Functional Warm-ups
One of the major draws to the boys' and girls' volleyball programs at my old high school was the fact that the coaches rarely made the players run. In fact, it was one of the defining characteristics of the program which drew me into the sport to begin with. It wasn't a matter of being lazy, more a fact that running was boring, repetitive, and had no immediate "fun" factor to it.
But this wasn't the reason why we rarely ran before or during practices. No, the reasoning was much more logical, and wouldn't be revealed to me until I began to coach under them a few years later.
The fact of the matter is, especially at the high school/juniors level of competition, that running provides very little benefit. You can even consider it a complete waste of time. If I haven't already blown your mind or completely offended you, please hear me out...
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.