Block footwork at the net

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Volleyball drill · Age 12 and up

Most blocks are lost by the feet, not the hands. A middle blocker who shuffles across the net arrives late and leaves a gap between their hands and their partner's, and the hitter hits straight through it. This drill teaches the crossover step that gets the middle from the centre of the net to the antenna in time, and the habit of closing the block against a partner who has already set the edge.

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Time
15 minutes
Players
Three front-row blockers and a coach on a box, in groups of four
Equipment
  • A sturdy box or a step for the coach, set up across the net
  • 10 balls

Setup

  1. Our front row stands at the net, half a metre off it: the outside hitter (OH) on the left, the middle blocker (MB) in the middle and the opposite (OPP) on the right.
  2. The coach (C) stands on a box across the net, 1.6 metres off it and opposite our OPP, as the hitter.
  3. The OPP sets the edge of the block. The MB crosses over along the net and plants next to them.
  4. The OH, who is not blocking this ball, drops off the net to cover the tip. The coach hits into the block, at the MB's hands.
  5. Run it ten times to the right, then move the coach to the left and run it ten times the other way.

Coaching points

  • Middle: one step, then a big crossover step facing the net, then plant. Shuffling is too slow for a ball set to the antenna.
  • Plant and jump straight up, not sideways. A blocker who drifts into their partner knocks them out of the block.
  • Close the block: your inside hand next to your partner's, with no gap the ball can pass through.
  • Hands over the net, thumbs up, pressing towards the middle of the court.

On the run sheet: Watch the setter, read the set, go. Crossover, plant, and jump next to your partner: no gap between your hands and theirs

Progressions

  1. Add a setter across the net who sets left, right or middle, so the middle has to read the set.
  2. Replace the coach with a live hitter.
  3. Add a back-row digger behind the block, who calls where the hitter is about to go.

How it runs

Our front row start at the net: outside hitter (OH) on the left, middle blocker (MB) in the middle, opposite (OPP) on the right. Across the net the coach (C) stands on a box opposite our OPP, playing their outside hitter. The ball has gone to the right of our court, so the OPP sets the edge of the block and stays put, the MB crosses over along the net to close the block next to them, and the OH drops off the net to cover a tip. The coach hits into the block, and the animation ends as the ball reaches the MB's hands.

The MB travels about two and a half metres in two big steps. That is the gap that matters: a middle who shuffles it in five small steps is still in the air when the ball goes past.

The rule it is practising

Blocking and the net. A blocker may reach over the net to block, as long as they do not touch the ball before the attacker hits it, and a block does not count as one of the team's three hits (FIVB Official Volleyball Rules). A blocker who touches the net between the antennae while playing the ball commits a net fault, and so does one who lands with a whole foot over the centre line, which is why the middle plants and jumps straight up. Only front-row players may block: a back-row player or the libero who takes part in a block that touches the ball is at fault.

Youth leagues play with a lower net, and mini-volleyball and 4 v 4 rarely block at all, so check your federation's or league's rules before you teach a block to the youngest players.

The mistakes to watch for

Watching the ball instead of the setter, which starts the middle late. Shuffling along the net. A gap between the two blockers' hands. Jumping sideways into a partner. And hands that reach for the ball instead of pressing over the net to take space away.

More volleyball drills

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