Set combination quick middle

Middle and outside both approach and the setter only chooses at the last moment. For the block that is the heart of read blocking: not jumping along before the ball has left the hands. For the hitters it is the lesson that you make a full approach, including on the balls you never get.

10 players 7 phases ± 20 min 6 balls, full court with net Advanced, from U19 upwards

Phase 1 of 7Set-up: the libero has the ball, middle and outside are ready for their approach

Your own team (P = passer, S = setter, M = middle, L = libero, D = opposite) The opposition: block and defense 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

Attack: the setter chooses between the quick middle and the outside; the block has to read and follow. Different tempos in the attack.

The setter's choice between a quick middle and a high ball outside.
Read blocking: watching the setter's hands instead of the hitters.
Making a full approach without getting the ball.

Coaching points

The setter decides after looking at the block, not before.

If the choice is already made at the pass, the middle's approach is nothing but show. Have your setter see where the middle blocker is standing first and only then decide.

Middle: approach on every ball, including the nine out of ten you do not get.

Your approach is what frees up the ball for the outside. A middle who only runs when the set is coming gives the whole system away inside two rallies.

Block: watch the setter's hands, not the middle.

Read blocking means waiting for the contact on the set. Jump along with the approach of the middle and you are late on every ball that goes outside.

The set outside can be lower when the middle really did approach.

The block has lost half a beat by then. You cash that time in with a faster ball, and that is exactly what separates it from a high emergency set.

Variations

Easier: The setter announces the choice out loud; only the block still has to react.
Harder: Add a third option with an attack from position 2, so the block has to keep three directions open.
With six players: Three hitters and a setter against two blockers; the rest catch and feed balls.
As a game: The block gets a point for every touch, the attack for every ball on the floor. Twenty balls, then switch sides.

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: read blocking or commit blocking · the tells that give a set away · the different attack tempos