Five Ways to Get Better at Volleyball Hitting





1.        Go to the Videotape
It is important in volleyball hitting that you analyze your form. Get a friend or family member to record you hitting on video tape. Make sure that you include different angles -- from the front, from the back and from the side of your hitting arm. Watch the tape in slow motion. How is your form? Your timing? Do you have good position on the ball or are you contorting in the air bending forward or back to hit? Are you jumping up or forward? Are you hitting the ball at the top of your reach? Pay attention to your tendencies. Are you stronger hitting cross court or line? Work on what's weak. Show the tape to a coach or someone who is knowledgeable about the game and ask them where you can improve.

2.        Develop Your Peripheral Vision
A good hitter has vision. That means he can see a seam in the block or an open line shot as well as where the defense is placed so he can put the ball where they are not. This can mean that you take your eye off the ball and take a quick look at the block and defense. But it is also necessary to be able to see it out of the corner of your eye.

Next time you go up to hit, take note of what you can see and do not limit it just to what you are looking at. Is there an open spot on the court? Where is the best place to put the ball to get a kill? Can you tool the outside hand of that blocker? You can work on your peripheral vision on and off the court. There are many high tech training techniques that can help, but you can also do go low tech with a computer game or a good old game of whack-a-mole. Pick a spot in the center of the screen or board to look at and try to hit your targets by using your peripheral vision.

3.        Master the Tool
Being a good hitter is not all about hitting the ball straight down. It is about being smart. A good hitter knows how to tool the block to score points. Work on seeing the block and hitting high off the hands. If the set is tight and you have to joust, make sure you push the ball last and you'll win.

4.        Strength Train
If you want to hit the ball harder, lift weights. Not only will it help develop your jumping, abdominal, back and shoulder muscles which translate directly to being a better hitter, but it will help you to strengthen your bones and to avoid injury. Hitting uses almost all the muscles in your body, but your shoulder is the most vulnerable to injury from hitting repeatedly.

Make sure to include the row machine and reverse fly to help stabilize your shoulder. Strengthen your core with some sit ups. Your glutes. quads, hams and calf muscles are all involved in getting you in the air. Do some leg press, some leg extensions, leg curls and calf raises. A few lunges wouldn't hurt you either.

5.        Collaborate with your setter
Communication is key. Once you analyze your form and do what you can to fix it, make sure to let your setter know what adjustments you are making. Let her know how she can help you. Do you need her to put the ball further off the net? Do you want a higher set? Do you need the ball to come faster? Work with your setter one-on-one to make sure you're clear about what works for both of you.

credits to; http://volleyball.about.com/od/learntoplay/a/5HittingTips.htm

How to Master the Volleyball Block

The volleyball block is a skill that looks simple. You just jump straight up with arms outstretched in front of the hitter, right? In reality, there is a lot more to good blocking than just throwing your hands up.

Becoming a good blocker requires an understanding of simple physics. The hitter is going to hit the ball as hard as possible at or near your forearms and hands. If you touch the ball, will it end up back in your opponent’s court or will she be able to “tool” you, that is, hit the ball off of your hands or arms so that it is unrecoverable by your team?

Your job is to position yourself so that you block it back onto the hitter’s side or take the heat off the attack creating an easy play for your team.

credits to; http://volleyball.about.com/od/learntoplay/a/Blocking.htm

Volleyball

                                                           I LOVE TO PLAY

Volleyball is an Olympic team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.

The complete rules are extensive. But simply, play proceeds as follows: A player on one of the teams begins a 'rally' by serving the ball (tossing or releasing it and then hitting it with a hand or arm), from behind the back boundary line of the court, over the net, and into the receiving team's court. The receiving team must not let the ball be grounded within their court. They may touch the ball as many as three times. Typically, the first two touches are to set up for an attack, an attempt to direct the ball back over the net in such a way that the serving team is unable to prevent it from being grounded in their court.

The rally continues, with each team allowed as many as three consecutive touches, until either (1): a team makes a kill, grounding the ball on the opponent's court and winning the rally; or (2): a team commits a fault and loses the rally. The team that wins the rally is awarded a point, and serves the ball to start the next rally. A few of the most common faults include:

• causing the ball to touch the ground outside the opponents' court or without first passing over the net;
• catching and throwing the ball;
• double hit: two consecutive contacts with the ball made by the same player;
• four consecutive contacts with the ball made by the same team.
• net foul: touching the net during play.

The ball is usually played with the hands or arms, but players can legally strike or push (short contact) the ball with any part of the body.

A number of consistent techniques have evolved in volleyball, including spiking and blocking (because these plays are made above the top of the net the vertical jump is an athletic skill emphasized in the sport) as well as passing, setting, and specialized player positions and offensive and defensive structures.

credit to; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Volleyball_block.jpg