Setting strategies in volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport that asks for a lot of skill and practice in order excel at the game. Anyone who wants to take up the sport professionally cannot ignore the importance of developing the required skills to play volleyball. Not only do these skills
need to be developed, they also have to be honed regularly so that the technique is ingrained in a volleyball player.
However, it does not stop only at learning the skills and techniques. Knowing how to play the game is just the first step in playing volleyball as a player must also know how to interact with other team mates. As volleyball is a team sport, a player cannot
hope to be successful if he or she ignores to facilitate or work with his or her fellow team mates. For a volleyball player to work well with other team mates, he or she needs to develop the required strategies to play the game. These strategies would differ
from player to player according to the role that he or she has in the volleyball team. For instance, a player might be a libero, hitter or a setter on a team. Consequently, the strategies to be adopted would depend on the role that he or she has.
The following quote by Misty May-Treanor explains the importance of having the right skills to play a successful game of volleyball, “It takes a lot of hard work and dedication just like any pro sport. Especially for beach volleyball you don’t have to be
tall or as fast as other sports. You just have to have the skills.”
For instance, if a player is a setter than there are some specific strategies that would help him or her to perform better in matches. However, these strategies need to be practiced in training sessions regularly so that it becomes a habit of the player
when playing an actual match.
When a player is setting a ball, the pace of the set can be controlled by the player with sufficient practice. The speed with which a setter sets the ball depends largely on the action of the wrists. If the wrists are bent more during carrying out a set,
the ball is going to bounce off with a greater speed. The speed of the set can also be increased if the legs of the player are bent as well. This will add to the bounce of the ball as it moves out of the setter’s hands. However, care should be taken that the
arms of the setter are not bent as they will cause an inconsistent motion of the ball.
A setter should aim to develop a consistent pattern for setting the ball. If the attackers on the team can predict how the ball will be set, it will be easier for them to make a hit. On the other hand, a consistent setting technique would also enable a setter
to identify his or her own mistakes and gain more confidence in setting.
Other than that, the setter must also develop a technique to read the front row players of the opposing team. If a setter can determine who the weaker player of the opposition is, then the setter can choose to set the ball towards the attacker that faces
the weak opponent in the front row.
The above mentioned strategies will go a great way in improving the setting ability of a setter.
Tags: