Volleyball requires players to perform quick bursts of speed to reach the ball in play. Additionally, they must be able to quickly read the situation on the court and react accordingly with an effective offensive or defensive plan that will open a scoring opportunity. Training your players with reaction drills will help them better accomplish both of these critical playing components. Once a player is comfortable with a drill, increasing the pace will help her reaction time.
Twenty Balls
This is a simple drill that focuses on the player's ability to quickly read the ball and change directions. You stand at the net with two or three balls and face the backcourt. A player stands near the baseline in her athletic stance waiting for the drill to begin. Line the outside of the court with ball shaggers to feed the balls back to you during the drill. Blow your whistle and begin rolling balls toward the baseline. The player must touch the ball with her hands before it crosses the baseline. Increase the rolling speed of the balls as the drill continues. The player must touch 20 balls to successfully complete the drill.
Coach's Call
This drill, used by University of Florida strength and conditioning coach Matt DeLancey, requires players to react to your movement calls while staying in their athletic stance. The players should be positioned in rows as they would during a match, but may be spaced farther apart. After the drill begins, give the players a hand signal to sprint forward, move back, shuffle left, shuffle right or do a quick squat. All movements should be quick and be performed with three to five steps. The drill is continued for 30 seconds, and the players should try to cover as much of the court as they can, and as quickly as possible.
Blocking
Blockers are the first line of defense for your team and must be able to stop the ball without hesitation. Have a blocker stand on one side of the net with two hitters on the other side. The hitters should stand on boxes a few feet to either side of the blocker so they can easily hit the ball over the net. During the drill, you stand behind the blocker and point to a hitter, who then slaps a ball over the net. The blocker must quickly shuffle to the side and jump to block the ball. Once the block is complete, the blocker shuffles back to the middle and awaits the next hit. The drill continues until the blocker reaches a predetermined number of saves.
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