Korfball
A korfball training plan for your team
A build-up that lasts the whole season, from the field into the hall and back out again, with a worked session for every training night.
Korfball has a season shape most sports do not. You start outside, move into the hall after the autumn, and come back out in spring. Twice a year the game changes under your hands: different distances, different tempo, a different kind of shot. A training build-up that ignores that is wrong for three months of the year.
Then there is the division. Attack and defence swap after two goals, so every player has to be able to do both. A session that mostly practises finishing leaves half the game alone, and you find out in March.
We plan that order for you, from field to hall and back, with a worked session under every training night.
How a korfball week runs
01
Two sessions and a Saturday match is the usual rhythm.
02
The first session of the week takes the hard work and the new material: division play, the running-in shot under pressure, the long game.
03
The second is shorter and works on finishing and on the division play as it will run in the match.
What a drill looks like
A korfball drill from the library, written for the middle age group. This text is what lands on your session sheet.
Four around the post
11 to 41 minutes
Teaches the reference shape: four around the post, nobody underneath.
- Setup
- Stand one post in the middle of a 14 by 14 m area. Four cones mark the reference positions on a circle round the post: radius 4 m for ages 8 to 12, and 5 m for ages 12 to 14. For ages 8 to 12, play four attackers and no defenders. A fifth player waits outside the circle and rotates in every 90 seconds for a player of the same gender. For ages 12 to 14, four attackers (two girls and two boys) play against defenders in bibs, each marking a same-gender opponent. That is two defenders with six players, and four defenders with eight. With seven, run the two-defender version and stay on two defenders in phase 3. The odd player waits outside the circle and rotates in every 90 seconds for a player of the same gender.
- How it runs
- - The passer steps in to feed the ball, then immediately steps back out. The other three attackers stay spread around the post, and nobody stands underneath the korf. - Phase 1: walk for 3 minutes with ages 8 to 12, or 4 minutes with ages 12 to 14. Use no defenders. The passer steps in, feeds the ball and steps back out. - Phase 2: jog for 6 minutes with ages 8 to 12, or 4 minutes with ages 12 to 14 before moving to phase 3. Make three passes before taking a shot. Award 1 point for a goal and 1 point for an assist. - Phase 3: ages 12 to 14 only, for 4 minutes. Add two defenders, then four, on the coach’s call. The defenders walk on when called. - From phase 3, a shot scores nothing if a same-gender defender meets all four conditions: nearer the post than the shooter, within arm’s length of the shooter, facing the shooter, and actively trying to block. The ball goes over. - Rotate one position clockwise every 90 seconds. In phase 3, attackers and defenders swap roles halfway through. - Easier: use three attackers, run phase 1 only and shoot from 3 m.
- Coaching points
- Nobody stands under the korf: that space is the next pass.
- Every attacker should be able to shoot from where they stand. If they cannot, the circle is too big for the age band.
- The passer moves after passing; static attackers are defended.
- Watch the gaps: side-by-side attackers empty a quarter of the korf.
- Common mistakes
- Shape collapsing toward the ball → send everyone back to their cone.
- Attackers parked on their cone → require a step in and out each pass.
- Shooting from a defended position → call it, ball over.
- Kit
- 1 × korfball post, 2 × ball, 4 × cone, 4 × bib
Where this fits in
There are good collections of korfball game forms for youth, built from the game rather than from isolated technique. That is the right end to start from.
A collection still leaves you to work out what week nine should be and how it follows week eight. Here that is filled in, and it changes as soon as you say it was too hard or that only eight turned up.
Ages and limits
Federations divide their youth into different age groups, and the plan follows whichever one applies. You say which country you coach in and which age group your team plays. Where we hold that federation's categories, the plan uses its names. Every age group carries a load ceiling that decides which drills qualify and how hard a week can get. That ceiling sits in the code, and it holds even when you ask for more.
Try it with your team
A few questions about your team, and the first weeks are already there.
Set up your team