By Paul Arrington, M.D.

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owertips February 10, 2011 Official Drill Bulletin of the American Volleyball Coaches Association Volume No. 22, Issue No. 3 Thinking Critically About Set Location By aul Arrington, M.D. There are many things to consider in deciding the ideal distance from the net to set the ball to the outside attackers.

The maximum height at which the attacker can attack the ball. Whether the blockers are protecting the line or cross-court.

1 owertips February 10, 2011 Official Drill Bulletin of the American Volleyball Coaches Association Volume No. 22, Issue No. 3 Thinking Critically About Set Location By aul Arrington, M.D. There are many things to consider in deciding the ideal distance from the net to set the ball to the outside attackers. Among these are: The tempo of the intended attack. Whether the block is likely to be a single, split or a well-formed double-block. The quality of the pass to the setter. The maximum height at which the attacker can attack the ball. Whether the blockers are protecting the line or cross-court. In general, without blockers opposing the attack, the closer the set is to the net, the easier it is for the attacker to successfully get a kill. However, one or more blockers are usually present nearly all the time. The question to be answered, then is, What is the optimal distance of the ball from the net for an outside attack? To explore the impact of some of these considerations, first make the assumption that the attacker is trying to avoid the block and not use the block by swiping or hitting off high hands. For this scenario, also assume that the set is a third tempo set on the line. This occurs frequently, usually resulting from a less-than-ideal pass. In this situation, the block is a well-formed two-person block occupying two feet of net space from the antenna, thus forcing the attacker to hit a crosscourt shot. education. recognition. innovation.

2 Let s also assume that the attackers are not able to attack over the block, but that they are able to attack at a height necessary to keep the ball in the court when attacking from 8 to 10 feet off the net. In this scenario, as the distance from the ball to the net is evaluated, it is found (using basic trigonometry) that the angle the attacker must use to hit around the block decreases as the distance from the net increases, as follows: Distance from the net Angle necessary to avoid block 2 feet 45 degrees 4 feet 27 degrees 6 feet 18 degrees 8 feet 14 degrees 10 feet 11 degrees Since an attacker cannot drastically change their line of approach to the ball in response to the location of the block, avoiding the block will be done at the last minute with her arm swing and hand rotation. The smaller the angle that the attacker must rotate her hand away from the block, the easier it is to execute a successful attack. Also, as the angle decreases as a result of increasing distance from the net, the attacker is able to more clearly see the ball and the blockers hands at the same time. Being able to see the block aids the attacker in avoiding the block. In addition, not only does the angle of attack decrease with the increasing distance of the ball from the net making it easier to avoid the block, but, more importantly, the area of the court that is available to the attacker also increases with increasing distance of the set from the net. The distance from the net and the area (in percentage of the total and in square feet) open to the attacker are seen below: Distance from net Area of court open to attack 2 feet 40% (392/900 sq ft) 4 feet 65 % (581/900 sq ft) 6 feet 78% (690/900 sq ft) 8 feet 82% (739/900 sq ft) 10 feet 83% (750/900 sq ft) It can be readily seen from the previous data that increasing the distance from the net beyond eight feet does not dramatically decrease the angle necessary to hit around the block or greatly increase the area of the court available. In fact, increasing the distance of the ball to 30 feet from the net would increase the area available to only 89%. Therefore, one would conclude that, all other considerations being equal, in this scenario, the optimal distance for the set should be six to eight feet from the net for an outside attacker. (see Figure 1) 10 ft 8 ft 6 ft 4 ft 2 ft BLOCK The previous scenario assumed a high outside set with a well-formed two-person block. What happens when the pass to the setter is good, and the set is a first or second tempo set that results in a split or single blocker? 2 Blocker Scenario From data previously presented (Coaching Volleyball Magazine, April/May 2008), it was shown that a split block is worse than a single block. So, in this next scenario, only a single blocker will be considered in the calculations. The angles necessary to avoid the blocker, and the area of the court available to the attacker against a single blocker as a function of the distance of the set off the net, is as follows: Volleyball ACE TM ower Tips February 10, 2011 Volume 22, Issue No.3 Editor: Leah Brock leah.brock@avca.org avca Grass Roots (Club) Rep., John Sample Sales: Toby Bishop toby.bishop@avca.org jsample@dibimail.com Volleyball ACE TM coach@ace4vb.com avca Grass Roots (HS) Rep., Jodi Manore avca Headquarters members@avca.org manorej@bedford.k12.mi.us Call for Drills and Articles: To submit a drill or article for consideration for Volleyball Ace ower Tips, please send them to one of the following: leah.brock@avca.org Fax: Address: 2365 Harrodsburg Rd., Suite A325, Lexington, Ky Volleyball Ace ower Tips

3 Distance from net Angle to avoid block Area of the court available 2 feet 18 degrees 71% of the court (643/900 sq ft) 4 feet 14 degrees 84% of the court (753/900 sq ft) 6 feet 11 degrees 88% of the court (795/900 sq ft) Against a single block there is no reason to consider sets more than six feet off the net since the increase in area would be so small and the attacker already has a large area available to her. Additionally, with only one blocker, the angle necessary to avoid the block is already fairly small. (see Figure 2) Not only do the attackers gain advantage in attack angle and area of the court available to them by moving the ball off the net, the blockers also lose advantage by having to delay their block jump to try to judge when the ball is going to pass over the net. This adds another factor of difficulty to their block attempts. On the other hand, for every two feet the set moves back from the court, the back row defenders are given from 5 to 10 percent more time to read and play the ball. In this final scenario, the block sets up well inside the antenna to take away the attacker s crosscourt attack. However, the area available to the attacker does not significantly change. The area that is now unavailable crosscourt becomes available down the line. If the blockers consistently take the crosscourt angle 10 ft and the attacker is capable of hitting the line, the sets can be closer to the net as long as they are attacked from near the line inside the block. The difficulty 8 ft arises in that the blockers may not consistently block the angle. 6 ft Summary For all third tempo sets to the outside, where the attacker can expect to face a well-formed two- or possible three-person block, the ideal distance from the net is 6 to 8 feet. At this distance the angle necessary to avoid the block is the smallest and the area of the court available to the attacker is maximized. For first and second tempo sets where a split or single blocker can be expected, the sets can be as close as four feet from the net and still maintain the attacker s advantage. 4 ft 2 ft BLOCK If the blockers are consistently blocking the cross-court attack, the set could also be reasonably set somewhat closer. However, if there is any question as to where the block will be set, it is much better to keep the set back off the net. 1 Blocker Scenario Calendar April April May 5 & 7 May NAIA Men's Volleyball Invitational Davenport, Iowa Molten Division III Men s Invitational Volleyball Championship Rochester, N.Y. NCAA Men s Volleyball Championship University ark, enn. AVCA Spring Conference Anaheim, Calif. February 10, 2011

Drills 6,3,4,2 Setting From 101 Winning Volleyball Drills from the AVCA* Number of layers: 6-12 Number of Balls: 2-4 Objective: To develop setting skills for all members of a team ***101 Winning

4 Drills 6,3,4,2 Setting From 101 Winning Volleyball Drills from the AVCA* Number of layers: 6-12 Number of Balls: 2-4 Objective: To develop setting skills for all members of a team ***101 Winning Volleyball Drills from the AVCA can be purchased from the AVCA roduct Store, along with many other titles from established coaches. Visit the AVCA roduct Store today! Directions: Start players () in positions 6,3,4 and 2. Set the ball from 6-to-3 to 4-to-2 and back to the 6 position. layers must move quickly each time they set the ball to the new position. Variations: After the players develop the drill, use two balls in a row. Start the drill from the 1 or 5 position. Use six players on each side of the court. 2 C Backset Start on 5 Start on 1 Volleyball Ace ower Tips

Official Drill Bulletin of the American Volleyball Coaches Association Spiking Fundamentals: How Great Footwork Can Make Your Hitters Great

Education ecognition Innovation www.avca.org Volleyball ACE TM Power Tips Sponsored by Dimensional Software Volume No. 19, Issue No. 3 ~ Feb. 6, 2008 Official Drill Bulletin of the American Volleyball