How to run your first volleyball practice

Updated October 7, 2026

Keep a first practice simple: warm up, pass with a partner, work on passing and serving in small groups, play one game-like drill, and finish with a short scrimmage. Every player should have a ball by the ten-minute mark and keep touching one. The sample below runs about 75 minutes for 8 to 12 beginners on one court with a cart of balls, and every drill in it has its own page with the setup.

Before the players arrive
A sample 75-minute first practice
If you only have 60 minutes
What to say
What to skip on day one
For the next few practices

Before the players arrive

Put the net at the right height for the age group. The rules page lists the heights.
Pump the balls and fill the cart. Count them so you know how many go home with you.
Learn the names on your roster and bring a list to check off, so you can use names from the first drill.
Walk the floor for water, loose balls and anything near the walls.

A sample 75-minute first practice

0:00 Dynamic warm-up flow (10 min)
Lanes from the end line to just past the 10-foot line: jog down and backpedal back, high knees and butt kicks, skips, carioca, then lunges. Go through the lanes 2 or 3 times and speed up a little each round.
0:10 Partner passing (10 min)
Pairs about 15 feet (4.5 m) apart, one ball each. One tosses underhand, the other forearm passes it back so it can be caught without a step. Swap every 10 passes. Give one cue: arms straight, platform tilted at your partner.
0:20 Water (3 min)
0:23 Passing triangle (10 min)
Groups of three: a tosser, a passer and a target at the setter’s spot by the net. Ten passes, then everyone moves one corner on. With a player left over, add them as a second tosser and rotate them in. The cue: get your feet to the ball first, then stop and pass.
0:33 Serve to the called zone (10 min)
A line of servers behind the end line, a few serves each. On day one, a serve that clears the net counts. Let anyone who can’t reach move in a few steps; move them back as the serve gets over. The cue: toss to the same spot every time.
0:43 Water (2 min)
0:45 Butterfly: serve, pass, set, catch (12 min)
Serve, pass to the setter, set to a hitter who catches it, then everyone follows their ball to the next line. It needs 10 to 12 players. Have setters catch the pass instead of setting if sets are going everywhere. With fewer than 10 players, skip it and give the scrimmage the time.
0:57 Queen of the court (13 min)
Teams of three. The coach feeds a ball to the challengers; win the rally and take the queen side. It needs 6 to 12 players, keeps everyone moving, and ends practice with a game.
1:10 Cool-down and wrap-up (5 min)
An easy walk and stretch while you say two things the team did well and the one thing you’ll work on next time. Tell parents the time and place of the next practice.

If you only have 60 minutes

Drop the butterfly, cut the warm-up to 8 minutes and the scrimmage to 12. You still get two passing blocks, serving and a game.

What to say

Explain each drill in under a minute, then start it. Show it with a few players walking through it while the rest watch.
Give one cue per drill and use the same words all practice.
Name the skill when a rep is good: "Good platform, Sam."
Teach players to call "mine" on every ball they take, starting on day one.

What to skip on day one

Overhand and jump serving. Underhand serves that get over the net keep games going.
Full hitting approaches. Save approach footwork for the second or third practice.
Rotations, systems and positions. They can wait until players can keep a rally going.
Conditioning drills such as court suicides. Drills with a ball keep them moving enough.
Long lines. If more than three players are waiting, split the drill into more groups.

For the next few practices

Keep the same warm-up so it runs itself, swap one block at a time, and add partner pepper once pairs can pass back and forth. The beginner drills page has more to choose from.

Terms on this page

Attack line (10-foot line)

The line about 10 feet (3 m) from the net. Back row players take off from behind it when they attack.

Carioca

A sideways running step. The back leg crosses in front of the lead leg, then behind it, while the hips twist.

Platform

The flat surface your forearms make when you pass: arms straight, thumbs side by side, angled at the target.

Zones 1 to 6

The six court spots, numbered from your own side facing the net. Zone 1 is back right, where the serve is hit from.

        net
  4     3     2
  5     6     1
      end line

Butterfly

A circuit where each player follows their ball to the next line, so everyone plays every spot in turn.

Pepper

A warm-up for two players who keep one ball up by passing, setting and hitting it softly back and forth.

Setter

The player who usually takes the second contact and sets the ball to a hitter.

Approach

The steps a hitter takes before jumping: a slow first step, then quicker steps into the jump.