmage, the main thing I am looking for is that you read and move BEFORE she attacks. Know that the goal is to never sprawl or dive, the goal is to get there on your feet! Closing: Have someone describe or demo a sprawl, dive, pancake. Have a player describe how and when to read and why you should move before they attack. 5 Copyright 2017 No Limits Volleyball