Coaching Tips

On this page, you’ll find coaching tips for both new and experienced coaches—because no matter how long you’ve been coaching, there’s always something new to learn. Each week, we’ll share a new tip focused on helping you grow as a coach, improve your practices, and better support your athletes.

Negative Reinforcement & Using Consequences Effectively

As coaches, we should avoid using negative reinforcement as a primary way to motivate players—especially when mistakes are caused by a lack of understanding or skill development. If an athlete doesn’t fully know how to perform a skill, punishment or negative feedback will not lead to improvement and can reduce confidence, effort, and trust. In these moments, our responsibility is to teach, demonstrate, and give clear, corrective feedback.

That said, consequences do have a place in practice when used intentionally and appropriately.

Good moments to use consequences include:

• Lack of effort or focus
• Poor body language or negative attitude
• Not following team standards or expectations
• Disrespect toward teammates, coaches, or the game
• Repeated mistakes that come from choice, not confusion

In these situations, consequences help reinforce accountability and team culture—not skill learning.

Important reminders when using consequences:

• Make expectations clear before practice
• Keep consequences consistent and fair
• Use performance- or team-based consequences (ex: extra reps, reset the drill, team conditioning) rather than personal punishment
• Avoid consequences that embarrass or single out athletes
• Always connect the consequence back to the standard you expect

Finally, we want athletes to develop internal motivation—playing because they want to improve, compete, and support their teammates. Internally motivated players bring better effort to drills, stay engaged during challenges, and perform more consistently in matches. Our coaching approach should build confidence, understanding, and accountability while keeping the love for the game at the center.

Teach first. Hold standards. Develop motivated, confident players.

Mental Training & Mindset

One of the biggest performance boosters in volleyball is training the mind, not just the skills. Share this framework with your teams to help them recognize where they are mentally during practice and matches:

Mindset Levels:

1. Negative Mindset

– Characterized by self-doubt and harsh self-talk

– Example: “I missed my hit. I suck.”

This mindset lowers confidence and increases mistakes.

2. Positive Mindset

– Focused on solutions, improvement, and effort

– Example: “My next hit will be better.”

This is the gateway to higher performance.

3. Flow State (The Goal)

– When athletes feel confident, focused, and play freely

– Trusting instincts, reacting quickly, and competing without overthinking

Athletes can only reach flow state when they are operating from a positive mindset.

How to Help Athletes Get There: “Back It Up Statements”

Teach players to replace negative self-talk with a positive statement + a proof-based thought.

Example progression:

• 
  
•  Negative: “I missed my hit, I suck.”
• 
  
•  Positive: “My next hit will be better.”
• 
  
•  Back It Up Statement: “I’ve had really great hits before.”

These “back it up statements” give the brain evidence to believe the positive thought, helping players shift faster into a confident, competitive mindset.

Encourage your athletes to practice this language daily so it becomes automatic in matches.

Proper Footwork for Serving & Hitting

When serving or hitting, the player’s opposite foot should be in front.

• If a player serves or hits with their right hand, their left foot should be forward.
• If they serve or hit with their left hand, their right foot should be forward.

Why does this matter?

Power in both serving and hitting is generated through the hips and core, not just the arm swing. By placing the opposite foot forward, players are able to:

• Rotate their hips correctly
• Engage the core for maximum power
• Maintain balance and stability
• Create a more efficient and controlled swing

Coaching Reminder:

Keep an eye out for this footwork and make adjustments with players as needed. Many athletes develop habits early, and they can be challenging to break. Stay consistent with your feedback and keep reinforcing proper mechanics until you see the correction stick.

Pass from Your Hip, Not Just Your Midline

While athletes are often taught to “pass from your midline,” many high-level passers actually create their best platform slightly off the midline and closer to their hip. Here’s why:

• Better Angle Control

Passing from the hip naturally tilts the platform toward the target, allowing athletes to create cleaner angles without forcing the ball back to center.

• Faster Reaction Time

Most serves don’t land perfectly on the midline. Training to pass from the hip helps players adjust more quickly to balls served at their seams or outside their body.

• More Stability

Pulling the ball slightly to the hip engages stronger core and lower-body muscles, creating a firmer, more controlled platform.

• Reduces Shanking on Tight Serves

When balls are served into the body, shifting the ball to the hip gives the passer space to absorb and redirect the ball instead of letting it jam their midline.

Bottom Line:

Passing from your hip allows athletes to angle, adjust, and control the ball more naturally — especially against tough serves.