Transcription
Passing a serve in volleyball is difficult, and here are six common mistakes that many players—not just beginners—make when passing the serve. You know it: the ball is coming at you in a match, and you have to pass it. You say to yourself, "Or this serve, I'm going to receive it." It's not a total bomb or a dangerous jump-serve; you are confident. But because of poor execution, you don't make the perfect pass, and your team doesn't get a point. And that's what I want to help you with. I want you to feel confident on the reception, but most importantly, I want you not to make one of these six common passing mistakes.
Wrong foot position. You can count on a long-term, quality, and accurate reception if you pass with the correct foot position. What do I mean? When you pass in zone 5, it's a big mistake to pass with your right foot in front. If you have your right foot in front, you have to turn your body on the reception to pass between zone 2 and 3, where the setter is awaiting the pass. The same is true when receiving from zone 1, where it's a big mistake to have your left foot in front. Therefore, unless it's a very high-quality serve, think about keeping your body and shoulders turned to where you want to pass. So in zone 5, keep your left foot in front when receiving, and similarly, in zone 1, keep your right foot in front when receiving the serve.
Passing with hands only and no footwork is also a common mistake made by passing players. Some players do not move their feet when receiving because they have poor technique, and when they were learning to receive, they did not focus on the movement before and during the reception. Then there are players who are lazy and don't make the movement; they believe they have good hands technique and save their movements. Also, all the players who are not so mobile suffer from this mistake. Either way, receiving without leg movement doesn't work. Yes, sometimes a serve will fly at you when you don't have to move at all, but in the vast majority of cases, you have to make some, even small, movement with your feet when you receive. So think about your leg position for the pass before the pass itself.
Bending the arms and elbows when receiving is also a common mistake that many players make when receiving serves. Again, this is not a fundamental mistake; even with this technique, some players can make decent passes. But when you look at it, it's an extra movement—unnecessary extra hand movement—that affects the quality of your serve receive. So if you want to be confident under a reception, if you want to pass like the best receivers or liberos in the world, don't bend your hands and elbows on the reception. Don't bend them either when you receive or after you touch the ball. You will see for yourself that with stretched, locked hands, your quality of perception and confidence on the serve reception will be much better than if you bend your hands.
Then there are situations when you are confident on the reception; when the server doesn't come at you too hard, you tell yourself, "I'm going to pass this serve with 100% accuracy—exactly high to the top of the net into the hands of the setter." And then we often find that trying to make the most accurate reception—millimeter-accurate reception—ends up 10 or 20 centimeters behind the net. Certainly, when you look at the best setters in the world, they have no problems with these receptions that sometimes fly half a meter behind the net, and they are able to make two-handed or one-handed sets. But for the vast majority of setters, receiving to the other side is a big problem and a risk of losing points for your team. Therefore, I recommend you rather think about the easier reception that doesn't go directly to the top of the net but pass around the ball, or 30 centimeters from the net. This will make the setter's job easier. It's still an ideal reception where the setter can set quick sets to the middle blockers. On the other hand, by making this reception a little bit in front of the net, you will be sure that even after an easy serve, after an easier reception, your team will be able to attack from all positions after a good set from the setter, and you will have a great chance to score a point.
Then I have come across the opinions of some coaches who advise their players to pass low balls to get them to the net as quickly as possible into the hands of the setter, and I think this is a mistake for at least two reasons. Imagine a setter running from zone five after a reception; he's got a five or six-meter run in front of him, he's got to turn at the net, and then set. And you give him a quick reception; you just force him into maximum speed and accuracy, and that's not ideal. The second reason is related to the opposite team's defense. When your opponent serves, he's always ready to defend; all the players are in place. You can surprise anyone with a quick, reserved reception. Therefore, in my eyes, fast passing to the net is a disadvantage and a mistake of a passing team. Instead, similar to previous advice, you should pass a higher reception—a ball in front of the top of the net.
And the mistake I see, not only with beginner players, is playing the bump with the wrists rather than the forearms. And if you play a bump with wrists, you can forget about good ball control. Touching the ball with your wrist is touching the ball on a small area, and you don't want that. Instead, the vast majority of bump receptions should be played with as large a surface as possible, and that means hands together and touching the ball on your forearms with a big platform. So I believe that you won't be doing these six common passing mistakes, and my advice will help you become a better player. I'll see you in the next video. Bye.