Synopsis: This serving and passing drill can be quite useful for working with larger numbers of players to keep them moving while also getting the developmental focus on those who need it most.

Age/Skill Level: This is a drill for intermediate to advanced players

Requirements: 12 players, several balls, full court

Execution: Set up three passers on each side of the court, with a target at the net and servers on both ends (like 2-sided Serve & Pass drill). Rather than staying for a certain number of good passes or time or rotating on each repetition, though, passers stay in place until they get two good passes. At that point they move to target, target goes to serve, and a server moves into the passing group (if multiple servers, have the one who’s been there longest go to pass).

Variations:

  • You can use more or fewer passers than 3 as your system of play dictates.
  • You can increase the number of passes required to get out of passing.
  • If your passers are erratic, you can have two targets rather than one to allow for ball chasing to keep the drill moving more fluidly.
  • You can run this drill for time, for some total number of good passes, or for a certain number of good passes by some subset of players.

Additional Comments:

  • This drill has the advantage of keeping weaker passers in the passing rotation longer, giving them more reps.
  • The higher the number of good passes you require passers to get, the less frequent will be player rotation through the drill, and vice versa.
  • If the targets efficiently get the ball back to the servers on their side, the number of balls required to run the drill is only equal to the number of servers being used.
  • If you have several servers you can have multiple targets to allow for rapid-fire serving to keep things moving very quickly

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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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