Volleyball Serving

Volleyball: Serving
 
 
Equipment:

• Cones
• Volleyballs (1 for each student)
• Wall space
• Volleyball courts and nets
• Poly spots

 
 
Cues (underhand):
1.Step with the opposite foot
2.Arm extended at waist- hold the ball in the palm of the non-dominant hand with the arm extended at the waist on the side of the hitting arm.
3.Hand open- Keep the hitting hand open
4.Tick tock- Hitting arm will go back and then forward in order to contact the ball
5.Drop and hit- Drop the ball from the non-dominant hand while the hitting arm will swing through in order to hit the ball
 
 
 
Task 1: Wall Serves (underhand)
 
For this task, each student will have a ball. Students may use a regular volleyball or a balloon, beach ball, or trainer ball. Students will stand on a poly spot about 10 feet away from a wall. Students will serve the ball to the wall, retrieve the ball, and repeat the serve.
 
            Extension: Have students focus on hitting the same spot on the wall
 
            Application: See how many times in a row the students can hit the same spot. If they miss they start over
 
            Refinement: Make sure that the students are not tossing the ball up in order to hit it. They must drop the ball in order to make contact. If they toss the ball in the air, the ball will go up instead of forward.
 
Task 2: Cone serves
 
For this task, students will have a partner with one ball per 2 students. There will be 3 sets of partners per volleyball court with one partner on one side and the other partner on the other side directly across from their partner. The teacher will place 6 cones on each side of the court. One cone will be on the 3-meter line, another halfway between the 3-meter line and the last cone on the service line. Have the students start with the ball all on the same side. The students with the ball will serve 5 in a row from the first set of cones (3-meter line). The other student will receive the ball and roll the ball back to their partner under the net. If the student successfully serves the 5 serves across the net into the court, they will move back to the second cone (halfway between 3-meter line and service line) and serve 5 more. If they successfully do that, they will move back to the service line and serve 5 more from there. If a student has trouble getting the ball over the net from a new position have them move back up the previous successful line. Once students serve 15 the students will switch roles.
 
            Refinement: If students are having a hard time hitting the ball at the same height each time talk to them about their contact point. The higher that they contact the ball the higher in the air it will go.
 
Task 3: 1V1 Serve
 
For this task, students will be partners with no more than 4 pairs per court. Again, the same cones will be on the court from the previous task. Starting at the first cone the students will attempt to serve the ball over the net to their partners. The receiver will attempt to catch the serve taking no more than 2 steps and then returns back to the first cone and serves the ball back to their partner who will do the same thing. When the partners catch three serves in a row each they will move back to the middle cone and attempt the same thing. Again if they successfully serve and catch 3 in a row each they will move back to the service line.
 
            Extension: If students are successfully serving and catching from the service line then allow the students to move around the court (not standing in front of each other). Before you do this talk to the students about safety by watching out for other volleyballs and not running into each other.
 
            Refinement: If students are having a hard time controlling the direction of their serves then talk to them about where they are contacting the ball with their hand. They need to work on contacting the ball in the middle rather than out towards the sides.