Volleyball Receiving Drills

In volleyball, how well you receive a serve from the opposing team determines the flow of the first volley for your team. Shank the ball, and the setter will have a more difficult time getting the ball to the hitter. Pass the ball to the setter position with good arch and little rotation, and the setter can easily set the hitter for a kill.

  1. Repetition

    • Repetition is a key in improving all basic volleyball skills. For this drill, place a setter--or a target where the setter would be--near the net. You can either serve the ball or toss the ball at your passer. The goal is for her to successfully pass the serve to the setter or target 10 times in a row. If she shanks a pass, start over.

    All Backcourt

    • Receiving a serve can be more difficult than a basic pass. Players need to move their feet to get to the ball and position their body toward the setter according to where they are on the court. This means moving quickly to the ball, positioning the feet and turning the shoulders, all in a matter of seconds.

      Again, place a setter or target near the net. Have a player start in right back and receive a serve, passing it to the setter. She will move to middle back and repeat, then to left back and repeat. She should notice that her position and angle to the setter changes at each spot.

    Queen of the Court with Serve

    • Queen of the Court is three-on-three volleyball, with the winning team staying to take on the next team of three. To work on serve receiving, require that the team just coming onto the court serve the ball to the other team, rather than a coach tossing the ball. The team that had won the previous game must receive the serve to start the volley. This also helps teams work on serving.