Teach Your Volleyball Team How To Hit a Downball and Back Row Attack

Imagine your team has just had a bad contact on the first ball over the net. The pass doesn’t quite make it up to the setter, and another player just passes it high and on your side... 

What do you think happens next?

In most instances, especially with younger or less experienced teams, they just send a freeball over the net to the other team. It’s called a “freeball” because it’s like a nice present for the other team!

But what if you could still send an aggressive attack over instead? That’s where downballs and back row attacks come into play! Teaching your team to be more aggressive pays off, and this fun drill is a great way to introduce these skills.

I’ve found that this drill works well for 12U, 14U, middle school and freshman teams who need to learn to be more aggressive. Heck, even JV and varsity teams could benefit from a more advanced version (included in the notes at the end).

I also like to run this drill at volleyball camps and clinics. Why? It’s fun! And the way it’s set up allows players a lot of contacts in a short amount of time, plus includes a little conditioning. 

VOLLEYBALL DEFINITIONS FOR TERMS USED IN THIS ARTICLE:

Downball: A downball is when we take a swing at the ball like in the front row, but stay “down” on the ground instead of jumping. Teach your volleyball team how to hit a downball with these steps:

1. Move so that you are underneath the ball.

2. Take the same two steps just before contacting the ball (“right-left” for right-handed hitters). This is similar to the last two steps of your approach in the front row.

3. “Find” the ball with your left hand (again for right-handed hitters).

4. Swing at the ball and make contact at the highest point of your reach, slightly in front of the body. The ball needs to go up first before it goes over, so there will be a slight angle to your attack.

Back Row Attack: A back row attack in volleyball is essentially the same as your approach in the front row, except you must jump from behind the 10’ line. That’s the easy explanation. It’s technically more complicated than that, but you can find a more detailed breakdown here.

DRILL SETUP

• One player in left back just behind the 10’ line.

• One player in right back just behind the 10’ line.

• Have extra players them get into lines behind the hitters but off the court (giving the hitters adequate room and so the others don’t get stepped on!)

• A coach stands in right front on the hitting side. Place a ball cart on the opposite side of the net directly across from the coach.

A middle back and setter will be added later!

RUN THE DRILL

Progression 1: Hitting Downballs from Left Back and Right Back

3-4 minutes, or until everyone has hit 5-6 times.

• The coach will toss the “set” to left back and right back in turn. Bonus points to you, coach, if you only toss to them after they call the ball!

• Toss the ball high and so that it will land just on or behind the 10’ line in front of your player.

• Once an ATTEMPT to hit the ball has been made, that hitter will shag their ball, PLACE the ball in the ball cart and get into a new line.

• The next player in line steps onto the court, ready to hit the next toss.

• Coach tosses to a new hitter, and the cycle repeats.

Progression 2: Hitting Downballs from Left Back, Middle Back, and Right Back

3-4 minutes, or until everyone has hit 5-6 times.

• Repeat progression #1 but with a middle back hitting line added.

• Keep middle back players deep, because they will start to creep towards the net as the drill goes on.

Progression 3: Hitting a Back Row Attack From a Toss

5-6 minutes, or until all players are mostly successful.

• Spend two minutes reviewing proper footwork before starting this progression.

• Move left back and right back players back a few steps so they have room for their approach.

• Toss your “set” high and slightly in front of the the hitter who is calling for the set.

• Rotate as you did in the previous progression, encouraging players to switch lines and hit from different positions.

Progression 4: Hitting a Back Row Attack From A Set

About 10 minutes.

• Next, move the coach and the ball cart back to the middle back of the court (to the side of your middle back line) and add a setter. I recommend PICKING a setter based on ability rather than asking for volunteers so the drill progresses well.

• Have the setter start in right front and set to players who are calling the ball loudly.

• Remind your setter to set in front of their hitters, not directly to them, so they have room for an approach.

• If you have another setter or want to mix things up, change setters after 5 minutes or so.

I’ve found players can do this progression for about 10 minutes before they lose interest. I suggest cutting it off while it’s still fun instead of letting it run too long!

NOTES:

• This drill really gets players talking! Something about yelling “BLUE BLUE BLUE!” gets even the most quiet teams communicating :)

• I withhold “sets” if players are not doing their footwork properly. If you have to yell “left, right left” for every player, do it!

• You can easily make this drill more challenging for older players by marking off targets on the opposite side of the net with cones. 

• Even young players (think 5th grade) can do downballs and back row attacks! It just takes a little practice before these players feel comfortable in a match. But once you get at least ONE player to do it, all the others will start, too. This is because the parents go crazy cheering for a back row attack or downball!

• As always, feel free to make adjustments :) I encourage you to make modifications and test out different ways to run this drill, it will make you a better coach!

• Once your team knows how to hit downballs and back row attacks, try playing THE DOWNBALL GAME and 1-TOUCH, 2-TOUCH, 3-TOUCH, COLUMBUS!

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