Near the end of the 2014 high school season, with playoffs nearing and Bishop’s maintaining its undefeated record in the Coastal Volleyball League, Knights coach Tod Mattox continued to emphasize little things in practice so his players could upgrade good play to great play.
In this session, the team worked on everything from disguising its tips to the rhythm of two of its most productive sets: the “Push” (a middle hit) and the “Go” (a pin hit).
Here’s a look:
Disguising the tip
As you know, a common problem for young hitters is giving away their tip by not taking a full approach and appearing as if they might swing. Mattox addresses that here, talking to his team about getting their arms back so the defending team has a harder time reading what is about to happen.One of the drills Bishop’s uses to work on this, shown here, involves partners facing each other from opposite sides of the net. Starting from behind the 10-foot line, one player takes a full approach, then tips. The player on the other side also starts from behind the 10-foot line; she runs in to make the dig as the offensive player makes contact.
Quote of the day, trivia question
After warmup and the tipping drill, Mattox gathers the team for a quick whiteboard session. As always, there's a daily quote. On this day, it relates to team unity.Mattox sometimes tosses in a trivia question to keep players up on what's going on in the world of volleyball. This is a good way to remind athletes to look outward and take the opportunity to learn from events that stretch beyond the bubble of their own school and volleyball practices.
Maintain a constant angle for consistent passing
Mattox spends a lot of time emphasizing passing platform stability. Here, he talks about reducing shanks by maintaining the same platform angle. Accomplishing this, he says, requires shuffling the feet and/or moving the hips to prevent the arms from swinging side to side when passing balls that are breaking to the left or right.
Dealing with free balls that are close to the net
Developing confidence playing the first ball if it’s close to the net comes with practice. Here, you’ll see Bishop’s players fielding tosses from a coach and deciding whether to take a full swing for a kill, redirect it with two hands over the net or set it high and back to their teammates.
Stay low and go
Around the midway point of practice, Mattox works with the younger middle blockers on closing more efficiently to the outside blocker. His senior middle, Gretchen Cash, is very good at this, but the less experienced middles are still bending their knees and going down before their jump. This wastes time and often makes them late.The solution Mattox offers: Make your move from the middle in a slightly coiled position, then go straight up. If you go down and then up, the ball is usually by you by the time you get your hands over the net.
Long Beach blocking
The drill you saw in the previous video and will see again here was one that Mattox pinched from Long Beach State women’s coach Brian Gimmillaro.It’s not game-like, but it’s good for helping middle blockers work on their hand-positioning, footwork and jump-timing when closing to the outside blocker.
Working on the “Go” and “Push” sets
Bishop’s’ system calls for a lot of middle sets, and that's been a great weapon for them. But teams know they like the middle, so opposing defenses often bunch their blockers to try to stop it.With than in mind, the 6-on-6 drill in this practice emphasizes two sets: The “Go," which is fast and low to the pin, and the "Push," which is one of their go-to middle sets.
In this drill, extra points are awarded for tools on the outside and for middle kills.
“No long sets!”
After one play during the scrimmage, Mattox makes it clear to one of his setters that he isn't fond of her decision to set all the way across the court rather than setting a short distance to a hot hitter.“Make the easy set,” he tells her. “It’s not about you being fancy. It’s about getting us a swing.”
Second-ball defense for blockers
A simple drill that you’ll see here helps blockers become more aware of balls that pop up in the air off the block. Mattox says Zone 3 is a trouble area for the middle blockers, who often lose track of the ball after getting a touch.The drill works this way: A coach stands on a box or chair and holds the ball up over the net. The blocker jumps up and touches it. Once contact is made, the coach drops the ball and the blocker has to land, find the ball and bump it up.
