Left-right shuttle passing

The ball comes alternately to the left and to the right, and between every ball the passer has to get back to the middle. That trip back is the real work: in a match a passer rarely loses the first ball, but they do lose the one after it, because they are still standing off to the side.

2 players 8 phases ± 12 min 3 balls, half a court From U15 upwards

Phase 1 of 8Coach with ball, passer in the middle, target in the setter zone

P = passer, S = target in the setter zone; the coach feeds the balls 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

Pass & move: the coach plays left and right in turn; shuffle, pass to the target, back through the middle.

Moving sideways with shuffle steps, without crossing the legs.
Returning to the same base position after every contact instead of staying where the last ball dropped.
Passing to one fixed spot, whether you are coming from the left or from the right.

Coaching points

Do not cross your feet: shuffle.

Crossover steps are faster over five meters, but on a sudden change of direction your legs end up tangled.

Go back through the middle, even when the next ball is already on its way.

Passers who cut diagonally from left to right end up behind fast balls instead of underneath them.

The platform keeps pointing at the target, whatever your stance.

The angle between ball and target changes every rep. Let your shoulders turn with the movement and you play the ball into the gym.

Plant your last step toward the ball, not next to it.

Arriving beside the ball forces you to reach, and a reaching pass has no platform, just one arm.

Variations

Easier: A smaller distance between left and right, and the coach feeds with an arc so there is time to shuffle across.
Harder: Three spots instead of two: left, middle and right, in random order, so there is nothing left to anticipate.
With six players: One passer on the court, two feeders on either side, two targets and one shagger; everyone moves one spot along every minute.
As a game: One minute per player. Every pass the target catches without taking a step counts. Who gets the most in sixty seconds?

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: aiming your platform when you pass · the forearm pass · moving and getting set again