Blocking a volleyball is at once the simplest skill to perform and the hardest skill to do well. Timing the block correctly is part of that. This article will look at this timing aspect. This article will give you some tips on how to improve your timing to make you a more effective blocker.
Timing the hitter’s jump
The biggest limiting factor in timing a volleyball block is matching your jump to the batter’s jump. This does not mean that you need to jump at the exact same time as the hitter, but you will not be far from it. Keeping this in mind may help in another aspect of blocking in making sure that the last part of your focus is properly on the batter, not on the ball (a topic for a separate article). It will also prevent you from jumping when the hitter isn’t actually jumping (bad combination, etc).
distance outside the grid
While the biggest timing factor is the hitter’s jump, you need to adjust your block’s jump based on how far from the net the hitter will attack the ball. The farther back you go, the longer you have to wait for the ball to reach you. The back row attack, for example, requires little delay in your jump compared to a netted ball.
swing speed of the batter’s arm
The final adjustment to timing comes by calculating how hard the batter is attacking the ball. This is like setting the batter’s distance from the net. An attacker who swings his arm quickly will get the ball faster than a slower player. As a result, you have to be a little late for the latter and jump a little earlier for the first. If you can catch a hitter setting up an off-pace shot, that can also affect the timing of your blocking (or your decision to go up at all).
Commitment versus reading
The factors of jump timing, distance, and arm swing will be the same whether you’re blocking (going up with the hitter without waiting to see if he’s busted) or blocking read (waiting for the set). If you are bound to block, you should still time your block based on the batter’s jump, how close it is to the net, and how fast it swings.
Timing isn’t the only factor in good blocking, because getting up at the right time won’t do you much good if you’re in the wrong place. If you can combine the right timing with the right positioning and blocking mechanisms, you can put together a very nice block.