Many coaches believe that practices should be as game like as possible. I’m in that camp as well, however I do think that there are times that you must drill specific skills in order to teach them. As far as teaching volleyball for life, I fully believe that players should play as much as possible. Being that I coach at a high school where we are in a rebuilding process and have been for a few years, I love drills that allow players to learn, touch the ball as much as possible, and allow them to have fun doing it. My favorite drill (read “Game”) for this purpose is 4 Corner Kings.

003 – 4 Corner Kings (Queens)

Players - 8 (although preferably 10 or more even numbered players)
Balls - As many as you want, it can be played with one.
Objective -
As Coaches: To improve ball control, reading the opponent, increase touches on the ball, and fun. Can be used as a reward for good practices, etc.
As Players: To win rally points and achieve “kings” court status, then getting a run of points while opposing teams try to get you off “kings” court.
Description – Two player teams are created equally with no more than 8 teams. The court is divided into 4 equal portions, like the image to the right; Court A, B, C and D. Teams occupy the 4 courts and extra teams wait off the sideline of court D.

Court A is the “kings” court. The team on Court A is the only team that wins points and they win a point for every rally terminated outside of their court. A missed serve does not give the “kings” court a point. Court D is the serving court. If a server misses a serve, the team on court D is off and at the back of the wait line while a new team serves. If the rally is terminated on court B for instance, the players on court B are off and the team on court C rotates to court B, the team on court D rotates to court C, and a new team takes a spot on court D.

If the rally is terminated on court A, the “kings’ are off the court and everyone rotates forward a court and a new team from the wait line enters court D. Once a team gets a run of points as “kings”, those points stay with them and they keep a running total throughout the game.

Once a team contacts the ball, that team has access to the full court on their side of the net, meaning that if the team on court A contacts the ball on defense, they may play a ball on court B to get the ball over. The team on court B must allow them to play and not get in the way of team playing the ball over.

This game can be played for a specified time, or until a team wins a predetermined amount of points.

Variation – “Kings” court players can serve to add pressure to the team to serve well and keep the court. Teams can also be 3-4 players although the more players on a team, the less of a chance of touches by some of your weaker players, hurting their progress. Missed serves by teams can count as points for the “kings” court.

Wait line players can perform pushups, situps, planks, etc. to keep the blood pumping while they wait.

TVT – I love this drill because players love this drill (ahem, “game”). I also love this drill because it teaches the game of volleyball better than many drills I’ve seen. It ensures that all players touch the ball thereby getting better quicker. It disciplines players for errors by taking them out of the game for a while, the best punishment ever. It forces players to win multiple rallies just to get to the “kings” court. Players I have coached through this drill have also become better communicators and get a small taste of 2 man sand volleyball strategies for use later in life and that’s always an important part of a volleyball teacher’s job.