Five-on-five full rally

Five on five on the full court: every phase of the game is in there, but with one player fewer than normal. That means every position is filled and yet there is always a zone where nobody belongs, which forces players to divide the court up beforehand instead of reacting during the rally. It is the drill you reach for most often when ten or eleven players turn up to practice.

10 players 12 phases ± 30 min 6 balls, full court From U17 upwards

Phase 1 of 12Line-up five on five; B serves from the right back

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

Match: a complete 5v5 rally with serve, serve receive, build-up, attack, block and defense. Every phase at match tempo.

The complete rally: serve, serve receive, set, attack, block, defense and counter-attack.
Redividing the jobs with five players — who takes the gap the sixth would have covered?
Building two attacks back to back without falling apart.

Coaching points

Agree beforehand which zone you leave open and stick to it for the whole set.

Five players cannot cover the court. Teams that leave a different zone open every rally are permanently out of position; teams that choose once defend almost like a full six.

The setter stays the setter, even when the pass is bad.

With five players the temptation is to let whoever is closest put the ball up. Then the hitter loses his timing and the team has given away two roles at once.

After the first attack everybody drops back into defensive position.

The animation shows two counter-attacks, and that second ball nearly always comes. The player who stays where he landed after his own attack is the one the point drops over.

Put your weakest passer in the spot you are leaving open.

With five players you get to choose who stands in the line of fire. That is not a punishment but tactics, and it lifts your serve receive by a few percent straight away.

Variations

Easier: The rally starts with a free ball from the coach. Nobody blocks, so every attack can be dug.
Harder: Five against six: one side plays with a full line-up. Or: only points off the second attack count.
With twelve players: Five a side plus one substitute per team who replaces the player in position 1 after every point, so the rotation keeps turning.
As a game: Two sets to 21, switching ends at 11. A team that wins a rally without the ball ever touching the floor on their own side gets a bonus point.

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: playing with fewer than six players · perimeter and rotation defense · the timing between setter and hitter