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Sunday, October 9, 2022
What am I thankful for...
Saturday, October 1, 2022
October sessions start this weekend!
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Wednesday, September 28, 2022
A good setter can make a weak team decent and a good team exceptional. A poor setter can do the opposite.
Analyzing the most successful teams usually has one thing in common: a quality setter. While each team will develop its own personality (some offensive-oriented, some defensive and scrappy), one common thread is obvious at any level: the setter is the glue that keeps the team’s parts together.
Regardless of the team’s system (6-2, 5-1, 4-2), the successful teams will have at least one good setter. This article will focus on five key ingredients when choosing a setter as well as the Guiding Principles that apply for each: athletic ability and touch, communication and leadership, mental toughness, game understanding and physical attributes.
Athletic Ability and Touch
The setter is the quarterback of the team. Setters will (hopefully) touch the ball more often than any other player on the team. Setters should touch the ball on EVERY play. Therefore, you want better athletes touching the most balls (Guiding Principle #1). The setter needs to be fast (speed in a straight line) and quick/agile (speed in changing direction). A fast, quick and agile setter will be able to beat the ball to the necessary spot from all areas of the court. A straight shuttle runs from the volleyball sideline to the volleyball sideline is a good test to determine an athlete’s speed.
The setter’s most important skill is the ability to get to the ball. However, a quick touch is needed once the setter gets to the ball and is ready to make contact. This can be developed through repetitions emphasizing a quick release. The setter’s mentality should be to deliver a hittable ball (Guiding Principle #2) to their hitters. Setters with a quick touch on the ball will be more consistently delivering a hittable ball to their hitters, especially when introducing and learning how to set the first tempo, or quick, sets.
Communication and Leadership
Because good, experienced setters act as court coaches and are often court captains, it is imperative that they be good communicators. Setters are often the liaison between the coach (Guiding Principle #3) and the rest of the team. Setters need to direct the team’s offence by calling the plays. Before each serve, while the ball is not in play, the setter must communicate by either verbal calls and/or hand signals what set each hitter will attack.
Good setters will command their teammates’ attention and portray a calm, relaxed and confident attitude (even if they are not feeling it). Setters need to be poised under pressure, level-headed and willing to take the blame for possible mishaps, whether or not they are at fault. That’s what a good leader does.
Mental Toughness/Competitor
Athletes who are competitors and mentally tough demand the ball in pressure situations. Good players and setters must compete in every play (Guiding Principle #4). Regardless of the score, how the team is performing, or how they themselves are performing, setters must play each point separately from every other. Each point is a game unto itself. The setter must have the mental ability to focus on each play, learn from previous successes and failures and then react and play to win each “mini-game.”
Game Understanding
A good setter will be a coach on the court (Guiding Principle #3). It is not unusual for the setter to be the court captain. Setters should be able to direct changes in serve receive patterns, deliver the ball to the hot hitter (Guiding Principle #5), take advantage of mismatches at the net (priority hitter versus weak blocker) and change the tempo of the offence.
The setter should know the possible options in each rotation for both the serve receive and the transition game. Of course, at the beginner levels, this will not happen immediately. The setter needs to be a student of the game and learn by playing, watching more experienced setters and even watching and studying videotapes of their own and others’ performances.
Physical Attributes
Ideally, setters should be tall, athletic, left-handed and possess a good vertical jump. Setters should be tall because they usually play the right side position in the front court (position 2). This means they will be blocking the opponent’s outside hitter, who is probably one of the two best hitters on their team. Setters who can stop the opponent’s attack at the net by blocking effectively are much more valuable to their team.
We’ve already mentioned that the setter must be a good athlete. The setter must be able to move quickly to beat the ball to the spot. When setters get to the ball quickly, they will be more likely to better the ball (Guiding Principle #6). To “better the ball” means that the team is in a better (more offensive) position after the ball is played than before it was played. When setters are able to “better the ball,” they will turn poor passes into hittable sets (Guiding Principle #2) and good passes into perfect sets. Setters who play with the mentality and ability to “better the ball” will elevate their team’s play.
Left-handed setters have an advantage over right-handed setters. In the transition game, setters move to the right front position (position 2) when in the front court and the right back position (position 1) when in the backcourt (in most offensive organizational systems). All else being equal, left-handed setters can attack the second contact more easily since their hitting hand (left) is off the net when facing left front (position 4). Of course, it’s possible to train right-handed setters to attack (dump or hit) the ball with their left hand, but until setters become proficient at attacking with their left hand, it may be a disadvantage to be right-handed.
Setters must possess a good vertical jump to be a force at the net. This becomes a necessity when the team plays a 5-1 system. Setters in a 5-1 must play in the front court and must be able to defend (block) at the net. In a 6-2 system, since there is another setter in the backcourt, setters who rotate into the front court can either be utilized as a hitter if they have good jumping & blocking skills or may be replaced by a better hitter/blocker.
Summary
In any recipe, there is significance to the order of ingredients. The first ingredient listed is what makes up the majority of the food product, and the last ingredient makes up the smallest part of the food product. When deciding on your setter, the decision will be easy if all of the “ingredients” are evident in the player.
Realistically, most setters – especially at the lower levels of play – will not possess all of the ingredients. In any case, the coach must decide on the most important ingredient for their setter and their team’s success.
According to this author, the ingredients for a “recipe for a setter” are listed in priority order: athletic ability, communication and leadership, mental toughness, game understanding and physical attributes.
Possessing these ingredients will help the setter deliver the Guiding Principles for setting:
- Better athletes will touch most balls
- Deliver a hittable set
- The setter is a coach on the court
- Compete on every play
- Deliver the ball to the hot hitter
- Better the ball
Good luck with creating a successful recipe for your own team!
5 Key Elements Coaches Look for in Recruiting a Libero
It's worth noting that a libero should develop good communication skills and should be able to coordinate the work of his/her teammates on the court. As a result, a libero will be able to demonstrate a great serve-receive game and make a good pass.
Recruiting a libero is typically a marathon, not a sprint. Liberos are the toughest and usually the last position to be recruited. Not only are they competing against every other libero, but also small pin hitters and setters. We asked a few of our excellent college coaches from every level, what they look for in a libero.
Energy
The most common thing we heard that college coaches are looking for when recruiting a libero. The libero is always on the court unless it is her one play she is required to sit out. She needs to be the spark plug of the team. Work ethic is contagious; if the libero is doing her job, she sparks the team on defence and motivates everybody on the court. She is always someone everyone can look to for support, leadership and bringing the team up when they are down.
Hustle
Hustling to cover the hitter and get back to base defence. Hustle to get the tip up. Hustle to chase a shanked pass. Hustle to help a teammate off the floor. Hustle, hustle, hustle all the time. Remember, work ethic is contagious.
Serve-receive-pass
Passing a three-ball so the offence can run the system with all options available is more important than a libero being great at defence. When a coach has seen a libero play lights-out defence, it always comes back to, “can she serve-receive-pass?” I’ve been asked this question more than any other, from college coaches about the libero. With the libero being back in every serve-receive play, they do not want her to be an easy target. Typically, liberos tend to be easier targets since they wear a different jersey from their teammates.
Consistency
Does the libero get her angles on her platform to manipulate the ball where it needs to go? Does she have a variety of ways to play a ball? Everybody gets out of position or caught moving in one direction when the ball is touched off the block and changes paths all of the sudden. Can she get her platform around the ball and make a good pass in that situation?
3 Reasons Why Volleyball Players Need Strength and Conditioning
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3 Reasons Why Volleyball Players Need Strength and Conditioning
A volleyball-specific strength and conditioning program can optimize a player’s performance on the court. Whether athletes are still developing or competing at the highest level, spending time in the weight room building a strong foundation can be the difference between winning and losing a game. Here are three key reasons why volleyball coaches should incorporate strength training in their program.
#1 Strength and Power
Volleyball is a sport dominated by strength and power. Players need power in their legs to get high in the air and strength in their upper body to spike, block, and dig balls. Lifting weights stimulates muscle fibres to grow, which allows athletes to produce more force at faster rates. Thus, as players get stronger, their explosive power also heightens on the court. Strengthening volleyball-specific muscles ensures that athletes are able to reach their maximum performance potential.
For example, core strength is vital for a player’s stability and allows hitters to transition power more efficiently from their lower body to their upper body and arm swing. Muscle fibres grow when directly stimulated by the stress of strength training, which makes lifting an athlete’s best tool for developing the power to jump higher and serve more forcefully.
#2 Jumping and Agility
Volleyball requires explosive jumps and rapid changes in direction. The ability to jump high is treasured amongst volleyball players because of the importance of spiking the ball as well as defending spikes from opponents. Vertical jumping is about ground force production, core stability, and quick hips. In order for players to improve vertical jumps, they must spend time in the weight room doing deadlifts, squats, and other exercises that strengthen leg and hip muscles.
Additionally, tracking and quickly changing directions to keep the ball in play is key to winning points. An effective strength and conditioning program incorporates agility drills and lateral movements to improve foot speed. Putting in the extra effort in the weight room will make players more dominant on the court.
#3 Injury Prevention and Flexibility
Not only do volleyball players need to be skilled, strong, and powerful, but they also need to be healthy. Volleyball is a high-impact sport, and with all the jumping, landing, cutting, and planting, an athlete’s body can take a beating. The muscles, tendons, and ligaments surrounding joints help protect from injury, but strenuous volleyball movements can cause these joints to temporarily weaken.
Without sufficient recovery time or muscle strength, players will experience injuries over time. Overuse injuries include patellofemoral syndrome, shoulder impingements, shin splints, and back pain. Undoubtedly, increasing strength levels will lower the risk of injury and muscle vulnerability. Stronger muscles can better absorb the shock from landings and quick direction changes.
Additionally, developing a foundation of balanced strength and flexibility allows muscles to work together to minimize joint and ligament stress. Flexibility increases the range of motion, improves technique, and enables more force to be exerted. Therefore, implementing a volleyball-specific strength and conditioning program significantly helps prevent injuries.
Recap
A volleyball-specific strength and conditioning program optimizes athletic performance and takes players to the next level. Working hard in the weight room translates to wins on the court.
About the Author
BridgeAthletic builds high-performance training tools for coaches and athletes who compete at the highest levels.
https://jvavolleyball.org/