Purpose: To work on hitting up the middle.
Procedure: This drill is for six or more players. Two players start on the service line; these players are kings (see figure 11.4). A coach stands behind them. Two additional players, the challengers, start across the net on the service line. The coach feeds the challengers the ball, and the point is played out. If the challengers lose the first point, they rotate out and the next pair steps up to challenge. The goal for the challenging pairs is to win 2 out of 3 points against the kings, or hit a winner up the middle between them to take their side of the court and become the new kings. The game is played for time, so at the end of the allotted time the players on the king and queen side of the court do not have to pick up the balls.