Author: Coach Newkirk

Volleyball – Stopping the Whip!  The “whip” is the forward motion of the serving arm.  This is an additional movement that many young overhand servers can eliminate by practicing good throwing form.  It’s during the toss that the striking hand likes to whip forward.  By throwing that tennis ball against a gym wall, the young… Read more »

Volleyball – The volleyball serve has a certain rhythm to it.  Coaching the serve, from the routine to contact (even past contact – stepping into the floor) can be reinforced by strong muscle-memory training and by structuring the steps to a cadence or again, a rhythm.  An example would be; two dribbles, step back, ball… Read more »

Volleyball – Hitters! What do you do with that “off” hand (one not contacting the ball) at contact?  Most young players tend to just let it fly around and really not consider its placement!  This tip will help you!  As we consider the torque of the athlete (hips, shoulders, external obliques) when hitting the volleyball,… Read more »

Volleyball – Learning to Lengthen! While flexibility is extremely important for volleyball athletes, especially through the hips, many athletes are limited to their movement (to the ball).  With all that comes with growing, athletes of all ages should push the limits and practice lengthening!  One the muscles are heated, stretched both dynamically and with static… Read more »

Volleyball – Numbered or Color-coded “panels” on a volleyball will allow the athlete to WATCH THE BALL into her platform.  Take an older volleyball and identify the SIX panels.  The athlete will call out the color or number upon contact.  The athlete is not trying to guess which color/number contacted her/his platform BUT she should… Read more »

Volleyball – “Left foot parallel with the net!”  When a player is attacking/hitting and those final two steps (the step-close) of the 3 step hitting approach are coming in strong, have your athlete focus on her PLANT FOOT to complete the lateral momentum with her left foot (right-handed player) parallel, or nearly parallel with the… Read more »

Volleyball – One of the most common coaching “corrections” in youth volleyball with the Overhand Serve is ball/toss alignment.  Players tend to place the ball directly centered in front of them.  By simply adjusting the tossing hand/ball in front of the HITTING SHOULDER will allow for a more balanced and more accurate server. Basketball –… Read more »

Volleyball – When teaching the volleyball serve and breaking down those critical details remember to do more WALL serving than net serving.  Once that young athlete is on the net, they tend to be more concerned/distracted with “getting it over” and not those critical details. Basketball – In teaching the BASIC CROSS-OVER, coach your young… Read more »

Volleyball – The volley-lite is one of the best things to happen with the game and it’s young players.  The one area you might step away from using it is with setting.  The weight of a small (27″ junior ball is great) basketball will let the ball fall down into the hands/wrist, forcing the wrists… Read more »