I have a question. What’s the point of drills that have players pass from their knee or knees?
I won’t say I see it all the time, but I’ve definitely seen it enough to know there are plenty of coaches out there using this approach to teaching passing. It just doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.
The most likely reply I’d get if I asked a coach why they do it is to focus on the platform. In other words, they’re taking footwork and posture out of the equation. My view is that such a disconnection is fundamentally flawed as a training methodology. But that’s only part of the issue.
You see, the thing I have never been able to get over is the issue of toss accuracy. In order to do this kind of isolation, the passer really can’t move. That’s the whole point.
But who do I most often see this kind of approach applied to?
Young beginners. In other words, the group least likely to be accurate when tossing a ball to their partner to pass.
Of course, this means the tosses are all over the place. The result is the player on their knees having to try to pass balls in positions far from what we’d like. At least if they were on their feet they could make small adjustments to try to pass the ball with the sort of posture we’re after. Right?
If you disagree, please leave a comment below.
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8 Responses
Ha. I’ve never understood this either. I prefer to have them sit on the first row of the bleacher, feet apart, leaning forward so they can play the ball in front of them.
But I only do this when I’m working with a player individually because toss accuracy is a real issue—half of mine aren’t even that great.
Do you also think players should not go to their knees on defense?
This is an important skill. IMO, we have too many waist-benders that fear the ground. This greatly affects their passing and defense. Knee-benders are not afraid of the ground, are better passers and defenders. This means at times extending your range to play a ball beyond where your waist bend can take you. There is a reason players wear kneepads.
Scott – This isn’t about going to a knee (or both) to pass or defend. It’s about starting from a kneeling position to train passing.
I do not necessarily see this practice as a waste of time or disconnection if done properly. I do passing drills with players in a lunge position taking a toss from a coach, then they move forward in a lunge position to take the next toss, and so on. I never have players tossing; it’s always a coach tossing the balls. As mentioned above, I agree that I use this with young, new players to have them focus on their platform to start. This drill, however, is just the first in a progression of drills where we move into the footwork, posture, and movement.
Liz – Why do you have them in a lunge position? It’s not like that’s the passing posture you’d like them to have. And I would think being extended out like that makes manipulating their platform challenging.
I am of the same viewpoint John. I am also puzzled when I see sets from athletes sitting on a bench, from a partner toss, for many of the same reasons you list above. That said, I am a new coach and could very well be missing something.
I personally don’t use it since I always try to implement “game-like drills, or “Grills.” Whatever goal you are trying to accomplish with this drill about being on a knee or knees, you can also accomplish with having kids on their feet. And rather than just a coach tossing a ball, I believe that ALL players should learn to toss a ball. This allows kids more touches and reps. Why just have one coach when you can have many assistant coaches when you teach kids to do things. This also frees up the “coach@ to walk around and give feedback.
We do a quick “Tebow pass” warm up for our liberos 16 and older where they are on one knee and facing sideways, the tosser has to toss the ball over the knee and the passer strictly is working on shoulders and platform angle. they do 10 per side. we don’t spend a ton of time on it it’s just a warm up again focusing on platform angles. So imho, absolutely no issue with it.
My advice, respectfully, try not to dismiss an entire category because new coaches will take it literally when it could be very beneficial in some areas.
And again even though we only use it for a less than 1 minute warm up, I would never dismiss other coaches from doing passing from the knees because the game of volleyball you have to learn to control your angle, understand how to receive a ball from any position, heck I even like the concept of chucking balls and having kids lay on the ground and try to play it up… they are really learning to track, they are learning proprioception, and they’re learning how to manipulate their body to get it in the right angle. there’s really no need and it’s really uncalled for when coaches flat out dismiss something that they see that they don’t understand. let’s let people coach and let’s let kids play they might actually get good if we would put our egos aside.