A korfball training plan for your team

Teaches the reference attacking shape: four attackers spread around the post with nobody underneath it. All 360 degrees of a korf with no backboard stay occupied, and every attacker stands at a distance they can actually shoot from.

Setup

One post in the middle of a 14×14 m area. Four cones mark the reference positions on a circle around the post, radius 4 m from 8 to 12 and 5 m from 12 to 14. From 8 to 12 the group is four attackers and no defenders, and a fifth player waits outside the circle and rotates in every 90 s for a player of the same gender. From 12 to 14 it is four attackers, two girls and two boys, against two defenders in bibs with six players, or against four defenders with eight, each on an opponent of their own gender. With seven, run the two-defender version and let the odd player wait outside the circle and rotate in every 90 s for a player of the same gender. The four-defender half of phase 3 needs eight players. A group of seven finishes on two defenders.

How it runs

Phase 1 runs 3 min from 8 to 12 and 4 min from 12 to 14. Phase 2 runs 6 min from 8 to 12. From 12 to 14 phase 2 runs 4 min and phase 3 follows for 4 min, and the change between them is a call and a walk-on by the defenders rather than a break. Phase 1 is at walking pace with no defenders: four attackers on the four cones, the ball moved around the shape, and every passer steps in towards the korf and back out to the cone. Nobody stands under the korf. Phase 2 is the same shape at a jog, still no defenders, with three passes before a shot is allowed. Phase 3 is for 12 to 14 only: two defenders first, then four. Read the shape as players around the post against players under it, so 4-0 means four around and none under. From phase 2 a goal counts 1 and the pass that made it counts 1 for the passer. From phase 3 a shot taken while a same-gender defender is nearer the post, within arm's length, facing the shooter and actively trying to block counts nothing and hands the ball over. Everyone rotates one position clockwise every 90 s, and attackers and defenders swap roles halfway through phase 3. Easier: three attackers, phase 1 only, shooting from 3 m. Harder: move on to the rotation form, 4-0 to 3-1.

What to watch

• Nobody stands under the korf in this shape. That space is the next pass, not a place to wait.
• 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 the pass. Four static attackers are four defended attackers.
• Watch the gaps. Two attackers side by side means a quarter of the korf is empty.

What usually goes wrong

• The shape collapsing towards the ball: send everyone back to their cone and start the sequence again.
• Attackers parked on their cone: the cone is a reference, so require a step in and a step out on every pass.
• Shooting from a defended position because the shot was open a second earlier: call it and give the ball over.

Kit

1 × korfball post, 2 × ball, 4 × cone, 4 × bib