Archive for June 2010
Beach Volleyball: The Deep Dish, is it a Pizza or a Way to Set the Ball?
June 15, 2010 by jameslucas.
By April Chapple
Setting a volleyball is a skill of finesse. It takes a soft touch, great timing and the ability to coordinate your upper body that is required to push the ball in the air with your lower body which first has to get into a low position and then come out of that position all in one well-choreographed sequence.
Never do players find this more true than when setting the ball on the beach where the sand and other elements are also introduced as “game” determining factors.
Beach volleyball players have certain styles of setting the ball and beginners like to emulate the professionals by trying to copy their style, but some styles aren’t what they seem to be and they may not be the ones that should be copied.
Deep Dish Setting A Ball
Some players try to use the deep dish set for a couple of reasons. Some guys usually do it because they think it looks cool, others do it because they think it’s the only way to take the spin off of the ball. Other female players will deep dish because the beach volleyball is heavier than an indoor volleyball and the weight of the ball plus it’s downward momentum will cause them to bring the ball down lower usually pass their chin and around their chest level before they push the ball back in the air in order to deliver a set to their partner.
To deep dish effectively you need to be able to get the ball back in to the air, after it’s dropped past your chin to your chest, with an overhand set and deliver a ball to your partner with virtually no spin or rotation on the ball. Good luck with that.
The problem with deep dishing is that you are setting yourself up to be called for holding or lifting the ball.
- When you set a ball it shouldn’t come to an absolute complete stop. (This concept is a lot looser on the beach than it is in indoor volleyball.)
- Another thing that shouldn’t happen when you set the ball on the beach is that like indoor volleyball you are not allowed to touch the ball using the palms of your hands to set. By using your palms you are forced to push the ball or lift it back in the air, and that isn’t setting the ball, that is a violation which you will be called for.
Combine these two elements I mentioned above with
- not being able to put extra spin on the ball when you set it and now you’ve increased your risk of committing not one but a couple of violations because by attempting to use the deep dish, instead of contacting the ball to set it when it reaches the level of your forehead, you wait until the ball falls further down past your chin or chest area to overhand set the ball.
I now ask you, is it worth all the trouble?
And now I would like to invite you to get Free video instruction directly from Olympic gold medalists and pro players on how to become a better beach volleyball setter.
You’ll get access to free videos with instructions for indoor and beach volleyball skills that you can use right away!
From April Chapple, creator of the volleyball news hub Volleyball Voices.com and author of the new ebook “86 Girls Indoor Volleyball Tips:How To Gain Confidence On the Volleyball Court.”
Article Source: April Chapple
Beach Volleyball: The Deep Dish, is it a Pizza or a Way to Set the Ball?
Learn How to Become a Better Volleyball Player
June 14, 2010 by jameslucas.
By Michael Gerritsen
If you are interested in becoming a better volleyball player, this article will give you some advice. I will discuss multiple different ways in which you can become a better volleyball player.
Probably the best thing you can do to become a better player is to simply play with people who are much better than you. By playing with people who are very unskilled in volleyball, you won’t be challenging yourself enough and it will be hard to improve. This suggestion can be very useful since by playing with strong players will help you to learn more about the game just by watching them.
Getting someone to watch you play and analyze your faults can be extremely helpful. This has personally helped me a ton. By finding a good player who can spectate you, you can usually figure out exactly what you are doing wrong, or what you could be doing better. Make sure you don’t ever take someones critique of your game in an insulting way. Just remember that they are trying to help you..
Another thing you can do is make sure you are always playing volleyball with improvement in mind. Try not to become content with the skill level you are at at any point. Many players already think they are good, and this makes it hard for them to get any better. Remember that no matter how good you get, there will most definitely be some room for improvement.
By using these three aspects of improvement, there’s a good chance you will be beating all your friends in volleyball after some time. Just try to commit to the tips in this article and you will surely notice at least some improvement. Finding a great player who can coach you, or even hiring a volleyball trainer can be extremely helpful too.
Check out my sites if you’d like: Mens Volleyball Shoes and ASICS Volleyball Shoes
Article Source: Michael Gerritsen
Learn How to Become a Better Volleyball Player
Volleyball Camps: How to Become a Better Volleyball Setter
June 9, 2010 by jameslucas.
By April Chapple
As a junior volleyball player one of the best ways to become a better all-around volleyball player is to improve your volleyball setting. Even if you’re undecided about what position you want to play in high school or club attending a volleyball camp should give you an idea as to what the setter’s responsibilities are, what its like to play in that position and whether you’ll be interested in being a volleyball setter in the future.
Basic Skills Camps - As a young player who has never attended a camp before, for your first experience you may want to attend a basic volleyball skills camp. These types of camps can come in all forms, but when you attend a basic volleyball skills camp you should ideally expect to learn all the basic volleyball skills-setting, serving, passing, blocking in two (sometimes three) sessions throughout the day for one, two or multi-day volleyball camps.
For three-day camps, most camps should offer 18 training hours-that’s a morning and afternoon session that lasts for three hours while a four-day camp averages 21 to 24 or more training hours, especially the team camps.
One of the first things to expect as a camper, especially at a basic skills camp is to be placed in a group based on your skill level and volleyball playing experience so that you will be involved in skill-appropriate drills. This way you won’t get discouraged easily because you’ve been placed with a group of players that have a lot more experience than you do.
Types of Volleyball Camps Where You Can Improve Your Setting Skills
In Texas, what you’ll usually find at a volleyball setters camp, whether its an overnight or a day camp is that it is designed for those players interested in specialized volleyball setter skill training. A volleyball setters camp is an individual volleyball skills camp which is tailored to those athletes that have a basic volleyball foundation and are in high school. There are typically two sessions one in the morning and one in the afternoon and both sessions focus specifically on all aspects of the volleyball setting position. Setters will concentrate on setting skill techniques and training repetitions in footwork, decision making, and various play sets.
In Connecticut the volleyball positional camp is designed for players who have the desire to improve their specific positional skills. This type of camp needs to be taught with a hands-on approach, with each camper being taken through step-by-step progressions, which should include the basic fundamentals. Each position usually focuses on their appropriate footwork, hand positions, visual cues, the correct timing for each volleyball skill being trained and arm swing or arm movement mechanics. Setters are trained in advanced concepts that typically include setting various quick sets and running an offense.
There are even volleyball boot camps for setters in Colorado that offer opportunities for the players who have proven to have the fundamentals to advance their setting skills. This type of camp offers video breakdown, movement training, and games. Setters learn how to improve their setting control, increase ball delivery accuracy and expand their repertoire through instruction from Colorado’s most experienced and accomplished setting coaches.
And now I would like to invite you to check out volleyball camps in your state and to get Free video instruction directly from Olympic gold medalists and pro players on how to become a better volleyball setter.
You’ll get access to free videos with instructions for indoor and beach volleyball skills that you can use right away!
From April Chapple, creator of the volleyball news hub Volleyball Voices.com and author of the new ebook “86 Girls Indoor Volleyball Tips:How To Gain Confidence On the Volleyball Court.”
Article Source: April Chapple
Volleyball-Camps—How-to-Become-a-Better-Volleyball-Setter&id=4394825
Volleyball Terms: A Study Guide for Blocking, Part 6
June 8, 2010 by jameslucas.
By April Chapple
Part six of the volleyball terms study guide for blocking is where I define what it means to one-on-one block, swing block and triple block.
As I’ve mentioned before, the block is the first line of defense used to attempt to keep your opponent from spiking successfully into your court.
The terms discussed in this article deal with more advanced blocking skills where players use different ways to position themselves on the court in order to perform a successful block or to take away a significant amount of area so that they direct the balls right to their teammates playing defensive behind them.
one-on-one block - The one-on-one blocking scenario is created when a hitter has to hit against only one blocker from the opposing team in a rally. This is an ideal situation which a team’s setter always works to try and create because in a one-on-one situation typically the hitter holds the advantage of being able to get the ball past one blocker.
swing block - The traditional ready position for a player to perform a block is to start in front of their hitter with their entire body facing the net, with their hands and open palms at shoulder level facing the hitter, ready to move laterally with a side step or a cross over step that they use to travel along their side of the net. With the swing block, in order to move laterally along the net to get positioned in front of the hitter, the blocker turns their body perpendicular to the net, facing the direction they intend to travel with their hands positioned below the net down by their waist. As they move to the outside to block, they will square their shoulders and upper torso to the net, “swinging” their arms and hands up which helps them gain momentum to reach up and over to penetrate the plane of the net to block the hitter.
triple block - A triple block is a three-person block formed with the intention of preventing the opposing team’s spiker from spiking the ball into their court. It’s formed when both outside blockers come to the middle to block a ball in unison with the middle blocker or when the middle blocker and one of the two outside blockers travel along the net to join the remaining outside player in order to create a triple block against a hitter during a rally.
And now I would like to invite you to get Free video instruction directly from Olympic gold medalists and pro players on how to become a better volleyball player.
You’ll get access to free videos with instructions for indoor and beach volleyball skills that you can use right away!
From April Chapple, creator of the volleyball news hub Volleyball Voices.com and author of the new ebook “86 Girls Indoor Volleyball Tips:How To Gain Confidence On the Volleyball Court.”
Article Source: April Chapple
Volleyball Terms: A Study Guide for Blocking, Part Six
Volleyball Terms: A Study Guide for Blocking, Part 5
June 7, 2010 by jameslucas.
By April Chapple
Part five of the volleyball terms study guide for blocking is where I define what it means to seal the net, stuff block, swing block and read blocking.
- seal the net - “Seal the net” means that as you block jump you keep your shoulders, chest, your underarms, boobies, abs and hips parallel to the net keeping as little space as possible between you and the volleyball net. Many hitters score points that they shouldn’t because they are hitting against blockers who go straight up in the air, usually with their hands and arms behind their shoulders when they are in the air. So all the hitter does is hit right at the hands of the blocker and ball comes dribbling down on the blocker’s side between blocker and net. Easy point for hitter. Seal the net means to close off and keep closed off during the duration of the block all that space between you and the net so a ball won’t come through.
- stuff block - A stuff block is a block that was so efficiently performed that it didn’t allow the hitter enough time to really hit the ball. The blocker “stuffed” the ball back into the opposing team’s court. Many times you’ll see a stuff block when a team’s setter tries to dump the ball into an opposing team’s court but the right outside blocker or the middle blocker anticipated what she was going to do so before the dumped ball even crosses the plane of the net the blockers block the ball back, stuffing it right back into the setter’s court.
- read blocking - Read blocking occurs when a blocker has been assigned a particular hitter to block and as the play develops they follow, or read where their assigned hitter is going to attack in order to block them. Read blocking occurs most often in higher levels of competition and beach volleyball where a blocker will read the hitter to anticipate how to block them or decide what area of the court they will take away.
The other blocking system that leaves less decision-making to the player and more to the coach is where the coach establishes what area of the court all the blockers will cover or take away. It’s the coach that will decide whether his/her team will block cross court against the opposing team or only some of its players and the coach’s players will be responsible for sticking to this game plan that was established off the court or before the game.
And now I would like to invite you to get Free video instruction directly from Olympic gold medalists and pro players on how to become a better volleyball player. You’ll get access to free videos with instructions for indoor and beach volleyball skills that you can use right away!
From April Chapple, creator of the volleyball news hub Volleyball Voices.com and author of the new ebook “86 Girls Indoor Volleyball Tips: How To Gain Confidence On the Volleyball Court.”
Article Source: April Chapple
Volleyball Terms: A Study Guide for Blocking, Part Five
Volleyball Terms A Study Guide for Blocking, Part 4
June 4, 2010 by jameslucas.
By April Chapple
In part four of the volleyball blocking study guide I talk about the terms the double block and using the block.
Double block - A double block is formed when two players manage to travel along the net to get in front of and form a block against a hitter in a rally. With two players blocking against a hitter, the hitter has less options for open spaces on the court to hit to and is forced to hit to the area of the court the double block is not covering.
The hitter may choose to hit down the line if the double block is covering their cross court, or they will hit hard cross court if the double block is taking away the line. Other options include the dink or the “tip”, where the hitter at the height of their jump will tip the ball softly over the block so the ball lands in an open area of the court, out of the block’s reach and away from the defense.
The hitter may also choose to aim for the “seam” of the block which is the space that’s created between the arms of the two opposing blockers, if for some reason the blockers don’t “close the block.”
The hitter can aim for a hole in the block or “use the block” which means a hitter can hit towards the hole that a blocker has created by not keeping their hands close enough to each other or close enough to their blocking partner’s hands.
Using the block - When a hitter decides to “use the block’ or “use the blockers hands” or “wipe the block” - this means they will wipe the outside hands of the blocker with the ball in order to make a point. This is a practiced skill that is very effective for smaller outside hitters who face big blockers and need a hitting option they can rely on when they can’t hit over or hit the ball past the block. “Wiping the block” technique is based on a spiker learning how to spike in a way that they aim the ball for the outside hand of the blocker who’s closest to the antenna, so when the ball is deflected off of the outside hand of the blocker it bounces outside the court.
This skill is very effective for an outside hitter to learn because it’s very hard to defend a ball that’s already on it’s way outside of the court’s boundary lines.
To avoid “being used” an outside blocker should train to go up to block in a way that their outside hand, the one closest to the antenna, is turned into the court, this way while they block and their hands penetrate the plane of the net, that outside hand is positioned to push the ball back into the opposing team’s court.
And now I would like to invite you to get Free video instruction directly from Olympic gold medalists and pro players on how to become a better volleyball player. You’ll get access to free videos with instructions for indoor and beach volleyball blocking skills that you can use right away!
From April Chapple, creator of the volleyball news hub Volleyball Voices.com and author of the new ebook “86 Girls Indoor Volleyball Tips:How To Gain Confidence On the Volleyball Court.”
Article Source: April Chapple
Volleyball Terms A Study Guide for Blocking, Part Four
Volleyball Terms: A Study Guide for Blocking, Part 3
June 2, 2010 by jameslucas.
By April Chapple
Part three of six of the study guide for volleyball blocking explains what the joust, kong block, block assist, over, and under mean.
Joust - A joust occurs when two players contact the ball over the net at the same time. This usually occurs between two opposing team’s blockers, or one blocker and one hitter who was trying to tip the ball over the blocker and instead the ball was set close to the net, so now both players are contacting the ball at the same time, both of them trying to push the ball into the other’s court.
Nine times out of ten, if two opposing players go up to contact a ball at the same time over the net, the second player to contact the ball almost always wins because they have momentum on their side. Their advantage is that they are going up and pushing over while the first player is coming down, on the way down the first player is losing momentum. Once I learned this trick I hardly ever lost a joust because I knew that all I had to do was wait as long as I could, then once I saw the other player touch the ball then I put my hands on the ball and pushed it over into the opposing court. It takes practice, timing and a quick eye but its worth saving a tip gone bad.
Block assist - A block assist is a statistical term used to give credit to a player or players who created a double block or triple block therefore (I love that word “therefore” but I never get to use it until now) assisting a teammate who blocked an opponent for a point during a rally.
Kong block - A Kong block is done with one arm instead of the required two arms used to block the ball of a hitter spiking over the net. The Kong block was made famous and popularized by American beach volleyball champion and Hall of Fame inductee Randy Stoklos.
Over - “Over” is a term a referee will use to indicate that a blocker has reached over the net to contact or block a ball while it is still on the opposing team’s court.
Under - The term “under” refers to a violation committed when a blocker steps “under” the net in a way that prevents the opposing hitter from hitting the ball.
Offside blocker - The offside blocker is the player who is front row during an opposing hitter’s attack but is not participating in the block, they are on the side that’s furthest away from the opponent’s attack.
And now I would like to invite you to get Free video instruction directly from Olympic gold medalists and pro players on how to become a better volleyball player. You’ll get access to free videos with instructions for indoor and beach volleyball blocking skills that you can use right away!
From April Chapple, creator of the volleyball news hub Volleyball Voices.com and author of the new ebook “86 Girls Indoor Volleyball Tips:How To Gain Confidence On the Volleyball Court.”
Article Source: April Chapple
Volleyball Terms: A Study Guide for Blocking, Part Three
Volleyball Terms: A Study Guide for Blocking, Part 2
June 1, 2010 by jameslucas.
By April Chapple
This is part two of six for the Volleyball Blocking Terms study guide which explains what closing the block, penetration, screen, seam, block attempt, hole and roof mean in regards to blocking.
Closing the block - Closing the block happens when two players in defense at the net, successfully close off any holes or spaces that may be created between them when they jump in unison to block the ball, with the intent of preventing a spiker from hitting the ball into their court.
Penetration - Penetration refers to the act of a player penetrating the plane of the net by placing his/her arms and hands as far over the net as possible at the height of his jump so that he can block a hitter.
Screen - A screen is when one of two or more players on defense at the net intentionally (or unintentionally) stand so close to each other that one or more of the opposing team members cannot see the server because the blockers have formed a screen.
In beach volleyball doubles, if one player obscures the view of his teammate who is the server before the start of the rally, the opposing team can stop the play and insist that the blocker reposition themselves along the net so both receivers have a clear view of the server.
Seam - The seam is the space that separates two players when they go up to block. More precisely, the seam is usually in reference to the space that separates the middle blocker’s outside arm and the outside blocker’s inside arm, where these two arms (should) meet during a block, creates a seam in the block. If the arms don’t meet then that opens up an area that the opposing hitter can aim for. When you hear a coach say “aim for the seam” or “hit the seam” he/she wants their hitter to aim for this area between the two blockers.
Hole - A hole in the block can be created between the hands of two players that are going up to cover an area and don’t, or a single player who creates a hole in his or her block because their hands are spread too wide apart.
Roof - An aggressive block usually made against a proficient hard-hitting hitter resulting in the ball going straight down at a high velocity back into the hitter’s court typically within the ten foot, three meter line.
Block attempt - A block attempt is made by a player when he or she performs the action of jumping to block an opposing player but are unable to prevent the spike from entering into their court.
And now I would like to invite you to get Free video instruction directly from Olympic gold medalists and pro players on how to become a better volleyball player. You’ll get access to free videos with instructions for indoor and beach volleyball blocking skills that you can use right away!
From April Chapple, creator of the volleyball news hub Volleyball Voices.com and author of the new ebook “86 Girls Indoor Volleyball Tips:How To Gain Confidence On the Volleyball Court.”
Article Source: April Chapple
Volleyball Terms: A Study Guide for Blocking, Part Two
