Quick middle and shoot

Two balls that come off the same pass but could hardly be more different: first a short quick set to the middle, then a shoot — a fast, flat ball that shoots out wide across the court. That difference in tempo pulls a block apart, and it asks two completely different sets of hands from the setter.

12 players 11 phases ± 20 min 8 balls, half court with net Advanced, from U19 upwards

Phase 1 of 11Set-up: the libero has the ball, middle and outside lines are ready, one player catches across the net

Your own team (S = setter, M = middle blocker, P = outside hitter, L = libero, D = opposite) 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

Tempo attack: pass to the setter, a quick set to the middle or a shoot outside, with the line rotating on.

The difference between a quick set and a shoot: the same speed, a different distance.
A flat, fast set all the way out to the antenna.
Two hitting lines rotating through without the tempo dropping out of the drill.

Coaching points

A shoot is flat and fast, not a high ball that happens to end up outside.

The whole point of a shoot is that the block cannot slide across with it. If the ball comes in an arc you simply get a double block, and you might as well have set it high.

On a shoot you start your approach earlier than on a high ball.

The ball gets there sooner. Outside hitters who stick to their normal timing end up chasing it and swat it sideways with a straight arm.

The middle runs a full approach, even when the shoot is already planned.

Without that approach the opposing middle blocker slides straight out with the set and the speed of your shoot is worth nothing.

The setter releases the shoot with flatter wrists.

On a quick set you push up, on a shoot you push forward. That is one difference in the fingers, and it is the reason most youth setters can feed the middle but not the shoot.

Variations

Easier: Run the shoot only, called out every time, until the outside hitter's timing is right.
Harder: The setter chooses per ball and says nothing; both lines run a full approach on every ball.
With six players: One middle, one outside, a setter and a libero, with two blockers on the other side.
As a game: A successful shoot is two points, a quick set one. Twenty balls, then the lines swap.

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: attack tempos from the high ball to the quick set · timing between setter and hitter · the role of the middle blocker