Dig-to-self pepper

The same drill as regular pepper, with one extra step: every ball goes high to yourself first and only then to your partner. That makes it impossible to poke the ball away. Players who normally just about reach everything find out here that they do not really have the ball under control.

2 players 6 phases ± 10 min 1 ball per pair, no net needed From U13 upwards

Phase 1 of 6Two players facing each other; the first has the ball

Two players from the same team (1 and 2 do exactly the same thing) 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

Play every dig high to yourself first, only then controlled to your partner; two full rounds.

Keeping the ball straight above yourself instead of playing it on right away.
Aiming the second contact deliberately, with time to set your feet.
Noticing how often the first ball was not actually under control.

Coaching points

The first ball goes straight up, not forward at an angle.

As soon as the ball goes forward you have to chase it and the drill turns into running. You can only play the ball straight up if you are underneath it, and that is exactly what you want to force.

Stay underneath the ball, do not let it drop in front of you.

After their first contact players take a step back to make room. That puts the second contact out in front of the body and the ball goes off line anyway.

Only look at your partner once the ball is hanging above you.

The platform turns with the eyes. If you are already looking across during the first contact, you send the ball that way without noticing.

Two equal contacts: the same height, the same calm.

If the first contact is high and the second one is a poke, the extra step is only decoration. The goal is to turn every ball into a second chance, in a rally too.

Variations

Easier: Play the ball high to yourself and then catch it. That isolates the first contact until it consistently comes up above your head.
Harder: The player alternates ball by ball between a forearm pass and a hand set to himself, and the partner plays every ball slightly to one side of him.
With six players: Groups of three in a triangle: everyone plays to themselves first and then on to the next player, always clockwise.
As a game: Ninety seconds, and count the number of clean rounds per pair. A ball that does not go to yourself first does not count.

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 forearm pass · aiming your platform without swinging · practicing in pairs