Volleyball how-to: 1-foot hitting – Tempo Timing Progressions
Here’s something a little new. In this how-to, Donnie’s club team is learning how to run his quick-tempo offense. Using volleyball players who have rarely (if ever) run these plays before can give you an idea of what it might be like for your youths when they first start hitting these quicks. Take a look… and… let me know if you have any questions (in the comments section below).
Also, how do you adjust this if you have a lefty?
Do you run them off one foot in a game? I can see how this would work in serve receive, but I am confused how it would work in a game. There isn’t enough time for the right side to transition all the way to the other side of the court… or is there? Do you have a video of this in a game like situation? I would like to see how it works. Also, could you show a picture of the zones taped out? This looks awesome, if I could make sure I fully understand it.
Looking forward to part 2 and 3
Jared, Great questions! This video is actually part 1 of 3 parts that helps progress through how I teach the basics of this system. In part two, you’ll see them actually hitting and part 3 is where you’ll see how I stack the middle and opposite together and they both run plays off 1 foot together. It’s almost impossible for the defense to know what will hit them!
Landmark- I break the net down into 9 zones. Starting from zone 1(OH spot) to Zone 9(Right side pin). The setter sets out of zone 5/6 on a good pass. I usually will tape out these zones for the first two weeks of practice to help give the girls a visual. A ’1′ is one arm length from the setter(zone 5), a ‘push’ is two arm lengths away from the setter(zone 4) and a ’3′ is 3 arm lengths away from the setter(zone 3). A ‘back 1′ takes the ball right out of the setters hands by jumping just a half step in front of the setter, and on the slide the hitter is hip-to-hip with the setter as she sets so the hitter can see and chase the ball using the left-right-left footwork.
I have my middles start an arm length off the net to allow the setter a ‘window’ to pursue a bad pass, this helps players from running into each other. The hitters are trained to SEE the pass first, so they can adjust their tempo and footwork based on the pass. We work on automatic situations… like if the pass is to zone 4 and the hitter is running a ’1′, the hitter automatically adjusts footwork to allow space for a ’1′. Another common automatic adjust is if the pass is short to the 10′ line and the hitter is running a slide… we won’t have the hitter banana curl around the to the right side of the setter or even stop completely… she stays parallel to the net and goes to the left of the setter and can still run the slide. It takes some practice but is really effective.
Wait and till you see the next couple of videos, you’ll get a better idea of what this looks like with two 1 foot hitters. It’s a lot of fun, but definitely takes a lot of reps… a good passing team and a setter that can think. But when it clicks, I’ve seen teams completely breakdown mentally because they are so worried about where the hitters will go next.
What is your landmark in the middle of the court? Are you giving your middles a target as far as depth off the net when going behind? I totally dig the one foot stuff in front, but I am always worried about a bad pass jamming up my routes when the hitters stay that close to the net.