Volleyball coach essentials: from whistle to app
The short answer
A volleyball coach needs balls and a pump, a whistle, cones, a first aid kit, water and something to draw on. The paperwork around it, like the clipboard, attendance sheet, stat sheet and drill binder, fits in one app: in Koach your lineup, live scoring, attendance and drills are on your phone.
Most coaches look up volleyball coach essentials right before their first season, or once their bag has slowly turned into a stack of loose paper. Here is what really belongs in it, what your club usually already has, and which part of the bag your phone can take over.
Volleyball coach essentials: what goes in your bag?
A volleyball coach's bag has two halves. One half is gear for the gym: balls, a whistle, cones and a first aid kit. No app replaces any of that. The other half is paper: a clipboard with your lineup, an attendance sheet, a stat sheet and a binder full of drills. That half grows every season, and that is exactly the half that can move to your phone.
Start with the basics. Bring these to every practice and every match, or make sure they are already in the gym:
- Balls, a pump and a pressure gauge. Your club often has a ball bag, but check the pressure yourself: an overinflated ball stings on forearm passes, and an underinflated one dies on your platform. Most balls have the recommended pressure printed next to the valve. Bring a pump with a gauge and a spare needle. Lighter balls exist for young kids; ask whether your club has them.
- A whistle. In a gym with several courts, your voice barely carries over the noise. One blast starts or stops a drill without any shouting. A whistle on a lanyard never ends up under a pile of jackets.
- Cones and pinnies. Flat disc cones mark zones on the court, a target for serving or the spot where a player should stand. With pinnies (or bibs) you split a group into two teams in one go for a game-like drill.
- A first aid kit and an ice pack. Sprained ankles and jammed fingers come with the sport. Keep bandages, athletic tape, an elastic wrap, an instant cold pack that works without a freezer, small scissors and disposable gloves in a separate pocket. At your first practice, find out where the gym keeps its first aid kit and where the AED is.
- Water. Your own bottle, and with a youth team a few spares for whoever left theirs at home.
- Court shoes for yourself. You are on your feet and on the court for the whole practice, and many gyms do not allow street shoes on the floor.
- Something to draw on. A magnetic board, a whiteboard or your phone. What you choose depends on the size of your group and what you are already carrying. Magnetic board, LCD board or phone: the trade-offs are in volleyball coaching board: buy one or use your phone.
We leave brands and prices out: they vary too much by country and store. Ask your club what is already in the equipment room first; then you only have to fill your own bag.
The paper in your bag: clipboard, attendance sheet, stat sheet and binder
Next to the gear, almost every coach carries paper, anything from one clipboard to a binder that no longer closes:
- The clipboard with your lineup. Six names on a little court, the setter circled. After the first sub it is already out of date, and by the third set you can no longer see at a glance who is in the front row.
- The attendance sheet. A list of names and a check mark per practice. Who has missed a lot lately, you count by hand, and the "can't make it" messages live somewhere else: in the group chat or in your head.
- The stat sheet. Tally marks for points, errors and serves per player. The official scoresheet is filled in by the scorer or the referee; this one is your own. Tallying and coaching at the same time do not mix well, so the tallying often stops somewhere in the second set.
- The drill and practice binder. Printed drills, a season plan, notes in the margins. What goes in it and how to move it over is covered in the coaching binder: on paper or in an app.
- A phone list. Players' numbers and, with a youth team, the parents' numbers. Often an old list, or loose numbers without the child's name next to them.
Paper has real advantages: it costs next to nothing, needs no battery and everyone understands it. The problem is that each sheet only knows one thing. The attendance sheet does not know who is coming to the match, the stat sheet does not know who was on the court, and the clipboard does not know you just made a sub. A good volleyball team app brings those sheets together in one place.
What your phone takes over: four sheets in one app
We make Koach, so read this part as the maker's explanation. In Koach your roster, your lineup, your practices and your matches live in one app, on iPhone, Android and in the browser. Here is how the app replaces the sheets in your bag.
The lineup instead of the clipboard
On the Team tab, open Lineup view. Pick 5-1, 4-2 or 6-2, tap the player who starts in each spot and choose your setter and libero. View all 6 rotations shows how your team rotates through, and a lineup that works goes under Saved lineups for the next match. On match day that same lineup is on the live screen, where you sub with a tap on the player.
14 days free, no credit card. Put your lineup in the app tonight and leave the clipboard at home for the next match.
Try Koach with your teamAttendance instead of the attendance sheet
Players mark themselves in or out for practice in their own app, with a reason if they want. In the gym you tap whether each player is present, late or absent, or you choose All present and change only the exceptions. The app adds up each player's attendance over the season, so you see who misses a lot without counting.
Live scoring instead of the stat sheet
When your team scores, tap the plus by your own score and the app asks: Who scored the point? Tap the player, then how the point was won: attack, block or serve. If the point came from a mistake by the other team, tap Opponent error. When the other team scores, tap the plus by their score and mark what went wrong and who made the error, or that it was a Good ball by opponent. The app tracks the score, the serving order and the rotation; when your team wins the serve back, the lineup on screen rotates with it. After the match, points and errors per player are ready. Can't tap along because you are busy coaching? Use Authorize a player to keep score to let a team member with a linked account keep score on their own phone.
Drills and a tactics board instead of the binder
The app has 200 drills, each with an animation per phase. Sort by present players shows which drills fit the number of players you have that night, and you add them to your practice plan in timed blocks. Want to show something during a timeout? Open the Tactics board: a full or half court you draw on with Pen, Arrow and Dashed. With Share as image you send the drawing to your team.
The phone list has a home too. If a player has their own account, they fill in their phone number, an emergency contact and an emergency phone number themselves. You see them on the player's profile under Contact & emergency, and one tap on a number calls it. Players without their own account have nothing there, so keep your own list for them.
Paper or app: an honest comparison
Not everything has to move over. Here is what each sheet does, and what the app turns it into:
| What you do | On paper | In Koach |
|---|---|---|
| Lineup and rotations | Clipboard, accurate until the first sub | All six rotations, rotates live |
| Attendance | Check marks, counted by hand | One tap per player, the totals add themselves up |
| Absences | Group chat or your memory | Players mark themselves out, with a reason if they want |
| Points per player | Tally sheet on the bench | Live scoring, stats ready after the match |
| Drills | Binder of printouts | 200 drills with animation |
| Explaining in a timeout | Magnetic board or whiteboard, big | Tactics board, smaller screen |
| Works without power | Yes | No, you need a charged phone |
| Cost | Next to nothing | 14 days free, then a subscription |
What your phone won't replace
An app is not a whistle and not an ice pack. The basics stay in your bag, and on a few points paper or a board is simply better:
- Explaining things to the whole group. A phone screen is small when the whole team has to look at it. If you often explain things to the group, a big board is still handy. On an iPad the screen, and so the board, is a lot bigger; what that changes is in Koach on the iPad.
- The official scoresheet. Koach keeps your own stats, but it is not an official scoresheet and does not send anything to your league or federation.
- A dead battery. If your lineup, your score and your attendance are on your phone, a dead phone is a problem. A power bank and a cable belong in the front pocket, especially on a tournament day.
- Video. Koach does not record video. If you want to film, you need a tripod and another app.
- Printing. You cannot export a PDF from the app. If you want a practice plan on paper, our site has free practice plans as PDFs; you will find those and more in free resources for volleyball coaches.
Who should add an app to their volleyball coach bag?
The app makes the biggest difference if you:
- are just starting out as a coach and do not have a set binder yet: then there is nothing to move over later. What else to sort out in your first season is in getting started as a volleyball coach.
- work with an assistant coach. You both see the same roster, lineup and attendance, without anyone texting around a photo of the clipboard.
- coach a youth team. Parents get their own free account, mark their child in or out and see the schedule.
- want to see how your players develop. A tally sheet disappears into a drawer after the match; the numbers in the app are still there at the end of the season.
Koach is not for everyone. If you play beach volleyball, it will not help you: the app is built for indoor volleyball with six players on court. It is not made for mini volleyball with fewer players a side either. And if all you want is your rotations on a sheet of paper, the free rotation generator is enough; it works without an account.
What does the digital half of your bag cost?
You can try Koach free for 14 days, with every feature and no credit card. After that you choose Coach for €2.99 per month (one team, two coaches) or Club for €9.99 per month (unlimited teams and coaches). With a yearly plan you pay €2.49 or €8.33 per month. Players and parents use their accounts for free. In the App Store and Google Play you see the price in your own currency. All prices are on the pricing page. Still deciding which app to pick? Go through the checklist for a volleyball app first.
Leave the clipboard at home for one week. Put your roster in the app the night before, check off attendance at practice and score the match live. If you do not miss the paper afterwards, your bag has an empty pocket. Put a power bank in it.
Frequently asked questions
What equipment does a volleyball coach need for the first practice?
For your first practice you need inflated balls, a pump with a pressure gauge, a whistle, a few cones, a first aid kit with an ice pack, and water. Ask your club beforehand what is already in the equipment room. You also want to know who is coming and what you are going to do: a list of names and a plan with a few drills. That can be on paper, or in an app like Koach, where players mark their own availability and the drills are ready to go.
How many balls do you need for a volleyball practice?
It depends on the drill. For partner passing you need one ball per pair, and for a serving drill you want enough balls that nobody stands around waiting for one. More balls means more contacts per player. If your club is short on balls, pick drills in small groups instead of a line behind one ball. In Koach you can sort the drills by the number of players at practice that night.
What should be in a volleyball coach's first aid kit?
Pack bandages, athletic tape, an elastic wrap, an instant cold pack that works without a freezer, sterile gauze, small scissors and disposable gloves. Volleyball injuries are often a sprained ankle or a jammed finger, so tape and ice matter most. Know where the gym's AED is and keep your players' emergency numbers at hand. In Koach a player with their own account fills in an emergency contact and an emergency phone number, and you see them on the player's profile.
Can I use my phone instead of a clipboard?
Yes, if the app knows your sport. In Koach you set up your lineup with setter and libero, see all six rotations and take that lineup to the live screen, where it rotates along and you sub with a tap. Two downsides remain: a phone is small for explaining something to the whole team, and you need a charged battery. So bring a power bank.
Is the Koach app free?
You can try Koach free for 14 days, with every feature and no credit card. After that Coach costs €2.99 per month for one team and two coaches, and Club €9.99 per month for unlimited teams and coaches. A yearly plan costs less. Players and parents use their own accounts for free. If you only want your rotations on paper, the rotation generator on our site is free and works without an account.
Leave the clipboard at home this week
14 days free, no credit card. After one week you will know what you still need paper for.
Get started with KoachOr read first what the volleyball coaching app does.