Setting and spiking from the floor

1Why this matters

Most rallies in volleyball are won by an attack: a hard, downward hit called a spike. A good spike needs a good set, a pass that places the ball exactly where the attacker can hit it. In sitting volleyball the net is only about a metre high and the court is small, so the attack is fast and close. The team that sets accurately wins most of the points.

2The attacking sequence

Nearly every attack follows the same three touches: pass, set, hit.

1. A forearm pass (called a dig when it saves a hard hit) sends the ball up to the setter. Arms straight and together, thumbs side by side, the ball played off the forearms.
2. The setter sets the ball high, close to the net.
3. The attacker spikes it into the opponents' court.

3Setting from the floor

• Move quickly underneath the ball, so it drops just above your forehead. In sitting volleyball, that means shuffling on your hands early.
• Face the target: turn your shoulders towards where you want the ball to go.
• Hands up, fingers spread, thumbs and index fingers making a triangle-shaped window you can look through.
• Contact the ball with the pads of the fingers, not the palms, and push up and out by straightening your arms.
• Aim to set the ball about 1 m above the top of the net and about half a metre back from it, so the attacker can hit it hard without touching the net.

The ball must be played cleanly. Catching it or holding it for a moment is a fault.

4Spiking from the floor

• Sit sideways-on to the net, hitting shoulder back, so you can reach the ball in front of that shoulder.
• Draw the hitting arm back and high, elbow above the shoulder, like drawing a bow.
• Hit the ball at the highest point you can reach, in front of your hitting shoulder, with a firm, open hand.
• Snap the wrist forward so the ball goes down steeply. The net is low, so a steep hit is hard to dig.
• Keep at least one buttock on the floor throughout.

5Where to hit

Aim for the gaps: between two defenders, into an empty corner, or down the side line. A soft push over the blockers' hands into an empty area, called a tip, works well when the defenders have moved back.

Worked example

Mugisha receives the serve and passes to Umutoni, the setter, at the net. Two opposing defenders have moved to the left side of their court.

Decision. Umutoni sets towards the attacker on her right. The attacker hits cross-court, away from the crowded side, into the space the defenders have left.

6Drills with one ball

• Wall sets. Sit 1 m from a wall and set the ball against it continuously. Count how many you can do without a mistake; aim for 30.
• Setting triangle. Three players seated in a triangle: pass, set, catch; rotate roles every five goes.
• Target hits. Lay two towels or bags in the far court as targets. The attacker hits a set ball at them; score a point for each hit on a target.

With no net, tie a rope between two chairs at about 1 m.

Practice

Solution. The pads of the fingers, with the hands in a triangle shape above the forehead. Using the palms tends to hold or throw the ball, which is a fault.

Solution. A steep ball reaches the floor quickly and is hard to dig; a flat hit from a seated player tends to go long or into the block.

Solution. Forearm pass, set, spike.

Solution. A tip: a soft push over the block into the empty space just behind it.