Ole Miss Head Women's Coach from 2020 to 2022;
University of Nebraska Assistant Coach from 2017 to 2019;
2019 American Volleyball Coaches' Association's (AVCA) '30 Under 30';
2018 NCAA National Championship Runner-up;
2017 NCAA National Champions;
Pepperdine Men's Volleyball Volunteer Assistant Coach in 2015 and 2016;
U.S. National Volleyball Team member (USA Volleyball) from 2011 to 2017;
2015 NORCECA Championship 'Best Receiver' award;
won Gold Medals at the 2012 & 2013 Pan American Cup, 2015 NORCECA & 2016 FIVB World Grand Prix;
2016 Olympic Games (Rio) - Bronze medal;
2013 USA Volleyball Female Indoor Most Improved Player of the Year;
played for University of Nebraska from 2007 to 2011 (libero; John Cook was her coach);
3x Big XII Champions; 2008 NCAA semifinals; 2x Academic All-Big 12Kayla Banwarth has mastered the skill of passing and serve receive through her many years as a highly decorated player and coach.
Starting as a walk-on at Nebraska and earning her right to become starting Libero as a freshman, Coach Banwarth has since accumulated years of knowledge and know-how as the perfect tutor to help your team improve their serve receive skills – as she demonstrates through every minute of this highly valuable instructional coaching video.
Serve Receive Skills
Coach Banwarth begins her lesson on improving serve receive skills by breaking down the critical keys of proper technique, with emphasis on essentials to remember such as:
- Why the ONLY thing that matters when you are passing is your angle, but your feet and legs are vital.
- Why you must rehearse shuffling skills so that your passer can cover half the court with the ‘1, 2, 3 shuffle-step.’
- Why It is important to focus on the inside edges of the feet so that we are one step ahead and covering more ground becomes quicker.
- Why a drop-step key is to make sure the hips get out of the way for the platform. (Weight is always forward and the shoulders are down.)
- Why when using a double-knee drive, your players will learn an easy way to get to the floor so that they can get back up in a smooth, controlled manner.
- Why the lower your players are to the ground, the smoother the move becomes and the less it will hurt
With the techniques regarding movement covered, Coach Banwarth then transitions into coaching points for adding a ball into skills work – which helps players learn how to become efficient with their feet. The Ole Miss coach covers an incredible breadth of technical skills to improve technique, while explaining in an easy-to-follow fashion.
Serve Receive Drills
Coach Banwarth then showcases highly effective Serve Receive Drills that you can immediately introduced into your practices. She begins by teaching you how to create process point drills that will allow your players to focus on one process at a time so that they can master each process individually.As balls are served to the receiver, the player is awarded points for passing to the target and for following the process correctly. Process Point ideas include: calling for the ball, keeping body weight forward, maintaining a wide base with shoulders down and angle first.
The ‘6-In-a-Row vs 3-In-a-Row Drill’ is a terrific drill that puts pressure on your passers. The goal of this drill is to make the passers earn 6 points before the servers earn 3. Your passers will need good communication and teamwork to succeed in this drill. Coach Banwarth uses pressure situations to simulate live-game settings so that the passers get used to playing under pressure. This game can end quickly if your passers give up an ace serve!
The ‘5-In-a-Row Drill,’ offers a great way to end your practice. The practice doesn’t end until your passing team can achieve 5 in-system passes in a row. Coach Banwarth does a terrific job of showcasing the twists and nuances she adds to this drill that really places pressure on your passing team! This is a must-watch lesson for a complete deconstruction of teaching superior serve receive techniques that will help you win more games.
44 minutes. 2023.