Keys for a Successful Practice

1) Never end a drill artificially. Teach your players to play every drill out, regardless of the drill's objective.

2) Create a competitive environment. Players can compete with themselves to raise a new standard for individual drills. That competitive element makes the players comfortable with winning, losing, and scoring points and it fosters a head-in-the-game attitude right up to the end. 

3) Try not to talk too much. Coach effectively in a concise manner. Most coaches (including me) talk too much. When you coach, don't stop the exercise or drill unless it's absolutely necessary. Coach while the activity continues by talking directly to an individual or a small group. On those rare occasions when you must stop the entire activity and bring something to the attention of the team, do it quickly and succinctly. Then get back into action immediately.

4) Positive feedback elicits a better response than negative feedback. Praise when it's warranted; otherwise say nothing.

5) Give your drills names that your players will remember. The next time you do a specific drill, you won't need to waste time explaining it. Just name it and run it.

6) Make sure the players understand the objective of each drill. Tell them what they are trying to accomplish.

7) Adjust and modify the scoring system of a drill to increase the complexity of drills that your players particularly enjoy. Doing this will keep the drill effective. Move gradually from having your players accomplish a certain number of successful contacts, to a certain number of successful contacts  out of the total number of efforts, to a completely competitive situation in which both sides of the net have an objective. One side wins, and the other side losses.

8) Give your players simple practice rules to follow consistently at every training session, perhaps nothing more than starting on time with a certain sequence of events, using a particular method of receiving instruction, and taking breaks at predetermined times. Rules of practice should provide structure and create a comfortable environment for your athletes. 

9) Normally, practice is not the best environment in which to do physical training. You can accomplish that more effectively outside practices, when physical training can be the first priority.

10) Be sensitive to the moods and flow of a practice. If things simply aren't going well, it may be better to end practice prematurely than continue to practice poorly. On the other hand, abbreviating practice too often is not the way to develop a high-caliber team.

From Seeking Excellence in a Program-Going for Gold by Doug Beal found in the book The Volleyball Coaching Bible.

Just something to consider when practicing with your own teams. The book is very good and has a lot of great information concerning both the tangibles as well as the intangibles of the game.