Volleyball Defense - 5 Great Tips for Reading the Hitter

To play great defense you need the ability to read thenopponents attack and position yourself ready to dig or movento play the ball.

Good defensive positioning heavily depends on the placementnof the set ball and the formation of the team block.

Here are 5 volleyball tips for making great defensive plays.

1. Watch Placement of the Set Ball

If the volleyball is set tight to the net, the defende
needs to be ready to play a ball that can be hit at andownward angle into the court. The defender should alsonwatch the path of the ball to make sure the ball isn’tncoming over the net. The worst thing that could happen is tonhave the volleyball fall to the ground onto your team’s sidenof the court with nobody making a play on it.

2. Watch the Volleyball Hitter Approach

The defender should be aware of the direction the hitter isnapproaching, the direction the hitter’s shoulders arensquared up, the hitter’s armswing, and where the hitte
contacts the ball. All these are factors influence where thenball will be hit.

During the approach, notice the direction the hitter’snshoulders are facing. If the hitter is swinging, it isnlikely they will hit the ball the direction they are facing.
Notice if the hitter is forced to speed up their approach orntake steps sideways due to a low or poor set. By noticingnthese details of the hitter approach you are more likely tonanticipate where the ball will be hit.

3. Watch the Volleyball Hitter Armswing

Watch the hitter armswing and be ready not only for a hardnhit, but also an off-speed hit, roll shot, cut shot, or tip.
Often, if the set is too high the hitter will adjust thei
approach. If the hitter adjusts their approach watch thenangle of the armswing. Often on high sets the hitter willncontact the ball back behind the head. If the contact isnmade back behind the head be ready for a deep volleyballnhit. If the contact isn’t solid, be ready for a short shot.

If the set is too low the hitter will often speed up thei
approach and make contact with the ball out in front of thenbody. Hitting the volleyball out in front of the body willnlikely make the ball be hit more at a downward angle intonthe court.

If the volleyball is set off the net, the defender should benready to move to play a much easier off-speed shot or tip.

4. Understand Your Volleyball Team Blocking Strategy

Before playing defense, you must communicate with you
blockers and devise a defensive strategy. Obviously,nwhatever space your blockers don’t take away with thei
block, the defensive players on the court need to cover.

A basic blocking strategy is to have the blockers take awaynthe line and angle hit while the baseline defender coversnthe middle baseline area. This is called playing basendefense. A more advanced defensive strategy involves thenbaseline defender to rotate over to cover the hit down deepnline. This is called rotation defense. Rotation defense isnused primarily when the opponent has a really good line shotnthat can’t be defended by blockers.

Often holes appear in the block that can’t be closed. As andefender, help defend this area by lining up around thenblock. It is likely your team defensive strategy will changenthroughout a match as you discover the best way to defendnyour opponent.

5. Be Ready to Defend the Volleyball Tip

Defenders should train to read hitters. Reading the hitte
is especially important for covering tipped balls. A hitte
may tip for many reasons. Usually a tip is done on a poorlynset ball. If the ball is hard for the hitter to get to, thenhitter may decide to tip the ball because tipping is a muchneasier way to control the ball. For this reason, defendersnneed to be ready to play tips on poorly set balls. Also, ifna hitter hasn’t been hitting well they may decide to try thentip shot. If a hitter doesn’t take a full approach to hit,nthis is usually a dead give away that a tip is coming.
Understanding these game situations allows you to be morenprepared and ready to anticipate your opponent to make greatnvolleyball defensive plays.