Volleyball Drills for Mental Toughness

May 4, 2018

During the game of volleyball you should definitely control both your body and your mind all the time. That’s the reason why athletes have to focus on practicing both mental and physical volleyball skills. It’s important to know that mental toughness is something that must be developed by athletes of all skill levels.

In reality, mental skills are often overlooked by volleyball players. In other words, athletes only do exercises for improving their physical volleyball skills. As a result, athletes can’t demonstrate the best possible results during important volleyball matches.

A volleyball player should definitely do everything he/she can to improve his/her mental fitness. That means that drills for mental toughness need to be a key part of a volleyball training program.

This blog post concentrates on volleyball drills for mental toughness. First of all, we will talk about the importance of training volleyball players for mental toughness. Also, we’ll provide some of the best drills for building mental toughness on the court.

Why It’s So Important for Volleyball Players to Practise Drills for Mental Toughness

Mentally tough volleyball players can do a great job on the court. You’ve probably heard many times that “to err is human”. Everyone can make mistakes. Actually, the same can be said about the sport of volleyball.

The reality is every volleyball player makes mistakes. And of course, any type of mistakes negatively affect a volleyball player’s performance. It’s also important to note that athletes are constantly under the pressure during the volleyball match. So, volleyball players often worry a lot and can’t focus on the game. The things may get worse if a volleyball player doesn’t keep the situation under control.

Obviously, a volleyball player should be able to control his/her mind and make the necessary adjustments quickly when such a need arises. In fact, mental toughness can fall into different categories – mind over the body, mind over circumstance and mind over fear.

It’s clear that drills for mental toughness is something that a volleyball player has to do consistently. The big question is – what needs to be done to build mental toughness in volleyball players? Now, it’s time for you to find the correct answer to this important question!

Volleyball drills are a great way to develop mental toughness. In fact, there are many great drills that volleyball players can do to improve their mental fitness significantly. Practicing these volleyball drills on a regular basis will contribute greatly to your mental fitness over the time. Sooner or later, you’ll become mentally strong and will be able to overcome different types of challenges during volleyball matches. Therefore, you should definitely incorporate these volleyball drills for mental toughness into your training program. Below, we’ll talk about some of the best volleyball drills for mental thoughtless.

Mental Toughness Volleyball Drills

Volleyball Side-Out Drill

Oftentimes, volleyball players relax and lose their focus after a won rally. As a result, a volleyball team misses an opportunity to win more points. The main purpose of this drill is really to focus on side-out type of volleyball. During the drill athletes also play free ball type of volleyball. The drill puts a lot of balls in play and involves a lot of movements as well as wash plays and rally plays. The volleyball drill finishes with a good serve.

Doing so called volleyball side-out drill (also known as the 1 – 2 – 1 drill) on a regular basis helps athletes refocus quickly when such a need arises during the game. So, volleyball players become mentally tough over time. Practicing this type of drill allows volleyball players to return back to the game after side out within a short period of time and then focus on service. This may help a volleyball team earn additional points.

First of all, volleyball players have to be divided into two teams. Volleyball players need to practise a serve-receive at the beginning of the drill. When a team wins a point, a coach has to toss the free ball very quickly and the game continues. If a team wins the first free ball, the second free ball is tossed and the game goes on. If a team also wins the second free ball, volleyball players get the right to make a serve.

Volleyball side-out drill is all about 1 serve-receive ball and 2 free balls. Finally, volleyball players have to serve and play the game till the game. Afterwards, teams have to rotate. That’s why volleyball side-out drill is also called 1 – 2 – 1 drill.

Two Ball Passing Drill

The two ball passing is another great volleyball drill for mental toughness. This volleyball drill is all about doing ball control sequences. When doing this volleyball drill athletes have to focus on several different things. It’s worth noting that the drill requires a lot of concentration. During the drill volleyball players need to do two different ball control activities.

The two ball passing is practiced by two volleyball players. First of all, athletes have to stand in front of each other. The drill begins with two ball passing. At this stage, volleyball players need to concentrate on the ball in the air that passes back and forth.

During the drill volleyball players also need to roll the ball on the ground back and forth. So, athletes have to divide their attention. They have to watch carefully two balls – one ball on the ground and one ball in the air. It’s crucial for volleyball players to stay low when doing the two ball passing drill.

Russ Rose

The entire volleyball team and three servers participate in Russ Rose drill. The goal of the drill is to practise spiker coverage and develop confidence as well as mental toughness among back row players, servers, passers and hitters.

It all begins with the preparation. The entire team has to go to one side of the court. Three servers have to go to the opposite part of the court. A server makes a serve and the drill starts. First of all, a team has to receive the serve and make a pass. Then, the ball is set and the attacker carries out an attack hit.

During the drill volleyball players have to see the ball, receive serve, pass the ball, set the ball and carry out an attack hit. While practicing the drill athletes have to play aggressively and change their positions on the court all the time.

Twenty One

This volleyball drill requires 3 volleyball players as well as 1 ball and 1 net. The drill can be also practiced by 4 volleyball players.

It’s worth noting that doing Twenty One drill delivers multiple significant benefits to volleyball players. The drill helps volleyball players master the art of passing and setting. On the other hand, the drill positively affects the communication between volleyball players. However, the most important thing is that this type of a drill has a huge positive impact on a volleyball player’s mental toughness.

Twenty One is the volleyball drill that can be done by athletes of all skill levels. During the drill a volleyball player has to do forearm pass-and-follow consequences. First of all, a volleyball player has to pass the ball over the net. Then, a volleyball player has to go under the net and follow the ball. Lastly, an athlete has to position himself/herself behind the player on the opposite side of the court.

Totally, volleyball players have to make 21 consecutive passes. Athletes also should try to make different types of volleyball passes during the drill. For example, volleyball players can do either setting or over-head passing. Plus, volleyball players should communicate with each other throughout the drill to avoid any type of misunderstanding on the court.

Thank you so much for reading this article. Obviously, a volleyball player has to be mentally tough. Practise our mental toughness drills for volleyball on a regular basis and success will not keep you waiting for a long time. Sooner or later, you’ll be able to learn how to control your mind. Best of luck!