September 5, 2009. On day 4 of the 2009 CEV Men’s European Championships, Slovenia, Estonia, the Czech Republic as well as Turkey booked their ticket home as 4th ranked teams in their Pools. The other twelve squads move on to the Playoff Round, which will take place from Tuesday to Thursday in Istanbul and Izmir. In their last game of the tournament Greeks played against last ranked Slovenia. Even when the Slovenians dominated, the Greeks played great at the end of each set and deservedly celebrated finishing first in Pool C.
Defence from zones 1 and 5
This drill will improve your players defensive play.
Defensive players need a lot of concentration because they will be attacked twice.
Players pass the ball to setter and setter sets the ball to zones 4 and 2.
Players should aim the attack to zones 1 and 5 where defensive players are waiting to defend the field.
After the spike, defensive players have to pass the ball successfully to coach and he performs one more attack while defense has to do their job once more.
Dig and defend succesfully
This drills requires good concentration, skill and movement. I suggest doing this drill with advanced team and not with beginners.
Coach throws the short ball and the player performs dig to stop ball touching the floor.
After the dig player stands up the fastest he can and moves back to position himself for good a defence.
At the same time, on the other side of net, player passes the ball to setter.
Overhead pass and block
This drill can be performed by all players. It’s easy and interesting but if only a few players anticipate it can be even difficult.
It can be performed during the training session or during warm ups.
Players are sorted in two columns and perform overhead pass to opposite column.
When player pass the ball, he has to run to zone 3 and perform block. After blocking in zone 3, he moves fast and performs block in zone 4 and than runs at the back of his column and wait his turn to pass.
Move fast and pass the ball
This drill is made to improve players passing in circumstances that can appear in the game.
Coach is positioned in zone 2 and has a lot of balls.
Player is on the base line in zone 1.
When coach throw the ball in the air, player moves forward and should perform the forearm pass after coach spikes the ball.
Right after that, player moves back to zone 6 and performs the same action.
As long as coach has balls
This drill is made to improve players passing which will be very important in serve receiving.
One player stands six meter from net.
Coach is in zone 2 and has a lot of balls.
Coach throws the ball to player and player passes it back to coach.
Player should move left and right, from line to line, and pass the ball the best he can.
Block after block and sprint
This drill should improve your block.
One player is positioned in zone 2 and one in zone 4.
Players perform block and than move near zone 3 to perform another block.
After that they move back to zone 2 and 4 to perform block once more.
When the blocking is finished they sprint back and next players take their places.
Serve receiving using legs and hands
Using leg drive
When receiving a hard-driven serve, your passing platform should remain stable.
The natural rebound of the ball from your arms will provide plenty of force.
For a softer serve, you need to use some leg drive when the forearms contact the ball (take a look at the picture). Imagine you are sitting on the edge of a chair as you get into proper passing position.
As you contact the ball use just enough power in your legs to stand up.
