What are the fundamentals of volleyball?

Question

What are the fundamentals of volleyball?

Answer 1

best way to get the fundamentals down is to play and watch volleyball. bumping setting hitting blocking and serving are the basic key elements. don't touch the net, don't step on the line when you serve, if it touches the line its in out side the line its out. depending if its college, high school, or club the amount of sets in a match and points are different. for more information or to find a club in your area visit usavolleball.org

Answer 2

Volleyball is a team sport played by two teams on a playing court divided by a net.

      The sport originated in the United States, and is now just achieving the type of popularity in the U.S. that it has received on a global basis, where it ranks behind only soccer among participation sports.

      Today there are more than 24 million Americans who play volleyball.

      There are 800 million players worldwide who play Volleyball at least once a week.

      The object of the game is for each team to send the ball regularly over the net to ground it on the opponent's court, and to prevent the ball from being grounded on its own court. The ball is put into play by the right back-row player who serves the ball by hitting it over the net to the opponent's court. A team is allowed to hit the ball three times (in addition to the block contact) to return it to the opponent's court. A player is not allowed to hit the ball twice consecutively, except when attempting a block. The rally continues until the ball touches the ground/floor, goes "out" or a team fails to return it to the opponent's court or commits a fault.

      VOLLEYBALL SCORING SYSTEMS

          o

            RALLY POINT SCORING

            The team winning a rally scores a point (Rally Point System). When the receiving team wins a rally, it gains a point and the right to serve, and its players rotate one position clockwise.

            The best of three or best of five games will win matches. Each non-deciding game will be won by the team that first scores 25 points with a minimum two-point advantage (no scoring cap). If there is a deciding game, it will be won by the team that first scores 15 points with a minimum two-point advantage (no scoring cap).

          o

            SIDEOUT SCORING

            Only the serving team may score a point, except in the deciding game when rally-point scoring is used. When the receiving team wins a rally, it gains the right to serve (also scoring a point in the deciding game), and its players rotate one position clockwise. Rotatation ensures that players play at both the net and the back zone of the court.

            A team wins a game by scoring 15 points with a two-point advantage and wins the match by winning the best of three or five games. In the event of a 16-16 tie, the team scoring the 17th point wins a non-deciding game with only a one-point advantage. In a deciding game there is no point cap.

he motor learning literature was reviewed and the factors which affect the transfer of skill items learned at training/practice to competitive settings were identified and summarized. This summary highlights the general principles underlying skill training/practice which need to be contemplated when designing activities that have the potential to benefit competitive performances.

Training tasks need to contain the substance and methods of use of content which will occur in the competitive setting for contest performances to be predicted with any substantial degree of accuracy from practice performances. In the past, most theories have only emphasized content similarities but the most recent analyses of the field of motor learning have indicated that the use of that content is similarly important.

1. Level of Original Learning

Positive transfer can be expected to increase with the level of learning achieved in practice providing the practice and contest tasks are structurally similar. Conversely, when training tasks differ from contest tasks, the degree of dissimilarity interferes with the quality of the contest performance

Implication: The tasks of training have to be structurally similar to a contest task and very well learned for there to be positive transfer.

2. Perceived Similarity

The basis of transfer from training to competition performances is the components shared by both tasks. This concept has gone unchallenged for almost a century. The greater the proportion of components of training tasks which match those of a required competitive performance, the greater will be the positive transfer. However, this transfer is modified by an athlete's recognizing the components which are similar between both settings and actively promoting their transfer.

The greater the perceived (recognized) similarity of the training and competitive situations, the greater will be the amount of transfer. No transfer takes place when similarities are not recognized. In some cases, when dissimilarities are perceived, an athlete's application quality at practice will be degraded.

Implication:For full transfer to occur, athletes have to be aware of the elements/components practiced in skills that need to be transferred to the competitive setting. Practice activities are detrimental to competitive performances when items are perceived to have few shared components and many distinctive/irrelevant ones.

3. Task Structure

An athlete's mental representation of what is learned at practice is constrained by the structure of the practice tasks. When activities,such as drills, have important elements imbedded in quite a number of irrelevant elements, the representation of the target elements might be distorted by the noisy background elements in the practice items. Thus, transfer will be more difficult the greater is the proportion of irrelevant to relevant elements in the practice task. Task elements (isolated features of a skill needed for competition), when learned out of context (in a largely irrelevant skill) will be difficult to transfer. The quality of their execution is distorted by interference from irrelevant elements.

Implication:Athletes need to be aware of the elements of a practice item which need to be transferred to a competitive setting. However, that awareness will be increasingly distorted the greater the number of irrelevant elements amongst which they are learned. If the belief is high that similarity exists between practice and contest tasks, but the tasks are really very dissimilar, then task transfer will be depreciated because of negative transfer, that is, too many inappropriate/irrelevant elements will be transferred. Thus, despite the well-meaning intentions of a coach and athlete, irrelevant activity is likely to be harmful.

4. Similarity of Goals and Processing

Elements learned at training are more likely to be transferred to competitions when the way they are practiced is similar to the way they will be used in the contest. The compatibility of practice and contest tasks modifies the amount of beneficial transfer. It is not merely the similarity of conditions between training and competitive tasks that is important, but the similarity of the underlying cognitive processes between the two. The mental processing and control of tasks is of such importance that when it is done correctly, it will more than offset changes in the conditions of the competitive task.

Implication: Transfer of appropriate processing requires the practice of the mental content and control attempts that are likely to be used in competitions. It is not sufficient to have only the physical characteristics between the tasks similar but the mental activity accompanying those skills also has to be of like quality and content.

5. Number, Variability, and Order of Examples

Increases in the number of training variations of situations should increase the chance of acquiring the most appropriate rules for transfer to competitive settings. The variations must be within the bounds of similar physical and mental skill elements. When training is varied to accommodate this factor, it is important that the performer be successful. If training is varied from the outset, performance improvements are likely to be hindered. Thus, variability must be gradually developed, each specific situation being successfully learned before the next variation is introduced. While new variations are provided, some revision of previous situations should also be experienced so that all options and the general strategies underlying the variable skill remain strong. As specific tasks and their variants are learned to produce a generalized strategy for tasks of a specific class, transfer to novel tasks within the same class is also enhanced.

Implication:Skills and their competition-specific variations should be introduced in a stepwise manner so that a general concept of the situational variants for the skill can be developed. It is necessary that each variant be learned, not just experienced without forming any degree of mastery.

6. Contextual Interference

Contextual interference concerns the variations and sometimes contradictions which occur in the instructional process. If the learning experience includes inconsistencies in instruction, content focus, and activity construct, learning in the practice environment is slowed. However, difficult instruction can enhance retention and transfer to competitive activities once mastery is achieved. Contextual interference induces processing strategies which are appropriate for learning a class of tasks. Learning should not focus on being difficult. There are some activities which do not require flexibility in the competitive setting and so response flexibility would not be needed. When an individual initially enters a sport setting it is important for experiences to be positive and successful until a feeling of general confidence in the activity is developed. The timing of introducing contextual interference is dependent upon the stage of learning and the activity. When a core strategy for a task is developed, but not necessarily overlearned, the variety of learning trials should be increased. If a task which needs to be adaptable is overlearned and becomes too specific, the lack of adaptability will be transferred with negative consequences. Thus, when considering contextual interference the following should be considered as principles for instructional guidance.

1. Increased item similarity in original learning of a task should produce better retention and transfer when the task is the same in competition as it was in original learning. [Sports such as shot-putting, swimming, and kayaking are in this class of activity. Activities of this type were once termed closed sports.]

2. When enhanced transfer is desired over a broader range of competitive activities than those experienced in training, a combination of both increased task similarity and contextual variety should be used in original training. [Soccer, basketball, and lacrosse, volleyball are activities which require general strategies to be formed to cope with the unlimited variations of situations which arise in games. These open skills need variety in training for cognitive generalization to occur to adapt to various unique competitive task demands.]

It still remains important for athletes to experience a significant number of successful trials at practice, whether for variable or specific skills, to achieve an eventual state of overlearning. If a basic skill strategy is not formed, then appropriate adaptability will not be exhibited in competitions.

7. Feedback

Augmented feedback about the nature of the task outcome in relation to an environmental goal is often referred to as knowledge of results. Augmented feedback about the nature of a movement technique is often referred to as knowledge of performance. The immediacy, accuracy, and frequency with which training feedback is provided to an athlete enhances its usefulness for improving both learning and performance. In the early stages of skill acquisition, feedback should be provided every trial (continuous reinforcement). However, to avoid reliance on feedback once an adequate level of performance is achieved, the frequency of feedback should be reduced (fading or stretching the schedule of reinforcement). Retention and transfer are better after the frequency of feedback is reduced.

Summary of Implications

    * Take time to build skills. Rapid acquisition usually means rapid forgetting or skill loss.

    * The similarity of goals and cognitive processing between training and competitive tasks is important for facilitating transfer.

    * Training tasks should not be too easy.

    * Challenge and demand in practice will facilitate better learning (conditioned strength) and transfer. A simple criterion for an effective practice task is that it require an athlete's undivided attention and understanding.

    * For competition tasks which vary little, training should be specific and similar in conditions.

    * For competition tasks which vary considerably, or produce a wide variety of rarely repeated situations, learning conditions should feature contextual interference once the basic skill elements are established. This will slow the learning rate but will lead to better transfer. Training should include high and low contextual interference tasks.

    * Knowledgemust be the same and used in the same manner in both training and competitive tasks.

    * What is learned in training is potentially available for transfer. A large amount of irrelevant activities or skill elements is likely to cause competitive performances to be less than optimal.

    * Establishing the cognitive basis of performance, that is, understanding how and why things need to be done, will lead to better transfer from training to competitive settings.

Implications: The elements of skill that are necessary for competitive performances need to be contextually, biomechanically,and cognitively the same in training. The value of practice activities decreases the greater the departure of these three characteristics from what is required in competitions. The belief that actually irrelevant practice activities will be beneficial for athletes in competitions will be counter-productive for subsequent competitive performances. The belief that poorly developed skill elements can be executed in competitions because of mental application is also counter-productive. There is no substitute or variation for the Principle of Specificity in skill training if skill is to be an important part of a competitive performance. Some sports which employ a large number of practice drills that contain a greater proportion of irrelevant skill elements will lead to poor and incorrect skill execution in competitions because of the erroneous elements which have been practiced.

THE VERTICAL JUMP AND JUMP TRAINING

With all of the talk concerning vertical jump and plyometrics, it's no wonder so many athletes are tapping into this area of training. Can plyometrics and jump training help you? Are jump training and plyometrics dangerous? What can I expect to gain from these training methods--1 inch increase in my vertical? Or can I expect to gain 10 or 12 inches? These are some of the most common questions that are asked about plyometrics and jump training. In the following article, I will answer these questions to the best of my knowledge based on current studies and research.

Let's first talk about vertical jump. Being able to jump high involves many factors. Some of these factors you can control. When we talk about born leapers, we're talking about the percentage of fast-twitch muscle fibers in the important areas (legs) being higher than average. In most people, the difference in the percentage between slow-twitch (great for endurance athletes) and fast-twitch is relatively small. Usually the person's percentages are close to 50%-50% or 60%-40%. How much fast-twitch do you have? Well, there are tests that can be done to approximate this percentage, however, they are very costly. Chances are you already know if you have a huge difference in these percentages. If you were a really fast sprinter in junior high or you ran a 5 minute mile in junior high, you can make an educated guess.

It has been discovered that this fast-twitch/slow-twitch separation is not so simple. Research has uncovered the fact that along with these great fast-twitch and slow-twitch fibers, there are also fibers that have properties of both of the fibers. Now for the great news. These fibers are influenced in a major way by specific training. Therefore, doing training that focuses on quick movements (jumping, sprinting, etc..) enables these muscles to develop the properties of fast-twitch muscle fibers. In order to train these muscles, we must pay attention to the concept of "specificity." Specificity involves the reaction of muscles or muscle groups to training. If you train a muscle group by moving it at a high speed, then eventually that muscle group will be stronger--but only at that speed. In fact, in recent studies, the concept of specificity has been shown to be even more prevalent in all types of training. If a muscle group is trained at a certain angle, then it will only show strength improvements at that angle. The concept of specificity should be kept in mind in all levels and all types of training.

So, what does this have to do with jump training? Well, many different types of training are used and considered effective, even though some are simply not useful and even dangerous. When a technique produces results, it doesn't necessarily mean that it was that specific technique that produced those results. Sometimes, the positive training effects that occurred, came about in spite of that training technique (because of some other factor). Keep in mind that training should make sense (because of the concept of specificity), so if a technique seems "off the wall" and a friend says it worked for her, don't jump (ha ha) to conclusions.

Let's look at a few concepts we need to keep in mind when jump training:

Stretching: You might be surprised to know that it still hasn't been proven that stretching prevents injuries. The reason you should stretch is to improve your performance. A flexible muscle reacts and contracts faster, and with more force than an non-flexible one. If you did nothing but stretch all day long, you would notice an increase in your vertical jump.

Warm-up: This is a very important part of your workout. A warm muscle (higher temperature, more blood flow in the muscle tissue) will stretch more effectively and will perform more effectively than a cold one. A warm muscle reacts and contracts faster, and with more force than a cold one.

Food and Rest: This is probably the main reason athletes do not see improvements in their performance and leave them injury prone on a regular basis. It is hard for your muscles to recover from a workout if you don't sleep enough. It is hard for your muscles to perform to their potential if they don't have the correct fuel to do so. Eating a 60-25-15% Carbohydrate-Fat-Protein diet is a general guideline for an athlete's diet.

Injuries: Well, it is going to happen to you, so you should be prepared. If you pull or strain a muscle, use ice on the injured area for 48-72 hours. Then use the ice-heat method of icing the area for 20 minutes and then heating the muscle for 20 minutes without a break in between for as long as you have time. If you have a serious injury that you been dealing with for an extended period of time (ACL tear, cartilage tear in your knee, or some other related injury ) you should take extra precautions to not aggravate that injury.

Intensity: Your workout will be for nothing if you don't take an intense approach to your training. Pushing yourself further each week is what will make you stronger, faster, and jump higher.

Listen to Your Body: You will get better at this the longer you sustain a regular workout schedule. Now that I have been working out for 4 years straight with no extended breaks, I know when it's time to slow down, take it easy, or simply rest for a day. If you feel you may sustain an injury if you do your last set of the night (it happened to me recently), then don't take a chance. At first, you will struggle with such decisions, wondering if you are just tired or if you really are near that danger zone. When in doubt, rest.

Periodization: When setting up a training program, always allow for a break period after about 8 weeks. During this break period, your body will recover from the pounding it received during the 8 week training session. This break period should last about a week and exercises, and weight training during this time should consist of the same movements with less intensity (less weight in the weight room). Without this rest, your body will never reach it's potential and will probably aggravate itself into a tendency for injury.

Total Body Training: It cannot be stressed enough how important it is to do a well rounded weight training program while you continue to work on your vertical jump.

Now that we've had a brief lesson in exercise physiology, we can move into the jump training program with a little bit of knowledge. There are only two tried and true means to improve your vertical jump - weight training and jump training.

You should do your jump training at the conclusion of your match, practice, playing, whatever so that you can train to failure without interfering with your performance. Your training should consist of several sets of different types of jumps all used in volleyball. Thus, you can work on your footwork as well as your vertical. Start with block jumps with four different sets of at least 8 repetitions (use an equal number for all four). The four sets were: two-step to the right, two-step to the left, three-step to the right, three-step to the left. This can be done with or without a net (just imagine one if necessary). Concentrate on perfect technique and always use your max jump. Do not rush through the sets - you are not trying to get cardiovascular conditioning. You want your legs to wear out first, not your cardiopulmonary system.

Next, do sets of at least 12 of three different kinds of approach jumps - left side, right side, and middle (i.e. jump straight up and do not glide). One option is to make reps 6-9 be backrow approaches - thus working on broad jumping as well. Again, always use perfect form and your max jump.

The final set is the toughest. It consists of jumping straight up off of two feet using your max jump repetitively. You do this until failure. I don't mean failure as in until you die, but as in until you cannot really jump that well anymore. You can do this by standing under a basketball rim and jumping up to touch it with both hands.

General info: Use repetitions of 8 and 12 for the different sets, and as your legs get into better shape, switch over to doing more sets, ie 2 times through the blocking sets, then 2 times through the approach sets, followed by ONLY ONE set of the death march.

You should be doing this AT MOST three times a week, otherwise you will OVERTRAIN and do yourself more harm than good. Make sure that you get at least one, preferably two days rest (no jump training - playing is OK) between sessions. If you have access to sand, training in the sand will only help you marginally with your jump - the jumping is no different than indoors, but moving through the sand on blocks and approaches may help overall leg strength - but the sand will be much kinder on your joints than the pine wood.

You can optionally supplement the preceding jump training regimen by replacing one day of jump training with one day of weight training. When training legs for jumping, do the following exercises in this order - Squats, leg extensions, leg curls, leg presses, calf raises. All of the exercises should consist of a pyramid of sets which consists of: warm-up, 10-12 reps, 7-9 reps, 4-6 reps, warm-down of 10-12 reps. Each set, except the warm-up should consist of as much weight as you can handle and maintain proper form while performing the specified number of repetitions. The warm-up should be a weight such that you can perform 15 reps comfortably while maintaining perfect form. All of the sets should be conducted to failure - when you can accomplish more reps than the intervals specified, increase the weight. On the warm-down perfect form should be the primary goal.

Since the exercises consist of training until failure, an adequate spotter is essential. The proper technique on all of the exercises is essential. For squats, that consists of keeping the back very straight (not arched either way) and the head up while bending the legs to the point where flexion is just beyond 90 degrees with the feet slightly broader than shoulder width. Bending the legs beyond that increases the likelihood of immediate as well as long-term injury, as well as not being useful to jumping since you do not bend your knees beyond 90 degrees when jumping. Normal repetitions consist of slowly lowering to the proper flexion and then extending back up, NEVER locking the knees. The pace of the exercises should be slow and steady. When training for POWER (SEE CAUTION ABOVE), the speed of the negative phase is unimportant (lowering of the weight), but the positive phase should be EXPLOSIVE. You should come up with as much speed as possible - as though you were jumping - WHILE MAINTAINING PERFECT FORM. You may find that you need to slow the movement down near full extension in order to avoid leaving the ground.

For all of the other exercises, the speed guidelines are the same, but proper form differs. In leg extension, the flexion used should be that limited by the machine, but never too far beyond 90 degrees, and it is vital to avoid LOCKING the knee at full extension. Briefly pause at full extension before lowering. Always keep both feet with toes pointed and keep them approximately shoulder width apart. In leg curls, exercise the same caution against leg locking, and flex to the maximal position and hold briefly, then lower. Again, keep toes pointed and feet at shoulder width. In leg press, again only barely exceed 90 degrees of flexion and do not lock the knees. Feet should be slightly wider than shoulder width. Do NOT hold the weight at maximum flexion. In calf raises, have the feet shoulder width apart and start with the heel below the toes. Extend until the heel is at the maximal position above the toes and pause briefly before lowering until the heel is below the toes again.

General info: ALWAYS use a spotter. ALWAYS use PROPER technique. DO NOT POWER TRAIN until you have been weight training for at least 6 mos to a year on that body part. ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS, warm up with at least five minutes of light CV work (running, biking, rowing, stairmaster, etc) before starting your workout. Make sure to STRETCH the appropriate muscle group before each exercise.

Be careful not to OVERTRAIN - the cardinal sin of any kind of training. If you chose, do only the former for a long time. Start slowly and build.

Answer 3

let me make it short and simple

bump, set, pass, hit, serve

6 players each team

best of 3 or 5 matches

can't touch net