Christy Johnson-Lynch: 'Libero U' - Training Strategies to Develop a Dominant Libero

with Christy Johnson-Lynch,
Iowa State University Head Coach;
2018 National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC) Champions;
2009 Asics/Volleyball Magazine National Coach of the Year;
2009 AVCA Central Region Coach of the Year;
2009 Big 12 Coach of the Year;
2011 & 2008 Elite Eight appearances;
coached 9 of 10 'Big XII Libero of the Year' award winners from 2008 to 2017;
also coached the 2021 'Big XII Libero of the Year'

The coach of 9 of 10 Big XII 'Libero of the Year' winners from 2008 through 2017 and again in 2021, Iowa State's Christy Johnson-Lynch, shares her thoughts on selecting and utilizing your libero and demonstrates drills with her own players. She gives suggestions on how to allow your best passers, including your libero, to get touches on more balls, and, how to be more active during a game.

This video will help you understand the key skills in your defenders so you can select your libero, in addition to giving you a clear understanding on how to utilize that libero to maximum effectiveness.

Libero Strategies

Johnson-Lynch discusses strategy and rationale to determine if you should place your libero in the left back or middle back positions, including topics such as the libero setting the second ball when out of system. Additionally, she provides thoughts on how to adjust serve receive to take advantage of a strong passer while also keeping your strong hitters in the best position to attack the ball.

Drills for Improving the Skill Set

Johnson-Lynch has her players demonstrate the development of defensive skills in seven drills as she explains the strategy and focus of each drill. She discusses how to work on individual defensive skills in addition to ways to get more touches from your best defender when the opponent is trying to avoid them. Also covered are out of system drills that train your libero to handle the second ball when your setter has made the initial pass.

Develop Attitude, Grit, and Intensity

You will see how to create more aggressive and responsive defensive players. By stepping away from purely game-like drills, Johnson-Lynch explains how drills that focus on speed and reactive skills can create defenders with more attitude, grit and intensity. These mental traits are vital for enhancing your overall team defense as well as helping you develop and train your libero to dominate on the court.

Throughout this entire video, Johnson-Lynch provides observations, insights and drills to enhance your libero's overall skills, including both physical and mental attributes, to become a stronger defender. She demonstrates these skills in simple-to-execute drills and provides strategies for using your best defender.

The skills you'll learn in this video are critical for developing a dominant libero!

48 minutes. 2018.