Many coaches know how to teach older kids how to perform fundamental skills effectively. But what about 8 through 12 years old. Many coaches are tasked with teaching skills to youngsters but have been adults so long that they seem out of touch and try to train this age group like they would train a 16 year old or older. There are a few things that can help a struggling coach with teaching youth skills.

Involve the kids

Attention spans can be short at this age and they may be talking to each other, or thinking about other things when you demonstrate the passing skill for instance. So, think of funny things you can say, like “Don’t swing you arms like this (Don’t be afraid to swing your arms crazily) remember, we’re not elephants are we?” and expect a response. Much like a clown, you must keep the kids attention as a group and make them laugh and remember the concepts of the pass. You can refer to these jokes later when instructing players one on one during the practice session. The more questions you ask of the group, the more they remember the skill breakdown and cues we coaches work so hard to come up with.

Use a helper

Many kids love to help. Grab a player and have them perform the skill, without the ball, as they would do now that they have had instruction from you. Ask the other kids what the helper is doing right? This is important, you want to focus on the positive and see if other players were listening. You also don’t want to wreak havoc on the self-esteem of your helper or your helper won’t want to help anymore.

Once others have explained what was done right, show the helper how they can improve by pointing out the negatives in a positive way, and always smile. Before you correct, ask other kids how your helper might do better. For instance: Would Cayden pass better if his knees were bent or straight?  Wait for a response, if it’s correct, smile and thank the answerer, if it’s wrong, keep asking until you have the right answer. Have them perform the skill again, but this time with a ball.

Ask vague questions, get cliche answers

Any time you ask questions to a group of kids, you are going to get a lot of answers that they think you want to hear. There are a lot of cliches that coaches are known for and kids, even at this age level, know them. They want to please you. But if you ask, “What is the most important skill in volleyball to you?” You might get teamwork, a good attitude, being on time, or any number of things before you get the answer you want because kids have been drilled these ideas about sports, and they might not even agree, they just know coaches like that stuff. To avoid this, ask leading questions like, “Do any of you think Serving is important?” or “”What do you think is the most important skill in volleyball? (While holding a ball at the end line and posing like you are about to serve)”

Take it easy

Understand that kids think cues are robotic stop points they must follow to perform the skills. They don’t quite understand that the cues should be thought of, not performed individually. A ball comes at them. They crouch, then place their hands together and put their fingers pointed down, then all of the sudden the ball gets to their arms and they shank the ball and they weren’t even ready because they were mentally going through their checklist of cues. In worst case scenarios, they think volleyball is too hard and never come back to your summer camps. You need to explain to kids that cues are things to remember and think about once the pass is made, not during.

This is one way to explain it

“All the cues I’ve given you here today are to help you figure out what you are doing wrong when you make a mistake. We don’t want you to think about every cue while you pass, because you end up looking like a robot. (Act it out here: look like a robot when you pass, and if you do it well, expect some giggles, this will help them understand how goofy it looks when you think too hard.) But if you make a mistake, you can say to yourself, Okay, I think I hit the ball with my wrists and coach said I should hit the meaty part of my forearm not my wrists.”

Don’t be afraid to look foolish

Don’t feel like you need to be professional to gain respect of your players here, pre-teens don’t respect militant and just-the-facts coaches, they fear them. Coach fear is never a good thing with kids. You must embrace your inner child when dealing with this age group and don’t be afraid to look a little foolish. If kids are giggling at/with you, they are listening to you and they respect you because you are “Pretty Cool.” They will also respect you if you help them play volleyball better.