Volleyball overhand serve?

Question

So, for the overhand serve, should I use my palm, or my fist? Which one is the more effective to use? Thanks.

Answer 1

palm gives you more control over your serve...but if you can't serve with your palm then it's easier with your fist, you just don't have that control to place it where you want

Answer 2

You should use your entire palm it gives you more control and you can place the serve where you want to go. If you use that bottom of you palm your serve can not be hard or fast which is what you are eventually looking towards. Using you fist may seem like it is better but talk to any pro coach and they will tell you that your fist is not good unless you have developed a special serve. You can get a really hard fast serve more easily with a palm serve than a fist serve once you can serve sith your palm. But even with a special serve you will want to master the regular over hand serve first. Good luck with your serves! ;D Here is some help on a proper serve incase you want to look at it! :D

"The volleyball serve is the first form of attack. It's the first attempt you have to make a Direct point against the oposite team. You should always serve to make a point or put the oposite team in difficulty.

You will learn quickly that what you do with your feet and lower body determines how well you will perform all volleyball fundamentals. That's why alot of my advice and tips focus on the correct positioning of your feet and lower body.

Feet

In order to begin the serve we first start with your feet positioning. Right handers place your right foot behind your left foot so your Right foot is perpendicular to your Left. Your left foot should be pointed Exactly in the direction of where you want to serve.

shift in

weight from your back (Right) foot to the front (Left) foot.

Upper Body - Left Arm

Extend your Left arm straight out in front of your palm facing up. Place ball in the palm of this hand.

TOSS

The toss is one of the most important elements of the serve. Make sure the starting position for your Left arm is straight out in front of you - not down by your waist. With a straight Left arm Toss the ball no more than 2 feet in the air.

For practice, while learning, let the ball fall to the ground. A correctly tossed ball will land about 10-12 inches - Every Time.

Your toss should be the same EVERY TIME. Two feet up in the air and 10 inches in front of your LEFT foot. If you Toss to the left or right of your front foot

1. you will be forced off balance.

2. you will be forced to chase your toss - which will force you Not to serve in the direction you want to. Believe it or not the TOSS is where many serving errors start.

RIGHT ARM

Right arm is fully extended with fingertips and palm facing downward lightly covering the top of the ball. After the toss - you step forward shifting your body weight from back foot to front foot to

meet the ball. At this moment you begin your arm swing.

Start your RIGHT arm swing by pulling your arm straight back - palm facing outward - keep elbow high your elbow should pass Over the level of your ear - in slow motion you should be able to turn your

head"

from the website listed below

Answer 3

If you're concerned about short-term results, fist is the way to go.

If you love vball and you want to learn how to play the sport the right way, use your open palm. TIP: The best place to contact the ball is around where the knuckle of your middle finger is. Also don't forget to keep your elbow above your shoulder when serving.

Answer 4

When I do an over-hand serve in volleyball, i use the bottom of the palm in my hand, and i push upwards and it works for me really well!! I find with a fist, if it hits a certain finger it will go squish, and sometimes doesn't get over the net.  Hope this helped :)  !!

Answer 5

Hi

I recommend you use your palm and not your fist. You won't have much control of the ball using the fist - just think about it... the fist has a lot of angles... a lot of angles means the ball can go in many directions after you hit it.....

Overarm serving is more tiring and it takes a little more effort to use your palm but it is definitely worth it. Just watch how the "professionals" do it.

Its normal to use the full palm, throw the ball high and make sure you follow through with your arm (and body weight) after you hit the ball (it'll go further). A good way to start is to practice serving overhand to someone or against a wall (so you don't have to run after the ball after every serve). Strike the ball softly at first to get used to how it feels and then as you get more confident, hit it harder and the ball will go further. Then you can try to hit it over the net.

Be patient... it takes practice (which is why people usually start with underhand serves I suppose!!).... When you get used to it, you'll find you can control where you send the ball better - ideally into gaps in the oppositions defence!!

Good luck :-)

Answer 6

palm but make sure it's firm and don't do it with ur fingers and I think serving with ur fist is illegal

Answer 7

It isa most effictive to use your whloe palm when overhand serving. This way when you get better at serving you can mix up your serves, like a floater or top spin, both of which need an open hand to do.

Answer 8

well if u serve with a fist u can make the volleyball go farther and it will be a more powerful serve but u cant really control it that well but with your palm u can control where the ball goes better. i hope i helped. Good Luck!

Answer 9

Always serve with the palm of your hand. Use basically all of it, but not your fingers. You get way more control this way rather than using a fist. have fun!

Answer 10

You aren't allowed to use your fist when you do an overhand serve! So you use your palm!

Answer 11

If you use your fist, you will have a lot less control, but a little bit power. Most coaches, however, frown on using a fist. It is ok for a beginner, but it isn't wise to get used to using your fist.

When using your palm, you want to get as much of your hand of the ball, including your fingers, because it allows you to get a lot of control and a little bit more power.

Answer 12

your fist is better. make sure you know how to hit it in the right direction.

Answer 13

i think you should use your palm because that has  more control but if you don't know how to do that use your fist its easier to get power

Answer 14

well in middle school i used to fist the ball to serve since i wasn'tt strong enough to just hit it with my palm...yet my coach got mad so i started hitting it with my palm... the bottom part...i found out that it is so much easier to control and it could still be powerful as a fist serve

Answer 15

My advice: use your palm: if you use your fist, you don't have control.

You should also use your whole palm, but not your fingers. After a while, it should be an instict.  

Answer 16

Palm. Although, it isn't actually your palm. Stretch open your hand to the point where your whole hand and fingers is flexed then hit the ball with the inside of your hand where it feels like your middle finger knuckle is. You kind of smack it real quickly at that spot on your hand, don't swing all the way through the ball.

With a fist, you can't control your serve quite as well. With an open hand, you can also serve a nice float serve. Plus, the other team can't read what you're going to serve with an open hand because the only thing that really changes is your toss and the speed at which you hit the ball. Whereas with a fist, it's very obvious where and how hard you are trying to serve.

Also, the older you get, the more vital it is going to be to serve with an open hand. Colleges won't even consider having someone on their team that can only serve with a fist because it looks so juvenile. When you learn how to jump serve, a fist will be too much power to keep the ball in.

Answer 17

Definitely use your palm -- but more importantly, use your whole body.  One of the answers above talks about footwork.  Taking a step and using the power generated by rotating your hip will help you get the ball over the net.

Be sure you are contacting the ball slightly in front of your head.  This is the point in your swing when you've generated the most power.  

When I was coaching young girls, I tried to get them out of the fist habit right away.  You have a lot less control over your serve if you use a closed fist.  As your serving improves, you'll find that an open hand gives you a lot more control.  

Answer 18

Definitely use your palm. It results in a better serve than a fist, you might want to get used to that cause if your use your fist and your try out for a high school team they wont let you on the team. So you might want to use your palm if your are going to try out for any teams. (Use your whole palm) it doesn't really matter as long as your using your palm. good luck!