What are some tips you can give me for volleyball tryouts?

Volleyball tryouts this year? Need practice?

• Hey guys, this year i'm going to tryout for the volleyball team. I'm in middle school :) I went to the meeting last year for tryouts and got sick the day of the tryouts, so i couldn't play. That really bummed me out so i stopped for the whole year. I decided to try again and tryout this year. I really love volleyball. Yes, i do have experience, but since i haven't practiced in forever, i'm a little rusty. Do you guys have any tips? I am kinda nervous, but not really. I know i can do this if i try hard enough. anyways, Last year at the meeting they said if you couldn't run atleast 8 minutes non stop, you were out. Any tips about that? We run a mile every couple weeks, but tryouts are at the beginning of the year. I suck at serving and i'm pretty good at setting, just not in a straight line. My mom and brother are gonna help, so any tips? I really wanna make it this year...i need something to do! Ha. Anyways, thank you. Give me as much advice as possible, i really need it. Oh, and school starts in a few weeks, so please help! I really want to be good so maybe i can make it next year too! Thanks! :)

• Answer:

  Firstly, it's really cool that you're trying again to make your team and I really hope you make it! I play for my high school volleyball team and I've been playing for almost 6 years. My main advice for you is to practice your passing and setting, at your age serving really is not that important and if you make the team you'll learn how to serve. The best setting drill I can think of is to lay on your back and set the ball straight in the air and then try to continue setting as you get into a sitting position and then continue setting as you lay back down. The setters on my JV team can do this for about ten minutes, its exhausting but really helps improve your setting. Another drill is to set a ball onto your roof and see if it has spin on it, good sets have no spin on them. At all. If it has spin your pushing off one hand too much so you need to work on your sets. Practice setting 4's and 2's by having your mom and brother stand in the position of middle blocker and outside and set to them. A good set it high, and has no spin. I play libero, so I have several good passing drills. Firstly, stay in your passing position and pass the ball against the wall. After every pass freeze and analyze how your form is. If you passed it badly, look at your form and see what you did wrong and then try to fix it. Another good drill is to pepper with your family. This is as simple as passing back and forth with your brother, and if he's bad at volleyball thats even better because it can teach you to pass a ball off of a bad pass. My favorite passing drill though involves several volleyballs and its called coach on 1. Have your brother throw one ball behind you, after you pass that have him throw one to your side or in front of you. Each ball should be extremely far from the ball thrown before it to make the drill more difficult. Oh, and on the 8 minutes non-stop, that shouldn't be hard at all. I can run about 15 minutes non-stop and I despise running. Just work on running untill it hurts. Aim for 10 minutes non-stop and then when your coach asks for 8 it will seem easy. 8 minutes of running is about a mile (if you're sprinting). Another tip on how to make a team is know your stuff. Know all the volleyball terms and rules, this will really impress a coach. If you listen well and know your terms you should be able to make the team. Go to http://www.volleyball.com and refresh your knowledge of the game, good luck