When you're working with sixth-grade athletes, you'll have a full spectrum of players with varying abilities. All of the players, regardless of their ability, need to learn proper body mechanics for basic volleyball skills like bumping, setting, serving and hitting. Focus on drills that highlight a single skill, then as your team improves, progress to drills that incorporate several skills.
Sliding Passes
Sixth-grade volleyball players are right on the cusp of the increased competition that accompanies middle school athletics. To make the seventh and eighth grade teams, sixth-graders need to learn correct passing form, and they need to learn to move to the ball and pass accurately. Practicing the sliding pass drill will help them on all three fronts.
Split your team up into groups of three. Two of the girls will act as tossers, and the third girl will be the passer. The tossers stand 5 to 6 feet apart from one another, one of the tossers holding a ball. The passer lines up directly in front of the tosser with the ball, facing the tosser. The tosser with the ball tosses the ball to the passer who receives the ball and passes it to the other tosser. The passer then slides to the side to stand in front of the tosser with the ball, who tosses the ball to the passer. The passer passes the ball diagonally again, sliding back to the original tosser. This pattern continues for two minutes before the players rotate positions.
Around the World Serving
This drill incorporates a little friendly competition with serving accuracy practice. Split your players up into two teams, each team on opposite sides of the court, behind the service line. Instruct one player from each team to sit in any of the six court areas on their opponent's side of the court, acting as their team's "catcher."
Taking turns, each team serves a ball, trying to serve the ball to where their catcher is sitting. If the catcher catches the ball, the catcher rotates to the service line and the server who made the shot chooses a new spot on the opposite side of the court in one of the remaining five court areas to sit as the new catcher.
When one team successfully serves the ball to a catcher in each of the six court areas, that team wins.
Queen of the Court
Queen of the Court allows small teams to put their passing, setting and hitting skills to the test. Assign two groups of three players to start on either side of the court, and have the remaining players form a single-file line on one side of the court. Designate one side of the court as the Queen's Court, and the opposite side as the Challenger's Court. Standing at the net, throw a free ball to one group of players. The receiving group must play the ball and get the ball over the net and the other team must continue the play. The first team to make a mistake rotates off the court. If the Queens Court team rotates off, the Challenger's Court team rotates into the Queen's Court, and the next three players waiting in line rotate onto the Challenger's Court. If the Challenger's Court made the mistake, they rotate off, leaving the Queen's Court team defending their honor against the next three players. Continue this fast-paced game for 10 or 15 minutes.
Member Comments