Short-deep serve receive

Short or deep: that is the only choice the passer has to make here, and it is exactly the choice that costs the most balls in matches. The coach switches without warning, so reading matters more than guessing.

2 players 8 phases ± 12 min 3 balls, half a court From U15 upwards

Phase 1 of 8Coach with ball, passer on his base spot, target at the net

P = passer, S = target at the net; the coach alternates short and deep feeds Coach 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

The coach alternates short tips and deep balls; the passer reads the ball and chooses forward or back.

Reading depth off the feeder's arm instead of off the flight of the ball.
Dropping back without turning your back or falling backward.
Playing a short ball with the last step forward instead of reaching out over it.

Coaching points

On a deep ball: two steps back first, then judge it.

Correcting forward is always faster than correcting backward, so the first move has to be backward.

Do not turn around to move back.

Turn around and you lose sight of the ball for half a second, and that is exactly the window in which its path still changes.

Short ball: stay low and take the ball in front of you.

A short ball you let come in under your body can only be saved with your hands.

Coach: do not give it away with your body position.

If you stand differently for short balls than for deep ones, the drill trains reading you instead of reading the ball.

Variations

Easier: Announce what is coming and keep the difference small: two meters in front of and two meters behind the base position.
Harder: Add a third option, the ball straight at the player, so they also learn when not to move at all.
With six players: Two lines of three with two feeders; whoever has passed joins the back of the other line.
As a game: Eight balls per player, four short and four deep mixed together. Every pass the target can catch is a point, and the short balls count double.

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: recognizing roll shots and short balls · from serve receive technique to match tempo · reading the hitter