4º ESO. Volleyball 3: Skills
A) THE UNDERHAND SERVE:
The serve begins play, and it can be decisive in a game. A missed serve counts as a fault.
There are many types: underhand, sidearm, or overhand motion to strike the ball, standing in a stationary position or jumping in the air. We will learn the basic one, the underhand service.
-Stand outside the court, anywhere along and behind the end line.
-If you are righthanded, hold the ball with your left hand. Place your left foot in front of you but behind the line.
-Place the ball in front of your body, in line with your right foot and arm. Move your right arm back, keeping it straight.
-Move your arm forwards to hit the ball, and keep it extended. If you bend it, the ball will not reach the net.
Image: www.usavolleyball.org
-Hit the ball with the palm of your hand. If you do not hit the ball with a flat surface, its trajectory is unpredictible.
-Keep your hand tense. It is not important if you close or you open your fingers, but you must hold them tense, so you don´t hurt yourself when hitting the ball.
-After hitting the ball, follow it through with your body and step into the court.
Here you have a couple of videos from www.expertvillage.com explaining the serve:
SUBTITLES: 1. Clic the play button. 2. Clic on the grey arrow on the right of the screen, and then on "CC"
B) THE FOREARM PASS (also bump or Dig):
Use it to receive a serve or a low ball.
-Position is fundamental to react quickly: Your feet must be shoulder width apart. You must wait for the ball leaning forwards on your toes with a semi-flexion of your knees.
-Join your hands together, making a fist with one hand and wrapping in it the palm of your other hand.
-Let the ball hit you in the middle part of your forearms simultaneously. A common mistake is to hit the ball with your wrists or hands. This often makes the ball bounce with an unpredictable trajectory and it goes out of your court.
Image: www.usavolleyball.org
-Press the wrists and hands down to fully extend the arms
-Bend your knees before the ball gets to you so that you can absorb the serve and keep the ball in your court.
Here you have a video from www.ehow.com explaining the forearm pass:
SUBTITLES: 1. Clic the play button. 2. Clic on the grey arrow on the right of the screen, and then on "CC"
C) THE SET:
-The set is an overhead pass in which the setter directs the ball upward with a high arc to front-line players for them to spike. There are many different types of sets: to the front, to the side, to the back...
-The proper technique for setting is to raise your hands about 15 cms above your head with your thumbs on the bottom. Your thumbs and index fingers must form a triangle, and also, your hands must form the shape of the ball.
-Go to the ball and get under it, facing the direction to which you want to pass it.
-Bend your elbows and your knees.
-You must hit the ball with both hands together and simultaneously. Don’t let the ball touch your palm. This is called a push, and is a violation. If you hold the ball or you strike itl unevenly, you’ll be in violation.
-Receive the ball over your head, and act as a spring. Image: www.usavolleyball.org
-All the following parts of your body must extend with the ball when you are doing a set: first your legs, afterwards your upper body and arms, and finally your wrists and fingers.
Here you have a video from www.ehow.com explaining the set:
SUBTITLES: 1. Clic the play button. 2. Clic on the grey arrow on the right of the screen, and then on "CC"
D) THE SPIKE (or Smash):
-The spike is a powerful overhand smash into the opposite court.
-Front row players can attack the ball from anywhere on the court. Back row players can only attack from behind the three meter line.
- Approach to the net and in the last step, place both feet at the same time on the floor. Your feet must be shoulder-width apart. Swing both arms back to help you with the jump.
-In the air, bring your right hand to your ear, and your elbow back. Bring your left arm down and hit the ball with your right palm. Your arm must be extended.
-You must hit the ball infront of your head, not above it, so it goes straight to the floor.
-Do not touch the net, and land on both feet.
Image: www.usavolleyball.org
-This is a very difficult move, and requires perfect timing with the ball, so keep trying until you get it!!
-Start practicing the timing and the jump with a partner holdeng the ball over the net.
Here you have a video from www.ehow.com explaining the spike:
SUBTITLES: 1. Clic the play button. 2. Clic on the grey arrow on the right of the screen, and then on "CC"
E) THE BLOCK:
The block is the first defensive action a team makes. It can be individual, double or triple.
-If you do it correctly, you make an opponent´s strike rebound on your hands and it will either go to his side of the court or to yours, but at a slower speed.
There are a couple of things to remember:
-The block does not count as a hit, so a player can block a ball and still hit it with a forearm pass or a set.
-You must not touch the net, and you must be sure not to hit the ball twice!
-To do a good block, you must stay close to the net to be able to react quickly.
-Your arms, hands and fingers must be fully extended above the shoulders.
-Pay attention to the hitter in front of you and move to be in front of the ball when it descends to him or her.
-You must jump slightly later than the hitter.
-As you jump, fully extend your arms and hands. Spread your fingers, but keep them rigid. Bend your wrists down over the net, so that if the ball hits them, it goes down to the floor.
Here you have a video from www.ehow.com explaining the block:
SUBTITLES: 1. Clic the play button. 2. Clic on the grey arrow on the right of the screen, and then on "CC"