The Downball Game
The Downball Game! This is my absolute favorite drill. I use it every practice. Yes, EVERY practice! While some coaches might think using the same drill for every practice would be too repetitive and get boring, my girls are always excited to play this game.
I use this as a warm up drill. It allows players to slowly warm up their arms on their swing, and their reaction time doesn't have to be as quick as it would from an actual front row attack.
Need to teach your players how to hit a downball first? Use this simple (and fun!) progression! | BACK ROW ATTACK PROGRESSIONS: LEARNING TO DOWNBALL AND ATTACK FROM THE BACK ROW
SETUP The Drill
Divide your players into two teams.
Five players will be on the court at a time (no middle blocker)
Extra players should stand off the court near left front on their side.
Run The Drill
Enter the ball into play from a freeball tossed across the net.
If a team hits a downball (or back-row-attack) over and in, that side rotates mid-rally.
If the team sends a freeball over, or their front row player hits the ball, they do not rotate.
If you have more than 5 players per side, the person off the court near left front will rotate on, and the person rotating from left back will step off the court.
The goal is to practice aggressively attacking downballs and back-row-attacks from the back row.
FINISH THE DRILL
The drill can end after:
a team reaches a certain number of rotations,
a team gets a certain number of kills from a downball, or
a certain amount of time has passed.
I prefer to end with “one more kill.” The next team to get a kill from a downball or back-row-attack is the winning team.
I use this as a warm-up after dynamic stretching, and end after 10-15 minutes before moving into my actual practice.