This volleyball practice plan focuses on serving and passing. We’ll introduce a variety of fun drills to help develop strong serving fundamentals and apply those skills to game situations.

PHASE 1 - Dynamic Warmup (0:00-0:10)

Light Jog:  Jog to the net and back to the end line (3x’s)

Side Shuffle:  Swing arms front and back while shuffling

Carioca:  Rotate hips sideways

High Knees:  Bring the knees up while jogging forward

Buttkicks:  Bring the heel of the foot to the butt

Lunges:  Reach one leg forward and squat down

High Kicks:  Kick one leg up parallel to the ground

Side Leans:  Squat and lean side to side

Knees to Chest:  Pull one knee up to the chest

Classic Quad:  Pull one leg behind

Ballerina:  Extend one leg back in the air

Sprints:  Go 75% top speed to the net and back (2x’s)

PHASE 2 - Butterfly (0:10-0:20)

Setup:  Divide your players into three separate groups.

How It Works: 

1.  One group will start as Servers, one as Passers (on the other side of the net), and one as Target Setters (near the net).

2.  Give each group 2-3 balls.

3.  The first player in the Server line will complete a serve to the line of Passers and then run to the back of the passing line.

4.  The first Passer will receive the serve, hit a bump pass directed to the Target, and run to the back of the setting line.

5.  The first Target will catch the ball and run will the ball to the back of the Serving line.

6.  This cycle should continue without stopping until all players have gone through every position at least once.

Coaching Tips:

    Teach players to focus on each aspect of them game as they continue to warm up using this drill

    PHASE 3 - Self to Partner Passing (0:20-0:30)

    Setup:   Partner up your players and give each pair a ball.

    How It Works: 

    1.   The first player will toss the ball to their partner.

    2.  The second player then passes the ball directly up in the air to themselves.

    3.  Then they make any pass they desire to their partner (bump, set, spike, etc.).

    4.  Then the first player receives the ball and passes it directly up in to their to themselves.

    5.  Then they make any pass they desire back to their partner (bump, set, spike, etc.).

    6.  This continues until each pair has completed 10 consecutive passes.

    Coaching Tips:

      Teach players to communicate and talk to each other as they go through the steps of this drill.

      DRILL TIMEOUT - 30 Seconds

      PHASE 4 - Serving Tape (0:30-0:45)

      Setup:   Divide your team into two groups and tape a line from antenna to antenna so that it is about 3 feet above the net.

      How It Works: 

      1.  On the whistle, have each group start serving the ball.

      2. Every time a ball goes over the taped line or hits the line or hits the net, the player has to do fingertip pushups.

      3. Every time a ball goes in between the tape and the net, that group gets one point.

      4. The first group to 10 points wins and the other team has to do fingertip pushups.

      Coaching Tips:

        Encourage your players to stay in control and use proper form when serving.

        PHASE 5 - 5 To Die (0:45-1:05)

        Setup:   Set-up 3 players in back row positions, 1 setter, and a line of servers.

        How It Works: 

        1.  On the command SET GO, the Servers will take turns serving balls across the net.

        2. The back row players will try and receive the serve and pass it to the Target.

        3. Out of every 5 in-bound serves they must get 3 to the Target.

        4. If they don’t, then that back row group comes off the court and does a punishment and a new group comes on.

        5. If they succeed, then all of the Servers must do a punishment (e.g. lines, pushups, etc.).

        Coaching Tips:

          This drill helps reinforce to players that they must challenge one another in order to improve.

          DRILL TIMEOUT - 30 Seconds

          PHASE 6 - 6 v 6 Play and Apply (1:05-1:30)

          Setup:   Organize your players into teams of 6.

          How It Works: 

          1.  Play as many sets as you can.

          2. Rotate teams or players after each set.

          3. Use 2 or more “drill timeouts” as needed.

          Coaching Tips:

            Apply the principles talked about in practice and help players recognize when they did something right.
            Make sure they play at full speed so that you paint the picture of what it will look like in a game.
            If players are developing bad habits, slow it down, demonstrate proper technique and then continue.

            Cool Down and Stretch

            For more drills and practice plans like this, download our complete

            Essential Volleyball Passing and Setting Drills eBook