Volleyball Athleticism: Essentials for Agility & Explosiveness

with Gwen Egbert,
Doane University Head Coach;
former Papillion-LaVista (NE) and Papillion-LaVista South (NE) High School Head Coach;
Coach Egbert won 700 games at the high school level along with six Class A State Championships & seven runner-up honors; her teams reached the championship game of the Class A Tournament in 13 of their 17 state tournament appearances.

Finding ways to keep your athletes in shape and increase athleticism are problems every volleyball coach wants solved. Gwen Egbert has put together a wide array of drills that even coaches with limited space and tools can use to help improve the overall athleticism of their teams. This video is a great tool for improving a player's agility that will help them get to the ball or make a play by using the correct footwork.

Utilizing a Jump Rope

The jump rope is a simple tool that, when used correctly, improves conditioning, decreases injuries, and increases movement speed. Coach Egbert has players run through a variety of drills focusing on both jump speed and jumping height using a jump rope. Athletes jump from a variety of different starting positions and in multiple patterns to help improve their explosiveness.

Agility Drills

Using cones and markers on the floor, Coach Egbert demonstrates drills that force her players to not only listen and follow her directions, but also allow them to work on communicating with their teammates so they can complete the drills.

Exercises in this section focus on general movement that involves diagonal switch, which combined with shuffle footwork, are the essential footwork to increase quickness and/or an explosive first step. This is especially helpful in improving an athlete's range to get to a ball.

Box Drills

Coach Egbert finishes the video with the use of boxes to focus on plyometrics and training players to get used to exploding and becoming more athletic. You'll see a variety of different jumps to train the body, including one leg, sideways, and forward.

Coach Egbert shows you how to improve the overall athleticism of your athletes. Whether you have a state-of-the-art facility or the smallest of spaces, you can help your athletes grow stronger with simple items like a jump rope, cones and a box.

67 minutes. 2017.