Mix it up

The coach calls the shot on every ball: cross, line, tip or roll shot. So the hitter only finds out once he is already moving, and has to carry out the choice in the air, onto the mat that goes with it. That turns hitting into a decision instead of a habit.

2 players 9 phases ± 20 min 2 mats, 8 balls, full court with net From U17 upwards

Phase 1 of 9The coach stands with the ball by the mats on the other side; the setter waits at the net

Your own team (S = setter) Coach 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

The coach calls the shot for every ball (cross/line/tip/roll); trains deliberate shot choice on the mats.

Four shot types in one drill, so players learn to weigh them against each other instead of practicing them separately.
The same approach and arm swing on every choice, so the opponent can read nothing from it.
Executing under time pressure: the call only comes during the approach.

Coaching points

Every ball starts with the same full approach.

A player who eases off ahead of a tip gives it away. A half approach is visible from ten meters away on the other side, and the defense is already sliding forward.

On a tip the arm stays extended and only your fingers do the work.

Bend your elbow to play it soft and you tip into the net or drop the ball in the first meter. Extending and steering with stiff fingers is what actually gets it over the block.

You hit line with your shoulders, not with your wrist.

The direction of your spike follows the position of your trunk, and you lock that in on the last step. Once you are in the air there is no turning any more.

Only make the call once the set is up.

Call too early and the player adjusts his approach to it, and exactly the element of choice you wanted to train disappears.

Variations

Easier: Call the shot before the feed, so the player only has to learn the execution.
Harder: The coach calls a shot and then changes it while the hitter is still in the air; the choice has to be adjusted mid-flight.
With six players: Two lines, at position 4 and position 2. The coach calls a name first and only then the shot.
As a game: An attack on the right mat is two points, in the court but off the mat is one, an error is zero. First to fifteen.

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: choosing line or cross · tips, pokes and roll shots · what smart shot selection does to your hitting percentage