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Transition or Bust Drill

February 28, 2017 • By Human Kinetics

Transition or Bust Drill
By: Teri Clemens and Jenny McDowell

Originally Published in: The Volleyball Drill Book

Provided by: Human Kinetics

Purpose

To give the team the opportunity to transition from offense to defense and back to offense.

Setup

Players set up 6v6 on the court: offensive positions on side A and defensive positions on side B. Balls are at the sideline for the coach to enter. A scorekeeper is at the side of the court. Another team (if there are extra players) can shag around the court while waiting to enter the game.

Run the Drill

1. The coach enters the ball over the net to a back-row passer on side A. Players pass, set, and attack, attempting to score. Play continues until the rally ends. The winning team earns a point. Side A is guaranteed two attempts to score. If they do not score, they leave the court.

2. The new team enters quickly and receives the first ball from the coach. Players repeat this until either one team on side A scores 6 points or side B scores 8.

3. Each team on side A has its own score. If a team leaves the court with 2 points, for example, it still has 2 points when it reenters the court.

4. The winning team chooses whether to start on side A or side B for the next game.

Coaching Points

• Focus on the transition of side A from offense to defense and back to offense.

• When necessary, take the time after a dead ball to correct positioning or movement patterns of the side A players.

• If there is an assistant coach, he or she can focus on side B transition.

• While side A teams compete against side B, they also want to score 6 before the other team on side A.

• Encourage an extremely fast transition on and off the court for teams on side A by entering the ball quickly.

Variations

• If you do not have enough players for two complete teams on side A, use three players.

• If you have only 12 players, have side A players switch front and back rows every 2 points, but score it as one team.

• Play the game to different numbers of points. This encourages immediacy of scoring. Varying the end score keeps the competitive level high.

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