Basic Volleyball Skills

1. Serving - The serve is the first opportunity for a player to score a point. Serving starts the rally in a
game. If you can serve tough, you'll get playing time.

Once the referee blows the whistle to start the rally you have 8 seconds to complete your serve routine
and get the ball over the net.

Types of Serves in Volleyball

a. Underhand Serve - This serve is used mainly in recreational volleyball. It does not require the level of
skill or coordination that the other types of serves do. With one foot stepped back, you hold the ball in
your opposite hand. Then with your other hand fisted, shift your weight forward and hit the ball just
below the center (or equator) of the ball.

b. Overhand Serves - In high school and college competitive volleyball, the overhand serves are most
common, and the two main overhand, or overhead, serves are the topspin and the float.

For all overhand serves, you start with your dominant-side foot back and the ball held extended in your
non-dominant hand. Then you toss the ball up in front of you hitting hand. How you hit it depends on
the type of overhand serve you want to create. The biggest difference between the types of overhand
serves is the server's body position, where contact is made on the ball, and the follow-through.

b.1 Floater. A float serve or a floater is a serve that does not spin. It is called a floater because it
moves in unpredictable ways, making it difficult to pass. A float serve catches the air and can move
unexpectedly to the right or the left or it can drop suddenly.

To hit a floater, you make contact in front of your body with your hand hitting behind the middle of the
ball. The arm follows through but only partway. By hitting directly behind the ball, you ensure there's no
spin.

b.2 Topspin. A topspin serve does exactly that—spins rapidly forward from the top. This serve
has a much more predictable movement than a floater, but can be difficult to handle because of its
quick speed and difficult to pass because it drops rapidly.

To serve a topspin, you toss the ball a little higher, step under the toss, and strike the ball underneath,
toward the top of the back in a down and outward motion. The arm follows all the way through with a
wrist snap

b.3 Jump Serve. The jump serve is more advanced and utilizes an even higher toss that should
be several feet in front of the server. You use more of an attack approach, jumping and striking the ball
with the heel of your hand while you're in the air. With this serve, your wrist remains stiff, then you hold
(stop) your palm in position facing the target.

The extra motion of jumping allows you to put even more power on the ball, making this serve very
difficult to handle. The drawback is that all that extra motion can lead to a higher incidence of serving
errors. Most jump serves have topspin on them, but it is possible to jump-serve a floater.
2. Passing - The pass also known as the bump, or the forearm pass is a service reception technique used
to contact a ball that's entered your court area when your team is on offense.

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.

How to pass a volleyball?

Move to the ball then clasp both hands together, one palm inside the other, pointing both thumbs to
the ground. contact the ball on forearms deflecting it in the air.

3. Setting - The set is usually the second contact in a rally and the person who sets the ball the most is
called the setter. The setter on a volleyball team is like a point guard on a basketball team who runs the
offense and calls the plays.

Offensive plays consist of a combination of sets called by using hand signals to eligible hitters who hit
these sets at different heights, speeds and locations along the net in order to confuse the opposing
team's blockers in an effort to score points.

If you are the setter on your team, you determine

 who gets to hit each set

 how high each set will be
 how fast the set will be and
 where along the net or backrow the set will be.

4. Spiking - An attack hit or a spike describes the technique commonly used for the third contact in a
rally that sends the ball over the net with power.

A spike starts with a three step or four step approach a player uses to jump off the ground to contact the
ball with an arm swing while it’s in the air.

With your spike approach the first two steps are slow and the last two steps are bigger and faster that
propel you in the air gathering momentum as you go, to lift you above the top of the net so you contact
the ball with an arm swing that contacts the ball at its highest height to attack or hit it down into the
opposing court.

5. A block is the first opportunity for a team on defense to keep the team on offense from hitting into
their court. Once the whistle blows and your team serves the ball over the net, your team is on defense,
ready to defend your court.
Once the ball is served, the three front row players on the server's side will work together in an attempt
to block a player by:

 forming a wall with their hands, and arms (and for some who jump high their shoulders)
 that extends over and penetrates the plane above the net
 in order to stop the opposing team's hitter from spiking the ball into the defensive team's court
or to a specific area of the court.

6. Digging - The dig is a slang term used to describe an underhand technique made on the first contact of
a ball in a rally that's been sent over the net with an attack hit.

You sink your hips low to the floor, below the ball before it gets to you and you use your extended arms
clasped at the wrists to create a platform with your forearms to "dig" or deflect the ball up in the air.

If you are the “digger" or defender your job is to dig the ball up high enough in the air and ideally to the
middle of the court close to the ten-foot line, so that the second contact in the rally can be made.