What can I do to make my volleyball over hand serve more accurate?

Question

I have a hard serve but it goes out or hits the net when i need it most.

Answer 1

practice under pressure

Answer 2

ease up on your hitting and dont thro it too high. also, you have to get it high. how big is your net? its it the actaul size? because mine is short since were not high school players.

Answer 3

All you need to do is stay focused when your surving. Don't let anyone distract you. And maybe try, instead of going all the way through. Try to just go half way. give it all you got but try to doa floater hit. I hear that htouse are harder to recive. Good luck.

Answer 4

Sounds like you're happy with your serve most of the time, but not "when you need it most"   Is that right?

You (and everyone else) are probably best advised to do your "normal" serve when you need it most, as the times you "need it most" is when you want to use that good consistent serve you have practiced many many times, and you know you can rely on.

When you need it most, you're probably trying a bit harder, which means more power, and that’s why you lose the accuracy. If you’re serving well, and need something to confuse the enemy, try serving from five paces further back to where you normally do, but don't try to make it a hard serve that just makes it over the net, or you'll stuff it up.

Answer 5

It's a mental issue.  The serve is the only aspect of volleyball that you control 100% on your own.  If you're missing clutch serves you are doing it to yourself.  Here are a couple of suggestions.

Use the time on the sevice line.  Do Not Rush Your Serve.

Develop a routine that you go through for every single serve... same number of bounces every time, recite a mantra, "toss high, pick a spot, hit your serve.

ALWAYS have a destination in mind before contact.  Know where or who you are going to serve before you toss the ball.

Think positive, if you are thinking "don't miss, don't miss, don't miss" you're gonna miss.  Instead "hit it, hit it, hit it."  Sounds silly, but it does make you more confident before the serve.

Last; this game is placement before power.  If you have the hardest hit or serve on your team, but can't keep the ball in, you'll never see the court.  Drop some power to increase the accuracy.

Answer 6

if your talking about your serve not going over when there is pressure one you (like game point or something) then this is what I would do. I used to play competitive volleyball nearly every day of my life with a highschool team and travel team and definately know what your feeling. What I always did when the pressure was on was go back to the serving line and just take your time. I used to bounce the ball 3 times and say to myself to calm down and that it would go over. It always worked. It calmed me down and allowed for the pressure to ease a bit. I was the only player on my vb team with a perfect serving average every season..so I hope it works for you as well!!

Good luck!

Answer 7

practice

Answer 8

Modify your serve by height and power.  The ball is pretty consistent in texture and reaction and the laws of physics are pretty much set, so the only thing left is placement.  I once had a serve I could drop just over the net which made it difficult to return, usually it went up into the net.  I wasn't that good at the volley so I didn't pursue it.  Practice your placement and alter the power you put into it.  Don't try just clearing the net height-wise, controlling the power will cause it to drop quickly when you want it.  Keeping up your power is important too so that when you're in back you can deliver a shot to any open area.  Good luck.

Answer 9

As a coach, I encourage girls on my team to serve hard, even if it results in an occasioal service error.  The most common mistakes of inconsistent servers are:

Toss Consistency - Everyone focuses on the arm swing, but most missed serves come from bad tosses.  Practice tossing with a consistent height and location to get a more consistent serve.  

Toss Location - Some player toss consistently to a bad spot.  A float serve should be tossed well in front of your right shoulder (for a right hander), and topspin serve should be tossed almost above the right shoulder.

Wrong Speed - Does your serve spin forward?  If it doesn't, you must be satisfied with medium-fast.  Trying to serve a very hard serve without topspin means the velocity and trajectory must be perfect.  Slow it down a bit or learn to hit with topspin.

(Note:  Topspin allows a harder servce, but many passers would rather see a topspin serve than a good floater.)