Volleyball Hudl Training and Drills Coaching Culture

Six Ideas for Digital Volleyball Team Meetings

May 19, 2020

2 Min Read

We’re all adjusting to the new normal this volleyball season. Here are some tips to help you make the transition to remote coaching.

Awkward silence.
Off-topic banter.
Slow internet.

Virtual team meetings can be tough.

“My biggest challenge is keeping my girls engaged. We are doing video calls as a team, but it’s tough to get them to do anything or talk.” Nate Torvik, Team Indiana Volleyball Club

This is uncharted territory for everyone. We’re here to help with ideas for your next team meeting.

Host a Virtual Book Club

There are great books on mindset, leadership and excellence. What better time than now to hone skills like these?

Step one: Decide on a book. If you (or your players) can’t get to a bookstore right now, pick one that’s in stock online or consider an eBook.

Step two: Come up with a schedule for how many pages your players need to read every week and get the first club meeting on the calendar. We also recommend starting a group chat to keep everyone accountable.

Step three: As you read, share inspiring quotes or favorite passages in the group chat to keep each other motivated.

Step four: Have each player come to the meetings with a question or discussion topic. That way, everyone will have something to share.

Group Workout

It can be hard for athletes to find motivation to work out alone. If that’s the case for your team (or even if it’s not), a virtual workout might be a good way to hold each other accountable and give athletes a sense of accomplishment. Just make sure to put a plan together beforehand. If you don’t, the pause it takes to decide what exercise to do next can mess up your rhythm.

Pro tip: Take the pressure off yourself. Have players flex their leadership skills by assigning one of them to lead each workout.

Play a Game

These next two have nothing to do with volleyball, which could be a nice change of pace. Pick a game or two (like Heads Up! or Houseparty) to put your athletes’ competitiveness to the test—and have fun.

Online Cooking Class

Teaching life skills, being together and eating good food? Sounds like a win-win-win. Pick a recipe to cook with your team virtually. Share the recipe and ingredients they’ll need beforehand so your team can schedule a grocery pick-up (or Instacart order).

Review Video Together

Matches aren’t happening, but that doesn’t mean you can’t watch volleyball. Search for a collegiate or professional match on YouTube. Have your team pick a player in the same position and write five things about what they’re doing well. How does the saying go, “Monkey see, monkey do?”

You could also pick a match you uploaded to Hudl and teach your athletes how to review film. Remind them not to focus on how awesome the kills and stuff blocks are, but narrow in on footwork and timing as an attacker, or see if they’re releasing too early from base on defense.

For more ways to communicate with your team and suggestions for the best video conferencing, messaging and content sharing tools, check out our Remote Coaching Guide.