BALL CONTROL DRILLS

PASSING: MIDDLE OR LATERAL:

passing, serve receive, serving, ball control - This volleyball drill will practice decision making
between lateral and inside the body passing.

Description

This volleyball drill will practice decision making
between lateral and inside the body passing. 




Setup
1.Two passers on one side of net
2.Two servers on opposite side of passers
3.Two targets
4.Cones for passers to shuffle around

Instructions
1. Server gives passer a serve either inside toward the middle of the court or outside toward
the sideline.
2. If the serve is in the middle of the court the passer must shuffle to the ball and pass the
ball from the mid-line of their body to the target.
3. If the serve is toward the sideline the passer must shuffle to the ball and pass the ball with
a lateral pass to the target.
4. After the pass the passer shuffles back to behind the court.
5. Each passer passes a set number of balls before rotating positions.
Variations: Can start with a toss or down ball before serving to passer
• Coaching Points

Making sure passer is getting in correct body position and facing their target

PERFECT PASSES: passing, ball control, defense - This drill is to practice passing multiple
repetitions, staying low and shuffling.
Description

This drill is to practice passing multiple repetitions,
staying low and shuffling. 



Setup

1.  Two tossers
2.  Two targets
3.  Two passers

Instructions
1. Tosser uses a double overhead motion to
toss ball to passer.
2. Passer attempts to pass ball to target.
3. Target catches ball.
4. Tosser goes to pass, target goes to toss, passer goes to target.
5. Repeat for a set number of perfect passes. (Generally a larger number, 50-100)


Variations
1. Teams get -1 for a non perfect pass.
2. Passer uses overhead pass only.
Coaching Points: Making sure players are in a low base position

LATERAL PASSING: 3 TOUCH:

passing, ball control – This drill will teach players how to
practice passing using lateral passing techniques

Description
-This drill will teach players how to practice passing using
lateral passing techniques

Setup
1. Three tossers
2. Three passers starting at a cone
3. Three passers waiting to enter drill at serving line

Instructions
1. Passer starts at cone.
2. Tosser tosses ball back and to the passer's right.
3. Passer retreats and executes a right side lateral pass back to tosser.
4. Passer returns to cone and touches cone.
5. Tosser tosses ball back and to the passer's mid-line.
6. Passer retreats and executes a forearm pass to tosser.
7. Passer returns to cone and touches cone.
8. Tosser tosses ball back and to the passer's left.
9. Passer retreats back and executes a left side lateral pass to tosser.
10. Repeat for a preset number of contacts (use a multiple of three).


Variations

Change order of passes


Coaching Points

Watching to see that players are moving the correct direction and staying low

PASSING: PASS AND MOVE! :

volleyball passing, ball control - This drill will practice moving left to right and
passing.

Description

This drill will practice moving left to right and passing. 



Setup
1. Two tossers
2. A passer in right back with a line waiting to enter
Instructions
1. Start the drill with a toss to the passer in the
base position shown.
2. After the pass the passer sprints up and touches
the tosser's foot.
3. The passer retreats diagonally back to the next
base position, about half way the second tosser
tosses the next ball.
4. Be sure to have the passer focus on squaring up
with the tosser.
5. After the second pass the passer sprints to behind
the 2nd tosser.
6. The passer then shuffles in a ready position
behind the tossers.
7. After passing the the 1st tosser the passer back pedals back into line.
8. Repeat as desired.
Variations:
-Go in the reverse direction 

-Add in practice blocks while going across the net instead of just shuffling

Coaching Points: 

-Make sure passer is squaring up to target before passing

24 TOUCHES- BALL CONTROL volleyball ball control, down balls, pass, set, hit - This drill is to
practice ball control as a warm up to hitting, while working on communication and teamwork
between players.

Description

This drill is to practice ball control as a warm
up to hitting, while working on communication
and teamwork between players. 



Setup

1.  Passer, setter, outside hitter per side
2.  Line in middle back waiting to enter
3. Coach tossing in free balls



Instructions

1.  Coach tosses free ball to middle back player
2. Middle back passes to setter and follows the
ball to become the next setter.
3.  Setter sets the ball to the outside hitter,
then follows ball to become the next outside
hitter.
4. Outside hitter down balls over the net and goes to the end of the line on their side of the court.
5. Team is working together to get 24 touches in a row!  If the ball hits the ground, the count starts
over. 



Variations

1.  Can decrease or increase the touch number to make drill easier or more difficult. 

Coaching Points

1.  Coach should encourage players to count the touches out loud for the team to hear. 

PASS SET DOWNBALL volleyball downballs, ball control, pass, set, hit - This volleyball drill
teaches how to hit a down ball to a desired location as well as work on communication skills
between players.

Description

This volleyball drill teaches how to hit a down ball to a desired location as well as work on
communication skills between players. 



Setup

1. Three passers per side
2. One setter per side
3. Coach tossing in free balls
4.  A line in middle back of the court waiting to rotate in



Instructions

1.  Coach initiates drill with free ball toss.  
2.  Players pass and set
3.  If the setter sets to a right or left player, that player down ball hits it to the other side and
rotates off to the line
4.  If the setter sets to the middle player, everyone stays for the next ball, no one rotates off
5.  Other side of net plays the same way


Variations

1.Can do back row attacking instead of hitting down balls
2. Can start with a serve instead of a free ball toss, could also make a serving line too instead of
setting up both sides for passers


Coaching Points

1.  Encourage players to down ball hit to a specific location
3. Watching players to make a meaningful choice of where the ball should go
TWO PERSON FOUR SQUARE volleyball down balls, ball control, pass-set-hit, passing, setting,
hitting, serving - This volleyball drill increases accuracy in down balls to desired locations while
also increasing communication skills between players.

Description

This volleyball drill increases accuracy in down balls to desired locations while also increasing
communication skills between players. 



Setup

1.  Volleyball court divided into half longways to make four total squares.



Instructions
1.  Players should understand that square 1 is the desired square and always serves the volleyball.
2.  Teams of two: pass, set, and hit controlled down balls to team on opposite side of net. 
3.  Players should try to keep ball in play by controlling where their down ball goes to.  
4.  If a team makes an error or lets the ball hit their half of the court, they rotate off.
5.  New team of two rotates into to square four, hoping to make it around to square 1, the serving
square.
6.  Play for a set amount of time, the team who ends in square 1 when time is up is the winning
team!



Variations

1.  Keep score if desired

Coaching Points

1.  Encouraging team to keep ball in play. 

Views 18899

4 x 2 PEPPER DRILL: ball control, pass, set, down ball - This drill will help practice ball control
using different types of contacts.

Description

This drill will help practice ball control using different types of contacts. 



Setup

Players in pairs with one volleyball 


Instructions

1.  Players get into partners
2.  First player hits the ball down to partner.
3.  That partner digs and passes the ball to
themselves, left fist hits to themselves, right
fist hits to themselves, sets to themselves, then
down balls back to first player.
4.  First player digs, left fists, right fists, sets,
and down balls back to partner.


Variations

1.  May add in additional types of contacts or
take some out to make it harder or easier. 

Coaching Points

1.  Looking for players to make their own
adjustments to skills.  For example, they
understand when they hit the ball to hard or to
lightly, how to adjust on their own. 

25 CONTACT DRILL: Passing, setting, hitting, ball control - This drill is to practice ball control,
communication, teamwork, and warm up for hitting.



Description

This drill is to practice ball control,
communication, teamwork, and warm up for
hitting. 



Setup

1.  3 players on each side of the net: Middle
back, setter, outside hitter
2.  Players rotate in from middle back where the
line is



Instructions

1.  Coach enters free ball to player at middle
back position
2.  Middle back passes to setter
3.  Setter sets to outside hitter
4.  Outside hitter hits a controlled hit to middle
back on opposite side of the net; approach and
swing or down ball
5. Players follow their ball: Passer goes to setter, setter to hitter, hitter to end of line at middle
back
6.  Count contacts out loud with the goal being trying to get 25 contacts before the other team
does


Variations

1.  Increase goal based on skill
2.  Add a fourth player to the rotation
3.  Set up two courts to have a competition



Coaching Points

1.  Players should be loud and calling every ball 

3 PLAYER DOWN BALL WITH MOVEMENT: Down

Ball, Warm-up, Drill - This volleyball drill focuses
on hitting a down ball to a specific area after a
series of touches.

Description

This volleyball drill focuses on hitting a down ball
to a specific area after a series of touches. 



Setup
1. Split the team into 2 teams.
2. Place a setter for each team near the net.
3. Three players step up off the baseline as
the remaining players are in a line at the baseline.


Instructions


1. The coach starts with a free ball to one of the teams.

2. The player that has the first contact passes to the setter.
3. The setter returns a overhead pass to one of the 3 players.
4. The player receiving the set plays a down ball over the net to the other team.
5. The player that hits the down ball steps off and a new player takes their place.
6. The play continues on the other side of the court.


Coaching Points


• Focus on all aspects of the pass, set, and down ball.

• Make sure proper technique is used on the down ball hit.

TRIANGLE PEPPER DRILL – OVER NET This

volleyball pepper drill will focus on the rhythm of
passing, setting, and hitting over the net to a
specific target.

Description

This volleyball pepper drill will focus on the rhythm
of passing, setting, and hitting over the net to a
specific target. 



Setup
 1. Position 3 players on each side of the court in a triangle (left back, left front, and a setter).
2. The coach is at the net off the court with a supply of balls.

Instructions

The coach throws a free ball into the left back.
1. The left back passes to the setter.
2. The setter sets a ball to the left front.
3. The left front hits a ball to the opposing left back and the pattern is repeated.
4. After the hitter hits the ball over, the left back and left front switch positions.

Variations
• After the hit over the net have all 3 players switch.
• Start off with no jump for the hitter and add jump as hitting control is improved


Coaching Points
• Insure proper technique for all aspects of the digging, passing, setting and hitting.