MAH Volleyball Training · Coach Chris
Online Volleyball Training for Passing and Defense
Develop your passing and defense with online instruction from Coach Chris Mah Agustin. Learn how reading the play, moving into position and controlling the ball work together, then choose a self-guided program or individualized coaching for the part of your game you want to improve.
01 / The rally
How reading, movement and contact work together
A libero’s pass or dig affects the time and options available to the teammate who plays the ball next. Reading the play and adjusting your movement help you arrive with the space and control you need to send that teammate a usable ball.
THE MAH SEQUENCE connects those parts of the play:
READ → MOVE → CONTROL → EXECUTE
01
Read
Begin with the information available in the play and the area your team expects you to cover. On serve receive, that means watching the server and the ball’s flight; on defense, it means following the opposing pass, set, hitter and block. As the play develops, keep using that information to judge where you need to move.
02
Move
Use what you recognize to choose your direction, pace and distance. As the ball’s path becomes clearer, keep adjusting your movement so you can reach the contact point with room to play it.
03
Control
The space you create between your body and the ball affects how you can control the contact. As you move, prepare your body position and balance for the ball you expect to play, then adjust as needed to influence its direction, pace and height.
04
Execute
Use the contact to give your teammate a ball they can play. That may mean creating a useful setting opportunity or an attackable ball in transition, while a more difficult situation may require you to keep the ball playable so your team can continue the rally.
You continue reading as you move, and each movement changes how you can contact the ball. Following the whole sequence helps you understand how an earlier decision affected the play that followed.
02 / Study the result
Find out why the pass missed its target
When a pass misses the setting area, look at how the athlete reached the ball before deciding what to correct. Two passes can finish in a similar place even though the players need help with different parts of the reception.
When the difficulty begins at contact
A passer may read the serve early, move efficiently and arrive balanced with enough room to play the ball, then mishandle the contact. In this example, the earlier preparation gave the athlete a useful opportunity, so the contact itself may be the part that needs attention.
When the difficulty begins earlier
Another passer may recognize the serve late and take a route that leaves them crowded or drifting as they reach the ball. Those earlier difficulties can reduce their control at contact, so changing the platform alone may leave the movement problem unresolved.
These examples show why it helps to follow the reception from the server’s preparation through the next teammate’s contact. Look for the first meaningful part of the play the athlete could improve, then review several representative repetitions to decide whether that difficulty is a useful training priority.
Read: How to Review Serve-Receive Film and Choose What to Work On
03 / Connected skills
Connect the skills you use in a rally
Serve receive and the setting opportunity
Serve receive begins with knowing your passing responsibility and watching the server. As you read the ball’s direction and depth, adjust your movement so you can meet it with enough room to direct a usable pass toward your setter. A fixed target can help you practice that relationship, while game situations also require you to account for the setter’s position and the ball you can control.
When reviewing the pass, follow what happened next: did it give the setter enough time and space to make the next play?
Read: Serve-Receive First-Step Timing
Read: Passing Short, Lateral and Deep Serves: Adjusting to the Ball
Reading the attack and adjusting your position
A libero begins reading the attack by watching the opponent’s pass and how it affects the setter’s options. As the play develops, the set, hitter and block help you judge where to position yourself and how to prepare for the ball. Following those changes helps you get into position before the swing and remain ready to adjust when the ball is hit.
When reviewing the defense, follow the information available as the defender moved, then look at whether they could still respond when the hitter contacted the ball.
Read: How to Read a Volleyball Attack Before Contact
Moving into position with room to play the ball
As you move toward the ball, continue adjusting your pace and distance to leave yourself room at contact. Your spacing, momentum and balance affect the control you can produce, especially when the play requires you to reach or contact the ball while moving.
Pause the video just before contact and look at how the athlete arrived. That view can help you understand whether the movement created room to play the ball or left the athlete crowded and trying to recover.
04 / Development over time
Carry the work from practice into the game
Practice should help you respond when the play changes. A movement that works in a predictable drill needs to remain useful against a different serve, a moving setter or an attack that develops differently than expected.
Through THE MAH SYSTEM, development begins with assessing the athlete’s strengths and a difficulty that appears repeatedly in their play. Training then focuses on that priority while connecting it to the teammates, timing and decisions the athlete will face in a match. As the practice becomes less predictable, the coach can see what holds up and what still needs attention, then use game footage to guide the next step.
Two athletes may need different progressions even when they struggle with a similar result. The aim is to build on what each athlete already does well while improving the part of the play that is limiting them.
The coach behind the teaching
Learn with Coach Chris Mah Agustin
Coach Chris Mah Agustin is a former No. 1-ranked libero in the United States with more than 30 years of experience playing and coaching volleyball. His teaching follows how an athlete reads the play, moves toward the ball and prepares for contact, then considers what that contact made possible for the team.
That approach guides both the self-guided instruction and individualized coaching: understand how the difficulty develops, choose a useful training priority and review how the work carries into the game.
05 / Online training
Choose the support that fits your next step
You can study a specific skill through self-guided lessons, discuss your game footage with Coach Chris or follow a practice plan with feedback and reassessment. Choose the format that fits what you want to develop and how much individual guidance you need.
Libero Footwork
$49 USD · One-time purchase · Self-guided
Study defensive movement through four demonstrations and three recorded coaching lessons. The practice resources help you return to the instruction and apply it as you train.
Explore Libero FootworkDirectional Passing
$39 USD · One-time purchase · Self-guided
Use three video lessons, an Athlete Guide and partner practice to work on how your movement and contact space affect passing direction.
Explore Directional PassingFilm Review
$149 USD · One-time purchase · Live and individualized
Discuss your game footage with Coach Chris during one live, interactive call of up to 30 minutes. You can ask questions during the session and receive an individualized Development Priority Brief to guide what you work on next.
Explore Film ReviewRemote Coaching
$299 USD · One-time purchase · Individualized training and reassessment
Work on one development priority through an initial coaching call and an individualized practice plan. An early application check and final reassessment help you review how the work is developing.
Explore Remote Coaching