PRIORITY #1:

Make sure that you keep their attention; otherwise, the best designed drills and most skilled coach will still produce a bunch of underachieving campers. Start on time, fun warm-up, animated announcements, loud directions, "ONE minute water breaks (not one second longer!)", silly stories, a few drills that are competitive, ... I call it "being an actor" for younger kids.

PRIORITY #2:

If you have some kids that have learned PROPER fundamentals somewhere else, get them grouped together asap. Otherwise, they'll be bored, and they may not even come back the next day.

PRIORITY #3:

Challenge the kids at whatever level they can handle. If you have a bunch of poor athletes, then don't allow them to experience constant frustration...teach them slowly. But if you have a bunch of good athletes, then move the drills along quicker and challenge them more. On my 14's junior team, a group of six girls had completed a serve receive drill with one ball left to be served at them. "OK," I said, "If you can pass this last one, JUMP set it, then attack using a correctly done 3-step approach, then you'll get Air Heads at the end of practice." AND THEY DID IT!! Lesson: try to challenge players that can handle it.

PRIORITY #4:

Review each day what was learned previously. In other words, spend 2 1/2 hours on Tues reviewing what you did in 4 hours on Monday. Make them show you: passing footwork again their 3-step approach again hand setting again. Design drills that emphasize each skill. These drills need to be different than the drills that were run the previous day. I would never do the same drill twice in one camp UNLESS maybe it's a competition with the "teams" rearranged.

DRILLS:

There are different kinds of drills:

• Timed drills - Last night our 14's had 3 minutes to serve.
• Goal drills - Last night our 14's had to serve 1 ball in the court, 1 girl at a time, until ALL twelve members got a serve over w/o error.
• Frantic drills - Our 14's have done the "Cover Drill" where 6 girls are given a ball to pass, set, attack. And as SOON as the ball is attacked, a coach (who's standing on the other side close the net) tosses in another ball as if the attack had been blocked.

How about if we combine a few of these.

• Goal/time drills - A team must pass 12 perfect balls in 60 seconds.
• Goal/frantic drills - The Cover Drill where a team must attack 10 STRAIGHT times before a new team can take their place. whoa!! One bad pass or one bad set and the team starts back at zero.