When You Are On The Offensive, There Are Certain Volleyball Offensive Strategies You Can Implement To Put Extra Pressure On The Other Team.
One of these volleyball offensive strategies is making the other team play outside the sidelines and inline. You navigate the ball around a fixed block and work around the edges. This way, you can make the volleyball court ‘larger’ and make it harder for the opposing team’s defense.
How do you do this?
You will need a blocker on the sideline and another one about four feet away. They will be your ‘antenna.’ The setter will set up the hitter in front of the two blockers. It is now up to the hitter to get creative and find a way to score.
Blockers should hit high hands to send the ball outside the expected perimeter. This will force the other team to scramble to take back control.
Hitters should find holes in the block and attack around it. Another way to score is to hit off of the block. The ball will tend to go out of its normal speed and trajectory. For the other team, this type of attack is more difficult to respond to quickly.
Offensive And Defensive Strategies In Volleyball
In volleyball, offensive strategies refer to an action plan to score a point. This is done by creating a play that causes the ball to land on the other team’s side of the court. Defensive strategies are a reaction to offensive plays. These include blocking or digging.
A basic volleyball strategy for an offense is a 6-2. In this type of play, the player in the right front position is the setter. Whoever is in this position after a rotation automatically becomes the setter. For this type of strategy, it is important to have more than just one good setter in the team. An advantage of this is that everyone on the team hones their setting skills. You also just need to practice a few sets to create an offensive play from this position. A downside, however, is that it can get predictable for the other team.
Another well-known offensive play is the 5-1. In this play, there is one designated setter and five hitters. The upside is that the team knows who to look to for direction (setter) and there is consistency in each set. A disadvantage is that the opposing team can target your setter if the player is small.
When it comes to defense, the player should be between the ball’s trajectory and the half-court. The goal is to block or dig, and then convert the contact into an offensive opportunity for the team.
More Notes On Defensive Volleyball Strategies
Here are some other things to keep in mind as a defender.
- Your focus should be on ensuring the ball does not hit the floor. You should always follow the ball with your eyes. Your mentality should be that every ball is coming towards you.
- Backcourt players should always be ready in the correct defensive position. This means medium to low body position, body forward and backside down. The latter is important so that when the player contacts the ball, they come up and not go down with it.
- Reading is a crucial aspect of any defense play. Getting into the correct position even before contact increases the chances of a successful block or dig.
- Lunging, sprawling, or diving should be a last option. It is important to be aggressive but remain in control.
Try These Offensive Drills
- Pendulum drill. The goal is to instill the mentality of earning three points in a row. It’s a simple game wherein three cones are ‘up for grabs’ between two teams. The coach initiates the play by throwing the ball from courtside. The team that scores a point gets one of the cones. The game continues until one team has earned all three cones in a row. This is a good drill to encourage players to be consistent and aggressive.
- Reading the block. This 3-on-3 drill teaches offensive players to read and react to the opposing team’s defensive play. In this drill, team A has a passer and two blockers. Team B has a passer, hitter, and setter. The coach plays a ball over the net to team B. As the ball is passed over the net, the coach will call out whether team A’s blockers should block or not. Team B must quickly react to Team A’s defensive play. Alternatively, Team A could also decide whether they will block or not, instead of the coach calling it out.
Learn More About Volleyball Game Strategies With OTL
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