with Anne Kordes,
former University of Louisville Head Coach; 2015 ACC Champions;
2015 ACC Coach of the Year - her third coach of the Year honor at Louisville, also earning the award as the Big East (2012) and American Athletic Conference (2013) Coach of the Year; 2010 and 2011 USA Select National Team Lead Coach; past President of the American Volleyball Coaches Association
Anne Kordes shows you how to organize and run an effective preseason practice. This isn't a clinic that suggests how practice should go. Instead, you are thrust into the middle of Coach Kordes' preseason practices and shown what actually happens in her gym.
Disc 1:
Coach Kordes breaks down a practice plan that includes weightlifting and video review. The session includes multiple ball control drills as the practices concentrate on individual passing and defense. The team progresses to 6-on-6 and 5-on-6 game play, ending with a scrimmage. Drill highlights include:
- Ball Control Series - Drills feature Lanes Narrow, Lanes Wide, Run Thru Sequence and Side-to-Side Short. Mostly player initiated, these drills let the whole team work on ball-control skills while coaches travel around the gym monitoring progress and giving feedback.
- Digging Technique - A large part of this practice focuses on digging technique. After the coaches break down the skill, player-initiated drills are executed to focus on learning the techniques for digging hard-driven balls, balls in front of the player and balls outside of the midline.
- 6-on-6 Drills - The 6-on-6 portion is a basic wash format. However, it effectively shows how the coaches interact with the players to improve individual skill during actual play. Too often, coaches leave individual instruction for "drill time" and don't focus on individual skills during game-like scrimmages. This section of the presentation shows how to use practice time to improve athletes' individual skills.
Disc 2:
A variety of skills are featured in this segment including passing, serving and digging. Using a team approach, players execute drills that are designed to focus on one or two skills at a time. Warm-up drills keep the players moving at a fast pace as they practice getting to the ball, keeping their posture low and passing to the target. Drill highlights include:
- 4 v 4 Warm-up - A warm-up drill that trains players to defend left-to-left attacks, right-to-right attacks and pipe-to-pipe attacks. The drill helps to build the foundation of team defense by forcing defenders to communicate and defend in close proximity.
- Dig, Set and Cover Drill - This drill focuses on covering starts with a live swing from the opposite side. The team digs the ball and then covers the resulting set. The live swing/dig gives this drill a game-like feel, which makes the covering skill more transferable to actual games.
- Passing - Drills build from individual technique to game-like serve receive drills with scoring.
Disc 3:
The initial focus on Day 3 is technique. Setters work on footwork, hand training, and set placement while middles work on blocking patterns. Coach Kordes and her staff lead the players through ball control/rhythm drills, digging techniques, passing reps and serving speed drills. During the afternoon session, the focus is on competing. Coach Kordes uses speedball as a fun, competitive warm-up drill. Team competition continues throughout the afternoon session with 10-in-a-Row, 12 Point Middle Score More Game, and Finish the Set drills. Drill highlights include:
- Individual Setter Training - This segment provides a blueprint for designing your own setter training.
- Rhythm Ball Control Series - Ball control is not just getting the ball to the right location but delivering it on time so the next player can play it properly. This team ball-control series (forearm and overhand passing) focuses on the rhythm or height of the pass.
- 6 v 6 with Bonus Scoring - This drill gives extra points for consecutive kills by the middle hitter. Though specific to the middle hitter, it's a great example of how changing the scoring system can totally transform the focus of the drill without the coach making it happen. By manipulating the scoring, the team automatically works on the area that the coach thinks the team needs to improve.
This presentation gives you a road map to focus on this skill in your gym, while keeping it fun and interesting to the team.
414 minutes (3 DVDs). 2014.
All Access videos are designed to allow viewers from all over the world to see how successful coaches run their practices in a "live" practice setting. All Access videos allow viewers to see the practices un-edited and in real-time. You will see how top coaches run their drills, interact with their team and staff, how they motivate their team, the cue words they use, the atmosphere of the practice and how practices are structured from day to day. Many coaches visit successful colleges and high schools to watch practice. But if you live out of state or out of the country, visiting another coach's gym can be costly. That's why we created the All Access Practice Series of videos -- to bring the practices to you!