Volleyball Drills: Put Yours Parents’ Skills to The Test

At-Home Fun Volleyball Drills: Lets Put Parents” Skills to The Test

We all know those car rides home after a club or beach tournament that start off – “Honey, you seemed a little bit off today…” And our immediate thoughts are, Wow, that is the absolute last thing I want to hear right now, Mom.

Every athlete knows when they had a bad game or when our shots or swings are just not going down. Which makes it all the more annoying when parents let critical comments slip out at the worst times. Like in the car before a game, right after the game, or via sideline screams in- between plays and timeouts.

But let’s be honest – if they were in our shoes, I’m positive their mouths would be running way less. My parents growing up were thankfully more supportive than anything else. By high school, after a loss they knew not to say a word until we got home. It was a known rule in the household. Most parents, like mine, just want the best for their kids. They want to give them everything they can to succeed, including their often unneeded comments.

“Make sure you serve tough.“

“It didn’t seem like you connected with your hitters.“

“It’s ok you were just off today.“

I promise, they’re just trying to help, even if it doesn’t sound like it at the moment! But regardless of what I know now, often when I heard these comments, I would talk back. “Well, Dad, if you think it’s so easy, let’s see you get out there.” He always got quiet REALLLL FAST.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love my parents more than anything. They are my rocks and #1 supporters in everything that I do. They’ve helped me get to where I am today. And I know most parents say these corrective, “passively-aggressive encouraging comments” out of love, but I still want to show them how hard it is to do what we do. I think it’s about time we test our parents’ volleyball skills. And if we so choose, give them some “passively-aggressive encouraging comments” of our own.

Volleyball Drills for Beginners (or Parents)

• Start with a nice, loopy free ball. Can they pass it back to you, would it be high enough for their “hitters” to hit?

• If the free ball is too easy peasy, start down-balling to them. This normally catches them off guard. It sure made my mom grunt in pain a couple of times and turned her arms redder than an apple.
• Next, mix it up and move on to setting! If you have a basketball hoop or a big trash can, try tossing them a ball or two and see if they can make it in the hoop/trash can.
• If the tosses are easy for them, move the toss around. Most parents don’t understand how hard it is to run to a ball full-speed, pivot, and square-up to their target to bank a dime set with the perfect height and distance for their hitter to make great contact with it. (By now, your plan should be working. They’ll be exhausted AND likely to say less when you shank a set or waffle a hit next match.)
• The most entertaining part of the clinic was seeing how excellent their diving form was. All you need is to get them on their knees on a soft surface, of course, (we don’t want to put their old joints in pain), and toss a ball just outside their reach and see if they can successful pop a ball up with one arm. I didn’t know how well my parents would do, but my mom fully committed on the first toss! FULLY COMMITTED TO FACE PLANTING! I couldn’t help laughing (as I’m sure you couldn’t either), but she is an MVP for going all out for the ball. Not to mention, it was a pretty solid save!
• End the clinic with a friendly ball control challenge. Growing up in club, ball control was key. I had my parents pass to themselves across my driveway, then turn around and set to themselves back. Lastly, I had them alternate (pass then set) back down towards the basketball goal. Whoever got it in the hoop first won!

I had a blast putting my parents through these simple volleyball drills. As fun as it is for us athletes, it hopefully might give them a better insight of how hard some of these skills are for us when we put them into action in a match or a tournament. Maybe they will even lean towards giving more encouraging/supportive feedback rather than their critical feedback! That always makes for a better car ride back from a game! As a former club player and D1 college indoor athlete, I hope this message hits home for some of you! Go outside and test your parents’ volleyball skills. It’s fun and hopefully entertaining for everyone involved:)