Volleyball Skills and Drills: Attacking

“Undeniably, attacking is the most explosive part of the game and garners the most attention” (AVCA 54)

Elite attackers have the best eye work and timing. They have the ability see a play develop, whether the situation is a sideout or transition. They also have the ability to answer questions such as if the pass is slow or fast, if the pass is away, and if they have to accelerate. They can also analyze visual information and make a quick movement pattern. They use a four-step approach, jump high, hit hard, and hit with range.

There are six basic movements when executing are the approach, the jump, the armswing, ball contact, the follow through, and the landing.

If the hitter is right-handed then their step approach will be right- left- right- left. For a left handed

player, the approach would be left- right- left- right. The first step should be the slowest and the last few steps should be the fastest (there is only four step). The last two steps are the most explosive step; it is important that when taking the last two steps the feet are pointing in the direction the player is traveling. This helps the player jump up and establish a good relationship with the ball.

The ball, of course, must be hit over the net over a weak spot, nonexistent block, or an unoccupied area of the opponent’s court. The hands should be faced down and on the second step is where the swing beings. The arms should be facing forward, no higher than the waist. On the third step, the arms goes up and swings back as far as possible. On the fourth step, the feet should be parallel to the net and the hands and arms go up.

When contacting the ball, the hand should be open and firm with the fingers apart. This helps result in a better ball control. The combination of shoulder rotation with slight hip rotation helps produce power.

Landing incorrectly can result to injuries to the ankle and knees. The most important thing to remember when landing is to bend the knees slightly and absorb the shock of hitting the hard floor.

The different types of shots are Tip/Dump/ Dink, Roll, High-and-flat shot, Deep-corner hit, Sharp- angle hit, Wipe- off, Seam, and Rebound.

Lenberg, Kinda. Volleyball Skills & Drills. Human Kinetics, 2006