Many girls volleyball players don’t know how to use the Pepper Warm up Drill as a way to improve their volleyball game. Below are 5 ways elite volleyball players use “Pepper” as a way to improve their volleyball defensive skill.

1. To Improve Ball Control volleyball skills.

2. To Improve Serve Receive volleyball technique.I think that Pepper is the number one way for indoor volleyball players to improve their volleyball control skills…if they know how to do it. You have to be aware of why you are Peppering in the first place. If not, then it just becomes a way to raise your body temperature…some.

a. When YOU set-whoever sets should be working on proper volleyball setting skill, form and technique.

The Goal- the volleyball should go right to your partner without them taking more than one step in any direction to chase your ball.

b. When Your partner passes back-concentration should be on using excellent form for serve receive and free ball passing-especially now since this is an easy ball.The Goal- first to pass the volleyball so she/he can hit the ball right back without taking more than one step. Secondly, bump setting practice for accuracy so each and every ball goes right back to above the hitters extended hitting arm.

c. When You hit. You hit a controlled 1/2 to 3/4 speed down ball right to your partner. In this instance you have a controlled situation in which to improve your skill and practice the finer points of your arm swing. Concentrate -on “reaching” raising your elbow and hitting high while controlling the ball speed. Don’t hit by your ear just because there’s no net! Hit low in Pepper means you hit low in hitting warm ups and then in a volleyball game. Trust me-it all transfers. Your body is recording every movement you make it do-so pledge to yourself to do the volleyball skill and the movements right.

The Goal- To hit the spot you are aiming for-which in Pepper is right to your partner-so that she doesn’t have to move more than one step UNLESS you choose to mix up your attack and include a tip to your partner. Highly recommended after you have improved your ball control.d. Your partner digs-focus on being down in your defensive position before your partner hits the ball meaning by the time they make contact. Because Pepper partners are relatively close together you will automatically be developing quick reflexes. Here is where you practice combining quick reflex with BALL CONTROL. React quickly…then control the ball. React quickly then c-o-n-t-r-o-l the ball.

The Goal- Learning to absorb a hard hit ball at a close distance and delivering that ball (softly, gently people) in control to your target without making them move more than one step. Fight to perform the volleyball skill correctly and to maintain control of the ball.

3. To Increase Your Range in your Defensive Volleyball Skill.

Advanced players can challenge their partners (you both need to agree to make the drill work) by tipping the ball further and further out of reach – the more of these balls you get in pepper-the more you will get in the game. It all transfers. Or by hitting a 1/2 to 3/4 speed down ball a foot or 2 to the right or left of the defender will increase your range of harder hit defensive balls that you dig up around you.

4. To Narrow Your Focus and Concentration

Many times Pepper warm ups take place in a crowded environment. Either with 25 teammates on either side of you, or near that net divider that separates the courts in a volleyball tournament, fans that walk up and down the aisles, team benches, believe it or not this is a great practice opportunity- to narrow your focus and increase volleyball concentration skills so that it doesn’t matter what happens around you…the world can come to an end but your focus is only on the volleyball.

5. To Increase Your Reactions and Reduce Fear of the Ball

As your ball control gets better then you and your Pepper partner should agree to challenge each other to make each other better players. I had fantastic pepper partners in college (Beverly Robinson) and in Italy (Paula Weishoff, Elaina Oden) who would run me ragged, pushing me and peppering all over the court in pre game warm ups. This was how my defensive volleyball skills improved tremendously.

When you get to the point when you are exchanging 10-12 pass,set,hit combinations in a row Stop and both of you commit to hitting harder at each other. About 3/4 the speed of your regularly hit spike-BUT YOUR GOAL is to still work up to as many pass-set-hit exchanges as you can while Controlling the ball. Your digs should still be going right to each other.

Always work on improving your individual volleyball skills, remember the ball is in Your hands.

In girls volleyball especially, lack of communication on the volleyball court is like playing blindfolded. When volleyball players talk about what’s going on there are very few surprises and very little confusion. Here we break up the volleyball skill of how and what to communicate to your front row players so you learn to how to become a team leader.

1. Where to Hit–what’s open.

One of the best things you can communicate to your front row hitter (s) is what part of the court is open. This can be combined with letting them know what the block is NOT taking away. This can be done in two ways. You can wait between plays and after the ball is dead you can tell your hitter “Hey they keep blocking you line just keep cranking it hard cross court. ” Or you can do what I do and what elite beach volleyball players are taught and trained to do and that’s to yell to the hitter what is open as the play is developing. It takes practice…so do it in practice but get used to watching for what the block is taking away then call the opposite OR call the open area on the court. Use one syllable commands and Say them loudly just before your hitter makes contact with the ball at the height of his spike. Call “LINE”, “CROSS”, “TIP”.

2. The Block.

You can choose to tell your hitter whether the block is UP or not. I yell “Nobody” which lets my hitter know that she can swing away and hit the poop out of the ball with no worries. This often happens on a ball that has come back over unexpectedly and the opposing team’s block doesnt have time to form but your hitter is looking UP at a high ball unable to see whether he/she has a block or not. By calling out “nobody” you are being your hitter’s eyes. Another option to help out your hitter is tell them how many blockers he/she has. I learned in Italy to communicate as much as possible how many blockers my hitter had just before they hit. “Y’ got ONE” or “Y’ got TWO” let’s my hitter receive information that they have ONE or TWO blockers up…that helps them decide how and where they want to hit the ball.

3. Who the hitters are on the opposing team’s front row.

Call out where and who the front row hitters are on the opposite team. Say it out loud and if you want to point with your fingers like I do….Do it…that’s always fun it just adds a little emphasis. Let everybody know on your team whether the setter is front row which means it’s possible for her to turn and hit or to tip it over to your court. Let everybody know especially her…that YOU know where she is. Say It LOUD. Trust me usually setters are less likely to sneak attack a tip when they know that YOU know that they are front row.

4. Characteristics of the opposing hitters.

Sometimes the back row is the best place in the house to see what is happening in the front row. If there is a particular hitter that your block can’t seem to stop…watch to see exactly How that spiker is being successful then communicate that to your front row. Here’s what I mean. If the same hitter has gotten points by spiking the ball on your side its your responsibility to give your blockers the information needed to stop them. Are your blockers jumping too soon against a hitter with a slow armswing. Then tell them to “Wait” and time their block so they go up later. Is the hitter beating your block by hitting inside the middle blocker’s internal hand? Tell the outside blockers (with the coach’s approval) to take one more step to the middle of the court-taking away more of the cross court.

5. “Cover”.

I have seen many balls that were easy to recover that were blocked and deflected right back to the feet of the off blockers who forgot to cover their hitters. These are easy opportunities for your team to replay the ball and either sideout or make a point. Why waste the opportunity when it’s as easy as reminding everybody including and especially the off hitter/blockers who didn’t get set to come and “cover” the hitter.

Volleyball champions and expert volleyball coaches know that you don’t even have to touch the ball sometimes to make a big difference on the volleyball court. Below you will find 5 ways to help make your teammates become better players while improving your volleyball leadership skills.

1. As a Hitter… Call For the Ball from Your Setter

Especially for a high ball attack, I was taught that whoever calls the ball the loudest wants it the most. This really makes a difference for a setter who has to run and chase a pass that’s off the volleyball net. You have to understand as a hitter that your setter as she moves out of her comfort zone to focus on the ball may lose sight of her hitter options. If you were a setter if you couldn’t see your hitter very well you would have to rely on your hearing. One of the best ways of letting a setter know Where you are (aka Where she needs to set the ball) and that you are ready to hit the ball is to yell at her (or for the ball) …L-O-U-D-L-Y!!. What she can’t rely on visually she can rely on with audio–so you have to be loud and you have let her know you want the ball. Hey______ “Out here in 5!”, “Outside, Im out here!” Say it like you mean it! and she will be confident enough to set you the ball.

2. Call the Ball Early in Serve Receive.

This is a good way to direct traffic on the court and to increase your volleyball leadership skills. Whether it looks like you are going to be served or not Talk about what you see the server doing.Watch and remember player tendencies. If the last time a server has stepped up to the line she served the ball short if it looks like she is going to do it again Be prepared to Say it to your teammmates…”Watch the short serve”. Do it for whatever you see deep serves, short serves, cross court, down the line. I do this all the time especially when its quiet and the ref has blown the whistle already. I’m sometimes the only person saying anything but I don’t care. I’d rather warn my teammates about a possible short serve than be caught with my pants down by a surprise ace. What happens in this case. Some front row players who may be nervous and not focused enough will key in better and take a step up towards the net just because you warned them about the posssibilty of a short serve. Get use to commentating on what you see during the pauses in play. Use that time to let the other team know you are prepared for anything. Eliminating the element of surprise instills confidence in your teammates.

3. Remind Hitters to Cover.

I’ve seen players get resentful for being reminded to “cover” by other teammates. So here’s a cool way of “reminding” your teammates. Do it yourself. Obviously another way of improving your volleyball leadership skills what usually happens is Monkey see, Monkey Do. When YOU cover Say it loud “Cover” and then do it. The coolest thing to a hitter is to hit a ball, be blocked and to see another teammate pick that ball up so that the hitter has a second chance to put that ball away. Instill confidence in your front row hitters by always having their back in coverage.

4. Remind Your Blockers about Hitting Tendencies of Opposing Hitters.

I included this specifically to talk about an interesting phenomenon I see in high school volleyball and club ball volleyball so I’m going to talk about it here. If you see one of your front row players jumping to block someone who doesn’t jump to hit…why block? I see this alot. Two hitters spend the energy to go up and attempt to block a ball that has an upward trajectory (going towards the ceiling and then has to come down) so its a down ball that 9 times out of 10 the block is never going to touch. So why not spend that same energy transitioning back early into a down ball defensive position and concentrating on making a precise defensive dig so that you can run a fast offense? Make the other team pay for giving you a down ball…treat it just like a free ball and just practice increasing your transition speed. Let the down ball player hit the ball with no block, be courageous and let your defense get confident in digging that ball precisely. Another thing you can tell your blocker to do is instead of going up on a weak hitter or down ball hitter to double up and help the middle blocker out against the big front row hitter. So if you’re in the backrow and you see a blocker blocking a hitter that is never going to hit let them know let that person hit with no block and to either transition off or go block someone who deserves to be blocked.

5. Remind Your Setter Where the Big Block Is.

Sometimes what’s easiest for the setter to set may not be the smartest play for the team to make points. If your setter is setting the hitter that has the big block because maybe she hasnt recognized where the weaker or smaller blockers are…if you are a hitter in the front row…be a BMOC (big man on campus) and let your setter know where the smaller blocker is. Or where the weak blocker is. Or where the setter is. Tell her to set THAT way not to keep setting in front of the really tall girl who is a good blocker. And if that means you don’t get set…so be it. In the name of the team increase your volleyball leadership skills… Get the Point.

Always work on improving your individual volleyball skills, remember the ball is in Your hands.