I REALLY need help with volleyball rotations... I AM CONFUSED!?

Question

Hey, I have played v-ball for a while now... but NEVER with specialized positions. I am an outside-hitter, but the coach treats me like a librero. He always tells me to rotate-out with other players right when I get to the front, this happens every play. I am really confused and I don't even know if a librero and an outside hitter are two different positions! Remember, I just started playing club volleyball. I am really short, but even if that is the problem I still have a few other questions for you.

You can refer to all the info that is above. He tells me to start as an outside hitter @ right-back. I get when he says to go into defense position when the ball is on the other side, and when we hit free balls and everything like that, but I just don't get that sometimes he tells us to rotate and I rotate over, but then he tells me to stay where I am and somtimes he tells me to go like two or three positions ahead... WHY? Help PLEASE!

Answer 1

well it really depends on what sort of positioning your team is doing.

if you are in the back row, and he takes you out before you get to the front row, then you most likely arent an outside hitter, because hitters only hit when they are in the front row.

he may just have you playing only back because you are short, pr maybe you are better at playing back row than the front row.  my first year of club i only played the front row, because i was very good in the back row. haha. short people are better playing in the back row because they are closer to the floor, and can dig deeper, and you want taller people in the front so they can block the other team's hits, and jump up nice and high so you can hit the ball.

you shoudl just ask your coach to clarify, i remember i was very frustrated and COMFUSED with the positioning and plays my first year on club, but i just asked my coach to explain it to me, and after she explained everything, i got it like that. asking your coach would be the best solution, since i do not know what type of play you are doing, it is hard for me to explain to you what is happening.

hope i helped! :)

Answer 2

First of all, congratulations on getting into a club team. Hopefully you will enjoy "more pain and more success" with the team.

It sounds like your coach knows more than most other coaches do, and he wants to test your experience by asking you to do all those assuming you have learned all switches and rotations before. My suggestion is that you sincerely approach the coach and try to get all those details clarified, and those why's answered. I will try to shed some lights here, but maybe far from enough.

Since you have played for a while, I believe you have been switched when you were playing front row, letting your setter go to the middle no matter where his/her starts. In advanced systems, each player needs to specialize in a certain zone, so that you would also get switched in back row. Let's say he wants you to play defense in zone 5 (rear left), then you would have to switch to zone 5 if you start at zone 1 or zone 6 ***when you are not passing***, but you "stay" when in zone 5. I would not put a rookie in middle back, but I could put you in zone 1 taking tips if you are quick.

As you stated that you are "really short", I believe that your coach is playing you as a DS or libero on day one, and you would never get to play a position in the front row in this club team... I wish I could be wrong, but I just wanted to put it there to give you a realistic expectation (sorry if that hurts your feeling, but I think you have realized his intention by now). Your coach is asking you to start opposite to the outside hitter, and you will be subbed out by a taller outside hitter when you rotate to the front row.

In this game, most credit goes to the hitter with most kills, and setters who can set the ball from any spot on the court and block. DS and libero are respected by teammates when you can dig up hits and run for saves, but could also take most blames (the worst case, but doesn't seem to be happening in your team). You name could be on the paper when you "lead the team with ### digs".

It seems to me that your coach has a better system and some seasoned players. You never mentioned that your teammates said anything about your rotation or switch, which means you are on a pretty good team. So stick to the system, try to learn as much as possible, and don't say quit unless you really mean it.

Answer 3

You really need to ask your coach.  Maybe he could draw out the rotations for you on paper so you can study them.  That always helps me.  It sounds like he may be using you as a libero, which is a backrow, defensive specialist or he may just be using you as a backrow player for that particular rotational position because the person he uses as outside hitter is not as strong a passer as you are.  Most likely your coach plays a 6-2 or 5-1 offense which means the setter comes out of the back row, so some of the shifting he has you do could be to cover for her on serve receive because he doesn't want her to take the first contact.  He also may need to hide a weaker passer, so he shifts you around.  There are some simple overlapping rules at play here.  You can be anywhere on the court, basically when you line up for serve as long as you are not to the left of the person in your row that is on your left nor to the right of the person in your row that is supposed to be to your right and you have to be behind you corresponding front row player (assuming you are in back row). This is somewhat hard to explain in words, but if you don't feel comfortable with your coach, ask a teamate that "gets it" to explain by showing you on the court or drawing it out.  Hoping this helps a little.

Answer 4

you arent playing libero. you are still playing outside hitter, but you're subbing in back row for an outside hitter. or you could say the other outside hitter is subbing in front row for you. a libero doesnt sub. they just run on the court. and wear a different color jersey. if you were playing libero your coach wouldnt tell you to start as an outside hitter because liberos arent aloud to jump and cross the plane of the net. or serve. or set a front row player. but whatever. i dont completely understand your other questions but im guessing you're talking about on serve receive when when coach moves you to a different postion (up or back 2 or 3 positions) to pass the ball? this is legal. the rotational rules for volleyball are that you have to stay to the right of the player to your left, to the left of the player to your right and behind all front row players. but even with those rules, you can move as close as you want to them without actually crossing them. you can also cross right and left of the front row players as long as you dont go in front of them. its really hard to explain without being on the court with you. i know i was confused when it was first explained to me. i didnt understand for quite a while but i just did what the coach said. ive been playing for 5 years now, club vball fro 4, and after a year or so it just becomes second nature. you literally become so used to it that you dont even have to think about it. hang in there. it seems insanely confusing now i know but it will come. good luck!

if you have any more questions or want me to clarify something just edit your question and ask it and ill answer. or you can email me.

Answer 5

you're probably just playing DS/outside back row, just rotate like backrow outside would

just ask your coach where you're suppsoe to be in every rotation