Every volleyball player enjoys becoming the best they can be no matter what level they play. A volleyball player may be a competitive club player, a varsity player on a school team, or they may enjoy recreational volleyball in a recreational league. I always enjoy seeing improvements in my skills, no matter what level I’m at!
What are some tips for becoming a better volleyball player? The following tips can help you improve your volleyball skills:
- Rules You Need To Know
- Setting, Hitting, Passing, and Serving Are All Skills That Must Be Mastered
- A Coach With Experience Can Help
- Developing Your Volleyball Intelligence and Learning Strategies
- Strengthening Your Body With Strength Training
- How to Communicate Properly in Court
- The most fun you can have while you play
You’ll get better the more you play! Having made college teams despite not making my middle school team, I can speak from experience. The volleyball player you dream of becoming can be achieved with hard work and perseverance.
There is no limit to your potential. A volleyball player does not need to be tall or have a specific body type. It is possible to be successful as a short player if you master the skills to perform as a hitter, defensive specialist, or setter if you master the skills.
A one-on-one coach may also make the process more efficient for time management purposes, but you do not need to spend obscene amounts of money on it!
Whatever your age or level of experience, every family gathering is a good time to play volleyball, whether you want to one day play college volleyball or simply improve your skills.
Learn The Rules Of Volleyball
Referees ensure both fair play and safety during volleyball games.
If you don’t play by the rules, you will never be considered good at a sport. The chances of making friends or being invited to play on other teams are slim if you break rules unknowingly in a common recreational league. The following are the reasons.
What is the purpose of following rules in sports?
Injury prevention is the primary goal of the rules. Particularly in volleyball, the net plays an important role in the rules. When people hit the ball underneath the net, I sustained a number of injuries in my youth.
The majority of hitters tend to drift towards the net while in the air as they chase down a set. In these cases, the opponent’s feet land on the opponent’s side of the net, and, as a result, they will land on the feet of whomever blocked them at the time.
Breaking ankles, hello! This should not be done. There is no doubt that people would prefer to play with someone less skilled rather than someone who poses a risk to their safety.
In reaction to this phenomenon, USAV created rules that involved both touching the net and the line under the net. Additionally, knee injuries and concussions are prevented by other rules. Our complete volleyball rules guide (and user friendly) contains a complete list of the game’s rules!
Also, read How Tall Are the Nets In Volleyball?
Develop Your Volleyball Skills
Setting
What Is Setting In Volleyball?
When the ball is received above your head with two open hands, you then pass it to another player using setting skills or “overhand passing”. There are many possible roles for this player, including hitting the ball, back row players or even a strategic position.
Setters are not the only ones who set! Because the setter won’t be able to get every ball, every player should know how to do this fundamental skill. My teammates usually needed me to set one of them once or twice a game when I was an outside hitter. As if you stepped into the role of quarterback. For a team to succeed, its offense must be set up properly.
Experiencing coaching and setting yourself might be the key to improving your sets. For more information, read our article on how to set properly.
Setting up a New Account
Hitting AKA “Spiking ”
What Is Hitting In Volleyball?
Front-row offensive maneuvers such as hitting are also called “attacking” and “spiking”. You may also hit the back row players from behind the ten foot line, but only from behind the ten foot line. It is incredibly effective to win games when hitting from the back row, which we call “back row attacking.”
The 5 Important Components To Hitting/Spiking:
- A timely approach
- Jumping Through Three Steps
- Contact with the ball
- Mechanics of arm swinging
- Continue to involve the core in the transfer of power
Timing
Hitting is all about timing. The ball should be touched at the highest possible point. It is possible to beat a block with proper timing and to score from the right angle if you do so.
In addition to the player’s speed, height, and the location of where they like their sets, timing will vary from hitter to hitter. It will totally depend on you when to start your approach, and practice will make perfect.
Practice and improving your timing by having someone set you is the best way to do so. When in the air, catch the ball slightly in front of you while your arms are fully extended by using your arms to assist your vertical jump.
Also, read 6-2 Volleyball Rotation
Three Step Approach
After that, the jump is followed by a three-step (or four-step) approach. You can get more power on the ball with a proper approach because momentum helps you jump higher. The coaching approach I teach to my volleyball players consists of three steps. It can be very beneficial for right-handed and outside hitters to use four-step approaches, but I recommend starting with three steps for all beginners.
Righthanded players use the left, right, left footwork. Right, left, right footwork is used by left handed players.
You should place your weight on your other foot (your right foot for right handed players) and rapidly push off with your opposite foot. As the journey unfolds, the first step will be crucial to propelling us forward.
I like to refer to the second two steps as ‘plant steps’ because they will come in order quickly.
You will use your arms to drive yourself upward once you have completed your plant steps. We’ll save the arm discussion for another post. The arms are critical to the three-step approach.
Ball Contact, Follow Through, And Proper Arm Swing Mechanics
The topics of this article interest me so much as a retired outside hitter. Coaching hitters specifically “pin hitters” is my specialty. The following article contains detailed information on ball contact and proper arm swing mechanics, as well as other information you may find useful. Take your game to the next level.
Also, read How Tall is Men’s Volleyball Net?
Passing AKA “Bumping”
A volleyball player’s greatest skill is passing. As shown in the photo above, volleyball platform passes are traditional. When your team’s opponent returns the ball over the net, passing is the first point of contact. A free ball may be passed or a serve received when you pass a serve, digging when you pass a hard-driven hit, or digging when you pass a serve.
When you pass the ball, you are redirecting it to another player on your team. Setters take the second contact traditionally.
No matter what position you play, knowing how to pass is essential. Every volleyball player utilizes passing as a fundamental skill throughout every game. Passing is an excellent place to start if you want to improve your volleyball skills.
Teams that cannot set their hitters consistently will find it challenging to set their setters, resulting in fewer chances for those hitters to score. Your teammate’s contribution is the key to volleyball success. Every volleyball coach will tell you that it all starts with a pass!
To pass, you must:
- Contact Platform That Is Flat And Even
- Control of the arm is limited (no swinging!).
- The legs are the source of power
- Using a hard drive ball to absorb power
Practice The Basic Volleyball Passing Stance
A shoulder width distance should be maintained between your feet, with one slightly in front of the other. The balls of your feet should be ready to move when you place your weight on them. In order for you to be ready for the ball, you shouldn’t be too far back on your heels.
Serving
Serving is an essential skill for every player! Serving is the key to every point in volleyball, and your team will lose a lot of points if you do not serve consistently.
In accordance with your playing level, you should serve at a higher level. You can serve underhand on the beach if you are just having fun. You will benefit greatly from learning how to serve overhand. Beginning players will benefit from overhand serves. With an overhead serve, you have a greater chance of getting an ace.
3 Steps To Learning An Overhand Serve
- Tossing or lifting,
- The volleyball’s contact point
- Follow-through with weight shift.
We have an article below that can help you learn how to overhand serve. Overhand serving made easy with this step-by-step guide.
Overhand Serving For Beginners: 3 Easy Steps
Discover The Strategies
Put the ball in a smart place or run a defensive game so your opponent has a more difficult time scoring. A team’s defense and offense will determine which spots are used.
By increasing your volleyball IQ or knowledge of the sport, you can learn the strategies of the game. In addition to playing volleyball, other sports also aid in increasing volleyball IQ.
As a new player, online resources can help you jump-start your volleyball IQ. YouTube footage of games and free expert-written resources are some examples. Online programs may also be purchased that provide all of the information you need in a concise and efficient manner.
Also read 5-1 Volleyball Rotation
Strengthening Your Body By Exercising
An athlete can become much better by strengthening and conditioning their body, which will improve their overall athleticism. Volleyball players can improve their level of play through strength and conditioning
- Vertical Jumping: How to Increase It
- Enhance Your Game by Increasing Core Strength
- Injury prevention
- Developing endurance in game
- In-game mobility should be improved
We have strength and conditioning guides specifically tailored to volleyball players here.
Also, read Volleyball Rotation and Substitutions
Communicate properly in court
Any team sport cannot succeed without communication between teammates. Volleyball is no exception. Volleyball is a great example of this. Among the smallest sports, volleyball has the most players working together.
Volleyball players need to be able to communicate on and off the court if they want to be successful. The following points should be kept in mind.
Calling The Ball
The first thing you should do when you get a ball is call out to your teammates, “MINE! ”. Ensure that every player on the court can hear you when you call the ball, enunciating clearly. Court communication often fails because people are not loud enough. Keeping that in mind is important since you may be playing in a loud gym.
Discuss what the other team is doing
Always pay attention to the strengths and weaknesses of the other team. You can identify strong hitters who are in the front row by pointing out their position. If the setter is in the front or back row, inform the other team. Consider whether the server is likely to float serve or topspin serve before you speak with your teammates. How long are their serves? How deep are their serves? Share this information with your team.
Once the point has begun, this communication should not end. Double blocking, which is practiced by most teams, requires communication between the blockers. Calling sets requires communication between the hitter and the setter. As soon as the first ball is touched, the setter must yell “setter out” to let the team know that someone else is going to set.
Court communication is something I could talk about for hours. In case you want more detailed information on how to speak on a volleyball court, we have an entire article.
To learn more about communication, please take me to the following page
Have fun by playing as much as possible
The best volleyball players get as many touches as possible on their volleyballs in order to improve. It is important that you play pick-up games, attend extra practices, and practice the sport at home whenever possible.
Playing volleyball three times a week is the best way to improve at the sport. It doesn’t matter if it takes an hour to practice in your backyard alone. Home drills are easy to do without a partner, and there are plenty you can do alone.
Also, read Positions In Volleyball
