High School Volleyball Agility Drills

If you don't already know, I am the assistant varsity volleyball coach to my old high school team.  For the past few weeks the girls have been working hard and getting back into shape for the upcoming season.  We had one session where I wanted to focus on speed, agility, and hand-eye coordination. I recorded a few of the girls performing the exercises and compiled the clips into a YouTube video. So, check that out and then keep reading for a in-depth description!






LADDER DRILLS
Before these workouts were performed, the team goes through a special warm up routine that takes about 10 minutes.  After the warmup, I like to work on their speed and agility while their bodies are nice and warm.  I use an agility ladder from Troy University's KHP department.  I was not able to get a video of these ladder drills, but hopefully a few pictures will help you understand.

-Hopscotch
The first exercise I like the girls to do is "Hopscotch".  Two feet go in a square, then out, then in the next square, and so on.  I have the girls do this exercise two times through.

-Lateral Single Leg Hops

Pick a side of the ladder (let's use the right side for example).  Standing on your left leg only, hop in and out of each square all the way down the ladder.  Repeat on the left side, with your right leg.

-Plank Walks

Get in a GOOD plank position (body flat, butt down) and put two hands into each square down the length of the ladder.  Repeat on the other side.

TENNIS BALL THROWS
I had all of the girls grab a partner and a tennis ball and simply throw the ball back and forth.  I wanted to girls to create a good movement and have their muscles memorize the moves.  Throwing a tennis ball uses similar moves to a simple volleyball serve.  Have the girls hold their arm up in a "bow & arrow" stance and turn their hips during the release of the ball.

I had the girls simply throwing back and forth with their partner for several minutes while they took turns doing the reaction ball and playing card catches.

REACTION BALL CATCHES

This is a reaction ball, you can buy one at Walmart for less than 8 dollars.  The bumps on the ball causes it to bounce in a random direction.  It's pretty difficult to catch, and not fun to chase around.  But as seen in the video, A.B. did an AMAZING job!  I would bounce the ball a few feet in front of them and let the girls catch it about 15 times each.

PLAYING CARD CATCHES
This is probably the most difficult exercise out of the rest I've mentioned.  I don't expect the girls to catch the cards, even a touch is a good way to view hand-eye coordination and reflex speeds.   I would throw about 15 cards to each girl.  It takes some practice for the coach/exercise leader to learn how to throw the cards close enough to the girl's body for them to make a good attempt at catching the card.  I learned this drill from watching an Instagram video on @usavolleyball's page.

I really enjoyed these agility workouts and I believe the girls did, too!  As always, leave any questions below.