Wave of nine — route along the cones

Nine players, one slalom course and hardly any waiting: while one player weaves through the cones, the next is already jogging back to rejoin the line. A calm opening drill in which you see straight away who has their feet under control and who swings wide around every cone.

9 players 7 phases ± 10 min 4 cones, the full court From U13 upwards

Phase 1 of 7Nine players in the circuit: three wait, six are on the move

Players in the circuit 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

Warm-up: nine players take turns running the slalom past four cones and rejoin at the back of the waiting line.

Staying tight to the cone instead of running around it in an arc.
Keeping the flow: the line moves up one place after every start, so nobody waits long.
Alternating between jogging and slaloming, so the tempo comes in waves instead of staying flat.

Coaching points

Stay close to the cone.

Running wide is comfortable and takes the change of direction out of the drill. That sharp angle is exactly what you want to train, because on court the ball is never a meter to the side of you either.

Look at the next cone while you are still rounding the last one.

A player who looks cone by cone runs in stutters. Looking ahead while you move is exactly what a player does who wants to keep seeing the game.

Rejoining the line happens at a jog, not a walk.

The moment the way back turns into a stroll, half the group is standing still and the warm-up falls apart. The way back is the easy part of the effort, not a break.

Agree on a number of rounds, not a number of minutes.

Players pace themselves against a number. With an open end in minutes everybody slows down by themselves, without even noticing.

Variations

Easier: Cones further apart, and slalom the first few rounds at walking pace, technique only.
Harder: Sideways past the cones, or a full sprint to the end line after the last cone.
With five players: Two cones fewer and the course cut in half, otherwise the circuit does not keep turning and you end up with waiting time after all.
As a game: Two circuits side by side; which group completes the most full rounds in three minutes. A missed cone means the round does not count.

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: warm-up drills for volleyball · keeping a big group busy without a queue · scaling drills to the level of your players