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Why the volleyball back row attack is so important for developing spiking strength and power.

Focus Points to a Successful Attack

I believe the back row attack is a skill that should be developed by all attackers on the team.

It doesn't matter if you are never going to be set a back row ball, you should practice hitting out of the back row.

Especially if you only play across the front row, I believe it's absolutely critical to practice hitting out of the back row.

Improve out of the back row and you'll surely improve your front row attack.

Before getting into a discussion on why it's important to learn how to back row attack, let's first discuss fundamentals of hitting.

The Approach

When it comes to improving the spike, the volleyball approach is what gets the most attention. If you're having trouble hitting, the first thing the coach will usually do is critique your approach. It's true the approach is important.

If you improve your approach then it will be easier to hit. However, the approach is just one piece to a successful attack.

You don't want to overlook the importance of the ball contact. The purpose of the approach is to help you get in better position to hit. The arm swing and ball contact is most important part to a successful spike.

Anticipation/Reaction

Anticipation or reaction skills help an attacker get in position to hit.

The better a player is at anticipating the play, the better the player will be at getting in position to make the play. You will often see players have very poor approach footwork and technique, and still be able to get in position to hit.

These types of players are able to hit even though they have poor techniques because of how well they anticipate. Along with anticipation skills, speed, strength, and coordination are also important factors.

The Contact (Hitting the Ball Hard)

Hitting the ball hard is what most coaches emphasize.

Young players are often taught that to be a good hitter, you've got to hit the ball hard.

Hitting the ball hard is important, but how you contact the ball is also really important.

Hitting the ball hard is something that is over emphasized especially when players are first learning to play.

Especially at a young age, most kids have trouble serving the ball over the net. The main focus becomes hitting the ball as hard as possible just get it over and in.

The Contact (Control)

Instead of focusing on hitting hard, have players do drills where the focus is on "ball control".

For example, instead of hitting for a kill, have the hitters focus on hitting the ball "controlled".

Focus more on "cooperative" drills in practice. If drills are cooperative instead of competitive, the rallies will last longer.

Where Contact is Made (Is the contact made above your head or more out in front?)

This is why I think learning to hit the volleyball back row attack is so important.

When hitting out of the back row, the contact with the ball is made more above the head, and less out in front of the body.

Not all sets will be tight and a lot of times the ball is set further off than expected. The technique of contacting the ball at this spot is a very important skill because often when attacking at the net, the hitter must reach back and hit.

How Hitting Out of the Back Row Corrects the "Just Hit Hard" Mentality

The mindset of Hitting Hard = Good Hit often becomes ingrained early on in a volleyball career.

It's difficult to maintain the "just hit hard mentality" when hitting a back row attack because the further off the net, the more important it is to hit the ball with control.

Basically, when hitting off the net, there's less room for error.

Developing a Topspin Jump Serve is Even Better than the Back Row Attack

If you want to improve your ball control, practice hitting off the net. The further you're off the net, the more you'll contact the ball above your head and not out in front.

Practice the Topspin Jump Serve

A good topspin jump server has developed the strength and coordination for contacting the ball in this position.

Is strength and coordination an issue?

It's easier to hit hard when you contact the ball more out in front.

Most players, especially younger players, don't have the strength to hit the ball hard unless the ball is out in front.

The following are some strength exercises to help increase hitting strength and power.

Overhead Tricep Extension

This exercise can be done using a light weight, kettlebell, or band.

This is not just a tricep exercise.

Really focus on using the upper back and core muscles.

Do this exercise for 2 or 3 minutes or until technique starts to break.

This exercise is especially effective for beginner players that have trouble just serving the ball over the net.

If you do this exercise before practice your serves and spikes will feel a lot stronger and powerful.

Medicine ball two hand overhead throws

Grab a partner or find a wall and do the overhead throwing motion using a medicine ball. First, start the movement slowly and focus on learning the technique. Once you get the technique down, practice throwing the ball more explosively.

Medicine ball one hand overhead throws. Definitely go slow in the beginning and focus on perfect technique. This is a great shoulder warm up for volleyball.

Medicine ball two hand overhead slam. Bring the ball up overhead and slam the ball into the ground with two hands. Your feet will actually leave the ground as you bring the ball up above your head.

Medicine ball one hand overhead slam. When doing one hand slams, it's usually easier to use a baseball type throwing motion. This is where you bring the arm back down and around in a circular motion. This is also a good dynamic shoulder warm up exercise.

Medicine ball push ups

Along with explosive upper body exercises like medicine ball throws, exercises such as medicine ball push ups are important for shoulder strength.

Medicine ball push ups work to stabilize the shoulder joint. Your volleyball strength program needs to include strength exercises that improve shoulder stability.

Exercises like the medicine ball push ups force the shoulder stabilizer muscles to turn on. This strength is important for supporting the shoulder during spiking in volleyball.

Dramatically improve your hitting power by focusing on exercises that work to stabilize the shoulder along with exercises that improve the dynamic flexibility and explosive power (medicine ball throws).

Volleyball › Coaching Volleyball › Back Row Attack

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Why the volleyball back row attack is so important for developing spiking strength and power. I believe the back row attack is a skill that should be developed by all attackers on the team. It doesn't matter if you are never going to be set a back row ball, you should practice hitting out of the back row.

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3 Reasons Why Volleyball Players Need Strength and Conditioning

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USA Volleyball (USAV) is the national governing body for the sport of volleyball in the United States and is recognized by the F d ration Internationale de Volleyball and the United States Olympic Committee.

The vision of the USAV is to be acknowledged as the world leader in volleyball. To accomplish this mission, the following goals are to be achieved:

-Competitive success: To win gold medals in every international competition

-Sport growth: To achieve full participation in volleyball at all levels and in all geographical areas

-Sport enhancement: To improve support services necessary for the quality and conduct of programs to ensure recognition as the authority and expert for volleyball

-International representation: To have influential positions on all international boards and commissions

-Recognition: To receive consistent recognition of volleyball coaches and athletes as top world performers

-Administration: To develop and maintain a structure that will efficiently assist in achieving the vision and mission of the corporation

-Finances: To develop, implement, and maintain a financial plan to achieve the vision and mission of the corporation

USAV is committed to and works toward the opportunity for all to participate. It is an advocate for all Americans--ensuring universal access to opportunities at all levels of the game. The USAV headquarters is in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

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Build a successful team around the strength of your players. Volleyball Systems & Strategies is your guide to implementing the world's top systems and strategies for consistent execution and superior team play. With this special book and DVD, you'll identify the offensive and defensive systems best suited to your team's talents, in-game situations, and your opponent's style of play.

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Trent Harris & Ross Dempster

Major Question: What are the optimal biomechanics for a Volleyball serve?

The volleyball serve is a closed skill, players have the option of deciding when to initiate the feed (throw) and also when to make the connection. They are also capable of dictating the accuracy and power of the serve. Corrections can be made on technique to achieve the most effective serve, more specifically, biomechanical principles become the highlight. Some of the variables in focus will be torque, centre of mass, angular/linear velocity, impulse-momentum, kinetic chain, inertia, angular kinetics, Newton's three laws of motion, throw like movements, coefficient of restitution, velocity, acceleration, projectile and range of motion. Serving in volleyball has a number of variations, these include the jump, standing and underarm while also being able to manipulate the ball spin. The standing serve will be the focus throughout the blog. Breaking the skill into movement phases will be crucial to exploring the biomechanics in detail, these stages include the ball toss, stepping motion, draw back, hitting, ball on hand placement and finally the follow through. Visual elements will be referred to regularly in order to help describe the exact movement phase in discussion. Understanding which biomechanical principles are evident and the importance they play in order to gain optimal performance will be comprehensively discussed throughout.
The volleyball serve is a fundamental skill within the modern game (Kumar et al., 2012). The serve can be accomplished with numerous intentions, featured in the videos below (Elevate yourself, 2015; About.com, 2012), the server has the choice of either a float or top spin, both with their own benefits. The float serve has the ball deviate and alter direction mid-flight, making it very difficult for the opponent to successfully read the trajectory, creating an unpredictable component to the game (Nathial, 2012). For the top spin, the ball trajectory changes rapidly and can suddenly drop on opponents creating a difficult shot (Charalabos et al., 2013). How these two variations of the jump serve can be altered generating an optimal performance will be the primary focus of the bog.

Elevate yourself, 2015. Float Serve.

About.com, 2012. Top Spin serve.

The ball toss is a very important step in the volleyball serve. The initial step is to distinguish which hand will be the dominant (hitting) hand. From here, the non-dominant hand should be used as the feeder allowing the torso and trunk to open up during the draw back phase. When it is not conducted properly, the ball trajectory is wayward making it difficult for the server to achieve maximum power and accuracy. The ball toss itself is labelled as a push-like movement pattern, this being because all the joints are extended simultaneously in a single movement. The simultaneous joint rotations often result in a straight-line movement at the end point of the chain. This straight line movement is evident in (figure 1.) By maintaining this straight line movement, highly accurate results can be achieved. The push like movement can be effective when the end of the kinetic chain is free to move (in this instance the hand), because the hand is not in a fixed position the ball toss is classified as an open kinetic chain movement (Blazevich, 2010). The optimal angle of ball release is 0 degrees as in throwing the ball directly vertical, the arm must remain extended and straight to ensure the greatest amount of accuracy is achieved. This is due to the ball being thrown in front of the body which allows the hitting arm a sufficient amount of time and range to step in and connect, increasing the impulse-momentum. In order to gain momentum, the non-dominant hand performs a slight draw back. To change an object's momentum, a force must be applied (Blazevich, 2012). At the initial stage of the ball toss (figure 1.) the hand in possession of the ball must lower to increase the force applied to the stationary object. The ideal starting position is to have the non-dominant arm extended in a 90-degree angle from the torso to the ulna (hitting hand), step 1 (figure 1.). By starting in this 'ready position' the player has given themselves the greatest opportunity of generating efficient accuracy, acceleration and velocity in the push-movement. An increased arm acceleration will result in increased velocity leading to greater momentum (Momentum = Mass.Velocity) (Physics Classroom, 2016). With the aim to increase momentum, this will allow for a greater ball trajectory, meaning the server is provided with more time to position themselves and connect with the ball at a higher point.

The guiding hand during this phase is left above the head as it was during the ball toss phase. This is intentionally done to create greater accuracy in the shot and to produce greater power during the hitting phase. By leaving the hand high it allows the server to judge the distance, by creating a visual cue of the distance between the guiding hand and the ball. This guidance allows the server to hit the ball at the highest point of release. The greater height of release the further the horizontal distance the ball will travel. Having a greater height of release during a volleyball serve the more effective the serve will be, due to the ball being hit at a higher point and reducing the angle required for the ball to go over the net (Beaven, 2015).

In addition to the serving hand, the feeding hand also plays a role in adding forward momentum onto the ball. As the serving hand starts its movement the feeding arm is ripped down and fully extended behind the back. This is in relation to newtons third law of equal and opposite reactions. By swinging the arm backwards fully extended it has allowed for a greater angular velocity to be achieved in a backwards direction, which in turn sends the body forward for an increase in momentum. It also allows the chest to be opened up allowing for a larger muscle group to be added to the force summation while also creating a pendulum affect with both arms for greater balance.

Figure 3.

Figure 4.

The final part of the volleyball serve is the follow through, which its main aspect in the volleyball serve is to provide greater accuracy. By continuing the range of motion well past the impact of the ball in the direction intended, the balls flight path is more predictable and precise. This follow through phase allows the object to be hit before actions of the body comes to a rest. By following through it allows all body movements to occur become coming to a rest and the full action to be performed. The follow through will continue the push like motion that occurs late in the volleyball serve to continue the kinetic chain and provide greater accuracy. Another bio-mechanical sporting example which is similar to bowling in cricket, abruptly stopping after the ball has been released puts strain on the joints. Following through carries out the movement in an orderly fashion and greatly assists the player to assume a ready position for the next set play. This part of the skill is crucial to recovery, injury prevention and the transition into the next play (Abendroth-Smith & Kras, 1999). Landing incorrectly after a serve and not allowing the body to follow through increases the chance of a trauma injury due to the greater impact stress (Mann, 2008).

How else can we use this information?

The biomechanical principles highlighted throughout the blog can be an excellent resource for coaches or players struggling to identify faults within their serve. Using technology and software to the advantage of players would be very beneficial, coaches eye could be implemented into training sessions, now understanding the correct biomechanical principles athletes could quickly find faults in their game.

Not only for the sport of volleyball, but biomechanics apply to all sports. For example, very similar aspects apply to the jump shot and the spike within volleyball. In the sport of tennis, serving with an extended arm and lever will work to increase impulse-momentum, torque, moment of inertia and force. This fundamental movement pattern is evident in a range of sports and would not prove terribly difficult to transfer the knowledge between them.

Common net/wall games share similar fundamental skills, volleyball, tennis, badminton and squash. Lever length is very important amongst each of these sports, along with centre of mass, velocity, acceleration, coefficient of restitution, momentum, kinetic chain and other aspects covered in the blog.

Sport scientists could utilise the information to discover the reasons behind injuries. Breaking down the biomechanical principles in a skill will often uncover faults or other movements inhibiting the skill. This has already been evident when Brett Lee (famous Australian test cricketer) had his bowling technique critiqued and broke down. This discovered that his 'sling-shot' bowling technique allowed him to release the ball up to speeds exceeding 150 kmph, however, as a result it caused stress fractures in his lower back forcing him in and out of the side (Magias, 2016),(Figure 6 & 7). This information will prove very beneficial for sports players, coaches, parents etc. all around the world.

Figure 7

Abendroth-Smith, J., & Kras, J. (1999). More B-BOAT: The volleyball spike. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance. 70(3), 56-59.

Blazevich, A. (2012). Sports biomechanics. London: A. & C. Black.

Charalabos, I., Savvas, L., Sophia, P., & Theodoros, I. (2013). Biomechanical differences between jump topspin serve and jump float serve of elite Greek female volleyball players. Medicina Sportiva: Journal of Romanian Sports Medicine Society, 9(2), 2083.

Kumar, A. (2012). Relationship of selected biomechanical variables with performance of volleyball players in jump serve. Sports and Yogic Sciences, 1(3), 27.

Mann, M. (2008). The Biomechanics of the Volleyball Spike/Attack. Sport Biomechanics. 1-20.

Miller, B. (2005). The volleyball handbook. Human Kinetics.

Nathial, M. S. (2012). Motion assessment of volleyball overhead serve. International Scientific Journal of Sport Sciences, 1(2), 105.

Rokito, A. S., Jobe, F. W., Pink, M. M., Perry, J., & Brault, J. (1998). Electromyographic analysis of shoulder function during the volleyball serve and spike. Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery, 7(3), 256-263.

Sandercock. (2015). What are biomechanics behind performing. Retrieved 16 th June, 2016. <http://overheadvolleyballserve.blogspot.com.au/2015/06/what-are-biomechanics-behind-performing.html>

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Trent Harris & Ross Dempster Major Question: What are the optimal biomechanics for a Volleyball serve? The volleyball serve is a closed skill, players have the option of deciding when to initiate the feed (throw) and also when to make the connection. They are also capable of dictating the accuracy and power of the serve.