Volleyball Tryout Tips
How to Make the School Team

Volleyball tryout tips to get attention and impress the coach. Do you know what you need to do to make the team? The following tips will help you prepare to beat out your competition and become successful at school volleyball. 

Get really good at something. Obviously, it's best to be good at all positions. But if you aren't good at all skills, you really need to be great at least 1 or 2. 

Coaches notice players that stand out. You don't want to be average at every skill and not really great at any. 

For example, if you're the only one at tryouts that can consistently serve the ball over the net, then you have an advantage. 

Also, many worry about school politics.

Don't make this mistake. Focus on what you have control over. If you get really good at something, then there won't be any question whether or not to take you.  

Coaches will notice really good servers. Especially at the middle school level, serving is very important. A lot of times games are won because a single server gets on a roll and serves a ton of consecutive points.

Being a poor server or not being able to serve the ball over the net will hurt your chances of making the team. Like I said, especially at younger ages, serving can make or break success.

Volleyball tryout tips for serving...

• Consistently serve a good floater. 
• Be able to serve to all 6 zones.
• Have a jump float serve you can consistently serve in bounds.

If you are hitting the ball hard and with accuracy, it will be hard for a coach to not choose you. 

Tips for hitting...

• Good approach footwork. 
• Step left-right-left when hitting right-handed. 
• Step right-left-right when hitting left-handed.
• Consistently hit the ball in bounds and hard.
• Don't give up or get discouraged when hitting poor sets.

Volleyball Tryout Tips for passing and defense...

• Have good ball control when peppering with a partner. 
• Understand where to pass the ball and be able to move and pass the ball to the target in serve receive.
• Effectively communicate with teammates in serve receive. 
• Call the ball when passing.
• Know where to position on defense and know what ball is yours.  

More Volleyball Tryout Tips...

Work hard in the classroom. Most coaches will consider grades. Kids that work hard and make good grades in school tend to work hard on the court in practice.

Show up in good physical condition. Coaches will test your fitness.

Athletes that are out of shape will definitely have a rough time at tryouts. If you're not in shape, this is a sign you aren't as active and maybe not that serious about playing volleyball competitively.

And if you're in good physical condition, you'll have an easier time demonstrating your volleyball skills.

Conditioning will affect decision making on the court. A tired athlete will also tend to make more physical errors such as missing serves, hitting the ball into the net, and shanking passes. 

Be confident. A coach wants kids that are confident in themselves. Act like you belong there. Be confident that you can do what's asked. 

Don't act like you are better than you really are. There's a big difference between confidence and arrogance. Coaches want players that will listen to the coach. Kids that think they are better than they actually are tend to be harder to coach. Always listen to and respect your coach. Believe that learning is fun and you have a lot to learn. 

How you interact with others is important

Body language doesn't whisper, it screams. Coaches are watching everything. How you react to plays, how you interact with teammates, etc. 

Be friendly with others that play volleyball at your school. Volleyball is a team sport. Social skills are very important. If you are friends and get along with your teammates before tryouts, this will look really good from the coach's perspective. The social dynamics of a team are very important to success. 

Love and respect the game. Learn as much as you can about volleyball. Understand what the coach is talking about and what is going on at tryouts. The better you understand what's going on, the more it will look like you belong on the team.

Good luck!