FUNDAMENTAL SKILL DEVELOPMENT The following is a list of basic fundamental volleyball skills. The goal is for all participating athletes to establish the same fundamental skills as their teammate. However, remember that children all learn and develop at different rates and no child should ever be criticized for not picking-up a skill as quickly as their peers. The plan should be used as a guideline for putting together practice outlines and for teaching the know-how of the game of volleyball. It is essential to the overall success of PAC s youth volleyball program that all coaches aim to teach the fundamentals and sport knowledge. Game Knowledge The Court How to Score Rules on Touches (3 and over) Court Positions Court Communication Terminology Ace - A serve that is not passable and results immediately in a point. Antenna - The vertical rods (normally white and red) mounted near the edges of the net. The antennas are mounted directly above the sidelines and are not-in-play. Antennas are not usually used on outdoor nets. Approach - Fast stride toward the net by a spiker before he jumps in the air. Attack - The offensive action of hitting the ball. The attempt by one team to terminate the play by hitting the ball to the floor on the opponent's side. Attack Line - A line 3m from the net that separates the front row players from the back row players. Commonly referred to as the "10-foot line." Backcourt - The area from the end line to the attack line. Block - A defensive play by one or more players meant to deflect a spiked ball back to the hitter s court. It may be a combination of one, two or three players jumping in front of the opposing spiker and contacting the spiked ball with the hands. Bump a common term for forearm passing. Center Line - The boundary that runs directly under the net and divides the court into two equal halves. Dig - Passing a spiked or rapidly hit ball. Slang for the art of passing an attacked ball close to the floor. Forearm Pass - Join your arms from the elbows to the wrists and strike the ball with the fleshy part of your forearms in an underhand motion. Free Ball - A ball that will be returned by a pass rather than a spike. This is usually called aloud by the defense instructing players to move into serve receive positions. Hit - To jump and strike the ball with an overhand, forceful shot. Hitter - Also "spiker" Kill - An attack that results in an immediate point or side out. Line - The marks that serve as boundaries of a court. Overhand Serve - Serving the ball and striking it with the hand above the shoulder. Pepper - A warm-up drill in which two players pass, set, and hit the ball back and forth. Rally - The exchange of plays that decides each point. Rally Point - A point is recorded for every single rally no matter who is serving. Unforced errors or missed serves also results in a point for the other team. Ready Position (defensive stance) - The flexed, yet comfortable, posture a player assumes before moving to contact the ball. Rotation - The clockwise movement of players around the court and through the serving position following a side out. Serve - One of the six basic skills; used to put the ball into play. It is the only skill controlled exclusively by one player.
Server - The player who puts the ball into play. Service Winner - A point the serving team scores when this player has served the ball. The point can be an immediate (in the case of an ace) or delayed (a kill or opponent attack error after a long rally). Therefore, the sum of the team's service winners equals their score. Set - The tactical skill in which a ball is directed to a point where a player can spike it into the opponent's court. Setter the player who has the 2nd of 3 contacts of the ball who "sets" the ball with an "Overhand Pass" for a teammate to hit. The setter normally runs the offense. Shank - When a player unintentionally passes a ball in a wild manner, rendering it unplayable to his or her teammates. Spike - Also hit or attack. A ball contacted with force by a player on the offensive team who intends to terminate the ball on the opponent's floor or off the opponent's blocker. Tip A ball that is pushed or directed with force by an attacking team. Touch contacts by a player. Transition - The change from defense to offense, or vice versa. Rules Carry - misplayed ball involving "prolonged contact;" also called a lift or throw. Double Touch - Excessive touches or contacts by the same player. (Illegal) Foot Fault - The penalty incurred when the server's foot touches the playing surface, including the baseline, before contacting the ball, or any other player's foot touches the opposing court. Net Fault - An illegal act whereby a player touches the net while the ball is in play. It is not a fault if the contact was caused by the ball's forcing the net into the player's hand or body, or if it was accidentally caused by a player not playing the ball, also known as netting. Net Serve - A serve that hits the net; it is a fault if the ball does not continue across into the opponents' court. Service Error - An unsuccessful serve in which one or more of the following occurs: 1) the ball hits the net or fails to clear the net, 2) the ball lands out of bounds, or 3) the server commits a foot fault. Side Out - Occurs when the receiving team successfully puts the ball away against the serving team, or when the serving team commits an unforced error, and the receiving team thus gains the right to serve. Blocking Only front row is allowed to block Court Positions Hitter - Most often attacks the balls which setter sets most often close to the net. Blocker - Main responsibility is to stop the opponent s offense. Setter - Main responsibility is to set up the hitters--wherever they may be (this could even mean back row). The second contact of each possession is meant for the setter. Front Row Players - Players who are allowed to block the opponent and attack the ball in the attack zone. Back Row Players - Players who play defense by digging opponent s attacks and attack the ball behind attack line (3 meter line, 10 feet line).
PRACTICE TIPS This league should be first and foremost a FUN LEARNING EXPERIENCE! We want all athletes to have a positive experience and look forward to continuing the sport. As a coach, we encourage you to try to do the following: Have fun and smile. Enjoy this experience of sharing your love of a sport with a prospective athlete. If you have fun, your team will have fun! When correcting a child use positive, constructive criticism; let the athlete know what they have been doing right before telling them what you would like them to focus on improving. Each practice should include the following: Warm-up Skill Development Offense Defense On court game play Conditioning should be included in drills rather than being exclusive. If the athletes are not picking up the skill during that time frame, move on and return to the skill at a later time. Additional tips for coaching youth: Assume Nothing: assume that the players have not been shown to pass, set, hit etc.; teach accordingly. Learn By Doing: Players learn by doing, especially when it is fun. The athletes need to feel comfortable to succeed and the best way to feel comfortable is by doing lots! Aim for every child to have a ball in their hands as much as possible during practice. Once they become comfortable with the ball, they will be more willing to try. Practice Right: Practice does NOT make perfect; PRACTICE MAKES PERMANENT. When introducing a skill, start slow and stress accuracy. DO IT RIGHT! Bad habits developed young are hard to break when they get older. Explain A Lot: Explain, Explain, Explain! Verbally explain, visually explain. Keep repeating the teaching points you want them to remember as they do the drill. Find The Right Words: Because youth eagerly want to please, they may not truly understand what you were saying, even as they re nodding. Periodically ask them to repeat the teaching point in their own words. You may have to repeat. Teach Them All: Well-rounded players. Just because a child is tall now doesn t mean he/she will be as a senior in high school. Teach all players all the skills and positions. This also helps to relate to other positions on the floor. Results Count: If a child is able to accomplish a specific skill but is not doing it exactly as the textbook calls for, let it go. We want to accomplish the skill. Emphasize The Important: Emphasize what you feel is important. What you emphasize, the athletes will also feel is important and
As a volleyball coach, you ll be called upon to do the following: Provide a safe physical environment. Communicate in a positive way. Your communication involves not only players, but also parents and volleyball referees. Communicate in a positive way and show that you have the best interest of the players at heart. Teach the tactics and skills of volleyball. Making practices game like is especially important for youth volleyball. Teach the rules of volleyball. It's important for players to understand volleyball rules. Understanding the rules makes playing the game much easier. You'll also have an advantage over your opponent if you know what they don't. Not knowing the rules can cost your team points. Help your players become fit to play volleyball. You want your players to develop the right conditioning for volleyball so they can play the game safely and successfully. Players should also understand the value of fitness and enjoy conditioning for volleyball. Make exercise fun and they'll enjoy getting in shape for volleyball. Help young people develop character. Character development includes learning caring, honesty, respect, and responsibility. It's best to teach these values to players and demonstrate and encourage behaviors that express these values at all times. Explain a lot. Explain, Explain, Explain! Verbally explain, visually explain. Keep repeating the teaching points you want them to remember as they do the drill. Teach them all. Well-rounded players. Just because a child is tall now doesn t mean he/she will be as a senior in high school. Teach all players all the skills and positions. This also helps to relate to other positions on the floor. MAKE IT FUN BE POSITIVE FINISH HAPPY GENERAL PRACTICE LAYOUT Stretches and Warm-up 10 minutes o Group stretch focus on arms, shoulders, quads, hamstrings, core o Group Warm-up (form lines: down & back) jog/run, skipping, squat/shuffle, knee highs, jumping jacks, superman/banana, sally up squats Games can also be used as a warm up Teaching Skills 30 minutes o Each practice revisit last skill learned and start on a new skill. First two weeks skill only, then start into free play with skill. If skills start to lack, next practice we will revisit skills. o We would like each child to learn each skill by the end of the season o Blocking fundamentals and hitting fundamentals can be incorporated for the 4 th -5 th graders. Using Fun Drills to Improve Skills 15 minutes Cool Down 5 minutes o Try to end with a fun game we want the kids to all leave practice SMILING o Dependent on age group, but some fundamental drills can last longer into cool down time. Bring it in End practice/team Cheer
WARM-UP and COOL DOWN GAMES Volleyball relay race Drag the body (using blankets) Freeze Tag Blob tag Hot potato with volleyball Dodge Ball Amoeba Tag Cat and Mouse Pac Man Leap Frog Find Your Mates: Divide the players into Cows, Ducks and other distinctive barnyard animals. Have them close their eyes and find their fellow animals by sound alone. FUN DRILL IDEAS (K-1) Beach ball Volleyball Balloon Volleyball Dead fish, 2 kids serve to rest of kids that are lying on the floor, once hit they get to standup and help serve. Queens court with beach ball FUND DRILL IDEAS (2-3/4-5) Beach Volleyball Balloon Volleyball Lincoln Logs there should be three kids to one team. all three girls will lie on top of each other and you will throw the ball on the ground the girls will try and get up as fast as they can and get to it before it bounces again...they will volley with the other team until one team loses...next team of three takes its place. Serving game (Dead Fish) Two teams, equally split up. Half on one side, half on the other. One player from each team lays on the ground on the opposite court of their team. Each player serves the ball and tries to hit the player on the ground. If they hit them then they go on the side and lay on the ground too (making the target bigger). The team who gets all of their players on the ground first, wins! Pass and set competition pass or set to self if ball hits floor then you are out, last person standing wins Queens Court, you put 3 or 4 players on a side and have the rest line up behind one side of the court, every time a "team" makes a point, they move to the "queens court" if they re in the "queens court" already they stay there, after a point is made on the opposite side they go to the "queens court" and play there then the next 3 or 4 in line take the side opposite the queens court, it s easy once you get the hang of it. 1 on 1 Volleyball Game This drill will require three people. There will be one player on each side of the court and then one permanent setter. The setter will be going under the net every time the ball switches sides. In order for this to work, you must use a smaller court size. Even half the width of a court is too much for one person to cover. About the width of the key is the right size for this game. Basically, this will be normal three hit volleyball. Once the ball is served, the player will pass to the setter, the setter will set the ball, and the player will hit. The difficult part of this game is that the player on the other side must dig the ball in order to keep it in play as there will not be a block. If the player is successful in digging the ball, the setter will quickly go under the net to the other side of the court and set for that player. This will resume until the volley is over. This game teaches players how to play defense in digging without a block, and it teaches the hitter how to be accurate since the court is very small. Game is played to 21 points with rally scoring Target Practice (serving drill)