Beach Volleyball

        The indoor season for volleyball is played from November to May or June, depending on if your team makes it to the National Competition. In the off months, a few players chose to participate in beach volleyball, a different type of the game. This game is involves more physical movement than the indoor variation because there are only two players on the court at a time. However, less injuries occur because a player can dive and go for every ball without fearing being hurt, this is because beach volleyball is played on the sand (Dunphy, Wilde 112).
        Volleyball Essentials provides a clear description of how the beach version of volleyball is different than indoor. Having played multiple years of beach volleyball, I knew the basic differences. You can't tip, if you use your hands to set the ball then the ball can't spin, there are no antennas, and you can't overhand pass a slow-speed ball. The book helped me realize things that I had not known before about the game. "A player may block any ball crossing over the net, including a serve," (Dunphy, Wilde 113). In indoor volleyball, blocking a serve is illegal. I did not know until I read that part of the book that this was legal in beach volleyball. So, I went out with my friends and tried it. For a two player match, I found that having one person up front and ready to block the ball was a bad idea. That meant that there was one person back for serve receive. The court is only a tiny bit smaller than an indoor court and on hard serves, the passer would have a hard time reaching to every ball that the opposing team gave my team.

       The book also says that the ball is heavier than the indoor ball because the wind won't move a heavier ball as much (Dunphy, Wilde 112). I had known that the outdoor ball was heavier, but I didn't know that was because the wind wouldn't move it as much. "... wind will also have a profound effect on every pass and set. For this reason, the ball should be played lower to reduce this variable," "Dunphy, Wilde 115). While the beach volleyball was built to limit this factor of the game, the unintentional movement of the ball by nature still does occur. What the book told me to do made sense to me and I went out onto the court with a mindset to keep the balls lower than normal (also keeping in mind that most players use a bump as the second contact). I found that sometimes my partner would have difficulty getting to the balls I passed, but the passes I made were accurate and normally to the right spot. I also used this advice and reversed it. If the intention of keeping the balls low were to have more control over the wind effects, then would it be more effective sending a high ball over to the opponent so that hey would have difficulty. While this thought popped into my mind only after I had gone home, I was wondering what you thought.

         Do you think that sending the opponent a high ball in beach volleyball would be more effective than a higher ball?

Dunphy, Marv, and Rod Wilde. Volleyball Essentials: Video-Text. Total Health Publications, 2014.

Applying Mindsets

             Like any sport, the best volleyball players have an aggressive mindset. Each player has a specific mindset about each aspect of any game. The point guard in basketball often is looking for other players cutting towards the basket, the goalie in soccer is trying to keep every ball they can out of their goal, and swimmers and track athletes strive to get ahead of those they're racing against. These are all mindsets that many coaches try to teach their athletes. Just like in those sports and many more, volleyball has many mindsets that are applied into the game.
             Libero's for a team are often chosen because they chase after balls that aren't always exactly theirs. Good defense players must be willing to go after every ball to keep it off their side of the court. "Defense is as much an attitude as it is a learned skill. Players should obviously achieve good position and skills, but they must also have an attitude that makes them eager to pursue balls that do not go directly to them," (Dunphy, Wilde 79). Volleyball Essentials explains that volleyball is part physical, but most of all, it is a mental sport. Good players will do anything to keep the ball from dropping on their side. During my practices, I observed that there was an obvious difference between players who wanted the ball and didn't. Those who didn't want the ball often made mistakes when they had to take it and in tournaments, they didn't get as much playing time. Like most players, I wanted playing time, so I adjusted my mindset to wanting every ball and played on in a new style.
             While I did tend to get more balls up than I previously had, the change in mindset could not simply happen overnight. The best players have that mindset constantly and I could not just create a whole new playing style for myself in one practice. That said, applying an aggressive mindset to defense did improve my experience for me. Going after every ball eventually led to me picking up balls that I had not been able to get previously.
             An aggressive mindset is not the only way of thinking that leads to success in all sports.
Volleyball Essentials advises to analyze and anticipate serves and all kinds of ball that the other team sends over. Anticipating is a common thing that coaches tell their players because it will increase your probability of reaching the ball. The left back position in volleyball is often the player that is the best defender. They are placed there because that is the most likely spot that the outside hitter, often the best hitter on the team, will hit to. Anticipating applies to defenders because if they are always anticipating, then they will be able to be in the spot where the ball could be hit. I had tried to try this technique and it worked really well. With some balls, I was beat because I anticipated the hitter wrong, but I was able to dig the hardest hits because I saw where the hitter's shoulders were facing. I highly recommend trying both of these in any sport because it will not only likely improve how you play the game, but it also will create a more enjoyable experience with higher competition.

A diagram that shows the left back position (surrounded by the purple lines) anticipating the ball. This can be done by seeing where your blockers are (two red circles closest to the green player) and where the hitter's shoulders are facing. 

           What mindset makes a sport more enjoyable, a highly competitive one or a mindset where you only want to mess around and make each other laugh?




Dunphy, Marv, and Wilde, Rod. Volleyball Essentials: Video-Text. Total Health Publications, 2014

Using the Block to Play Better Defense

          In every higher level of play for volleyball, the block is the very first stage of defense against an attack by the other team. For front row players of any kind,  middles, outsides, or opposites, it is a fundamental to be able to put up a solid block that balls can't get by. based on my experience, the basics of this skill is clear: getting up as high as you can by using your legs and pressing over the net to the other team's side. However, the positioning is much more complicated as the whole defense in mostly the back row will be set up around your block.
          In Volleyball Essentials by Marv Dunphy and Rod Wilde, it says that, "Once the blocker has identified where the set is going, his or her focus changes from the ball to the attacker." (Dunphy, Wilde 73). Many coaches teach that the eye-work for blocking should be ball-setter ball-hitter. As the level of play gets higher, the sets get lower and faster. This is done to make it harder for the other team to get a block. When scrimmaging against my team who does quick and complicated sets, I attempted to minimize my vision of the ball as little as possible. And it worked more effectively than my previous style of blocking, which involved watching the ball for most of the time. This style allowed me to predict where the ball was most likely to go so that I could set the block up there fast, while previously I had been often late to get up on the block because I was busy watching the ball. Also because of my old technique, I would set the block up far inside because I was late and wasn't watching where the hitter wanted to place the ball.

         Another point about blocking that Volleyball Essentials makes is that after a crossover block, a sequence of footwork that is essentially running by the net, a player must reorient themselves to the net to make a correct block (Dunphy, Wilde 73). I didn't know that this was a downside to swing blocking, another name for the crossover block, and I started to observe that players would often go up sideways. Often, this would cause the ball to go in a direction that wasn't intended. When I went to block, I would make sure that my feet were straight towards the net when I was about to go up. There was an obvious difference with making sure you were oriented towards the net. The book's technique allowed me to use the momentum of the swing block and straight feet in order to put up a strong block that the ball couldn't get through.
         My question to you, from any stand point whether a player or not, is that do you think that orienting yourself to face the net is more important than getting to the place you're supposed to block?

Dunphy, Marv, and Wilde, Rod. Volleyball Essentials: Video-Text. Total Health Publications, 2014

The Choice of Volleyball Shoe

       Hi, my name's Faith and I will be blogging about techniques I read in the book, Volleyball Essentials by Marv Dunphy and Rod Wilde. I will be listening to the tips I am given from the book and trying them out as I practice for my club team. Before I begin changing my actual techniques of the game, I wanted to try what the book said about equipment, in this case shoes. For this first post, I wanted to see what volleyball shoes were recommended and what shoes are the best to wear to play volleyball.
       Unlike basketball and soccer, volleyball players don't have a wide variety of footwear options that many other sports do. According to Volleyball Essentials, volleyball shoes should have good traction, and be well-cushioned (Dunphy, Wilde 14). Like every other sport, I want to have the best shoe possible to help me play better and won't get in my way. However, there are really only three brands that produce shoes specifically made for volleyball: Mizuno, Nike, and Adidas.  As a result of this shortage of variety, most volleyball players resort to one of three options.

The three shoes that I used to compare, from left to right:
Basketball, volleyball, and running shoes.

        The first choice is that players wear running shoes that they use for other sports or just going outside. I have noticed that these types of shoes are worn by players of lower level play. When I wore running shoes for volleyball in elementary school, I slid and couldn't really run fast without sliding at the end. By the time I had stopped sliding, most of the play was already over and the ball had been sent over the net. I do not recommend wearing these types of shoes if you are in the high school or club level because those levels of play involve more running and hustle plays.
        The next two choices are usually worn by players of a higher level. One type of shoe that is often worn is volleyball-specific shoes. At tournaments for club volleyball, I noticed that these types of shoes belong to advanced players, but those of younger age. I own a pair of Mizuno and Nike shoes. When I wore these to practice, each on a different day, I found that they almost have very poor traction , only a little better than running shoes. "At the higher levels of play, you may want to buy shoes specifically designed for volleyball," (Dunphy, Wilde 14). While this is true and I would recommend volleyball shoes for maybe players or positions who do not have to move as much, I would definitely not say that these are the best shoes to wear for the sport.

The volleyball shoes, which did not have good traction.

        The final option is the one that I fully recommend after trying out all three shoes to any player and that is wearing basketball shoes. Upon switching from volleyball shoes to basketball shoes in the middle of my practice, I instantly felt a difference. They made me able to turn faster because of their amazing traction so I could chase down balls easier, unlike my volleyball shoes where I had to wait a second for me to get some grip before I could take off again. Many older club players wear basketball shoes instead of volleyball shoes and you can obviously see why if you wear a pair. Basketball shoes have good traction that volleyball shoes don't, so I would advise that committed players get basketball shoes to play in.
         Although I listened to the book and wore volleyball shoes, I would only say that half of the advice that Volleyball Essentials gives is accurate. Yes, I found that good shoes for volleyball have good traction and aren't clunky on your feet like the book said, however, Dunphy and Wilde's advice says to get volleyball shoes for advanced players. Based on my experience and trials with each shoe, I would say that higher level players should get basketball shoes if they want the grip and traction that can help them with their game.
          While I found that volleyball shoes don't help with my game as much as basketball shoes do, what do you think? Do you think that basketball shoes can be used for other sports, such as volleyball? Are basketball shoes better to wear than volleyball shoes?

Volleyball Essentials:    Dunphy, Marv, and Rod Wilde. Volleyball Essentials: Video-Text. Total Health Publications, 2014.