Three-step approach

An approach without a ball, with two cones as the take-off point. Sounds dull, but this is the only drill in which a player can feel his own rhythm without the ball claiming all the attention. Left-right-left, brake, jump, land — and then straight back to the start.

2 players 6 phases ± 10 min 2 cones, a free strip alongside the court, no balls From U13 upwards

Phase 1 of 6Two players ready behind the attack line, the cones mark the takeoff

Hitters taking turns to approach 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

Basic left-right-left approach with plant step and vertical takeoff, without a ball; as a full cycle.

The fixed left-right-left rhythm, with the last two steps faster than the first.
The plant step: heel first, toe after, so horizontal speed is converted into height.
Arms that wait behind the body and only pull upward at the take-off.

Coaching points

The first step is small, the last two are big.

A player who starts with a sprint has nothing left to accelerate with at the end. An approach should build in tempo, not flatten out.

Brake with your heels, not with your toes.

Landing on the heels puts the brakes on and tilts the body slightly backwards; from that position you push yourself upward. On the toes you keep running and jump forward, into the net.

Arms back during the plant step, not earlier.

The arm swing delivers a sizeable part of the jump. A player whose arms are already up on the second step leaves that gain lying there.

Land on two feet with bent knees.

Landing on one leg after a full take-off is the classic way to overload an ankle or a knee. Two feet spread the impact, and in a drill with a lot of repetitions that adds up.

Variations

Easier: First do the approach on the spot in four counts: step, step-step, jump. Only once the rhythm is right do you run it over the full distance.
Harder: Move the cones half a meter further from the start every round, so the player has to adjust his approach instead of counting out the number of steps.
With six players: Two lines side by side with two cones each; they start alternately, so someone is always moving and nobody stands waiting.
As a game: Ten approaches per player. An approach only counts if both feet brake between the cones and the landing is on two feet. Whoever has the most valid ones wins.

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: the three-step rhythm to a higher jump · learning to land safely · building the spike in five steps