During one of the on-court sessions at a convention someone presented an idea about hitters attacking the block. They put an extra antenna on the net about a meter in from the left side pin (works with a pool noodle as well). Basically, it defined the zone in which the OH normally attacks. The hitter then had to hit the ball between the two antennae. That obviously makes it harder to hit around the block. This forced the hitter to work the edges of the block. They could attack seam, if that option was available. Recycling is another possibility. The blockers took line or cross to work on things more narrowly.
At the time I saw this presentation the concept of the Constraints Led Approach (CLA) handle really broken into volleyball year. This, though, is a clear example of using a constraint to get players working on something you want to address. If you’re not familiar with CLA and/or Ecological Dynamics, I encourage you to check out the videos here.
This sort of thing can be used in the Pin Hitter Challenge game, if you have two sets of antennae. It also works in the Hitter Tourney drill, the Hitter vs. Hitter Challenge or High Ball to Receive games. Basically, use it in any game or drill with hitters against blockers with lots of sets to the attackers in focus.
Of course training the attackers in this fashion also benefits blockers as well. They can work on good hand position and angles to avoid hitters tooling them.
Oh, and it’s good for training coverage as well!
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