Using leg drive

When receiv­ing a hard-driven serve, your passing platform should remain stable.

The natural rebound of the ball from your arms will provide plenty of force.

For a softer serve, you need to use some leg drive when the forearms contact the ball (take a look at the picture). Imagine you are sitting on the edge of a chair as you get into proper passing position.

As you contact the ball use just enough power in your legs to stand up.

Receiving serve with the hands

With the rules change more and more players receive serve with their hands. The cur­rent rule allows a double contact on any first team contact, including the use of the hands. The previous rule allowed double contact of any first team con­tact with the exception of hand contact. This change caused that more and more players receive serve with their hands.

To receive serve with your hands, position your arms above your shoul­ders. Move to the ball just prior to con­tact with a serve to avoid a held ball. Contact with the ball should be only accomplished only with the finger pads.

Keep in mind that the rules of vol­leyball allow a double contact, not a lifted or held ball.

The most common errors

A common error in­experienced players commit is referred to as praying. Prior to contact, the player brings the joined hands up near the fore­head (praying position), then  drops the arms near waist level to contact the ball. Players are often unaware that they make this mistake and find it hard to correct. To correct this ask from your players to keep their arms extended and if they can’t bend, they won’t develop the habit of praying before the pass.

The tip

Depending on the effectiveness of the block, an offspeed attack may be a good option. The tip is a de­ceptive attack disguised by a strong approach and dynamic jump.

Instead of swinging at the ball, reach high with a locked el­bow, contacting the ball with your finger pads. Place the ball just over the blockers’ hands and on the floor in open space not covered by defenders.

This action can really surprise the opponents block, especially if you don’t perform it so often.

The roll

Another common offspeed shot is the roll shot. Again, disguise this attack by completing a strong, aggressive approach.

You will need to adjust your arm swing. Near the height of your jump, swing your arm in a small circle and chip the ball with an oti speed topspin motion.

Tactically, the roll shot is similar to the tip, as the attacker gets the ball over the block. Again, the intent is to have the ball land on the floor in front of the defenders.

Tooling the block

Accomplished players learn that in some cases the block is the attacker’s best friend.

They simply beat the ball off the blocker. This should be performed on blocker that is  nearest the sideline and actually aim for that blocker’s outside hand. This is referred to in vol­leyball circles as “tooling the block” .

A lot of players use this skill when they don’t get good set from setter.

This can also be used when the block is well positioned and the player has no other possibilities but tooling the block.

As a setter, you are not always limited to setting to teammates in front of you. You can send the ball behind with a back set and surprise the opponents.

The back set may be challenging for new players. The setter receives the ball the same as she would on a front set. The initial body, arm, and hand position will be helpful in execution of the back set. Contact the ball near your forehead, but then arch your back and drive your arms high above your head. This extension should finish with your biceps very close to your ears. With experience and prac­tice, you will gain confidence in set­ting to a player that you cannot see.

Good setters are able to set in either direction and have their form look exactly the same. So, if you want to perform the back set, don’t look back over the top of your head because the blockers will know what you are about to do and they will have advantage against the hitter.

To be able to square your shoul­ders in the direction of your intended set, you need to arrive at the spot where the ball is heading.It’s very important to get there before the ball does. Once you have arrived, it is important to get your hands up quickly and have your body in an athletic stance with your feet stag­gered and your knees bent comfort­ably. It is preferable to have your right foot forward, especially if a serve reception forces you near the net.

With your hands in the shape of the volleyball, it is extremly important to have your thumbs pointed at your eyes. Practice this without a vol­leyball and you will be able to pic­ture the ball settling into your hands quite nicely. Your goal should be to contact the ball near forehead level. As you contact the ball with your finger pads, be sure to drive with both your arms and legs in the direction of the intended set.

Spring in the wrists

The action of the wrists is important in the execution of a set. With your hands open and in the shape of the volleyball, your wrists will give a little as the ball makes contact your finger pads. This can be described as the ball going to the hands. Think of your wrists as a spring, be sure that the ball doesn’t stop in your hands and you won’t commit a “held ball” violation.

The great drill for springing the wrists is giving the ball to setter who’s in setting position and push the ball into her forehead. Setter needs to resist this force without holding onto the ball. Then you should suddenly pull your hands and the setter will push the ball springing the wrists.

Setting errors

The largest number of  set­ting errors are commited when setter makes the contact with the ball. A player may hold the ball in the hands too long and actually be whistled for a held ball infraction. Another mistake commonly observed in setting is the slapping sound that appeares with a set that only contacts the palms of the hand and not the finger pads.

Initial serving strategy could include the following objectives: serving to the weakest receiver in the opponent’s team; serve between two players; serving short; serving to the deep third of the opponent’s court; serve to the front-row attackers in the opponent’s team; challenge the strongest attacker to pass the ball, then attack.

Highly skilled players can control the ball on offense and attack at a high rate of efficiency. Strong, effective serves are needed to force an opponent to unpleasant situation, leading to a less successful attack from the opponent. At a lower or intermediate level, effective serving may require a high percentage of serves simply to be in play, since the opponent’s offense may not be powerfull.

Target serving

For successful, consistent serves, practice serving for control and accuracy. Servers take the ball and serve to hit a target. For target you cauld use mattress or you can position some players, so the servers have to hit them.

Serve deep

Once you’ve mastered the basic service, it’s time to practice serving for power by accelerating the hand to the ball. Position the mattress near the endline. These mattresses provide a deep-court target zone for the servers. So, tell your servers to hit them with their serve.

The main difference is that instead you attack a set from a teammate, you attack the ball that is thrown high by yourself. Hold the ball in front of your serving shoulder as you prepare for the toss. Use a one-handed toss, but toss the ball with your serving arm. You will launch yourself into the air to attack the toss, so toss the ball high in front of you. It is essential to coordinate the toss with a sequence of steps, allowing you to jump and swing naturally. Step forward on your nondominant foot as you toss the ball.

Think of the toss in the under- J hand serve as a release. Create a pendulum motion with your arms. As the hand holding the ball drops, your serving hand moves forward through the ball.

Contacting an underhand serve from a toss can be difficult. Keep the fingers of your serving hand pointing behind your body to expose the heel of your hand to the ball. This will allow you to contact the ball with the meaty part of your hand. Many players attempt to use a fist for an underhand serve, but this often causes inconsistent contact. In addition, the open hand leads to a more natural progression from the underhand serve to the overhand floater.

Ready position

Now, lets start with basics…

To execute an overhead floater serve, stand comfortably with your nondominant foot slightly forward. Be sure that your weight is on your back foot. Hold the ball with your nonserving hand in front of your serving shoulder.

Slide your front foot forward and feel your body weight shift from your back foot to your front foot. As you step forward, toss the ball directly in front of your serving shoulder high enough to force you to reach with your serving hand.

Toss the ball

The toss requires a lot of attention because many errors result from inconsistent location of the toss. Experienced players commonly use the one-hand toss.

The one-hand toss allows you to place your serving arm in a ready or cocked position with your elbow above your shoulder.

Keep the height of your toss near the height of your reach. When you toss the ball to this location, you will need to accelerate your hand to the ball. Accelerating your hand to the ball creates power.

Before tossing the ball some players perform certain actions: throw the ball in the air, hitting on the ground several times, applauded by her etc.. These are actions serve as the movements of introducing a service. They grow in a habit and soon become an integral part of service.

Arm swing

An effective arm swing has a whiplike action. The arm swing begins as you draw your elbow behind your ear with your attacking hand open and palm facing out. Your elbow should remain higher than your shoulder throughout the whiplike action.

The floater serve is most effective when follow-through is limited. After accelerating your serving hand to the ball, allow the hand to lower naturally to your side. A long follow-through may generate too much power, causing the serve to travel out of bounds. Limiting the follow-through helps provide the floating movement of the serve as it travels to the opponent. This movement is often compared to a knuckle ball.

Contact with a ball

Be sure to reach high and in front of you as you contact the ball. Make contact with an open hand. Use a strong hand, keeping your wrist firm throughout contact. Contact the ball with the meaty part of your hand right in the center of the ball. Your fingers should be slightly spread, allowing you to contact more of the surface of the ball.

The sequence of the toss and contact should be rapid. Remember, your hand is accelerating to the ball. As soon as the ball leaves your hand for the toss, the whiplike action or throwing motion of the arm must follow. Contact with a ball should more stoke than push. Also,  begginers that learn how to serve can start drills using the fist, because it would be much easier for them, but after a short time they should make contact with an open hand.

There are other ways to put the ball in play than with the overhead floater. The important thing is to use the serve that gives your team the best chance to win a point. Try these variations on the serve and find the one that works best for you and your team.

Many players take several steps prior to serving. Keep in mind that you will commit a foot fault if you step on or inside the endline prior to contacting the ball. If you choose to take more than one step before serving, establish a consistent starting point behind the endline to avoid faults by stepping on a basic line.

Taking more than one step does not provide any advantage. The  final step forward provides enough transfer of weight.

The dig is a technique that can save your volleyball game. If the ball is about to hit the floor it can be rescued with a dig and therefore, rescuing your team from the other side getting a point.

The idea of the dig is to bring the ball back up into the air so it can be volleyed or slammed into the other teams court. It is a brilliant way to set your fellow players up with an easy shot.

The technique is to lock your elbows with your hands together in front of you and hit the ball with the part of your hand between your palm or thumbs and your wrist, depending on whether you have your hands positioned wrists up or wrists together.

When you make contact with the ball. Do not lift your arms to hit it. This is very important. You must bend from the knees and use the force of coming up again as the power behind the ball. This way you can aim with your arms and control the ball so it doesn’t go to high. If you use power from your arms moving up to hit the ball, you have much less control and it is more likely to go backwards than forwards and upwards.

For making emergency plays, there are five common techniques:

Collapse

From a low defensive position, a player might collapse to the ground in order to make a last second move to play the ball. The collapse is used most often when a ball falls shorter than anticipated.

Sprawl

Anticipating the ball falling out in front of them, a defender might use the sprawling technique to take a lunge forward and reach to make a play.

Sprawling volleyball techniques are just like the collapse except the defender has time to take a step and reach.

The dive

This is similar to the sprawl except the body is more in an airborne position when making a the play.

Pancake

Defensive players can perform a pancake to save a ball from hitting the floor. The pancake is similar to a sprawl except the fingers are spread firmly and placed on the ground to meet the ball.

Pancaking can be one of the good volleyball techniques of playing a ball because if you perform a good pancake, you often will get a good bounce that will allow your teammates to keep the ball in play.

Shoulder or barrel roll

Defenders can often use a rolling technique by extending to the right, left, or forward in attempting to get the ball up by playing the ball close to the floor.

After playing the ball the players use their momentum to roll over their body and regain their balance in a position ready to move.

Rolling is probably the safest of the emergency volleyball techniques because players don’t really hit the ground hard.

The dig is a difficult technique to master, but once you’ve got it, your game standard will rise much higher and you will have the ability to play well in any position on court.

The keys to good blocking volleyball skills are positioning, timing, and movement.

To be an effective blocker, you need to stay in a balance position ready to anticipate.

Good blocking volleyball skills consists of moving into good position to jump up and penetrate the net with your hands and arms to deflect or block your opponents attack.

Keep hands up and feet ready to move

You want your hands up rather than at your sides so that you can quickly get them above the net to block. Also, by having your hands up you are less likely to brush your hands with the net as you jump up.

Hands position

Your fingers should be spread as wide as possible when blocking. By spreading them wide you cover more area and help tense them up which makes them stronger for blocking. Strong tense fingers prevents jamming or injuring your fingers during blocking.

Always penetrate the net

Don’t try reaching high to block. Instead, make your opponents hit over you. If they try to hit over you they won’t do it consistently. The more you penetrate the less of an angle hitters will have to hit around you. Also, the more you block the ball on your opponent’s side of the net, the more likely the ball will come down on their side.

Three step crossover

This is to travel a greater distance sideways at the net. To move left, take a step with your left foot, then cross your right foot over in front of your body (your body is now sideways). After you have planted the right foot, turn and face the net. Jump straight up to block.

Two step lateral

To perform this move, you basically start by jumping laterally off of one foot. To move to the left, take a big step (or jump) to your left foot. Follow with your right foot, land, and jump straight up.

Two important points:

• You want to jump lined up in front of where the hitter will be contacting the ball.
• You want to make sure you are balanced before you jump.