Philosophy, Communication, and Footwork

 

Overview All the individual techniques and strategies described in this site have one overall, unifying theme. To make that theme clear requires some math:

A typical volleyball game lasts about 25 minutes. If each team contacts the ball 150 times and if each contact lasts an average of .10 seconds, then during those 25 minutes the ball is actually contacting someone for a total of 30 seconds (150 contacts x .10 seconds each x 2 teams). That means your team has only about 15 seconds of "contact time." While the winning team will almost surely have more "contact time" than the losing team, the additional time is usually negligible -- probably less than one second -- which means the key difference between winning and losing is how well a team uses its 15 seconds to control the ball.

The question now becomes, "How does a team make the most of its 15 seconds?" The answer is, "What matters most is not what a team does during its 15 seconds of contact time, but what they do during the rest of those 25 minutes." To control the ball effectively, members of a given team must spend those precious 24 minutes and 45 seconds doing two things: 1) communicating with their teammates about everything that's happening on the court; and 2) getting their bodies in position to make the most of each contact. In other words, ball control -- which is the key to successful volleyball -- arises from two learned behaviors, communication and movement. Keep this in mind every time you step on the court to practice or play . . . you will be a much better player and your team will win more often than it loses.


On-Court Communication

A group of six to eight people who know each other (and are thus less likely to be self-conscious) can learn the basics of effective communication in less than one hour. To practice this, play three-on-three or four-on-four and have everyone describe what is about to happen throughout the entire rally:

Keep in mind that you and your teammates should also be describing what the opponent is about to do:
And assuming that your offensive positions are different from your defensive positions, you should be describing these movements as well: "Blockers at the net"; "Hitters get back"; and so forth. All this yammering will seem like bedlam at first, but you and your teammates will gradually figure out what sort of talk is superfluous (not very much of it) and what sort of talk is helpful (most of it).

Improved communication will do two things for your team. First, it will cut down on unforced errors that result from a lack of talk, which is all too common at every level. Second, describing what is about to happen enhances your anticipatory skills -- that is, you're less likely to be one of those players to whom everything is a complete and utter surprise -- which will help you make the most of your 15 seconds of "contact time."


Movement

The other key factor in making the most of your "contact time" is movement. Most of you have probably seen those lists in popular magazines that tell you how many calories various sports burn during a given amount of time. Most of them place volleyball somewhere between bowling and golf, at around 250 calories per hour. This is almost certainly true for family reunion volleyball, where there are twelve people standing perfectly still on each side of net, each of whom gets to bat the ball once every two or three minutes. But it's not true for real volleyball.

In real volleyball, everyone should be moving all the time. Passers move to the serve; setters move to the pass; hitters prepare to hit; everyone covers the hitter; blockers follow the set; backrow defenders move to their assignments; etc. If a rally lasts for more than four or five changes of possession -- that is, if the ball crosses the net more than four or five times -- and you're not winded at the end of the rally, then you're not moving nearly enough. More pointedly, you're not consistently putting your body in a position to make the most of each contact.

"Step, hop"
What's nice about volleyball is that while you must be moving all the time, you rarely have to move more than 15' (unless you're a setter). What's even nicer is that you usually know in advance what you'll have to do when you get there. But because skills are performed best when you're stationary and balanced, and because you have a very limited amount of time (often less than a second) to move the distance required, your court movements must be quick and choreographed.

Rather satisfyingly, there is one basic footwork pattern that will accomplish this for you, regardless of the skill you are about to perform. It's called a "step, hop" if you're moving less than 10', or "step, crossover" if you're moving more than 10'. If you need to move forward and to your right, for instance, take a step with your right foot, then hop (or crossover if the distance requires it) so that you plant both feet almost simultaneously and prepare to perform whatever skill is necessary. If you need to move to your left, take a step with your left foot, then hop (or crossover) so that you plant both feet almost simultaneously and perform the skill. If you need to move backward and to your right, take a step with your right foot while turning your hips and shoulders slightly, then hop (or crossover) so that you plant both feet almost simultaneously.

This "step, hop" (or "step, crossover") pattern is second nature to good volleyball players, because it allows them to cover a lot of ground very quickly while enabling them to stop instantly in a very balanced position. They use it when they pass serves; they use it when they block; they use it when moving from their first backrow defensive assignment (defending the quick set) to their second defensive assignment (defending an outside set); setters use it to react to mediocre passes; frontrow players use it to move from their defensive positions at the net to their offensive positions behind the attack line; hitters use it in the final portions of their approaches. In short, this footwork pattern is the key to performing all your skills better, because it gets you into position to make the most of every ball contact.