Week 1 - Movement Warm Up (without ball) - N Drill: 1) Start on either left or right side of court at the net. 2) Block Jump 3) Peel straight back to middle of left or right side of court - facing in towards court, use cross over steps not back pedaling. Step, cross hop footwork. Involves opening step, crossover step and hop into defensive position. 4) Stop in defensive position hands out ready to dig 5) Spike approach straight ahead 6) Peel cross - defensive position 7) Jog to net and start again 8) Repeat 5 times - Butterfly Drill: 1) Start in middle of court (either on left side or right side) 2) Drop back to left side to dig and imaginary ball 3) Spike approach straight ahead 4) Peel back to the starting spot 5) Defensive position - hands up 6) Repeat by dropping back to right to dig an imaginary ball 7) Repeat 5 times Other quick ways to warm-up: 1) 10 spike approaches 2) tuck jumps 3) line touches Ball Warm-Up - Have them in partners with a ball. 1) Control passing back and forth 2) Make each other move throughout the court (short, deep, side to side), but keep ball in control - passing only 3) Control setting back and forth.
4) Make each other move - setting only. Quadrant Drills - Divide the court into four quadrants on either side of the net - Tennis (One-touch): Focus... is ball movement. Want to move ball short, deep and to the corners. - Short-court: One partner on one side of net, other partner on other side. Play tennis over the net in short court. Only passing one-touch. - Deep-court: Same set-up as previous but instead they are playing in the deep-court. One-touch pass only. Quick intro to Pokey and short Roll shot. (Coach should demo) Pokey: use index and middle finger to create hooks. They should contact the ball on the flat part of their knuckles. (second digit). Roll Shot: Contact ball with open hand. Snap and wrap on the ball. Create top spin. Focus on just short roll shot over the net. Implement these introductory shots into quadrant drills. Play: Three Touch: - Short Court: Still 1 vs 1. Player now gets 3 contacts. Where the third one must be a pokey or roll only into the short quadrant. - Deep Court: Same set-up, now they must pokey deep. Emphasize the deep pokey. Can attempt deep roll shot but we will focus on this shot in another session. *MAKE SURE THEY SET THEMSELVES HIGH* Divide the court in half long-ways. Play 2 vs 2 on each half. If there is enough room/ court space, they can have a match. If not, you can play Queen/King of the beach with ball being initiated with a toss/ serve from the challengers side. This game can go on forever. Kids usually really like it. Play first to 10 points.
Week 2 Passing Warm Up: - N-drill, Butterfly drill. - Moving partner -passing (in control) - setting, - pepper Recap from last week: - Focus on moving the ball around the court. Short, Deep, Corners. - Quickly review pokey and short roll shot. Ball Warm-Up: - 3-Touch Short Court. Games to 5 or timed. Winner moves to right, loser moves to left. Play a few rounds. Serve Receive Introduction Serve Receive Position: - The distances from the sideline to them, and them to their partner should be equal. - They should be roughly in the back 2/3 of the court. Serve Receive Calls: quickly go over serve receive calls for the ball. This way they can practice this throughout the rest of the camp. Line Seam Cross - Both players must determine who has Line and who has Cross on serve receive. This distinguishes who takes the balls that are served in between the two players the seam. - Whoever calls Cross is responsible for the seam. - When the server is standing in the seam of the court, it is up to the players to determine who will take Seam. It can depend on wind, passing preference, or tendencies. Cross Line
Passing - Explain where pass wants to go. - The target is ALWAYS relative to the passer. - Target: Straight ahead and 1-2 feet towards middle of court. Other partner (non-passer): Releases to relative target right away in a straight line - Some indoor players tend to go to the net first then go to the ball - Correction: As soon as they know the ball is not coming to them, they release in a straight line to relative target. ** If passer has to move, then relative target moves accordingly. Therefore Setter releases to a target depending on the pass** Net Passer Non-passer (setter) C Confidence Drills: 1) - Coach is on other side of net initiating ball. - Two passers on court in serve receive position rest are waiting off the court by baseline - Player passes ball, setter releases, sets to them selves and catches Focus: get the idea of where the relative target is. - Catcher brings ball to coach and goes to back of line - Passer stays, next person fills in to vacant spot. - (if there are not enough coaches, you can have a line of kids feed in balls after they set and catch). *Focus: Call line or Cross every time before play starts. Good pass to Relative target, setter releases as soon as they know they are coming.* 2) - Ball is initiated from other side of net (either from coach or line of kids) - One shagger on same side as coach, other kids with balls for coach. - Player passes; setter releases and sets their partner (high), passer can than attack by using pokey or roll shot. - Shagger brings ball to line for coach - Passer becomes shagger, setter stays. Focus- when passer has to move to get a ball, the target should change accordingly.* Play: - Wash drill: Coach initiates ball to Side A. Play out the rally. Winner gets a free ball. If side a wins 2 points in a row (initial ball and free ball) they get a big Point. Just wave through teams so everyone plays. Keep track of points. First to five. - King/Queen of the Beach: 2 vs 2. Either coach initiate or challengers serve. Kids usually love this game and it can go on forever. Play first to ten. Can only get points on king/queen side. Can t get points from missed serves.
Week 3 Attacking Warm-up: - N Drills - Butterfly Drill - Pepper, moving pepper Review Keys to passing/serve receive: - Always identify who has line and cross on serve receive. - Passing target is relative to passer straight ahead and 1-2 feet toward centre of court. Introduce Arm Swing - Reach High (both arms up) - Bow and arrow - Elbow leads - Contact slightly in front of head - Snap wrist - Follow through Ball Throws in partners Check form. Elbow up, should step with left foot forward for rightys. - Self Toss and hit to each other back and forth. - Self toss and hit over net (downballs) *This allows coach to check/correct form as well as give them a good shoulder warm-up* Introduction to footwork - Approach is in relation to where you pass. - 1 st movement is the adjustment steps get closer to the net and closer to the setter. If your pass is fairly good you may not need to adjust a lot. If the pass is bad, you must adjust and follow your ball. The setter can then set you straight up and 1 foot towards you. - Only needs to be a 2-step approach Right, left, explode up (for rightys).
- Both arms back when you plant your right foot then swing them both up to jump and attack. For Rightys: -When attacking from left side, you can approach on a slight angle to the setter. - When attacking from the right side, approach straight ahead rather than on an angle. This way you have all angles open to hit. For Leftys: - When attacking from left side, approach straight ahead - When attacking from left side, approach on slight angle. - Have the kids work on spike approaches to the net with out a ball. - Coach can walk around and give feedback about form. Drills: 1) 51 s: Have hitting line on left side. Each person has a ball in the hitting line. Toss to coach. Athletes approach on their own count and coach adjusts to athletes. Coach tosses 51 s. After they hit, they shag their ball and return to the hitting line. Repeat a few times through to get the feel of the approach. Repeat on right side of court. * Focus: Proper approach, reach high on contact.* 2) 53 s: Go back to left side of court. Same set-up, but now coach initiates by tossing a 53, and athlete adjusts and approaches after toss. - Repeat on right side. 3) Divide the court into half long-ways. Have a passer on one side with a setter. On other side there is an athlete who can initiate the ball and then plays defense. Passer passes to setter. Setter sets and passer attacks hard. Repeat 5 times then switch roles. Play: Full court. Queen/king of the beach. If there are enough courts, you can have them play mini games to 10. Then switch teams.
Week 4 Offense: Shots Warm-up - N Drill - Butterfly drill - Pepper Review Attack/approach: - Warm-up approaches, give feedback - Ball and partner: Partners on opposite sides of net, need 1 ball between 2 people. One partner self tosses and attacks over net to other partner. Other partner can practice digging to them selves, then they self attack back over net. (repeat about 10-15x each partner) - Partner hitting warm-up (game like): Partner A starts in defensive position (center of their half) on either left side or right side of the court. Partner B has ball at the net. B tosses or downballs to A. A passes to B. B sets A. A attacks over net. If there are enough balls they can do multiple reps before shagging. Shag and switch. Make sure each partner warms up on BOTH left and right sides of the court. Introduce Line Shots: Short Roll and Deep Line - Same arm swing as attacking - Short Roll: Keep elbow HIGH and snap and wrap over ball. o Should go up and over net o Wrapping wrist over ball provides topspin to make it drop o Aim short line (directly in front of you) - Deep Roll: Keep elbow HIGH o The motion is a an extension upwards to the deep corner ( ex. punch ) o Snap and wrap over ball. o Should be a loopy shot. The idea is to put the ball over the defenders head or over a block.
Partner and Ball: Self toss to your self, standing roll shot to your partner. Do 10 short rolls and 10 deep rolls each. Think about making the shots loopy. Drill: Go through a hitting line. Coach toss. Hitter becomes shagger, shagger brings ball to coach then goes into hitting line. Everyone hits short rolls first. Then do deep rolls. Groups of three: Tosser on one side of net, passer and setter on other. Toss 5 balls to passer, pass to setter, setter sets, passer attacks 5 short roll shots (line). After all 3 players hit 5 short roll shots each, switch to 5 deep roll shots (line). After everyone has attacked, get them to switch to the other side of the court. Now the set will be coming from a different side. Introduce Cut Shot and Deep Cross - Same arm swing. Keep elbow high. - Cut Shot: Same effect as short roll shot but it is cross court. o For Rightys on the Left Side or Leftys on the Right Side: Keep elbow high. Rotate hand by dropping your thumb. o For Rightys on the Right Side or Leftys on the Left Side: Elbow high and swipe the ball by o drop the lateral side of your hand (pinky) Make sure to always approach the same way! You want to disguise your cut shots and short rolls. - Deep Cross: Same idea as Deep Line shot. If should be loopy so it goes over a defenders head or a block. Same motion as deep line but have to put more effort into hitting cross (farther distance). Ball and Partner over net: Work on feeling of cut shots. - Have both partners stand on the left side of the court across the net. They will be lined up cross court from each other. Have them self toss and hit a cut shot to their partner. (No jumping). Have them get the feel of the cut shot. Then switch sides of the court so they will be cutting in the opposite direction. Repeat Previous hitting drills: Now focusing on Cross court shots. Cut shots, then Deep Cross. Groups of three: Tosser is now cross court on opposite side of net from hitter and setter. Play: King/Queen of the beach. Focus: Use shots.
Week 5 Setting Warm Up : - N Drills - Butterfly - Pepper, moving pepper Introduce Hand Setting: ** Key: Get feet to ball, bend legs and extend with legs and arms** - Introduce hand setting. o Hands on hips (thumb away from hand/ wrists flexed) bring to top of head o Shape of ball o Thumbs pointed back at eyes o Hands up early, absorb the ball o Extend elbows o Get behind ball and face where you want to go. o Put ball nice and HIGH Ball and partner: Set to self, set to partner. Continuous. 10-20 per partner Introduce bump setting: ** Get feet to ball, bend legs, keep back straight, flat platform and extend with legs** o Good to use on windy days o Use when you feel like you re not in position to hand set. o Put ball nice and HIGH! Ball and Partner: Set to self, bump set to partner, continuous. 10-20 times per partner. Go over Movement in Setting: **Get Feet to ball** Ball and Partner: Partner A has a ball. A underhand tosses to the left side of partner B. B hand sets back to A (HIGH set). A tosses to the right of B. B sets back to A. A
-Repeat 5x on each side then switch with partner. -Repeat Drill using bump setting. B Drill: H C S C S H - Coach in middle of the court with balls - Hitting line on left side and right side - One or two designated setters (they can alternate after 2 balls) - Start with hitting line on left side. - Setter starts in serve receive position on right side of court. - Coach tosses a ball (mock a bad pass to make setter move) - Setter gets feet to ball - Hitter in left side line adjusts to bad pass - Setter sets ball, attacker hits over net. - Hitter shags their own ball, brings it to coach. - Goes back in hitting line can alternate lines. - After setter sets, they now go the opposite serve receive position on the left side of court. - Now setting to right side line. - Make sure each player gets to set the ball 6-10 x. Depends on number of people in drill Giving Call after Set Go over shots and calls for them: (kids may be taught differently from other coaches. They can use any terminology they like as long as both partners know what each call means. 1) Cross/ Deep Cross/ High Cross. 2) Line/ Deep Line/ High Line 3) Short/ Roll 4) Cut/ Angle 5) If there is no one blocking and you want your partner to hit hard you can say No-one, hard line, hard cross, hard seam. At the youth level, most teams play 2-man defense (no blocker). Unless a partner can hit really hard, it is more useful to give a shot call to one of the 4 corners. Calling Seam (in between the 2 players) is probably the best option for swinging hard. - These shots will be called by the setter AFTER they set the ball. o Order: Set, look at defense, call shot Work on Looking after setting - Groups of Three: Tosser on one side of net with balls Passer and setter on other side. Tosser initiates ball to passer.
Pass to setter. After tosser initiates ball, they hold up either 1 finger or 2 fingers. Setter sets ball, looks across net at tossers fingers and calls how many fingers Passer can just control attack over (roll short, pokey, control to tosser). Repeat 5 x then switch roles. Progression: Exactly the same drill but - After Tosser inputs ball, they move forward or back. - Setter sets, and looks. - If they see defender moves forward (too net), setter calls Deep Line - If setter sees defender moves back towards the baseline, setter calls Short - Attacker can do their best to listen for the call from the setter to determine the shot they will make. - Repeat 5x, then switch roles. If there is time, have them do this on both left and right sides of the court. Continuous: Cut/Roll Drill (Can do this with 4 people per court or make it into a rotational drill on one side of court) C D ROLL - Use full court. 2 people per side. - One side ALWAYS cuts, the other ALWAYS rolls short. - Player A passes to B A B - B sets A, A cuts to D CUT - D passes to C, C sets D - D rolls short to B. - B will pass, get set and cut to C - C will roll short to A. - Continuous drill. - ***Focus: Control. Footwork. High sets. After set, look and make a call (even though it will always be same call on same side). Remember, for attacking after a pass is made, you must get off of the net to get an approach. *** Repeat a few times, then A & B will roll and B & C will Cut. Play: King/Queen of the beach, or games. Focus on setting high, looking at defense and giving good calls. Attacker should try to wait for the setter s call to decide where they are going to hit.
Week 6 Defense (2-person) Warm up: N drills, butterfly, pepper Go over defensive position - Feet shoulder width apart, knees bent - hands up above hips and at sides can dig with hands - Hard driven ball: dig with hands open, it can be sloppy. - Soft driven ball (ie/ roll shot, pokey, free ball, net ball): dig with closed hands or forearm pass Tomahawk (palms flat together) Overhand cup?? (on back of hands, thumbs interlock. Slightly cup fingers of one hand over the other. Play the ball off the heels of hands. ) Pokey Can dig with open hands, but it MUST come out completely clean no spin! 1) Partner and Ball A) - Partners stand 2 metres apart facing each other. - One partner hits (controlled) or tosses ball overhand and other partners head simulate hard driven ball. - Other partner digs ball with hands open. Goal is to get the ball up high. (Partner can either be standing or on their knees to isolate just overhand dig) - Repeat 10 x then switch. B) - Partner tosses underhand simulate soft driven ball (roll shot, freeball) - Partner digging must pokey, overhand cup or tomahawk to dig. - Repeat 10 x then switch. 2) Defensive Pepper -2 person - One partner is constantly hitting/roll shots/pokeys/deep/short (in control) - Other partner constantly digs. - Want to keep ball in control. Hitter is NOT trying to score. If they need to set themselves, or pass a free ball to the defender to keep the ball in control they should do so. - Hitter wants to make defender move - Defender should start directly in line with hitter. - After each dig, they should return back to their starting spot, ready to dig again. - There is no need for a court but you can create one - The Defender (D) is defending the entire triangle. The hitter (H) only hits in that triangle. D H H D 3) Groups of 3 or 4
- Attacker on one side of court. (If there is not enough for groups of 3, the coach can be the attacker and run the drill) - Digger and target on the other side of court. - Attacker self tosses and hits to digger. - Digger digs to target. - Target catches ball and passes it back to attacker. - Do not rotate. Repeat 10 x then switch roles. - (if there is time and/or if they would like to continue this drill you can have them do the same thing but switching from left side to right side of the court or vice versa). Go over Defensive Spots - Middle of the court on their half. - Draw a circle with a 3 foot radius - Starting position is always in these spots. - When reading the ball, they stay in the circle but rotate accordingly to the direction the ball is coming from. 4) Confidence Drill: 5) Kojima: Play - Coach or Player self tosses downball over the net to defenders. - Defender digs, setter releases and sets, digger attacks over net - Hitter shags ball and goes to back of line. Setter stays. - Next person in. - Hitting line up should switch sides after a few times through. (leftside, rightside, middle) - Coach /player runs drill - Goal is to dig, then set ball back to coach continuously - Key: After setter sets ball, they must get back to position. - If there is a shank and the setter needs to run out of the court, the other partner should fill in the empty spot and the setter can fill the closest spot. (switch positions)
Week 7 Defense: Blocking & Peeling Warm-Up: As usual - 10 balls each, hit at eachother s head to practicing digging with hands - pepper Blocking: Make it clear that THE BLOCK COUNTS AS A TOUCH!! Footwork: - Starting position: One foot is always back, one is always at the net. If you are on the right side of the court, your right foot is forward and your left is back. Vice-versa. - The reason for this is because you haven t committed to blocking yet. This starting position allows you to peel easier when the set is off the net. - Once you commit to blocking (the set is tight enough), you bring your back foot to the net, bend your knees and jump. Have them practice block jumps on both sides of the court. Ball and partner: To get the feel of blocking the ball.. One partner puts their hands through the net, the other partner overhand/hits the ball into their hands. Blocker work on big hands, fingers spread apart. - You could modify this by lowering the net and doing the same thing over the net. - If they are good enough, have the net at the proper height, one partner self-tosses and hits while the other jumps to block. Drill: - Tosser on one side with a defender behind them. - Passer and setter on the other side. - Tosser tosses ball over the net, then goes to the net to block LINE - On other side: pass, set, attacker tries to hit into block. (LINE) - But, there is a defender behind the blocker who tries to dig the ball if it doesn t go into the block. - Point of this drill is blocking, not attacking. - Repeat 3 or 4 times, then switch roles. Soft block (for vertically challenged): Step off of the net a bit, jump and block with palms up rather than penetrating. Goal is to deflect it into the air/ slow it down so your defender can make a dig. If you get the touch, remember you ve only got 2 more. Peeling: Deciding NOT to block. - You are at the net with one foot forward and one foot back. - When you decide that the set is not blockable, you cross pick up your front foot and cross over. Continue crossing over 2 or 3 times (FACING THE COURT) until you are back in your defensive spot. This is a fast action. When to decide to peel: AFTER the set has been made. If it s tight, bring your back foot to the net and stay to block. If it s off the net, peel.
Peeling Drill: Ball and partner. - Partner at the net holding ball - The other partner starts with their hand on the ball their partner is holding. - Player peels straight back to defensive spot. - Partner downballs to them and makes a dig. - Repeat 5-10X then switch. Continuous Peel drill Groups of 2: - Partner on each side of net. - One partner is starting at the net in blocking position. - The other has the ball and is using 3 contacts. Pass/set/attack - The player with the ball should set them self HIGH and off the net. - The blocker at the net notices that the set is off and PEELS straight back (LINE) - The hitter sees the block is peeling and hits LINE to the peeler. - Ideally, this can be continuous. - After the hitter attacks, they stay at the net to block. - Repeat the cycle. Groups of 4: - Same sequence, but it is 2 vs 2. - There is a designated setter on each side of the net. They only set, while the other 2 attack and peel. Play
Week 8 - Defense and Serving Mainly play today! Warm Up Defense Ball and Partner Drills 1) -One partner at net in setting position -Other partner in defensive position on one side of court -Setter tosses ball to digger -Digger passes ball high to setter. -Setter sets themselves then cuts/rolls the ball short/cross. -Digger starts in defensive position then dives (if necessary) to dig ball. -Return to starting spot quickly. -Repeat 10x then switch 2) "Touch 5" -Partner at net with ball -Other partner has hand on ball -Partner tosses ball behind other partner towards baseline -Defender turns and runs to dig ball. -Goal is to dig ball high, but to get out of the drill the digger must touch 5 balls. -Tosser can toss to either side of the digger and can toss short or deep. Make it challenging. The digger should not be able to dig 5 in a row. Serving Float serve -Stance is staggered. If right-handed, right foot is back (weight is on the back foot) -Hold ball in palm of left hand in front of right shoulder -Serving arm back and elbow high. -Target for toss should be as high as their arm's reach - no lower, not much higher. -Toss ball in front of hitting arm. Transfer weight from back foot to front foot. If it is necessary to take a step, do so with your left foot. - keep hand flat, fingers together (including thumb). Contact ball with palm and heel of hand - follow through in direction of serve. -keep wrist firm through serve -Key is to keep motions as simple as possible. Limit the room for error! Drill: have you and your partner facing each other on opposite sides of the net. Both partners start 3m away from net. Must serve 2 in a row (each partner). Once that is accomplished each partner can take one big step back. Continue until you both reach the baseline. Optional Drill: Butts up
Everyone starts on the same side of the court with a ball in line to serve. Have them serve one at a time. Continue serving until an error is made. Once someone makes an error, they have to go on the other side of the court and put their butt in the air (hence, butts up). Now, the goal for the remaining servers is to hit the butts in the air. If a butt is hit, the person who served that ball remains in the serving line, and the person(s) who was hit is free and can return to the serving line. Jump Serve (optional) -hold ball in hitting hand. -if right handed, start with right foot forward (weight on right foot) -toss ball with right hand. You want the ball to spin and toss it high just a few feet in front of you. -take a step with your left foot, then RIGHT-LEFT (quick steps). -As you step with Right-left, both arms go back. -jump and swing your arms up, use same arm swing as spike -Exact same footwork as a spike approach. -should hit ball just above your head, not too far in front. Need to aim up and over the net. Serving targets: -Serve to area, not person -draw lanes on the court. Goal is to serve in one of the three lanes (left line, right line or seam) -ball and partner can practice serving to those zones. -Set a reachable number of serves that they have to get into those zones in order to finish the drill. Other keys: Think about the wind. Serving in to the wind is effective. If they are not strong enough to do so you can teach them to serve with the wind. Check the direction/strength of the wind by tossing a handful of sand. PLAY Could play a king/queen of the beach or, play mini-tournament with same partner (timed-games) or kings court.