Counter Puncher
Why this drill
At 4.0, the speed-up stops being a winner and starts being a conversation — and the player with the better counter wins it. Fixed roles isolate the counterattack: not the block, the counter.
Setup
Both players at their non-volley-zone lines, straight ahead on a half court, plenty of balls in reach.
The drill
Roles are fixed: one attacker, one counter puncher. The attacker initiates a speed-up off a short dink exchange — at the body or paddle shoulder — and the counter puncher's job is not to survive it but to hurt it: redirect the ball firmly at the attacker's feet, hip, or open space. Play each exchange to its end. First to 7 counters that would win the point, then swap roles. Attackers: vary the target honestly; a predictable speed-up teaches nothing.
One thought to take on court
Counter with angle, not with more speed — their pace plus your redirect is already enough.