Coach Tools - USA Volleyball

Drills and Competition Ideas

Thank you for giving back to our sport by coaching, whether you have played the game or not. Volleyball is the ultimate team sport, and both coaching and playing will fill the rest of your life with joy.

Whether you are a new or veteran coach, you don’t have to go it alone. Our resources will help you keep learning and keep your athletes engaged.

Volley on!

The Best Learning Environment Possible

“I ask you to critically think about any drill you see. Consider this question: Does the drill use the environment my players are going to compete and read and anticipate in?”

John Kessel

Longtime coach and retired USAV director of sport development

Drills and Competition Ideas

Indoor Drills

These drills were submitted by coaches across the country.

Exchange (PDF) (Matt Laliberte)
Hawaii Defend and Set (PDF) (Edwin Aguiar)
Hitter vs Hitter Tic-Tac-Toe (PDF) (Grant Kudert)
Risk Reward (PDF) (Greg Post)
Nev’s (PDF) (Kristina Baehm)
Cross Court Pepper (PDF) (Iain Bradbury)
5 on 5 Warm-Up (PDF) (David Noble)
Modified USA 6 on 6 (.doc) (Kyong Lee)
Base to D (.doc) (Jamie Gilmore)
Scramble and Recover (PDF) (Juanita Blee)
Terminator (PDF) (Christopher Strok)
Dig-Set-Cover (PDF) (Stephanie Schmidt)
Feed the Beast (PDF) (Ashley Cornett)
4×4 Out of System Setting (PDF) (Todd Lyon)

Beach Drills

These drills were submitted by coaches across the country.

Over Under Passer Hitter (.doc) (Kent Perkins)
Dig 2 (PDF) (Brian Heffernan)
X-Box Competition (PDF) (Daren Bolton)
Line Block, Line Pull (.doc)(Shannon Sneed)
Defensive Digging (PDF) (Michael del Homme)
5-5-5 Poke-Shot-Swing (PDF) (Eric McGuiney)
3 Serve Pass to Attack (PDF) (Tayyiba Haneef-Park)
Double Triangle (PDF) (Amber Wise)
Block then Attack (PDF) (Huy Nguyen)
Butterfly (PDF) (Amber Wise)
500 (PDF) (Grant Lange)
Young Buck Sand Drill (PDF) (Deven Bukoski)

More Advanced Indoor Drills

These drills were submitted by coaches across the country.

Fake Out (PDF) (John Beckett)
Pick Points (PDF) (JT Oates)
Ball-Setter/Ball-Hitter (PDF) (Lamar Hurd)
Read the Hitter (PDF) (Jason Davis)
Ultimate Mintonette (PDF) (Chris Anagnostopoulos)
Middle vs. Middle (PDF) (Jim McShane)
Server vs. Receivers and Hitters (PDF) (Eric Vergara)
Coverage & Out-of-System Play (PDF) (Steve Kish)

Competition Ideas

and John Kessel’s 166 Volleyball Drills

Growing the Game

John Kessel’s Growing the Game blog is one of the greatest tools for new and veteran coaches. You can search for Growing the Game in Related Resources below for more recent blogs. Previous blogs are captured in PDF format in four volumes.

Growing the Game Together Coaches and Club Directors Edition Vol 1 (PDF) (2008-12)
Growing the Game Together Vol 2 (PDF) (2013-May 2014)
Growing the Game Together Vol 3 (PDF) (May 2014-Octobr 2015)
Growing the Game Together Players and Parents Edition (PDF) (2013)

More John Kessel Recommendations

Minivolley Book

Related Resources

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July 22, 2022

Developing the Person, Not the Player

It is critical that coaches develop the person, not the athlete. Developing the person allows the athletic skills to grow, but the opposite is not necessarily a guarantee.

May 12, 2022

Volleyball Should Not Be Boring

Watching the kids in a small indoor gym training over three nets, I thought of all the lines we put kids into, the way we ignore the net, the way we inflict pain via the forearm pass and the way 6v6 is experienced by beginners. I get angry inside at knowing billions of kids over my lifetime have walked away from our sport for a lifetime because their introduction to the game is BORING. We must do better when we introduce this sport.

May 18, 2021

The Path to Being a Pro Volleyball Player

Few athletes are going to beat the odds and make it to collegiate or professional volleyball. John Kessel's son is one of those few. Here are tips from John about raising a potential professional athlete.

March 8, 2021

Increasing Participation Across the Board

In an effort to get more touches in practice for his teams, CAP III coach Dennis Belaire has combined speedball and the Competitive Cauldron to form a new game-like drill: SpeeDron.

October 19, 2020

Learning is a Process That Never Ends

The process of learning should never stop, and that includes the time between the end of club season and school tryouts. No matter what, remember that the top of the pyramid, our national teams, seek players who are good at all six skills and great at one or two.

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Spotlight on Skills

Learn how to direct the X-box competition for beach players, and then adapt it for indoor play. This Spotlight on Skills video was created originally for Your Court, the official magazine of USA Volleyball.

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Spotlight on Skills: Steve Kish’s CAP II Favorite Drill

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Spotlight on Skills: USA Volleyball Countdown Drill

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Spotlight on Skills: Speedball