Worn Out on Traditional Volleyball Warm-Ups

Keeping volleyball practices fun and exciting is a challenge that plagues most coaches as the season progresses. Whereas players are full of energy and zeal at the beginning of the year they often run out of steam as the season dwindles on, especially once games begin overtaking practices as your weekly meetings. Follow these few simple coaching tips for volleyball to keep your players involved and having so much fun they barely even notice they’re improving their skills at the same time.

The first of my coaching tips for volleyball involves making warm-ups more engaging. One of the biggest complaints that I always heard from my players following volleyball practice was that warm-ups were dull and boring. While we all know that warming up is a crucial element of exercise, it doesn’t mean it has to be all running laps and stretching. So I listened to my players and we brainstormed a list of alternate means of warming up, both before practice and games. As a result we replaced the traditional warm-up with a 10-minute version of some of my team’s favorite playground games, freeze tag and dodgeball.

I got you and now you’re frozen!

For freeze tag, designate one person as “it” whose job it is to run around and tag everyone. Once tagged, a player becomes frozen to the spot where they were tagged and they are to stand with their legs wide apart. In order to unfreeze someone, you must dive between their legs. If the player who is “it” can successfully tag and freeze everyone, then they are declared victorious. Sometime I name two “its” so that they have a better chance of tagging everyone and neither one gets too exhausted. This game is also great because it gets players working on their dives when unfreezing others.

Dodge This!

Another game that gets the blood flowing is Dodgeball. Start by dividing your team into 2 groups who stand on opposite sides of the playing area. We use a basketball court, with the center line as the dividing line between the teams. Each team is given a ball with the goal of hitting as many members of the opposing team as they can.

The catch is that once you are hit or your throw is caught by the other team, you are sent to the jail which lines the back of the opposite team’s playing area. However, you can free yourself from jail by getting a ball and hitting someone on the opponent’s team. This game is a great way to emphasize accuracy in throwing and teamwork.

Volleyball Goals for the Future

Finally, I offer the notion of goal-setting as the next on my list of coaching tips for volleyball. This can be done in a variety of ways, including both individual and team goals. At the beginning of the season, have each player write down a list of 3 things they want to improve about the way they play and come up with ways to achieve these goals.

Work with each player individually to achieve their goals, and also take 5 minutes at the end of each practice to come up with a team goal, and reinforce how that will happen. By coming up with specific things to work on instead of just a “let’s win the next game” attitude, your team will learn to focus on where they need improvement as well as earn a self-esteem booster every time a goal is achieved.

About the Author:
Larry Reid has been coaching volleyball for well over a decade. You can get instant access to his championship volleyball practice plans by visiting his website:
http://www.volleyballpracticeplans.com/