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Qualities Desired in the Player

Competitive spirit is placed at the head of the list. In the beginning it is not necessary that such spirit and desire be for the attainment of excellence in volleyball. Such a spirit is usually already evident in the rawest recruit through his attainments in other sports, such as basketball, track, and tennis. Seldom does one find a player intensely interested in volleyball at the outset, but if the competitive spirit, the drive, the desire to excel, are there, then such a player will soon develop a specific competitive spirit for excellence in volley­ball if given the proper urging. Regardless of a player's abili­ties in other sports, it is essential for a setter or volleyball player in general to develop this specific competitive spirit in volleyball, or he will not be very good at the game.

Mental alertness comes second. Where is the net? Where are the blockers? Which spiker should be used? Where will my set be? These and many other questions will flash through the setter's mind and must be answered instantly, even in­stinctively. Of course, there is a premium to be placed on consistency in a setter's actions, but such consistency must make allowances for constantly developing variations during the course of the play. Such variations are so frequent in the course of fast-moving play that a setter must be mentally alert if he is to avoid the errors of mental lapses, so damaging to a team's morale.

Instinctive reaction time is difficult to differentiate from mental alertness. Often there is no time to answer all the questions logically, nor is it even necessary to do so. It is the instinctive reaction, the quickness of muscle co-ordina­tion that will put a setter in balance with a bad pass, under a spiked ball, or in blocking position. Experience is helpful in developing the psychology necessary for a good instinctive reaction time, but it is not the whole answer. Advancing years show up quickest in a volleyball player in this particular phase of his play.

Mobility, good anticipation, and speed rate high in the qualities of a setter, and work hand in hand with mental alertness and instinctive reaction time. He must reach his proper position, often changing direction en route, to execute his play faster than any other single player, as a general rule. Short passes, low passes, and high passes to the setter and difficult spike recoveries by the setter are so frequent as to make the routine warm-up type of setup position an aca­demic ideal seldom seen after the game starts. Even when the pass to the setter is good, he must usually recover his proper position from a block or from being pulled into a spiking defense or serve defense position.

Coolness under fire usually comes with experience in com­petitive play. Although volleyball is unique in many ways and experience is a quality that cannot be lightly regarded, this particular trait of coolness under fire can be developed in other sports. The player with the tendency to blow up or pull mental blunders when the score gets close and the time is about up will lose the close ones for a team. This particular trait is not confined to setters but seems to be accentuated by the position. Tied-up muscles when attempting short, low sets and sets over the net are common evidences of the lack of coolness under fire. Some players get better when the going gets rough and some get worse. Coolness under fire is the stabilizing factor in the man with the high emotional, competitive spirit, as contrasted with a smart player who lets the closeness of the play affect his logical thinking.

Endurance can be drilled into a player by proper training. Too few volleyballers are in condition to play the long, hard matches made necessary by the usual type of tournament. Many of the better volleyball teams are defeated in the latter stages of important tournaments simply because they become too tired to go the distance. This problem is not volleyball's alone, but it is so evident and so commonplace to the game because of the lack of proper training methods and the lack of intelligent use of team personnel.

Size is placed last, not because of its importance but be­cause of its lack of importance. There are many traits too innumerable to discuss here which in their way are important to the setter, but size in itself is not one of these traits. It makes no difference how large or how small a man is in physical stature in order to be a good setter. On the contrary, all too often the setter is chosen simply because he is "too short" to be a spiker. There is no man too short to spike, and there is no man too tall to set.

If we think of the relative importance in point getting of the spiker and the setter, consider that the latter handles the ball twice as much on the front line as does the former, and with much more precision and accuracy in ball handling. Why then must we always allow a player equally good at spiking and setting to be a spiker when logic tells us he would be more valuable to the team as a setter? "The best ball handler with the most co-ordination should play this posi­tion." ³

All things being equal, one cannot deny that height is of great advantage for the setter when he must block. More and more of the leading teams are using tall men as setters. "No team can afford two short setters, because they reduce the effectiveness of the block. Even one short man causes addi­tional switches." ⁴

Related terms include beach cam and ncaa volleyball.