Technical preparation activities are a great way to help young players enjoy the game and improve their skills. For this article, I’ve broken them into four different categories: pre-sport games, training circuits, technical drills and small-sided games. Let’s look at these in more detail.
PRE-SPORT GAMES
The goal with these games is to help youth athletes develop basic motor skills. Here are three of my favorite pre-sport games:
10 Steps
Players are divided into two teams, one of which has the ball. (Teams can be any size, depending on how many players you have in the gym. If there’s 14, each team will have seven.) The team with the ball must be able to make 10 passes between its members while the other team tries to intercept the ball.
When a team completes 10 passes, it wins a point and gives the ball to the other team. When a team intercepts a ball, it reverses roles with the other team and tries to complete 10 passes in a row.
The fight
Divide into pairs. Players position themselves with both hands and feet touching the ground, facing each other. The object of the game is to touch the partner’s hand without falling and without placing knees on the ground.
The dodge
Players are in the center of a designated area. The game begins when a player outside the area tries to hit someone inside with the ball. Those who are hit exit the designated area, grab a ball and try to hit the remaining classmates inside. The last person remaining in the designated area wins.
TRAINING CIRCUITS
These are drills that help improve strength, endurance and coordination. Here are two examples:
Lame little bird
To help develop perception of space and enhance ability to evaluate distances and directions, players advance by jumping on one foot. After a few yards, they switch to the other foot.
Jumping with a ribbon
This circuit helps with coordination, body control and assessments of distances, trajectories and height. Use a 5-yard-long elastic ribbon. Coach holds one end, a player holds the other – no more than 20 inches off the ground. (The height can vary depending on age and ability of players.) Students run in line, jumping over the ribbon one way, then reversing and jumping over the ribbon in the opposite direction.
TECHNICAL DRILLS
These drills help perfect the technical gestures of each discipline.
Seated lateral bump
Two players face each other, one sitting, the other standing. The player who is standing throws the ball to the sitting player and the sitting player bumps the ball back to the standing player. After 10 perfect bumps, the players switch roles.
Setting with a visual cue
Two players face each other. Player A sets to Player B. Player B shows a number with their fingers that Player A must look at and say before setting. After the desired number of reps, the players switch roles.
SMALL-SIDED GAME
A game to develop decision-making skills and teamwork.
Attack and defend together
The goal in this game is to work cooperatively with the other team to produce the longest rallies possible. Each time the ball crosses the net, a point is scored. Only bumps and sets are allowed at first, but the drill can progress to attacks. If the attacking hit goes into the net or out of bounds, one point is deducted. If the ball falls during defense, the score resets and the game starts over.
Alessandro Licata is a highly regarded volleyball coach from Milan, Italy with a proven track record in training, team management and motivational leadership.
