Focused drills that emphasize movement, recovery and fast reactions will help your players learn to cover the court more effectively. Look for court coverage drills that also emphasize specific skills, such as setting, passing and serving.
Three-Person Weave
The three-person weave requires players to practice their passing and setting while constantly moving to a new position. Divide your players into groups of three. Have each group stand in a triangle formation, with two players separated by only a few paces and a third player about 10 feet away from the other two. The player in the position farthest from the other two players in the group occupies position 2, and the other two players occupy positions 1 and 3. The player in position 1 begins by tossing the ball to the player in position 2, who sets the ball to the player in position 3. That player then passes the ball to the player in position 1 to keep the drill moving. Each time a player tosses, sets or passes the ball, she must follow the ball to the next position in the triangle.
Two-on-Two Recovery Drill
The two-on-two recovery drill helps players learn to react quickly enough to get to a ball from an inconvenient position. Divide the players into two equal groups and have one group line up behind each end line. Have two players enter each side of the court at a time. All players on the court should lie down on their stomachs to begin the drill. Blow the whistle and throw a ball onto one side of the court. All the players must jump up to recover the ball and play out the point. If the ball hits the ground before a player can reach it, all four players return to the back of the line. Continue the drill until each player has had several chances to recover the ball.
Serve and Sprint
The serve and sprint drill forces players to remain active and alert after serving rather than standing back and watching the serve. Divide the players into two equal teams and have the teams line up on either side of the same end line. The first player in each line serves the ball and then sprints to recover the ball from the opposite side of the court. He then passes the ball over the net to the next person in his line. When a player misses a serve into the net or out of bounds, she must return to the back of her line. When all the players on one team have served successfully, that team wins.
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