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Depending on one’s role, the dreams of a volleyball player are almost always exciting: hitting a quick winner at the last second or making a miraculous save on the opponent’s set point. However, anyone who wants to carry out these technical gestures must first have well-established previous knowledge, such as the fundamentals of volleyball. But what are they, and how do they help you become a good volleyball player? Let’s find out.
First, what are the fundamentals of volleyball? These are the essential techniques that every volleyball player should know in order to compete. We are talking about basic plays that allow a game to be played normally. In volleyball, these fundamentals are mainly five.
The bagher was born as a rescue technique. It is done by keeping the arms stretched out and united under the ball, with the legs bent and the shoulders closed. This action, however, has gradually evolved over time, becoming not only a method of repelling enemy attacks but also a passage. The first to use it in history were the Czechoslovakians. The digging movement that is done with the arms has defined the name of the technique.
A well-executed volleyball action involves three steps: the reception with the bagher, the pass for the spiker, and then the attack. It goes without saying that the dribble is one of the most important fundamentals for the success of a point. Let’s talk about the gesture that a volleyball player must make in mid-action, the second touch. The quality of the dunk will depend on this: a good lift is, in fact, a successful dribble with the right timing.
When the setter gets the ball, they have a few options: they can softly lift the ball to a hitter, pass a tight ball to make a fast ball, or do a second-hand attack, which can usually throw off the defense of the other team.
To conclude a classic volleyball action, after the reception with the bagher and the lift of a setter, there is the attack. The latter can be carried out in different ways: there is the classic dunk, the lob, the placed shot, or the drop-down. The first is one of the most effective shots in volleyball: it’s a fast and powerful shot that only a good block or an excellent free throw can deflect. The lob, on the other hand, is an insidious shot that wants to surprise a well-placed defense (generally done with one hand). Then there is the set shot, i.e., a two-handed throw that sends the ball directly into the area of the field least covered by the opponents, and then the drop shot: a shot that starts like a lob but has a rapid descent towards the ground without making a soft parable.
The server going to serve initiates a game action. This is done behind the endline of the field. The ball must be played within 8 seconds of the referee’s whistle and can be hit with one hand (or with the arm) in various ways: safely, from above, or by jumping. The first solution is the one that involves a serve made with a movement of the hand that goes from the bottom to the other while the other holds the ball still; the second, on the other hand, is carried out by lifting the ball and hitting it with the hand from top to bottom.
Finally, there is the jump serve, one of the most effective but, at the same time, one of the most difficult to achieve. A volleyball player, with this type of service, can make quick shots by performing the same movement that is done before going to hit the ball for a dunk. Most of the aces are born from this shot: record serves that allow you to score directly.
Finally, to defend a shot, there is the wall: a human barrier made up of hands and arms that is opposed by jumping to the shot of the opposing team (usually it is the dunk). The wall can be built by three people, two people, or just one person. On the other hand, when the defense makes a mistake and nobody goes to block it, it is called a “zero block.”