How To Read in Volleyball | Get 54% More Touches 

Gotta get right into it

AYO

Fr

But then proceeded to not get into it immediately

Love the vid tho!

I’m so glad to hear that Tyler. Trying to use what I’ve learned over several years to help a few people. Plenty more videos to come.

appreciate it! Will add it to the list of videos to come..

Appreciate it Rami! More to come, call than an unlimited for none special

Thank you so much! Plenty more to come don’t you worry.

😭😭😭. I always catch it in post

My pleasure! Definitely a void for instructional volleyball content. Glad I can play a small part.

Awesome. Glad to hear the advice is useful for ya! I’ll add it to the queue.

Thank you! and awesome input, will definitely try and put something together for ya in a video.

Glad to hear it! More to come.

Glad to hear it! And great idea, very important topic to discuss.

Let’s go! Glad to hear that

Glad you enjoyed it!

Welcome ! Glad I could help a little bit.

Just what I like to hear!

Glad you liked it. More to come

Another thing, i think if you change the thumbnail of the setting video it might perform better

I'm glad to hear the advice is helpful! A lot of information to apply to your game and see what works well for you.

@@ranaksaxena3300 You're probably right on that one.

glad it was!

Glad to hear that! Always new stuff to learn, plenty more information coming from this channel in the future to further your game.

Great idea, not only watching the videos, but taking notes as well can benefit your game to look back on.

glad to hear it!

Great points! Lots of different ways to say it but the theme stays relatively the same.

Welcome

Welcome!

Appreciated

Glad you liked it!

More to come! What do you mean by hobby rotation?

@@mitchsterkenburg great to hear that! When playing hobby volleyball everyone switches positions with every rotation, guy in the middle on net is always setting, no matter the specific player. Everyone becomes a setter when on MB(on net) position. So it'd be great to have a breakdown for every position like:"If you are on setter position, you can set to outside hitter, opposite hitter and also middle blocker, but you should also help with blocking spikes. And this is how far you should run for second touch." Something for open lobby players as well. :]

Yessir Sava T. Definitely will have to cook something up on that.

Let’s go!! Glad to hear it

Definitely, no play of defensive system is going to be the exact same every game let alone every play. Other strategies to try, this is one we use a lot in our system but worth acknowledging there are many more out there!

Definitely can my man!

Great question, certainly can incorporate that into a video

Great question! Yes absolutely can make a video on setting consistency. Most of the time location inconsistency comes from your feet. Staying square to your target is a small fix, but will dive into it in detail in a video in the future.

Without a doubt, defensive strategy and overall volleyball philosophy varies significantly depending on the level you are playing. I will definitely keep that in mind in future videos.

Thank you, and you’re right. Tried to keep it pretty high level. I like the idea of a video focusing on defensive counters for different attacks from the opponent. Might have to make one about that in the near future.

You bet!

Any time!

You got it!

Thank you!

That I can do!

gotchu

yes, absolutely can.. Great idea

True

Thanks

🫡

Definitely some changes between levels defensively when you’re talking the difference between a high school level to a professional level. A different type of hitter. It’s why in baseball outfielders play at 350 feet and in high school they play at 225.

Any specific level you’d be interested in learning more about? I focus on the d3/d1 level primarily because that’s why I’m exposed to the most but open to covering other levels too that people are interested in learning about.

@@mitchsterkenburg i imagine a large portion of your audience is probably playing somewhere between the high school level and collegiate level so maybe some of the main differences between those, and then maybe how that compares to the professional level?

@@dyrik that I can do! Great comment.

In our matches there will inevitably be a few balls that go high off the block and deep out of the court. We are willing to sacrifice a few of those a game, but by positioning yourself in a more shallow position central to the court your able to pick up a lot more balls that come to your radius instead of having to guess which way to go, left or right. You will your way into a lot more digs and it simplifies defense in the backrow. Not to say this strategy works at all levels, but I would imagine the pickup level you play at doesn't always have a closed block which would make it even more advantageous to push up on defense in the six.

Next we’ll learn how to spell

Positioning of anyone in particular? Setters? Defense?

@@mitchsterkenburg yes setter’s 👌🏽perfect

They’re getting there

Good question. You definitely want to stop moving right before the ball is contacted. Wherever you are going (forward, sideways, backwards) you need to have planted feet. You want to keep moving if you feel like there is a lot of court in front of your where the attacker can terminate the ball. Finding the happy medium between moving up to fill space and staying still is where a lot of digs are gotten.

Yes! It’s in the works. Will be one of the next ones to be released!

Great questions, the lower level you have to expect the ball to land a little deeper. So the reading mindset changes a bit. Would still stay in front of the back line, but would focus on the path the hitter is approaching the ball. In lower levels attackers usually hit straight from their approach and body line making it easier to position on defense.

The 6 should stay in the middle ground in between the two primarily. They should move up further to the middle on quick tempo sets (any 1 tempo ball) or if there is a gap in the block that is marginal.

The only time you really have to worry about getting hit in the face is on an overpass kill. Everything else, even if you’re up close to the ten foot line if you keep your hands facing up you should have plenty of time to protect yourself with your hands. Don’t underestimate your ability to react with your hands moving forward left and right and up and down. That’s why it’s crucial to keep them independent for digging and protection.

​@@mitchsterkenburg Thanks a bunch! After getting domed a few times, I got worried about moving forward even tho I know I'd get more digs. What do you mean by "keeping them independent"?

@@wilsun007 definitely don’t want that happening! Definitely move forward with caution and depending on how open the net is. But independent arms is just keeping them apart. Not together before you dig, it gives you a better reaction time to cover high swings at the face.

@@mitchsterkenburg awesome, thanks a bunch!

@@wilsun007 absolutely!

Definitely, an important one. On the way in one of the next couple to come

Wondering the same thing

The game slows down at the amateur level. Also less reliance on the block. Typically defenders will stay deeper in the court as opponents don’t hit as hard or as straight down. More reaction and less reading the more you move away from the fast high level college game.

Let's say I'm defending on position 6, if I were to position myself further away from the block, doesn't that make me vulnerable for the tip?

Gets you thinking about all the upside of these changes to your game

You bring up a good point. A lot of movement revolves around the block (or lack there of) definitely something I can touch on in future videos.

Good comments, and yes while you miss out of deep balls from time to time landing in the back third of the court. Our shot chart data shows consistently that defending up in the path of the ball leads to more touches. The pace of the game we play at you can’t expect to get many “clean” digs on open swings. So while I agree you can get more open touches when you’re deeper, the # of touches deep in the court doesn’t translate well over the course of a game.

Teams we play they still play this way get torched in comparison to us in digs and touches, feel free to watch both Lancaster Bible college matches if you are curious in seeing it in a game.

absolutely

What a comment 😭😭😭

Ok

yes

I’m not saying this strategy will get you every dig or every point. Based on lots of shot chart data moving and reading in these areas will produce the highest likelihood of a positive touch (from my experience)

@@mitchsterkenburg I appreciate your response, but the response is so nonsensical that I don't know how to respond. I believe you are trying to make some point but I'm not understanding it.

@@lotklear ok

@@mitchsterkenburg I believe your response was nonsensical because 1. Nobody said you can get every attack. So I don't know how to respond to that. 2. Reading is, by definition, moving to where you think the ball is going, before you know where the ball is going. When you do this you destroy your ready position. You destroy your ready position because once you move you commit to a direction. A half-second later the attack occurs and now you know which way to move. However, your ability to move towards the actual ball's path is compromised. Meaning your ready position is gone. A minority of attacks, about one-third, are full swings that penetrate the block untouched (this is info not noticed in shot charts). AKA "hard-driven" . These minority of attacks, the hard-driven, may actually be easier to defend by reading. However the majority of attacks, the shots, dinks, deflections, .....the "off-speed" attacks? These are lost when you read. Reading typically creates that "negative step" where the defender perhaps back-steps in order to move forward for a dink. This is why reading, I believe, is a terrible fundamental to teach. Your response included mention of a shot chart to explain why you think reading helps improve defense. I cannot understand how a shot chart could possibly promote, or criticize, reading as a defensive fundamental. The read occurs organically on the court. How can that be reflected in a shot chart?

@@lotklear you have to read at the higher level. The game is played at too quick of a speed to rely solely on reactions. Fair points though.

thanks for the feedback