Do you have any tips for serving a volleyball, overhand or underhand?
349588
i'm not very good at underhand serving so i could offer a little tips on the overhand serve.  r u a male or female? \n \n1) don't use ur fist to overhand serve.  that might seem easier to give the power but that's not good cuz u can't control ur serve.\n\n2) a good friend of mine who plays very well always says to keep ur fingers close when serving.  that gives a good floater (a ball that has no spins causing a floating action that could drift off the direction sometimes) if done correctly.  but for me, i like it w/ my hand wide open.  if u get used to and good at it, u can also serve floaters w/ hand wide opened.  so that i guess it's up to u, whichever u feel more comfortable with.\n\n3) toss the ball in front of u, not rite above ur head or behind.  tossing is very important actually.  no need to toss too high.  grab the ball w/ ur serving hand and extend up, just slightly in front of u, but parallel to ur serving shoulder, that should be that point where u hit the ball.\n\n4) do not bend ur elbow.  at the point where u contact with the ball, ur arm should be straight, reaching for it. (pretty much the highest point of ur swing)  u r not hitting it rite by ur ears.\n\n5) follow thru ur arm swing.  some ppl stop rite after hitting the ball w/o following thru.  that might work, but follow thru will give more power.\n\n6) snap ur wrist.  that doesn't mean to hit the ball down.  ur wrist should be snapping down along w/ ur follow thru, that will give the ball a nice projectile.  some ppl snap it hard enough to give a lot of spin on the ball.  but please, don't break ur wrist!\n\nif u r male, u should hav enough arm strength the serve the ball over, so what u need to concentrate on is how ur palm contact the ball. also depend on ur height.  if u r really tall, u don't wanna hit too bottom of the ball to give a high serve.  (unless u mean to do it.)  if u r shorter, then hit it more bottom.  i'm guess between the horizon line to it's 45 degree down is good.  (bottom doesn't mean right under.)\n\nlook at where u r serving to, imagine the line of how u want ur ball goes.  then look at where ur hand is when making contact to the ball.\n\nthat works for female too, but a lot of female when they start overhand serve, they don't hav enough strength.  one of the things they r missing is, using their body to help.  this is how i started learning overhand serve in junior high (i served sideway and round house b4 that):  1st, say if u serve w/ ur right hand, the ready position will be, ur right leg in the back, left leg front, put the weight on ur right leg.  as u toss and hit the ball, u r also changing ur weight from ur right leg to ur left, so u r like walking forward.  u r actually throwing ur right side body to the front, ur right hand is only use to hit the ball, where the power is actually coming from ur body.\n\nHIT the ball, not pushing it.\n\nlastly, of cuz, a lot of practise!  =P\n\noh yeah, as u r serving, think of it: "SMACK IT LIKE IT JUST SMACKED U!!"\n\nthis is only my 2 cents, and everyone is different.  to be correct is important, but to be good at what u've got is even better.  i'm not very good in explaining in words, but i hope this will help.
1167968
I am not sure if you are a male or female but in the end it comes down to technique over upper body strength anyway. There are many types of serves one can master. The three most common are your underhand serve...your overhand floater and your jump serve. Most people strive to learn to jump serve, though it is a less accurate serve and tends to work best if you can physically overpower your opponant.  The arm swing on your underhand serve is similiar to rolling a ball in bowling. With the volleyball in your left hand extended out, elbow slightly bent..(opposite hands for a lefty) You make contact with an unclenched fist....pushing off the ball of your right back foot. The underside of your forearm should be up. You direct the ball up AND over the net. Once mastered this is a very dependable serve..but not powerful. The OVERHAND FLOATER is an overhand serve with little to no spin. It may tend to be harder to receive because it "floats" through the air without a speedy trejectory. Thus it's name.  The overhand floater requires less power than an overhand serve with spin and more speed. Step 1: The ball should be thrown in the air. It is less important which hand you use to do this or whether or not your use two hands for your toss so long as it is accurate and about 18" above your head. Contact should be made by swinging your right arm (L for a lefty) and hitting the ball with the ball of your hand. Not the palm/fingers/or wrist! The most common mistakes are a bad toss, inproper contact, and failing to fully extend your arm above your head to maximize reach. Swing with your whole arm and not just at the elbow. Once you learn to put these two serves over the net you can work more on placement, speed, etc. Write back then and ask for tips on other overhand serves and jump serving. Good luck! :o)
748348
You should use the same grip for both- its called the 'chopper' grip. Imagine you are going to use the frame of your racket as a hammer as hold the grip how you would a hammer.\n\nIt will feel strange at first & you may find it unsuccessful but stick at it & the power increase in your serve will be very noticable.\n\nUse the same for a topspin serve, you just need to place the ball up in a different place- it should be slightly behind you & towards your left shoulder (assuming you are right handed).\n\nHope this helps but it is a bit hard to explain. Go to your local libary & look for a coaching book, they will have good diagramms to help you
1104214
Throw that ball as hard and as fast and as straight as you can to the right of the ten pin if you a right handed bowler. If you're a lefty, aim for the seven pin. I don't believe there is any skill involved in carrying a 7/10 split though. It's all luck honey!!!
295941
OK, i'll make this brief and easy to read.\n\nI used to be in the same situation, I'll hit really well with my friends outside of school and at practice but when it comes time for a tournament I choke, even when my opponent sucks.\n\nHeres what you do:\n\n1) go to your happy place, utopia, no matter where i be\n2) dont rush your serve take your time, and look them in the eye before you serve (stops them from moving)\n3) show NO emotion, and be calm, you wan't to make sure that he knows you have somethin up your sleeve and your not upset you missed the point\n4) STAY CALM, think clear and use your adrenaline as a benefit\n5)Focus on CONSISTENCY and making sure you hit it back to him everytime, and don't hit winners on all your shots...\n\nmost important......\n\nREMAIN CALM
168282
Personally, I use a variety of positions on my serve return.  My first priority is not to let the server beat me down the middle.  If the server moves farther away from the center line, I can focus more on cutting the angle off on an out wide serve.  Most of the time against players with huge serves I try to play the ball deep down the middle or slighty to the backhand side so as not to give my opponent an angle to work with, basically so I can cover the next shot and try to regain a neutral rally.  I will sometimes cheat in during a servers toss on a chip and charge return to place pressure on the server.  If a player has a strong out wide serve, I could play in or back, but the main focus is to allow myself time to regain court position, or play a low slice return making a difficult first ball for the server to attack.  The basic gameplan is not to let the server become comfortable by hitting driving first ball shots off my returns.
898712
You can try giving the ball a slight kick with your wrist as your hitting it. For me, this made my serve drop faster. And I'd alternate with a serve with no wrist which would float more. Not necessary very powerful, but hard to handle.
465438
when you are setup keep your chin up and feet together.  Then after you swing keep your arms strong and straight.  Then watch your hands hit the floor. Then suck in your stomach and whip your feet down.  \n\n-if you are undercutting(your hands are hitting where your feet began) you need to SIT more!!!!! that is a big problem alot of girls have!...who ever said this isnt true is a LIAR!  Just because they are tumbler doesn't mean they know how to teach it!  I know from personal expierence this is one of the main things that I have to correct all the time.  Just try it you'll see!
1064962
That's a great question. Here are some ideas for you to work on:\n\n1. Your serve often will get neglected when you can't find anyone else to practice with. This is actually the best time to work on your serve. I recommend that you buy a ball hopper (they make picking the balls back up so easy, and plus when you bring the arms down to use them as legs, you don't have to bend over to get another ball after every serve). With your ball hopper filled with tennis balls go and setup some targets at your local court and practice serving. You'd be surprised what an hour a day does for your serve. Check out the first link under "Sources"for a great online store where you'll be able to find a ball hopper.\n\n2. Your volleys are also often neglected when you don't have anyone else to hit with. My personal opinion is that practicing volleys against a wall is more useful than ground strokes. Find a wall, give yourself about six feet from the wall and toss a ball against it. Volley and keep the ball "in play" and continue to get closer and closer to the wall. Your reflexes and your volleys will really improve with this. If you don't do it against a practice wall, then you can mark in chalk a line at 3 feet from the ground to give you an idea of the net.\n\n3. Your footwork is something that can always be addressed, but it is often ignored totally. There are lots of drills that you can do that will help you "move towards the ball." The second link under the sources will take you to one such training resource. It's a special kind of ball that bounces unexpectedly. You'll want to toss the ball into the air, do a split step as it bounces (a split step is when you take a little hop and are ready to explode to another position), and try and catch the ball before it hits the ground again.\n\n4. Your ground strokes are pretty difficult to work on alone. You can try hitting against a wall, but if you spend your time hitting against the wall and not against other players, you'll find that your "wall time" doesn't necessarily translate to good tennis. I remember that one summer, I spent at least an hour a day against the wall, and the next time that I hit with someone, I was spraying my groundies against the back fence. The reason was that during all that wall practice, I didn't have the normal feedback that a real court gives (how the spin will affect the ball's trajectory, how much power I'm putting on the ball, etc.)--all that the wall told me was how high over the net I was hitting. So, my advice is that if you decide to spend a lot of time hitting against a wall, try to spend as much time hitting with someone else. A better use of the wall is for volleys. A ball machine is a big investment. If you decide to buy one of those, do your homework and ask around before forking out the money for it.\n\nMy final suggestion is to check out the third link in the source list. The United States Tennis Association has put a "player finder" option on their website. There you'll be able to enter your zip code and the kinds of players you'd like to hit against, and it will give you some people's names. There is no substitute for a real person on the other side of the net.\n\nI hope that helps!
328520
i answered a similar question on another post, i'll just copy and paste here.. =P\n\n1) don't use ur fist to overhand serve. that might seem easier to give the power but that's not good cuz u can't control ur serve.\n\n2) a good friend of mine who plays very well always says to keep ur fingers close when serving. that gives a good floater if done correctly. but for me, i like it w/ my hand wide open. if u get used to and good at it, u can also serve floaters w/ hand wide opened. so that i guess it's up to u, whichever u feel more comfortable with.\n\n3) toss the ball in front of u, not rite above ur head or behind. tossing is very important actually. no need to toss too high. grab the ball w/ ur serving hand and extend up, just slightly in front of u, but parallel to ur serving shoulder, that should be that point where u hit the ball.\n\n4) do not bend ur elbow. at the point where u contact with the ball, ur arm should be straight, reaching for it. (pretty much the highest point of ur swing) u r not hitting it rite by ur ears.\n\n5) follow thru ur arm swing. some ppl stop rite after hitting the ball w/o following thru. that might work, but follow thru will give more power.\n\n6) snap ur wrist. that doesn't mean to hit the ball down. ur wrist should be snapping down along w/ ur follow thru, that will give the ball a nice projectile. some ppl snap it hard enough to give a lot of spin on the ball. but please, don't break ur wrist!\n\nif u r male, u should hav enough arm strength the serve the ball over, so what u need to concentrate on is how ur palm contact the ball. also depend on ur height. if u r really tall, u don't wanna hit too bottom of the ball to give a high serve. (unless u mean to do it.) if u r shorter, then hit it more bottom. i'm guess between the horizon line to it's 45 degree down is good. (bottom doesn't mean right under.)\n\nlook at where u r serving to, imagine the line of how u want ur ball goes. then look at where ur hand is when making contact to the ball.\n\nthat works for female too, but a lot of female when they start overhand serve, they don't hav enough strength. one of the things they r missing is, using their body to help. this is how i started learning overhand serve in junior high (i served sideway and round house b4 that): 1st, say if u serve w/ ur right hand, the ready position will be, ur right leg in the back, left leg front, put the weight on ur right leg. as u toss and hit the ball, u r also changing ur weight from ur right leg to ur left, so u r like walking forward. u r actually throwing ur right side body to the front, ur right hand is only use to hit the ball, where the power is actually coming from ur body.\n\nHIT the ball, not pushing it.\n\nlastly, of cuz, a lot of practise! =P\n\noh yeah, as u r serving, think of it: "SMACK IT LIKE IT JUST SMACKED U!!"\n\nthat was what work for me, even thou it might not be "correct".  if u can't change certain habits u hav, instead of forcing urself to change, be good with what u've got then.\n\nu said vball season is over, do u mean beach vball, or skool season?  cuz indoor vball just started its spring season.  =)\n\nhappy vballing  ^ ^=
921774
Some helpful hints-\nPass with your legs, don't swing your arms.\nMake your forearms as flat as you can when passing.\nWhen hitting, stay behind the ball. Don't worry about hitting the ball hard, focus on hitting it fast.\nWhen you're blocking, don't stand there and watch the other team's hitter, watch the ball as it is set and line up with the hitter's arm. \nWhen you're serving, don't throw the ball any higher than you have to. You want to hit it at the peak of the toss. Try to serve to the zones too. Don't serve to the same spot every time. And once you can do that, stare at the person you're going to serve at. It makes them incredibly nervous. It also causes them to think and therefore they usually mess up. \nThat's about it. Good luck.
670772
If you use a single handed grip then I guess you just slice it back crosscourt, and make your opponent come over the baseline to get it. (I'm not really the person to ask on that one)\n\nIf however, you are like me and play a double-handed backhand then make sure you are well prepared, and play a topspin shot down the line short, or crosscourt deep. Make sure you roll it over and do not hit the net or put the shot out. It is better to return a horribly short return than to put it out, as at least you have a chance.\n\nNOTE: If your opponent has a particularly good and fast  serve, then make sure you get it deep and crosscourt.\n\nAlso, if they are playing serve and volley, hit is down the line low and hard, making sure you don't pull the shot out.\n\nHope this helps, and hope your not a beginner, or this will seem like jargon.
597864
first off, start at the service line, and throw the ball with your dominant hand over the net. if you can do that, you can overhand serve. start with the most important part, if you are right handed hold the ball in front of you with your left hand and your right foot in front. The action for tossing sequence should go like this, toss, step hit. Toss the ball, step with your left foot in front and hit it. If you were to toss, step and then let it drop, it should land beside your left foot, in front of your right foot and in line with your right shoulder. The toss should be about arms reach high. Practice letting it drop in that spot about 200 times a day. Your contact should be when you hit the ball when your arm is the highest in the air. Keep your fingers stiff and straight, and let your arm follow through to your hip without it bending much. If it goes too high, try to contact the ball in the middle more instead of underneath, if it drops and doesn't make it over, contact the bottom of the ball. Good luck with your serve!
217460
with digging get low to the ground and get your hands out in front of you,like a W shoulder width apart, so you can reseve a high or low ball.  and with serving just put the ball out in front of your hitting arm and have a good follow through, and if you don't do a jump serve, use your back toe for balance on the follow through.
672763
good job\nnice hit\nthats the way to run bases\ngood running\n\nbeing a coach is really hard.. i used to love volleyball but my coach made me hate it.. now i play softball and i love it.. my volleyball coach used to yell at me all the time, she used to make me feel bad about what i did, she never gave constructivecriticism.. she told you "you did not serve well, you suck at that" but she would never help me, when i switched to softball, my coach told me my mistakes but helped me work on them, during practice he helped me and he never puts me down... he says things like "we could work on your batting during next practice" but he never said things like "sucks, bad, no good" all words are always positive. \n\nGood luck!!
466195
I think the best drill to do is to practice getting a feel for the size of the ball.  Practice against the wall by repeatedly setting the ball against the wall.  You can even look at markings on the wall and try to set the ball to touch the mark.  You can try different distances from the wall too.\n\nIf you have access to a weighted setters ball (kind of like a tetherball but volleyball sized) you can try to practice setting with that.  It should strengthen your wrists.\n\nSince you are on the shorter side, I would say it's also a good idea to learn to use your knees and weight to get more power into your set (allowing you to set higher/farther).  I don't have a lot of experience with this (I am a 5'6" guy with very good "hops") however but supposedly that helps.\n\nYou can also work on a "back set" where you set the hitter behind you.  If you develop a smooth back set, you can freeze the middle blocker from always committing to the side you are setting.  The key to this is to not arch your back too much and release the ball slightly behind "overhead."  You can work on your quick sets to keep the opponent off balance (1's) too.\n\nThe key to setting is control.  I say you should never be so aggressive to force a set.  If you get a bad pass, it's better to just get it up so that it's playable, even if it's off the net.  Putting up a nice "10" is better than forcing a bad outside.  You should think about your hitters' angles too.  It is much more difficult for a hitter to hit a set that is coming from directly behind them.  For example, if you receive a bad pass at the 5 position (right back), it is better to set the weak side (2 position) or the middle hitter (3 position).  The strong side hitter (4 position) will have a bad angle and it will be more difficult for that person to get a good hit.  Also you can work on your "pass" (or "bump"--the colloquial term) as a set too if the pass is too low.\n\nAnother important point is communication.  You should call "help" early and AUDIBLY if you cannot get to it.  If you should wish, you can say something like "right here" or something like that so that your teammates can hear where you are as they are passing to you.  I can tell you the main difference I see in high school players versus older, more experienced players is their talking.  You should help call in or out if you can.  You can communicate to your hitters how many blockers they are going up against right after you set it, you can call out "one" or "two" or whatever.  Or you can tell them where to hit it (line, angle, etc.) or adjust your sets based on what the opponent is blocking.\n\nI can go on an on about this, obviously.  But communication is key.  Your coach will love you for talking.\n\nOne thing that you can also do is to find out where and how your hitters like to be set.  I have hitters who like their sets really high, others who like it rather low (i.e. "loop") and others who like it "off" and others who like it "tight."  Finding that out will help you set them better and thus make you look better.
628710
i am joining volleyball too! so good luck go to the website i gave you and click on whatever type of rules your looking for it has indoor and outdoor rules on there good luck hope you make it!!!!!