Dig and Recover Speed Circuit

Speed & Acceleration

12 minutesintermediateindividualphysical

Legend

player
coach / parent
ball
movement path

How it works

Train dive-and-recover speed so players can return to ready position after a floor contact within two seconds.

What you need

volleyball
open gym space

Your focus

Players who make a floor dig but cannot recover quickly leave their zone undefended on the next play. The dig-and-recover cycle is one of the most physically demanding repetitive actions in volleyball. Building speed and body control in this cycle ensures that a defensive effort does not create a liability for the team.

Player starts in ready position at the baseline. Coach rolls or tosses a ball 6 feet to the right.

Player dives or sprawls to play the ball, gets it off the floor to a target coach, and immediately recovers to ready position at the baseline marker.

Coach times from dive contact to ready-position return; goal is under 2.5 seconds.

Run the sequence 8 times alternating left and right; rest 40 seconds between reps.

Goal

Success is popping up from the floor and returning to ready position before the next ball is fed, floor to ready in 2 seconds.

Helpful cues

Get your belly to the floor fast, then push through it even faster
Recover with purpose, shuffle back, don't walk back
Ready position on arrival, not 1 second after

Adjust the challenge

Make it easier

Strip it back

Remove the timing requirement; focus on technique of the dive and recovery movement before adding speed.

UpLVL it

Add the next challenge

After recovery, coach immediately tosses a second ball so the player must defend again with no rest between contacts.

No account needed

Build a practice plan

Add drills, keep the plan in this browser, then share a link with your staff or parents.

This library helps you find the right drill. Inside UpLVL the right drill finds the player.

After every practice, UpLVL automatically surfaces the drills each player needs to work on most. See it for yourself.