The Art of Coaching Volleyball

Individual defense drill for training vision

Mike Sealy — Sun, 01 Nov 2026 08:18:00 +0000

Mike Sealy demonstrates an individual defense drill that teaches players to use visual cues to determine what tempo and height a kill will be coming off of the player's hand. How it works: One digger starts in middle back. A coach hits attacks at the digger, and at random chooses between two shots: A hard […]

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Training exceptional defenders

The Art of Coaching — Thu, 29 Oct 2026 08:34:00 +0000

This session was part of AOC's 2020 Virtual Clinic series during the COVID-19 shutdown. Watch as Morgan Hentz and John Dunning talk through how to teach defensive skills and training defenders to dig more balls, including answering questions from coaches who were watching live. Session Topic: Training Exceptional Defenders: How to teach defensive skills and […]

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Control drill for all volleyball positions

Terry Liskevych — Mon, 26 Oct 2026 09:14:00 +0000

Terry Liskevych, founder of the Art of Coaching, demonstrates a great ball control and warm-up drill that requires only half a court and encourages players to move dynamically and transition from hitting positions to defense positions. How it works: Six players are on half of the court. A ball is initiated into the court, and […]

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Coaching tip: Don’t overload a player’s working memory

The Art of Coaching — Fri, 23 Oct 2026 09:12:00 +0000

Jamie Morrison gets into the psychology of coaching during practice and how to maximize information retainment. To maximize the amount of learning in practices, it's critical to learn how to effectively communicate with players, and sometimes this takes thinking outside of the box and simplifying information. Critical for Morrison is providing "External Feedback": Players can […]

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Learn different formations for strategic serve receive

Dan Fisher — Sun, 18 Oct 2026 09:00:00 +0000

Explore different serve receive strategies with Coach Joe Sagula and Coach Dan Fisher. The coaches cover different aspects of building a serve receive unit and how to find the right strategy to suit the strengths of your team. Coach Fisher emphasizes the importance of communication before each serve, particularly assigning seam responsibilities. One passing variation […]

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Progression volleyball drill

Chris Willis — Wed, 07 Oct 2026 18:00:00 +0000

In this video, Chris Willis introduces a 6 v 6 drill where everybody gets a chance to set and attack. The players rotate every time they send a ball over the net. As the score changes, the coach alters the requirements for the third contact. For example, the first five points might be down balls […]

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Pushing through the ball with your lower body will improve your setting

The Art of Coaching — Thu, 01 Oct 2026 20:44:00 +0000

Marco Meoni | 2-time Olympian, Setting Coach When coaches talk about setters and setting, most of the time, if not always, the focus is on the hands. While this is not wrong in any manner, I always prefer to start with the first aspect of the skill – the feet. When we’re answering the question, […]

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2 vs. 2 warmup games

Christy Johnson Lynch — Fri, 25 Sep 2026 09:28:00 +0000

Purpose: Fun and tiring 2 vs. 2 drills to encourage players to be crafty, efficient and creative with their touches. How it works: A ball is initiated by a coach. Players can only catch the ball once per side and then immediately throw it back over the net. Players should try to get a kill […]

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Four vs. six volleyball scoring drill

Chris Willis — Wed, 16 Sep 2026 17:45:00 +0000

In this drill, a team of four players is fed volleyballs for two minutes while trying to score as many points as possible against a 6-player side. This drill challenges the four-player team to find creative ways to score while being at a disadvantage. Every player in the gym gets an equal chance to be […]

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Moneyball offense and defense drill

Chris Willis — Sat, 12 Sep 2026 09:00:00 +0000

Moneyball is a 6 v 6 volleyball drill that works on two things: free-ball offense and defense against an in-system offense. A total of five free balls are delivered to the teams, alternating sides so one team gets three and the other team gets two. Points play out with regular volleyball scoring. After five points […]

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Fun, fast-paced warmup drill

Chris Willis — Wed, 09 Sep 2026 09:17:00 +0000

In this video, Chris Willis shares three volleyball warmup drills that are both cooperative and competitive. The first drill starts with two players on each side of the net. A ball is entered with a toss from across the net and the teams play over-on-one cooperatively until there are 10 touches. Each time the ball […]

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Passing movement: Shuffling instead of reaching

Ron Kordes — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 22:45:00 +0000

Ron Kordes of Assumption High School says many players would rather reach with their arms to finish a pass rather than shuffle to the ball and get their body around the pass. He says that shuffling to center the ball in the body allows for greater accuracy and control. A simple drill to practice the […]

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