Attack from the bench

The hitter starts behind a bench and has to jump over it before he is allowed to begin his approach. That costs exactly enough time to make his usual timing useless: he arrives at the net late and has to speed up his last steps. A simple way to train the approach under time pressure without touching the set.

10 players 7 phases ± 15 min A bench, 6 balls, full court with net From U17 upwards

Phase 1 of 7The hitter stands behind the bench; the libero has the ball and the defense waits

Your own team (P = outside hitter, S = setter, M = middle blocker, L = libero, D = opposite) The opposition: block and defense 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

Attack: hitters jump in over the bench and swing right away; the defense reads the attack. Training the timing of the approach.

Approaches that start later and therefore have to be faster.
Landing and moving straight on after the obstacle.
Defense reading an attack that comes out of an unusual rhythm.

Coaching points

Jump the bench off two feet and keep moving.

A jump with a stop after it costs half a second, and by then the set is gone. The landing behind the bench is your first step, not a pause.

Speed up your last two steps, not your first.

A hitter who is late runs harder from the very start and arrives carrying too much speed, and that speed can no longer be turned into height. Only the last two steps are allowed to be quicker.

Put the bench far enough back from the net.

At least two meters behind the three-meter line, otherwise the jump over the bench becomes the take-off and the approach disappears altogether.

Defense: watch the speed of the approach.

A hitter who has to rush contacts the ball lower and swings flatter. Defenders who see that can step half a meter forward.

Variations

Easier: Replace the bench with a line on the floor that the player has to touch with both feet first.
Harder: The libero does not pass until the hitter is already over the bench, which cranks the time pressure up further.
With six players: Two hitters behind two benches, in position 4 and position 2; the setter chooses which one he feeds on each ball.
As a game: Ten balls per player. An attack only counts if a full approach came before it; the coach judges and the rest keep score.

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 rhythm of the approach · learning to land safely · protecting ankles and knees