Hugh McCutcheon: Passing & Serve Receive

When teaching passing skills, coaches should remind players that the "less is more" philosophy holds true. Hugh McCutcheon explains that players should work to have a consistent contact surface by establishing a consistent platform. In this video, he demonstrates multiple passing and serve receive drills that can be incorporated into any practice for players of varying skill levels.

Basic Forearm Passing Keys

Coach McCutcheon emphasizes that players need to be aware of their platform on contact in order to have consistent, high quality passes. He encourages athletes to remember that passing is a hand and arm activity - not a body activity.

Thinking about angles ahead of time in a non-linear manner will allow players to get their weight on their lead leg and drop their shoulder to create the desired angle. McCutcheon shows that by keeping movements simple, athletes will be able to increase their pass execution and quality.

The Passing Angle drill is used to demonstrate how passing backward simply requires a different angle of the platform. The Triangle Passing drill helps players learn to face where the ball is coming from and create the platform angle to where the ball is going to. When teams play the ball forward at the point of contact, good things will happen!

Performance Keys For Serve Receive

Time is a valuable commodity in volleyball because the game moves so quickly. It's essential to get on the line of the ball quickly and be balanced so that passing becomes a hands and arms activity.

McCutcheon explains that players should focus on making sure their body is in alignment of the trajectory of the serve in order to achieve optimum results on serve receive. Additionally, you'll learn about the "big opportunities" for reading the opposing team's server when on serve receive.

Overhead Passing Skills and Drills

Ultimately, the platform is where 'the rubber hits the road.' The better that defenders get at moving to the line, the better the defense becomes. The Butterfly drill can be used to create game-like situations for overhead passing.

McCutcheon believes that teams should consider passing off the net to avoid the overpass. Statistically speaking, the overpass is likely to reward the opposing team with a point. You'll learn why setters have more options to run the offense when passes aren't "on the net."

Coach McCutcheon does an excellent job covering execution of simple, quality passing skills. By breaking down the skills into small segments, viewers will see how each segment builds on the previous one. The drills in this video provide a strong foundation for you to build on your team's passing and serve receive potential.

Produced at the 2018 Iowa Volleyball Coaches Clinic.

61 minutes. 2018.