During practice, it is best to practice serving in as match-like
of a situation as possible. But, at the same time, more serving practice
is needed than can be achieved during scrimmage-type drills.
We always insert three or four sets of five serves to a target into the
schedule, usually right before or after a water break. Sometimes, I
will even insert a set of five serves right in between two other drills.
By doing it this way, you simulate different match situations:
-Serving either after two or three drills and right before a water break,
or in between two drills, simulates serving during a match. The players
have to learn to let go of what has just happened in the match, and also focus
on their serve no matter their immediate fatigue level from the past rallies.
-Serving right after a water break simulates coming out of a time-out to
serve. Players must learn to "re-set" their focus after the break and
serve effectively.
-By setting the number of serves at five, you are again simulating a match
situation in that every serve is very important. It is human nature
that the more repetitions of a skill are performed consecutively, the more
the focus wains. Keeping the number at five helps to avoid players starting
to lose focus and develop bad habits when serving. It also helps to
keep the overall practice moving at a quick and focused pace, as serving
for an extended period of time kills the energy and enthusiasm level in the
gym.
-We also assign a target for every serve taken. For example, "Serve
five to the one zone".
This heightens your players focus because they have a more difficult goal
to achieve than simply putting their serve in bounds, and also again makes
it a more match-like situation since our players are always serving to a target
every time they serve in a match.
-We assign two scores to their serves:
1. The number of serves that go to the
assigned target. ("How many times did you hit the one zone?")
2. The number of serves that are in bounds.
("How many did you serve in bounds?")
When finished, the players group together off the side of the court and
give me their "score". For example, a player that serves three of the
five balls in the one zone, while making all five serves in bounds would
have a score of "3, 5".
Keeping all of this in mind, here's how the "Total
Score" Serving Drills goes:
1. Split your team up evenly off both end
lines. Make sure to split up both your strongest and weakest servers
between the two groups.
2. Give them their serving goal, such as,
"five serves to the one zone".
3. Tell them their goal is to have a higher
combined team score than the other team.
4. Assign a certain number of pushups
or sit-ups for every point they get beat by, such as "three pushups for every
point you lose by". (This is a very important
point: This makes every serve even more important, because losing
by "two" brings a lot less exercises than losing by "five", thus adding match-like
pressure to every serve.)
5. When the teams are done, combine
each player's two scores ( a "3, 5" equals and "8"), and then total all their
combined scores together, (Suzie scored "8", Sally scored "7", that's
"15", Jill had a "9", that makes "24", and so on.
6. Compare the two team's scores,
declare the winner, and assign the exercises.
7. Variation: Have the players compete against
each other individually, instead of in teams.
(With the same consequences for every one who scores lower than the winner.)
Using this approach to serving during practice will
improve your player's focus, thus leading to the development of better
technique through proper skill repetition, and in the long run, better serving percentages and target accuracy during matches.
Finally, make sure your players are using our Serving
Method each and every time they serve. Last fall, my varsity's
serving percentage was 95%, and we went to a
target every serve!
Good luck!
-Dave Cross
National Director
Yes I Can Volleyball
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