Notes & Homework

Skill: Transition Zone Defense

• Contact Point: Out in front, approx 12-15" in front of toes.
• Weight Transfer: Allow weight to flow into your shot. Push the ball forward with weight.
• Body Positioning: Stagger your feet to allow ability to transfer weight.
• Hands: Soft hands and wrist to provide shock absorber for ball.
• Swing: Push forward through this ball. Do not swing up at it.

Drill: Transition Zone Stop & Drop

• 1 player at NVZ and 1 player mid-court straight on.
• Part #1 - purpose is to hone in on contact out in front.
  • NVZ player feeds ball to mid-court player bouncing it in front of them.
  • Mid-court player must stop or stall the ball in front of them with their paddle.
• Part #2 - purpose is to reset into NVZ from mid-court.
  • NVZ player feeds ball to mid-court player bouncing it in front of them.
  • Mid-court player must try and neutralize or reset the ball back into the NVZ.
  • Mid-court player may reset the ball out of the air or off the bounce.

Skill: Transition Zone Swinging Volley

• Weight Transfer: Load and rotate to allow weight to flow forward into your shot. Plant and then push through contact.
•  Body Positioning: Step into the shot using weight transfer for power. Multiple small prep steps are better than fewer large steps.
•  Hands: Eastern grip with laid back wrist.
• Swing: Swing through the ball like drawing a Nike swoosh to the side of you. Low to high swing plane. No backswing behind the body.

Drill: Drop, Attack, Volley

• Set up 3 cones on the sideline as guides: 1 at baseline, 1 at midcourt, 1 at NVZ.
• 1 player at the baseline and 1 player at NVZ straight on.
• NVZ player feeds a ball to each cone depth.
• Baseline player hits a drop from the baseline walks forward to transition, hits a swing volley attack at midcourt, then a volley from NVZ.
• Focus is on footwork and not overrunning the attackable ball.
• Accelerate forward to attack the ball and use your weight transfer to create power.