Fun Warm-up Activities

[crimandgray 0]

I'm seeking fun warm-up activities for my volleyball team instead of the usual 5 laps.

The following is one activity that my girls seemed to like:

Line the players up single file in any order.

The first player holds a volleyball.

The team begins to run around the gym while passing the volleyball overhead and behind them to the back of the line.

The last person in line takes the ball and runs to the front of the line (I made them run to the outside of the line to keep them from cutting corners).

Continue the drill until everyone has run to the front of the line.

I know there are fun "train-tag" games and such but can't remember how they're played. Anybody??

[newbiecoach 0]

I'm not sure what age your girls are but one of the warm-ups we have done is tunnel tag. A few of the girls will be "it" and when you're tagged you're frozen until a teammate goes through your legs. After the first few practices though, a lot of them started slacking and would pretend to be frozen to avoid running!

I've also done relay races where they switch between running forward, back pedalling and low side-stepping. Usually on the last one I let them do whatever they want....the goofier the better

One more and then I'll stop.....They line up single-file in a back corner, run to the net and jump with arms up (like blocking), take a few side steps and jump again, side steps & jump. Usually 3 jumps total, then back pedal to the opposite corner. After the last girl gets in the new line they start again. This one really gets them huffin' & puffin'!

Hope these help you out....

[fmfjohn 0]

Crimandgray,

I made a post about a year ago warm-ups, and as I recall it was way to long. I've also changed it somewhat this year for a team of 7th and 8th graders with very different talent levels. It probably isn't as much fun as you might be looking for, but since practice time is limited, and I want to include as much technique teaching as I can, I think it might be worth considering.

I post this on a whiteboard before practice: Personal warm-ups: Hi-5! 5p/5s, 4 lines easy, 2-2-2-2, 3-3-3-3,3-5-5-3, Stevenson w/o ball- MON L&Rx2, Tutoring by request.

Which means: We have the girls indicate that they are really ready for "serious" practice by giving hi-5's to the coach(es) and all their teammates before they start to warm up. (it only takes once or twice before they like doing it!) Then, 5 set ups & 5 push ups (or whatever number you want). Next, they run 4 lines, which means starting in the center of the court facing the net, jogging to the right sideline and touching it with their right foot and hand, then jogging to the left sideline and touching it with their left foot and hand. That's 1 line. 2's has 3, 4, or even 5 players line up facing the net at arm's length away from it. (it can be done individually, but the girls really like to do it as a team, which makes it look like a dance:) Anyway, they take two slide steps in one direction, and end with a block type jump. Upon landing, they immediately take two slide steps in the opposite direction, again ending with a block jump. You can have them do as many repititions as you want but 6 would be about my max. 3's continues the jumping, but this time they use: lunge-step, cross-over, close, jump in one direction, then the same footwork pattern to the opposite direction. 3-5-5-3 is a combination of the 3's above with a combination of 2's and 3's to make the middle 5's. My thinking with these is that I have now covered the three basic footwork patterns that will take them anywhere across the net as blockers, gets them to jump alot, and gets their body temp raising.

The girls now step back to a foot or two behind the attack line and start Stevenson without a ball combined with Movement off the net. The first part of this - Stevenson w/o ball - is simple the pattern that you want the girls to use to hit a outside set. For me this is, from a low ready position make the arm movements for a bump pass to the setter, followed by 2 slide steps to the right or left, then a three step approach spike jump. When they land - toes, heel, knees - they pivot towards the center of the net, cross-over step and hop into their low ready position, ready to repeat the movements. We do this twice to the right and left, and you could add a middle hitter's approach if you wanted to.

Sorry this takes so long, but I really have had success with it as the girls do enjoy it, and also because I think it teaches or reinforces the basic offensive footwork patterns.

Hope to hear from more coaches on this subject. john