Free ball! transition on call

The team is set up in defense, and then instead of an attack a free ball comes over. That is the moment where you either take a free point or stand there watching. This drill trains the switch itself: call first, move second, play the ball last.

6 players 8 phases ± 15 min 6 balls, full court From U15 upwards

Phase 1 of 8The team is in defensive base; the coach has the ball

Your own team Coach 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

The team is in defensive base; on a free ball everyone calls it and switches to the free-ball formation.

Recognizing that a free ball is coming from the posture of the opponent.
Calling it together at the same moment and switching into the free-ball formation.
Getting the setter to the net before the ball crosses the tape.

Coaching points

Everybody calls it, not just the captain.

One voice is an opinion, six voices is a decision. If the whole team calls it, nobody doubts any more whether the switch is really happening.

You call it when the opponent contacts the ball below shoulder height.

That is the visible signal that no attack is coming. Give players that concrete moment — 'when you see it coming' is too vague for a youth player.

A free ball means run, not stroll.

You have about two seconds. A player who walks it is still shuffling into place at the moment the pass already has to go up.

The passers move wide and the middle stays open for the setter.

A free ball almost always comes in through the middle. If somebody stays standing there, he collides with the setter running to the net.

Variations

Easier: Announce yourself that a free ball is coming and give the team all the time it needs. They then practice only the movement patterns and the calling.
Harder: Alternate between sending a free ball over and hitting a real attack. The team has to choose, and a wrong call costs the rally.
With eight players: Two groups taking turns on the ball: the second group feeds the free balls from the other side and swaps with the first group every five balls.
As a game: A point when everybody calls it and the attack goes over the net. Get five points in a row, otherwise the counter starts again.

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 free ball as an underrated moment · switching from defense to attack · the base defensive formation