Chapter 4

Teaching Volleyball Technique: Basic Skills

PROBLEMS/SOLUTIONS
The athlete is too small or doesn’t jump well enough to get his/her hands over
the net:
1. If the athlete can barely get the hands to the net, let him/her feel what blocking
is by having him/her control block (wrists are flexed back).
2. Lower the net slightly if possible, to give the athletes the feel of blocking.

The athlete keeps netting:

1. Ask the athlete to block jump while seeing the back of his/her hands the entire
time. This will keep the hands in front of the blocker, not allowing him/her to
reach up and then over the net.
2. Show the athlete the action of jumping up and shooting the arms from the
ready position, over the net. If the coach is able to hold a ball up on top of
the net, have the blocker practice jumping and blocking the held ball
without netting.

KEY WORDS FOR HELPING THE BLOCKER

Coiled (Be in ready position with the knees bent and the arms and hands in front
of the body.)
Watch (Watch the set and the hitter.)
Front (Get in front of the hitter.)
Extend (Extend the legs and arms with the arms reaching over the net.)
Press (Press the heels of the hands over the net to the ball.)
Seal (As the arms extend over the net, have minimal space between the arms and the net.)

DRILLS
1. Partner Blocking: Facing each other across the net, one athlete is the hitter and
the other is the blocker. The hitter practices the approach for spiking, and the
blocker works to step in front of him/her and blocks. The hitter may attack in
different places on the net to move the blocker.
2. Follow: Two blockers face each other at the net. One is the leader and the other
follows trying to block wherever the leader blocks.
3. Coach Hitting: One athlete is across from the coach. The coach stands and hits
the ball just over the top of the net for the athlete to block. As the athlete gets
better, the coach can hit slightly to each side of the blocker to move him/her.
4. Two Person Blocking: Like Coach Hitting but two blockers working together
to block the coach. One blocker starts in the middle of the net, and the outside
blocker is one arm’s length from the sideline.
5. Coach Tossing: Coach tosses for hitters to hit into the block (one or two blockers).

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Digging
Digging is when a hard driven ball (usually a spike) is played up. It can be done with
any part of the body but is best controlled with two arms playing the ball up in an
underhand passing fashion.

RULES
The defender can “double” contact any hard driven ball. (See “Underhand Passing”
for this rule.) On the beach, a legal overhand dig can be almost a catch and throw by
the digger. The outdoor player can play the ball up in almost any way possible. Both
indoors and outdoors, the use of the legs and feet are legal except in high school.

TECHNIQUE
The digger starts in ready position. (Fig. 4-46) He/she should be low with the feet
a comfortable distance apart and be able to touch the floor without bending at the
waist. Arms are out and away from the body with the thumbs up.

Reading and Watching Sequence

As the opponent plays the ball, the defender should expect the ball to come over at
Fig. 4-46 Ready Position
any moment. If the opponent’s spiker is about to attack the ball, the defender should
be reading the attack’s approach (watching the angle of approach). The defender
should also watch the shoulder (which way it is facing) and the arm swing. Should
the hitter stop the arm midswing, the hitter may be tipping the ball. (Fig. 47, 48, 49)

Fig. 4-47 Off Blocker Footwork Fig. 4-48 Off Blocker Footwork Fig. 4-49 Off Blocker Footwork

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The digger should line up with the hitter’s approach, shoulder and arm swing. Next
the digger should stop any lateral motion and have his/her body weight forward on
the balls of the feet with the knees in front of the toes. The digger should then form
his/her platform by putting the hands together with the arms straight. (Fig. 4-50)

Ideally, the ball is played at the midline of the body with two arms. Often the digger
is trying to get any touch possible and may end up playing the ball with one arm. No
matter how many arms are used, the digger should stay low to the ground and use
the angle of the arms, not arm swing, to control where the ball will be dug. Should
the arms be too close to the body, the dug ball will be directed straightforward and
Fig. 4-50 Digging
not up.

KEYWORDS
Read (Watch what the attack is doing with the approach, etc.)
Stop Lateral Motion (Stop moving sideways and change to forward momentum.)
Weight Forward (Keep the body weight leaning forward, on the balls of the feet.)
Hands In Peripheral Vision (Keep the hands where they are seen in the peripheral
vision while watching the hitter. This allows for quicker reactions to play a ball
coming high or low at the digger.)
Two Hands (Try to play the ball with two arms, not just one arm or hand.)
Up, Not Over (Dig the ball up on your side of the court, not over to the opponent’s.
This may mean adjusting the angle of the arms.)

PROBLEMS/SOLUTIONS
Digger cannot control where the ball is dug:
1. Make sure the digger forms the platform out and away from the body. The arms
must be flat with the wrists pointed down.
2. Check to see that the digger is digging the ball on the forearms, not on the
hands. It is harder to control the ball with the bones of the hands than the
flat forearms.

The digger does not move to where the ball is being hit:
1. All of volleyball is about getting to where the ball is going. Have the digger run
down tosses by the coach. Let them catch the tosses at first.
2. Next have them read and dig easy floor spikes by the coach.

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The digger has a hard time moving to the ball in front of him/her:
1. Check to make sure the body weight is forward and as the hitter is about to
attack, the digger should step forward.
2. The coach can run a controlled digging drill where the hitter can tip or hit.
The digger has to learn to see and read the hit versus the tip and needs to move
forward to play the tip up.

Overhand Digging
Overhand digging is used for any hard driven ball shoulder height or higher. Indoors
Fig. 4-51 Overhand Digging an overhand dig can be with one or two hands. If two hands are used, they must be
connected in some fashion otherwise; the referee may call the digger for a “double
contact.” (Fig. 4-51, 52)

On the beach almost any dig is allowed. A beach dig can be a sloppy dig that almost
rests in the digger’s hands. Overhand digging is common in doubles play since two
players must cover the entire court.

Just like the underhand digging described above, the athlete should be in ready
position with the hand in the peripheral vision. The arms and hands drop low or rise
high depending on the height the ball is traveling. Ideally, the ball is played in the
middle of the body. For the overhand dig, it may be chest height or higher.(Fig. 4-53)

Fig. 4-52 Overhand Digging To overhand dig, the hands are brought up with the thumbs back and the hands
open wide and as big as possible. To overhand dig with the hands interlaced, the
hands are joined by crossing the thumbs over the back of the palms and the fingers
of one hand behind the fingers of the other. If the overhand digger is going to “beach
dig” the ball, then the hands are not joined but held firm to almost set the ball up.
The difference between a set and a beach dig is that the beach dig requires the hands
to be firmer than when setting. The digger must follow through up towards the
desired target.

PROBLEMS/SOLUTIONS
The dig keeps going backwards behind the digger:
Any time the ball goes backwards on an overhead dig, the digger has brought his/her
hands up late. The hands must be up and follow through up and forward.
Fig. 4-53 Overhand Digging

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