Synopsis: This is a serving and passing focused drill which offers some flexibility for you to put players in a competitive situation.

Age/Skill Level: This is a drill for all levels

Requirements: full court, two groups of at least 3 players, several balls

Execution: Place half the team on one side of the net as servers and the other half the teams on the other side as serve receive passers, with a target. The serving team will take turns serving to the other team. Whichever player passes the ball moves to target with a new player filling in. The target sends the ball back to the servers, then goes to the back of the passing line. Each pass is scored on the 0-3 scale with the passing team getting that many points and the serving team getting 3 minus whatever the passers got. For example, if the passers get a 2 pass they would get 2 points and the servers would only get 1 point (3-2). A missed serve counts as 3 points for the passing team. The first team to a designated point objective wins. Switch passers and servers and go again.

Variations:

  • You can use an alternative pass scoring system.
  • If you want more aggressive serves you could either not count missed serves or have them worth fewer points to the passing team.
  • You may also use different scoring for each side if you are working A team vs. B team.

Additional Comments:

  • If you find either servers or passers consistently winning, you may have to alter the scoring system to make things more competitive.
  • You may also find that you need to adjust the scoring and/or length of the game over the course of a season as players develop to keep things balanced.
  • Keep an eye out to see if servers start specifically targeting weaker passers, which is strategically a good idea and also gives those players more reps.

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John Forman
John Forman

John is currently the Talent Strategy Manager (oversees the national teams) and Indoor Performance Director for Volleyball England, as well as Global Director for Volleyball for Nation Academy. His volleyball coaching experience includes all three NCAA divisions, plus Junior College, in the US; university and club teams in the UK; professional coaching in Sweden; and both coaching and club management at the Juniors level. He's also been a visiting coach at national team, professional club, and juniors programs in several countries. Learn more on his bio page.

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