Jump program basics

Three jump drills back to back: the approach jump at the net, a box jump onto the bench and a depth jump off it. The order is not random — the approach trains the technique, the box jump the power upward, and the depth jump the landing and the rebound.

1 player 6 phases ± 15 min 1 sturdy bench or plyo box per pair, a net at playing height From U17 upwards

Phase 1 of 6Ready for the approach to the net

The player doing the set Equipment 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

Approach jumps at the net, box jumps with a soft landing and depth jumps for reactivity.

The approach with the right rhythm into a two-footed takeoff.
Landing with the knees over the feet and the hips back.
Shortening the contact time on the depth jump without giving up the landing.

Coaching points

The landing is the drill, not the jump.

What a player learns on the way down decides whether he still has knees in two years. A loud landing or knees collapsing inward means stop and correct.

You step off the bench, you do not jump off it.

In a depth jump the drop height is the tool. Jumping off makes the impact bigger than intended, and that is exactly where it goes wrong with young players.

Quality over quantity: five sets of five jumps.

Jump training only works on fresh legs. Twenty-five good jumps do more than sixty sloppy ones, and you can see the difference in the landing.

At least a minute of rest between sets, and not after a hard practice.

Jump power trains the nervous system, not the lungs. Put this block early in the session, and not on the day before a match.

Variations

Easier: Only approach jumps without the bench, and box jumps where the player calmly steps back down. The depth jump is added once the landing is visibly quiet.
Harder: Box jump off one leg, or a depth jump followed immediately by an approach jump at the net.
With twelve players: Six benches and pairs: one player jumps, the other watches the landing and says one thing about it. Watching is a real job here, not waiting time.
As a game: Mark each player's highest touch point against the net post and record it every month. Everybody competes against their own previous mark, not against the tallest player on the team.

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: learning to land safely · strength training for volleyball players: what works and what does not · the three-step approach for a higher jump