- Improve Your Volleyball with Coach April
- The 6 Basic Skills of Volleyball All Varsity Players Should Know
- Volleyball Passing Skills
21 Tips For Players To Improve Their Volleyball Passing Skills
21 tips for players to improve their volleyball pass skills with step by step passing instructions from what to watch to how to hold your hands before the serve
These 21 volleyball pass tips describe how you should pass the ball starting from when the ball is in the opposing server's hands until you completely finish your passing action.
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.
21 Tips For Players To Improve Their Volleyball Passing Skills
What is the Correct Way To Pass A Volleyball?
Keep your feet shoulder width apart with your legs slightly bent.
- Having your right foot - inches in front of the left lets you move quickly in any direction.
Do the opposite if you’e a lefty.
Present your platform by wrapping your left hand around your right fist, thumbs pointing straight down to the ground.
- This positions your elbows and arms in a straight platform.
Contact the ball on your forearms.
- Check that your thumbs are always pointing to the ground, maintaining the straight platform needed to pass the ball.
Keep your elbows straight while passing.
- Straight elbows maintain a wider platform, giving you maximum control of the ball
Press both wrists together when passing, without breaking them apart no matter how hard or easy the serve
Make ball contact above the wrists and below the elbows.
- Contacting the ball on your wrists won’t allow you to control the ball
Face your body to the net and angle your platform towards the target before contacting the ball.
- This eliminates adjusting your arms once making contact with the ball
Keep both arms together when passing the ball.
- Keeping them together instead of breaking them apart and passing with one arm helps guide the ball better to the target
Coach April Chapple's Volleyball Passing Tips For Youth Volleyball Players
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21 Tips For Players Who Need To Improve Their Volleyball Passing Skills
Remember your goal is to keep from swinging your arms during your passing action.
- Most serves in high school, club or college are fast enough so very little additional arm movement is needed for the ball to reach the target.
Finish your pass with your serve receive platform below your shoulders not above your head.
- This allows you to control the ball when keeping your arms and shoulders within your body range.
Move your feet first to position yourself behind the ball.
- Get your body behind the ball instead of reaching with your arms
- If you’ve heard your coach say “pass with your feet first” that means to let your feet not your arms be first in guiding you in serve receive.
Run with your arms apart to get in position. You’ll move faster.
- You want to be stopped before you pass the ball to avoid running and bumping simultaneously.
- You are not controlling the ball when you run and bump together, and it usually goes right back over the net.
Present your platform after you’ve stopped running.
- Your feet need to be in a balanced position first.
Focus on the ball in the opposing server’s hand, not on the server’s face.
- It’s the ball you need to pass.
- Focus on it as soon as the server gets it in her hands to serve.
Keep your eyes on the ball as it comes across the net.
- Taking your eyes off the ball as it travels over the middle of the court increases the chances of getting aced.
- You may also be unable to make minor adjustments to your feet to accurately pass the ball to your target.
Volleyball Passing Tips: Learn the Do's and Don'ts on Passing In Volleyball
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Volleyball Passing Form: When Passing Face The Net, Drop The Inside Shoulder and Angle Your Platform Passing in Volleyball: When Passing Avoid Turning To Face Your Target When You Bump A Volleyball Passing in Volleyball: When Passing Beat The Ball Dont Time The Ball |
Passing Don'ts in Volleyball: When Passing Dont Turn To Face The Target Just Angle Your Platform Passing in Volleyball: When Passing Dont Turn To Face The Target Keep Shoulders Parallel To The Net Passing in Volleyball: When Passing Track The Ball When Its In the Opposing Server's Hands Slo Mo |
21 Tips For Players Who Need To Improve Their Volleyball Passing Skills
Anticipate where you need to be. Get there with fast feet BEFORE you start passing the ball.
- By focusing early on the ball while it’s in the server’s hands you get an early indication on whether she is going to serve short, cross court, or down the line.
Keep your eyes on the ball. Visually track it as it leaves the server’s hand, crosses the net, and all the way into your platform.
- Many passers get distracted, taking their eyes off the ball or tracking it once it crosses the net, which is late.
- Focusing on the ball early lets you anticipate necessary minor adjustments in your platform or with your feet.
- Do it early, so you won’t have any more arm adjusting once you make contact with the ball.
As needed for deep serves, shift your body weight from your back (left) foot to your front (right) foot when contacting the ball, without swinging your arms.
- Lefties do the opposite.
Pass with both feet on the volleyball court floor rather than doing the “jump- bump.”
- You can make small adjustments with your feet on the ground which you can’t do with your feet in the air.
In practices, maintain good passing technique all the time, especially for the easy serves.
- You’ve taught your body the proper passing positioning and will automatically react with the correct technique no matter how hard or fast the serve is.
Work on foot speed and agility drills.
- You’ll be able to get behind each ball quickly with your feet first by increasing your short distance speed, giving yourself plenty of time to present your platform, lower your hips under the ball and make the perfect pass.
Volleyball Passing Skills:
Where Do You Go From Here?
Your three options are:
- You can learn more Volleyball Pass Tips in 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.
Explore My Volleyball Passing Skills Guide in the pages below
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Improve volleyball communication skills by learning 5 things to say before your team serves like what to tell your setter and how to remind hitters to cover.
Volleyball Skills Video Volleyball Drills To Improve Passing Technique
Volleyball Skills Video: These 15 volleyball drills to improve passing feature exercises that you can do at home by yourself or with one, two or three partners.
Why Having Strong Volleyball Serving Skills Will Give You Playing Time
After you learn the 6 basic skills of volleyball you should focus on developing strong volleyball serving skills so you can score points from the service line.
Teaching Volleyball Skills and Drills To Create Tough Outside Hitters
I do alot of coaching and teaching volleyball skills in order to create mentally, physically and well conditioned outside hitters for left and right sides.
How to Improve Volleyball Skills: Pass, Serve, Set, Hit, Block and Dig
Learn how to improve volleyball skills-the pass, serve, set, hit, dig and block are the six basic volleyball techniques you learn to play on the varsity team
Beginner Players Must Learn The 6 Basic Skills In Volleyball First
Beginner players looking to learn how to perform all six of the basic skills in volleyball serving, passing, setting, digging, hitting and blocking start here.
The 6 Basic Skills of Volleyball All Varsity Players Should Know
Varsity players know the 6 basic skills of volleyball are passing, setting, blocking, digging, hitting and serving which starts a rally and is the most important
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.
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.
- 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
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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.
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Learn More About The Pass
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From Lady Vol to Legend: Coach April Produces Powerful Passionate Players...is that you?
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
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 DivisionWhat Are You Looking For?
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