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.

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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)

Butterfly Serving Drill
  • Divide your players into three separate groups.
  • One group will start as Servers, one as Passers (on the other side of the net), and one as Target Setters (near the net).
  • Give each group 2-3 balls.
  • 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.
  • The first Passer will receive the serve, hit a bump pass directed to the Target, and run to the back of the setting line.
  • The first Target will catch the ball and run will the ball to the back of the Serving line.
  • This cycle should continue without stopping until all players have gone through every position at least once.
  • **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)

Self To Partner Volleyball Passing Drill
  • Partner up your players and give each pair a ball.
  • The first player will toss the ball to their partner.
  • The second player then passes the ball directly up in the air to themselves.
  • Then they make any pass they desire to their partner (bump, set, spike, etc.).
  • Then the first player receives the ball and passes it directly up in to their to themselves.
  • Then they make any pass they desire back to their partner (bump, set, spike, etc.).
  • This continues until each pair has completed 10 consecutive passes.
  • **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)

  • Divide your team into two groups and tape a line from antenna to antenna so that it is about 3 feet above the net.
  • On the whistle, have each group start serving the ball.
  • Every time a ball goes over the taped line or hits the line or hits the net, the player has to do fingertip pushups.
  • Every time a ball goes in between the tape and the net, that group gets one point.
  • The first group to 10 points wins and the other team has to do fingertip pushups.
  • **Encourage your players to stay in control and use proper form when serving.

Phase 5 – 5 To Die (0:45-1:05)

  • Set-up 3 players in back row positions, 1 setter, and a line of servers.
  • On the command SET GO, the Servers will take turns serving balls across the net.
  • The back row players will try and receive the serve and pass it to the Target.
  • Out of every 5 in-bound serves they must get 3 to the Target.
  • If they don’t, then that back row group comes off the court and does a punishment and a new group comes on.
  • If they succeed, then all of the Servers must do a punishment (e.g. lines, pushups, etc.).
  • **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 & Apply (0:45-1:30)

6 vs 6
  • Organize your players into teams of 6.
  • Play as many sets as you can.
  • Rotate teams or players after each set.
  • Use 2 or more “drill timeouts” as needed.
  • **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