Volleyball - Serving Mini-Clinic
Serving
Overview for teaching the fundamentals of the volleyball serve along with thoughts for Varsity level serving practice
With every high school program, the start of the season brings the challenge of teaching volleyball skills to players with a wide variety of abilities. Typically, practices are designed based on the team’s level (Varsity, JV, Frosh). But even within a team, you will encounter a wide-range of aptitude. So, how should you push your advanced players while providing fundamental training to the others?
This post will begin with a focus on fundamental serve training to help beginning level coaches bring their players up to a game-ready level. I then provide suggestions for error detection - correction as your players work through drills and/or game-like scenarios. Finally, I will share a few ideas I implemented while working with college and high school teams. Each section is in bold so you can move to a section that applies to your needs or your player’s level.
Serving Fundamentals - Floater Serve
For serving, I have always found that training the beginning players in a progression sequence is far more successful than to jump to “whole learning” (where the player is asked to execute the serve without breaking down the components. The goals of my basic serve training are to 1) provide clear specifics in regards to the mechanism of serving 2) help the players gain confidence 3) show them how to use their power to get their serve over the net and 4) guide them to have accuracy as they master the skill.
Make sure the player or group has mastered each component before adding the next progression. The more reps the better. I have written out the process below and then included links to videos that demonstrate the serve for those that are visual learners.
Footwork
For right handed server - all weight on your right foot which is directly under your body. Right foot is slightly turn out. Left foot points towards target and is in front of the heel of the right foot by 6 inches +/-. Have the player practice the weight shift with a step towards the target. ALL weight should shift from right to left and player should remain balanced. Repeat until comfortable.
Lift the Ball
The typical verbal que was to “toss the ball”. This has been modified to “lift the ball”. It seems to be a better description and helps to reinforce that the player should lift the ball to the contact height - NOT to toss the ball too high and hit it on the way down. Have the player hold the ball in the palm of the non-hitting hand and hold it in front of the hitting shoulder. The goal is to contact the ball just above head height out in front of the hitting shoulder. Remember, the player will be taking that step forward, so the lift must elevate the ball and put it out in front of the shoulder in line with the target.
Now practice “lifts”. Once you feel the player is able to consistently put the ball up to the correct contact height, add the step. Repeat multiple reps. Check to make sure the height is correct, with the distance properly out in front of the hitting shoulder.
Arm Swing
To help eliminate potential serving errors, keep the arm preparation and swing simple. Emphasize that player should avoid non-essential arm/hand movements.
Have the player hold the ball in their lifting hand in front of the shoulder as described above. This helps the player feel how to balance and control the movements. For the hitting arm - the player will start with the hand in a ready position near their right ear with the elbow back.
The mechanism will be for the lift/step to be nearly simultaneous - as the player starts the lift they will immediately take the step forward - the timing will allow the player to hit the ball just as it reaches the desired height (just above head-height in front of the hitting shoulder).
Hand Speed & Contact
For power, you want the player to be aware of their hand speed - which must be fast. The server will contact the ball with their open palm at the center of the ball.
IMPORTANT #1 - To make the ball properly float/move as it reaches the opponent, it is critical that the player hits the ball with power but then STOPS their hand after contact - do not bend wrist or follow-through with the arm swing. When doing serving reps - I will remind the server to freeze the hand/arm right after contact and have them watch the ball. I ask them to evaluate their serve by asking “does the ball have a lot of spin?” This helps them to recognize if they are serving a float serve. There should be very little rotation as the ball moves towards the passers.
IMPORTANT #2 - Serving has a rhythm to it. The lift-hit should be fairly quick. If there is a delay between the lift and the contact, the server is putting the ball too high and has to wait for it to come down. This is typically a source for errors. In order to better understand the rhythm of the serve, I have had the group I am training put the balls down and then lead them through a quick clapping exercise so they can see and feel the timing of the lift-hit.
Serving Reps
Now that they have a feel for the serving mechanism - I will have them serve over the net to a partner with each player standing around the 10’ to 12’ line. This typically provides a successful experience for the player. Key addition at this point - have them serve at their partner’s head as a target. Each server should evaluate if the ball is floating AND if the serve is on target. I would suggest you always give your player a specific target as they serve to help reinforce the importance of hitting a target in a match situation.
Note: During a match, there will be a variety of reasons you may want someone serving from a specific spot along the end line at a specific zone. To prepare for this, replicate this in practice. Make sure your players are comfortable with different options.
Error Detection/Correction
Watch for these issues when your players are serving:
Stepping under the ball (does the serve have a significant arch as it goes over the net?)
Toss too high (See IMPORTANT #2 above) - this also means the timing from lift to contact is too slow.
Toss too low - typically causes a serve into the net
Too much movement in the toss - especially with younger players: make sure they keep their body quiet (no extra movements) and do not let them bend down to lift the ball up. Many younger players think they have to toss the ball high, so they bend in order to feel like they are tossing the ball higher. This extra body movement will be a source for errors.
NOT contacting ball in the center. If they hit above center = ball into net. Below center will give the ball a higher trajectory which is easier to pass and/or may go long.
Stepping left/right - due to tossing the ball sideways. Remind them everything should be in line with the target = shoulder, ball, step and hand (when hitting the ball).
Struggles to hit target: watch to see if they have extra movement in the body, arm swing, etc. Inconsistent body motion will lead to inaccurate serving. Is their serving hand in proper position before they toss the ball? Does the hand move in a direct line to the target?
Lack of power: 1) Do they take a strong step into the ball (is their body helping to generate force)? 2) Do they have good hand speed? 3) Is there some hip/shoulder rotation as they take their step?
Video Examples
Here are two videos that provide excellent examples of fundamental float serving:
How to Improve Your Volleyball Serving with Misty May
Mastering the Float Serve with Jim Stone
One video that highlights typical errors:
Serving Drills to Train Proper Technique and Eliminate Bad Habits
Teaching the Jump Float
Once players have mastered the float serve, they will want to move on to the jump float serve. I found that having my varsity players help demo and guide my younger players was a great way to build community within our program. Having a visual demo helps the process proceed more efficiently. Given the basics above, I think the explanation of the jump float is best described by video:
Here is a video with the basics for the jump float serve.
Jump Float Serve Fundamentals with Emily Hiza *
*One note - Emily mentions tossing the ball just in front of you so that it would “skim your nose”. To clarify, the lift or toss must be in front of the hitting shoulder, not in front of the face. The distance in front of the shoulder would be 6 to 8 inches.
Here is a second video with more advanced players:
Jump Float with Heather Olmstead
Tips for high school programs
Here are a few tips to consider as you design practice or prepare your team for a match:
PRACTICE
Be sure to dedicate multiple opportunities for serving at each practice.
Include drills that include game-like serving situations. Have a player serve one to three times, then switch servers (rarely, in a match, will one player serve more than three times in a row).
ALWAYS give players specific targets in every serving drill or situation. The ability to serve a zone or target is far more critical to the team’s success than just power serves.
Have your players practice serving at passers (making them move to pass) or have them practice serving a zone (a seam between players, a sideline - between player and the sideline).
Unless the specific passer is struggling, you don’t want serves that are placed within a foot of the passers platform - make them move at least two or more steps.
Pick seams that force two or more passers to make a decision about who will pass the ball.
Serve sidelines or deep corners that force a player to move away from their next assignment (make the OH in area 5 move deeper and away from their hitting area or drop a short serve into the MH quick attack pattern).
Encourage your players to serve aggressive - challenge them to serve with pace AND hit their targets. Do not punish servers for errors. Take the positive approach and reward them for successful tough serves.
DRILLS
Here are links to three favorite drills I use throughout the season. I prefer to change the serving drills day to day so the players are mentally and physically challenged to achieve different goals.
To challenge your servers to serve between passer and sideline:
Side and Deep Serving Drill with John Dunning
A team drill with point scoring: middle of court = 0 points, within 4 ft of sideline = 2 points, deep serve within 4 feet of back line = 2 points, a serve that is deep corner = 4 points. Goal is first player to 21 points. Players serve then chase their ball to the other side. Then serve the other direction. Remind players to serve from different positions along the back line.
Serve and Receive Drill with John Dunning
Fun team drill. Split team into two evenly matched serving groups. See video for details.
Other drill options may be found at Volleyball Wisdom - Serving
MATCH
Over the years I have been a participant in numerous discussions about serving during a match. Here are a few of my thoughts:
I always call serve zones/targets for my team. I know each server’s strengths and then use those abilities to attack the opponent’s passers. You may tell your team a serving plan prior to a match - but you will see situations change from the bench that your players are not able to notice. By calling serve zones you can immediately take advantage of a weakness.
Rule of 3: When a players has served 3 successive points, I will then instruct them to serve only the seams - stay away from sidelines or short serves. My experience has taught me that after 3 serves, the opponent is starting to struggle or has lost momentum - don’t let them off the hook by risking an ace serve or trying to serve too tough. The pressure has already built up.
Obviously, we never want our players to miss a serve. I do discuss with all of the players in the program the key times to not risk a tough serve. My definition of tough serve is: very short (risking a net serve); serving the sidelines; or, serving with extra power. The key moments to make sure the player keeps their serve in the court:
First serve of the set
Set point/Match point
If the player before them missed their serve
If the other team just missed their serve
After a timeout
During a run of points (my Rule of 3)
After a long rally
I do believe you should help them to understand the emotional dynamics of the game and how they can help their team control these situations listed above. Reducing the number of serving errors that occur after these key situations will provide a direct benefit to the team’s success.
Have a prepared serving plan based your opponent’s serve receive. Adjust that plan as the match progresses based on how your servers are performing and how the opponents’s players are passing or subs that occur. Every match has its own flow.
If you recognize a difficult match up at the net (their best hitter is opposite a weaker blocker), serve zones that make it more challenging for their setter to get the ball to that hitter.
Thanks To…
Misty May and Chris Marlowe - Sportskool
Jim Stone - Art of Coaching Volleyball (AOC)
Anne Kordes - JVA and Championship Productions
Emily Hiza - Art of Coaching Volleyball (AOC)
Heather Olmstead - Utah Volleyball (now at BYU)
John Dunning - Art of Coaching Volleyball (AOC)