SERVINGPERCENT TO ZONE: the court is divided into 6 zones. Each zone is 15' long and 10' wide. We call a zone in the hopes of serving a weak passer, jamming a setter, making a swing hitter have to pass before transitioning out to hit, or make a tough angle for a setter to work with. This number is calculated by the number of serves to zone minus errors divided by total serves.
ACES: An ace is awarded when a served ball is mishandled. The key word is mishandled. An unplayable ball off a passer is every bit the ace as a ball bouncing off the floor. An ace is a point. ERROR: An error is earned when a ball is placed into the net or off the court. We walk a tightrope with serving. We could get nearly 100% to zone if we served underhand or a nice easy ball. Good teams ball control to well for us to do this. We have to balance control with pace. Too slow and a weaker passer is able to control the ball. Too fast and we miss that weak passer and hit the girl next to her might be outstanding. Zone 6 is the safest zone (middle back) with a wide margin of error. We serve a hybrid serve attempting to reach a speed of 30-40 mph with no spin. The goal is to allow air pressure and the valve to move the ball as it approaches the passer. We serve pretty well as a team, but our lack of ball control in receive forces us to be conservative. We can not miss a lot serves because we get aced too often. SERVE RECEIVE3 Point Receive Scale: a passer in serve receive earns a three for a perfect pass, or a two, or a one, or a zero if she is aced. Add up the score of each pass and divide by the total number of passes received and you have a reception score. 3.0 is perfect. 0 is perfect in a negative way!
3 PASS: a perfect three is awarded when the setter has three options to set. She is able to set the left-side hitter, the middle hitter, the opposite hitter, or if the setter is front row can set the middle on a slide. This perfect box is 2-9 feet from the net and 10 feet wide starting in the middle of the court and extending toward the right edge of the court. 2 PASS: the setter is able to set any two hitters. This box is 1' to 12' off the net and 15 feet wide. It is usually not possible to set an opposite hitter, run a middle on a slide, or run combinations off this pass. 1 PASS: the setter is running to beat 90 on this pass or yelling for help. She is forced to set the left-side hitter or a back row hitter. This is not a good pass. It is usually off the net or off the court. A serve receive that goes back over the net is rated as a one. 0 PASS: we have been aced. The problems we fight to improve passing are many. The five technical aspects of passing all enter into play: wrist & hands together, straight & simple, face & angle, shuffle steps to the ball, and see the ball. Because of the speed in serving, we are pressed to do these skills correctly. In serve receive, players are more often forced to reach outside their hips/shoulders and simply lack the time to get (our cue is belly button to the ball) behind the ball. For any ball outside the mid-line, we teach our players to face the ball (take a drop step) and angle (force the inside shoulder to the ground, which tilts the platform allowing us to redirect the ball). We teach shuffle two steps in any direction. It keeps our center of gravity balanced and improves the possibility of getting the belly button to the ball if the serve is looped or is simply slow. Many players want to walk or run to the ball, which flips the hips. We also fear the floor. We have only a couple of girls willing "to go to the floor". In addition, we lack zone awareness. We are attempting to use a system where we pass short to our right in right hand seams and deep to our left in that seam. In our second year we still struggle with that. Lastly, we often pass from our heals. We want weight forward to the setter over our right leg if possible. Too many of our passers squat down on contact or stand up if walking to the ball. This "pops" the ball up at best forcing the setter to run up the court. Clearly, the easiest, fastest way to earn playing time with this team is to pass the ball at 1.7 or higher. |
HITTINGAn ATTEMPT: any try to score a point.
KILL: a kill results in a point for the attacking team. A kill is earned by a hard swing, a tip, or even a dig that travels back across the net and hits the floor. ERROR: the failure to succesfully attack a ball. An error is awarded for a ball that is hit out of bounds, into the net, or blocked by the defensive team. ATTACK PERCENT: kills minus errors divided by total attempts. The higher the better. One is perfect. Much like baseball, a player hitting .300 is good. Our hitting percent suffers due to poor ball control. Good volleyball starts with a good pass. Good setters are at the mercy of a passer. A good hitter is at the mercy of the setter who is at the mercy of the passer. We have players that can hit the ball. We are blessed with a kid to set the ball, but as a team, we do not allow our setter to set our hitters in a position to do positive things. We must pass to win, so a lot of time will be spent trying to improve serve receive and defensive passing. Having said that, our hitters have to learn to be consistent with a high elbow, make good transitions allowing us to use a 4 step outside approach, 3 step for middles, being on a 2nd step as a setter contacts the ball, and being very aggressive with top-spin over the ball. POINTSAny action that directly earns your team a point. These are kills, aces, and blocks. Add the total number of kills, total aces, and blocks. A solo block is a whole point earned by a single girl who jumps, An assisted block is a half block or point to each girl even if only one touches the attack. If our setter just jumps, she gets a block assist even if the ball is touched only by the middle hitter coming to her. We often triple block middle attacks. Each blocker gets a half point. I know - that equals a point and a half! Don't ask me, I am just a stupid high school coach.
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