archiveCoaching Tip: Effective Serving
Mary Wise, University of Florida Head Women's Volleyball Coach
Effective serving has always been essential in preventing a team from siding out. In the rally score era, it is even more important because a weak serve or an overaggressive serve that was once just a sideout is now a point for an opponent. One way to check your player's serving effectiveness is to rate the opponent's passing efficiency to their setter.
You can use the following scale:
• Zero-pass option: Opponent's setter cannot set any hitter. Setter gets 3 pts.
• One-pass option: Opponent's setter can only set one hitter. Setter gets 2 pts.
• Two-pass option: Opponent's setter can set at least two hitters. Setter gets 1 pt.
• Three-pass option: Opponent's setter can set all options. Setter gets 0 pts.
Courtesy of "Volleyball Skills and Drills," by the American Volleyball Coaches Association.
Drill for Success: Wash Drill
Stephanie Schleuder, Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota head woman's volleyball coach
A Wash drill is an activity that employs all aspects of team play, usually with two full teams competing against each other. It's a team drill rather than an individual skill drill. Coaches often choose to emphasize a specific aspect of team play by setting rules on how teams score points within the wash drill. For example, a coach might have one team focus on offensive transition and the opposing team focus on defensive transition. Wash drills are fast-paced and gamelike. The following wash drill emphasizes offense and defensive team transition.
Purpose: To practice gamelike team transition.
Setup: Two full teams set up on a court.
Execution: Player A serves to team A (figure 9.25). Team A plays the ball out while team B defends. If team A scores, it gets a little point, and C1 enters a free ball. If team B successfully defends, it gets a little point and receives a free ball from from C2. If either team scores off the free ball, it's a wash, and team B serves again. The first team to score six big points wins. Penalties can be given for missed serves.
Coaching Points: Keep the pace of the play fast. If players are less skilled, have a coach serve. When playing the varsity team against the junior varsity, let the varsity receive serve most of the time, and give the junior varsity a point if it scores on the serve; try to keep the competition even by giving the better team a higher burden to score.
Variation: Make the higher skilled team score on two consecutive points to get a big point; keep the ball in play continuously until one team wins two free balls in a row. Other variations on the Wash drill are detailed more thoroughly in the next two drills.
Rules Trivia
By Marcia Alterman, NCAA Women's Rules Interpreter
FACT or FICTION? The host team can put school logos or other advertising on a net "sleeve", or directly on the top net tape, bottom net tape, and the (optional) vertical tape outside the antenna.
FACT! The note following NCAA Rule 2.1.1.5 provides for print or decal advertising or logos in ALL of these areas, at the discretion of the host institution.
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