Volleyball jargon; Alphabetically yours from A to D
Are you one of those, who enjoy watching volleyball being played but cannot imagine what on earth the commentator says or have you just entered your name in the team and are struggling with deciphering the strange words coming
out of the mouth of your coach? If you fall into any of the above-mentioned categories, then what you need is a guide to the volleyball lingo. Even if you do not, it would not hurt to enhance your vocabulary with a bit of volleyball jargon.
Let’s deal with the As first.
Assist, as the name suggests, is a move that will assist a teammate. In it, a player will not directly pass the ball over the net towards the other side; instead, they will pass it onto a fellow player in such
a way that it is made easy for them to deliver an attacking manoeuvre over the net. An
Attack is made by players when they decide not to pass the ball onto a teammate and smash it over the net, aiming for the floor, in hopes of securing a point. An ‘Ace’ is scored when the opposing team fails to pick up a serve in response. Talking
about attack, you should know what an Attack line is. Quite simply put, the line acts as a border between the three players at the front and the three players at the back and is One-third of the way between the net and the
End line.
Moving on to the Bs now, we will first proceed to the
Back zone. This is the area of the court, which comes in between the End line and the Attack line. Another important B is a
Block Wall. Over here, the Blockers crowd the net and stretch above it to return the ball as soon as it has crossed the centre line, before it can do any damage in their court.
Sometimes, such defensive strategies can go wrong with each player thinking that the other will make a move towards the incoming ball. This often results in no movement at all. This instance of utter disbelief is dubbed as a
Campfire. Coming to the more respectable Cs, a Cut Shot is one of them. It is when a player has hit the ball at a sharp angle, making it cross the net and enter the opposing team’s court. Similarly, a
Cross Court shot is when the attacker throws the ball diagonally across the net.
Now, for some Ds and defensive moves; the very basic D is a
Dig, a term that you must have heard and read over and over again. Players make a dig when they dive or get down low to stop the ball touching the ground, trying to get enough height on it to allow teammates to play it. Alternatively, we also
have an attacking D in store for you. It is called a Dink or a
Tip. A dink is when a light touch by an attack-zone player, using tactical skill rather than strength, sends the ball softly over the net into an unguarded area of the opponents’ court.
Now, with the A-D Volley-jargon over, it might take you quite some time before you are ready to digest the left over jargon. We will not give you an entire dose of the jargon until Z in one go. For now, assimilate these and wait
for the rest.
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