Volleyball Drills for a Middle Hitter

  • September 3, 2019

A middle hitter is a volleyball player who plays a key role in organizing effective attacks on the court. It’s incredibly important for a middle hitter to get the right type of volleyball training regularly. As a middle hitter you need to do effective volleyball drills consistently in order to improve your skills and, therefore, performance on the court. It’s worth noting that the vast majority of middle hitter’s drills are focused on defence and attacking. In today’s post, you’ll be able to find volleyball drills that middle hitters need to do on a regular basis in order to maximize their talent and contribute greatly to their teams. So, let’s get started!

Kill 50 Drill

Kill 50 drill is the type of a volleyball drill that middle hitters need to do consistently in order to develop their skills. The reality is, doing kill 50 drill has many great benefits for a middle hitter. It’s important to note that doing kill 50 drill allows middle hitters to improve their skills in many ways. The drill teaches middle hitters how to penetrate the block and hit the ball unexpectedly in different parts of a volleyball court. But most importantly, doing kill 50 drill makes it possible for a volleyball player to diversify his/her hitting strategy.

It all begins with preparation. Kill 50 drill is a volleyball drill that requires the middle hitter as well as the setter, the back row passer and two volleyball coaches. A middle hitter, the back row passer and the setter should position themselves on one side of the court. Two coaches have to go to the opposite side of the court. Additionally, it’s necessary to prepare the opposite side of the court properly. You need to mark five different target areas on the court: 1) deep right and 2) deep left, 3) middle tip, 4) short right and 5) short left.

The drill begins and one of the coaches has to pass the ball to the back row passer on the opposite side of the court. When the ball is flying over the net, the middle blocker has to approach to the net as soon as possible. At this stage of the drill, the middle volleyball blocker has to penetrate the block and get ready for defense attack transition.

At the next stage of the drill, the middle hitter has to pass the ball to the setter. Lastly, a setter sets the ball and now it’s time for the middle hitter to carry out a successful attack hit. The main goal of the middle hitter is to hit the ball to one of the five target areas on the opposite side of the volleyball court. The middle hitter will earn the point if the ball hits the target.

The task of the middle hitter is to hit the ball as fast as he/she can. A volleyball player has to hit the ball as many times as possible. Additionally, a hitter has to try to land the ball in different areas on the volleyball court. The middle volleyball hitter should aim to hit the ball at least 50 times within 10 minutes.

Run the Middle

Run the Middle is a volleyball drill that gives middle hitters an opportunity to hit the ball after serve receive. This type of a drill requires the server and the middle blocker as well as the middle hitter and three passers. First of all, all volleyball players have to prepare for the drill. Initially, the server and the middle blocker position themselves on one side of the court. The middle hitter and three passers go to the opposite side of the court.

The drill begins and the server serves the ball. As a result, the ball goes to the opposite side of the volleyball court. At this stage of the drill, the middle hitter has to position himself/herself properly and get ready for an attack hit. At the next stage of the drill, one of passers has to receive the ball and pass it to a setter. Now, it’s time for the middle hitter has to call for the ball. The middle hitter has to approach to the setter and prepare for an attack. After that, the setter sets the ball and the middle hitter carries out an attack hit. Lastly, the blocker makes an attempt to block the ball. It’s pretty clear that the middle hitter should aim to be smarter than the middle blocker. The drill continues until the certain number of successful attack hits.

You need to know that Run the Middle is a great drill both for middle hitters, passers and blockers. As we said earlier, passers have to pass the ball to the setter during the drill. It’s fair to say that the success of the drill depends a lot on how accurately the ball is passed from the passer to a setter. If the pass is accurate, a setter will definitely find it easy to set the ball. And of course, passers always have to keep the focus on the accuracy of passing. Obviously, passers have to make the perfect pass to setters. Blockers also have an opportunity to master their blocking skills during the drill. That means that blockers should try to resist an attack in the best possible way.

Volleyball Middle Hitter Transition Drill

This type of a volleyball drill is the perfect opportunity for a volleyball team to improve its middle hitters. In this volleyball drill middle hitters have to focus on a very important aspect. It’s the transition.

The drill requires four volleyball players (the two passers, the setter and the middle player) as well as a tosser. Four volleyball players have to position themselves on one side of the court. Together they should form a square. A tosser has to go to the opposite side of the court.

Actually, the drill is very simple. The drill begins when a tosser tosses the ball to one of the passers on the opposite side of the court. The passer’s job is to receive the ball and pass it to the setter. Next, the setter sets the ball to the middle hitter. Finally, the middle hitter carries out an attack hit and lands the ball on the opposite side of the court.

When doing this type of drill the middle hitter has to pay a close attention to his/her footwork. Actually, the middle hitter has to start getting ready for a hit when the ball flies over the net from the tosser to the passer. The middle hitter has to move to the place where the setter is likely to set the ball to on the court. If the middle hitter positions himself/herself on the court correctly and the ball is set in the right way then it wouldn’t be difficult for the hitter to carry out an attack hit.

Middle IQ Drill

Middle IQ Drill is the drill that requires the setter, the hitter and tosser on one side of the court as well as the two passers, the setter and the middle hitter on the opposite side of the court. First of all, volleyball players have to position themselves on the volleyball court properly and get ready for the drill. This volleyball drill needs to be practiced in two different ways.

The first time the tosser tosses the ball to the setter on his/her side of the court. Then, the setter sets the ball to one of the hitters. The job of the hitter is to approach to the ball and carry out an attack hit. The opposing team should make an attempt to resist an attack.

The second time the tosser sends the ball to one of passers on the opposite side of the court. Then, a passer has to pass the ball to the setter. After that, the setter has to set the ball to the hitter. As a result, the hitter carries out an attack hit.

It’s very important for the middle hitter to watch the setter during the drill carefully. The hitter should try to figure out how the setter will set the ball and where the ball is likely to go. This will allow the hitter to plan his/her actions accordingly, do great job on the court and earn additional points for his/her team.

Thank you so much for reading this article. We’ve just provided readers with the drills that the middle hitter has to do on a regular basis in order to greatly improve his/her skills as well as performance on the court dramatically. Obviously, it makes a lot of sense for you to do these volleyball drills in order to become the successful middle hitter in the future. Train hard, train smart and success will come to you over the time! Best of luck!