Defending against the attack cannons

A line of hitters with balls in their hands facing six defenders in the back court. A ball gets hit, dug and played back to the setter, and the next one comes straight away. High volume in a short time — which is why this drill is above all an exercise in organization: one ball in the air at a time, and everybody knows when their turn is.

11 players 7 phases ± 20 min 8 balls, full court with net From U17 upwards

Phase 1 of 7Six defenders in the back court, five hitters at the net

The defending team (L1 and L2 = the deep defenders, P1 and P2 = outside hitters, D = opposite, S = setter) The hitters on the other side, each with a ball 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

Defense: the hitters fire balls in, six defenders dig them up and play them back to the setter.

Handling a lot of hard-driven balls in a row without your posture collapsing.
With six defenders, respecting each other's zone instead of chasing everything.
Playing every dig to the same spot, so the setter can do something with it.

Coaching points

Only the hitter whose turn it is moves; the rest hold on to their ball.

With five players at the net it is chaos within a minute if everyone gets to start on their own. One ball in the air at a time is the condition this drill stands or falls on.

Watch the hitter who is swinging, not the ball in the air.

With several balls on the court eyes start to wander. Defenders who lock their eyes onto their own hitter are always in position sooner than the ones who follow the ball.

Every dig to the setter, three meters off the net.

Without a fixed target this turns into a drill where balls merely go up. The difference between scrambling and defending is that the ball goes somewhere.

Swap hitters and defenders every five minutes.

Defending is harder work than hitting. After five minutes the quality drops and you are training fatigue instead of technique; the volume is the gain here, not the length of the block.

Variations

Easier: The hitters place the balls with an overhand throw down into the court instead of swinging, and call their direction.
Harder: The hitters swing without warning, alternating between the corners and straight at the body; the defense has to play out three balls in a row.
With six players: Three defenders and two hitters with one setter. Fewer zones, so more balls per player and more attention on the recovery.
As a game: Twenty balls per round; the defense gets a point for every dig the setter can play without moving. Above fifteen points the hitters clean up the balls.

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: defensive drills with volume · reading the hitter instead of the ball · more ball contacts per player