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How to Perform a
Float Serve The
floater serve is a basic overhand serve that is easy to execute
but somewhat difficult to master.
Difficulty
Level:
Easy Time Required:
5 Seconds
Here's
How:
- Stand facing the net with your feet staggered. Your foot
opposite of your hitting arm should be forward and pointed
towards the opposite court.
- Keeping your weight on your back foot, hold the ball with your
non-hitting hand underneath and hitting hand on the top.
- Extend your arms in front of you, parallel to the ground, move your
hitting hand to your ear with your elbow high and toss the
ball about two feet above your head and in front of your
shoulder
- While transferring your weight to your forward foot, contact the
ball with an extended arm and in front of you
- Hit the ball with a slap on the backside of the ball, do not snap
your wrist and do not follow through.
Tips:
- Hit the ball as if you were going to hit something very hot
- Try to make the ball fly straight with very little trajectory
- To get more power, use your abdominal muscles
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How to Jump
Serve
These are step by step instructions for a right handed player to
perform a jump serve. Left handed players need only to
reverse their footsteps in these instructions.
Submitted by Kevin
Medeiros. Difficulty
Level: EasyTime Required: 8 seconds |
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Here's
How:
- Position
yourself 3 long strides from the end line
- Take
one long step forward with your left leg
- During
your second step toss the ball high and in front of you.
You should toss the ball high enough so that you can hit the
ball after your third step
- Take
your third step and then plant your right foot behind your left
and jump
- Make
contact with the ball on its decent and hit the top-center of
the ball
- Allow
yourself to land on or over the end line with your momentum
moving you straight towards the net
Tips:
- Focus
on balance. If you find yourself falling on your landing
or landing off the right then you are overthrowing the ball
- If you
are landing short of the line you are under tossing the ball.
The most important thing in this serve is timing
- Try
tossing the ball with backspin to get the desired top spin at
contact
- The best way to learn is try a one step approach, then two and
finally three steps. This will help you focus on your toss
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| How
to Perform a Topspin Serve
A floater is nice but when you want to put the heat on, a topspin
serve is fast and deadly accurate. Follow these instructions
for a standing topspin serve.
Difficulty
Level:
Average
Time Required:
3 Seconds
Here's
How:
- Stand well behind the end line. Get set with your feet
in a stride position with the foot opposite of your hitting arm
forward and pointed towards the net post.
- Set your shoulders so that they are turned slightly toward the
sideline
- Visualizing where you want the ball, toss the ball slightly
behind your hitting shoulder
- Arch your back and swing your arm back, raising your elbow
high and hitting hand next to your ear
- Contact the ball with a fully extended arm, snapping your
wrist on contact and rolling your hand over the top of the ball
- As you contact the ball, crunch your stomach and transfer your
weight to the forward foot
- After contacting the ball, bring your arm quickly down to your
waist and move onto the court
Tips:
The more you snap your wrist the quicker the ball will spin,
consequently dropping faster and sooner
If
the ball does not cross the net, you are probably not tossing
the ball behind your head.
More at "About"
on: The
Basics of the Top Spin Serve |
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| Tom's Mystery Serve
By C. Thomas Stewart
This method of serving is similar to the way the Float
Serve is presented. The object to this method is to fool
the receiving team on what kind of serve they are actually
going to get.
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The difference is simply, how you hit the ball so
you are unpredictable.
The trick is to appear to hit the ball the same way every time
while getting very different results from your hit. If done
correctly the opposite team will have difficulty judging the force
and distance of the ball travel.
- If you hit the ball hard with the palm of your hand like a
paddle, tensing your hand muscles. The ball will go
straight, low and fast across the net.
- If you hit the ball hard with the palm of your hand but
relax your hand muscles, your hand will slap the ball and it
will go to the net as if hit hard but drop in as a "short" hit.
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By varying how hard you hit the ball you can control how deep
the ball goes into your opponent's territory.
- If you angling your hit slightly up, the ball will lob to the other side.
So, by choosing the right method to hit the ball, adjusting the angle
and how hard you hit the ball you can very
how and where the ball ends up on the other side of the net
with minimal appearance changes.
I never said it would be easy 
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Goto Index |
| Definition:
A pass with both arms together where the ball bumps
off the forearms.
Also
Known As:
forearm pass, pass, bump pass, bump
How to
Pass
Every volleyball player must know how to pass.
Difficulty
Level:
Easy
Time Required:
2 seconds |
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Here's
How:
- Place your feet shoulder width apart with your knees bent
- Move to the ball quickly keeping hands apart and set your
feet in position before executing a pass
- Bring your hands together forming a good forearm platform
with your thumbs parallel, locking your elbows, and pushing
your forearms together
- Receive the ball with your arms parallel to your thighs,
leaning forward and on your left side
- With contact of the ball, move your arms forward and upward
slightly and transfer your weight forward
- Direct the ball to your target with your shoulders
- Follow through by keeping your arms below shoulder level,
elbows locked and hands together
- Keep your eye on the ball
Tips:
The
less movement, or swing, of your arms the more control you
will have
More at "About"
on: The
Finer Points on How to Pass ~ High
Pass Practice Drill
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| How
to Control a Shanked Volleyball Pass
By Joseph Salonga. One of the toughest skills a setter
learns is controlling the shanked pass. They come in all
varieties: passes to the side; over the net; and backwards.
This technique focuses on balls passed into the net.
Difficulty: Hard
Time Required: 2 Seconds
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1. Get to the ball: the most
important step, even on a good pass. If you can't get there, you
can't control the ball
2. Get low. If you try to take the
ball too high, you may touch the net. Getting low also gives you
more time to react after the ball comes out of the net
3. Platform! Platform! Platform!
Your arms should be ready for the pass the ball higher than normal.
(Remember you will be below the net)
4. Pass off the net. If you pass the
ball in the same place as the net, your hitters will have a
difficult time hitting cleanly, or worse, you will set the other
team.
Tips:
- Before the match begins, try tossing the ball at the net.
Every net has different tension. Some balls roll straight down,
others will pop all the way out to the 3-meter line.
- Read your own passers.
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Goto Index |
| The
Setter - Definition: The
player whose primary responsibility is to get to the ball on
the second contact and deliver it to a teammate for the
attack.
How to
Set
The most important position on any volleyball team is the
setter. Learn to master this skill and you will always
be wanted.
Difficulty
Level: Difficult
Time Required:
2 Seconds
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Here's
How:
Set up with your feet staggered and dominate foot forward
Move to the ball
Your shoulders should be square to your target, arms and legs
bent with your weight on your toes
Hands are placed above your forehead with the palms up
Your hand should form a window with the thumbs forward and
index fingers close to each other
Contact the ball on the lower back side with fingers and
thumbs and push up with your arms and legs
Fully extend your arms and point your hands toward the target
Transfer your weight towards the target and move in the
direction of the set
Tips:
Keep
the ball in front of you
Step
forward and contact the ball slightly behind your head for a
back set
Relaxed
hands make for smoother sets
More at "About" on:
Getting
Ready to Set the Ball ~ The
Basics of Setting
Different
areas to Set a Volleyball ~ Setting
The Bad Pass ~ ~ |
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| Ball Handling Errors
Definition: This is
improper handling of the ball as restricted by the rule
book.
Most common ball handling errors are Double
Hits, Throws, and Lifts
(a "Carry"). |
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Most Double hits are straight forward but can occur if the hitter
does not bump the ball with their hands together or touching.
After blocking the ball at the net the blocker can then hit the ball
with out being charge for a double hit, this will be the first touch
for his team.
The Ball can not contact a player for a continuous length of
time. So a player can not Throw, Push or Lift ("Carry")
the ball.
Problems occur in this area in how these rules are interpreted.
The Referee must visually see a prolonged contact to make a correct
call but many times officials operate differently and miss
call legal hits.
View The "Ball
Handling Guidelines" page and the "What
is a Carry" discussion for a better idea of interpreting
the rules of play. |
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Goto Index |
| How
to Block
Blocking is the first line of defense against an attacking
opponent.
Here we will discuss how to perform a single person block.
Difficulty Level:
Average
Time Required:
2 seconds |
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Here's
How:
Stay close to the net, no more than one foot away, facing the
opponents
Keep your hands at shoulder level with palms facing forward
Once the ball is set, watch the attacker while maintaining
peripheral eye contact with the ball
Position yourself along attacker's hitting arm, aligning half of
your body's length along the side of the hitter's hitting arm
Jump immediately AFTER the hitter jumps
Jump up and extend your arms, penetrating across the net and
positioning your hands along both sides of the hitter's attacking arm
Angle your hands down and slightly turned towards the center of
the court
After the attack, bring your arms back and land on both feet,
bending your knees to cushion the landing
Immediately turn away from the net and look for the ball
Tips:
Be careful not to penetrate the net too much, which may result
in hitting the net on the way up or down.
Be careful not to set up too far away from the net. The
ball will hit your hands and land between you and the net.
If you find that the ball is contacting you and landing
between you and the net, you may need to square your shoulders
to the net more.
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| How to
Perform an Attack (SPIKE)
The attack is one of the basic moves in volleyball. Difficulty
Level:
Average
Time Required:
2 seconds |
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Here's
How:
- Wait
near the 10 foot line, watching the setter.
- Keeping
your weight forward, anticipate and plan your approach.
- Wait
until the ball's trajectory is at its peak and then begin your
approach.
- Start
your approach using a couple of steps with the last two steps
being a right and close left, or step to jump.
- Swing
your arms back and together to at least waste level and bend
your back and knees
- Explode
into the jump, jumping as high as you can and swinging both arms
straight up in front of you.
- Point
at the ball with your non-hitting arm and bring your hitting
hand to your ear.
- With
your fully extended arm contact the center back of the ball in
front of your hitting shoulder with heel of open hand.
- Snap
your wrist and hit through the ball.
- Bring
your hitting arm down across your body and land on both feet,
cushioning your landing by bending your knees.
Tips:
- You
can gain even more speed and power on your hit by crunching your
stomach muscles and bending at the waste when hitting.
- Big
arm swings mean bigger jumps.
- Contacting
the ball in front of your shoulder allows for more visibility of
the court and more ball control.
More at "About"
on: How
to SPIKE
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Q. What is Rally Point Scoring?
A. In rally point scoring, a point
is awarded on every rally regardless of which team is serving.
Games
are normally played to 25 points in a best of 3 or best of 5 format.
In both formats, the last game is only played to 15.
You must have a
two point advantage to win a game and there are no scoring caps in
the rally point system.
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Page Viewed: 
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Last Updated: October 13, 2006
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