A ball-free footwork drill that grooves the left-right-left (right-left-right for lefties) plant-and-load rhythm of a 3-step attack approach.
15 minNo equipment
Steps
01Set up a step behind the 10-foot line in a low athletic stance, weight on the balls of both feet, ready to lead with your left foot (mirror for lefties).
02Take a small, quick directional step onto the left foot to aim your approach, then drive a long, low, accelerating step onto the right foot, planting it heel-first to brake your forward momentum.
03Snap the left foot down beside the right to finish the quick 'right-left' plant, braking heel-to-toe so momentum redirects straight up while your hips stay open to the court.
04As the feet plant, swing both arms back behind your hips to load, then throw them up as you leave the ground: non-hitting arm reaching to the ball, hitting arm loading into the bow-and-arrow.
05Freeze at the top of the imaginary jump and check that your chest is up, hips square to the target, and hitting arm loaded high, then reset and repeat.
Common mistakes
Reversing the step pattern: a right-handed hitter should go left-right-left and finish with a right-left plant, so leading with the right foot flips the footwork and kills the load.
Floating or coasting through the last two steps instead of accelerating into a quick, heel-first plant, which kills upward drive.
Leaving the arms in front instead of swinging them back behind the hips to load before the plant.
Vollyio