Email Campaign Archive

Training Your Hitters to Stay Behind the Ball

-By Tom Houser

A Question for Coach Houser:

Do you have any drills I can use for girls who are
early on their approach, and are subsequently
hitting behind their head. 

Coach Houser's Reply:

Here are several things that you can try: 

a) I'm sure you've already told your players to
"Keep the ball in front of you. Don't run past
the ball." Sometimes that's all players need to
hear. But, if it was that easy to fix, you
probably wouldn't have emailed me. 

b) The following idea may not fix your players'
problem, but it will help your hitters in so many
other ways, I thought I'd add it here before I
delved into more complexities. I've seen many
coaches put a player on a box near the net. The
coach will toss a ball to the girl as she poses
like she's up in the air ready to spike a ball.
Then she is asked to hit the tossed ball. This
allows to girl to practice reaching, pulling with
abs, snapping, etc. But it also allows the girl to
get "the feel" of a good hit. When she gets down
off the box, she will realize that when the ball
gets behind her, it feels different and there's no
chance for a good hit. 

c) When players first learn their spike approach,
they usually do the same spike approach each time,
regardless of the set. I call that spike approach,
"big-big-big," describing the length of each step.
I'm not being critical of coaches, because big-big-big
is what I teach middle school players as well. 

Then as they start swinging at sets, they discover
that they can only hit the balls that are "right
there". They'll even point to the spot in the air
where they need the ball to intercept their hand.
haha For maybe the 1st few months of their
volleyball career, all other sets except the
"right there" sets are unhittable, and those sets
get bumped or tipped. 

As the players get older, they want to hit those
"bad" sets; but, alas, as long as they're doing
big-big-big, that ball will be whiffed at, lifted,
hit against the back wall, etc. 

What makes it worse is that as the little middle
schoolers start becoming bigger/stronger, they run
by the set even more! OK, something has to be
done. 

My 9th grade MB's this winter have had to learn
"little-big-big" footwork, even on a perfect
pass. Why? Because from 10' off the net, if these
5'10" MB's do big-big-big, they'll be in the net
every time. 

How does this apply to your original question? I
needed to discuss the evolution of how the spike
approach is learned by children so that I can
explain that if the set is off the net, spikers
have to learn to do "little-little-little," or
"nowhere-nowhere-nowhere". I've had players even
try "backwards-nowhere-nowhere". 

d) Your email prompted me to create a warmup drill
called "The Alligator Spike". We used it today at practice.
All the players lined up as an OH, or as a right,
or as a back row player. My assistant and I stood
at the net back-to-back. Each of us had a basket
of balls. I tossed 14's and A's. She tossed 94's,
C's and pipes. Before we began the drill, the
players were told to expect the perfect set (which
is what they should do in a game), but my
assistant and I tossed balls off, inside, really
low, ceiling-scraping high, etc. The hitters were
expected to complete their 3-step spike approach
and catch the ball. Each catch should have been
made above the head with two hands. This kind of
catch is called an "Alligator Catch". Each catch
should have been made in front of the hitter and
as high as possible. When the player caught the
ball behind her, she could feel it and she knew
that she had run past the ball! 

I can imagine if this drill is run with middle
school players, the ball will sometimes fall a few
feet behind the player and everyone will laugh.
(If your players are having issues with timing,
this is a good low impact warm up drill for that
also!!) 

You can set a goal and say, "When I see 100
Alligator Catches, we're done with this drill." 
You can change it to a hitting drill if you wish,
but I had my girls warm up with it today, hoping
that when the bad set occurred later in practice,
they'd be able to adjust and hit it! 

e) Now, for the moment of truth. When your team plays 6's,
you can reward the players for nothing but an
"Alligator Spike". Sure they're now warmed up and
can now hit the ball; but, the team won't be
awarded with a point for a spike kill. The team
will only earn a point for executing an Alligator
Hit. Here's what you might tell your team:
"Today's first 6's drill is this: You will get a
point for each time you contact any spike when the
ball is in the ‘Alligator' position. When each
front row player executes two Alligator hits, then
the front row and back row players on that team
will switch and the new front row players will try
to get two Alligators of their own. The winning
team is the first team that has all players
execute two Alligators." 

One of the setters raises her hand. "Ahhhh,
Coach, how can the setters get their two?"
"I'll let you guys figure that out. READY?
Here's a ball to team A. Let's go!!" 

You will stand there and watch the drill, fixing
any little things you can, but you need to also
holler "POINT" when you see an Alligator Hit.
Even if the Alligator Hit is blocked, the hitter
still gets a point. (No point for the blocker!
Haha) Even if the Alligator Hit goes in the net or
goes out of bounds, the hitter will still get a
point. At each dead ball, give the setters a
moment to find out the Alligator status of each
girl on her team.  When this drill is completed,
you can go to the next 6's drill, or you can just
add another stipulation to the one we were doing.
Here's an idea! "Now, let's see if that team can
win again! In the next drill, I want to see an
Alligator Hit AND at the same time, I want to see
the hitter makes the opposing deep middle make the
dig. Yep, that means OH's must hit the line and
MB's must hit the deep corners. I don't care if
it's a kill, I just want you to contact the ball
correctly AND hit the ball in a certain area.
Ready? Here's a ball for team B. GO!!!!!" 

Another idea: You will require that all Alligator
Hits occur without switching the back row and
front row players! This forces your setters to put
up every kind of set. Then when one team wins, you
can switch the back row and front row, and start
the drill over. 

-Tom Houser
Head Coach, 2007 Roanoke Juniors 15's Open
Director, STAR Volleyball Camps
Author, "I Can't Wait" Drill Collection and Ebooks
www.coachhouser.com