25 volleyball goals for serving, passing, hitting and your season

Volleyball serving goals

Serving goals are the easiest to count, because the serve is the one skill you do alone. That makes them close cousins of the serve goals in tennis goals.

• Get 8 serves in out of 10.
• Get 20 serves in a row over the net and in.
• Hit 50 serves at every practice.
• Hit each of the 6 zones 3 times out of 5.
• Land 6 float serves out of 10.

Passing and setting goals

Passing goals count clean touches in a row, and a wall is the only partner they need.

• Pass 50 balls in a row against a wall.
• Send 8 serve receive passes out of 10 to the setter's spot.
• Set 100 balls against a wall every day for 2 weeks.
• Set 10 balls in a row to the same target.
• Keep a pepper rally going for 50 touches with a partner.

Hitting and blocking goals

Hitting goals mix timing with jump height. Jumping higher is a goal shared with goals for basketball players.

• Do 30 full approaches at every practice.
• Land 7 attacks out of 10 in the court.
• Hit 5 balls down the line and 5 cross court on call.
• Add 5 cm to your jump reach in 12 weeks.
• Do 10 blocking steps in each direction at every practice.

Defence and court habit goals

Defensive goals are habits of effort and voice, which makes them yours whatever the score.

• Dig 20 balls in a row to a target.
• Call the ball out loud on every play for a full match.
• Be low and still before every serve for a full set.
• Chase every ball you could reach for a full set.
• Learn to roll out of a dig on both sides.

Season and practice goals

Season goals count the work, and they are what belongs on a goal sheet at the start of the year.

• Arrive 10 minutes early to every practice of the season.
• Hit 100 serves a week outside practice all season.
• Do jump training 2 times a week for 8 weeks.
• Watch the video of every match within 2 days.
• Make the team, or the starting six.

What is a good volleyball goal?

A good volleyball goal is about your own touch on the ball. A review of 27 studies of goal setting in sport found that process goals, the ones about how you carry out a skill, had the largest effect on performance. Goals about winning had almost none. "8 serves in out of 10" is yours to reach. "Win the league" needs the whole team.

Make it a number. A review of 35 years of goal research found that specific, hard goals lead to higher performance than being told to do your best. "Serve better" is not a number. "20 in a row" is.

Count at every practice, then look at the row of counts once a week. That short look is a weekly review, and it is where you see a skill that has stopped moving.

How to track volleyball goals

Write your counts down before you leave the gym. A review of 138 studies found that people who monitored their progress reached their goals more often, and that recording it beat keeping it in your head.

Serves and passes are amounts that add up. Practices are a day count. Jump training fits the same pattern as most fitness challenge ideas.

A season of serves is thousands of balls. A picture that fills up one practice at a time shows how many are already behind you.

Frequently asked questions

What are examples of volleyball goals?

Get 8 serves in out of 10. Pass 50 balls in a row against a wall. Do 30 approaches at every practice. Call the ball on every play for a full match. Arrive 10 minutes early to every practice of the season.

What are good goals for yourself in volleyball?

Ones that depend only on you: a serve percentage, a count of clean passes, a number of practices. In a review of 27 studies, goals about how a skill is carried out had the largest effect on performance.

What should a volleyball goal sheet include?

One serving goal, one passing goal, one habit for matches, and one count of practices. Write the number next to each one, and fill it in after every practice.