Volleyball Hitter

Spiking a volleyball, the most fun skill in volleyball

Volleyball hitter techniques and strategies for successful spiking. 

Great Spikers are Crowd Favorites

The players that get all the attention in volleyball are the spikers. If you can hit a volleyball really hard, you’ll likely impress the average volleyball fan. 

Powerful spikers that can hit the ball real hard are fun to watch. 

A great volleyball hitter takes a fast approach and has a quick armswing that enables them to put a lot of velocity on the ball. 


What is an Attack

An attack is the skill that puts the opponent on the defense. The better the attack, the more difficult it is for your opponent to play defense

After the opponent initiates the serve, your team works to pass, set, then attack. This is the goal in volleyball…attack to score points. The team that is best at setting their team up to attack will likely win. 

A kill 
A kill in volleyball is attacking in such a way that makes it impossible for your opponent to return the ball. For example, when a hitter hits the ball in such away that it can’t be returned, the hitter gets credited with a kill. 

Attacking the ball effectively gives your team a better chance to score points. This is why it’s important to learn techniques for attacking. 

Techniques for Attacking

There are many ways to get a kill in volleyball. There are many things an attacker can do to be effective. 

Spiking a Volleyball

  • Change the number of steps for the approach. Some volleyball hitters like to take 3 steps. Other hitters like to take 4.
  • Approach the ball at different angles. If you take an approach at different angles, this can make it harder to block you or anticipate where you are hitting. For example, if you approach the ball at a 45 degree angle of the net, you could crush the ball cross court or turn and hit the ball down the line. 

    For a right-handed hitter, approaching at an angle on the left side of the court is common. The reason this is common is because if they approach at an angle from this side of the court, they have a much greater number of shot possibilities. 

Shots are basically different types of hits. Hard swing crosscourt, hard hit line, tip over the block, roll shot over the block to the middle of the court, and high line are all examples of shots in volleyball.

Volleyball Hitter Attacking Strategies

Try to approach angles close to 45 degrees when you are hitting in front of the setter, if you’re right-handed. If you are left-handed, try to approach angles close to 45 degrees if you’re behind the setter. If you’re behind the setter, this means you’re on the right side of the court. 

A left-handed attacker who is hitting in front of the setter decreases his angle of approach to make it easier to make good contact with the ball. It’s tougher for left-handed hitters to attack on the left side of the court because this is his off-hand side. 

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