Position of Ball in Relation to Net

Articles In This Section:

· The Spike

· History of Spiking

· Requisites of the Good Spiker

· How to Contact the Ball

· Where to Contact the Ball

· Position of Ball at Contact

· Position of Ball in Relation to Shoulder

· Position of Ball in Relation to Net

· How to Take Off, Hit, and Land - Part 1

· How to Take Off, Hit, and Land - Part 2

· Strategy in Spiking

· Recovery and Defense

· General Skills

· Team Play and Morale

The ball will not always be the same distance from the net when spiked. Some players do have a favorite distance at which they prefer the ball. It is best if spikers learn to hit the ball when it is directly over the net (and here is where the fist can be used most effectively) and at all variations of distance back away from the net.

Balls can even be spiked from as far back as 10 feet from the net. This should be practiced by all players. The day for temperamental "one-spot-for-a-setup" spikers has passed. Team mates do their best in trying to get the ball set up for the spiker to hit to the best advantage of himself and his team. Therefore, the spiker has the responsibility of learning to hit the ball from any position when it is above the net. It is further the responsibility of the spiker to use judgment and not penalize his team, nor destroy the morale of the setter, by smashing the ball in the net when it should be placed deep in the opponents' territory.

William T. Odeneal, coach of the 1955, 1957, and 1958 national collegiate champions from Florida State University, recommends two basic principles concerning spiking and the relationship of the ball to the net: "On close-to-the-net sets the ball should be hit with a cut swing, and on a deep set the ball should be hit with as much roll as possible, preferably toward the diagonal corner." ²