AMRAP target serving

Two minutes, one mat and a counter that can go down as well: the mat is worth three points, an ordinary ball in the court one, and a miss costs one. That forces the server to choose on every ball between safely playing it through and aiming sharp. The tempo is high, so that choice gets made while the heart rate climbs.

2 players 5 phases ± 12 min 1 mat, 8 to 10 balls, a clock, full court with net From U17 upwards

Phase 1 of 5Serve as much as possible for two minutes; the mat is three points

Server and catcher; the catcher rolls every ball straight back Equipment Ball

This animation comes straight out of the Koach app. In the app you play it at your own pace and the positions carry your players' real names.

Open in the app

How the drill runs

What you are training

Serve as much as you can in 2 minutes; mat = 3, court = 1, miss = -1. Combines volume, tempo and precision.

Serving with a rising heart rate — exactly what happens in a long rally as well.
Weighing risk: going for three points or making one point certain.
Keeping the routine short without letting it disappear altogether.

Coaching points

Decide your ratio in advance, for example two at the mat and then one safe.

A server who decides ball by ball always picks safe once fatigue sets in and never hits the mat again. A rhythm chosen beforehand keeps the risk in the drill.

Stay in the same spot behind the line.

At tempo players start drifting, and then the angle changes on every ball. One fixed spot makes it visible whether a miss comes from the technique or from the fatigue.

Breathe out at the moment you strike the ball.

As the tempo rises players hold their breath and the hitting arm stiffens. Breathing out at contact is the simplest way to keep the swing loose.

Write down the number of balls, not just the score.

Twenty balls for eight points is something different from twelve balls for eight points. Without the volume alongside it you cannot tell whether someone got better or only more cautious.

Variations

Easier: Let a miss cost no point and make the mat worth five points. Then the player keeps aiming without his score dropping below zero.
Harder: Two mats, one deep and one short, which take turns. A ball on the wrong mat counts as an ordinary ball in the court.
With twelve players: Six pairs across three courts: one serves, one catches and counts out loud. Switch after two minutes, then lay the scores side by side.
As a game: Everyone does two rounds of two minutes. The winner is not the highest score but the biggest improvement between round one and round two.

Volleyball drills

4 players · 6 phases SafeVolley base round Warm-up 3 players · 5 phases Shoulder activation with band Warm-up 2 players · 6 phases Dynamic movement patterns Warm-up 5 players · 5 phases Core plank with rotation Warm-up

Read on in the knowledge base: building serving pressure zone by zone · training with a rising workload · measuring aces and serving pressure