Volleyball Blocking Drills

Volleyball blocking drills help your team win more by putting your team in a position to stop the ball from crossing the net and also funnel the ball to the defense. 

Volleyball Blocking Drills

It's important to realize the purpose of blocking isn't necessarily to prevent the ball from crossing the net. 

Your goal for blocking may be to just take up space so your defense has a better chance to make the defensive play. For this strategy, it's important for you defenders to be on the same page as the blockers. The defenders need to know what the blockers are responsible for taking away. 

It's a certain area of the crossing space the block is responsible for. The other area the defense is responsible for taking. For example, the blockers may be taking more "line". This would be any ball that's hit down the line, the blockers should take away. So, the defenders would prepare for balls hit "cross-court". 

Then there are also the techniques for blocking. What's important is to penetrate the net. The more a blocker can penetrate, the more area and higher percentage of crossing space the blocker will take away. So, always focus on reaching over the net and don't focus so much on reaching high above your head.

Big things to think about...

• Learn to read the opponent's offense. The better you are at anticipating what the opponent is doing, the better you will be at getting in correct position. 
• Timing the block is critical, so always be paying attention to what's happening.
• Always penetrate the net when you block. Even if you have good timing, you could easily have the ball tooled off your hands, sending the ball out of bounds.  

Volleyball Blocking Drills

1. Partner Penetration Drill. Have two blockers stand at the net on opposite sides. Have each player mirror each other as they jump up and penetrate the hands over the net. You can also hold a volleyball up above the net and have the blocker jump up and penetrate over the net to make contact with the ball. Players need to get a feel what it's like to penetrate.
2.  Angle the Hands Drill. When you block, you should be angling the hands in a way so that the hands will deflect the ball down into the court. If you're blocking near the sideline, be sure to angle that outside hand so the ball rebounds into the court. 
3. Lateral Movement Drill. The movement along the net needs to be practiced. The quicker the blocker can move laterally, the more likely the blocker will get into the correct position to block. Good blocking is all about good timing. If the timing is off, then you likely won't make a successful play on the ball. 
4. Swing Blocking Drill. A more advanced technique for blocking is called the swing block. The swing block is basically a technique for taking an approach to the ball, using the arms to jump higher so the blocker can get up higher and penetrate the net more. Teammates should practice swing blocking alongside one another so they can get into a rhythm moving along the net. Again, timing is critical. If timing is off, it will also be tougher for the defense to be in the correct spot on defense.
5. Blocking Line Drill. Have blockers practice taking away the "down the line" crossing space. When done correctly, the blockers are successfully taking away the line hit while the defense is prepared to dig the cross-court hit.
6. Blocking Cross Court Drill. This drill is just the opposite as when blocking line. Again, be sure to have both the players at the net blocking and the players back playing defense on the same page. Also, teach the defense to read the blocker so they'll have a better understanding of where to be on defense. It's always better to have more information on what is going on. If the defense understands the responsibilities of the block, then it will be much easier to play defense.  

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