Fun drill that develops hand eye coordination and balance. Starting out is straightforward and you can be as creative as desired with it!
Solo sessions should not be too physically exhausting or you risk losing focus and technique. Gradually expand on drills that you start, to keep things interesting throughout.
1. Short Volley Hitting Drill
Beginners at home can use this home hitting drill to practice attacking a tossed ball without benefit of an ideal set. A coach or player will stand a few feet in front of a middle or outside hitter and toss a short ball just above the net; their target must attack aggressively using only two steps of their standard approach to attack it aggressively and gain points. This drill helps players realize even less-than-ideal sets can still be attacked with purpose and convert points.
Teams of six participate in an advanced version of this drill by playing a game-like rally with the objective of scoring first-ball kills. Every time the left side attacker sets the ball for themselves, their team earns one point and an opportunity for a hit on left. If any attempt to score points fails due to blocking, serving, or hitting into the net then opposing team receives ball back and gets another shot at earning first ball kills; first team to 25 points wins the drill!
This simple volleyball drill is great for beginners as it helps develop proper technique while developing footwork and movement. Start off slowly before gradually increasing the tempo over time to enhance your ability to make quick adjustments while playing a game.
Integrating this drill into your regular practice sessions will help develop the fundamental skills essential for volleyball success, such as passing, setting and jumping. Furthermore, this drill will strengthen and develop endurance as you improve. As time progresses with this drill you can add variations that further develop your skills.
2. Backhand Strike Drill
This drill is ideal for developing your backhand drive. In situations when an opponent is throwing everything they have at you, being able to quickly exchange shots quickly can help get yourself out of trouble and develop your backhand drive quickly and efficiently. This drill simplifies and speeds up this technique so that you can develop it over time.
Player 1 serves to the backhand and player 2 can hit anywhere they like with it, the goal being to take control of the point with your backhand drive. This drill forces you to shorten your backswing, hit on the upswing and create top spin. Furthermore, this practice helps develop deep hitting abilities while adapting with wall bounces.
Add an extended ceiling ball and use backhand drive on it, this will enable you to practice hitting from deeper positions while making sure to use full follow through and ensure full swing arc.
Advanced players may benefit from adding heavy topspin lobs into the mix. While this requires a higher wall, it’s an excellent way to practice using front foot hitting to conceal and increase power in their swing.
Last but not least is a volley reflex drill. This drill helps develop timing and wrist strength for beginners while challenging them with its precise timing of hitting the ball into its proper spot every time. But if you can maintain this practice over several weeks, your volley will become significantly better!
4. Backhand Strike Drill
This drill can help players develop their backhand down-the-line shots and footwork. A coach stands behind them and throws easy high balls into their backhand side; then the player takes steps around cones before hitting backhand approach shots down-the-line with backhand top spin approach shots. It is an effective drill to practice top spin.
This drill provides a fantastic opportunity to develop both backhand dink and heavy top spin lob shots, simulating playing right up against the non-volley zone line. When practicing dinking you should move closer to the wall as though playing against non-volley zone line. When hitting heavy lob you should add more backspin while disguising preparation and increasing racket head speed. For maximum benefit this drill should be conducted with a partner.
This basic volley drill will help your student develop quick exchanges at the net. Simply position them 4-6 feet from the tee and ask them to toss an overhand pass over their heads towards their backhand; if their shot misses, have them try again until he/she hits their target volley successfully. If not, continue this cycle. Start building hand eye coordination slowly over time at home using this drill for beginners. If they struggle with hitting over their heads, try having them volley with a bounce instead to work on timing and strength development. Once they have mastered this drill, move onto one or both of the other volley drills below. You may wish to include a dribbling drill to really focus on hand-eye coordination; starting slowly before gradually increasing their dribble speed as they gain confidence.
5. Front Wall Hitting Drill with Variations
An impact drill is an efficient and quick way to complete projects quickly and efficiently, but its use should be used carefully in order to avoid damaging walls or injuring people. To minimize injuries, practice with someone until you feel confident handling it yourself; there are various types of impact drills available as a beginner option.
Perform this hitting drill against a wall to help beginners develop their batting stance, hand-eye coordination and knee positioning for good hitting form. Furthermore, this drill can help hone proper swing mechanics and increase power.
To conduct this drill, players will begin by standing in a blocking position in front of a wall and performing block jumps until reaching their target number of good blocks (30, for instance). When that target has been met, they will switch sides and repeat this process.
This defensive drill aims to train players how to catch and field balls rolled by another teammate without the aid of gloves. The procedure is straightforward; players form two parallel lines facing one another; when someone rolls a ball across them, that player runs backward along his or her line before fielding it and rolling it across to its opposite side before fielding it and rolling it back again.
Add extra players to the opposing line and have them call out a specific base number when receiving the ball, helping players to anticipate where it will come from and make correct throws after catching it. This can help increase player interaction.