Overhand passing gauntlet

Overhead through the gauntlet, but on the diagonal: the ball travels across to the other line and zigzags its way down. Playing an overhead ball on an angle only works if the feet are set first, which makes this drill stricter than it looks.

11 players 8 phases ± 12 min 1 ball, half court From U15 upwards

Phase 1 of 8Two lines facing each other; the ball starts at the head of the gauntlet

P = eleven players; two lines form the gauntlet, the rest wait at the head 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

Passing drill: two lines set the ball overhand down the gauntlet; after each pass you rejoin at the back.

Playing an overhead ball to a player standing diagonally across from you.
Turning your feet under the ball before your hands go up.
Working with an odd number: there is always somebody joining the back of the line.

Coaching points

Feet to the receiver first, hands up only after that.

An overhead ball played with a twisted trunk always comes off with spin on it, and that spin is next to impossible for the next player to control.

Contact the ball above your forehead, not in front of your face.

Playing it in front of your face means pushing with the arms. Above the forehead the power comes from the legs.

Better too high than too fast.

In a zigzag the next player needs time to turn. Height gives them that time; speed takes it away.

The players waiting stand ready with their hands already up.

Anyone who joins the line with their arms hanging by their sides is late on their first ball, and that is the ball the gauntlet breaks down on.

Variations

Easier: Forearm passes instead of overhead, or catch the ball first and throw it back two-handed from above the head to learn the shape of the hands.
Harder: Every player alternates their contacts — overhead, forearm, overhead — or you widen the gauntlet.
With six players: Two lines of three; the gauntlet is shorter, so the ball comes back to the same player more often.
As a game: The ball has to go through the gauntlet three times, there and back, without an error. Manage that and the whole group steps a meter further apart.

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 overhead without sore fingers · the overhead setting technique · all the basic techniques in one place