Intermediate Volleyball Drills

Volleyball drills build players' skills, strength and coordination as they progress to an intermediate level of play. Volleyballdrills.org outlines three categories of drills. Skill and movement drills reinforce basic skills through repetition of movement. Tactical drills focus on teamwork and tend to develop several skills at once. Conditioning drills build players' endurance and are often saved for the off-season because they can physically take a lot out of a team.

  1. Defense

    • An exercise called Off the Floor from the Strength and Power for Volleyball website conditions players to get off the floor quickly and be ready to make a play on the ball.

      The players form a line at the end of the court, lying on their stomachs. On the coach's signal the player at the front of the line has to get up quickly as the coach tosses the ball. The player must make a successful pass to a target before she is allowed to go to the back of the line.

      The coach can make the drill more challenging by tossing the ball away from the player, forcing her to move or dive, or by hitting the ball low, forcing the player to make a defensive dig.

    Setting

    • One player stands on a box in front of the net, signifying where an attacker would need the ball set to make a successful spike. The setter stands a few paces away and the rest of the team stands around the setter. At random the players throw balls to the setter, who will always set to where the attacker is standing, no matter which direction the ball comes from.

    Serving

    • This drill emphasizes accuracy and ball placement in serving. Divide the players into two teams, a serving team and a receiving team. The serving team lines up in a back corner in proper service position.

      The receiving team divides its side into nine equal sections. The first player on the receiving team will stand in the back corner diagonally opposite from the first player on the serving side. The server serves to the player standing in the first section, and the receiver must try to catch the ball without leaving her section. Once she catches the ball, she moves along the back line of the court to the next section and the server again serves until the ball is caught. The pair repeats this process until the ball has been caught in every section. Once the first pair is a couple of sections down, the next server and receiver in line can start the process and begin to work their way around the nine sections.

    Conditioning

    • Volleyballdrills.org says that a strong vertical jump is crucial for blockers and attackers, and this drill develops jumping elevation and endurance. The coach marks a line on the wall that equals the height of the top of the net. For three minutes players should make quick jumps, keeping their arms held high the entire time, as if they are blocking an attack at the top of the net. Next the players do 10 power jumps, jumping as high as they can. They do this by going into squatting positions with their arms down and exploding upward.