Serve-receive in threes

Serving pressure starts with the very first ball. Three servers behind the line, a reception line of five on the other side, and every ball has to end up in the same place: with the setter. Hardly any queueing, plenty of repetition.

8 players 7 phases ± 15 min 6 balls, half a court U15 and up

Phase 1 of 7Servers behind the line, reception in W formation

Your own team (P = passer, M = middle, S = setter) Servers 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

Train serving pressure: on one side three players serve in turn, on the other a reception line of five takes the ball and passes to the setter.

Serving on repeat: three servers back to back, barely any rest between balls.
Serve receive in a W formation — calling early, giving way and splitting the court fairly.
One fixed passing target, so your setter can set every ball from the same spot.

Coaching points

The call comes before the ball crosses the net.

Call once the ball is already on its way and you are too late — then you get two players under it, or nobody at all.

The passer stays low until the ball is off the arms.

Standing up early is the most common reason a pass ends up behind the setter.

Same spot every time beats pretty technique.

A high, slow pass that lands on the same spot every time is worth more to your setter than a tight one that wanders.

Servers aim at the seam between two passers.

That is where the hesitation lives. Serving at one specific player only trains that player.

Variations

Easier: Let the servers use an underhand serve, or serve from the attack line. On a bad ball the reception may catch it and throw it over, so the round keeps running.
Harder: The server only calls the target after the toss. Or: the pass has to land in a two-by-two-meter box next to the setter — outside it, it does not count.
With six players: Two servers, three passers and a setter. The setter rotates into the reception line every round, so everybody plays both roles.
As a game: Every good pass is a point for the reception, every ace a point for the servers. First to ten. The losers pick up the balls.

Read on in the knowledge base: serving at the seam between two passers · passing a float serve · tracking serve receive