Teaching Volleyball to Young Children--and Their Parents!

Volleyball coach and youth trainer extraordinaire Ruth Nelson explains how she teaches parents to work with their kids in this video shot on-location at the 2011 AVCA convention in San Antonio. Coach Nelson works with a group of 7 year-old girls and their parents instructing them in a positive and creative way so that all can learn proper habits on the court.

Learning proper habits on the court at such a young age allows players to develop faster and retain more as they continue down the path to becoming a volleyball player. The parent involvement in this process is key. The parents must know and understand the proper habits and techniques as well so that they can teach and give correct cues to encourage their young ones to play the ball correctly.

Nelson shows a variety of drills that teach different volleyball skills. She starts the drills with tennis balls, progresses to a soft bigger ball, then a green soft ball the size of a volleyball and finally a real volleyball. She has created a practice system for the girls but tries to introduce new drills that build on ones they have already done. Nelson keeps the practice fun with agility drills that incorporate many different moves, including jump roping and doing cartwheels. Many of the drills are done on one side of the court to keep the girls close to each other, and the parents are on the court and included in every drill.

The end result is parent and player forming a positive bond and everyone, parent and player alike, becoming a better volleyball player.

Nelson has laid the groundwork to start kids early in the game of volleyball. She shows a system where she is able to teach 5-10 year olds all the skills needed to develop into successful athletes and volleyball players. This video is an excellent look at a wonderful way to develop youth volleyball players, encourage parent involvement with their children and promote the game of volleyball.

55 minutes. 2012.