Archive for the Blocking Category
Blocking Drill to Make You Think
July 1, 2010 by jameslucas.
By Andrea Fryrear
Blocking is an extremely cerebral volleyball skill, so doing blocking drills that make you think while on the move is important. This drill forces you to remember a blocking pattern while still focusing on executing a block accurately.
To start, arrange five hitters on boxes on one side of the net; they should each be close enough to the net to attack the ball easily, and spread evenly across the court. If possible, give each hitter a supply of balls. Starting on the left side of the net, number each hitter 1 through 5.
The blocker starts on the opposite side of the side from the hitters, and s/he is given a sequence in which to block. This is the order in which the hitters will attack the ball, and the blocker must move to each hitter in order and try to block their attack. Hitters need to remember their number and stay engaged in the drill so they can hit in the proper order.
So, for example, if the chosen order is 2-4-3-1-5, the second hitter from the left will hit first, followed by the fourth from the left, etc. The blocker must remember the order and move back and forth along the net to line up with each hitter in turn. Focus on your footwork and form while moving across the net.
This drill is great for practicing all kinds of blocking movement, because it forces you to incorporate the movement required for small distances as well as covering nearly the entire length of the net.
If the blocker forgets the order and goes to the wrong hitter, they must start over from the beginning.
Have fun training your blocking brain!
For more blocking drills, check out 2 Quick Tips for Better Blocking Today.
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.
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Article Source: Andrea Fryrear
Blocking Drill to Make You Think
Beach Volleyball Strategies for Blocking
June 24, 2010 by jameslucas.
By Dennis Jackson
1. No Block
If your team is not real tall or skilled at blocking, you may decide you have a better chance of winning by not blocking. If you aren’t going to block, it’s best to at least stay at the net and be ready for a tight set or overset. You don’t want to cheat early off the net and allow the opponent to get a set right on top of the net with no block up. So always have you or your teammate stay near the net ready for a tight set, and then drop off in time to make a defensive play.
2. Block Angle
The strategy for blocking angle involves the blocker taking away the angle (crosscourt) attack. In this situation, the blocker is attempting to block the hard cross-court attack while the teammate is ready to dig the hard driven attack down the line. Players new to blocking tend to make the mistake of trying to read the hitter and block the ball. The purpose of blocking angle is to make it easier to play defense. For example, it’s much easier to just focus on taking away angle and not worrying about whether or not the attacker is actually going to hit the ball angle, line, etc. The signal for blocking angle is two fingers.
3. Block Line
The strategy for blocking line involves the blocker taking away the line attack. The line attack is the ball that’s hit hard down the line on the same side of the court as the attacker. This is basically blocking the opposite side of the court as blocking angle. The blocker signals with the index finger to block line.
4. Block Ball
Blocking ball means the blocker is going to attempt to read the hitter and try to block the ball. Obviously, it can be much harder to get blocks using this strategy because to successfully read a hitter is difficult if you aren’t an experienced blocker. Many times a blocker will elect to block ball when blocking angle and blocking line isn’t working. Also, if the hitter is easy to read, the blocker might attempt to block ball while defender tries to also read the hitter while playing defense.
5. Spread Block
The spread block is attempting to block the ball while spreading the arms wide. With the spread block, the blocker is essentially taking away both line and angle. The spread block is often used to surprise the hitter. For example, if you are up against a hitter that is consistently hitting the ball hard past your block, then you might attempt the spread block.
6. Wait for the Shot then Swat
The swat technique is used against hitters that like to shoot the ball. To successfully swat the ball, start by standing at the net like you are going to attempt to block. As the hitter is taking an approach to hit, watch carefully if the hitter is going to hit the ball hard or shoot the ball. As the hitter is jumping up to shoot the ball, jump up and swat at the ball with one hand. This blocking technique is especially useful for when a hitter likes to hit a short cut shot into the angle or a low cut shot over the blocker down the line.
7. Fake Drop then Block
Faking a drop off the net can result in the setter setting the ball tight to the net. For example, stand at the net just like you normally would, ready to block. As the ball is being passed to the setter, take a step off the net as if you were going to drop back and play defense. Just step off the net so far that you’ll have time to get back to the net to block. Blockers that are quick can effectively deceive hitters into thinking they have dropped back when in fact they are up there ready to block the ball.
Dennis Jackson is a beach volleyball player and coach that provides expert advice on all aspects of volleyball training. For more tips on playing beach volleyball along with strength and conditioning, designing drills, executing skills, and rule interpretations visit: http://www.strength-and-power-for-volleyball.com/beach-volleyball.html.
Article Source: Dennis Jackson
Beach Volleyball Strategies for Blocking
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
Two Quick Tips for Better Blocking Today
March 29, 2010 by jameslucas.
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
