
Many coaches find it challenging and time-consuming to come up with volleyball exercises. Especially for new trainers. We often get asked if we know any good volleyball exercises. While there are numerous ready-made exercises available on the internet, simply copying them may result in a disjointed training session without a clear objective.
In this blog article, we’ll share tips and tricks from Volleyball Training Netherlands that will help you get started.
A Checklist for a Great Exercise
At volleybalopleidingen.nl, they teach participants in the VT2 and VT3 programs to think independently about the exercises they incorporate into their training sessions. You can either create your own exercises or modify existing ones. There’s no one-size-fits-all formula for a perfect exercise since every player group is different. However, you can use the following checklist to determine if your exercise meets the key criteria.
11 Essential Criteria for Your Exercises
The exercises should:
- Be adjusted to the players’ level, allowing everyone to participate.
- Provide a challenge and encourage players to push their limits.
- Align with the specific training objective.
- Be game-like and movement-specific as much as possible.
- Be dynamic, keeping players engaged and active.
- Be well-organized and clear for the players.
- Follow the sequence as it occurs in the game.
- Progress from easy to difficult and from low to high intensity.
- Be measurable, enabling you to track players’ progress.
- Be interesting, motivating players to continue their development.
- Have a tempo that matches the training goal.
If you can tick off all these criteria, chances are you’ve created a great training exercise. However, remember that your players ultimately determine its effectiveness. Request feedback from your team captain periodically or ask your players how they perceived the training sessions.
Additional Tips
- Start with basic exercises and introduce variations. Instead of focusing on numerous exercises, find ways to modify and enhance a single exercise.
- Never lose sight of the training objective—train for more than just the exercise itself.
- Preferably, design exercises for groups of three or four players.
- Assign names to exercises and drills to save time and explanations.
- Incorporate a competitive element into the exercises, such as a scoring system. Consider scoring methods that highlight individual progress rather than just winners and losers.
By implementing these tips and tricks, you can create fantastic volleyball exercises on your own. Remember, practice makes perfect, so keep experimenting and adapting to maximize the effectiveness of your training sessions. Enjoy and good luck!
Oh and if you have any questions, or need help to prepare for a training, you can always ask the more experienced trainers.