The next step is for tosses to come from the the other side of the net. The farther the tossed ball travels, the easier it is for the passer to realize she really doesn’t have to move her platform at the ball to make it move forward.
Put the retriever on the side with the passer. Just keep reminding the passers the retriever is NOT a target. We will start aiming the ball later.
The girls may struggle with judging where the ball will come down. Take a look back at my story about my first day of coaching softball.
You will find that some of your girls are more adept at judging than others. When I was in high school I read an article in "Parade Magazine" about major league outfielders and what makes them exceptional at knowing where a fly ball will come down. Of course experience played a part. They started baseball as kids and caught many fly balls in their careers.
Good eyesight is a must. The eyesight of the average MLB player is 20/11.
Understanding who is batting and what pitch is being thrown helps.
But what I found really interesting was that these athletes were born with a built-in advantage. For some reason their ability to see a ball hit in the air and know exactly where it would land is better than the average bear. Some of this was experience, but they were born with the skill.
We are all born with some of this ability and can improve it. But the players who make a living at it are a special group. No matter how hard the rest of us train, we will never be part of that group.
Logically, some players are naturally better at knowing where that ball will come down when it’s served. A few will never get it. But all players can improve. It will take time and creative activities, but four or five kids in each group can gain enough experience to become proficient passers.
After the girls are able to move into the passing position, extend their platforms in front of them. Let the ball just bounce off it. It’s time to introduce distance and direction of the bounce.
Let’s talk about the distance issue. Just sticking your platform in front of the ball does not guarantee the ball will travel the perfect distance to the setter’s box. If the serve is traveling really fast, the player may need to give a bit with contact. If the serve is soft, there may need to be some movement to the ball to get the ball to the box. That movement should be made with a pressing movement from the legs and the platform. Not much swinging should be involved.
To start working on distance control, I used the 3-6-9 drill. With a group of 3 players, passer, tosser, and target, the passer makes 9 passes – 3 passes from the 3-meter line, 3 passes from 6 meters, and 3 from 9 meters. The tosses come from the other side of the net. Each pass is directed straight ahead to the target standing by the net. Each passer completes each group of 9 passes before the three girls rotate positions.
To begin the drill, have the girls learn the distance the ball will travel by allowing the tosses to bounce off their platforms. Be sure the girls are in a good passing position and their shoulders and platform are strong and firm.
The tosser must be aware of her importance to her teammates’ progress. She must make good tosses that can be easily passed. With young girls, this might be a coach-centered drill even though I like the players to learn how to toss. It’s an important skill for all players.
The next step is to have them direct the ball off line or to the setter. Assuming most passes will be traveling to the player’s right, she must track the ball to her left thigh. If she is passing to a target right in front of her, she tracks the ball to her midline.
As she moves her body so the ball is slightly left of center, she drops her right shoulder so her platform is perpendicular to her target. It will take a few reps to get a feel for just where she needs the ball and how much she needs to drop her shoulder.
Let me remind you of the importance of the hands and platform being away from the body with her feet apart and her knees bent over the toes.
You can still use the 3-6-9 drill to introduce this.
Many girls will try to twist their platforms to direct the ball. So it’s very important that they drop the shoulder to direct it rather than twist their platforms or cut the ball. The less unneeded movement the better. We want to make every skill as simple as we can.
The mental image of blocking the ball rather than swinging at it as they receive serve is much the same picture they should have when digging a driven ball as you will see later.
As you create any passing drill, the tosses and serves they receive should gradually get harder and harder. Start with easy tosses and make the judgement as to when they are ready for the velocity to increase. You may have a group of four or five players who advance quicker. Separate them into their own group until others advance to their level.
Make passing well a team goal. Create team pride with your passing. Remind them that once the server contacts the ball, there is nothing the other team can do to disrupt the pass. Regardless of her height, everyone can pass/block the serve.
And remember, the pass is the beginning of the offense.
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