How can i make my volleyball serves better? Tryouts are coming up and im scared my serve won't make it over.

Question

How can i make my volleyball serves better? Tryouts are coming up and im scared my serve won't make it over.

Answer 1

one trick is to point the needle of the ball away from you towards the net. That way when you serve you pop the ball and it makes you have a better serve. It worked for me.

Answer 2

Hard to say since I haven't seen you actually serve.  One key is to work on the consistency of your toss and the overall form, and then just practice.  It's hard when you don't have a net, but at the very least you can work on your form.  Make sure that you are continually stepping through your serves, and you do it for all of them.  Toss I think at this point is the most important thing.

Answer 3

Assuming you mean overhand serves, please read over these tips.

- a good serve starts with a good toss. The idea toss is not too high, not is it too low. It is just the right height for you, the player, to be able to hit it over.

- power comes from the legs. On the toss up, lean back just a smudge. When you go to hit the ball, lean forward a bit. This channels all your power into your arms. I'll explain - when you lean back you are storing energy and when you lean forward to hit the ball all your energy is being released.

- the best area to hit the ball is on your palm, right before the hand meets the wrist. It's the most durable and hardest part of your hand. It will cause more force in getting the ball over.

I hope you have a great season and get your serves over!

Answer 4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msaRT1fI6...

this is how i serve:

1: if your right handed, you right foot should be in front of your left, and your feet should be shoulder width apart.

2: i'm assuming your right handed. put the ball in your left hand and  put your right hand above your head  it above your right hand. the toss should be above your right hand.

3: when you contact the the ball, it should be as high as you can reach.

Answer 5

Some people might not notice this but balance plays a big part in serving. While power is also a big part if you can control that power it's useless.

- When serving with the hand you hit the ball with ( let's say the right hand) you will probably notice your right foot lift up a bit. This is bad and does not balance out your body when you serve. For a proper serve you should be dragging your right foot and ending it on the point of that foot. This will balance out your serve and help control it.

- The toss is also crucial. when your serving. In middle school volleyball regulation rule is that you get 1 out of 2 try-outs to back out on a serve. As in if you don't like the 1st toss you can let it go without touching the ball and try again. In HS you are limited to one toss.

The ball should always be in front of you. Automatically if the ball ends up behind your head and you have to reach backwards for it I doubt your gonna get the serve or it will just be a really bad serve lol.

Keep the ball in front of you and focus your face with the ball as it comes down. This focus's your hand to the serve lowering your chance's of spinning the ball and missing the serve.

- Where you position your hand also contributes to how your ball ends up. The ball should be hitting the palm of your hand to get in a effective serve. Ending up on the wrist or lower part of the palm will cause the ball to spin out of control and not come even close to the net. Hitting the ball by the tips of your fingers wont create enough power for the ball to go over the net. So aim for the middle of your hand and hit.

- Spot serving will come more naturally as you get used to serving and it's again all about where you face your arm. The only new thing you would have to learn is serving short. Instead of a full arm swing while serving deep to serve short most people just high-five the ball. Where instead of swing through you stop short controlling the amount of power your putting on the ball. Most of the time you'll hear a little "slap" sound when your hand hits the ball just like you would hear while high-fiving someone

- Jump serving and floater's.. blah. I wont explain how to do them but I'll just explain the advantages of using these techniques. Jump serves are pretty self explanatory meaning you jump into a serve. This is more like a back row attacking just while serving. Add's more power to the ball and slams it down more effectively than a regular serve making it harder to pass to the setter on the opposite team. I like to start waay out by the left or right corner line and sorta swing in side-ways while jumping to get more of an angle on the ball, my coach doesn't like it but it works =| .A Floater catches more air time which is something you usually don't want because it makes it easier to pass but in some cases if you catch a "floater" all this scientific stuff happens wind resistance etc. and basically creates the ball to move in the air making it fairly hard to pass correctly because it's not coming over in a straight line but more like bobbing to left to right.

Just don't get bummed out when serving since its probably the most distressful part of a game since if you lose one shot at serving you lose a point plus your first offensive hit in the game. Keep your mind clear and think ahead.

* PS. Always remembering to make sure you don't foot fault too lol you get a whole lot of room in the back line, use it to you advantage.

Answer 6

Well, you should practice the little things first. Like your toss. Just take a ball and toss it up right in front of you and it should land in front of your toe. Keep it as low as possible to leave you little room for error. Don't pull your swinging arm back too far also... Again, leaves less room for error. Hit the ball with the heel of your hand. think quick and accurate while your serving. It wll help.

If you're afraid that your serve wont make the net, then try to work on your serve and make it go further.

Keep the ball out in front of you and higher than the hitting hand.

Pretend you are a waiter/waitress holding a tray in your hitting hand.

Hitting hand flat, ball out front, take step forward, then making contact with the ball. Make sure you swing forward and not across your body. Later you will be able to direct your serve to a weak spot on the court.

This movement is similar to a baseball picture making his delivery.

This should work after a little practice, and won't require you to bulk up in the weight room.

Good Luck!