Volleyball Setting Drills - Improve Your Front Back Side Setting Skill

If you're a beginner looking to improve your setting touch and accuracy, or an advanced player aiming to perfect your side setting skills. this info will help

Welcome to my comprehensive guide on volleyball setting drills!

Whether you're a beginner looking to improve your setting hands touch and accuracy, or an advanced player aiming to perfect your side setting skills, this article is here to help.

I know for a fact that by consistently practicing these drills at home, you can enhance your overall performance on the volleyball court.

In this volleyball setting guide, I explore the benefits of side setting drills, provide step-by-step instructions on how to perform them, discuss additional variations to other setting drills to use to challenge yourself, and I offer useful tips to optimize your training.

At the bottom of this article you'll see some tips from five other famous setting coaching experts as well who offer drills and guidance for budding setters who want to learn the game. 

Let's get started so we can take your setting game to the next level!

Side setting is a valuable skill for any volleyball player, and the side set variation allows you to overcome challenging situations that can happen when you can't fully face the ball to set it.

Setters can use the side set to outsmart and outfake the opposing block by looking as if they're going to set one of their hitters and instead they side set the ball over the net and over the middle blocker to the middle of the opposing team's court for a point. 

In this section, I explore the advantages of using side setting drills and other setting drills in your training routine.

To keep your training dynamic and engaging, I think it's important to use different variations of setting drills. 

In this section, I will introduce various drills that target specific aspects of setting, including strength, accuracy, and decision-making skills.

Increase the effectiveness of your setting drills with helpful tips and insights.

From maintaining focus to setting specific goals, I'll share strategies to ensure that you make the most out of your training sessions.

Whether you do drills at home by yourself, or you're doing them in practice with your teammates, it's best to get in the habit of setting mini goals for yourself to reach in order to complete each drill.

For example, let's say you have to get 50 perfectly passed balls to the target before stopping one drill and going on to the next.

Not only will you discipline yourself to perform the volleyball drills correctly, but you will replicate the pressure you will feel in a game-like situation when you absolutely have to do the skill right.

In your practices, you may have noticed that different components of skills are taken apart and learned in progressions or separately one at a time.

Many beginner volleyball drills are broken down into their most basic steps and as you learn those, then you progress to more advanced elements of the skill.

So things like footwork, lower body positioning then upper body positioning, armswing mechanics and timing are learned and coached first.

Other things are gradually added to the mix as you improve on the basics, like

• court awareness and positioning, court spacing among other teammates,
• foot speed
• using wide vision
• learning how to get to a volleyball quickly along with communication-what to say and how to say it

Certain volleyball setting drills may require specific equipment to enhance your training experience.

This section will provide recommendations on the equipment you may need and where to find it.

Whether it's a medicine ball, a weighted setter ball or a wall, we have got you covered.

For those seeking more information and further opportunities to improve their setting technique, I have curated a list of additional resources.

Improving your setting skills in volleyball takes consistent practice, and with the right drills, you can enhance your hands touch, accuracy, and versatility.

By incorporating these setting drills into your at-home training routine, you'll develop the necessary foundation to succeed on the volleyball court.

Remember to

• consult my step-by-step instructions
• explore additional variations
• utilize our training tips
• check out the recommended equipment.

These volleyball setting drills are explained by five accomplished setter coaches who are specialists in teaching and coaching this skill.

Hear from these five experts...

• Alisha Glass
• Kele Eveland
• Christy Johnson Lynch
• Lauren Carlini
• Chris P Austin

...about what their fave volleyball setting drills are, why they do them and what you can expect to gain by doing them too. 

First up is USA Volleyball Olympic Silver medalist Alisha Glass. 

In this video Alisha talks about how easy the "catch and release" contact of the ball during your setting technique should be. 

Watch as she demonstarates an "easy-to-do" at-home floor drill which aims to help you improve your setting form. 

If you're looking for volleyball setting drills to do at home, the second suggestion focuses on wall drills which I highly recommend doing. 

Especially as you move away from the wall, wall drills are good for building hand and shoulder strength and increasing accuracy.

• Alisha Glass is a two-time Olympic setter for the United States and was named a two-time USA Volleyball Female Indoor Player of the Year

• She is a three-time gold medalist in three FIVB Grand Prix competitions

• Won three consecutive NCAA championship titles as the starting setter at Penn State for the Nittany Lions

• The finalist for the Women's Sports Foundation Sportswoman of the Year in 2014 and was named the Best Setter on the 2016 Olympic Dream Team 

Source: Art of Coaching Volleyball

Kele demonstrates two volleyball setting drills that help the setter "feel" where the middle blocker is going to take-off and land. 

The drills are designed to help build a better connection between a middle blocker and her setter. 

• Kele is the first player ever in the Atlantic Coast Conference and her alma mater Georgia Tech to be named as a First Team AVCA All American ever

• She is the most decorated player in Georgia Tech volleyball history

• Finished her career ranked fourth on the NCAA career assist list with 6,464 which places her first on the career assist list at Tech and in the ACC

• After playing professionally for four years in Spain, Kele became the assistant coach at San Diego State under head coach Deitre Collins Parker

• Founder and Head Coach of Setter Training.com, Elite Setter and Volleyball Training with video subscriptions and online lessons

Source: SetterTraining.com

Christy shows us drills that work on developing hand strength and release quickness for a setter. 

Secondly working on setter movement where the setter has to quickly get to a ball, beating the ball to  the spot where its going to land, getting "squared" to the the antenna at Zone 4 and contacting the ball before setting it to the target. 

Lastly, Christy shows us a couple of drills that work on improving setter vision. 

• Since 2005 Christy Johnson Lynch has been the head coach of Iowa State Cyclone's women's volleyball team

• Coach Johnson coached the Cyclones to the NCAA playoff Elite Eight twice 

• With the exception of her first year, she has coached Iowa to the NCAA Championship playoffs every season

• In 2009, the Big 12 Conference Coach of the Year was named the AVCA Central Region Coach of the Year and ASICS/Volleyball Magazine National Coach of the Year

• Coach Christy is 141 - 75 against Big 12 opponents

Source: Art of Coaching Volleyball

One of our countries best young setters, Lauren Carlini is now a professional volleyball setter and a member of the US Women's National team. 

Watch her as she goes through a setting session her freshman year, at her alma mater the University of Wisconsin.

• In 2017, Carlini was the first volleyball player to win the AAU James E. Sullivan Award. The other six finalists were all Olympic gold medalists

• The 2016 Sullivan Award winner is a three-time First Team All AVCA All American 

• The setter at the University of Wisconsin is the first Badger volleyball athlete to be named as a four time AVCA All American and a four time All-Big Ten player 

• Ranked as the number one recruit in the nation by Prepvolleyball.com in 2012 Carlini was the Gatorade National High School Player of the Year the same year

• Now a USA Volleyball National Team member, Lauren Carlini is the face of the new Adidas volleyball campaign

Source: FRVBC 

Chris is a Division I NCAA championship winning setter.

He shows us some great setting drills he has his young setters do in practices and that you can do at-home. 

• Chris Austin is a two time NCAA National Championship setter having graduated and played at UC Irvine after playing one year at Long Beach City college

• The Las Vegas native played professional volleyball in Finland and Greece

• Chris was named to two NCAA Final Four All Tournament teams

• Chris was a member of the USA Volleyball Junior National Team

• Chris is the Founder of National Champ Volleyball Training Academy, authored the book "The Way", created a signature line of hats and tees called 'Young Lion' and is a motivational speaker!
• He's also the founder of Libero College Volleyball, Hitter College Volleyball and Setter College Volleyball

Source: Volleyball 1on1 Video

Thank you so much for visiting this site and reading the info on this page. 

I'd love to know what did you think of this page and the information on it? 

• What was your favorite clip?
• What are you going to immediately use and apply in your setting team practices or individual practices?
• Do you have a setting drill you'd like to share that others can learn about?

Leave it in the comments below. I'd love to join in the discussion. 

Sources

• Art of Coaching Volleyball

• Setter Training.com

• Front Range VBC

• Volleyball 1on1 videos

Follow me on Pinterest Volleybragswag to improve your game even faster!

I share alot of individual, partner and easy-to-do volleyball serving drills we do in class with my followers.

Many of these volleyball practice drills you can do at home by yourself or try at your next practice with your teammates.

If you're a B team or JV player trying to make varsity next year...your goal should be to complete 1000 reps a day of at least three of the basic skills on your own...volleyball passing, serving and setting should be at the top of the list. 

Your three options are: 

1. You can learn more about Drills by visiting the Related Links below.  
2. Follow the suggested reading on our Sitemap page  Learning How To Play (Sitemap)
3. 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. 

SUSCRIBE
To My Email Newsletter Below!

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)

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)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Vegas Volley (@vegas_volley)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Vegas Volley (@vegas_volley)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Vegas Volley (@vegas_volley)