When Receiving the Volleyball Serve, More Is Not Merrier

When it comes to receiving the serve, it can seem like having the maximum number of players possible involved in passing is the way to go. Unfortunately in this case, more is not merrier. More passers means more seams, more opportunities for miscommunication and more serve receive errors.

Instead of crowding five or even (heaven forbid!) six players into your serve receive formation, stick with three passers whenever possible. If you're just not comfortable with so few passers, you can bump it up to four, but make three your goal.

First here is a four-person serve receive pattern:

We've got at least three seams to contend with, more if you have front row players creeping backwards into the pattern. "Seams" refers to the lines between players where either player could potentially be responsible for playing the ball. When a serve lands in a seam two players have to communicate about which one of them is going to be passing. More seams = more demands on passers' communication.

There is also a gaping hole in the middle of the court, and a ball served there could potentially be passed by any of the four receivers. It's a communication issue just waiting to be exploited, and a good server will do just that. With four passers you're also obligated to have at least one front row player passing, and a strong server can aim for them in the hopes of taking them out of the offense for that play.

Now check out this diagram of a typical three-person serve receive:

You'll see that there are only two real seams, which should cut down on potential communication problems. However this type of passing demands solid abilities from all three receivers, because they generally take any serve within their 1/3 of the court. So if the ball is served short they must move forward to pass it; if it goes deep they need to be able to either move backwards into position or receive it with an overhand pass.

Some teams have the two outside passers take short serves while the middle passer takes anything deep, but this requires similar movement skills from the passers. Go with whatever your team is comfortable with, and don't be afraid to experiment.

It can be difficult to transition to having fewer players involved in serve receive, but you'll reap rewards when it comes to your passing accuracy and communication. And remember, no matter what formation you use you need to call the ball early and often!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Andrea_Fryrear

Passing Techniques

Why will these passing techniques make your setter love you? Because they will not be running all over the court to set the pass that was given to them!

Use these techniques and your setter's life will be a lot easier.

Position: The first key to good passing is proper positioning of the body. Most people think that the key to good passing is in their arms. Actually, the real key is to use the legs first.

The important part of the legs is to use them to move. This sounds simple, but you would be surprised how many people try to pass without moving their legs. The end result is a sloppy pass and your setter will not love you for it. I promised to make them love you, so don't do that!

When receiving serve or ready to pass, your knees should be bent, you should be on your toes, and ready to move to the ball. Proper passing position would look something like this:

Hands: The next part of passing techniques to cover are the hands. There are several different methods that people use with their hands. One technique is the cup technique. This is where you lay one hand almost as a cup, put the other hand on top of it, and then fold the thumbs on top of the two hands.

Another method is the fist method. For the fist method, you make a fist with one hand (typically the left hand if you are right handed), the other hand goes around the fist, with the thumbs on top. The thumbs must be side by side on the top.

The other method is to not interlock the fingers/hands at all. Some players will just put their wrists together so that they can pass. I have noticed that the higher level players tend to use this method as they don't have to worry about putting their hands together when passing.

The important part is to make the hands level/even, so that both arms are even.

Wrists: The important thing to remember is to pull your hands and wrists down towards the ground. In doing so, you are going to expose the flatter part of your forearm to pass with. So, remember to keep your wrists down.

Arms: Your arms are the steering mechanism it is with your arms that you will be guiding the ball to the target. Proper passing techniques say that you should have your hips and arms squared up (facing) your target. This can't always be done, but the more you can move your feet to the right spot, the easier it will be to square up to the target.

You must use your forearms to pass. The ball should not be hitting your hands/wrists. There are too many bumps in the hands and wrists for there to be any consistent control. If the ball is hitting where your elbows are, you are passing it too high on the arm. Your forearms are the target passing area and you want to keep them as flat as possible for optimum control.

Passing Motion: This is where a lot of beginners make a mistake. Unless you are playing with a bunch of 1st graders that can't really hit the ball, you are not going to need to swing your arms to get the ball to the setter.

In most cases, there will be enough velocity on the ball (from a serve or a spike) that you will not need to "hit" it to get it to the setter. In fact, when you watch high level players, they hardly move their arms other than pointing the ball to the target as explained above. Let the ball make the impact and point it to the setter.

Here is a good picture of what I mean:
These are the fundamentals of good passing techniques:

* Move your feet to the spot where the ball will be
* Pull your hands/wrists down for a flatter forearm surface
* Square up your hips and arms to the target
* Use your forearms to point the ball to the target
* Don't swing! Let the velocity of the ball do the work

Follow these rules and you'll be passing like a pro in no time. Good passing techniques take a lot of practice, and some patience. The rest is all learned by muscle memory from playing.

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How to Pass or Bump a Volleyball

Passing is the most fundamental, yet difficult, part of volleyball. If your team can successfully pass the ball more times than your opponent, then you are guaranteed the victory. Passing is a defensive part of the game of volleyball and sets up the offensive part of the game as soon as the ball reaches the setter's hands.

Passing a volleyball can be characterized by the successful action of returning the opponents hit to your teammate (or setter) to set up your offensive possession. Passing a volleyball is the second step of defense (if you count attempting to block the opponents hit) and is the most important step to starting your offensive possession. If you don't have a good pass to your setter, then it is impossible to start your offensive set or play. There are several steps to passing a volleyball correctly and efficiently in order to allow your setter the opportunity to set all the options on the court. If all steps are given attention, then passing will become second nature to you in no time!

Step 1:

Keep your eyes on the opponent's arm as he swings at the ball in order to determine or estimate the direction and position of the ball following his hit.

Step 2:

Once the ball has successfully crossed the plane of the net, you are able to adjust your positioning in regards to the ball's position as to pass it successfully.

Step 3:

The following couple of steps are in regards to your stance and positioning on the court. A huge part of passing the ball is your stance:

• You must be balanced and on the balls of your feet, rather than your heels, so that you can react quickly and effectively to the ball's placement and movement.
• Your arms must be directly in front of you with somewhat of a slant towards the ground, your elbows locked, and your shoulders shrugged.
• Make sure that your hands always stay together. There are two ways that I currently know about to hold your hands together as to create a smooth and parallel surface on your forearms (which is where the ball should be passed from).
  1) Make a fist with your right hand and mold your left hand around it with both thumbs on top of the hands.
  2) Make a flat surface with both hands and put your right hand inside of your left with both thumbs on top. Both of these techniques provide the flattest surface for you forearms so that the ball can go in the correct direction.
• Your legs must be bent and in a steady position as to be able to slide to the ball.
• You never swing your arms at the ball, but rather use your legs as to push the ball upwards and then into a parabolic motion towards your setter.
• Always aim your feet at the setter, rather than swinging your arms towards the setter.
• Constantly keep your eyes on the ball before, during, and after passing the ball to allow a more correct form.

Get ready to do it again!
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