When teaching youth volleyball, you must focus your teaching on developing fundamental skills needed for the game. These skills include serving, receiving and ball control. Developing these fundamental skills in youth players allows them to go on in their volleyball careers and focus on more advanced strategies.
Serving
A basic serving drill recommended by Kinda Lenberg in her book "Volleyball Skills & Drills" is to have youth players pair off and practice serving to each other. One player stands on one side of the net and serves to her partner on the other side of the net on the same side of the court. During this drill, the players should focus on using proper service form and making solid contact with the ball to clear the net. The players may begin the drill inside the baseline but should gradually work their way backward with each serve until they are in the service zone.
Receiving
Receiving serves can be a difficult for young players who may be afraid of getting hit by the ball or slow in deciding how to return it. Have three hitters stand on one side of the net; place three passers and one target player on the other side of the net. One hitter then hits a down ball to the passer across from her. The passer must quickly decide to hit a forearm or overhead pass to the target. Have the hitters take turns hitting balls to the passers and continue the drill until a predetermined number of good passes have been sent to the target player.
Ball Control
Getting your players to understand the three hits of volleyball is crucial to their eventual success. On each side of the court, place an outside hitter, an attacker at the front of the net and two players in the back row. Toss the ball to one of the back row players on one side of the net. That player then passes the ball forward to the outside hitter, who sets the ball to the attacker. The attacker then strikes the ball over the net to one of the back row players on the other side. The players on the other side of the net then pass, set and strike it back over the net. The goal of this drill is for both teams to try to keep the ball in play as long as possible.
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