Youth Volleyball: The Progression from Tots to Juniors

with Brad Van Dam,
Milwaukee Sting Volleyball Club Youth Director

Brad Van Dam shares his insights from being a youth director to create a successful tot to junior program guide, as well as useful play structures for educating and engaging youth so they remain in, challenged, and engaged in your youth program. Coach Van Dam also provides examples of game and practice adjustments that can be used to increase touches and fun for youth aged 3 to 10.

The drills presented are challenging, while also leaving players some room to enjoy and have fun learning. Van Dam shares how he introduces the competitive culture into training tots and beginners in order to keep them engaged and having fun.

Breakdown Drills for Better Understanding

The breakdown drills for players are short and easily understood. The language of the instruction is simple and succinct, which keeps the young players' level of interest high and gets them on-task. You'll see:

• Drills that introduce shuffling and movement - Young players tend to not move their feet. These drills introduce a fun way to get players to move their feet while they have fun competing.
• Drills that introduce body position - The use of fun "key" words provide players a visual of how their body should look, making concepts more memorable to young players.
• Competitive toss and catch drills - Young players wait for the ball to come to them instead of moving to the ball. Van Dam shares catching drills that have a scoring component, teaching players to move in order to score.

Van Dam also shares how to modify games when things don't go according to plan.

These fun and engaging drills and games will teach young kids the skills to be successful and keep them coming back for more sessions! The fundamental progressions for young players will provide them a good foundation for learning the game as they continue to improve.

Produced at the 2016 AVCA Annual Convention in Columbus, OH.

53 minutes. 2017.