Volleyball drills · Passing · Attack · Teamwork

Triangle pass-set-attack rotation

Here the ball does cross the net: pass, set, attack at position 4, and then everybody moves up one spot. It is the smallest drill that still holds the complete attacking chain, and therefore the drill that makes it visible how a mediocre pass costs you the whole attack right away.

9 players 7 phases ± 15 min 3 balls, full court From U15 upwards

Phase 1 of 7Passer, setter and hitter form a triangle; the rest wait

P = passer, S = setter; the third player attacks at position 4 and the rest wait their turn 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

Combination drill: the passer plays to the setter, the setter to the hitter who attacks; after the ball everyone moves on one position.

The whole chain in one go: pass, set and attack inside a single ball.
Delivering a set off a pass you had no say in yourself.
Changing role after every ball, so nobody gets stuck in one job.

Coaching points

The pass has to be high enough for the setter to get underneath it.

Your setter is still on the way when the ball is already leaving. A tight, low pass forces them to set on the move, and then the attack is gone by the second contact.

Hitter: only start your approach when the set leaves the hands.

Starting too early gives you an approach that stalls under the ball, and then you end up jumping from a standstill.

Say out loud which link went wrong.

Say 'pass too low' or 'set too far'. Without those words the triangle only learns that it failed, not why.

Rotating goes in one fixed order.

Chaos at the changeover costs more time than the playing does. Agree on one direction and stick to it for the whole drill.

Variations

Easier: The hitter may throw the ball over the net or use a roll shot instead of hitting it.
Harder: Put one blocker on the other side, so the hitter has to choose between the line and cross-court.
With six players: Two triangles side by side, each with its own ball; that way there is no queue at all.
As a game: Five balls in a row played out completely. On a mistake the count starts over, but the group still rotates as normal.

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: timing between setter and hitter · setting off a bad pass · learning to spike in five steps