Read about Defensive Play
When you watch a good defensive player play the game of volleyball it seems that
she is always in the right spot at the right time. What a fan sees does not do justice
to the training that takes place prior to that pass. Defensive players study
opponents in person, on film, she will know tendencies in various rotations, she will
know setter tendencies, she will use great vision training to focus on the right things
before the hitter is even done with the transition off the net. Once the actual
approach begins, it is a matter of few minor adjustment steps to be in proper
position. Then the fan sees a player rip a ball down line and this little 5’3” player is
standing there to create a perfect 3 ball pass to the setter.
I stumbled upon a defensive mindset running a camp of high school athletes that
had never played together prior to that day. When it came time to teach a team
defensive model, every player ran a different type of defense with different starting
locations and different responsibilities. The spacing was inconsistent, the motion
caused collisions and any ball hit to a seam hit the ground every time. The question
coaches hate the most was then asked, “Is that my ball?” This is where my defensive
philosophy was developed. “Every ball that is in the air is your ball” We discussed
spacing in the pre-attack defense and then proper motion to the hitter’s tendencies,
angle of approach and then reading shoulders and wrist. Once the mindset was
established that the ball is my responsibility not a space on the floor, not a single
attacked ball touched the floor for almost 10 minutes. After seeing the results I
wondered why does it take some teams months to gel defensively and after ten
minutes there is a high functioning group passing everything hit at them. The
answer is “simplicity.” The idea that you go where the ball is going is very simple. It
is almost a hitter versus passer mentality except it is a hitter versus 4 passers
covering where the ball is going. Those are percentages in the passers favor. There
are issues that could arise if passers are not trained properly with reading but if all
four passers and the two blockers are reading the same thing and the passers feet
are stopped on the approach of the attacker, and the block is occupying space at the
net, a player trying to find a space on the floor to hit becomes difficult.
If players are trained to see the proper sequence of events on the other side of the
net and they know what that particular sequence could result in for an attack, the
placement of their body in the path of the attack is likely. If the player is stopped,
waiting for the attacker to hit the ball in her general direction, the likelihood of a
positive pass is fairly high. If a player is asked to move while the attacker is
swinging and the feet are not set, the percentage of positive passes will be reduced.
All players need to understand that passing is the last thing that happens with good
defensive players. The vision, the knowledge of the game and other players, preattack spacing and limited motion will allow to then develop a positive body
position to create a positive pass and your team will love you for it.
Contact Norm Potter for defensive clinics for your players. www.volleybald.com