What?! Not one gator? Well I didn’t see one.
Props to all you Defensive Specialists out there (Christine, Danielle, you know what I’m talking about)
Jul
01
Tag Archives: Defense
Apr
28
Hey libero, you can’t do that!
In this International volleyball match, there was speculation about whether a libero can block or not based on the ref’s lack of reaction shown in this video. Look at the guilty body language of the libero. You know he knows he’s not supposed to do that. But… his sneakiness let him get away with it this time. I’ve actually known a few liberos (certain high school players) who’ve taken advantage of an inattentive (or just plain ignorant) ref…
Apr
03
Not my volleyball video Friday
How not to block a volleyball. Don’t try this in a volleyball game. Ouch.
Nov
03
Blockers, can you react in time?
Ever been told you have cat-like reflexes? (or maybe you tell yourself that) Then Reaction Blocking is just for you!
Put 3 coaches on one side (each with a cart of volleyballs) and group of high school volleyball players (or club volleyball players, I guess) on the other. Coaches take turns hitting the ball into the defense. Blockers must read and react to block the coaches. After the ball is “defended,” the team side must transition and play it out. See below.
Obviously this drill is a little more fast paced than in a game situation (in the eyes of a blocker) because they won’t have the longer amount of time to read the pass and then the setter… But sometimes, it’s good to speed things up a little. In my opinion, the blockers will be more than able to get to the block on time in a game after practicing blocking drills like this. Plus, they’ll have NO excuse for being late!
Aug
19
1 vs. 3 advanced blocking drill
The other night on my women’s team I was asked to play middle (I’m usually an outside). I like playing middle because it’s better workout and a big challenge and because I love both of those things, I accepted.
As a middle blocker, you have to be quick and attentive. MBs are not only responsible for blocking in the middle, they have to quickly run back and forth on the net to assist blocks on the pins. A good skill for a middle blocker is the ability to “read” the setter. Reading the setter gives the MB a head start to make it out to the block. Watch the setter’s legs, her back, her arms, the overall angle of her body… is she “pointing” where she’s going to set? I could go on for a while but basically reading takes practice just like any other skill in volleyball.
In the video below, you see one young MB trying to read the setter and keep up with the hitters. Which is why it’s called 1 vs. 3. One blocker vs. three hitters.
