Relay with ball skills

A relay in which the fastest runner does not win, but the one who keeps the ball under control while moving. The cone is the turning point, the ball has to stay up, and the next player is ready. Asking for speed and ball control at the same time is exactly where things break down in a match.

2 players 5 phases ± 12 min 2 cones, 1 ball per team From U13 upwards

Phase 1 of 5Two runners with a ball behind the start line, cone as turning point

Two teams in a line behind the starting line 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

Two teams; a course keeping the ball up around a cone, hand off to the next and repeat the loop.

Keeping the ball under control while you are still on the move.
The turning point: braking around the cone without losing the ball.
The hand-off: passing the ball on calmly while the line stands waiting.

Coaching points

Play the ball above yourself, not forward.

A player who plays the ball forward has to chase it and loses control. Keeping it short above yourself feels slower, but it almost always produces a faster lap.

Small steps at the cone, no wide arc.

A wide turn costs meters and lets the ball get away. On top of that, braking on short steps is safer for the knee than one big lunging step.

The next player is ready with the hands already up.

Relays are won at the hand-off, not on the straight. And standing ready with the hands in front is exactly the posture you want to see on an incoming ball as well.

A dropped ball is picked up where it fell.

Without that rule it turns into a sprinting contest in which the ball is a side issue. Then the drill only trains running, and you can get that more cheaply.

Variations

Easier: The ball may bounce between contacts, or the player holds on to it and only slaloms around the cone.
Harder: Keep it up overhand only, or forearm only. Both force a more precise contact than a free choice does.
With twelve players: Three teams of four in three lanes. Every lap won is worth a point, three points wins.
As a game: Every ball on the floor adds three seconds to the final time. That way the team with the fastest runner does not win automatically.

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: team-building exercises that really work · which ball suits which age · scaling drills to size when skill levels differ