Natural Flow of Practice
Regardless of whether you are a coach, player or fan, you have to agree that there is a distinct flow to the game of volleyball. There is a rhythm to the game as each team transitions from offense to defense, and vice versa. There is fluidity in the players' movements on the court as they get in proper court position for what is coming next.
There is a rhythm and flow to the game, and as such, there should be a rhythm and flow to the practices you run as a coach. I am going to discuss two different kinds of practices: team practices and individual skills sessions. It doesn't matter which kind of practice you are running, as there should be a natural progression from start to finish of basic techniques to combined movements and in-game reactions. During my tenure as both a coach and a player I have taken part in many practices which run the gamut between good and bad. Hopefully this discussion will help you along your way to running a more efficient and effective practice session.
Team Practices:
Note: If you are running a high-school team, this may be the only type of practice you run.
Team practices are generally your every-day "normal" practice. This is with your entire squad, working all your basic skills and techniques and working towards becoming a cohesive team on the floor.
Think about your team members for a few seconds...you have a variety of players. The range of your players not only goes from Outside Hitters to Middle Blockers to Setters, but also varies based on their individual skill and experience levels. As such, you need to structure your practices and drills around those that would most effectively bring out the most in the group that you have. This also requires you to recognize when a certain drill you are running is too complicated for the group of players you have. If your players are unable to run the drill you have outlined because they lack a certain expected skill level, don't just blame your players...adapt. Adjust what you are doing on the fly to better suit the needs of your players.
I have always believed that the start of your practice, or your warm-up drills, should drive a heavy emphasis on your basic skills and techniques. The sport of volleyball is based on the concept of "pass, set, hit" in that order. As such, I believe that your practices should begin that way also. Start off practice with the opportunity for your players to get a lot of touches working on perfecting their basic passing form. Work your way from free-ball passing to serve-receive. Incorporate all of your players, including setters and any players who normally would not play the back-row. You should always attempt to improve the overall skills, regardless of specialization.
Note: I'm a firm believer in conditioning drills being run early on in practice. Either as the warm-up, or just after warm-ups. A team who can play cleanly while tired, and stay within proper technique, is the team that will win that long 5-set match.
Once you have sufficiently warmed up and worked on reminding your players what they need to work on in their passing game, you can add a setter and hitter to the mix. As an early practice drill, the butterfly and its many variations work out perfectly, as it allows for all of your players to be involved in concentrating on their passing form, their hitting form, and your setters to work on their setting. As your players begin to get back into rhythm, you can add some excitement to the mix by letting your players experiment with a new set (such as running a slide, or a quick-set). This is all still technically part of your practice warm-up.
Eventually you will want to move onto working as a team. Splitting your group to their scrimmage squads and playing 6's should always be your end goal for practice. Whether you are running a wash drill or allowing them to free-scrimmage, this is your opportunity to work on defensive positioning, team communication, and in-game strategy. Build up to this point by working the basic skills needed to play a clean game, then finish off with a scrimmage with points and consequence/reward. Keeping your players motivated to win and working under pressure will only benefit them when they are in an actual match.
Individual Skills Sessions:
Note: Individual skills sessions are less likely at the lower levels of play, however they do exist outside of the high-school arena as skills clinics provided by club organizations. At the college level and above you may find coaches who run individual/small-group practices for positional players.
Individual skills sessions are generally practices that focus either on a specific skill set, or a specific position. For example, a practice focused on hitting form vs a practice focused on being a middle blocker.
As with a team practice, you want to build up to more advanced or complicated skills. Focusing on a specific skill makes the need for a natural flow to the practice even greater. Begin working proper footwork and other form, and build up to combined movements such as transitioning from a block to an attack.
Regardless of the kind of practice you are running, you want to keep it simple early on and build up to more complicated movements.
Notes:
- I briefly touched upon adaptation of drills and practices earlier in this post. This is important, because you need to keep your players properly motivated during practice to get the most out of them. Running a drill that is too complicated, that becomes sloppy, only serves to frustrate the players and could force them to compensate by forcing actions with poor form. Always keep an eye on your players' body language and the flow of your drills as you need to keep your players in top mental shape to run the best practice possible.
- Also, remember to mix things up once in a while. Running the same drills every single practice with no variation over an entire season will drag on your players. The fun factor, the surprise factor, the newness of the game and the excitement will fade. As that fades, so will your players' performance. As your players improve during the season I would increase the difficulty of your drills.
- Use your time wisely. If you have a 2 hour team practice, don't spent 45 minutes just having your players serve when most of your players are able to do so. Work on the skills progression discussed above, and work on team cohesiveness.
- A practice spent with bored and unmotivated players is a wasted practice. It is your job as a coach to make sure your players remain focused on the task at hand.