Two Quick Tips for Better Blocking Today
By Andrea Fryrear
A volleyball block may not seem like a very difficult skill — after all it’s just jumping up in the air with your hands up, right? But in fact it’s one of the more difficult parts of playing volleyball, even if you’re tall. Timing, explosive jumps and effective arm movement all have to come together. In this article I’ll give you two quick tips that will improve your blocking right away!
Tip #1: Keep your hands at shoulder height.
Our instinct is to try and propel ourselves upward using our arms, which will involve lowering our hands well below our waist. There are two big problems with this technique, however. Firstly it makes it much more likely that you’ll contact the net illegally (awarding the other team a point). Secondly it slows down your jump by several seconds, making it much more difficult to time the block. Instead keep your hands just in front of your shoulders, so you can extend your arms up and your hands over the net at a moment’s notice. You should be able to see your hands through your peripheral vision at all times.
Tip #2: Hands should penetrate over the net - no swinging!
Imagine that the net is electrified and that you don’t want to touch it at any cost. You need to extend your arms directly up from the shoulders. Then as your hands make it up over the top of the net you can break your wrists slightly. This forms a “roof” that can push an attacked volleyball directly back onto your opponent’s court.
If you’re a little on the short side or lack jumping skills you can still be an effective blocker. Instead of “roofing” concentrate on what’s called “soft blocking.” Simply bend your wrists backward so that if the ball contacts your hands it will ricochet upwards, making it easier for your teammates to pass.
Tip #3: Up and down, not side to side.
Always remember to plant your feet before you take off. This helps you jump straight up and down when blocking so that you don’t collide with other members of your team who are also blocking. The same rule applies to your hands: they should extend up and down in a single plane.
Keep an eye on your elbows too; they should stay close to your body and not flail around like chicken wings. This will keep your fellow blockers safe (nobody wants an elbow in the eye). It also helps you by keeping your hands closer together so the ball doesn’t fly through them.
Also check out our tips on improving your vertical leap to help your blocking skills.
For more information on volleyball skills, visit Volleyball-Life.com’s Skills Section
Andrea Fryrear
Managing Editor, Volleyball-Life.com
Andrea Fryrear is the Managing Editor of Volleyball-Life.com and a 17-year volleyball veteran. She’s played high school, Junior Olympic, NCAA and international volleyball and loves to share her knowledge and experience with other players.
Article Source: Andrea Fryrear
Two Quick Tips for Better Blocking Today
This entry was posted on March 29, 2010 at 10:54 am and is filed under Blocking. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.
