Is having a great volleyball serve more about technique or power?

Question

I know the popular answer will be technique but I know 2 people (a girl and a guy) who are unable to get the ball over the net on an overhand serve.

Answer 1

I have played volleyball for more than 5 years. It can be both depending on the form and way you hit the ball. When i was in 7th grade, i was the master of underhand serving. Every time i served, i would finish the game. There was a game when i started the game serving and ended it. Serving depends on where you serve it to. My favorite spot to serve is in the middle. This makes it difficult for the blocker(the person on the front line) to reach for it, but tries for it and leaves it for the back person.The back person isn't ready and so the ball hits the ground. Another place would be (this is the best place you can land the ball) between two player. I recomend that you serve over and under hand to surprise your opponent. I usually top spin the ball so it barely goes over, but lands perfectly in the front. Then i usually do a jump serve, following an underhand. So i say that you should practice serving by yourself and see how you can serve in different directions and power.

Answer 2

technique. but once you get that right, add more power .

Answer 3

I believe it is both technique and power, and the technique to use the power perfectly.

I know people who can serve both upper and lower hand very well. Even for those who does not excel in their upper hand, perhaps they can practice, train hard and ace for the lower hand serve.

No matter it is upper hand or lower hand, I think, so long your serve score a point, it's great! =)

Answer 4

with technique, power will come

Answer 5

Since the game has changed so much throughout the years.  I think a well placed and consistent serve is the key.  It definately helps to have power when serving.  Jump serving is a powerful serve but is sometimes easier to pass than a well placed floater.  The float serve does not require power like a top spin or jump serve.

Answer 6

In middle school, a dependable underhanded serve is an asset to any team. However, in high school and beyond, a player really must have a solid overhand serve to compete.

My overhand serve is not necessarily hit at top speed, but I can place it anywhere on the court, drop it in a hole, hit a player in the chest with it, or put spin (top or back) on the ball which throws off most defensive passes.

Answer 7

i play volleyball now and have played.. the answer is both but most importantly if you cant jump serve powerfully when you over hand serve YOU GOT TO HAVE A GOOD toss...if your toss is bad your serve will be bad. i learned the hard way and you want power.

Answer 8

both, the perfect serve in volleyball would be a hard jump serve that sinks down and nails the line in the back corner.

Answer 9

It is "more" about technique.

The first goal in learning how to serve is to put enough "power" together to send the ball over the net.

The second goal is to make sure your serve can hit a certain spot at will.

The third goal is to trick the opponent receiver, with mixed power-serve and floater/sinkers (whether you do jump serve or not)... again at will... and your stance, your swing should appear to be the same all the time.

To achieve the third goal, you will have to workout to get enough power, and reach that tech level by practicing all kinds of serves to hit all kinds of spots... on daily or weekly basis... guess that is when you can talk about "great serve".

Power itself can get you five ace's in a row if you are lucky, but won't let you "fool around" for too long. Technique could get you anywhere, even if you have limited power.

One of my college coaches could serve 30 **underhanded** floaters without having one returned. He was beating us 15-0 in two sets in a 1-on-6 exhibition game.

Answer 10

In all honesty power will give you a lot but it's useless without technique.  If they can't get the ball over, they just need more practice, there's something wrong with their form or something.  A lot of times serves don't have to be hard to be effective.  A well placed floater is oftentimes liable to get as many aces as a drilling jump serve.  Of course, you need a certain amount of power in the serve if you're playing pretty competitively.  Just lollipopping it over will certainly result in it being slammed in your face if you're playing semi-competitively.

Answer 11

both i think it is more power ...pushups help though.   also make sure u/they r not crossing there arm over their body when they hit

Answer 12

Most definitely techinique...when i was in HS some of the smallest girls with little power had amazing serves.  Its about hitting it at the right angle in order to make the ball drop or curve....serving is about placement and beign able to pick on the wekest passer.

Power only comes into play with jump serves...and if you're gunning for ACES

Answer 13

Then they need to observe the wink link on the other team and serve to the, under handed...  To be a good powerful and technical server, you have to practice, practice, practice....  Good luck  Grant M in Pennsylvania

Answer 14

its technique because you have to know how to hit the ball and where not just try and smack it towards the otehr side.

Answer 15

You will never be able to serve consistently WITH power if you do not have good technique. Furthermore, just because a serve comes in hard, doesn't mean that it is not easy to return.

Truthfully if you are not clearing your serves over and in bounds at LEAST 80% of the time; you should not be using that particular serve. For example if you only clear your overhand serves 50% of the time, it should not be used in a game situation yet.

Don't obsess over power either. Worry about being accurate. Be able to spread the ball around the court to find the weaker passers. Learn to use a float serve, which is just as effective as power servs are.

Answer 16

If they can't overhand it over, they may want to switch to underhand until they are strong enough to get it over.  Make sure they take a step toward the net when serving.  Power is nice on a serve, but a good defense can return it.  Technique is great but if it's too soft, it's also an easy return.  I think consistency and accuracy are the most important part of the serve.  I try to find the weakest link on the other side and run up the score.

Answer 17

Both. you do not need an extreme amount of power but obviously you are going to some power for it to go over. they way you use and distribute your power is all in the technique though technique is very important. so it is technically your technique but using and distributing power (which is in technique) is very very important also