Volleyball

A volleyball training plan for your team

A build-up across the season, and a worked session for every training night with drills, timings and coaching points.

Volleyball is the sport where one bad reception has ruined the attack before anyone jumps. That is why so much time goes on passing and on the pass-set-hit sequence, and it is also why a season quietly turns into twenty versions of the same evening: hit a few, some work at the net, a game at the end.

The interesting questions are all about order. When do you add the float serve. When do you let the setter genuinely choose between position four and position two instead of agreeing it beforehand. When do you drop the compulsory three contacts and let them play.

We build that order here, week by week, with a worked session for every training night.

How a volleyball week runs

01
Youth teams usually train once or twice a week with a match at the weekend.
02
The session furthest from the match gets the new work and the longest rallies.
03
The last one before the match is shorter, with more full-court play and less isolated technique.

What a drill looks like

A volleyball drill from the library, written for the middle age group. This exact text is what lands on your session sheet.

Serve-receive 2v2

10 to 40 minutes

Trains the forearm pass as first contact off a live serve.

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Setup: Use a 2v2 court with a 2.10 m net. Serve underhand from the baseline, not from the group’s match court. Use teams of 2 to 4, with one bib per team. Keep one live ball in play and one spare on a marked sideline spot. The spare is never held. Use one court for 4 to 6 players, and set up 3v4 for 7 players. Use a second court with four teams for 8 to 12 players.
How it runs: - Each side receives the serve and plays the ball back over in three contacts. - Keep the ball live continuously. Do not play points or games; stop when the time block ends. - Choose one format before the first serve and keep it throughout. With a catch, players pass, catch and set, then send the ball over. Without a catch, players pass, set, then set the ball over. - Players serve underhand from their own baseline, alternating between the two players on court. In the Dutch youth game, younger groups serve from inside the back half of their own court, and below about 9 there is no serve at all. Tell the players that this drill’s baseline serve is an exception. - Players stay side by side, each in their own half. Crossing the centre line is a fault. - A net touch is allowed unless it interferes with play. - Rotate after every second rally. The player who has been on court longest steps off, and the next player steps on. Announce the rotation order before the first serve. - A team of 2 does not rotate. With 3 players, each player plays two out of every three rallies. With 4 players, each player plays half the rallies. - If the ball goes out, the player who is off gives the server the spare ball. That player returns the loose ball to its sideline spot. If there are two teams of 2, the receiving pair does this. - Harder: Remove the catch once the first ball consistently reaches the setting partner without them stepping off their spot. - Easier: Return to the catch format.
Coaching points: Platform joined and straight, low and away, before the serve.
Contact on the forearms above the wrists, not the hands.
Feet square to the target, no reaching sideways.
Knees bent, weight forward, hips and shoulders to the target.
Common mistakes: Passing with hands or fingers → arms low and joined before the serve.
Standing tall and reaching → feet first, then arms.
Rushing to the no-catch setting → stay with catch while receive quality comes.
Kit: 2 × net, 4 × ball, 8 × cone, 6 × bib

Where this fits in

Loose volleyball drills circulate everywhere, usually as PDFs, usually without saying which age they were written for.

The line underneath is missing: when the float serve comes in, when the compulsory three contacts come off, and what that means for your next session. We fill that in here, week by week.

Ages and limits

Federations divide their youth into different age groups, and the plan follows whichever one applies. You say which country you coach in and which age group your team plays. Where we hold that federation's categories, the plan uses its names. Every age group carries a load ceiling that decides which drills qualify and how hard a week can get. That ceiling sits in the code, and it holds even when you ask for more.

Try it with your team

A few questions about your team, and the first weeks are already there.

Set up your team