Tuesday, March 2, 2010


A simple passing drill that can be fun.
Put an uneven number of player’s in this case 9, in a circle.
Give a ball to player 1 and 9 and let them pass to the right skipping one player.
So the pass sequence will be 1-3-5-7-9-2-4-6-8-1 or 9-2-4-6-8-1-3-5-7-9 depending on your starting point.
The goal is for one ball to overtake the other.

A forearm pass should always be used when receiving a serve or a volley and is often the first touch of the ball. The forearm pass allows the player to contact the ball lower to the floor giving valuable time to get into position and make a better pass. The platform created by the forearms also provides greater stability and control of the ball. A good first pass is crucial to setup an effective attacking play.
If necessary, the player can provide additional arm or leg movement to push the ball further. Often, however, the momentum from a hard serve or volley alone is sufficient to reach the target without any additional movements from the player. A player only needs to form a strong platform and let the ball rebound. A player’s position, posture and stance along with the arm angle contribute to the accuracy and effectiveness of the pass.

Setting is a specialist role requiring lots of agility, accuracy and skill. The setter often controls the offensive plays by deciding where the ball should be set and then executing it perfectly. A good setter requires a range of techniques in his or her skill repertoire.
The set is used to pass the ball above chest height. There are various sets that can be used such as the forward set, back set, jump set and so on. In this article, I’ll describe how to perform a simple forward set, back set and jump set. While the description is simple, the development of the skill is difficult and time consuming that requires hours and hours of practice. Obviously, good coaching and instruction will reduce this learning curve.

There are a various types of spikes or hitting techniques in volleyball. For instance, outside hit, middle hit, quick balls, backcourt spike etc. In its most basic form, spiking is simply the action of jumping into the air and hitting the ball downwards into your opponent’s side of the court, which hopefully results in a ‘kill’.
To execute a spike you need to make an approach, jump into the air with a good arm swing and then hit the ball with force as you bring your arm back from the swing. It takes a lot of practice to get all three actions to flow together smoothly and to develop an effective spike so be patient and put in the hard work.
Lets breakdown the action of a spike into easy to follow instructions. In this example, we will describe the actions for a right-handed hitter.

The Overhand Serve
For a right handed server, start with your left foot in front of your right and the ball in your left hand. Hold the ball up at shoulder height, arm stretched out but with a slight bend in your left elbow. Pull your right arm back so that your right hand is just in front of your face with the palm facing down.
To serve, tilt your right arm up as you pull your right elbow back. At the same time, slowly move your left arm up to toss the ball. Keep you left hand and arm steady throughout its movement to avoid spinning the ball.

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.

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.