Volleyball skills and techniques for playing defense.
Proper Body Position for Defense
It’s important to talk about proper body positioning before we get into talking about defensive skills.
Correct Positioning for Passing
The following is the proper body positioning to be in when the ball is on the other side of the net.
- Feet shoulder width apart
- One foot slightly forward
- Weight on insides of feet
- Bend forward at the waist, flexing the hip
- Back remains in a 60 degree position
Every ball that you dig, you will try to have your back at a 60 degree position. - Arms roughly parallel to the quads
This puts you in a good body position to cover balls that are in front of you. And also ready to move your hands up to cover the area in front of your head. - Hands slightly below elbows
Left foot to the right instep, back at a 60 degree angle, hands below elbows, arms parallel to quads, with weight on the insides of the feet. This is a great body position to dig any ball that needs to be dug.
We always want the core behind the ball anytime we are wanting to play defense. We also want to be facing the target at the moment of contact. You want to take every ball at the midline of your body and at your belt. We always want our core facing the target.
Principles of Contact for Volleyball Skills and Techniques
The following are principles for getting the ball to where we want it to go.
Getting Low to Passing
- Torso at 60 degrees
This allows us to be at the optimal angle to perform our defensive skills (which ever skill we decide to use). No matter how low the ball goes, we want to be able to maintain our torso at a 60 degree angle. Unless of course if the ball is slightly off the floor and we have to revert to using an emergency skill to make the play. - Core behind the ball
Core is where the midline of your body and below your belly button intersect. This is the center of gravity and we always want the center of gravity directly behind the ball as we play it.
(When you make contact, you always want the center of gravity behind the ball. This is key for executing defensive volleyball skills and techniques.) - Hips around and under the ball
Getting the hips around the ball helps stabilize your core and gets your core behind the ball. Also gets your core facing the target. Getting your hips under the ball allows you to get in a position where your center of gravity is below the contact point of the ball thus shooting the ball up into the air and hanging it for the setter to come in and set it. - Core facing target
Many bad misses come because the core is facing in another direction than the target. Hips and core needs to get around and face the target each time you pass. - Contact Phase of Playing Defense
Get behind the ball and step forward to the target. (You must get your hips around and below the ball. This is key for executing volleyball skills and techniques for defense.) Hips need to get below the ball to pop the ball up to the setter.
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