My coach just made me captain of my volleyball team but I can't make my serve go over!?

Question

I have a really good spike so it's not strength and my coach has tried everything! I just can't make it go over. I have to serve flat handed, I can't serve with a fist. Help!

Answer 1

are your right handed or left handed.

and do you serve right handed or left handed and do you do jump serves?

Answer 2

I suspect coach has more confidence in your potential than you do.

A good coach knows that spirit and the willingness to keep trying is more important to the team than a serve.

Answer 3

you just have to get the timing down.

trust me, it took me a long time too!

and one day, it will just come to you!

try not to hit it straight over the net at first, try to point/aim yourself up to the ceiling.

also, make sure that your toss is the right height, this is one of the hardest and most important things in volleyball.

the toss can't be too low, but it also can't be too high, so you have to experiment and see what works for you!

and when you are serving, you want to toss, step, and throw at about the same time, but not exactly.

when you serve just say "toss, step, throw" and do each part when you say it. thats what helped me learn!

good luck, and congrats on being captain!

Answer 4

One of my stronger points in volleyball, actually is serving (I can't spike for my life at the moment). It's all about velocity - definition: the speed and the direction of an object's motion. Hopefully you at least know of it from math and/or science class. You want the ball to go to a certain point, but in order to do that, you need to position the ball appropriately and give enough power from your arm to get the ball over the net. Think of the ball's direction as a slope while you serve - you want to have a medium slope that doesn't cross an unwanted path. Mind the force you exert because too much could have your ball going through the roof (I'm assuming this is indoors) or crawling under the net. I hope your not one of those people that throw the ball while serving under-hand because that will throw you off completely.

Have your dominant side tilt back, so you're in a diagonal. Your feet should be apart the dominant foot back (like if you're right handed, then the right would be your dominant side). Have your recessive hand hold the ball just a little lower than your waist palm up and about 1.5, 2 ft away from you. Have your other hand in a fist, and get ready to strike. Depending how far back you swing your arm back to serve, and how much pressure you apply, you will be able to serve the ball properly.

Always have your swing be not too far and apply a medium amount of pressure to safely get the ball over.

I hope this helps! Good Luck.

Answer 5

try and do a workout that consists of having the ball on your right hand,

then keep your left hand out.

throw the ball in the air and attack it with your right hand but catch it with your left hand.

it should help with your flat handed serve. and try serving while jumping

Answer 6

you probably need to toss the ball higher... i can't really tell you whats wrong unless i saw you serve, but their must be something wrong with your technique if you can spike but not serve...

i'm not sure what being captain of your team has to do with not being able to serve?

Answer 7

You got some good suggestions from some of the other people, so I'm going to throw another idea out there.  

Part of what's stopping you from having a good serve is your mental state.  It sounds like you believe there's no way you can get a serve over.  Well, you have to fix the thoughts going through your head in order to succeed.  

Start by telling yourself, "I have a terrific serve."  I know this sounds silly, but our brains have some strange tendencies, and hang on strong to negative thoughts.  When you're practicing, just tell yourself, "I have a great serve."  Make your thoughts all positive.  If you feel a negative thought creeping in, just repeat to yourself, "I have a terrific serve.  I have a strong serve.  I have a great serve."

These affirmations should be in the present tense, not the future tense.  In other words, don't think, "I'm going to have an amazing serve," because you're training yourself to keep that amazing serve in the future.  You want to bring the serve into the present.

When you're spiking, you are most likely using the torque of your entire body to make your swing work.  You have to do that while serving too.  There are tons of resources online and in books that can illustrate the proper way to execute a float serve, so search around for that.  

And in the meantime, think positive.  Your role as captain means that you have to serve as a positive, motivating force for the rest of your team, so practice those techniques.  Go to the library and check out a book on leadership.  An effective captain can really help a team succeed, while a negative captain can doom her team to failure.  

Answer 8

well first your toss has to be good so you can practice this by standing by a wall tossing it up in front of your serving hand and hitting it on the wall trapping the ball at the highest point your arm can extend

second you have to have the right aproach. You don't want to take to many steps or this will mess up your serve. Start with your right foot infront, throw the ball up and when you hit it you step forward with your left. ( just reverse this if your a lefty)

also just because your hits are good, you still may need to do light weight ( 5 or 10 lbs.), because i have good hits but my serves wern't going over and lifting light weights helped me

i hope this helps...