One Coach, 48 players

One of the things you ‘get’ to deal with if you are going to coach Jr High or High School ball is a ton of kids and not-enough coaches to go around.

DISCLAIMER: I despise cuts. I’ve never made them and won’t start with anyone in grade school or junior high. Cuts should only take place once you pass the real limits imposed by the facility and equipment available (this is about 30 kids per regulation court)–after that, multiple practice times become necessary.

So…since the 7th grade coach has regular evenings where he is unavailable (he is a youth minister), that leaves me with nearly 50 players, two courts, and…a practice to run.

SO–you know, if you read this, a donation to the Dietz Foundation (www.dietzfoundation.org) would be incredibly helpful. If everyone who read the post on ‘How to Rotate‘ donated $1 to the Foundation–JUST ONE DOLLAR–I could have endowed a scholarship for kids heading to college…and could have it in place before this semester’s end. Really.

With a smaller group, it’s easier to do a game-like practice. But sometimes with elementary/junior high ages, you don’t get small groups of kids and you don’t always have enough coaches to go around! I figured it would be helpful for people reading this who are in similar situations (since a lot of places are under-staffed and/or don’t permit cuts) to create a sample practice plan for this sort of situation. We’ve got 2 courts, 30 volleyballs (some only stay inflated for a few hours…), and no way to use wire/string, etc, to add usable court space. Our two court setup lacks attack and center lines–we use other reference points for those–and there’s limited space behind one end-line.)

PRACTICE PLAN FOR A MOB

Big Huddle – explain the overall plan for the day, then remind them there’s only one coach, so it is important that they help one another however possible, which gives the girls an opportunity to practice leadership skills and independence from direct supervision.

Dynamic Stretch – Again, if they’ve been taught the stretches, this is an opportunity for independent leadership practice…*THEY* are running things (and as a 12-14yo, that’s exciting stuff)

Jump Serve Sequence – We start with approaches from 10 ft, then progressively back up (emphasis on a consistent toss and timing)–swing big and hard, don’t worry about in the net or out of bounds. Three lines on each court hitting the same direction. Hit twice in each line. Six reps, six BR attack reps, six from 20 ft, six actual jump serves…can combine with having them set to themselves as desired.

Individual Setting – Player with ball. We’ll set from endline to net and back–then repeat while jogging, skipping, shuffling, and doing grapevine. After that, players will set to themselves while standing, moving to a sitting and then prone posture (and back). –it’s a bunch of contacts in a fashion that they can do well/get comfortable with. While game-like is great/crucial, the value of contacts can’t be underestimated, and remember–there’s limited space and coaches for this! Players alternate going as needed due to lack of ball availability.

Setting with Partner – Set 10/20 ft apart. Set self-set partner. Set partner straight up to the middle of the court (the players backpedal/move forward as appropriate). We then do the ‘clap drill’.

Passing with a Partner – With a toss, 10/20 feet, having the passer move forward and then backwards as they pass. Progress to passing back and forth. Can spread out and then have tosser throw in ‘random’ directions, giving passer a chance to work on fundamentals of reading an armswing.

Serve-Receive #1 – 3 passers, setter+target, 6-7 servers… Both sides of a court serve–to a pass to a setter who sets to a target. Once all 6-7 have served, players rotate one spot. Takes 12-15 minutes. Not a ton of reps but gets players used to a 3-person S/R…also ‘simulates’ that you don’t get to serve 20+ balls in a game–and forces setter to deal with potentially inaccurate passes. Players do not necessarily jump-serve–these are the serves they feel comfortable making during a game.

Serve-Receive #2 – 3 passers, two setters. Setters alternate balls. Remaining players are in a line to replace a passer AND a small line of 3-4 players who are serving to the passers. Serve->pass->hit. Whoever passes must also be the person who hits. –obviously going to go slower than #1.

Not Quite Speed Ball – 3 front, 3 back on each side…advance thru just like speed ball. Right front = setter. Back row players = 3 person serve-receive. If a serve is missed, player gets a second try immediately. If that misses, a different Back Row player serves and original server just goes to their back row defensive position. No emphasis on speed…emphasis on being in proper positions, using a routine for serving, etc. Back row players are the S/R passers.

6 v 6 – Short games lasting six rotations, then sub in ALL players who were not in. Repeat until practice is over. The emphasis here is learning how to rotate, using 4-2, 6-2, and 5-1 systems. In addition, players/groups can use 3, 4, and 5-person serve-rotation formations. Players not in the game do injury-prevention conditioning–and also watch play and can use the moment to ask me questions as necessary about positioning, things to work on, etc..

This is a sample plan for how to work on skills AND playing when confronted with a multitude of players and not enough coaches. At a certain knowledge-level, players can be permitted to spend more time ‘playing games’, but with beginners, that’s difficult. Think of it a different way–I can hand kids a deck of cards and tell them to play blackjack, but until they are taught the value of face cards, know how to do arithmetic, they are not going to be successful. This practice is an effort to work on those basics AND THEN end by playing the game with the skills they just worked on.

This plan doesn’t emphasize blocking–it’s not needed much at introductory levels. It’s also meant to tangentially help with the ‘wins’ column in addition to skill development…because I know a lot of youth coaches out there ‘need’ to win in order to keep their job…