There are two key differences between passing and digging. First, when passing, you should be in a relatively "medium" body position. Your knees and back are bent, but not uncomfortably so. When digging, you are in a "low" body position, with your thighs nearly parallel to the floor and your shoulders well forward. Second, the targets are different. When passing, you should try to put the ball just to the right of middle front, within two or three feet of the net. When digging, you should try to put the ball in the center of the court, around the 3m line.

Passing mechanics
Prepare to move to the ball by placing your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart and having your weight on the balls of your feet. Do not get too low when preparing to serve-receive or pass freeballs, because you won't be able to move quickly enough.

After the ball is served, use the first half of its flight to position your body so the ball will land in your lap. Move quickly to the ball, preferably using a "step, hop" or a "step, crossover." Make every attempt to get your body stopped, balanced, and stable before you pass the ball. Keep your hands apart until you stop and square your body toward your target, which is just to the right of middle front.

As you get in position to pass the ball, create a "passing platform" with your forearms well before the ball arrives. To do this, keep your arms straight as you bring them together and align your thumbshafts. What you do with your hands -- one fist inside the other, one hand laying flat on the other, interlacing your fingers, etc. -- really doesn't matter so long as your thumbshafts are even and pointed toward the floor. If possible, rotate your arms outward so that the ball contacts the "soft, white underbelly" of your forearms rather than the hard, bony edge; this creates a wide, flat platform that allows you to control the ball more effectively.

Make sure to create the platform at the point-of-contact as early as possible. Many inexperienced passers create their platforms in the same location -- usually between their knees with their arms pointed straight toward the ground -- and then swing it to the appropriate angle or position the moment the ball arrives. Instead, they should do exactly what the passer in the frame-by-frame sequence does. Frames 1-3 show the passer positioning her feet so the ball will be right in her lap. By frame 5 her feet are planted, her platform is ready at the contact point, and she is in the ideal passing posture -- body stopped and still, knees bent, weight balanced, shoulders forward. The next eleven frames -- about .75 seconds, which is an eternity in "volleytime" -- are virtually identical, which is the central lesson of this sequence. Because she has done everything so correctly and so early, her brain now has nearly a full second to focus on one task and one task only: watching the ball into her arms. (Many passers wait so long to move their feet or get their platforms in position that their brains must attend to all sorts of things -- in addition to watching the ball -- during the half second before contact. These "procrastinating passers" are not very reliable.) When the ball finally arrives, as it does in frame 16, her body position and arm angle change very little. She leans slightly forward and pushes her platform gently toward the target, but her body and arm angle remain virtually unchanged during and after contact.

Unfortunately, you can't get every ball in your lap. When presented with a particularly tough ball, move your feet quickly so that you are as close as possible to the ball. Get both feet planted before the ball arrives. Because the ball is still outside your body frame, you must create your platform outside your body frame, ideally at the anticipated contact point. Make sure to angle your platform by dropping your inside shoulder. For example, if the ball is to your left, as in the picture, drop your right shoulder to "block" the ball with your forearms and angle it toward the target. If the ball is to your right, drop your left shoulder.

Summary
The secrets of good passing are simple. Be quick before you pass and be stationary as you pass -- that is, use as little body motion as possible to guide the ball to the target. All the stuff that you've heard about "shrugging your shoulders as you pass" and "using your legs" is true, but these motions are extremely subtle. Almost invariably, bad passing is the result of too much body motion -- arms swinging, one leg lifting, both legs jumping, etc. -- at the moment of contact.

Hints for good passing
1. Call the ball loud and early.
2. Move quickly to the ball to get it in your lap.
3. Make your body balanced and stable before the ball arrives.
4. Create an early, flat "platform" with your forearms by hyperextending your elbows.
5."Freeze-frame" the ball with your eyes when it is one or two feet away from your arms.
6. Keep your body stationary as you contact the ball.
7. If you're passing a ball to the side of your body, raise your outside shoulder and angle your platform toward the target.

Back to main Passing page.

Updated January 2005.