Volleyball Drills for Children

When coaching young players, it is important to choose volleyball drills that target the specific skill level of the group. Most of the skills needed for volleyball consist of good hand-eye coordination, consistency and power. Drills help develop proper form and execution. Drills for children should focus on fundamentals such as passing, serving, hitting and communication. Once these skills improve, coaches can use more advanced drills that concentrate on offensive strategy and defensive tactics.

  1. Passing Drill

    • Passing drills are an important tool used for developing good volleyball habits. They help players focus on proper form and ball control, in addition to developing consistency. Passing is a fundamental that should be practiced everyday. The music-minute-passing drill keeps kids engaged and focused. Coaches should compile one-minute snippets of popular songs on a CD for this drill. Coaches can make the CD anywhere from five to ten minutes. Each player begins the drill by setting (passing upwards) the ball to themselves. Once one minute is over, they transition to passing. They toss the ball up in the air, passing it to themselves. On the third minute they partner up. Each player passes once to themselves and once to their partner. The drill helps players work on basic catching/passing skills as well as communication.

    Hitting Drill

    • For hitting drills, the team forms three separate lines in the front row: one stationed behind the left-hitter position, one behind the middle blocker position, and one behind right-hitter position. The setter stands by the net. Two receivers stand on the other side of the net trying to cover the entire court. Hitters must be prepared as the setter mixes up the offense. This drill helps hitters work on their approach, arm swing, timing and ball placement so that it becomes more consistent during match play. After a player hits the ball, she switches with a player on the opposite side.

    Serve and Receive

    • This drill focuses on communication and serving. Three players set up on the court ready to receive the ball, while the rest of the team serves. The goal of the server is to get an ace, while the objective of the serve-receive team is to prevent that. Players on the serve-receive team must call out "mine" when receiving the ball. If the player successfully passes the ball to where her teammate can set it up for an offensive attack, the passer switches sides and the player who served the ball joins the serve-receive team. If the player fails to pass successfully, she stays in the rotation and the next server takes a turn.

    Conditioning

    • Children don't necessarily have to build up a great deal of endurance, but they should be able to keep up with a quick pace during matches. Setting up a series of conditioning drills during practice can help keep young players in shape. Players can start at the service line, sprint to the net, block three times, then backpeddle to the service line. The coach then tosses the ball in the middle of the court and the player dives for it. In addition to conditioning players, this drill helps them focus on transition and defense.