Community | RS Scoring vs Perimeter

February 2026 Sportplan Coaching

Physical preparation for volleyball must address the sport's specific demands: repeated explosive jumps, quick lateral movements, diving recoveries, and the endurance to maintain performance across five sets. AI-driven training load monitoring can reduce injury occurrence by up to 30%.

Power Development

Volleyball is a power sport:

Vertical jump: Plyometric training develops explosive leg power for attacking and blocking.

Arm swing speed: Upper body power for serving and attacking velocity.

Core stability: Transfers power from legs to arms and maintains body control.

Landing mechanics: Proper technique prevents knee and ankle injuries.

Agility and Movement

Lateral quickness: Blocking footwork and defensive slides.

Change of direction: Transition plays require rapid movement changes.

First-step speed: Reacting to serves and attacks.

Diving technique: Safe floor recovery to maintain rallies.

Endurance for Matches

Intermittent demands: Short bursts of high intensity with brief recovery.

Match duration: Five-set matches can last over two hours.

Mental fatigue: Physical conditioning supports concentration late in matches.

Tournament play: Multiple matches per day requires recovery capacity.

Injury Prevention

Jump monitoring: Track jump loads to prevent overuse injuries.

Shoulder care: Rotator cuff and shoulder blade exercises for attacking demands.

Ankle stability: Proprioception training for landing on uneven surfaces.

Recovery protocols: Sleep, nutrition, and active recovery between sessions.

Key Coaching Points

  • Training must be volleyball-specific, not generic fitness
  • Power development supports all volleyball actions
  • Injury prevention through proper technique and load management
  • Recovery is part of training, not separate from it
  • Monitor training load to prevent overuse injuries

Drills for Physical Development

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Harry Hendon Coach, United States of America

DESCRIPTION

1. Changing the court dimensions: a. Use cones/poly spots/long elastic bands etc. to make a new “court” and then just play! Adjust the court size to fit the level of play; smaller areas benefit the defense while a larger area benefits the offense. a. to work on hitting and digging down the line shots. Simply mark off the line alley on both sides of the net then just play a regular game; a ball hit outside of the “line alley” is out. Play may be initiated by either chipping in a ball or start with serve and pass within the “normal” court. Play can be 4 v 4 / 5 v 5/ 6 v 6; add a middle attacker who must run slides and hit down the line add a middle back to pick up the deep roll/tip or if your team plays a rotation defense. b. To work on cross-court/cut shots by the left side hitter: play 4 on 4 (3 front row positions plus left back, or 3 on 3 without a middle blocker, or 5 on 5 and play the setter in right back) Note: you may need to dictate to the blocker where to set the block, e.g., make sure you leave the line open or allow the inside cut shot etc otherwise blockers will begin to cheat since they know where the attack is going; however, that is not always bad because it helps develop the idea of executing a game plan; e.g., you must take away the line shot, and it teaches the digger to then read the line is blocked and release up for a tip etc. c. Another very popular example is to play 2 v 2 “short court” or play half court lengthwise. 2. Scoring system: play a “normal” game but use the scoring system to place emphasis on different aspects of the game. a. only the middle may score a point to emphasis middle attacking (if anyoneelse scores that team receives the next ball but does not score a point) This concept may be applied to any court position – only rt side may score etc. b. add bonus points for a particular skill: e.g., a backrow kill counts as two points c. start games at a designated score, e.g., 22-22 or 22 – 20 etc to simulate late game situations d. same as C but do not let the teams know what score they need to win; forces players to focus on winning the next play as that may be game point 3. Number of players used: a. 3 v 3 (all in the backrow or 4 v 4-add a middle) to work on attacking and digging backrow attacks b. 5 v 5 with no middle to work on attacking and blocking/digging in one on one situations c. 5 v 5 with no left front and the setter in the front row; to emphasize forcing the middle attack 4. Setting specific rules of play: a. ball may only be passed/dug with the hands to work on overhead passing/digging b. attacks must be a tip or roll shot to work on hitting and defending off speed c. only a designated player may attack, i.e., middle front or backrow players, and everyone else must return the ball with a freeball d. side B may only use 2 contacts or they must only return with a free ball to allow the side A to get a lot of transition work from down/free ball situations. 5. Change the way play is initiated: Allows the coach to put the team into a specific situation from which to start play. This is a great way to work on out of system situations. a. start play by tossing a ball above the net for the two sides to “joust” and play out from there b. bounce a ball for one side and have them send a free ball to the other side to work on free ball transition c. bounce a ball on one side which is the first contact – the team has two more contacts to get the ball over the net. d. chip a ball to a backcourt player who digs to self and then sets a hitter so the hitters are hitting sets coming from different areas of the court By keeping these variables in mind and with a little creativity, any coach can develop game-like drills appropriate for his/her team.

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