Volleyball

Welcome back! Today's topic is Volleyball!

Volleyball is an predominantly indoor team sport played on a court with a net down the middle and a ball. The game consists of two teams with teams of 6-12 players but 6 players on court at a time. There are 5 positions in volleyball: Outside Hitter, Middle Blocker, Setter and
Libero. The aim of the game is to hit the ball over the net and win points. Points can be won if:
- the opposition player touches any part of the net
- the opposition players steps over the centre line
- the ball touches the floor of the opposing team
- the ball is touched last by the opposition team before going out.

There are three main movements/actions that volleyball players use. These are spike, set and dig.

Spiking

Spiking is the most attacking form of movement. It involves slamming the ball with a downward motion aggressively in an attempt to win the rally.  It is usually the last touch out of the three touches that are allowed in each play.

Setting is predominantly performed by the setter. Setting involves spreading your fingers in the shape of the ball above the head like your about to catch the ball. Instead of catching the ball, you should use your fingers to propel the ball up in an inverted-U angle to set up the ball for the attacking players (uni, outside, middle). Setting can also be used when passing a serve to the setter.

Setting

Digging/Passing is the defensive motion used in volleyball. In order to execute a dig properly, you should place your forearms together to form a platform for the ball to land on. The dig is then executed with a swinging motion upwards so the ball falls near the setter to set. The dig is used mainly to defend spikes and to pass serves.

Digging

Volleyball is a hard sport to learn as the actions that are performed in the sport are not similar to any other sport and therefore a transferal of similar skills are not applicable. However it is a great team sport and can be enjoyed by a large majority of people. I enjoy it because it is challenging for short players due to the net height.



(written by Nathan Lam)