Someone smart please answer this and my other question- Jumpserving?

Question

When I played club, many of the better players could do a jump serve that had both topspin, and sidespin so that it would curve down diagonally. I have watched the professionals play too, and I haven't seen them use that serve, so here is my question... Is the diagonal spinning jump serve practical for competitive play or not.

Answer 1

depends on how confortable you are with your own jump serve.  stationary serves would be just as practical in a competitive setting-it all comes down to how accurate you are with either serve.  if you can hit spots easier with the stationary, it's your best bet.

Answer 2

In college a jump serve with topspin and such is just not as effective.  Usually in college, aces are hard to come across, the focus is taken off of the serve and onto hitting and passing.

Answer 3

In pro ball they are jump sering so hard that the side top spin is not needed and effects how it comes off your hand.

Some people put different spins on the ball when they toss it but the side spin mostly comes from the contact spot.

The jump serve is very effective if done well.  a little top/side spin can be effective because it can fad away from a passer and is harder to get behind.  If you have a good hard top spin jump serve and can be accurate with it then it effective.  If it goes to the same spot they can be very easy to pass.  

So it depends on how good the serve is.  If its a soft top spin jump serve then don't bother they are cake to pass.  If you got something behind it then they can make for a lot of free balls, aces and points.

Answer 4

In most competitive vb the players have played for awhile and the best passers take most serve receive,  these players love any serve with a top or side spin. It has a definite path and can be tracked easily, from either a jumpserve or stationary.  The hardest serve to pass is the floater, that is when you contact the ball with a flat hand that has your fingers pointed straight up so your hand hits the ball when yhour hand is totally flat(straight up and down) and you push through the ball with no snap.  You can tell if you did it right because the ball will have no rotation or very little, and as it goes you will see it move side to side and up and down a few inches to a few feet(this is what makes it hard to pass)  You can do it as a jump serve or stationary, and you can hit hard or you can hit it soft.  I learned the jump-floater from Eric Sato, he was a specialist on the olympic team and used mostly jump-topspin.  In the gold medal game he pulled the jump-floater out to throw the other team off when he served 2 jump-topspins in a row, it was good enough to get an ace to win the gold, and he said that was what he served primarily after that.  So, yes a jump serve is effective IF you can place it, change how fast or soft, and change if it is a floater or top-spin.  One last thing is the floater is best against the wind (outdoors), and indoors it may seem trivial, but see which way the ventilation pushes the air, toss a light string or feather, and choose to serve against the airflow(into the wind) it means the difference between the ball moving a few inches or a few feet. Against bad passers topspin is very effective and consistent, use it until they stop it.  Against good passers change you serve almost every time(top or float, location, speed on the ball) this gives your best chances at an ace and always see how they adjust if you served to soft serves and they move up, crank on it send it deep, don't let them get comfortable.  The biggest key is to have a consistent toss.

Answer 5

Of course it's practical for competitive play! Free points or even points where you can seriously scatter an opponent's formation are great for competitive play.

Answer 6

I play club volleyball and jump serve some times but my coach prefers I just serve overhand because she wants us to pass,set, and hit. But it's all up to you.