ARTICLES, TIPS, TRAINING & GENERAL ADVICE

Girls Volleyball 101-Hitting Drills

by Phil Sabin, December 30, 2007

I played basketball and football almost every day as a kid. I love sports, so when one of the parents approached me about coaching volleyball for the Boys and Girls Club, I jumped at the chance. This would give me the opportunity to combine my love of sports and spending time with my daughter. I began to research volleyball, trying to breakdown the sport to come up with some effective drills to help the girls improve their game.

Over the weekend I spent 10 hours in a volleyball clinic - a 3 hour session for coaches, and two 3.5 hour sessions for players (I went to the two sessions for 7th grade through High School players). I decided I would do a brain dump of all the things I remember - both for myself and for any other coaches who might benefit. This information is free - take it for what it’s worth.

This Article is about Hitting

There are four “A” keys to hitting:

Available

• The player needs to make themselves available for the pass by creating a space between the themselves and the net so the setter can put the ball between the hitter and the net.
• The front line players need to think of the ball as a magnet. When the ball is on the opponents side of the net, the front line players should move up to the net. When the ball comes to their side of the net, they should drop back so they are ready to hit.

Approach

• For Right Handed Hitters, the approach is left-right-left
• For Left Handed Hitters, the approach is right-left-right
• The first step is a small adjustment step
• The second step is a big step forward (to accelerate)
• The third step is the gather/stopper step to send the hitter up rather than out (and into the net)

Arms

• During the first step, the arms should be relaxed - forward and down
• During the second step, the arms should go back
• During the third step, The arms come forward and up

Arm Swing

• As the arms are coming up they should pull like a bow and arrow.
• The non hitting arm should point toward where the ball will be hit.
• The hitting arm should have the elbow pointed toward the ball, the elbow should be above the ears, and the palm should be facing out
• To generate power, bring the non-hitting arm down - this acts as a lever with the hitting arm.
• The hitting arm wrist should snap at the top to create top spin on the ball.

• Western Washington University Volleyball Clinic
• Winning Volleyball For Girls, by Deborah W. Crisfield and Mark Gola
• Volleyball Steps To Success, by Barbara L. Viera and Bonnie Jill Ferguson

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