What Volleyball Training Drills Involve
There is no set formula as to what volleyball training drills should consist of. The nature of the drills will depend upon whether they are to be performed by beginners, an established, experienced team, or a mix. What goes no during the training session will depend upon the philosophy of the coach. It will also depend upon the progression or regression of play on the part of the team. A good coach will know which volleyball training drills are needed at what point in time.
Volleyball training drills are often broken down into three categorizes, drills used for the purpose of conditioning, drills addressing strategy, and drills designed to improve a player's and a team's execution and performance. An additional type would be a specialized drill. It is usually considered desirable to keep the categories separate, with a given drill addressing only one of the categories. The exception would be a general scrimmage.
Specialized Drills - Some volleyball training drills are part and parcel of the overall training scheme. Once in awhile a specialized drill may have to be put into use, even designed on the spot, to address a particular problem that has reared up. An experienced coach, one who has a good eye for detail, will often rely heavily on these specialized drills, especially when coaching an experienced team where one of the goals may be that of constantly fine tuning of players skills and team strategies.
Conditioning Drills - All volleyball players, at every level, are going to be expected to participate in conditioning drills. Volleyball is not simply hitting a beach ball over a net and resting while an opponent chases down your errant shot. Volleyball is a fast paced game, a strenuous game, and one which will quickly exhaust an out of condition player. You can look at a recreational beach volleyball games where the teams are made up of players exhibiting a variety of skill levels and conditioning levels. They are having fun, and there's certainly nothing wrong with that. Watch a college volleyball game, men's or women's, and you'll really get an understanding of the level of skill and conditioning, not to mention teamwork, the players must have to be successful.
Skill Drills - While volleyball training drills emphasizing conditioning are often the least fun, though some will say the most necessary, drills where skill development is emphasized can often be fun, though usually quite challenging. In these drills, players work on serving, setting, hitting, passing, and blocking, among other things. Skill drills usually involve a great deal of repetition, doing a particular move or action over and over again until it becomes second nature to perform it to near perfection. Skill drills often involve drills requiring exceptionally fast reflexes, like passing several balls around the court at once instead of a single ball, or participating in various scrambling exercises. One of the initial drills a volleyball player is likely to encounter is how to fall, and then how to get back on the feet quickly.
Strategy Drills - Strategy drills, usually done more by intermediate and experienced players involve learning how to communicate when the action is fast paced, as well as each player simply knowing his or her assignment.
As mentioned earlier, strategy drills, skill development drills, and conditioning drills should be kept separate, or the focus and intent of a particular drill is apt to be distorted or diluted. A good volleyball coach will be careful not to overdo specific drills lest they become boring, and will always have a few “fun” drills in his or her tool box. Watch a volleyball team that is executing to near perfection and having fun awhile doing so, and you see a team that has benefited from a superior program of volleyball training drills.