Help a Right Side Volleyball Hitter/Blocker anyone?

Question

I'm hitting/blocking Right Side this year on my Varsity Volleyball team in high school. I really do think i'm okay even though i haven't been playing very long and i just want my coach to see my potential and maybe even start me one day but I excel more at hitting outside(left) but we have 2 OH already. So does anyone have any tips, advice for how fast to approach, where to start my approach on the court, etc just anything they could say to help me out? it would be very much appreciated.

Answer 1

Hitting right side is a little different than outside you can either start your approach on the outline or start closer to the setter and hit as if you were going to do a slide from the middle ( it helps you hit cross court better) . The thing i love about right side is that you get a lot of oppertunity to block because the setter on the other side will set up outside alot.

It will take some getting used to when you switch but you will get used to it.

I hope this helps!

Answer 2

well for ur approach.... if your right handed which i assume u r....u wanna start inside the court and go straight @ the ball....not like left side where u come if from outside the court...but if u r by chance left handed...then start outside the court like u would normally on leftside!

also start ur approach about a foot behind the 10' line...that should give u enough room!

hope i can help! just keep on practicing and work ur hardest and i'm sure that in time ur coach will definately see ur potential! have fun!

Answer 3

everybody has it pretty much summed up, but i'll just give you my two cents. take a big quick approach and exaggerate every part of your approach, big arm swings, big jump, etc. you should be facing line when your in the air, that gives you an option to go there, and if the other team catches on, you can go hard angle by swinging across your body. for blocking, do a "frog jump". "frog jumping" is where you squat as low as you can (i touch the floor with my hands) then explode upward. it adds a couple of inches to your jump. reach as far and as low over the net as you can without netting (also called sealing the block) turn your right hand into the court so that the outside has a harder time tooling you. best of luck with your season!!

Answer 4

The biggest thing coaches look for from a RH is a good blocker, so work on that, good positioning, don't float your block so the MH can close with you, and keep an eye on your hitter.  If you are right handed most coaches want a straigth approach, if you are left handed start from off the court and come in at angle.  The speed of your approach depends on what kind of set you get, if it's a quick set (low and fast) then take off as the ball gets to the setter, if it's a high set wait until the ball leaves the setters hands.  You also need to work on your setting because if the setter takes the 1st ball defensively you need to step in on the 2nd hit and set.  Hope this helps!

Answer 5

well dont take off to soon start at the line where the front row is and have someone throw you a ball and wait count to 5 when the ball hits the setters hand then do your approch and hit the ball!

Answer 6

i played left side as well but then got moved to right side for my blocking ability. depending on which set you are getting, quick set, high set, long set, short set, make sure you know your footing steps and time it perfect. start your approach at the ten foot line or out even off the court. you'd rather be farther away from the net then run into it. i always came in at more of an angle because it helped me aim better. also if your tryin to hit cross court or line shots, position your shoulders to where you want the ball to go.

Answer 7

I played Right Side in high school and college, and am right handed (assuming you are too since you play better at Outside).  Let me just first say that Right Side is just as important (if not more important) than OH. You have to put up a big block and the best hitters of the other team usually, and you should get set often and be able to take advantage of a single block (usually set up by a poor blocking Outside).

The most important thing for a Right Side (especially in high school) is to block the opposing team's Outside Hitters. Their outside hitter is your responsibility, so make sure you keep an eye on him, and communicate with other blockers if he is running anything other than a 4. I good tip to keep in mind is: "hitter, ball, hitter". This means that once the ball has been set, find the hitter and see how he is approaching, then get your eyes back on the ball to see exactly how the set will play out (just in case it's tight and you want to "go get it"), and then finally turn your eyes back on the hitter to see how he will be contacting the ball (on the ground, setting up for a tip, setting up to go line/cross). Always angle your block into the court, and try to line up your right hand with where he is contacting the ball (this way if he tries to cut the ball to the line, the angle will be too sharp and he will hit it out of bounds), unless of course your middle is late, then just take away cross court and make him prove he has the shot to go line. Again, make sure you call out to your other blockers if he is hitting something else, like a 2 ball over their middle, or a 32, 31, shoot, strauss, etc.

What I always loved about playing RS was the hitting. If you are right handed, and the pass (first contact) is on or near the net, make sure you line up right on the sideline and come in straight to the antenna. If you are tall, I would suggest trying to get a 15 foot approach (5 feet behind the 10 foot line) so that you can take big steps and generate as much power as possible for your jump. Make sure to accelerate throughout your approach, and sink lower until your final step, when you will spring off of your legs. If you are new to hitting on the Right Side, make sure you perfect your cross shot. This will come in handy often, because often middles do not expect the ball to go to the RS and will be late or not show up at all. This means you will have a single block and will just have to hit it around the other team's OH. Once you have perfected the cross shot, you can move on to the dreaded line shot (this is notoriously difficult for righties playing RS). I got really good at this  over my career and got tons of kills cranking it down the line, it feels great, especially since more experienced OHs expect a rightie RS to hit it cross, and they look silly when you hit it right by them (pun intended). The hard thing about this shot is, since the ball is essentially coming from behind you, you have to wait for the ball to cross your left shoulder before attacking it. Patience is the key: once the ball has crossed your shoulder, take a hard swing at the ball and place it 2-3 feet inside the line - gets 'em every time. Other than that, suggest to your coach to get a lot of plays run with you. As I was saying before, Outsides sometimes aren't great blockers, and you can really take advantage by running some back 1s, x's (running a 2 over a middle who is running a 1), and maybe even some quicker 5 balls (the lower they are, the easier it is to go line).

Best of luck!

Answer 8

Honestly, I coach volleyball for 8th graders, but most of my coaching mentors coach high school varsity teams. The one thing you have to remember is that you are blocking strong side hitters, you have to be quick on your feet and accurate. The Right side position is actually better than the outside hitter position. A lot of colleges when recruiting look for right side hitters because they already have their outside hitter positions filled.

You can do this, outside hitting isnt everything. You are big blocker on the other teams outside hitter, that says something right there!!!  Good luck and dont worry about your position, your coach put you there for a reason.