Attacker Toolbox: Developing Hitters that See the Game

Attackers need to develop skills in assessing conditions before and during the play. This includes seeing blockers and back row defenders as well as executing a variety of shots in a very dynamic environment. BYU Head Coach Chris McGown, the 2013 AVCA Coach of the Year, shows you how to coach all three - assessment, vision, and shot development and execution.

Coach McGown delivers 10 must have shots for pin hitters and six must have shots for middles. He calls these "shots in the hitter's toolbox." Throughout the video he explains, demonstrates and provides drills for helping players understand and work on the shots. McGown also goes into great detail on which shots are effective versus different blocking schemes and situations.

You will learn how to develop the shots against single and double blocks. These drills help teach hitters to read the blockers and decide where to hit. Throughout the drills Coach McGown shows different progressions and variations to the drills that add to the difficulty level of reading the blockers. These drills will help hitters to read and understand blockers tendencies, which will help them to decide which shot to go with to beat the defense. Once the hitters learn what to do in different blocking situations they can then take their attacking game to a whole new level.

The last segment adds game like situations. Threepeat is a game action drill that allows hitters three opportunities to redo a shot if they make a hitting error. Afterward the coach asks the player what they saw, what they were trying to do and which tool in the toolbox were they trying to use. These drills will help players make decisions on reading the block and shot selection.

This video does a great job of explaining the what, why and when of hitting. Coaches will be able to take the good power hitter and turn them into a great scoring hitter!

Produced at the 2014 AVCA Annual Convention in Oklahoma City, OK.

34 minutes. 2015.