Girls Volleyball Defensive Skills

Guest host Shelly Francis and Coach Burt Weller tell us about the fundamental defensive skills for young volleyball players.

Shelly: Today on clubhouse Gas, we are feeling a little defensive, so pull up those knee pads and dig this edition. We'll back and McClesky Middle School, with coach Bert Weller, on our last show, Bert and Lassiter Jr. Trojan volleyball team showed us some basic offensive skills and today we are going to get the low down on how defense wins matches. Burt thanks so much for joining us today. When working with younger athletes defensively, what are the most important skills that want it develop. Burt: Well, we come back to footwork again, the ability to see the ball from 30, 40 feet away and then decide where to actually pass the ball, its not easy in the beginning, so we spend a lot of time working on the lower part of body the footwork. We want them to have very fast feet to the ball, and then we want their feet to go real quite, and centre that ball and pass that ball pass that ball some where between their hips and their knees. As you seen initial sometimes to passes start with the chest level and above the head, every week we trying to get a little lower to the play with the passing right around their knees, where they need to be real competitive. This drill here is a serve receive line or passing line, we do in the fore arm pass and what we are asking to do is first call for that ball, to let the other teammates know that they clearly have their ball. After calling a ball you need to anticipate where the ball is going to hit the code and move behind it, and attempt to pass that ball as low as possible. We try and get them to pass below some where between hips and the knees doesn't always work out that way but that's way we coach them to do. The arm swing is a very short snap of the arms not a big arms swing to control that ball. Shelly: How important is confidence in a good passer at this age. Burt: It is everything, right now we want every girl to want that ball, we want them to beat the ball hard but they do politely and call for that ball. The confidence comes from no wonder you can handle the tough server, with confidence and put that ball in setters hands and the more practice the more confidence they gain. Shelly: We here calling mine, I got it, how important is communication in serve received? Burt: Well its extremely important without that a team cannot function, calling the ball does couple of things it lets the rest of the team know that they ball is handled the rest of the team the other team members all have jobs to do. They can open up and be ready to help if the passes not where we want it and they all have position and responsibilities on the court. But they don't know what those are, until and they can't release until the ball is called for so. Communicating constantly about what we see and what is happening that's an absolutely requirement. A lot of times we involve movement, we intentionally make the girls move left or right, front or back, and then they get into their passing position as quickly as they can, quite their feet down and pass, so they are passing the ball right now to a portion of the court, where setter normally would stand who takes that second ball and then they are running under the net coming around taken a look at the dark fetch camera, and then there will be coach, there they normally helps them, understand, what they doing and what they are likening and you better they will turn to the hitting the digging line, repeated again and over about 15-20 minutes. We start to see some very basic changes that occurring. Shelly: which are more advance players, I see more of combination you got a pass, a set and a hit. How important is that combination? Burt: What we trying to do is encourage 3 touches on the ball, in things of 3, I drills are centered around 3, so there is pass come and over the net more game like situations are setter have to react to what ever that pass is. Forcing our setters to move in more game like situations and then the hitters need to place themselves, behind the ball regardless where that set is. Sometimes the set is not where they want so they got to learn to make that adjustment, as they approached the ball. Shelly: we here coaches talk about great defenses winning matches or winning championships, how is that true in this court of volleyball. Burt: Well with 6 people on the court and attackers attempting to put that ball where you are not, defense if its done correctly makes it look very easily, the girls are actually in position ahead of when the attack occurs and course and they make it look easy in reality they have to read the offensive attack ahead a time and moved in from what we call a base position where they standing and watching, to a defensive position, which is just I have second to a second before the ball come across the net, so they make it look easy sometimes teams do, but if you didn't get a good defensive dig up, you usually can put it away before the other team is managed to transition from their attack, to their defense, so that's why it said a lot to defense wins games. Shelly: Burt thanks once again for your time today, with the pleasure. Burt: You welcome Shelly. Welcome. Shelly: Thanks for watching this edition of Clubhouse Gas, will see you next time.