Volleyball drill: block timing

A big mistake during blocking is that players mostly watch the ball. From the moment the ball leaves the playmaker until the moment of hitting the volleyball by the attacker, the ball is watched. However, the most information can be derived from the attacker. Where is the ball going to be hit, how are the shoulders? The task is to teach the players, after they have seen which attacker is served by the playmaker, to watch the attacker.

In this exercise the trainer is standing behind the pair that forms the blocking. The trainer throws the ball over the net and the attackers hit the ball. Blocking players can no longer follow ball and they have to watch the attacker. Of course, the trainer can apply further technical improvements, such as the position of the hand, what to do after the block landing, and the way of landing

if the trainer want to keep his or her hand free to apply technical improvements while the rest of the exercise continues, the attacker can throw the ball one by one, or the playmakers.

Variations are:
1: only an outside block
2: with mid block
3: also position attackers at the mid position

It is important the players focus on the attacker.