Tips for Teaching Beginners Blocking and Drills
- At beginners' level, blocking can be the last skill taught. You know it is time to teach blocking when the diggers can't handle the heat of the spike.
- Blocking should be taught on a net relative to the appropriate age.
- The rookie blocker needs to see a good role model executing the ready position and block jump. Also point out how the feet come down in the footprints of where they took off from.
- The players should work on good ready position first. Hands held higher, hands in front of the face, weight on the balls of the feet with the heels up are very important keys.
- Once the coach feels the blocker has good ready position, the jump needs to be added in the drill. Make sure the hands are held high through the jump and hands push diagonally forward for penetration (or to seal the net). A bad habit many young blockers acquire is dropping the hands low when coiling to jump and swinging the arms forward to penetrate the net. Lastly, the head level should be checked. Blockers should watch the ball with their eyes, not by picking up their chins. If the blocker lifts their chin, their arms will lift up instead of press forward to seal or penetrate. This is one of the commong reasons blockers get stuffed.
- Once the blocker has achieved a good ready position and block jump, the coach can stand on a hitting box and hit balls into the blocker's hands. This should be done repetitively to help the blocker develop penetration and "mold" around the ball. The blocker should practice ready position, coil and jump, penetration and pressure around the ball. The coach can see if the player is a "peakaboo" blocker. In other words, if the blocker just gets their hands up above the net with no penetration, the coach will teach this blocker to seal the net to effectively stop or slow down attacks.
- Movement should be added as soon as the blocker has demonstrated good stationary blocking techique, The first movement taught should be side step (two steps) to the ball. Teach and train the footwork first and then add the jump. Keep in mind that the ready position and stop/jump position feet are slightly different. Remember, if you don't start right you won't finish right! Keep the player on the block with the ball. Have the blocker start off two steps to the right or left of the stationary ball. The blocker can then practice footwork adjustment and block jump to the ball in each direction.
- Once the blocker can adjust a few steps and block a stationary ball, it is time to practice stationary blocking technique against live attacks. Have a capable player or coach stand on the block and hit self-tosses into a jumping blocker. Start by having the hitter face and swing into the same direction (e.g., crosscourt). This will give the blocker a chance to feel the impetus of the hit and how strong the blocker's arms must be to reject the ball.
- Once the blocker has attained this goal at a reasonable level, the blocker needs to make adjustments to the hitter's approach. This is a great time to teach blockers how to read approaches and arm swings. Blockers can also start learning how to front the hitter. This is taught by having the blocker adjust in line with the attacker's hitting shoulder to intersect his/her direct angle of approach and follow-through.
- Many blockers have a bad habit of just watching the ball and not reading the attacker. The blocker needs to learn how to read the approach and front the hitter.
- The next progression is training the crossover step. This is usually a middle hitter course, but some perimeter blockers use it as a movement to multiple block in the middle.
- Another aggressive block technique is to attack an overpass or a set in the plane of the net or over the net. If a blocker reads that the pass or set is coming over the net, the appropriate blocker must readjust her/his feet behind the path of the ball and ready himself/herself to jump. By assessing the height and depth of the ball, the blocker has to decide whether to seal the net, attack block, or spike the ball. If the ball is falling near the top of the net tape, the blocker may choose to block straight up and seal the net, allowing the ball to fall on the other side of the net. This is a wise choice when the setter is playing the ball at the top of the net on her/his side and the blocker can't interfere. He/she may also choose to penetrate the net and block the ball down as a stuff block by propelling his/her hands and wrists forward to direct the ball straight down to the opponent's floor. This is a wise choice if the ball is in the plane of the net or an opponent is not attempting to play the ball. If the path of the ball is high and deep enough, the hitter can drop step and spike the ball. The attacking blocker rarely has a block and can hit.
BLOCKING DRILLS:
Front the Hitter
One player, who will hit a toss, stands near the attack line on court A. An opposing player, who will block the hitter, starts in a blocking position on court B. A coach stands behind the blocker at about midcourt. The coach tosses the ball over the head of the blocker (who can't see it) so the hitter can approach and hit. The toss should simulate a high outside overpass. The hitter approaches the overpass and tries to hit the ball versus the one blocker. The blocker reads the hitter's approach and positions himself/herself to block the attack. Score can be kept by awarding one point for an attack into the court and two points for a block.
Key Points: Proper blocking movement and technique should be coached.
Variations: A middle and outside blocker can block a hitter. Scoring should be one point for a block and two points for an attack.
Joust
Team A and team B are set up in base one positions on each side of the court. Blockers are facing each other at the net. The coach is standing on a referee stand attached to one standard. The coach tosses a ball in the plane of the net between the two opposing blockers. The blockers are only allowed to attack block, tip, or just joust the ball. No spiking can occur. The rest of the players on the court move from base one to cover the blocker as they would a hitter. Whatever side the ball is propelled to after the joust, that team plays the ball out as they would in a game. Gamelike play continues until one team wins the rally.
Key Points: Coverage must be low. The first pass should be coached to be played up to the center of the court or near the target according to skill level. Blockers must keep their hands in front of them to stay strong through the joust.
Variations:
- The coach can toss the ball between two sets of blockers to create double blockers on the ball.
- The coach can occasionally toss the ball into the backcourt to make sure they are focused on playing the first ball.
- Scoring can be wash, rally, or yo-yo.
- After one team reaches the goal score, the coach can have the front and back rows flip-flop positions or rotate.
- A lead-up to this drill is conducted by tossing the ball up between two players.
- The next lead-up drill to this drill would be to toss a ball up between two players and have one player behind each blocker to help with coverage.
Empire Drill
Two coaches are positioned on each side of a court in the deep 6 position with a bucket of balls. Team A and team B are made up of five players in the other positions at their base one position defensively. The coach on team A's side slaps a ball to signal his/her front row to transition off the net, and the setter goes to target to reveice an incoming toss from the coach. The setter runs an offensive play. Team B forms a defense to stop the attack. If the ball comes on team B's side, they dig the ball and counterattack. Play continues in a usual manner. If a ball is attacked in the 6 area, the coach tosses another ball to the target area. If the ball hits the floor on one side, in or out of bounds, the coach on that side slaps another ball and tosses it to target to continue the drill.
Key Points: This is a continuous drill that is tiring because it demands constant blocking, transition, attack patters, and coverage. The coach needs to maintain correct tempo by requiring the front row to transition in a timely manner. The coach needs to make sure the back row defense does not rely too heavily on the coach at 6 and plays as many balls as possible in their positions.
Variations:
- Scoring can be plus or minus points for winning a rally or successfully running set plays.
- If a team has numerous setters, the coach should make sure the setters have a chance to set different hitters.
- The setters can be front row players or penetrate from the back row.
- The coach can dictate any set play to run offensively or let the setters call their own plays.
Lateral Blocking Drill
Two players stand on hitting boxes on one side of the court, one at the middle (3) and the other at the left-side (4) position. Each player holds a ball above the net. On the other side of the court, a blocker stands opposite the middle position in block ready posture. When the coach says "Go", the blocker jumps up and attempts to block the ball. It would resemble "surrounding" the ball. The blocker comes down, performs her/his blocking movement footwork toward the outside, and performs a block on the other ball, going back and forth between the two balls, until she/he has performed the set number of blocks assigned by the coach.
Key Points: The players on the boxes holding the ball must extend the ball high enough for the blocker to use her/his individual maximum jump. The coach can instruct the blocker technically throughout the drill. The players holding the ball should feel some pressure over the top of (behind) the ball to prove penetration.
Variations:
- The same drill can be set up with the blocker moving toward the opposite direction.
- A second blocker, on the outside, can set up to simulate a double block.
- The distance the blocker must travel can be lengthened to work on a crossover step or shortened to work on a side-step movement.
- The coach can count the number of reps performed in a set amount of time.
- The player holding the ball on the platform can perform a standing hit into the blocker's hands instead of holding the ball.
Excerpt from the book, Coaching Volleyball Successfully
