Simple Competitive Practice Drills

Learn up-tempo drills that will create competitive situations in your gym and help your team achieve under pressure!

In this 2011 AVCA Convention presentation, Genny Volpe guides players on the court through a series of nine score-based drills that cover warm-ups, skill-emphasis, and team-building. Throughout the video, Coach Volpe stresses the importance of simulating pressure situations by setting results-oriented goals for drills, and discusses how to motivate players by enforcing accountability. These ideas will keep your athletes engaged in activity even when not on the court, and use incentives and consequences to motivate players.

Beginning with warm-ups, Coach Volpe shares her tweaks on the standard pepper and butterfly drills that will help your team begin practice with focus and intensity. Volpe demonstrates two drills that encourage servers to be aggressive with serve placement under pressure. To emphasize passing and digging, as Volpe introduces "bonus points" for the quality of the passes in a pair of 6v6 mini-game drills. In a similar fashion, Volpe uses alternative scoring methods to influence setter behavior in two setting drills. The video ends with a team-building "pit" drill that gives the entire team a stake in the results of individual players.

Being able to execute under pressure is a trait of championship teams. Incorporating these drills into your practice will help give your team the edge in crunch-time.

49 minutes. 2012.