Volleyball Strategies Volleyball Tactics for Successful Blocks

Volleyball strategies for blocking vary from team to team. For some, the block is the primary method of defense. For others, blockers may be used effectively to take up space diggers aren’t defending.

Who do you want to play the ball, your blockers or your diggers?

Read blocking

1. Advantages
   If a team’s blockers are able to read hitters well, it can make defense a lot easier. It may become a lot easier to dig if your blockers are blocking well. Hitters may become confused and not know where to hit if they are being read.
   
   Blocking the ball by reading can cause hitters to make poor decisions and give diggers easier balls to dig and easier shots to chase down.



2. Disadvantages
   If the blockers get a bad read on the ball, often times the ball will ricochet off the hands in a way that makes it unplayable for the defense. Also, even if they do get a good read, if blocking technique isn't good, they may not get many blocks.

Area blocking

1. Advantages
   If your team has big blockers, making your opponents hit where you want them to may be good volleyball strategies for blocking. This is good because the opposing attacks are more predictable.



2. Disadvantages
   By taking away area with your block, you may force hitters to hit at your defenders, but if you don’t play defense well this may not be the best strategy for defense.

When in blocking ready position, which is better, arms up or down?

It’s generally a good idea to have your arms up ready to reach above the net to block a quick set. Also, in order to develop a consistent blocking movement at the net, it’s best to keep your arms up.

So, as you use the volleyball strategies 3 step cross over or the 2 step lateral, you can develop a more consistent flow and rhythm when moving to block. It should almost be like you’re approaching to block, in the sense that there is consistent flow to each time you move to block.

On the other hand, you can develop a technique to use to jump higher by using your arms when blocking, called a swing block.

Swing blocking is an effective way to use your arms to jump higher when blocking. To swing block to the left, move both your hands down to the left side of your body as you move to the left. As you plant to jump, squat down facing left.

Then jump up and swing your body to the right to face the net penetrating your hands and arms over the net.

Volleyball Strategies to Surprise Opposing Attackers

Soft block
If you are up against a big hitter that time and time again hits the ball over you, you might try soft blocking. A soft block is blocking the ball in a way where you are just trying to keep the ball in play.

This is usually done by reaching high and back when blocking to deflect the ball up so your teammates can make a play. These volleyball strategies are often used by teams with short blockers.

Back row players can also do this as long as when they make contact with the ball there isn’t any part of their body above the net.

So if a back row setter is chasing after a tight pass, they can turn and legal block the ball below the top of the net. This is used most often when the setter is just trying to keep the ball in play by not letting a hitter bury the ball straight down.

But remember, since this isn’t a block, it’s your teams first contact. So you only have two contacts left to get the ball up and over.

Split block
Performing split blocks with teammates can be effective volleyball strategies for surprising hitters.

This is where you talk to your other blockers ahead of time and decide the middle blocker is taking the angle hit and the outside or right side blocker is taking line. There is a hole between the two blockers for the diggers to defend.

This is best for when you have a hitter that repeatedly hits the ball sharply around a teams block.

Solo blocking
Blockers need volleyball strategies for when they get stuck blocking alone.

A solo blocker is often successful by either…

1. Starting the block by standing in the hitters line or angle, then jumping and penetrating as you normally would or



2. Starting in blocking position as if your blocking teammate was there with you, then as you jump reach to the side and penetrate into the angle or line to block.

Three volleyball strategies for solo blocking are…

1. Solo blocking angle
   There are two methods to blocking solo angle. You can take an extra step over before you jump to take up more of the hitter’s angle when you block.
   Wait until the last second to take that extra step so it’s more difficult for the hitter to see you move there. Instead of moving your body over into the angle, you can simply reach over into the angle with both hands as you jump to block.
   This is effective because you take up more angle than the hitter is expecting.



2. Solo blocking line
   When solo blocking line you may not need to take a step over because there isn’t as much of an area to cover as there would be blocking angle.
   In fact, you may try standing more in the angle to help give the illusion that the line is open to attack.



3. Spread blocking
   A spread block is performed by spreading your arms and hands wide as you penetrate the net. This technique is effective against a hitter that sees a blockers body well, but not the hands and arms.
   Spread blocking is used best against hitters that hit around you time and time again no matter where you block. Throwing a spread block in the mix once in awhile is a good strategy when a hitter is seemingly unstoppable.

One hand clamp
A one hand clamp block is best for when the set is tight but not tight enough to get two hands on the ball. You basically want to get to the ball the same time or a split second after the hitter does.

Reach and get your whole hand around the ball as the hitter is hitting it. If you’ve been having trouble blocking a particular hitter or are really good with the joust, this can be an effective strategy. Volleyball strategies for blocking with one hand should only be used if the sets not tight enough to get both your hands on the ball.

Of course, it’s always a better strategy to block with two hands. Blocking with one hand is an advanced technique and may be best only used to surprise or intimidate an attacker.

If all else fails…just jump up and penetrate
As you jump up to block, reach your hands over the net angling your palms down. Angle your arms and hands so that when the ball hits them the ball ricochets into your opponent’s court.

Don’t worry about bigger hitters that hit over you. If they practice hitting straight down in warm ups, they’ll want to do it in the game. These are the attacks that blockers with good form will block.

Blocking strategy varies from team to team. Therefore, volleyball players should be exposed to various blocking techniques.

Volleyball Strategies Volleyball Tactics for Successful Attacking

All hitters love to hit, so there’s no reason why you shouldn’t develop many volleyball strategies for attacking.

Basics of the 4 step approach...

1. Powerful accelerating run-up



2. Leave the ground off both feet



3. Left foot is in front (for right handed hitter)



4. Contact the ball with a wide open hand and snap your wrist putting top-spin on the ball

Volleyball Strategies for Utilizing Explosive Energy

Approach at an increasing constant speed or with quick last steps?
Often when coaches teach players to hit all they worry about is the order of steps and moving fast. This may be ok if you are a beginner, but if you want to get up high off the ground you need a more explosive approach and jump.

There’s more to learning about an approach than just the order of steps.

The steps in the approach have different characteristics. Some steps are shorter than others and some are quicker and more explosive.

Coaches may feel the hitter is in a better rhythm when approaching at a constant speed and that it’s easier time the hit this way.

There are many volleyball strategies for hitting. Probably the hardest skill in volleyball to change is the approach. If what you are currently doing is working, it may be best not to change.

For an explosive approach... The steps before the last 2 can be fairly relaxed and short. The main thing is you don’t use a lot of leg strength on these steps.

The last 2 steps are explosive.

The 4 step approach is basically like this…

1. A relaxed right and then left to adjust for timing



2. BIG explosive right



3. Followed by a quick left



4. Quick explosive lift-off

It is extremely important the ground contact time of the last 2 steps (right foot, then left foot) is as short a time a possible.

It is good if the ground contact time of the left foot (before the last 2 steps) is minimal, but what’s important there is that you put a great amount of force into the ground for a big step.

A few advantages to explosive steps...

1. You have more time to adjust your steps
   When you are attacking, where you jump off the ground from is very important.
   With a constant speed approach, it’s harder to make adjustments with your steps like you can with an explosive last couple steps. Since you are waiting longer before you start your approach, you have more time to get a good read on the set.
   The better read you get, the better choice you will make in where you take-off from.



2. You will jump higher
   By going easy first and then exploding off your left foot and taking a big right-left, you will help maximize your jump height.



3. You will confuse your opponents blocking
   The quicker you approach, the harder it will be for your opposition to block and dig you.



4. You will always have the option to swing
   By approaching with quick explosive steps, you will always have the option to swing hard. If you approach quickly everytime, your opponents will have a much harder time reading your swing or shot.



5. You will use energy more efficiently
   By taking quick explosive steps you will better utilized stored elastic energy.
   This essentially means that if you were to approach slowly, it would take more effort to jump to the same height and hit as hard. So the key is don’t waste energy by approaching slow.

Volleyball Strategies for Attacking With Power

Develop a quick approach
Leave late and approach fast. A lot of attackers get stuck approaching at a constant speed because they approach early anticipating a set.

A lot of times this can be solved by waiting, forcing yourself to react quickly as if you’re going to be late getting there to hit.


Approach at an angle facing cross-court
As a right-handed attacker hitting on the left side, it’s best to be facing the cross-court angle when jumping to hit.

A good way to get in the habit of this is to start your approach outside the court. Good volleyball strategies for hitting involve approaching at an angle because you have a mechanical advantage by turning your hitting shoulder towards the opponent’s court when hitting.

It’s also harder for your opponents to predict where you are going to hit the ball because you have the option of hitting hard angle or turning and hitting down the line.


Broad jump or jump more straight up?
It is usually best to broad jump when attacking far off the net. When jump serving or attacking beyond the 3 meter line, you want to approach so you jump up and forward carrying your momentum towards the net.

The extra momentum you have flying forward allows you to hit with more power. On a tighter set, you may want to jump more straight up to avoid landing in the net.

Volleyball Strategies for Effective Hitting

Learn to see the court
Know who the better defenders are. Look at the defensive players before you approach to hit. Keep them in your peripheral vision as you approach.

Learn to see the block
Develop vision for seeing blockers.

Beginners usually first develop the ability to see blockers body at the net and work on hitting around it. More experienced players develop the ability to see the hands and arms of the blockers.

They then use this skill to hit around or off of the blocker.

Better blockers get into position well and are more predictable. This makes developing vision even more important for successful attacks.

Develop many shots
By having a larger range of hits (hard swing, cut shot, short roll, open hand tip, etc.) you will make it more difficult for your opponents to play defense.

Also, your opponents blocking is more difficult because attacking with different shots at different speeds can mess up their timing.

Learn to swing hard
How fast you approach the ball and the speed of the arm swing determines how hard you can hit.

Every attacker needs to develop the ability to swing hard. If you can hit hard, defenders often get caught on their heels ready for you to pound the ball.

Being able to swing can open up other hitting options and catch your opponents off guard.

Listen to your teammates calls
Every team should develop volleyball strategies for making calls.

Your teammates can look at the opponents court and call out where to hit. Common court calls include “line”, “angle”, or “cross”. Teammates can also tell where to hit by looking at the blockers.

Common calls for hitting around a block include “hard angle”, “hard line”, or “nobody up”, or “hole”.

Always be ready to hit
It is easy to get in the habit of just standing and watching sometimes.

As an attacker, it is really important to always be ready to take an approach and hit. It’s best to be ready and expecting to be set every time the setter sets the ball.

By expecting to be set, you will develop a consistent approach and swing every time you hit.

Use full arm extension when contacting the ball
Many players' volleyball strategies for increasing their touch height involve conditioning to increase their vertical jump.

Many players could increase their reach just by learning to fully extend their arm when they hit.

Becoming a successful attacker involves attacking volleyball skills in combination with effective volleyball strategies for hitting.

Volleyball Strategies Volleyball Tactics for Successful Setting

Volleyball Strategies for Effective Ball Handling

The following are things to consider when learning how to set.

Quick hands or slow hands? How quickly the ball comes out of your hands has a lot to do with your wrists. You may use a setting technique of bending your wrists as you set the ball and allowing it to spring out of your hands.

Some players try bending their elbows to help catch the ball more when they set. This usually causes inconsistent timing in setting the ball. The best volleyball strategies for setting involving using your legs and wrists, with not much bending of your arms.

Bigger hand setters
Players with bigger hands have more hand to get on the ball which help control the ball. Although bigger hands allow you to grab more of the ball and set cleaner, when you do double contact with your fingers it’s usually more obvious.

Smaller hand setters
Setters with smaller hands have more trouble setting the ball cleanly. Because their hands are smaller, setters are forced to get the ball out of their hands faster. Even though it may be tougher to set perfectly clean, they are less likely to be called for an obvious double contact.

The placement of your arms when setting (wide arm stance or more narrow) is up to you.

Volleyball strategies for setting should involve developing consistency both with ball handling and with the placement of sets for attackers.

Consistency allows for…
Developing a motor learning pattern
By setting the same way every time, your body learns to move in a consistent pattern. With repetition, you will develop consistent sets.

Making your attackers better
The more consistent your sets are, the more comfortable your attackers will be approaching and hitting.

Setting your attackers consistently to the same spot will allow them to hit without having to adjust their approach or armswing. Good setters make their attackers better with good sets.

Volleyball Strategies for Successful Setting

Tips to successful setting…

Know your opponents blocking
Know your opponents front row players and what they can do. If your oppositions setter is blocking right front, and she’s only 5 feet tall, it may be a good attacking strategy to get the ball to attackers on her side of the court.

Setter should come from the right side
If a setter is back row, it is best to have them line up in serve receive near the right side of the court.

Having the setter come from the right side of the court allows them to face the direction that is optimal for setting.

If a setter comes from a different area (example, left front) it will be more difficult footwork and harder to adjust to chase a bad pass. Also, there isn’t as good a rhythm and flow when moving to set.

Know from where and how you are most comfortable setting
Most setters are most comfortable setting when they are moving. Most of the time in a match the setter is coming from the right back position to set.

However, some setters like to be waiting at the target position for the pass. Decide which method you are most comfortable with and apply it often.


Know your setting options
Know your attackers and their abilities attacking. Some hitters like the ball tight, some like the ball off the net.

Some like the ball set high, others like it low. By knowing what kind of set your attackers are comfortable hitting, you will have more success.

Know what you legally can and can’t do as a setter
Everyone on the court needs to know the rules, especially the setter.

Setters need to know the difference between legal and illegal back row attacks, legal and illegal back row blocks. Knowing what you can and can’t do as a front row and back row player may make a significant different in the outcome of match.

Know the rotations
Know which of your teammates you can and can’t overlap with on the court. A team should line up in serve receive to not only execute an effective passing strategy, but also to give their setter an advantage by being in better position to move to set.

The better starting position a setter has at serve receive, the easier it is to move to the target.

Referees will less likely consider calling your hands
If your setting technique is consistent, referees will get comfortable seeing you set and will be less likely to call your hands.

Although being creative is good, using a different technique other than what a referee is used to seeing from you may not be a good idea. If your set comes off looking funny or awkward, it is more likely to get called.

It’s usually best to use a consistent setting technique so that the referee hardly notices your sets and has little doubt about whether to make the call.

Develop consistent outside sets
High outside sets need to be more accurate because the blockers have more time to get in position to block.

Also, the most common set is high outside, so develop volleyball strategies for good outside sets.

Volleyball Serve Receive Volleyball line ups for running a 6-2 offense

Lining up in serve receive when running a 6-2 offensive system is popular because of the many options of how to line up on the court. In a 6-2, you have two setters so it's much easier to adjust the teams line up on the court than when running a 5-1.

For example, in a 6-2 volleyball offense, a team has 2 setters and 6 hitters. If a team get's stuck in a rotation, they can change their formation so the other setter can set.

Because of this flexibility, and the fact that you always have 3 attackers attacking on the front row, the 6-2 is probably the most common offensive system in volleyball.

Basic strategies for a 6-2 serve receive are...

• Setter lines up near the target area
  The setter should line up on the court in the most convenient way to get in position to set. For example, if the setter is Left Back, they should line up as close to the middle of the court as possible. Also, the setter should come out of zone 1 to set as much as possible.



• Have your best passers take the serve
  Most teams have players that can pass better than their teammates. Running an offense can be much easier if your team lines up so your best passers receive the serve.



• Take your attackers out of serve receive
  If your attackers are forced to receive the serve, it may be much harder to run an effective offense. For example, after passing, the attacker will have to get in position to approach and hit.

In the following examples of 6-2 serve receive rotations, the Outside Hitters (OH) are the teams primary passers. If your team has a libero or Defensive Specialists (DS) that come in to play for the Middle Hitters (MH), then you would adjust your positioning accordingly.

Important Note:

No tactical considerations were made in designing these serve-receive patterns. In these formations you'll notice the middle hitter is always following the setter. This isn't always best. In fact, it's more common for the outside hitter to follow the setter.

Volleyball Rotations - Setter in Zone 1

We now have a new Setter. The new setter is in zone 1. The setter pushes the Middle Hitter up to the net. The Outside Hitter that is Middle Front backs up to pass. The Outside Hitters need to be careful not to overlap each other.

Right Front player backs up to pass, with the Setter coming out of Right Back.

Volleyball Rotations - Setter in Zone 6

The back row setter is in zone 6. The setter pushes the other setter up to the net. The Outside Hitter that is Right Front backs up to pass.

Setter pushes the Middle Front up to the net and lines up between the other two back row players (libero and Right Back).

Volleyball Rotations - Setter in Zone 5

The back row Setter is in zone 5. The Setter pushes the Outside Hitter up to the net. The Middle Hitter that's Middle Front (zone 3) backs up to pass. The setter can come over close to the Middle Hitter that is Middle Back (in order to be closer to the target area).

Setter is coming from Left Back. The Setter comes over to the the Middle Back player to be closer to the target position at the net.

Volleyball Rotations - Setter in Zone 1

We now have a new Setter. The new setter is in zone 1. The setter pushes the Middle Hitter up to the net. The Outside Hitter that is Middle Front backs up to pass.

Again, the Outside Hitters need to be careful not to overlap (Middle Back player overlapping Middle Front player).

Volleyball Rotations - Setter in Zone 6

The back row setter is in zone 6. The setter pushes the other setter up to the net. The Outside Hitter that is Right Front backs up to pass.

Volleyball Rotations - Setter in Zone 5

The back row Setter is in zone 5. The Setter pushes the Outside Hitter up to the net. Assume the Middle Hitter that's on the front row is a very weak passer. The setter that is front row backs up to help out passing.

Again, the Setter setting comes over to the Middle Hitter that is Middle Back to be closer to the target area.

Remember, these are just examples of 6-2 serve receive rotations. Depending on who your best passers are (Outside Hitters, Middle Hitters, etc.) you will need to adjust your receive formation.

You may also decide to use a libero. All these factors need to be considered when designing an effective serve receive.

Volleyball Serve Receive Volleyball line ups for running a 5-1 offense

Strategies for a 5-1 serve receive are slightly different.

In a 5-1 volleyball offense, a team has 1 setter and 5 hitters. The setter sets in every rotation. This is different from a 6-2 offense in that not only does the setter set when playing on the back row, but also across the front row.

When the setter is on the front row...

• Have players pass tighter to the net
  When the setter is front row, the setter can also be a front row attacker. Passing the ball up closer to the net can give the setter the option to attack the ball. This can make it difficult for the opposing team to defend because a front row setter has the option to attack, tip, dump or set a hitter.



• Have your backline players receive the serve
  If your attackers are forced to receive the serve, it may be much harder to run an effective offense. Attackers being in a ready position to approach is even more important when the setter is on the front row because when the setter is in the frontline, you only have two frontline attackers.

Here are some examples of volleyball serve receive rotations for teams running a 5-1 offense.

Volleyball Rotations - Setter in Position 5

When the Setter is in Left Back, it is only illegal for them to overlap Left Front or Middle Back players.

Volleyball Rotations - Setter in Position 4

Setter in Left Front only has to worry about overlapping Left Back or Middle Front.

Volleyball Rotations - Setter in Position 3

Setter in Middle Front only has to worry about overlapping Left Front or Right Front or Middle Back.

Volleyball Rotations - Setter in Position 2

Setter in Right Front only has to worry about overlapping Middle Front or Left Back.

Volleyball Rotations - Setter in Position 1

Setter in Right Back only has to worry about overlapping Right Front or Middle Back.

Volleyball Rotations - Setter in Position 6

Setter in Middle Back only has to worry about overlapping Left Back or Right Back or Middle Front.


In the photo above, the Middle Front player is stack to the right side of the court.

Remember, these are just basic serve receive rotations. For example, in the drawing above, let's say the MF player wants to hit outside. The MF can move over close to the left sideline (as long as they don't overlap with LF) to be in a better ready position to get outside for an approach to attack.

Always adjust your line up to fit your teams needs.

Volleyball Serve Receive Volleyball alignment for running a 4-2 offense

The 4-2 serve receive is the most basic volleyball offensive system. In a 4-2 system you have 2 setters and only 4 hitters. The two setters play opposite one another on the court. The setter that is on the front row sets for that volleyball rotation.

With a 4-2, it's much easier to adjust the formation because the setter lines up near the target because they are always a front row player.

Basic strategies for a 4-2 serve receive are...

• Pass to the middle
  Most beginner teams that run a 4-2 should pass the ball to the middle, then the setter has the option to set the hitters hitting outside and weakside. For a more advanced 4-2 offense, the setter can set out of Right Front. The hitters then have to the option to hit outside, middle, or back.



• Train your setters to attack the second hit
  Since the setters are always on the front row when setting, they should be given the option to attack. Since you only have two players attacking at the net, the setter dumping or tipping can be an effective strategy.



• Have an outlet
  If your attackers are forced to receive the serve, or if the pass is so off target that you can't run the play, have an outlet set. Set a back row player to hit a 10 ball or set a ball high outside as an outlet for bad passes.

The following are basic 4-2 rotations. If your team has primary passers, plays a libero, or defensive specialists then adjust your serve receive accordingly.

Volleyball Rotations - Setter in Zone 2

The setter is Right Front. The Outside Hitter backs up to help out with passing.

Volleyball Rotations - Setter in Zone 3

The Setter is now Middle Front. If needed, the other front row players can back up to help out with passing the serve.

Volleyball Rotations - Setter in Zone 3

This is an advanced 4-2 serve receive rotation for when the setter is Middle Front. The front row players are stacked to the left side of the court. The purpose is so the Outside hitter can more easily get positioned outside ready to hit.

Volleyball Rotations - Setter in Zone 4

The setter is Left Front. The other front row players are ready to hit middle or weak side.

Volleyball Rotations - Setter in Zone 4

Again, this is an advanced 4-2 rotation. The setter is Left Front and the other two front row players are stacked to the left side of the court. Again, the purpose is to run an effective play for the outside and middle hitters.

Remember, these are just examples of 4-2 serve receive rotations. How you line up depends on many factors such as your teams playing level, experience, substitutes coming in for back row players, and using a libero.

All these factors need to be considered when thinking of running a 4-2 offense.

Man Up Defense "Man Up" or the Red Defense for Volleyball

The man up defense or "Red" is one of the oldest defensive schemes. It disappeared for years with the popularity of rotational defense. Red defense is making a resurgence lately, and any team coached by an old high school coach is likely to play the Red.

"Defense should be designed so that it allows for putting the best diggers in areas that will most often be attacked."
-- Bill Neville, Volleyball Coach

With man up defense, hits are naturally kept in front of the defenders because their base is a lot deeper.

Strengths: The biggest thing about this defense is that it disguises some of the personal liabilities that face many coaches at these levels. This defense also defends the middle attack better because of different starting base. Hits down the line and tips are also defended well. There isn't much movement required for the defender to get from their base to their defensive zones.

Weaknesses: The player that is playing "man up" has to move really well. The man up is usually a Right Back player (it's the setter if they're back row). Without some disciplined and consistent blocking, the red defense is highly vulnerable because it exposes the middle-up to powerful quick attacks and outside shoot attack hits.

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Red Base
The base defensive positions for the "man up" Red Defense are what give it some of it's strengths. It does not require much post set movement, and keeps the wing defenders deep, keeping attacks in front of them. It does not require the wing player to back up, only move forward.

The man up defense requires two defenders in the back row that can cover a large area of the court. Players that are quick defenders and can pass serve receive really well, typically love playing this style of defense. Defenders who fit this description will revel in the challenges of this system and enjoy this kind of responsibility of playing defense.

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The gray spots are where to tip or hit a shot.

The red spots are where to hit the ball hard.

In the above graphic, the "man up" is the Right Back player. The setter is usually the most mobile player on the team, so this can be an advantage having the setter take the short balls. Also, the setter can create "instant offense" by setting the first ball to the outside or offside attacker. If you don't want your setter taking the tips, another option is to move the setter back and bring the Middle Back player up short to cover the balls sent behind the block.

Teams that are giving many "free balls" will likely have trouble reacting quickly to this "over on two" attack (example, setter taking the first ball and setting a hitter). Also, the setter doesn't have to worry about being called for their hands since this is the first team contact. This "over on two" attack also might be a good option if your team only has one player that sets well and you're having trouble getting a good attack off of the setter passing the ball to a weaker player that's forced to set an attacker.

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Rotational Defense for Volleyball How to play rotation defense in volleyball

Rotational defense, or man back defense, is probably the most common volleyball defense played in women's volleyball. The goal is to cover a mix of tips and swings.

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Attacking the Rotational Defense

The following volleyball graphics show how a team can attack this defensive system.






















The gray and red markings on the following graphics show where to attack the ball when attacking against the rotational defense.

The gray spots are where to tip or hit a shot.

The red spots are where to hit the ball hard.

Tips for Defending the Outside Hitter

The above graphic shows the rotational defense for defending a set to the outside hitter (the attack coming from the attacker on the left side of the court).

When a ball is set high to the outside, the left-front blocker needs to rotate back off the net, about one step behind the 3-meter line and one step inside the sideline. It's okay to give up the radical sharp angle shot that lands inside the 3-meter line. Any sharper angle than that is unlikely. Your focus should be to get in the flight path of the shot that is most likely to be hit.

If the left-front can effectively get off the net, this allows the left-back player to drop back and cover the deeper cross-court angle shot. This cross court attack is a shot many attackers like to hit. In this defense, the left-back usually concedes the corner shot. However, if the opposing attackers are continually hitting balls to the corner, the left-back should shift over to cut off the deep corner shot.

If you're a younger player and you're in the left-front position, it might be hard for you to get behind the 3-meter line, especially on a quick set to the outside. That's okay. Take large steps and get back as far as you can. You should attempt to straddle the 3-meter line.

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Advantages to Playing the Rotational Defense

There are a few key advantages to using this style of volleyball team defense.

• Your team more effectively covers tips directly behind the block.



• The hits deep line are easier to play.



• The setter can quickly transition from defense to offense.

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Disadvantages to Playing the Rotational Defense

There are also many disadvantages.

• This defense requires a lot of movement. Transitioning from defense to offense can be difficult.



• Seams are created between wing defenders because so much movement is required.



• The middle back is wide open against many outside attack hits.

Another weakness in the rotational defense is the play of the middle back player. Middle back needs to be mobile because they are required to move a great distance. For example, middle back has to move from coverage of the outside hitter back to their defensive position very quickly. 

TO WINNING VOLLEYBALL

Keys to winning volleyball are consistent play, making adjustments during the course of a match, and building momentum.

How to Play Smarter Volleyball

I would like to share with you some of my strategies I personally use to win games.

These strategies are specific to doubles volleyball, but the same philosophy can be used for playing indoor 6's, 4's, coed, etc.

If you use these strategies I believe you can beat teams that are more athletic, talented, and experienced than you.

Usually, a common trait the best volleyball players have is predictability.





If your opponent is predictable, you can use the following two strategies to give yourself an edge...

1. Make your opponent do what you want.



2. Don't let your opponent do what they want.

You should always have a strategy when you play.

Even if it's not a great strategy, just having a strategy (or a plan) is better than not having any at all.

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Always Have a Strategy

Even if you are about to start the game and don't know your opponents strengths and weaknesses, it's better to just make a plan for how to play them rather than playing without one. Even if you don't have a strategy prepared, you can still experiment during the game to see what works.

Again, really good players are predictable. Good players have a strategy. What you should do is figure out what their strategy is.

If you try to force them to do what they don't want to do, you likely take away their strength. By forcing them to do what they don't want, they likely will do what they aren't as good at.

For example, in doubles, if you are playing against a player that loves to hit the ball cross court every time, have your partner block angle.

If the hitter tries to hit cross court and you give them trouble, you will likely force them to do something else. If you're blocking angle, you could also have your partner play defense in the angle to force the hitter to hit line. The point is to force your opponent to do what they don't want to do.

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Getting Your Opponent to do What You Want

Let's say you don't like to be served short. Maybe you're real tall and have trouble passing short serves. So one strategy could be to make them think serving you deep is a better strategy. Line up in serve receive closer to the net so they won't want to serve you short because it will look like you have that area covered.

Another example of your opponent doing what you want...

Assume you're a a left side player.

Let's say you would like it to be easier to get outside to hit. What you could do is line up closer to the middle of the court.


The server will likely see you giving away a lot of line, so then they might try to serve you tough down the line. This is playing into your hands because this is where you'd like to receive the serve...near the sideline so you can take a bigger approach outside to hit.

Likewise, if you like to hit middle and want to approach more from the middle of the court, leave the middle of the court open.

The point is to try to get the server to do what you want.

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Key points to beating predictable players

If they do what you want, they are more predictable. They play into your hands.

Playing Consistent

The best players are the ones that are the most consistent.

The best players have favorite strategies for playing. For example, when hitting, most players have 2 or 3 favorite hits. Study great players and learn to read these hits.

Create a plan for how you are going to defend them.

Figure out how you can get them to do what you want or get them to do what they don't want to do. 

Having a consistent game is good, but the downside of being consistent is the fact that the player is more predictable.
This is when being deceptive becomes really important.

Being Deceptive

By playing deceptive, it makes it much harder for your opponent to read what you are trying to do.

If you're consistent, you're likely predictable. If you're predictable, this is when being deceptive becomes really important.

Imagine if you are able to do all your favorite hits and your opponent isn't able to read you. If you are deceptive when you hit, you're going to be hard to stop.

Making Adjustments

Making your opponents change their game to do what you want has everything to do with making adjustments.

If what you're doing isn't working, it's almost always a good idea to try something else.

For example, if you get blocked every time you swing hard, mix in some shots. Or if your opponent runs down all your best shots, swing hard to mix things up.

This is why it's so important to develop different hits. If something isn't working then try something else.

Be deceptive to make it difficult for your opponent to know what's coming next.

Using Emotions in Volleyball

I often hear players say things like, "I play better angry". Or they tell a teammate, "Come on, I need you to yell at me. I play better mad".

I believe that when things aren't going well, anything different is better. It's easy to get stuck making the same mistakes over and over again. You must adjust your game.

What many players don't realize is that often the reason they play better upset is because by becoming angry they are changing their emotional state (they adjust their attitude).

For example, if you shank every serve, one after the other, any kind of adjustment you make is better than what you are currently doing.

So by becoming upset about how you're playing is a way of adjusting your game. By changing your emotional state, you're making an adjustment.

So do I think it's a good idea to get angry or upset if you're not playing well?

Personally, I don't think it's a good strategy to play solely on emotion.


If your opponents figure out how to trigger those emotions, you're in trouble. And what are you going to do if your teammates can't trigger those emotions?

I think it's much better to play under control and have an awareness of what's going on. I think becoming emotional can be more of a distraction to what you're trying to do and make you a more predictable player.

Using Momentum in Volleyball

The difference between winning and losing isn't usually talent, skill, or experience. Quite often any given team can win on any given day.

I think a big factor in whether your team wins or loses is momentum.

When your team has momentum, everything is going your way. What you're trying to do is working. When you have momentum you have confidence.

I see momentum as getting in a rhythm and doing what works over and over again.

If you are able to continuously make your opponent do what you want them to, you have momentum.

If you lose momentum, you can steal it back by adjusting your game and winning the next rally. Playing with a strategy is key to being able to effectively take away and keep momentum.