The 3 C's

Communication, coverage, celebration — three things every team says it does and almost no team does consistently. Here the point only counts if all three were visible, so even a cleanly put-away ball without coverage is worth nothing.

6 players 9 phases ± 20 min 6 balls, full court From U17 upwards

Phase 1 of 9Set-up: B has the ball, A is in base

Your own team (S = setter) The group feeding the balls in 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

Communication + coverage + celebration: a point only counts if all three C's were visible.

Calling out loud before the first contact, on every single ball.
Dropping down behind the attacker instead of watching him swing.
Closing out the point together, even when it was an ugly point.

Coaching points

Coverage is low and close, not a tidy row.

A ball rebounding off the block almost always lands within two meters of the attacker. A player standing neatly ready four meters away is in the wrong place.

Everybody who is not swinging bends their knees.

Coverage is a posture, not a position. Players who trail along upright never get the rebound up — they only watch it land.

Celebrating takes two seconds and covers the whole play.

Name the pass or the coverage, not just the swing. If you do not, the team learns that only scoring counts and the other two C's disappear within a week.

No call means no point, even on a kill.

As long as there are exceptions for the pretty balls, the team keeps gambling that it will work out this time. The rule only works without exceptions.

Variations

Easier: Drop the coverage for now and count only the calling and closing out the point together. As soon as that runs by itself, add the coverage.
Harder: Put two blockers on the other side, so there are real rebounds to cover. A covered block touch that still turns into a point counts double.
With seven players: One player stands off the court as an observer for each ball and says afterwards which of the three C's was missing. Somebody else takes that role every round.
As a game: The team plays to ten points where only complete plays count. Two plays in a row without a call costs a point.

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: covering the hitter and turning block touches into points · team building that actually works in the gym · giving feedback players actually use