6 Basic Volleyball Skills

The six basic volleyball skills are passing, setting, spiking, blocking, digging,
and serving.

In volleyball, the serve is the act of putting the ball in play by a player sounds
simple, but actually it describes one of the most important plays in the game
of volleyball. The underhand and the overhand serves are described below.

Underhand Serve

In executing the underhand service, the server should be back of the end line
and within the extensions of the side lines. This is the service area as described
in the rules. The server should stand with his knees flexed, and, in the case of a
right-handed player, his left foot should be slightly in front of the right.

The ball is held in the left hand to the front and right side of the body so that it
will be directly in line with the right hand. A high back swing should be made
with the right arm, and the forward swing should be made directly under the
shoulder and the ball. The elbow should be kept straight.

The ball is hit off the left hand similarly to the way a golf ball is hit off a tee. A
good follow-through is essential. The right hand should be held like a claw and
the ball should be hit with the heel of the hand. Some players use a closed fist
and hit the ball with the heel and flat surface of the fist, but it is difficult to
have the control with the fist that one has with the open hand.

As the swing is made, a short step forward should be made with the left foot,
shifting the body weight to the left foot. Special care should be taken to keep
the foot from touching the end line, which would constitute a foot fault and
result in the loss of serve.

Overhand Serve

The overhand serve is a very effective serve and with practice may also be very
accurate. This serve is accomplished by tossing the ball easily to a position just
above the level of the head and just slightly in front of the frontal plane of the
body.
The ball should be tossed in front of the right arm and shoulder. The right arm
should be in a position so that the upper arm is parallel to the floor and to the
frontal plane of the body. The hand should be held in a clawlike manner, close
to the head and behind the ear.

In the tossing sequence, Odeneal suggests that the valve of the ball be placed
toward the receiving team. This small amount of weight in the valve causes the
ball to dip and slide after being hit.

The ball is hit in much the same manner as a spiker would hit a volleyball or in
the same manner as a catcher might throw a ball to second base. Wilson
recommends that the ball be hit or batted with a motion similar to a serve in
tennis. The ball is hit with the heel of the hand and slightly capped with the
fingers. There is very little follow-through on this service.

Capping the ball with the fingers after hitting it with the heel of the hand will
give a top spin to the ball, causing it to go at a fast rate similar to a spike. The
ball may also be hit in the center and not capped with the fingers. This creates
a floating ball that jumps and slides because it has no spin. The floater travels
fast over the net and dies quickly, making it difficult to judge in receiving.
Both the capped and the floater serves are very effective and can be used
interchangeably.

The most common stance of the server is with his feet in close proximity to
and equidistant from the end line. However, some servers prefer to stand
several feet behind the end line and/or with one foot forward. It is not
necessary to take a step with the overhand service. Here again, this is a matter
of preference with the individual player.

Serving is an important part of the game of volleyball, and should be practiced

accordingly. Have fun!

Passing is often thought of as the most important skill in volleyball. If you can't pass
the serve, then you won't ever put your team in a position to score a point.

The importance of serving is often undervalued. Many coaches don't teach players to

serve aggressive and use this opportunity to give the team an advantage for scoring
points.

Blocking is perhaps the least taught skill in volleyball. Players can get away with
poor blocking skills because not blocking isn't going to hurt the team as much as being
poor at executing other skills in volleyball.

Digging is another skill that isn't focused on quite as much as most skills in volleyball.

The setter position is considered to be the most important position in volleyball. The

setter basically runs the team offense.