Fitness Over 40

Volleyball drills with Natasha

Natasha is on break from both her school volleyball team and her club volleyball team.   Following a tradition we started last year, we are going to work out during her two week Christmas break on areas of weakness for her.  Last year, after two weeks of one on one drills, she went from being a reserve on her 7th grade team to starting the rest of the season.

This year we are going to focus on Natasha’s power.  She is an outside hitter for both of her teams, and although she has good footwork and position technique, she isn’t generating as much power as she would like. 

The source of her lack of power comes from a few factors: 

• This is only her third season in volleyball (after 7 years competing in gymnastics), so she is still getting use to “ball” sports.  Her timing is just a little bit off on her serves and hits.
• A related issue is that Natasha serves and hits with her arms.  She isn’t fully integrating the torque generated from using her whole body rather than just her arms.
• Natasha throws the ball too high on her serves.  As a result, she is usually hitting the ball when it is above or behind her head.  Because she is use to letting the ball drift above her head on serves, this habit is also carrying forward to her hits.  This causes her to lose power, and it strains her lower back.  She needs to focus on keeping the ball in front of her on serves and hits.
• Natasha is very flexible.  Great for some things, but a problem for others.  Hitting with power works better if you are using a board instead of a rope.  For Natasha, she is going to have to work harder than most at keeping her core and arms tight when she hits.  Basically, she needs to “zip up” every-time she pulls her arms above her waist.

So here is what we will be working on during her winter break:

• Timing and precision of hits
• Integrating her arm and body on her hits
• Zip up every time she lifts her arms
• Tossing the ball just high enough, instead of too much
• Keeping the ball in front of her

In addition, we always, always work on passing to target.  The outside hitter is mostly known for their powerful spikes, but in reality, the outside hitter has to be one of the best passers on the team, and usually has primary responsibility for returning serves. 

For passing drills, we use the basketball court and the basketball hoop in particular.  If you can forearm pass (ie bump) a ball into a basket, then you are getting it high enough and accurate enough to get it to the setter.  We worked on straight passes, shuffling to the right, and deep left (hips to ball, angle to target).  We mimicked passing from the center and left back row positions (if you can do those, you can easily pass from the back right position).

 For hitting drills, we did all stuff Natasha hasn’t done before.  Her club coaches are both members of the Edmonds Community College team, and I have been watching what they do to work on their hitting.  Basically all you need is a wall and a ball.

The first drill is to hit the ball into the floor about two feet from the wall, so that the ball bounces up into the wall and back to you.  You can judge power and accuracy from this drill.  Natasha focuses on hitting it and registering how much pop the ball had and how good the hit felt (so she can start reproducing solid hits).  I focus on her technique - is she zipped, is her elbow high, does she have torso rotation, etc.  This drill is mostly about hitting with power.

The second drill is the same as the first, but instead of  catching the ball when it returns, you hit it back into the floor.  The object is to continue hitting the ball against the wall without stopping or catching the ball.  This drill works on the timing and precision of your hits.  One good thing about both of these drills is that since you are hitting the ball into the ground, you are also hitting it lower - which automatically works on not throwing it so high and keeping the ball in front of you.

The third drill is a bit different.  Instead of hitting the ball into the floor, you hit the ball into the wall.  Same technique that you would use on a serve or standing hit.  When the ball returns, practice passing to the setter spot.  This drill works both on your power, but also on returning serves.  The better the hit, the harder the return will be.  Did I mention that the outside hitter is the primary return server on the team.   Great practice for returning hard serves.

 We finished with some long hits.  Natasha stood about three quarters of the way across the gym and hit balls to me.  She wasn’t working on hitting really hard, or on serving per se.  I just wanted her to connect with what it felt like to hit the ball really well and cause it to travel far - just from hitting it well.

Natasha had a great practice.  She went the full hour, and didn’t want to stop.

Workout:

• Type: Other
• Date: 12/27/2007
• Time: 14:23:52
• Total Time: 1:00:00.00

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Volleyball workout with Natasha

Natasha and I went to 24 hour fitness and worked on serving and overhand hits.

One of the drills I do is serve to her, and she has to bump, set, and spike to herself.  It is great training for ball control, and it is great for cardio because she is always having to move. 

We also worked on blocks at the net.  The rust is definately starting to come off.   She has two more weeks until her Select tryouts.

Workout:

• Type: Other
• Date: 10/20/2007
• Time: 15:00:00
• Total Time: 1:00:00.00

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Volleyball Practice

Workout:

• Type: Other
• Date: 10/14/2007
• Time: 06:00:00
• Total Time: 00:45:00.00

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Volleyball

Put Natasha through an hour long volleyball workout.  Of course every time she hits the ball, I have to go get it, so it’s a workout for me as well.

 She begins trying out for Select volleyball teams in November.  We want to get her warmed up before then.  We worked on serves, hitting, and basic bumbing and setting drills. 

Our goal is to do volleyball workouts 2-3 times per week.

Workout:

• Type: Other
• Date: 10/06/2007
• Time: 17:00:00
• Total Time: 1:00:00.00

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Coaching Girls Volleyball 101 - Hitting

Over the weekend I spent 10 hours in a volleyball clinic -  a 3 hour session for coaches, and two 3.5 hour sessions for players (I went to the two sessions for 7th grade through High School players).  I decided I would do a brain dump of all the things I remember - both for myself and for any other  coaches who might benefit.  This information is free - take it for what it’s worth.

This post is about Hitting

There are four “A” keys to hitting:

1. Available
   • The player needs to make themselves available for the pass by creating a space between the themselves and the net so the setter can put the ball between the hitter and the net.
   • The front line players need to think of the ball as a magnet.  When the ball is on the opponents side of the net, the front line players should move up to the net.  When the ball comes to their side of the net, they should drop back so they are ready to hit.
2. Approach
   • For Right Handed Hitters, the approach is left-right-left
   • For Left Handed Hitters, the approach is right-left-right
   • The first step is a small adjustment step
   • The second step is a big step forward (to accelerate)
   • The third step is the gather/stopper step to send the hitter up rather than out (and into the net)
3. Arms
   • During the first step, the arms should be relaxed  - forward and down
   • During the second step, the arms should go back
   • During the third step, The arms come forward and up
4. Arm Swing
   • As the arms are coming up they should pull like a bow and arrow.
   • The non hitting arm should point toward where the ball will be hit
   • The hitting arm should have the elbow pointed toward the ball, the elbow should be above the ears, and the palm should be facing out
   • To generate power, bring the non-hitting arm down - this acts as a lever with the hitting arm
   • The hitting arm wrist should snap at the top to create top spin on the ball

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Coaching Girls Volleyball 101 - Overhand Serve

Over the weekend I spent 10 hours in a volleyball clinic -  a 3 hour session for coaches, and two 3.5 hour sessions for players (I went to the two sessions for 7th grade through High School players).  I decided I would do a brain dump of all the things I remember - both for myself and for any other  coaches who might benefit.  This information is free - take it for what it’s worth.

This post is about Overhand Serving:

1. The Toss
   • The ball should go up about 1 ball width higher than the player can reach
2. The Step
   • The Step and the ball toss are connected
   • When the toss goes up, the foot should automatically come forward as if there is a string tied between the arm and the foot
   • If the ball were to drop to the floor after the toss, it should land on the inside next to the foot you stepped with
3. The Hit
   • The ball should be hit with your hand open
   • The hitting hand should be stiff from the middle finger to the elbow

For players who have good form, but the ball isn’t going over the net, there are two things to look at.  First, they need to increase the velocity of their hand speed.  The faster the hit, the farther the ball goes.  Second, they need to hit through the ball.  They need to aim for hitting the center of the ball rather than the outside of the ball.

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Coaching Girls Volleyball 101 - Overhead Passing

Over the weekend I spent 10 hours in a volleyball clinic -  a 3 hour session for coaches, and two 3.5 hour sessions for players (I went to the two sessions for 7th grade through High School players).  I decided I would do a brain dump of all the things I remember - both for myself and for any other  coaches who might benefit.  This information is free - take it for what it’s worth.

This post is about Overhead Passing (aka setting):

There are four major keys for overhead passing:

1. Arrive (Hop to the Spot)
   • The player should arrive at the spot before the volleyball
   • The player should plant their feet as they arrive so that it gives them a solid base (this looks like a little hop)
   • Legs should be bent giving the player a lower center of gravity - hence more balance
2. Face the Target
   • The players “nose” and “toes” should point toward where they want to pass the ball.
   • This is different from forearm passing where the player faces the direction the ball came from.
3. Have ball shaped hands
   • The hands should be molded to fit the ball
   • Thumbs should be facing each other
   • Hands should be positioned at about the hairline
   • Hands should go up early - as soon as the player’s feet stop
4. Have a quick release
   • The quicker the release, the farther the ball will go
   • The power comes from hands, elbows, and shoulders - not the legs

A great drill for practicing overhead passing is to have the player sit on the floor and pass. 

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Coaching Girls Volleyball 101 - Forearm Passing

Over the weekend I spent 10 hours in a volleyball clinic -  a 3 hour session for coaches, and two 3.5 hour sessions for players (I went to the two sessions for 7th grade through High School players).  I decided I would do a brain dump of all the things I remember - both for myself and for any other  coaches who might benefit.  This information is free - take it for what it’s worth.

This post is about Forearm Passing (aka bumping):

There are four major keys to the Forearm Pass:

1. Arrive (Hop to the Spot)
   • The player should arrive at the spot before the volleyball
   • The player should plant their feet as they arrive so that it gives them a solid base (this looks like a little hop)
   • Legs should be bent giving the player a lower center of gravity - hence more balance
2. Face the Incoming Ball
   • The player should line up their belly button to where the ball came from
3. Create a Platform
   • Wrists down to thumbs should be together
   • As long as wrists and thumbs are together, the rest of the hand position is personal choice.  The exception is no interlocking fingers - it leads to catching the pinky and dislocating the finger.
   • Point thumbs down to create a natural volleyball groove with the forearms.  This is where the ball should connect with the player.
   • The platform comes together after  the player arrives at the spot.  The player should not run with arms together.
4. Tilt to the Target
   • Legs should face where the ball came from
   • Tilt your platform to where you want the ball to go by dropping your shoulder.
   • Basically, you want to deflect the volleyball from the incoming path to the new path (ie where you want it to go).

The best drill to practive passing is to create triangles where the ball comes from one direction and gets passed to another direction.

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Coaching Girls Volleyball 101 - Practices and Drills

Over the weekend I spent 10 hours in a volleyball clinic -  a 3 hour session for coaches, and two 3.5 hour sessions for players (I went to the two sessions for 7th grade through High School players).  I decided I would do a brain dump of all the things I remember - both for myself and for any other coaches who might benefit.  This information is free - take it for what it’s worth.

This post is about designing Practices and Drills.

• Every Practice should have an over all purpose.  There are a couple of ways a coach can choose what to practice that day.  The first is to rotate practices.  For our 7th graders, I am going to break out each practice by the major skills (forearm passing, overhead passing, hitting, serving, and defense).  The other way to choose a focus for the practice is by observing the team and seeing where they have weaknesses.
• Teach/Emphasize no more than 3 things a day.  These will usually be keys within the various skills.  For instance, hitting involves footwork, arm position, hitting technique, etc.  Although the girls will complete the entire hit during a drill, maybe you only emphasize their footwork that day and don’t try to coach for hitting technique.
• Identify the purpose of each drill.  Each drill should be designed to work on something specific - and it should be communicated to the players.
• Figure out whether you want a drill to be individual, grouped (more than one player but less than six), or team (all six players on a side).  Working each of these three aspects during drills is important.
• Have a way to measure the drill.  What is a good way to track if they are meeting the objectives of the drill?  How will the drill end?  The players will tend to stay more focused if they know someone is keeping track or they can “win”.  The measurement doesn’t have to be “scoring” in the traditional sense of volleyball- it could be number of times hit without hitting the floor, score a point for passing to the setter off of serve, or setting to a target.  There are many ways to measure the success of a drill.
• Measure in your team’s emotional currency.  If you have a highly competitive group of secure players, then have them keep score against each other with a clear winner and loser.  If they are not as motivated by individual competition, then have a team goal that ends the drill.  Each team will be different and the measurements have to work for your team.
• Have a lot of opportunities for contact.  This doesn’t mean only touching the ball - any movement counts.  The players should be doing something about every 8 seconds (even if it’s just moving forward in a line awaiting their turn).
• Have opportunity for feedback.  Let the players know when they are doing it well.  State everything in a positive manner - instead of telling them what they did wrong, tell them what they should do next time.
• Have a really cool name.  Nothing captures people’s imagination like a really cool name for the drills.  It also picks up the pace of practice, because the players will know what to do when they hear you call out a particular drill.

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My New Role - Volleyball Coach

On Tuesday I take on a new role in life.  I am going to co-coach a volleyball team made up of twelve 7th grade girls (well, maybe a couple are 8th graders).  My 13 year old daughter will be on the team, of course. 

 I have no idea what to expect.  The other coach is another dad on the team.  Neither of us have coached volleyball before, but we were the one’s the girls on the team wanted.  I think both of us have played a lot of basketball, so we have good hand eye coordination skills, we just need to translate the basketball skills to volleyball (which I think use similar skills).

My role is going to be running practice.  I have been working with my daughter on her volleyball skills, and she has made some solid improvements over the last few months.  Now I just have to transition to working with twelve instead of one.  I love thinking up creative and unique drills to help them improve.  I think of my role as a Mr Miyagi for volleyball (if you don’t know who that is then watch The Karate Kid). I also have watched a lot of Natasha’s practices at school, and I think I can be more efficient in how much we can get done during practice (yes, this is the accountant in me showing through).

My goals for the team are going to be:

• Get better (at volleyball) as the season progresses
• Work as a team
• Have fun

I’ll keep you posted on how it all turns out.  It should be fun.

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