What are some of the top best tips for excelling at different positions in volleyball?
Are you in a hitting position? Outside, middle or right side hitter? If you answered yes, then definitely continue reading. One of the best tips for being a smart hitter is knowing when to tip, what areas to tip in and when to slam down a spike. The difference between a great hitter and an all star hitter is being a smart hitter. Notice empty spots on the court where the opponent’s team is not defending.. boom that’s where you should tip or hit on your next play. I mean the whole point of the game is to win by gaining points so make those smart moves. Another tip that I find very helpful to hitters is to think about your swing when you’re attacking. How often are you putting down an excellent swing only to realize that the ball lands out of bounds? Try this, right before you snap your wrist down pointing it in the direction you want the ball to go, reach your arm high almost as if you are trying to hit the backboard of a basketball goal. Right as you hit your highest goal, boom, snap that wrist! Doing this you will be so surprised to see that your spike lands in bounds every time.
In addition to the front row hitters, as we are aware of you have more to do than just spiking. Let’s talk about blocking! There are many techniques to this part of the game and each player does have their own style of making the magic happen, as with any position in this sport. I am just going to hit on one tip that comes to the top of my head at the moment. This is to focus specifically on the hands. First things first, you must always have the fingers spread open and far apart ensuring full blockage availability available. Next, the positioning of your hands matters. When you are blocking in the outside position if your left hand is facing outwards you are setting up the opportunity to have your opponent tool their spike right off leading in a point for the other team. So what I would suggest is focusing on having your left hand turned in towards the court and your right hand in the same direction. All in all in each front row blocking position you want to not only bock the hit but also make sure the ball bounces off of your hands back onto the opponents court. Just as stated for the outside hitter, you would essentially do the same thing for your right side blocking position. Turn your hands in towards the court protecting you from a tool leading the other team to scoring a point. As for the middle hitter the blocking is similar depending on which side you assist in blocking. If you are a middle blocker and are directly in the middle then I would suggest turning your hands in a position that leads the ball to bounce back on the least defended side of the court.
Next up, tips for my setters out there. Are you ever struggling with doubles or feeling as though the grasp of your fingers isn’t soft enough to release the ball for the set? My best tip for gaining strength in this area is to pretend as though you are setting a two-liter of coke. What I mean by this is, forming your hands in the shape insulating you are setting a two-liter. You want the shape of your hands to catch the ball so quickly that it in turn bounces out as quickly as a trampoline. This right here will be a game changer the more you practice it and develop it into a habit.
Alright, where are my back row passers out there? This is such an important role as we are the players that start off the entire play. When you start with a good pass it sets your team up for the potential to have a good set leading into a good hit. Much of playing the back row passing positions has a lot to do with reading the hitters common angles. The more you are able to read the arm angles of the specific hitter the easier it will be for you to catch on quickly to the position of the spike or even to see if they are going to tip. My best tip for passers is to stay low, move those feet first and no matter what face your arms receive the pass directly to the setter or to where your end goal is. One last tip, if you have to pass a ball over the net on the third hit, always aim for the deep corners.
Hopefully you were able to gain some great coaching pointers from this article! Now lets get to practicing!
