In this section, I would like to add some videos of non-volleyball skills that I believe really helped in my development as an overall athlete and then refined once I began a path in volleyball.
They are so beneficial in young developing athletes for coordination, conditioning, jumping and overall love of play!
These items I have pictured here can be found at your local store or hiding in your toybox!!
The ones I played with the most include:
- squishy or rubber balls or tennis balls
- skipping ropes (single and double dutch)
- footsie
- chinese jump rope (or elastics tied together)
- beach ball and smaller soft balls
They are so beneficial in young developing athletes for coordination, conditioning, jumping and overall love of play!
These items I have pictured here can be found at your local store or hiding in your toybox!!
The ones I played with the most include:
- squishy or rubber balls or tennis balls
- skipping ropes (single and double dutch)
- footsie
- chinese jump rope (or elastics tied together)
- beach ball and smaller soft balls
JUGGLING - 2 or 3 Balls
As a kid growing up, we spent our days playing outside. We entertained ourselves for hours with friends or by ourselves. My favourite pastime was playing with my "squishy balls" outside against the wall of the veranda. I played "2balls" or juggling and all the rhyme games that went with it. (video soon to follow).
I really believed this helped me with my volleyball skills in later years in the following ways:
1. hand-eye coordination
2. rhythm of body
3. memory
4. peripheral vision
5. dexterity
6. quicker reflexes
7. multi-tasking
8. slows the game down
I teach juggling skills to all the setters I train.
From 11 year olds to third year university... can you imagine how advanced coordination wise the 11yr old will be once they get to university!!..
For young athletes I start with 2 balls and they can progress from there. With the older athletes, they are rewiring some "I can't thinking" when I have them do 3 balls. Also, with juggling they are focusing on 3 balls and the chaos that entails, once they are in volleyball mode with only 1 ball , the game has slowed down immensely, leaving them free to worry about other parts of the game and not fully focusing on the ball!!.
Here is the first video clip on juggling... I have a young athlete doing my editing and movie making!!!.. (We are still learning so the music is overlapping my voice at the beginning of the video which basically is telling you the above and as my young athlete tells me "kids don't want to listen to adults..they would rather learn and watch other kids")..
Please leave me a comment and let me know what the reaction is to your athletes trying this skill. I highly recommend for setters naturally, but all the young volleyball athletes can benefit. My club coach taught us this when we were 15/16 and my national team coach had us do this as well!!
Footwork Drills & Passing (see blog for my notes)
Developing Jumping Skills
