June 30, 2010 by jameslucas.

By April Chapple

As volleyball players many of us can have a love-hate relationship with the people who referee our games. I know I did. I have stories I can tell about how I use to untie the first referee’s shoe laces when I didn’t agree with a call they made. Maybe that’s why a lot of them wear velcro. Once I took referee certification courses i gained a lot more respect for what referees do and the pressure with which they sometimes have to do their job. Below, I’ve defined a few of the various referee responsibilities.

First referee: The first referee, the first official or sometimes referred to as the ‘up” referee has the primary responsibility of starting the game and the plays, judging each play for any technical fouls, assigning points and sideouts as they occur to each qualifying team and generally making the final decision for any questionable plays.

He or she is called the “up” referee because in official high school, college and international volleyball games the first referee is the one who climbs up and calls the game from an elevated volleyball stand while the second referee is on the opposite side of the net calling the game from the ground. Both use whistles and the first referee usually watches the blockers for net touches, calls double hits, lifts, technical fouls, timeouts and starts each play with a whistle blow to each server.

Second referee: The second referee is an official that is sometimes known as the “down” referee supports the first referee mainly by looking for fouls that occur below or under the net, watches a team’s rotational order to make sure players are in the right position, foot faults committed by the server or back row hitter, answers and watches for any scorekeeping issues and also looks to the linesman for judgement calls when needed.

He or she is the “down” referee because they call the game while on their feet, standing exactly across from the first referee who is quite often calling the game from an elevated position on a volleyball stand.

Linesman: Depending on what type of game is being played, there can be four linesmen that stand on all four corners of the court or there are only two. When there are two official linesmen one stands at the corner where the sideline and the service line meet on one volleyball court and the other linesman stands in the same place on the opposing team’s court.

In official games, the linesmen will have a flag in their hands, if not then they will make their calls using their arms. Their responsibility is to judge whether a ball has landed inside or outside of the court at the end of the play and to call any touches by the block they may see.

And now I would like to invite you to get your Free subscription to the very informative and useful Volleyball Voices newsletter, that’s full of more volleyball terms and tips at volleyballvoices.com.

You’ll get access to free stories, news, and volleyball product reviews 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

The Referee and Their Posse: What Do They Really Do?

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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.

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Article Source: Michael Gerritsen

Learn How to Become a Better Volleyball Player

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May 28, 2010 by jameslucas.

By April Chapple

Volleyball blocking is the first line of defense during a rally and individual blocking and team blocking skills and tactics are important parts of the game to learn. This is part one of a five-part study guide with volleyball terms that will help you become a better volleyball player and hopefully improve your blocking game.

Block - A block is the first form of defense performed against an opposing team’s attack attempt. It’s a skill that requires a player to stand at the net in a ready position at the beginning of a rally.

Ready position - A ready position for the block means that a player’s feet are shoulder width apart parallel to each other and with both feet perpendicular to the net. For the lower body positioning the hips and whole body are squared up and facing the net. Knees are in a slight squat in a ready position that allows him/her to side step along the net either to the right or left quickly. The player should be about half their arm’s length away from the net.

Before the start of a rally, in defense at the net a player’s upper body ready position should be with their shoulders squared up–that means parallel - and facing the net. The starting position for one’s hands are bent elbows with hands and open palms facing the net just at the player’s shoulder level.

The hands need to stay at the level of the shoulders and not below the waist or below the net, so that when the block is performed the player’s hands and arms are in a ready position to just go up and block the ball using minimal additional time and movement, as opposed to having to bring them from a much lower position all the way to above the head.

Outside blocker - There are two outside blockers at the net in defense who are responsible for blocking the opposing team’s outside hitters and/or assisting the middle blocker in defending against an attack from the opposing team’s middle blocker.

Middle blocker - A middle blocker can be compared to a linebacker in football or a center in basketball and is the primary person who specializes in defending against the opposing team’s attack at the net. Quite often middle blockers are the tallest members of their team and are blessed with the ability to learn to move laterally along the net with the primary defensive responsibility of either blocking the opposing team’s spikers directly or covering and taking away as much of the net and court area as possible.

On offense the middle blocker becomes the primary middle hitter who attacks a lot of the first tempo and quick sets.

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 1

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May 19, 2010 by jameslucas.

By April Chapple

It is spring time which usually marks the preparation for the outdoor sand volleyball season. With the change in the weather temperature and the sport’s growing popularity, you may be among the many indoor players that are preparing to play in beach volleyball games and outdoor tournaments this summer.

If you are new to the sand game, I wanted to prepare you for some of the differences you’ll face and I’ve explained what you may want to look out for while transitioning between these two distinct styles of the volleyball game. Some differences between the indoor and outdoor games of volleyball are very slight while others are more evident.

Volleyball Skills Players Need to Have

One big difference between an indoor player and a beach player is the ability to perform all of the fundamental volleyball skills required to play in the sand or on the court. Many indoor players, especially club and college indoor players (are coached to or choose to) specialize in possessing only a few skills in order to dominate in only one or two positions on the court.

For example, a middle blocker may practice and play only the middle blocking or “their” position, which calls for them to always hit out of the middle, always block from the middle, to only pass the short serves and play the front row exclusively which means in many situations they only play in the three front row rotations and then either before or after their turn to serve they are substituted out of the game for another player who specializes in serve receive, defense and playing only the back row positions.

I would compare this to being an assembly line worker who is only assigned and paid to put one piece of a part on a car door on a car. For hours that’s their only responsibility and it’s the only thing they are taught and paid to do all day long.

So, imagine that for an entire club season or college season many volleyball players specialize in playing one position, hitting only a few types of sets and playing only in several designated areas of the court. This doesn’t necessarily contribute to the development of an “all-around” player.

In contrast, since there are only two beach players per team in the doubles game and they both need to cover a regulation size court, each player has to possess the ability to perform all the volleyball skills well, in order to be successful at the sand game.

Both players are required to know how to serve a ball, serve receive consistently, set the ball with their hands or bump set at varying heights or even back set if the occasion calls for it, attack the ball from different places along the net, block different attackers that have all kinds of timing issues with their spike and transition off the net quickly to play defense.

There’s no getting around it, beach volleyball players have to be great all-around players, proficient at performing all the skills of the volleyball game.

This is the second part of a two-part series where I explain the differences in the skills needed to play beach volleyball versus those used by indoor volleyball players. I also talk about the role “specialization” plays in both styles of the game.

There are only two places where there’s room for specialization in beach volleyball and that’s on offense where a player can specialize in playing on a particular side. There are those who label themselves ‘left-side” players and those who like to play only on the right side. It’s typical for many players to form teams based on the side their teammate specializes playing on.

The other place to specialize is on defense where one partner chooses to be the team’s designated primary ‘blocker’ with a partner who agrees to be the defensive player all the time. A perfect example of this would be the American Olympic gold medalist men’s and women’s beach volleyball teams of Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers and Misty May Treanor and Kerri Walsh.

Of course all four players are versatile enough to play both sides, block in the front court and transition back to either side of the court to play defense. But these elite beach teams made a tactical decision that would increase their team’s chances of outsmarting their competition and would place each partner in a position on the court that allows them to perform the skills that they do best.

In defense on their respective teams, the taller players Kerri Walsh and Phil Dalhausser are front row blocking specialists. After they serve receive or while they are in transition their “job” is to be at or go to the net to put up a great wall and to do as much of the blocking on their team as possible, while Misty May Treanor and Todd Rogers are the back row specialists who have the responsibilities of playing behind their teammates, running down any ball or digging any hard spikes that get past their partner’s big block.

Typically, although this isn’t written in sand (forgive me, I couldn’t resist) and versatility is always important, the taller blocker is the left-side hitter and the backrow specialist plays on the right side.

So, in serve receive Kerri and Phil usually play on the left side while Misty and Todd are on the right side of the court.

As the levels of competition improve, players may switch sides in the middle of a game forcing their competition to change their strategy or in order to participate in a particular tournament players will compromise and agree to play on a different side in order to team up with a better player.

In the indoor volleyball game if a player is particularly weak in one skill, then they have five other players they can rely on to help them cover or mask their weaknesses in one way or another. That player can be taken out of the serve receive and re-positioned to stand on the baseline or behind a stronger passer.

Or in the front row instead of blocking the ball against an opposing hitter that may be much taller they can switch positions with a taller teammate and have the teammate block against that hitter instead. (Or the coach may have that shorter player cover the dinks and not block at all.)

On the beach, there’s no hiding weak skills, players are forced to learn how to do everything. Initially the learning curve may seem steep for an indoor player moving outdoors, but this transition quickly contributes to the creation of a faster, higher jumping, quicker reacting, all-around stronger, smarter indoor volleyball player.

April Chapple, is the “Five Quick Tips” columnist for the American Volleyball Coaches Association’s Coaching Volleyball magazine and the creator of the volleyball news hub Volleyball Voices.com, where you’ll find out where to get video instruction directly from Olympic gold medalists and pro players on how to become a better volleyball player.

Article Source: April Chapple

Beach Volleyball Skills: How to Become a Better Indoor Volleyball Player

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May 6, 2010 by jameslucas.

By Andrea Fryrear

To be a good defender you have to genuinely want the ball to be hit your way, and you should delight in digging a hard-driven ball and frustrating the opposing attackers. You should be confident that you can get almost any ball that comes over the net.

But this zen-like attitude won’t happen overnight, because only with a solid foundation of defensive moves can you be sure that you’re going to be the amazing defender that you want to be. So in a nutshell, the libero’s fearless attitude comes from his/her knowledge that they’ve done the work, put in the time and have the skills to dig anything.

To achieve this confidence, here are some things you can work on:

1. Court awareness: Get comfortable with the court size and your position on it. This will help you let balls go that are heading out and will also allow you to help your teammates by calling the ball in or out.
2. Quickness and agility: There are tons of resources on plyometric drills, which will vastly improve your quickness if done regularly. For something simpler go for jumping rope or sprinting.
3. Ball control: Above all else a libero must have outstanding ball control. Be the first to arrive an the last one to leave practice while having your coach or friends throw/hit balls to you all over the court. No matter what kind of drill you’re doing make sure you have a target position in mind and that you are driving yourself to improve everyday.
4. Touch everything: Don’t give up on a ball, no matter how far out of reach it may seem. Your goal should be to touch every ball in your vicinity. As you get faster you’ll be amazed at the saves you can make.
5. Learn to dive and roll properly: Most liberos dive, roll, sprawl and fall frequently, so it’s vital that you know how to fall correctly and without hurting yourself. Most defensive players prefer the shoulder roll for a quick recovery, and the pancake is a must-have move for all liberos!

If you’re looking for a more in-depth guide to libero success, check out my volleyball skills newsletter. You get a year of volleyball instruction (one e-mail per week) absolutely free!

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

The Volleyball Libero Attitude

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April 26, 2010 by jameslucas.

By Andrea Fryrear

The legality of blockers being in the line of sight of a passer really comes down to whether or not they moved to get in your way. Most teams try very hard to make sure that there is at least one person between the opposing passer and their server to give themselves a better chance at throwing off their opponent’s offense, and that’s acceptable.

This situation becomes a problem when the serving team watches you and actively moves around to get in your way.

So a team can have their front row players (and back row, for that matter) set up in whatever way seems best to them as long as they’re in the right order/rotation. But if these players move around for the purpose of blocking the view of the passers then they’ve committed a fault ad you should get the ball.

If you’re having a problem with the other team screening but the referee doesn’t seem to be noticing, try to exaggerate the problem by moving your head dramatically from side to side as you attempt to see around the other team’s blockers. Hopefully the ref will notice this and take note of whether the other team is actively blocking your site of the server. If s/he doesn’t notice and you’re in real difficulty ask your caption to speak to the ref.

This can’t be called on a server, however, and they can move around wherever they want to make your passing life more difficult. Many servers like to position themselves behind as many of their teammates as possible for this precise reason, and that’s legal.

Good luck with your serve receive efforts. For an illustration of referee calls for screening, visit 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.

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Article Source: Andrea Fryrear

Volleyball Screening Rule: Fine Line Between Legal and Illegal

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April 16, 2010 by jameslucas.

By Andrea Fryrear

Having more hockey players on the ice, more soccer players on the field or more basketball players on the court would give your team a distinct advantage. But in volleyball the court is small enough that more players trying to pass the ball can often be a disadvantage. In this case, more is not merrier. More passers means more seams, more opportunities for miscommunication and more serve receive errors.

Rather than smoosh everyone on your team into a serve receive formation, try to keep the number of passing down to three. If that seems like way too few give four passers a try, but your goal should be using only three passers.

In a four-person serve receive there are at least three seams, and there may be more if any of the front row players start creeping back and trying to pass. “Seams” are the lines between passers where either person could possibly be responsible for playing the ball. When a serve is heading for a seam both players have to communicate about which one of them will pass the ball. More seams create more demands on team communication.

One of the worst parts of this type of serve receive is the huge hole in the very middle of the court. Any of the four players in serve receive could potentially pass a serve heading for that spot. It’s an obvious target for a good server, and many players enjoy serving into that type of communication hot spot. With four passers in play there will also be at least one front row player passing, which creates another good target for your opponent’s serve. A smart server can aim for the front row hitter in the hopes of taking him or her out of the offense with a difficult serve.

In three-person serve receive we have only two major seams, which may cut down on potential communication problems. Keep in mind that this type of passing makes more demands on the abilities of all three receivers, because each person is responsible for any serve within their 1/3 of the court. This means if the ball is served short the passer must move forward to pass it; or if the serve lands near the end line the passer needs to move backwards into position (or receive it with an overhand pass).

If your passers are having trouble handling a full third of the court you can try using the two outside passers to take short serves while the middle passer takes anything deep. This increases the need for communicating because it can be unclear what constitutes a “short” serve and passers need to call the ball early. Go with whatever your team is comfortable with, and don’t be afraid to experiment.

It can be difficult to transition to having fewer players involved in serve receive, but you’ll reap rewards when it comes to your passing accuracy and communication. And remember, no matter what formation you use you need to call the ball early and often!

For more details about passing, including drills, diagrams and photographs of proper form, check out the Volleyball-Life Passing Ebook.

For more details about volleyball skills, along with news and product reviews, visit Volleyball-Life.com.

Andrea Fryrear
Managing Editor, Volleyball-Life.com

Article Source: Andrea Fryrear

When Receiving the Volleyball Serve, More is Not Merrier

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April 7, 2010 by jameslucas.

By Geoff James

Most sports train players to have one position for which they hone their skills. People become famous for being quarterback, not for playing football. In volleyball, everyone is an all-around player. Though there are specialized players that are naturally better in one position than another, they play every spot on the court.

There are 6 people on a volleyball court at any given time; three in front and three in the back. The six play the game from those starting positions until a point is scored. The ball changes hands, and when it returns again to the first team they rotate, each player becoming the man (or woman) to his side (the back line moves to the left, the front line moves to the right).

The positions are rotated, but specialized jobs are not. They are as follows:

Setters. The job of the setter is not to get the ball over the net but to touch it into place for another player to drive the ball over. (Using the lingo of other spots, the setters make the assists.)

Left Side Hitters, Middle Hitters, and Right Side Hitters work as offense and defense. They are strong hitters that get the ball from the setter, but also play and important role in protecting their own court.

Liberos are THE defensive players. They can trade with anyone in the back row at any time the ball is not in play.

The formations in volleyball do change, but not in the way you’d expect. Players always stand in their 2 lines of 3; the variation is how many setters and hitters you have on the court. The 3 traditional variations are 4-2, 5-1, and 6-2.

4-2 variations have four hitters and 2 setters. The 5-1 formation has only one setter, which means that you will have 3 attackers in your front or back line at any time. A 6-2 formation is actually close to a 4-2, but the back row setter comes forward for each set. 6-2 is an offense-heavy set-up.

Not only do we have dozens of styles of volleyball medals, but hundreds of medal styles for all sports and seasons!

Article Source: Geoff_James

Volleyball Team Formations and Rotation

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March 25, 2010 by jameslucas.

By Brian Boyce

Learning how to set is a very important key to being a great volleyball player. To begin, let’s start with your hands. Take your hands and make a diamond then bring it up to your forehead. From there more your hands about six inches in front of your forehead (hands still in shaped like a diamond. Then you are going separate your hands about two inches away from each other. When the ball gets into your hands you are going to move your thumbs and push them out shooting the ball out of your hands. Remember to always keep your elbows bent because gives you the option of shooting the ball. Shooting is a quick set to your outside hitter. When setting a shoot the ball only go about a foot above the net and it should be pushed out there really fast. If you set the ball with your arms straight up it will only allow you to set the ball with a loft. This means that you can not set the ball as quickly as if you were to set the ball with your elbows bent. Also, remember to keep your hands close because nothing is more humiliating then letting the ball slip through your hand and hit you in the face. When setting the ball backwards it is a little bit different then trying to set the ball in front of you. In order to set the ball backwards you will go about it the same way as you would by setting the ball in front of you. The only difference is that you will want to bring your elbows further back so that your shoulder blades are kind of touching. Also, you will want to arch you back a little bit in order to set the ball backwards. This is what to do with your hands when learning how to set.

When setting the ball your foot work in an important key it is more important than you probably think. You want to keep your right foot in front and have your knees some what bent. Then when you set the ball you want you use your legs to push up to give more push on the ball. I would recommend to not to jump set until you have had enough practice. When jump setting its not about trying to jump as high as possible its more about using your jump to give you more height when your setting. When jump setting there are a few things to remember. First, always remember to keep your hips facing your target this way you will not lose control of your set. Also, remember to keep your balance and jump strait up because if not you could end up jumping into the net were you will give the other team a point for a net violation and if you do not jump strait up you can jump into your middle hitter. These are some tip when learning how to set and jump set.

Setting is a great tool for defense. Part of the time you have to use your hands to dig balls that are hit. When doing this you will want to keep you strong and keep your thumbs back. You will not want to actually try to set the ball you really just want to get the ball up in the air high enough so that your setter can get the ball. Also, having to pass a serve with your hands is very important. It is important because it is easier to set a float serve because then you can attack the ball and not let the float move on you. Another reason for using your hands is so you will not have to turn your back to the court. One recommendation is that you should not jump when you are going to use your hands to pass a serve or a hit. It is best if you take a step back and use your legs to give you that extra push. The best way to practice using your hand to dig volleyballs is to pepper with a teammate and only use your hands to pass. This is how setting is can help your defensive play.

The setter is the most important player on the court in my opinion. The setter is has to control the team, he has to make the decision on how the team is run. First, the setter has to signal the hitters on what he wants to run. This means the setter needs to see what the opposition’s weak spots are so he or she can know were to set. Once he knows who to set then he signals his hitters what kind of set to expect whether it be a quick set like a shoot or a “k” ball or if it will be a high and slow set like a hut or a 4 ball. Then setter has to move around a lot. By having to run into position after the serve is received. If the ball is not passed to the right spot then the setter has to run to were ever the ball is going. Also, the setter has to be the smartest player on the court. The setter needs to know how to make the proper adjustments when something goes wrong. For example, if a ball is passed really low then the setter needs to know what to do in order to make the ball still playable for the hitters to make an attack on the ball. The setter needs to know who to set and when by properly distributing the ball to each hitter. He needs to spread the ball out otherwise the blockers are just going to sit on one specific hitter. This means that the blockers will just stay on the side of just one of the team’s hitters because they know already where the ball is going to go.

This is how to set and how the setter is the key to any successful volleyball team.

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Article Source: Brian Boyce

How to Set a Volleyball

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