In every sport, there are the basic fundamental drills that one must do at the start of every practice in order to excel. Volleyball is certainly no exception. One of the drills that the Varsity boy’s volleyball team does on a regular basis is called peppering.

“Peppering is basically a practice to consolidate volleyball fundamentals with a partner,” senior Nathan Nuengchana said.

The first person starts with a ball and tosses it to their partner, who then bumps the ball back to the partner who tossed it. The first partner then sets the ball and the second partner spikes it back. After this, the ball goes back and forth in this order until the ball hits the ground.

This drill can be very helpful in games and game like situations when fundamentals are essential.

“This drill can help with your teamwork,” senior Nathan Cielek said. “The better you work with your team and the more drills you do during practice can help during games.”

This drill however, takes practice in order to master it. When struggling with this drill, make sure to go back to the basics in order to succeed. 

“Make sure that you are maintaining good form while passing and hitting,” senior Sean Bering said. “Same applies with the hitting. If you don’t have great accuracy yet, focus on hitting fundamentals and don’t just try to hit the ball as hard as possible.”

If you are having trouble getting the hang of peppering, try to find a partner who is a little more experienced than you are so they can give pointers and advice.