Our middle blockers place their right foot in the middle of the court so she cheats toward the setter to her left. We bunch block so the middle holds her arms out and the other two blockers hold their arms out. The blocker to the right of the middle, our opposite, will touch finger tips with the middle. The blocker to the left, our left side hitter, will over lap hands and wrist. This allows us to triple block middle attacks easily and cheat to double block quick attacks. It allows our opposites to cheat a little closer to the other teams left side hitters, usually the big hitter for a team.
Left Side Blocker Middle Blocker Opposite
Left side DS Right side DS
Middle Back
Our back row consist of a left side defensive specialist (a left side pincher), a right side defensive specialist (a right side pincher) who is often a setter, and a middle back. Those two pinchers are 2x1 or 2x2. What that means is they are 2 steps in from the side line and one or two steps from the attack line. The middle back is "middle - middle". She is 10' from the attack line and 10' from the back line and 15' from either side line.
As I have grown more comfortable with a couple of our kids in defense, we will still identify "middle-middle", but we will be a step behind middle-middle. Our middle back will be 11' or even 12' from the attack line. This will allow us to play more balls "forward" or "outside/in". Two concepts that in theory allow passers to be more accurate.