15 club volleyball tryout tips from a Tennessee Hall of Fame inductee and elite club coach who's helped hundreds of athletes navigate tryouts successfully.

Three Player Pepper Volleyball Drill Use With Odd Numbers Of Players

Usually in practice there's an even number of players but with an odd number of players you can use the three person pepper volleyball drill as a warmup option

If your athlete struggles with consistent serve receive, gets subbed out, or is overlooked for playing time—this is the fix you’ve been looking for.

Struggling with passing consistency?

I help talented passers tired of getting pulled from games because of inconsistent serve receive skills BUILD passing confidence without expensive private lessons using the same 3-step system that's helped dozens of my athletes get recruited.

Download my eBook for $7.99 and start building the passing confidence that keeps you on the court—and gets you seen by college coaches.

One of the first drills every high school and club player learns is the pepper volleyball drill, which is a warmup drill used to increase and improve your ability to control the ball using four of the six basic skills setting, passing, hitting and digging.

We do variations of the Three Player Pepper Volleyball Drill in Warmups in Breakfast Club with Coach April especially when we have an odd number of players.

Concentrate on improving your ball control skills during your pepper drill warm-up.

What you do in pre-game warm-up prepares you for game performance. Practice in pepper how you want to play in the game.

Work on proper setting and serve receive skill, form, and technique when performing pepper during pre-game warm-up.

Every opportunity to play pepper is another opportunity to improve your basic setting and serve receive skills. Take advantage of it.

Three Player Pepper Volleyball Drill Use With Odd Numbers Of Players

Use the three player pepper volleyball drill warmup to

become the best passer on your team

Focus on keeping your partner from moving more than one step in any direction to pass the ball back to you.

The Three Player Pepper Volleyball Drill During Breakfast Club Volleyball Class with Coach April

Practice using excellent technique

during your pepper hitting arm swing keep your elbow high and then follow through with your thumb to thigh

Every opportunity to practice your arm swing makes you a hitter that reaches high for every set.

Imagine clearing the net height even when you pepper. This helps you contact the ball at its highest height.

What Should Your Goals Be For The Three Player Pepper Volleyball Drill?

With your two partners don't play small play big and push each other

You improve faster when you push yourself beyond your comfort zone, land become okay with earning to do things that make you uncomfortable at first

Three Player Pepper Volleyball Drill - Hit, Set and Dig with Carmela, Adlai and Alex

Discipline yourself to stay low in your defensive position, ready to move in any direction just before your partner hits the ball.

Your goal is to be in this low stance before the ball gets to you, not as it is getting to you.

Learn to react quickly and rely on quick reflexes that can control the ball

Then dig a controlled high ball back to your partner without making your partner move more than one step in any direction.

This is what helps you improve your control of the ball.

Narrow your focus so the only thing that you are focused on is the ball.

This will help you increase your concentration and the focus you need to have during tense game moments.

Three Player Pepper Volleyball Drill Use With Odd Numbers Of Players

Three Player Pepper Volleyball Drill with Carm, Cass and Adlai

Playing with a male or someone better or stronger than you makes you a better, stronger, faster player.

Commit to hitting harder at your partner as your ball control skills improve during pepper warm-up.

By hitting harder, you and your partner increase your reactions and ability to dig hard spikes. It also reduces your fear of digging hard hit balls.

Three Player Pepper Volleyball drill with Kate, Adlai and Alex

Do your Pepper drill with a player that's better than you and has much better ball control skills.

Playing with a male or someone better or stronger than you makes you a better, stronger, faster player.

Three Player Pepper Volleyball:
Where Do You Go From Here?

Your three options are:

You can learn more about Drills by visiting the Related Links below.
Follow the suggested reading on our Sitemap page Learning How To Play (Sitemap)
Or visit the pages in the How to Play Volleyball section in the drop down menu at the top of the page to get started.

You might like the pepper volleyball drill and other drills that volleyball players love!

What Is Peppering In Volleyball? A Pregame Defense Ball Control Drill
What is peppering in volleyball? A pregame or practice ball control drill with two players using pass, set, hit variations while keeping the ball off the floor.
The Name For The Bump Set Spike Volleyball Drill is The Pepper Drill
When a player says "lets play the Bump Set Spike volleyball drill" they're a beginner while an experienced player says to their practice partner 'let's pepper'
13 Ball Control Drills Volleyball Players Use Pepper To Help Defense
One of the first ball control drills volleyball players learn is the pepper drill a warmup drill used to increase and improve your ability to control the ball.
Volleyball Ball Control Drills 5 Ways You Can Practice Basic Skills
These 5 volleyball ball control drills will help you improve your passing setting and hitting technique using reps, wide vision, quickness and ball control

If your athlete struggles with consistent serve receive, gets subbed out, or is overlooked for playing time—this is the fix you’ve been looking for.

Struggling with passing consistency?

Download my eBook for $7.99 and start building the passing confidence that keeps you on the court—and gets you seen by college coaches.

From Lady Vol to Legend: Coach April Honored At UTK Champions Weekend

Lady Vol volleyball legend and record holder Coach April Chapple a University of Tennessee, Knoxville Hall of Fame Inductee, 3-time All American, 3-time SEC Champion, SEC Tournament MVP, 2-time All SEC Team is celebrated with her 1984 SEC champion teammates at Neyland Stadium during Champions Weekend on November 1-2, 2024.

utkaprilcollegepiconneylandstadiumvideoboard

Tennessee Hall of Fame inductee, Coach April Chapple is

the first First Round Draft Pick for the first American pro indoor women's league
named to the first First Team All-Pro team for Major League Volleyball in USA volleyball history
former USA National team member
one of the few American women players named as an Italian Pro League D-I Championship Finalist, Italian Cup Finalist and Cup of Cups Tournament Finalist

April Chapple The first First round Draft Pick For Major League Volleyball the first American Women's Pro League Honored At Athlete Unlimited Pro Volleyball Match

Coach April's 2025 Private and Semi private Volleyball Training

Pre-Registration now open for 2025 Private and Semiprivate Training Sessions with Coach April . Get prepared for club tryouts or train with me during club season!

Email now for information on semiprivate or private indoor skills, individual or small group training volleyball classes and my Breakfast Club for College Players training for 2025.

Invest in your improvement while preepping for your next level and college goals while working hard and training smart.

Email me right now to register or for more information.

info@improveyourvolley.com

Serving slang is not just about individual techniques; it also relates to overall game strategy. A coach might instruct a player to serve a "short serve" or a "deep serve" to target specific areas of the opponent's court or exploit weaknesses in their serve receive formation.

Ari, my private training client and I are working specifically on serving on jump float cross court serves ...short to Zone 2

There's so much we work on to get to this point where she can contact the ball with

the same toss height and same toss location
the same armswing speed
the same timing for when her serving hand contacts the ball
the middle of the hand contacting the middle of the ball every single time
getting use to watching her serving hand contact the ball at the highest point of her jump ...before she starts to land
and finally contacting the ball in the precise spot on the ball so it goes where the coach wants the player to put it so in this case ..a short serve in the farthest short right corner on the court also called Zone 2.

kamiminerpac12setteroftheyearformercoachaprilchappleprivateclient3years

Tommi Stockham All Big West Conference sophomore former Coach April Chapple private client 3 years

katepriorallwestcoastconferencebyufreshmanformercoachaprilchappleprivateclient3years

I have my own special QR code to my Linktree profile!

Scan to find out what you shouldn't be missing!

Click For More Info

Affiliate Disclosure

If you make a purchase through a link on my site, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. The Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

I only recommend products that I believe to have good value. Click to read my

(affiliate disclosure).

Donations Welcome!

If my free social media online training and/or instruction on this site has helped improve your game or meet your goals CLICK the Cash App link below to make a donation!

Thank you!

cash.app/$apchapvcevbc

Dear Vegas Parent

Read my open letter to Las Vegas Jr high/high school volleyball parents about my predictions on individual and small group volleyball training trends for 2019/2021

Tennessee Athletics Honors April Chapple at Champions Weekend for Legendary Volleyball Achievements

From Lady Vol to Legend: Coach April Produces Powerful Passionate Players...is that you?

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Vegas Volley (@vegas_volley)

Congratulations to my seven Boys-18s Vegas Volley club players who played in two state championship finals yesterday, the 3A and 5A State champinship finals at Sunrise Mountain High School.

TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS!

A-1 Vegas Volley VBC

In It To Win It Tournament

May 2 - 4, 2025 Tournament

Gold Medalists

18s Premier Division

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Vegas Volley (@vegas_volley)

Making A-1 Vegas Volleyball history as the very first TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS! In the In It To Win It Tournament, May 2-4, 2025 Tournament, A-1 Vegas Volleyball Club Gold Medalists, 18s Premier Division