Attacking the Defense
First published November, 2008You hit the ball as hard as you can – it’s a sure kill – but wait! It comes sailing back over the net and drops right in front of your teammate who wasn’t ready for the overpass. Your team loses the point and your effort was in vain. We’ve all been there and done that. We’ve had those games when we crush the ball over and over again and yet cannot seem to nail the kill. What are we doing wrong?
First of all, do not try to change your technique! If you
are able to hit the ball with strength, speed, and angled downward around a
block, you are way ahead of most youth players. It’s not always necessary to change the way we are attacking, rather it probably is where we are attacking. There are two
things we can definitely change to get kills instead of opponent digs.
#1 Body Angles.
Your hips and shoulders can create a
twisting motion, known as torque. The force of your torque can direct the ball
to different areas for better ball placement. If you find yourself only able to
hit the middle back area of the court, try adjusting your shoulders and hips to
face the opposite corner (deep angle) from where you are hitting. Smacking your
attack toward the last five feet of the court in the angle corner is almost a
guaranteed kill against many defensive formations.
However, if you think it is
impossible to hit down the line, again try changing the rotation of your
shoulders and hips to finish directly facing the line you want to hit. Hitting
the ball down the line or through the 1/6 seam can be very effective against
perimeter defenses.
#2 Hand Contact.
Where your hand contacts the ball can
change everything. You have probably been taught to hit the back center area of
the volleyball, snap your wrist over the top, and follow through to your
same-side hip. Great hitters can actually alter their contact on the ball – and
so can you.
You’re hitting from the outside position and the setter sets a high
ball about six feet inside the antenna. Our natural reaction is to run right
through the ball and hit the angle. But your opponents are expecting that. Try
giving them something else to handle: on this inside set, wrap your hand around
the right side of the ball (for righties, your thumb will be facing up; lefties
thumbs will face down) and lob this side-spinning roll shot back into the deep
line area. You don’t even have to hit it that hard: ball placement is
everything. The other tricky roll shot will be to wrap your hand around the
left side of the ball to create the opposite spin and rack up more kills.
Some of the best hitters I have played against seldom hit
the ball as hard as they could; usually they would take their approach and use
their peripheral vision to simply put the ball where my team wasn’t. The teams
that just hit hard at us all the time were much more beatable than the ones who
used tips and roll shots to expose our weaknesses and destroy our defense.
The bottom line for attacking the defense effectively is to
know where the holes are on the other team’s side. You can ask your teammates
to call out what’s open (i.e. “Line,” “Angle,” “Tip,” etc.) and you can also
take responsibility by watching where the other team moves when your own side
is attacking. Do they have a person deep in the line or the angle? Do they
cover the corners or the middle of the court better? Do they have a player to
cover the tips?
Pay close attention to the movements of the opponent and make
your plays based on what they don’t
do well. Help your other teammates know what you’ve learned and seen. Keep your
opponents on their toes and never knowing what’s coming next. Attack the
weaknesses of your opponent and come away a better hitter and a better
teammate.