What are some good ways to improve my volleyball game?

Question

I need some ways that I can practice by myself to get better. I have tryouts in about a month. I am an outside hitter in highschool and the main things that i need to work on is jumping (mainly), spiking hard over the net, and i could use work on getting my bumps to the setter also. I need some realistic answers and all the advice will be much appreciated! Thanks!

Answer 1

Well For your spikes, wait till the ball is on its way down (if its a good set) And then With your feet think BIG SMALL SMALL JUMP Or Left right left Jump It will really help your timing, Also if you have a fast run up you will get more of a explosive hit because you will get more of a jump... For your Digs (or Bumps or whatever you americans call it) Just practice digging the ball into a wall or with your friends doing pepper... it should improve your hand eye.

Answer 2

practice practice practice

Answer 3

i also play OH and though i am fortunate to have some jumping ability, i think the key to becoming better starts far before this.

i would start working on basic fundamentals, passing and serving being the most important ones. why? because without a pass, you can't get a hit and without a serve, you just throw away any points that you do get. learning how to set is also a very valuable skill, but since you are OH, i wouldn't worry too much about it for now.

one very good technique i learned which helped my passing a lot was to stay moving. many will tell you to stay on the balls of your feet, but i find it is more effective to do this while sort of lightly bouncing around in your position with your hands out in front of you. i normally watch the server or hitter and take a step in just before they spike or serve the ball. this helps because you will already be in motion once the ball is hit and prevent you from diving for it. also, many players tend to mis judge where the ball will land and in my experience, it is much easier to pass the ball this way. in the case that the ball is deeper than your position, you should easily be able to pass the ball with your hands. if it is over your head, chances are the ball is out of bounds. another tip that i've found to be helpful is turning your body slightly towards the setter by placing one foot slightly in front of the other and resting your weight mostly on your back foot. this helps by directing the ball to your setter without you having to turn your body too much which may affect the pass. when digging, you want to cover the area around the block. on angle hits, you generally want to start off at SHARP angle and work your way in. it is much easier to dive into the court than away from it. on line shots, you probably want to stay about 3/4ths into the court. always watch the hitter and call for tips if you see them coming or cross/line shots if you sense them as well. let your team mates know if a ball is out and be LOUD about it.

like most experience volleyball players/coaches will tell you, the key to hitting starts with your approach. your approach defines the majority of your hit and with the proper form, you will be able to take advantage of your full vertical ability. first off, your footing should go left-right-left assuming you are a righty. during your last step, you should go into a deep lunge bringing your arms with you and quickly EXPLODE into the air swinging both of your arms straight up until you reach the peak of your jump where you will then bring back your hitting arm in a "bow and arrow" type motion and quickly swing at the ball while snapping your wrist. to add maximum power, follow through with your entire body so when you land, you should be slightly turned at an angle from which you jumped.

Answer 4

every time you toutch the ball you will get better

try to do a local volleyball camp

Answer 5

You need to work on your explosiveness. This means you need to do some weigh work with your legs and abs, combine this with lots of sprints. This will help you a lot with your jumping ability. For your bump pass you need to do two things: (1) Find a big high wall and just keep on bump passing the ball against the wall; changing the distance that you're from the wall. (2) Just find somebody to serve for you as many balls as you can bump in half an hour. Repeat this as much as you can. Even when you believe you have it nailed, keep doing it so it will become a natural thing in you, and there will be no bump pass you can't handle.

Go get them...

Answer 6

umm idk i needed 2 points mabye on the court

Answer 7

For jumping, try doing calf raises and lock jumps. Also try practicing your approach a lot. In order to hit the ball harder over the net, you need a faster arm swing. This will get the ball to go faster over the net and straight down so that it's harder to defend. Getting your passes to go to the setter, you need to make sure that you make a flat platform with your arms and that you are passing the ball on the fatter part of your forearm above your wrist. You need to make sure that you use your legs equally as much as your arms in passing, otherwise the ball will just go straight up. Never bend your arms or bring them above your shoulders when you pass. Also, shrugging your shoulders in the direction that you want the pass to go is really helpful. However, your skills, in volleyball tryouts, are only 3/4 of what the coaches will use in deciding who makes the team. They will want to see that you are a good team player, so support and cheer for people constantly, be on time, show respect for the other players and coaches. Also, they will want to see how fit you are. So, make sure that you can run at least a mile or that you can sprint 1/4 of a mile. Also work on plyometrics (jumping exercises) like jumping over a small cone and strength training exercises like lunges. Hope this helps and good luck in tryouts.