Digging behind the attack

Six defenders in the back court, six players feeding the attacks, and hard-driven balls into the corners. No block, no build-up: just the contact with a ball that is there faster than your thoughts are. The drill lives on tempo, so keep the series short and rotate often.

12 players 7 phases ± 20 min 8 balls, full court with net Advanced, from U19 upwards

Phase 1 of 7Defenders low, hitters ready with the balls

The defending team (D1 and D2 = the corners, L = libero, P1 to P3 = the players on the three-meter line) Six players feeding the attacks 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

Six defenders dive behind the block shadow to dig hard attacks; six players feed the attacks.

Handling hard-driven balls in the corners without having to move first.
Staying low without sitting down: ready to go forward and sideways.
Playing every dug ball high to the middle.

Coaching points

Hands low and in front of your body, not beside your hips.

The space between your hands and your chest is where most hard-driven balls slip through. From there you only have to turn instead of reach.

Wait for the ball, do not go and get it.

On a hard-driven ball the player who stands still wins. Every step during the swing puts your weight on one leg, and from there you have no choice left.

Give with the ball instead of pushing at it.

A hard-driven ball has speed enough of its own. If your platform gives backwards, the pace comes off and the ball ends up in the court instead of ten meters behind the end line.

Rotate after every series of ten balls.

Digging hard-driven balls is heavy work, physically and mentally. After ten balls the hands drop, and then everybody is training exactly the posture you do not want to see.

Variations

Easier: The hitters attack from a box with less speed and aim at the player instead of next to him.
Harder: The hitters attack from the back corner and alternate between hard into the corner and short behind the three-meter line.
With six players: Three defenders and three hitters; the defense rotates one position after every ball, so everybody covers all three zones.
As a game: Two groups of six, twenty balls each. A point for every ball that comes up playable in the middle; the group with the most points picks the next drill.

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: what a defender is reading · the back-row attack · defensive drills with plenty of balls