Punish the Gap
Why this drill
Every rec player has heard "get to the line" — this game shows them why from the other side of the net. One team is frozen in the one-up, one-back shape; the other learns to see the diagonal gap that shape creates and pour shots through it.
Setup
Full doubles court, four players. One team (the split team) starts every point one player at the kitchen line, one at the baseline, and may not fix it: the back player must stay behind the transition zone. The other team (the hunters) starts both at their kitchen line.
The drill
The hunters feed a medium ball to the split team's back player and the point is live. The hunters' assignment is stated out loud before each point: attack the diagonal seam between the split opponents, pull the net player wide then play behind them, or drop soft into the gap the back player can't reach in time. Rally scoring to 11, then teams switch roles. The split team fights with what they have — which is the lesson: count how few of their points come from the frozen formation. Afterward, play one normal game where both teams may advance, and feel how different the same court plays.
One thought to take on court
Hunt the seam, not the player — the space between a split team is the biggest target on the court.