AVCA Video Tip of the Week: Indoor Volleyball Setting Drills to Build Strength 

Nice

Jamming on contact when setting? I would say if that's the case make sure when they are waiting for the ball, their "base hands" are forming a triangle and their fingers are not pointed to the direction of where the ball is coming, make sure their wrist are slightly turned into the triangle formed. I know flatter hands is not the correct term but that's what is coming to mind. lol

Okay perfect! I'll watch what their doing and see if that's the problem. Thank you so much!!

4 lbs

For specifically setting outside, particularly for beginners, I'd recommend the wall-setting drill. Stand close to and facing a wall with a medicine ball (like the one demonstrated in the video) or if that's too heavy, just a normal volleyball. Raise the ball above your head, so your arms are almost fully extended, then set the ball against the wall with short, quick wrist motions. Keep your fingers in the "diamond window" shape whilst doing the drill. Set 100 times against the wall, then take a 60 second break and do it again two times. Repeat this every day, and your finger strength will improve drastically. If the ball gets too light or the drill becomes too easy, use a heavier ball and increase the amount of sets you do each time. This is coming from a national-grade setter :) I started out with a normal ball and now do 3 rounds of 250 sets with a 4kg medicine ball every day.

kxhunter88 Thanks so much! Your suggestion has helped my hand strength quite a bit! Do you have any other advice for building setter strength to set high and/or outside?

SWirth10 Glad I could help! This wall-setting drill is probably the most effective way to purely and effectively build and maintain strength in the wrists and fingers (I'm still doing it, almost two years later), but here are some other things you can try to further improve. 1. If you feel you've built some strength and are quite comfortable with your setting motion, try a setter ball (these are basically heavier standard volleyballs, generally around 500g where ordinary volleyballs are 260-280g). What this can help you with is strengthening your fingers to absorb impact, particularly on high or spinning passes, as well as your full setting follow-through. Stand along a net and set targets of distance (a hoop on the ground or a person standing to catch) and height (a marker on the antenna) to match, and have a person throw you the setter ball. Repeat this motion, and increase the distance as you feel you gain strength. Don't expect to be able to set this ball the full length of an outside set, but this is a relatively simple drill that you can repeat easily and builds strength. 2. Practice with a normal volleyball with high and spinning passes. One of the key abilities a setter must have is the ability to correct poor passes, and this comes first from having the strength and confidence to set balls that are high and/or spinning off the pass. Have someone toss you high balls to set and again set targets of height and distance. Again, repeat the motion until you are hitting the target consistently, then move it further and/or higher. Key to both these drills is gauging your ability and setting achievable targets, then hitting them and continuously improving them. I would say take maybe a week between increasing target distance, unless you train 3 times a week or more. Other than that, just keep setting that medicine ball and increasing sets/weight as you feel yourself strengthening. Best of luck to you in your setting :)

Thank you so much! I felt so discouraged because I felt like I wasn't strong enough to set the ball properly but I feel after I start practicing all the things you have mentioned I will improve! Thank you again!

I know. She said Libero. Everybody knows you say Libero.