Speed-Up Wars
Why this drill
The team version of the attack decision: four players, a mandatory dink opening, and then the war is live. Trains the two-person answer to a speed-up — who takes the body ball, who counters, who resets — that singles drilling can't touch.
Setup
Full court, doubles positions, all four at the kitchen line. Start each point with a friendly cross-court dink feed.
The drill
Every point opens with a minimum of three dinks — count out loud early on — after which any player may speed up any ball above net height. Play the firefight to its end. Games to 11, rally scoring. Speeding up early or on a ball below net height loses the point outright, called honestly. Between games, thirty seconds of team talk: who covers the middle counter, whose body ball is whose. The drill is the conversation as much as the hands.
One thought to take on court
Attack as a pair — the speed-up is a two-person commitment, and the partner's paddle should be up before yours swings.