In a previous article I discussed how important it is to have a solid footing foundation. Now is the time to expand your preparation skills to include not only footwork but your hands as well.
There are three main principles that you should keep in mind when developing:
1. Your hands should be soft and strong.
As the ball approaches you, your hands should already be above your head with your wrists pushed back slightly. Cushion the ball as it touches your hands by bending your wrists slightly and then straightening them quickly. Use both hands equally to direct the ball toward your chosen batter.
Remember that there is very little difference between soft hands that can loosen the ball and illegally holding a flying ball for too long. If you break your wrists too much and appear to be carrying the ball, you will be called for a raise and your opponents will get a point.
On the contrary, your hands can’t be stiff either. Without some compromise on your wrists, you will never be able to control the ball. When you use a forearm pass, you’re just redirecting the momentum of the ball toward the goal by letting it bounce off your arms. However, setup requires changing the trajectory of the ball as it leaves your hands.
When it (the playmaker) approaches you, the ball moves towards the net. After the group you want it to travel parallel to the network. So without hands soft enough to cushion the ball and change its trajectory without holding it for too long, you won’t be able to achieve accurate combinations.
2. Thumbs in the eyes
Please keep in mind that I’m not really advocating for you sticking your thumb in your eyes. What I am saying is that when you receive the ball your thumb should be right above your eyes.
To achieve this position, your wrists should be slightly flexed and your fingers rounded. This type of pose should point your thumb back toward your face; If they don’t get pulled back, they’ll be in the way of the ball, and a jammed thumb is going to ruin anyone’s day.
As mentioned in #1, we need hands that can protect the ball without holding it for too long, which means we need nice hands in the shape of a ball. Of course, the only way to get our hands to form a spherical shape is by pulling our thumbs back towards our eyes.
By making sure that your thumbs are pointing toward your eyes and not your mouth or forehead, you’ll be well on your way to achieving a more consistent combination.
3. Take a cue from football
I know this may sound a bit strange since soccer players use their feet and the setup only involves your hands, but to get an accurate position of the ball when setting the volley, we can imitate soccer players a bit. More specifically, I’m referring to the ball with the head.
If your foot movements are accurate and you position yourself under the ball in preparation for setting, you should come close to your forehead. Moving your hands away at the last second should cause the volleyball to hit your forehead, not your mouth or the top of your head.
Again, I’m not advocating letting the ball hit you in the head or face.
Keeping the ball above your forehead will allow you to take full advantage of the power generated by your arms, wrists, and leg muscles. Maintaining this ball position each time you set will also reduce the amount of time the ball is in your hands, making it less likely that you will be called for a lift.