Approach with catch

The hitter does not swing, he catches. That takes the whole moment of contact out of it and leaves only the question of where he meets the ball. Catch it with straight arms at the highest point and your timing was good; catch it against your chest and you were early.

2 players 6 phases ± 12 min 3 balls, half court From U13 upwards

Phase 1 of 6The setter has the ball, the outside hitter is ready behind the attack line

Own team (S = setter) 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

The setter sets high outside; the hitter approaches and catches the ball at the highest point.

The contact point: meeting the ball at the highest point of the jump, in front of the hitting shoulder.
Starting the approach the moment the set leaves the setter's hands.
Feeling for yourself whether you were early or late, because the place where you catch the ball gives it away.

Coaching points

Do not start until the ball leaves the setter's hands.

Starting too early is by far the most common error in youth volleyball. The player is already jumping while the set is still on its way up and then has to wait in the air — and that is exactly where you can no longer correct anything.

Catch above your head, with straight arms.

If the ball is caught at chest height, that is where he would have hit it for real as well. And a ball contacted at chest height goes into the net.

The ball belongs in front of your hitting shoulder, not behind it.

Behind the head you cannot get on top of the ball; it turns into a tap upward instead of a swing downward.

Let the player judge it himself: early, late or good.

He feels it from the spot where he catches the ball. That judgement of his own sticks far better than your correction from the sideline.

Variations

Easier: The setter throws the ball high with two hands instead of setting it, so the flight path is the same every time.
Harder: Catch with the hitting hand only and throw the ball across the net in the same motion; now the arm really does have to be extended.
With six players: Two setters and four hitters in two lines. Whoever has caught the ball rolls it back and joins the other line.
As a game: Ten attempts per player. Only a catch with straight arms above the head counts. The first to seven good ones is finished.

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: the approach and the moment of take-off · the timing between setter and hitter · learning to spike in five steps