RISING STARS MINI-CAMP Beginner Introduction: Coach, most of the kids will be just kids, not volleyball players. So, don t put so much pressure on them to do things right. Rather, give a TON of contacts, a TON of praise. Teach simple FeedForwards on a couple of doable basics for each skill. Take volley lites (ages 8 to 12). If you can, take hula hoops for serving contests and candies for prizes. If you ever have extra time at the end, just do more serving they love to serve. Coach Goals for This Clinic 1. Expose elementary kids to volleyball and No Limits. 2. Every player leaves with exposure to key fundamental FeedForwards in bold, underline, italic font below. 3. Run this like our Rising Stars Developmental Program, but with shorter drills and faster pace. (Run this at 6 TIMES the praise and 3 TIMES the pace of older player clinics.) 4. Much LESS talk, MORE do! 5. Your overarching goal is to have them LOVE volleyball and want to register for more programs. 6. YOU must provide energy and excitement!!! 7. Coach by walking around and telling FIVE kids good job every minute! DAY 1 Theme & Intro: Ready, Flow, GO! 2 minutes Have the players set up in groups of 3 and pass/set back and forth to assess their overall current skill levels. Volleyball is about being ready, flowing with every contact, and GOing for the ball! If you keep moving volleyball is FUN! 1
Stand up and get in ready position. Now, pretend like the ball is a magnet pulling you around as I walk around with the ball. That is what flowing with the ball means. Part 1: Serving ABCs 10 minutes Don t over-coach, just get the ABCs for now! Demonstrate: Here are the ABCs of Serving A = Balanced and ready Like this. [they do it with you] B = Short toss It s really like a press. C = 2 things at once: Step with the front foot only and swing with a stiff wrist and hand Put out Hula Hoops and candies if you have them. Part 2: Passing ABCs with Shuffle-Shuffle, Pass 10 minutes Make sure tossers make them move every time. Demonstrate: Here are the ABCs of Passing A = Ready [They do it with you, arms comfortably out, palms comfortably up.] B = See where the ball will go, and Shuffle-shuffle to it [Demo this with a player showing how the tosser telegraphs which direction the ball will be tossed to.] C = Put your hands together and LIFT your arms thru the ball [Demo, they do it too.] Get a partner you toss her 6, he/she tosses you 6. Ready, Shuffle-shuffle, Lift Part 3: Setting ABCs 10 minutes If you can get them to finish with hands together, palm where the ball went, that takes care of most setting issues. Demonstrate: Here are the ABCs of Setting A = Wait like a gunfighter B = Hands in the shape of a ball, on your forehead C = Push your palms thru the ball 2
Part 4: Hitting ABCs with Chaos Hitting Drill 10 minutes Do partner tossing if at all possible. Only toss yourself if there is a low number of kids and they just can t toss at all. ALL tosses and hits behind the 3-meter line!!! Demonstrate: Here are the ABCs of Hitting A = Both arms up B = Open the door C = SLAM the door! Have them do the ABCs of Hitting with you a few times. Watch how we do this drill. [Demo] I would toss 3 balls for the player to hit, then we go get 3 balls, and he/she tosses 3 balls to me. Toss HIGH like this. [Demo] Tossers, as you toss say o Open the door o SLAM the door! There will be partners all over the gym hitting over the net chaos but a ton of contacts! You are free to roam and coach. No one hits inside the 3-meter line!!! Part 5: Ooh La La Scrimmage ~40 minutes (do until the end) Coach, the way this is played is a HUGE reason why our kids gain skills that help them make future teams. PLEASE get the differences between Ooh La La and regular scrimmage and do not drift into regular scrimmage. The purpose of Ooh La La is to Stay Ready and GO! for the ball! If you play it like below the kids get 3 TIMES as many rallies as playing regular volleyball. How to play Ooh La La: Get as many balls as you can! Ideally play 4 on 4. 1 player up, 3 back. Ready, Flow and GO! Each team sends 3 balls over the net, playing all 3 out. The Ooh is a serve, then toss a La in to a different backrow player who passes the ball over AS IF IT WERE A SERVE. Then toss another La in to the other backrow player who passes it over. So, Side A sends 3 over, then Side B sends 3 over, then both sides rotate. They serve from as close as they need to get it over. 3
TIPS: Go FAST! Don t teach so much, keep it going! Always have 2 or 3 balls with you, NEVER wait to get the ball in play back. YOU MUST provide energy and excitement! Do not toss in until all 8 are in ready position. Toss a few feet in front of the passer so they can step into it. With new learners you need to jog over to them to toss if you toss from the sideline that s too hard and they fail. If the kids aren t getting enough over you can toss a ball over like a bonus ball. o Ready! o GO! Sometimes they need a break half way through. Say, Okay, everyone serve 5 balls, then we play again! Closing 5 minutes Have all players sit. If you have some little prizes, even candies, give them to players who learned, or were ready, or were GO! all stars. You were awesome today! Someone show me the ABCs of serving. Now passing. Now setting. Now hitting. Show me how to flow. DAY 2 Theme & Intro: Learn something new about each skill! 1 minute You are doing well, so today we are going to take your game to a new level! Part 1: Serving ABCs 10 minutes Serve at targets (like Hula Hoops). Show me the ABCs for serving. Our new thing is Stiff wrist, stiff palm. If you do that, you can hit farther and harder! Let s practice our ABCs of serving for 3 minutes, then we ll do some contests! o Contest: 1 st 3 players to hit a target o Contest: 1 st team to get 12 in bounds o Contest- 1 st 3 players to get 3 in a row in bounds 4
Part 2: Passing ABCs 10 minutes Make sure tossers make them move every time. Show me the ABCs for passing. Our new thing is Arms out early. Demo how we establish the platform very early, out almost flat and wait on the ball. Do Shuffle-shuffle pass Now let s do some contests! o Contest: 1 st 3 players to pass 20 times to themselves o Contest: 1 st team to get 6 in a row o Contest- 1 st 3 players to walk endline to endline passing to themselves Part 3: Setting ABCs 10 minutes Again, if you can get them to finish with hands together, palm where the ball went that takes care of most setting issues. Show me the ABCs for setting. Our new thing is Move your hands FAST. If you do that, you can set much higher! Have them set to themselves then set with partners then 3s in a triangle. Now let s do some contests! o Contest: 1 st 3 players to set 20 times to themselves o Contest: 1 st team to get 6 in a row o Contest- 1 st 3 players to walk endline to endline setting to themselves Part 4: Hitting ABCs 10 minutes Go for MANY CONTACTS, not coach control. Show me the ABCs for hitting. Our new thing is Run, Jump, Hit!. If you do this, you can be more powerful! As partner tosses, have them say Run, Jump, Hit!. Now let s do some contests! o Contest: 1 st 2 players to hit a target o Contest: 1 st 3 players to get 3 in a row in bounds o Contest- 1 st Make 2 teams, one on each side. 1 st team to hit 12 in bounds. 5
o Contest: All get a partner and start tossing. The winner is the 1 st pair to have both players hit 3 in bounds. Part 5: Ooh La La Scrimmage ~40 minutes (do until the end) Coach move things fast, have high energy AND say our FeedForwards over and over. Ready, Flow and GO! Our new thing is 3 hits to a side. Explain that. Closing 5 minutes Have all players sit. If you have some little prizes, even candies, give them to players who learned, or were ready, or were GO! all stars. You were awesome today! Have some players share What do you like most about volleyball? 6